Is Ireland Cricket fighting a lost cause?

On  July 9^th 2013, Ireland became the first Associate nation to qualify for the 2015 World Cup. However there are good chances that most of the cricketing world would have missed the high intensity drama that day in Amstelveen as Ireland pulled off a thrilling last-ball tie against their Dutch hosts.IRELAND CRICKET

For long, Ireland has been at the forefront of rising standards and profile of Associate and Affiliate cricket around the world. The World Cup 2015 will be Ireland's sixth global event, with the side having already competed in the 2007 and 2011 editions, as well as the ICC World Cup Twenty20 in 2009, 2010 and 2012.

During the 2007 event in the Caribbean, the Irish broke many hearts when their motley bunch of amateurs-including a postman, a farmhand, a school teacher and an electrician-defeated Pakistan. Four years hence, Kevin O' Brien smashed the fastest century in World Cup history as Ireland defeated England in extraordinary fashion.

If Irish player expectations have soared, then so too have those of supporters and administrators. In the last three years, Ireland have been defeated just four times in 42 ODI's by their fellow Associates and Affiliates, clearly establishing their kingpin status in the Associate world.

With seemingly no more lands to conquer, Cricket Ireland recently announced that it will apply for full membership of ICC, with ambitions for Test status by 2020. But without a clear roadmap  for graduating to the next level and reluctance on the part of ICC to define , let alone create one after the premature and hurried elevation of Bangladesh - Irish players seem to have become flustered. In a sport like cricket, careers are finite and the lure of better opportunities (read Test Cricket) has proved overpowering for some.

From the likes of Ed Joyce who once went astray only to find out that he was not in England's scheme of things for Test Cricket to limited overs giant Eoin Morgan-who has slipped down England's pecking order in the longer version of the game, Cricket Ireland has been rendered helpless in preventing its players from representing England. Another Irish star, fast bowler Boyd Rankin has just recently become a part of England setup and it won't be long before the talented 21-year old left-arm spinner George Dockrell is lapped up by them.

It's clear that the quality of cricketers being produced by the emerald isle is not a problem. One argument against Ireland's elevation is lack of stadia. Ireland currently host their home matches at Stormont in Belfast and Clontarf in Dublin, each having a capacity of over 5,000 spectators for internationals. But with the under construction stadia in Malahide, planned to have a capacity of over  10,000 to be completed in the next two months, Ireland will be able to spread its fixtures between three top quality venues.

Another argument puts forth the fact that Ireland has no domestic first-class structure in place. Ireland's chief executive, Warren Deutrom has outlined a plan to establish a provincial first-class structure, although the plans are still in a nascent stage. It is important to note that Bangladesh received their Test status before their first-class competition could be properly established. Only in the season following their  first Test match, did the National Cricket League become a first-class competition.  

With seemingly all the bases covered, where is Ireland cricket heading?  Test Nations continue to ignore their improving one-day results since it doesn't make financial sense to play them. The ICC, despite its rhetoric about globalising the game, doesn't act to stem the talent drain.

With a number of Irish players playing in the highly-competitive County circuit, Ireland should be better prepared for Tests than say, players from Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. Moreover providing Test status would help them retain quality players and feature in more top-level competitions. At least their ODI record shows they are good enough. For the moment though, it remains an agonizing wait for Irish cricket fans and its cricketers, for whom, Test status still seems a distant dream.

MAGGI MAN's Rise Shows Why Opening No Longer a Specialist's Job

It is often said in cricket that opening the innings is a job best left to specialists. After all, a specialist opener must possess the rare combination of a different technique and a different mindset to achieve success at the top of the order. 

But the history of one-day cricket is replete with examples of players who have made successful transition from middle-order to opening, thereby quashing the notion that it is a specialised position.

Sachin Tendulkar, Saurav Ganguly,  Sanath Jayasuriya, Mark Waugh, Adam Gilchrist and many more set new benchmarks in ODI cricket with their explosive and flamboyant batting, ably showcasing their batting prowess with consistency hitherto unseen in the game.

While it is true that all these greats came into their respective teams primarily as middle-order batsman, in most cases circumstances forced them to get converted to openers-possibly as a last resort to save their promising careers.

A case in point is Rohit Sharma. His recent success , albeit as an opener in ODI's has once again shown how someone with a sound technique and temperament can resurrect his career by switching atop the order.

Thrust into the opener's role, he was instrumental in helping the team win the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in the West Indies. He was the second highest run-getter for India in the ICC event with 177 runs at 35.40 and the top scorer in the West Indies with 217 runs at 54.25.

When Sharma burst on to the international scene as a member of M S Dhoni's Twenty-20  World Cup winning squad back in 2007, critics quickly labelled him as the potential successor to Rahul Dravid. Things, however did not unfold that way.

Despite being one of India's most talented cricketers, the Mumbaikar soon became an epitome of inconsistency. So frequent were his flashes of brilliance combined with a flatter-to-deceive-act, that he allowed some of his contemporaries to steal a march on him as he continued to struggle for a spot in the Indian team.

Although being given a long rope, Sharma had made just 1949 runs in 83 matches at a disappointing average of just a shade over 30, prior to his stint as an opener.

It was only in January 2013, when the team management frustrated with his inconsistencies decided to gamble with him at the top of the order, providing possibly the last ray of hope to revive his largely unfulfilled career.

And, he grabbed it with both hands, scoring a stroke-filled  83 off only 93 balls to set up a series-clinching victory for the Men-in-Blue.

Sharma's track record as an opener speaks volume of his talent and he has been quoted as saying "From the point of view of consistency, this has certainly been the best phase as an international cricketer. I am enjoying my new role as an opener. That I have been successful and my contribution has helped the team's cause makes it even more satisfying. I am hoping to keep up the good work."

While Sharma has a lot to prove before being considered in the same breath as his more illustrious predecessors who had successfully converted as openers, 2013 might well be his year. Rohit Sharma may just have woken up from his slumber to play a long innings. After all, he is too good a player to not come good for India.

Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara - Now or Never !!

Post the victorious limited overs campaigns in England and West Indies, India are all set to embark on a tour to Zimbabwe with a relatively young and inexperienced side. While such a tour demands justification considering that the national team plays virtually non-stop throughout the year, it presents a one-of-a kind opportunity for fringe players looking to cement a place in the senior India squad and subsequently be in the scheme of things for 2015 World Cup. 

Looking back at the team selected for the five-match series, there are two players who will be viewing this tour as a make or break case. The quality of the opposition notwithstanding, an impressive performance here will undoubtedly force the selectors to have a harder look at the current batting order of the senior team, however failure could well see them lose their place forever. Yes, we are talking about Ajinkya Rahane and Cheteshwar Pujara.

The importance of performing in the international arena cannot be better understood than by a certain Ajinkya Rahane. Before his debut in the Delhi Test in the 2013 Border-Gavaskar Trophy, Rahane had been a part of the Indian squad for an astonishing five consecutive series, dating back to November 2011 against West Indies - without getting a look in.

During that period, India had won three series and lost two, including at home against England. As many as seven players made their debut during this period even as Rahane started being labelled as the "permanent drinks-fetcher and substitute fielder" by the media.

Before this however, Rahane had forced his way into the Indian ODI team on the back of a stupendous record in domestic cricket, but failed to cash in on the opportunities he got at the international level courtesy a generous captain. 

Rahane played 16 ODIs since making his debut against England in 2011, amassing 404 runs, at a disappointing average of 25.

He started off on a good note, scoring 40 and 54 in his first two ODIs in England, but thereafter found it difficult to score on a consistent basis. He slammed 91 against England at Mohali in October 2011, but since then accumulated a mere 126 runs in eight innings before finally getting the axe.

And in an irony of sorts, his spot has since been taken over by a former middle-order batsman and his Mumbai teammate Rohit Sharma. While Rahane gets his opportunity this time albeit as a middle-order batsman, he will do well to fathom that seizing this golden opportunity will only happen if he performs on a consistent basis and scores big, even if against the lowly attack of Zimbabwe.

Another player who will look to stake a claim in the first choice ODI team is Cheteshwar Pujara. The tour to Zimbabwe finally allows the Saurashtra run machine to make his ODI debut for India. Despite being amongst the best batting talents to have emerged from the slippery rungs of India's domestic cricket ladder in recent times, it is highly unfortunate that Pujara has been labelled as a proverbial 'Test Match' specialist. His good showing in the Tests coupled with his ability to play marathon innings in the longer version of the game have gone against him when it comes to the limited overs format of the game.

But Pujara has time and again dispelled the notion of being a slowcoach by scoring runs at a brisk pace. During the Test series against Australia, Pujara hammered 419 runs at an average of 83, with an equally impressive strike rate of 62. He further plundered the Australian attack in the second innings of the fourth Test in Delhi by scoring 82 from 92 balls, thereby putting to rest his inability to score quick runs when needed.

It is no secret that flamboyance in the current batting order has paid rich dividends for the men in blue. On slow wickets (uncharacteristic English wickets included), the team can get away with a line-up full of stroke players; but in conditions akin to Australia and New Zealand (slated to jointly co-host the 2015 World Cup) which are known for their fast and bouncy wickets, Pujara's role will be as important as Rahul Dravid's was in the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.

The upcoming tour therefore gives him the ideal platform to impress upon the selectors that his batsmanship is not restricted to any particular format. Pujara in all probability is expected to bat at No. 4, serving the role of sheet-anchor and technical fulcrum around which the batting will revolve.

With Dinesh Karthik failing to nail down his place in a full-strength middle order, the game of cat and mouse has begun for a couple of positions in the batting order. Those who rise to the occasion are sure to reap rich dividends in the future.