Sports
Calcutta; the city of joy
Rex Clementine in Calcutta
Calcutta used to be the capital of India until King George V proclaimed the transfer of the capital to Delhi in 1911. Known as the City of Joy, it’s a pleasant experience to be here during Deepavali time with the streets nicely decorated. This is where the World Cup semi-final between South Africa and Australia take place today (Thursday).
Calcutta’s airport is named after Subash Chandra Bose, one of India’s prominent freedom fighters. While Mahatma Gandhi was all about nonviolence, Bose was a complete contrast. He believed in a militant approach to freedom from the British. He also endorsed socialist political values unlike his Cambridge colleague and first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru, who endorsed democratic values.
As for cricket, we have long admired the Prince of Calcutta – Sourav Ganguly. As captain, Ganguly got under the skin of the opposition and skippered India to many memorable wins both at home and away. The Prince of Calcutta was coined to him by Geoffrey Boycott. By the time Ganguly had become the captain of the Indian team people started telling Boycott that he better call him now the ‘King of Calcutta’. This Boycott refused and explained why, ‘For me, there is only one King of Calcutta – Jagmohan Dalmiya.’
Mr. Dalmiya was a business tycoon and was the first Asian President of the ICC. He faced many challenges as the President of the governing body and taught people a few lessons most notably taking the ICC away from Lord’s to Dubai.
Mr. Dalmiya was also a dear friend of Sri Lanka. During the 1996 World Cup, with Australia and West Indies refusing to play their World Cup games in Colombo, he played a pivotal role in putting up a joint India – Pakistan team to come and play a game in Colombo to prove the country was safe to play cricket.
Mr. Dalmiya was a practical man. The joint India – Pakistan team had the captains of both countries – Mohammad Azharuddin and Wasim Akram. It was impossible for Wasim to play under Azhar or vice-versa as fans of the two countries wouldn’t have endorsed it.
So, Mr. Dalmiya called up former Pakistan captain Inthikab Alam and made him the Manger of that team. Then, he told Inthikab now that a Pakistani is the Manager of the team it is unfair if the captaincy also went to Pakistan and it was up to him to convince Wasim to play under Azhar.
Then there was another problem. Wills the tournament’s sponsors had a deal that no cricket should be played two weeks prior to the tournament or after the tournament. This game a mere couple of days before the World Cup got underway contravened the agreement. Mr. Dalmiya then called up the sponsors and said, ‘Never again you are going to see a joint India – Pakistan team playing. In fact, you should pay me for putting your logo in the players’ jersey. So, just shut up and play.’
Mr. Dalmiya was an outstanding administrator. He had just finished his term as ICC boss ahead of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa. England had just launched T-20 cricket in a bid to address the dwindling spectator turnouts in England.
The British press asked Mr. Dalmiya whether others should follow suit by embracing the T-20 format. “Why should we embrace T-20 cricket. In my home town in Calcutta, when Eden Garden hosts a Test match, there are 100,000 spectators inside the ground and 20,000 people outside the ground trying to get in,” he said.
Eden Garden of course is a cricket ground with full of history. Not so long ago, the venue could host some 100,000 fans. But after renovations, some of the temporary stands are gone and now the capacity is reduced to 65,000.
The venue hosted India’s second Test match way back in 1934. Virtually, it is India’s oldest active cricket ground as Bombay Gymkhana where the first ever Test was played has ceased to exist.
Eden Gardens hosted the final of the 1987 World Cup and the semi-finals of the 1996 World Cup where Sri Lanka famously knocked out the hosts and people reacted angrily.
The blinder that Aravinda de Silva played here is fondly remembered. He raced to a half-century on a tough wicket and set up the game for Sri Lanka.
In 2017, when Sri Lanka played a Test match at Eden Gardens, you thought that you had seen another player with a bright future in Niroshan Dickwella. The wicketkeeper not only got under Indian captain Virat Kohli’s skin, but earned much plaudits for his game awareness as India placed three fielders behind square and he happily hooked and pulled knowing too well that he cannot be out and just in time brought the error to the attention of the umpires who no balled Mohammad Shami.
Shami, the local boy, then got into an altercation with Dickwella. It was clever time wasting tactics by the rookie as Sri Lanka were struggling to save the Test.
In the end, the game ended in a draw and Kohli predicted a bright future for DIckwella. Six years on, Dickwella is not even in the reckoning these days with his off the field excesses getting him into trouble. Not scoring a hundred after 54 Tests made the selectors to say enough is enough.
That exactly has been the problem with Sri Lankan cricket. So many players emerge promising so many things but they lose track once they establish themselves in the side buying into a team culture that is far from ideal. You desperately hope that someone like Sadeera Samarawickrama doesn’t go the same route.
Calcutta is also the city where Mother Theresa, now a saint of the Catholic Church started her charitable mission. She went in search of the slum dwellers providing them medical care and the Missionaries of Charity that she established in Calcutta is now spread across the world. Many cricketers support the charity and Steve Waugh is a frequent visitor here.
“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much,” is one of her famous quotes.
The first truly heavyweight clash of this expanded T20 World Cup format comes freighted with both history and subplots. A rematch of the 2010 World T20 final at Kensington Oval, the match pits Jos Buttler’s defending champions – who are aiming to become the first team to retain the trophy – against the Australian winning machine, victors at the 2021 edition and current world title-holders in Test and ODI cricket. And that’s before you throw in the Ashes for afters.
Already there is added pressure on England, after the rain in Bridgetown led to a share of the points in their opener against Scotland (and that having conceded 90 runs from 10 overs without taking a wicket in a tepid bowling display). Lose to their oldest rivals and it will leave their Super 8 prospects open to being waylaid by the perils of net run-rate calculations, or worse.
The Scotland match was the third abandonment in five suffered by England, after a rain-affected home series against Pakistan, which has clearly hampered their readiness for this campaign after almost six months without playing T20 together. It does not take much for a side to click in this format – and England looked in decent shape when they did get on the field against Pakistan – but Buttler will be anxious for things to go their way on Saturday, if only to avoid further questions referencing the team’s disastrous ODI World Cup defence last year.
Australia, under the laidback leadership of Mitchell Marsh would love nothing more than to add to the English sense of jeopardy – having helped bundle them out of the tournament in India on the way to taking the crown. Their head to head record is less impressive in T20 however, with England having won six of the last seven completed encounters, as well as that 2010 final.
Despite a wobble with the bat, Australia avoided mishap against Oman earlier in the week, the experience of David Warner and Marcus Stoinis shining through in difficult batting conditions. Surfaces in the Caribbean – not to mention those games staged in the USA – have already had teams scratching their heads; rather than the “slug-fest” England had prepared for, following a high-scoring tour of the Caribbean in December, it looks as if boxing smart may be the way to go.
Speaking of Warner, this could be the last time he faces up against England in national colours – and another match-winning contribution would likely reduce the chances of them meeting again in the knockouts. On the other side of the card is Jofra Archer, fresh from an emotional maiden outing at Kensington Oval and ready to take on Australia for the first time in any format since 2020. Can Mark Wood fire up England’s campaign, as he did during last summer’s Ashes? Will Pat Cummins be back to harass the old enemy once again? Seconds out, it’s almost time to rumble.
Cummins is set to return after being rested for the Oman game, which saw Mitchell Starc leave the field with cramp. Starc is understood to be fine and could keep his place – which would likely see Nathan Ellis miss out. Marsh is still not fit to bowl, with Australia likely to continue with the allrounder combination of Stoinis and Maxwell to give them cover.
Australia (probable XI): David Warner, Travis Head, Mitchell Marsh (capt), Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Josh Inglis (wk), Tim David, Pat Cummins, Nathan Ellis/Mitchell Starc, Adam Zampa, Josh Hazlewood
The one change England may consider is Reece Topley coming in for Wood, with the expectation that there will be some rotation among the seamers through the course of the tournament.
England (probable XI): Phil Salt, Jos Buttler (capt & wk), Will Jacks, Jonny Bairstow, Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Moeen Ali, Chris Jordan, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Reece Topley/Mark Wood
[Cricinfo]
Once is coincidence, twice is a clue, and three times is proof.
To paraphrase Agatha Christie, that is the narrative around South Africa’s meeting with Netherlands at this T20 World Cup.
The Dutch beat South Africa at the 2022 tournament and ended their semi-final hopes in a match where South Africa appeared to be sleep walking, and then beat them again at the 2023 ODI World Cup, where they exposed South Africa’s vulnerability in the chase. If they to do the treble, not only will Netherlands take the lead in Group D, but they will offer conclusive evidence of the threat they pose to Full Members, especially South Africa.
Of course, it will take some doing after South Africa’s opening performance against Sri Lanka, where they reduced their opposition to their lowest T20I total and chased it down in fairly straightforward fashion thanks to the most stable middle-order of their white-ball era. In Aiden Markram, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen and David Miller, South Africa have bankers and big-hitters and, for this match, they also have the advantage of experience. They’ve already played at Eisenhower Park, and have first-hand knowledge that run-scoring doesn’t come easily;Klassen said they are prepared to use their “cricket brains” and play “smarter cricket”.
But the conditions could be good news for Netherlands, who are not naturally a line-up of big hitters and build their innings on a foundation of turning ones into twos. In other words, they tend to take a slightly more conservative approach to batting, which may work well here, but they’ll be wary of the uneven bounce of the surface and will have to come up with plans to counterattack especially against South Africa’s seamers. Their own bowlers were exemplary in Dallas and will look to build on that performance against a line-up that will likely be more proactive than Nepal’s, but who they have managed to keep quiet not once, but twice in the past. Third time’s the charm, they say.
Anrich Nortje’s stunning return to form against Sri Lanka means South Africa may not have to tinker with the bowling combination, and Gerald Coetzee and Tabraiz Shamsi may have to wait their turns to get a game. The batting line-up should be unchanged, with no space for Ryan Rickelton yet.
South Africa: Quinton de Kock (wk), Reeza Hendricks, Aiden Markam, Tristan Stubbs, Heinrich Klaasen (wk), David Miller, Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Ottneil Baartman, Anrich Nortje
Conditions in New York may tempt Netherlands to include an extra seamer and they have Kyle Klein in their squad. But it could come at the expense of a shortened batting line-up and they may not want to risk that.
Netherlands: Michael Levitt, Max O’Dowd, Vikramjit Singh, Sybrand Engelbrecht, Scott Edwards (capt, wk), Bas de Leede, Teja Nidamanuru, Logan van Beek, Tim Pringle, Paul van Meekeren, Vivian Kingma
[Cricinfo]
Nuwan Thushara’s last over brought Sri Lanka screaming back into the match,as he first bowled Rishad Hossain, and then nailed Taskin Ahmed in front of the stumps with a pinpoint swinging yorker. This left Bangladesh eight wickets down, with 12 runs still to get.
However, the experienced Mahmudullah was at the crease for Bangladesh, and despite some further nervy moments, pushed Bangladesh across the line off the last ball of the 19th over.
But this was a match chiefly decided by Bangladesh’s own outstanding bowling. Mustafizur Rahman was the best among them, using shorter lengths and his cutters efficiently, to claim figures of 3 for 17. Rishad Hossain’s three-for through the middle overs also kept Sri Lanka quiet.
Mustafizur was instrumental in Sri Lanka’s downward spiral through the middle overs, which culminated in a crash-and-burn end. Ultimately, their inability to find boundaries, or even rotate strike against good Bangladesh bowling resulted in their downfall. A score of 125 for 9 always seemed poor on a decent pitch, even if their bowlers made a match of it in the end.
Brief scores:
Bangladesh 125 for 8 in 19 overs (Towhid Hridoy 40, Litton Das 36; Dhanajaya de Silva 1-11, Nuwan Thushara 4-18, Wanidu Hasaranga 2-32, Matheesha Pathirana 1-27) beat Sri Lanka124 for 9 in 20 overs (Pathum Nissanka 47, Dhananjaya de Silva 21; Tanzim Hasan Sakib 1-24, Taskin Ahmed 2-25, Mustafizur Rahman 3-17, Rishad Hossain 3-22) by two wickets
[Cricinfo]
US sports envoys to Lanka to champion youth development
Rahuman questions sudden cancellation of leave of CEB employees
