Utter lack of Common / Cricketing Sense

The only thing common about Common Sense is that it is uncommon.

 

You need 11 of the last over and have just scored 9 of the first three. Two reasonably good batsmen at the crease, one a former Captain. The common sensical thing is to put bat on ball and get two singles, right? And NOT hit the ball in the Air, come what may!

 

But heck, no! First Mushfiqur goes for glory trying to hit a six and gets caught in the cows corner. The batsmen crosses. Two of Two now, and the other set batsman Mahmadullah, who has played 48 minutes on strike, as batsmen had crossed over. You would expect him to take a single and tie the score, thus ensuring at least a tie, and a Super Over. You thought wrong! He goes for an ugly slog and picks the best Indian fielder. I don't blame the batsmen for the run out of the last ball. They had to take the bye, but only Dhoni was a shade quicker. Pandya heaved a sigh of relief, but then he should not have been bowling the last over at all. It should have been Bumrah. Pandya should have bowled the 19th when 17 was required of 2. Bumrahs Yorkers would have defended 8 or 9 in the last over easily.

 

Only that run out by Dhoni, running and breaking the wicket, instead of throwing , the right thing done by anyone on a crazy day of cricket.

 

The nonsense started long ago, when India were batting. Well, you can say even prior to that, when the team was selected. This World cup has been about spinners as the pitches are turning and slow. Why the hell are you picking Pandya over either Harbhajan or even Negi. Both of them can bat as well as Pandya (who has not set Indian cricket on fire with either his batting or bowling) and are definitely much better bowlers in these conditions. And why o why did we not include a leg spinner in the team in the first place? Amit Mishra would have been a handful to any team, and he is no mug with the bat lower down.

 

At the end of the 5th over, India were 27-0, and had struggled a bit. The last over of the power play and Rohit and Dhawan cut loose. First 5 balls read 1,6,1,6,1. Bangladesh on the backfoot with 15 already of the over and India a healthy 42-0. Ideally Rohit should have pushed for a single or two and ended the over with 16-17. Oh no! The idiot had to go for a cross batted old fashioned slog and hole out, shifting the momentum back to Bangladesh.

 

Your partner has just got out after a good over. You would expect Dhawan, who was batting very well to play straight and pick singles easily the next over. No way! He goes for an ugly sweep and got himself LBW. Ridiculous!

 

Kohli and Raina rebuild well and we are 84-2 after 13. First 3 balls of the 14th over read 4,1,6, taking the score to 95-2. Take couple of singles and we had a decent over of 13-15. And Kohli plays an atrocious cross batted shot to get bowled. And this on a pitch where the odd ball was keeping low. Another piece of nonsense cricket from the best batsman of the side.

 

Come the 16th over, and Raina gets out first ball with score 112-4. Still 29 balls to go. Pandya batting well, Yuvraj walks in and Dhoni to follow. And Pandya, who had crossed over goes for a pull, and was out to a stunner of a catch. The catch was great, but that was a non percentage shot immediately after a wicket has fallen.

 

All the above small situations where we showed utter lack of common and cricketing sense ensured we were 15-20 runs short.

 

We won in the end, only because Bangladesh lost their head, but we didn't deserve to win

Perils of False Expectations

I have always wondered how people are conned into believing something when all the evidence point to the contrary.

 

I was in a Super Market yesterday picking some vegetables. The guy who had to weigh the vegetables was following the New Zealand - Pakistan World Cup T 20 Match on his mobile. He was apparently a young Pakistani. Pakistan was chasing 180, and needed 85 from 48 balls with 7 Wickets in hand. He gave me the score update and wishfully said "Saab, we will win. 85 from 48 balls, Afridi is on strike". Knowing Pakistan's fragile batting I was skeptical, but comforted him that they will win definitely. His faith in Afridi was unshakeable, though Afridi has hardly won any match with his bat for Pakistan during the past 20 years he has been playing. An explosive batsmen no doubt, but his regular failure on big occasions or otherwise is legendary. But the guy still believed in him. Maybe, it is because Pakistan fans have little else to believe in these days. Afridi failed once again, and Pakistan lost the match by 22 runs or so.

 

The Indian Cricket team management is no less guilty. They still believe that Shikhar Dhawan is a good opener, Suresh Raina is the most talented youngster in India, Rohit is the solution to all our batting problems and Ravindra Jadeja is an all rounder. Dhawan scores once in 10 innings, Suresh Raina never scores, Rohit is better but a disaster in Tests and I have forgotten when Jadeja ever scored a few runs for the Country. But we still persist with them.

 

I have seen many parents having a false notion about the ability of their children, expecting them to do things beyond their ability. They try to live their unfulfilled dreams through their children, leading to considerable stress.

 

I know of a Business Associate who sent his son to Australia for studies to do a 4 year Engineering Course. The boy spent 8 years and came back broken with a 1 1/2 years diploma. Another family friend spent a fortune putting her son in the Medical College and the boy did not even complete 1 Semester in 6 years, and came out totally defeated, confidence shaken. In both the cases the parents had a wrong notion about their Children's abilities and should have been more careful.

 

We make the same mistake in our Workplace, favouring certain employees, who normally have better interpersonal skills, than those who are the real work horses adding value every day to the Organization. We end up with the good silent worker getting dejected and quitting, leaving us with only those who are worthless.

 

We need to be realistic all the time, assess the capabilities of the people around us and set reasonable expectations, or else considerable disappointment is in store for all concerned.