Give it a break guys – be patient with Captain Cook

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The honesty that Alastair Cook displayed during the post-match ceremony at Lords was truly admirable. Rarely have I ever seen a captain speak so openly about his and the teams failures.

Thus, it has been extremely disappointing for me to see the lobby formed calling for his head. Notable TV personalities, media pundits, ex-players, below are 3 reasons why Cook is still the right man for the job:

1. Stick to your guns ECB – back your captain.

The ECB made it quite clear at the outset of the summer that they wanted to start a new era under Peter Moores and Alastair Cook. 4 tests in, 2 defeats later and changes from the ECB would now show a total lack of confidence in their own decision making.
The ‘New England’ made some bold moves, including the sacking of high profile players such as KP. I’m not saying that these decisions were correct, but it would be even more foolish to make further changes at this stage.
Moreover – who would be in line to succeed Cook? Ian Bell has himself been short of runs. Stuart Broad showed his lack of captaincy credentials in the T20 arena. Jimmy Andersen is not a long-term solution. And Joe Root? Are we sure? Only a few months back there was a belief after the Australian tour that he has been rushed into test cricket.
The ECB had long groomed Alastair Cook to be the successor of Andrew Strauss. And why not? He had time on his hand, a great attitude and most importantly had the performances to back up a full-time England captaincy role. His captaincy career started well too, including series victories against India, New Zealand and Australia. A victoria in India against India is a feat that not even the some of the greatest test captains of all time have achieved – notably Steve Waugh.

2. Learn something from the opposition.

Rewinding to December 2012 – I still remember the public images of Sandeep Patil in discussions with Duncan Fletcher following the unprecedented defeat on home soil to England. It’s ironic that people at that time were calling for Dhoni’s resignation, citing that he needs to follow the example of his opposite number Alastair Cook both with his on field performances and decisions. The same people are now calling for Cook’s resignation. A famous Indian newspaper headline read. “We have been cleaned out: it’s time for a clean-up”. But the BCCI stuck to their guns, most notably Duncan Fletcher, who was publicly vilified by ex-Indian legends.
Whilst the politics governing India’s leadership aren’t ideal, the patience BCCI have shown with Dhoni is something that the rest of the cricketing world should appreciate. It is no surprise that these best years of Indian cricket have been backed up with continuous leadership on and off the field. Whilst they have had their critics, the rewards of continuing with both Fletcher and Dhoni are there to be seen in what possibly is India’s greatest away victory (not forgetting the Champions Trophy victory too). Moreover, other leaders such as Fleming, Ganguly and Waugh didn’t have the best of starts to captaincy, but were backed strongly by their respective boards to be become one of test crickets iconic leaders.

3. Don’t blame Cook for the poor ECB governance.

An old cliché, but its true that a captain is only as good as his team. It’s clearly obvious the existing squad does not comprise of England’s best available players. The void left by Trott, Swann, Petersen and Strauss is a big one.
In my opinion, the team still requires a front-line spinner, an opening batsman, and potentially a 3rd seamer. The 2012 England team that beat India in India had the likes Compton, Monty, Finn and Morgan in their squad. The question I ask the ECB is what has happened to these players? Are they citing lack of form as a reason for poor man management?
What unfortunately has not helped Cook is the underlying dynamics and decision making of the ECB. The incidents involving Pietersen, Trott, Swann, Giles and the constant changes in coaching staff have not only de-stabilized the team, but have created a lot of uncertainty too – something which is visible through a lack of confidence in the current team.
A change of captain will not address the fundamental problems in the ECB.

Go Lanka Go – World T20 Final Dhaka 2014

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This was the 3rd T20 final I attended. I was very much hoping for an India – Pakistan final, only to be let down again by Pakistan’s fragile batting line-up.
Any Pakistan fan would normally cheer for any Indian opposition, but my reasons behind cheering Sri Lanka were anything but patriotic. Having witnessed the anguish of the home fans at Colombo in 2012, it was only fitting that Sanga and Mahela bowed out of the international T20 format in winning style.

Pre-match build up and hype:
This contest was too close to predict. The best 2 teams in the competition had made the final.
India having steamrollered everyone in this tournament thus far were overwhelming favourites for most. I was ironically staying in the same hotel as the Indian team, their players had kept a very low profile and only a couple were spotted at the team breakfast.

Sri Lanka on the other hand should not have been underestimated. Having already beaten India in a warm-up game, Bangladesh was now almost their second home having been on tour here since January.

Key performer:
Kumar Sangakkara – a classy innings from a special player. India’s bowling has been excellent this tournament, but Sangakkara kept his cool in the run chase with some excellent sweeps and off-drives, especially against India’s main spin threats – Mishra and Ashwin. His partnership with Thishara Parera deflated any Indian hopes of a win. It was interesting to see Perera sent ahead of Mathews. Was it a case of an ex-IPL team mate being able to pick the Mishra wrong-un?
Malinga also bowled an excellent last over.

One thing you’d have changed about the match:
Both Kumar Sangakara and Mahala Jayawardene batting together till the end to see Sri Lanka home. Mahala too was looking in sublime touch with his cheeky late dabs before being dismissed through a sharp catch by Ashwin.

The Indian scapegoat:
It is no secret that the fate of the match was decided in the last 4 overs of the Indian innings. Only 19 runs were scored and crucially Virat Kohli was kept off strike. There was a belief amongst both Indian and Sri Lankan fans that Yuvraj Singh’s puzzling innings had cost India the game. Where is Suresh Raina many were shouting? Sitting close to the Indian dugout – you could most sense MS Dhoni wanting to run out there whilst Yuvraj was play dot ball after ball.
MS Dhoni has a history of surprising with selections and tactics in finals, but perhaps India were a bit too predictable this time.

Face-off you relished:
Virat Kohli vs. Lasith Malinga.
Could Malinga put the demons of Hobart behind him? Could the iceman Virat Kohli continue his unbelievable tournament and carry India over the finishing line one more time?
If truth be told, Virat was again in sublime form and looked totally untroubled against any of the Sri Lankan bowlers, including Malinga. Ironically, he was given a lifeline by Malinga when he was dropped in Herath’s first over.

Wow moment:
Can Virat Kohli put a foot wrong these days? Right from the moment he walked out to bat, he looked a different class and you could easily see why arguably he’s the best player in the world at present. The arrogance with which he dismissed Kulasekara for 6,4 and 4 is his 3rd was a treat to watch. He also took a superb catch inches away from the boundary to dismiss Dilshan.

Shot of the day:
Kohli’s 6 over long off to Hearth. This was during a spell he hardly gave anything away.

Crowd meter:
Getting to the Sher-e-Bangla stadium is a mission in itself. Those who have visited Dhaka would know that traffic and power naps in the car are a regular occurrence. The journey from my hotel took an hour.
Unsurprisingly, the match was a sellout. Besides Dhaka having a large expatriate community, a lot of Indians and Sri Lankan’s had also flown in for the match. Sitting in the grandstand, there was a good mix of both Indians and Sri Lankan’s present in their relevant clusters.
The local Bangladeshi crowd were however overwhelmingly cheering for Sri Lanka and they particularly came alive in the second half, applauding and standing up to every Sri Lankan run.
The Sri Lankan fans were generally quiet when Kohli was on strike, but got louder and louder as the game went on.
Popular Sri Lankan chants across the stadium included:
“Go Lanka Go”
“Malinga Malinga Malinga”
“Yuvraj Singh – are you playing a test match”
“Boo hoo India”

Fan of the day:
Sudhir Kumar fashioning the new number ‘7’ gave it his all. I sometimes wonder how he keeps his energy levels up relentlessly waving the Indian flag. The flag he holds is twice the size of him!

Ground staff and entertainment:
The pre match rain nearly played spoilsport. With the storm from Thursday night still afresh in people’s memory, many feared that the game was going to go to the reserve day. This would have been catastrophic for many people such as myself, who had their flights booked for the following morning. All credit to the ground staff and the 4 ‘super soakers’ for getting the game on. The 10 minute fireworks at the end of the presentations ceremony were very impressive too.

Overall experience:
9/10
Not the greatest cricket contest, but a fitting ICC tournament win for Sri Lanka. The atmosphere was good, but not as great as the other finals I have attended – Lords and Colombo.
A special mention also to all Bangladeshi officials and ground staff/volunteers for being excellent hosts.