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The Harsha Bhogle Chat

With Lanka overcoming a halfway stutter and coasting to a win, the conversation was mostly centered on the ongoing Singer Cup. And Harsha, with the insight that makes him a favourite on the ESPN commentary team, came up with some eye opening analysis of proceedings thus far. sam (Fri Aug 30 20:38:31 1996 IST):

hi!

Hiya, Sam... :-) You're early, but come on in...

Harsha - are you in???

Hi everyone

Hotu, Harsha is not in yet, it's a quarter to nine... there's still time...

H'lo, Bradman, how was birthday number 88? *smile*

Hi Everyone

Guys, how many of you are watching the Sri Lanka vs Australia game?

Hi everyone

119 is better than 88 *smile*

Hotu... *smile* BTW, Australia seems to be giving Lanka a run for its money, right?

I am picking up the info from where else...Cricinfo

Hey... one thing about the Lankans in recent times, their strength of character. Example, the erstwhile Mad Max, Aravinda, playing head down, responsible, a totally reformed character... what do you suppose brought about the transformation?

Hotu, okay... score 123/5... overs 25. And both Aravinda and Mahanama batting beautifully... placing for singles, waiting for the loose ball to thump... no fuss, no fluster... very very cool and composed. Very impressive.

You got that right, Prem

Hotu... yeah, but what I would like to know is what brought about the transformation. Maybe if we knew the answer to that one we could use it in India.

Hotu... a screaming off drive, an edge to third man, two fours in two balls for Aravnida D'Silva... 134/5, and Lanka looks to be back on track...

HI guys, this is harsha, we'll start whenever you are ready.

Look's like the two fine bats in Sri Lanka, Jayasuriya and Aravinda are making up, for the loss of hair, in runs

H'lo, Harsha, great to welcome you back to Rediff Chat. One to start you off: what was your reaction to India's performance against Sri Lanka?

Hey, I'm allowed a joke or two

Hotu... *LOL*

Harsha, before I begin, what is this thing with cricket with a K. How did you or could you get into a show like that?? Do you enjoy it??

Okay, guys, end of over number 28, Sri Lanka on 137 for five. On course, would you say?

prem; i remember what i said last week about an india v australia final. i thought of that statement very often while watching sri lanka bat against india. i got the feeling that they could have scored another hundred runs. it is remarkable how well they have learnt how to win. one of their former cricketers ranjit fernando had told me three years ago that sri lanka need to learn how to win. now that they have won a few, they have acquired the confidence to go all the way. remember how often they came so near and were so far in the end. today's match is a typical example. three or four years ago, australia would have been wrapping it up by now

Looking at 92 to get from 132, five wickets in hand...

hotu; the concept for kriket with a k was quite brilliant; the fact that someone could conceive a game show around the oldest known way to play cricket in india. the action on the sets was unbelievable. very competitive, very very fast and really exciting. but the technical guys couldn't quite grab the excitement and so while it made for brilliant viewing, it appears a bit slow and laboured as it stands just now. but i must confess i really enjoyed working on it because it gave me a new television experience.

Harsha... yes, Lanka looks awesome. I just saw Aravinda play another scorcher, a straight drive off Mark Waugh. Which brings me to this: do you think thee is any cricketing strategy at all that will work against the Lankans?

Harsha, what would be your tactical approach to the modern one day game?? Is it absolutely necessary to get off to a scorcher - a la Sri Lanka and consolidate or lament in the middle order and try to take off again towards the end?

End of 29, 145 for five. Aravinda batting beautifully on 40, of 48 balls... Harsha, would you say the Mad Max of a year or two ago is a reformed character today?

150 just up, in 183 balls... Lanka, after that stutter, looking to be cruising again...

What did you think of Tenduylkar's first foray as captain. On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate him?

hotu; i guess each team does it its own way. i remember australia looked with great scepticism at the asian approach as symbolised by srikkanth and saeed anwar. that was because on their wickets, the ball does something even in the one-day game. in asia, it is really the cricketing equivalent of the happy hour. i think you will find that in australia, south africa or on cold days in england, these tactics won't work very well. so who knows we might see different styles depending on where the matches are being played. but it does help tremendously to get a flier because it such an insurance against later problems. like sri lanka have discovered today. without that start, had they lost five wickets, they were gone. now all that mahanama and aravinda have to do is to play out the overs and they will be home.

Were you happy with the team selected for the SL game? Was it a good decision to bat first? It was a good batting track, and one feels that the result might have been different - with India chasing a target. Comments???

prem; yes, i would agree. so often we saw aravinda throw it all away when a victory seemed there. i remember particularly against australia in 1993 in the test match when they were cruising. in desperation, border brought back warne and mcdermott. aravinda tried suddenly to hit mcdermott out of the ground, was almost caught, repeated the shot immediately, was out and sri lanka lost. in passing, warne took three quick wickets and has never looked back since. today he is a solid cricketer. he was always a correct batsman and i think he should make most world elevens now.

Talking of fliers, Jayasuriya did it again today didn't he? 44 off only 28... including an over from Steve Waugh that went 4 wide 4 4 wide zero four... Harsha, what is the secret to his batting? He looks orthodox, through the line. If that is right, then what is he doing extra that others ain't?

A lot is being said about Dravid not being a one day man. What do you think?? If he is good for the five day stuff, then why select him?

hotu; very early to say about sachin. you can't do too much if jayasuriya is batting like that can you? i can't really say about batting first but i do remember the experts saying that they expected the wicket to slow down as the game went on. also at the premadasa stadium, 87 per cent of the matches had been won by the teams batting first largely because it is very humid and you tend to get sapped by the end. but in this form, the sri lankans are throwing theories to the winds!

With one game down, how do you rate India's chances in the Singer Cup. I personally don't think anything spectacular will come about....perhaps beating Zimbabwe...yes.

prem; wish i knew about jayasuriya. i believe he has fantastic eyesight and is a very quick judge of length. also, when he decides to hit, he gives it everything. as a result even mishits tend to go over the 30 yard circle and you will notice a lot of fliers through the slips. also, he seems to hit across the line and i know bowlers have often felt that he will get himself out after a while. but he doesn't.

Okay, asking for 69 off 108 deliveries... and in comes Damien Fleming, the man who got rid of Ranatunga and Jayasuriya in one over and rocked Lanka back on its heels for a bit...

What do you think of Vikram Rathore and by now the famous ungainly shuffle he has brought into his footwork - early on in the innings, which has perhaps been the main reason for his failures at the highest levels. How can he get over this technical flaw and play some fine innings for India, for this man is definitely not lacking in temperament.

Harsha, I know this might be a rather risky thing to do, criticising Indian cricket's reigning icon. But when he batted against Lanka, I got the feeling that Sachin was so intent on proving that captaincy wouldn't affect his batting, that he lost sight of the overall objective. Like, when Azhar was failing to step on it, Sachin would nine times out of ten have accelerated. This time he didn't. Am I reading too much into it?

hotu; tough to say about dravid. if he has to remain a test cricketer, he will play too little cricket! he has always played one-day cricket and i know that he has no worries about playing one-day cricket. actually in today's cricket, i don't think you can any longer classify someone as being a test or a one-day cricketer. what i do worry about is dravid batting at number six where he runs the risk of becoming a slogger. the singer cup? you never know. if australia lose this one as seems likely and india manage to do something against them, they could still make it as the other team.

Harsha, a day ago Ranatunga was talking of passing on the captaincy to a younger man. Today, I noticed that when Lanka was bowling, Ranatunga was consulting Tillekeratne more than even D'Silva, his deputy. Is the baton passing to Hashan? Or do you reckon Aravinda will get a stint in the top job first?

prem; maybe you are. but india do have a problem with the opening slot. sachin is now clearly going to be the anchor; a reasonably quick scoring anchor but i am not sure if we will see the explosive starts that characterised his early opening days. as a result, if we need the kind of crazy momentum that we had in the past, it has to come from somewhere else. jadeja? gavaskar thinks kapoor might be a good idea. maybe srinath occasionally. the ideal thing though would be that a stable opening pair (like waugh and taylor) gets around 75 in the first fifteen overs. when you aim for something over 100, it means you are doing a bit of the suicide stuff. but 75 from the first 15 should be a very good start without sachin taking too many chances.

Harsha, don't you think Jadeja should be a permanent feature at No. 6. He could provide the flourish required during the slog overs. If India needs to take some desperate measures to out do the Lankans, a very bold and adventurous move of putting Kambli in with Tendulkar might just work

Harsha.. about the opening slot... Anwar, Sohail, Jaysuriya to name three flamboyant openers, all left handers. Probably because the opening bowlers find it tough to maintian the right line to them, give them width? Should we be trying Ganguly with Tendulkar, you think? The boy seems very fluent outside off...

prem; i don't know how much younger tillekaratne is. but if there has to be a change it would have to be either him or aravinda. i don't know if aravinda would want it but for tillekaratne to get it he has to become more of a lead performer. at the moment, he has the highest one-day batting average for sri lanka but at number six, he isn't playing an important enough role. but with his temperament, he might just do a good job.

hotu; i am not very sure about kambli. if we have to have a left hander, ganguly might just work. talking about jadeja, i know he has started to realise that that assault on waqar younis is going to be a bit of an albatross round his neck.at number six you can only do that occasionally and when expectations are so high, the batsman invariably finds himself in an everything to lose situation. what jadeja wants i think is to be given a permanent slot.

Can anyone else put in a word please?

hello harsha, what do you think about using Saurav Ganguly for opening the inings in ODI matches?

Comy... come on in and fire away....

comy; welcome aboard. how about several words?

Comy?????

Hello Harsha, What is your opinion about using Saurav Ganguly for opening the inings in ODI matches?

Where do David Johnson and Sunil Joshi fit into the scheme of things?

shail; not a bad idea provided he has the job for a substantial period. it might work. but maybe we panic too much too soon. i would be in favour of giving jadeja some more time. at least two more games in this tournament.

Prem .. SL 185/5 *smile*

why cant the team experiment by sending srinath permanently at no 5 or 6 because if he can get some quick runs then it will be for the team;s advantage otherwise it won;t make abig difference don;t you think it is a chance worth trying from vijay

Hi harsha, What about the bowling with kumble opening with srinath as prasad is a good old ball bowler

Hotu... *smile* I know, I'm watching... What can any team do when Aravinda is in this sort of form, and a former opener named Mahanama walks in at number seven? Talk about depth in batting... theer's still Dharamasena and Vaas to follow...

Harsha,But I think Jadeja will be more useful in the number six or seven position in the ODI matches....

harsha, so who would be comprise a good opening pair for india

hotu; i won't be surprised if we see david johnson get a go with prasad having a problem bowling the new ball to left handers. i certainly see johnson bowling at some stage in canada. ravi shastri thinks we should play joshi in place of one of the batsmen, batting at number six and becoming the fifth specialist bowler. that is a typically aggressive captain talking. in fact, a sixth batsman in a one-day side is a luxury. and india have long been pampered by prabhakar's talents that allowed india to play six batsmen and five bowlers.

will it be a good idea if sachin opens the innings with vinod kambli harsha

The ask now, 41 from 67... and Aravinda just swung Michael Bevan out of sight... so make that 35 from 66. Lanka seems to have it wrapped up..

Hi harsha, I think we need a strageist manager like ravi but you guys took him to ESPN. What are his chances of becoming manager

harsha ithink the biggest mistake the team makes is that they panic too early and do not try hard to force a result

Okay, 196 for 6, Roshan Mahanama walking back, bowled behind his legs by Glenn McGrath for 50 off 78. Funny, Waugh too got out for the exact half century...

sirilanka vs australia

harsha, about our opening attack in one dayers, how about opening with srinath and saurav?

harsha why can;t you answer any of my questions ihave been trying for a long time but you dont seem to be answering my questions

dharma; we talked about that a short while ago. i am not sure it is such a good idea because he is quite versatile at number five. i think he has at last found a good slot for himself and i don't think we should tamper too much with it. actually, talking of opening slots, once sidhu is back, he should form a stable partnership with tendulkar. my second choice would be manjrekar to open with tendulkar.

Harsha, Upal Chandana walking in to bat... how is he as a batsman? Ever seen him play?

How would you compare our present team with that of the Aussies. The seems to have tremendous depth in all departments of the game. They bat right down the order and have today used 8 bowlers so far, with acceptable figures.

bala; ravi as cricket manager? what a tempting thought! he would be really good, aggressive and very good tactically. also young enough. but i don't know if he would want it so early especially since he is becoming such a sought after commentator. i'll answer that one again after toronto when i'll ask him the question. funny, i meet him so often and it never struck me to ask him that one!

201 for six in 40.2... thanks to a Michael Bevan full toss which Chandana puts away through extra cover...

dharma; i am not sure about panicking early but they do seem to lack a bit of steel.

prem; remember seeing chandana bat a couple of years ago in sharjah. looked solid and took sri lanka out of a tough situation. didn't play too many shots that day but looked a very good cricketer. what i do remember, apart from some leg breaks, was his fielding. he was brilliant and we saw that today.

do you think it will be a good idea to opening the bowling with a spinner against jayasuria say for example kumble to bowl along with prasad

The ask now, 28 off 54. And Aravinda looks to be repeating his World Cup final effort, guiding Lanka home...

what are the chances of india making it to the finals incase australia beats lanka now

hotu; i think where we lost out the most against teams like the aussies is in the fielding. we are possibly the worst fielding side in the one-day world. you don't realise the role of fielding until you see the south africans and australians take wickets literally, with their fielding. you saw that today with healy (i don't know if you are in a position to see the game). it was the kind of catch you see once a year. you see how it suddenly raised the morale of the side and almost won the match for australia. if we can field about a million times better, we will be a consistent threat to the cricket world. today, we relie too much on individual skills of people on certain days.

RD... *smile* Australia need to take four wickets for very very little if that is to come off... I'm watching, and the way Aravinda is going he looks good for another 50, 75 runs if he needs it... and he just pulled Gillespie for four, so the ask is now just 17 runs...

Harsha...I am inclined to agree. Shastri was always good captaincy material - a natural. He would be an excellent choice for any position that calls for leadership.

rd; not a bad idea to use a spinner against jayasuriya, but it needs to be a top spinner of the likes of kumble. we saw england do that in the world cup quarter final and jayasuriya said thank you very much. there is also a theory which is an interesting one, about using a slower bowler against him but then it didn't work today with steve waugh. the way jayasuriya is playing just now, the best way to stop him is to send a few malaria bearing mosquitoes into his room. i don't see too many bowlers doing it!

harsha how was the approach of the indian team under sachin, since we donot get the matches live in singapore iwanted to know wheather you noticed any change in the approach in the team,

Prem, SL 22 to get in about 7 overs?? AdS 67*

didn't catch your name on that question about sachin; no i don't think i saw any change at all under sachin. if there was, with that result, we've got a problem!

harsha, Also why do they have only batting tracks in deomestic cricket when every one knows india needs fast bowlers

Hotu... *smile* Thanks... I'm watching... spellbound, actually, this is an overwhelming batting performance from AdS...

harsha say hello to my good friend kumble and wish him best of luck on my behaly tell him that it is vijay from singapore wishing, and also a fan who use to meet him in bombay by the way harsha my second name is vijay and first name is dharma

Hotu... Aravinda just swung McGrath to the midwicket... couple of inches short of the boundary, but a four anyways... 9 from 37... it's over...

10 more needed for victory. Desilva 74*

SL safely through to the finals???*smile* Prem, are you there?

bala; i agree with you. too much is made about one-day cricket being a batsman's game but unless the wickets have something in them for the bowlers, we will see a lot of average batsmen performing like tigers. i personally believe the wickets in australia are the best because a score of 180 is defendable, 220 is decent and 250 is almost definitely a match winning score. personally i believe that is how it should be.

Hotu... SL seems to be treating the tournament as won already... kind of going through the formalities... you should see the crowd dance!!! Harsha, would you say the Lankan crowd is the most jubilant in the world? Beating the Windies with their music and dance?

vijay dharma; will do.

harsha, Also why do they have only batting tracks in deomestic cricket when every one knows india needs fast bowlers

hotu; i have seen some brilliant crowds in sri lanka complete with steel band. only a couple of days ago, ian chappell was comparing these crowds with those in trinidad. i have never been there so i couldn't give you a comparison just yet.

Okay, six from 30...

Wasnt there a particular spectator in Colombo who used to have a real go at Azhar? I think the name was Percy.

Harsha you gave analysis, is there a way the players or the board could reorganize the pitches to bring pace bowlers as good fast bowlers = good opening batsman

do you think we need a hard task master as the cricket manager some body who will be respected and also who cares more for the game , with out any offence to sandeep patil idont think he concentrated enough in the game in his playing days then how can he motivate the team and bring discipline to the team , i think the best person for the job will be kapildev don;t you think so herer again i have notthing against sandeep, it is all said in the interest of indian cricket

Game's tied.

mansoor; percy is still around. i think ghe gets a lot more attention than he deserves but he follows them everywhere. he has become somekind of talisman for them.

Okay, folks, a pull by Aravinda off McGrath for four, and it's all over... 232 for six in 45.5, Aravinda walking back not out on 83...

I enjoyed this session tremendously, Harsha. When do we see you again?? Friday next??? I'll be there. Till then....shubh ratri and god bless

bala; i have seen one-day matches being played in india and they are played on really pathetic wickets. in fact, we don't really have a high pressure one-day competition in india and that probably answers an earlier question on why we seem to pack in under pressure.

Harsha, sachin said that he will concentrate only on spin in india when we know that even in that department we do not have world class spinner apart from kumble who is struggling, I think sachin has got his priorities wrong because now prasad and srinath are good what we need is one more fast bowler

Hey lets all to the Small Smoke Filled CAFE for a cuppa coffee

Hey lets all to the Small Smoke Filled CAFE for a cuppa coffee

unnamed again; spot on about the taskmaster. a lot of cricketers feel the same way about kapil but his mind hasn't been revealed yet. sandeep patil has had a very good record as captain / manager in indian cricket but as we all know, international cricket is a completely different kettle of fish. it doesn't help that he didn't have a great reputation as a fielder in his prime.

harsha dont you think it is a big mistake on the part of board to punish siddhu and left Azhar scot free because it canot be just the fault of siddhu and iam sure he is not that kind of aperson who will make a big issue out of notthing, and in the best interest of the team the board should have allowed him to play with a nominal fine

bala; actually we need more bowlers of every type; more reliable spinners and at least two more quick bowlers in the prasad mould.

unnamed; i wonder if you read my piece about sidhu on this site where i have said what i think. personally, i think the board got it right.

Harsha, Thanks for a great session hope you write more about the pitches in india in major newspapers and do something about it. Thank you for a great time

see you guys, any more? am around for a couple of minutes . otherwise see you next week. any suggestions about this site?

We need to get a solid opener to partner Sachin. With all the poor starts we've been getting, no wonder that the rest of the team (incluiding Sachin) gets bogged down. Rathore did not grab the chance he was given in the English series except for big scores in the first class matches. I am not in touch with the domestic scene, but is there anybody who can open with Sachin?

mansoor; amazing how the opening slot seems to attract so many opinions. as i said in answer to another question, now that we have recalled jadeja, i think we should give him some time.

harsha it is dharma again will now be more cricket and less intervention of bollywood stars in to the cricketing world, now that sachin has taken over, because that to every one;s opinion was one of the factors led to the perfomance of the team

Well, thanks, and see you next week.

Harsha, Thanks for a great session hope you write more about the pitches in india in major newspapers and do something about it. Thank you for a great time

dharma; aren't you being a bit too harsh? bollywood and indian cricket are old companions. i think we give them too much importance. it depends on each individual cricketer and on how much he can stand temptation. it isn't fair to classify everyone under one head.

harsha i have alot of suggesions about this site can you give you email no ican mail it to you iam dharma her again r1967@singnet.com.sg thank you very much for awonderful session

see you next week guys.

Harsha, Thanks for a great session hope you write more about the pitches in india in major newspapers and do something about it. Thank you for a great time

Harsha, Thanks for a great session hope you write more about the pitches in india in major newspapers and do something about it. Thank you for a great time