The hardcore cricket buffs will spend much time analysing the strategies adopted by the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchisees at the auction in Goa on Friday; others will wonder why such monies are not spent on other sports in India. For the moment, though, I will sit back and smile at how the IPL auction stretched beyond merely the spectacle that the product is.

The fact that eight franchisees signed up 17 overseas cricketers and spent more to $11.5 million – and remember there was a cap of $ 2 million that each franchisee could spend – at the auction is a clear pointer to not just IPL's health but also that of the cricket economy in the country and, for good measure, the state that India is in.

He got to scale another peak, joining the quintessential left-arm fast bowler Wasim Akram as the world’s most successful wicket-taker in one-day international cricket history with 502 wickets when he claimed Indian ace Yuvraj Singh’s scalp in the third game at the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo on Tuesday.

Yet, I must confess that it's been tough to be a fan of his bowling just as it was quite easy to admire the Pakistani genius Wasim Akram’s guile, Australian legends Glenn McGrath’s nagging precision and Shane Warne’s magical craft and the uncanny understanding of angles that India master Anil Kumble brought to the bowling crease.

I have never ever sent a text message that would not be read by the person it is addressed to but Wednesday was different and an exception had to be made because there was no option. I had to send a message to my friend Javed Akhtar Siddiqui’s cell number to condole his death.

Javedbhai was a basketball player par excellence, sports journalist who rose to be Senior Editor in Arab News, a PR person with a calm, reassuring presence and, above all else, a wonderful, humble human being. A towering personality with a warm presence, he could easily be befriended. There was no rancour or bitterness in his persona.

There is such a clinical, chilling precision to India’s approach – laced with immense self-belief – to the task of chasing a target in a limited-over international these days that its opposition will begin to wonder what can be actually beyond Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his team. There was more evidence of such methodical pursuit on a sluggish track in Dambulla on Tuesday.

There may not be many fans for the no-frills attitude, especially with a whole generation of cricket watchers growing up to admiring big strokeplay. Yet, it was just as well that Team India chose a steady pace rather than risk losing its way in quest of the dazzling strokes. I believe that the efficient chase of an asking rate of five runs an over is a sign of the team maturing as a unit.

So then, Mohammed Azharuddin is back in the news. Not on Page 3 where he has been spotted in the past few years or on the news pages where occasionally we would read about his long drawn legal battle with Board of Control for Cricket in India. But because it has finally been said the former India captain will begin a new innings as a politician.

Even as recently as last week-end, he was unsure whether he wanted to get into what another Indian legend Amitabh Bachchan once famously branded the cesspool. But now it does appear that his mind is made up and the stage is set for his launch as a member of the Congress party and as a candidate for the Parliamentary elections later this year.

There have been suggestions that global recession will leave its impact on the second edition of IPL. I am prepared to stick my neck out and suggest that it will be bigger – and hopefully, better – than the inaugural edition. There were many skeptics even the last time around but I said months before the first ball was bowled that IPL would be a runaway hit.

The National selectors have done well to resist the temptation of roping all youngsters who have had an outstanding time in the Ranji Trophy competition. The most consistent of the lot, left-handed allrounder Ravindra Jadeja, has been picked for the five-match ODI series in Sri Lanka while swing bowler Dhaval Kulkarni has been sensibly made to wait.

One of the greatest things about cricket is the fact that it is a team sport. Simply stated, no run is complete unless a batsman’s partner reaches the safety of the crease at the other end; no wicket can ever be credited to a bowler if a catch is not taken by a fielder or the wicket-keeper.

Perhaps, in the wake of the controversy that it sparked with a release on player rankings, the International Cricket Council (ICC) will remind itself that the sport it runs is a team sport and that it must leave the habit of focussing on individual achievements to others who thrive in that business of praising individual glory.

They say that a national cricket team draws its health from the showing of the young in its domestic competition. And with the Ranji Trophy championship drawing to a close, what with just the final remaining to be contested by Mumbai and Uttar Pradesh next week, it is a good time to examine the performance of some young players.

To be sure, there is significant gap between the quality of competition in domestic cricket and the international arena but it cannot be argued that the performance at home is a pretty good yardstick of talent. If some of these lads can add aptitude and mental strength and continue to excel in the time ahead, there is reason to believe that Indian cricket is pretty healthy.

The sight will be etched in my mind's eye for years to come. As the Captain of the chartered flight, ferrying us from Chandigarh to Lahore for the 1996 World Cup final, drew our attention to the border thousands of feet below, scores of pairs of eyes peered out of the windows of the airbus A-320 to catch a glimpse of the rows of bright lights that dotted the India-Pakistan border. Not a few minds fantasised: "If that line didn't exist, not a few sporting conquests would have been notched up by great teams of an undivided India."

Tuesday was the time when we experienced the sweet taste of India’s series victory over England, tempered by the bitter awareness that it could have been better. Indeed, another series win for India calls for more celebration. But the fact that India did not make a hard enough attempt to secure a 2-0 verdict will rankle a fair bit.

Yes, one if aware that not a few overs were lost to bad light and fog in the second Test in Mohali. One is also aware that the bowlers found little response from the PCA Stadium track but that should not have seen the Indian team settle – quite early in the Test match – for a draw, without making any attempt to secure another win.

Battles of attrition on a sports field, especially a cricket ground, have always been fascinating but what has unfolded over three days in the Mohali Test featuring India and England makes it hard for the words joy or gripping to be associated with the quality of contest on show. May be we have been spoilt by the stunning Test match in Chennai last week.

Belonging to the old school, I understand that sometimes slow scoring is a necessary part of the game but I have not enjoyed much of what has happened in Mohali. Of course, Kevin Pietersen’s batting – his first hundred in India – has been a delightful exception. Pietersen’s was a magnificent effort, complemented by Ian Bell and Andrew Flintoff who made half-centuries.

We have grown up being told that every dark cloud has a silver lining but Gautam Gambhir and Rahul Dravid served us a reminder on Saturday that every silver lining has a dark cloud. They added a record 314 runs for the second wicket in the Mohali Test but at a crawl. The pair occupied the crease for 108 overs and had a dismal strike rate of just 2.91 runs an over.

There was no doubting the collective sigh of relief from Rahul Dravid and his fans let out when he completed his 26th Test century and a sense of delight when Gautam Gambhir made the biggest Test score by any batsman at the PCA Stadium but the focus seemed to be so much on individual milestones rather than on the team goal of posting a tall total.

There was a time when he stood out as a champion performer in all conditions, earning the respect of his team-mates and opponents alike. He made deliveries look less lethal than they actually were with his keen concentration and excellent judgment.

That time contrasted sharply with a recent drought when he stuck out like a sore thumb, unable to find the middling form that made his wicket such a prized one. He seemed to find it tough to concentrate for long spells, bringing pressure on himself and making things a great deal easier for the bowlers that he ever did.

 

Can we have more of that, please? What a great Test match we have been fortunate to watch unfold before our eyes. It is not just because India scripted an inprobable come-from-behind victory over England on Monday that one is making such a wish but because the Test threw up many fascinating dimensions that added up to serve a spicy treat to the fans.