The cricketing Codes Beyond Rules

Ikram Alikhil is young.He has played in the World Cup.He also has played Test cricket.He is a capable batsman and a wicket keeper. Yet aspects of cricket keep unfolding as mysteries being decoded.In Lucknow yesterday, he rushed out to congratulate Rahmat Sah, the batsman on the other end on reaching his half century.A natural response from an excitable young man but the ball was still in play and he was run out.Many years ago in early 1974, Bernard Julien patted down the last ball of the day in a test match and the non striker Alvin Kallicharan walked away only to see Tony Greig fielding at silly point knock down the stumps and appeal for a run out.As stumps had not been called, umpire Douglass Sang Hue gave him out.A furore erupted.What to speak of Alikhil in whose country hardly any cricket was then played, even Shai Hope who claimed the run out may not have heard of the incident. Yet at moments like these there are unwritten codes which as a cricketer you can follow as Walsh did in the 1987 World Cup, Vishwanath followed in the Centenary Test by recalling a batsman and India went on to lose a test but Vishwanath went up several notches in fans' esteem.

India Pakistan rivalry will soon be history like cricket's oldest rivalry.

The followers of cricket in the 70s started the decade with an embargo on cricketing ties with Pakistan.In the interim Pakistan were doing well and playing reasonably well overseas.Indians were excited when cricketing ties were restored.Even then, England and Australian cricketers did not consider India at par and Indian fans were reasonably pleased with series where treatment was at par.Economy in Pakistan was ok and Indians still were pleased to wait 10 years for a scooter.Things changed more after 1991(PVN) and 1996(JMD).Now Pakistan is passed.Australia and India are new marquee teams with significant economy and cricket following which is wide enough to support a competitive bilateral series.Mainly the media tries to revive India Pakistan rivalry but it is even less talked about by young person's as Liverpool vs Tootenham Hotspur.Media Moghuls may like to smell their coffee and not flog a dying horse.

Cricket's oldest rivalry is not Australia vs England but Canada vs USA. However not only is this rivalry dead but cricket has lost any serious importance in North America.So please resist temptation  to think India vs Pakistan is anything special.Every World Cup game is special.Cricket can be uncertain. India does poorly in bilateral series because of various reasons including ennui vs hype in opposition.

For all those like me who were young in 1975, the World Cup was a novelty.India had played not more than two ODIs, which in any case was a new concept at international level.There had been one day tournaments in three formats in England but international One Day matches were few and far between.Amidst this  the Prudential Cup was introduced.

     The Prudential Cup was new even to aficionados who followed test matches around the World.One such introduced me to the World Cup.And India vs England was a classical match which should have been an advertisement for its non popularity.SUNIL Gavaskar remained 36 not out in 60 overs.We were not even sure whether this was good or bad.

Gavaskar and Vishwanath, Tendulkar and Dravid and Hopefully Pujara and Kohli

Nearly three years back, I had wondered who would be our batting mainstays. Virat Kohli, then was already exceptional in ODIs and establishing himself in tests.Pujara was having poor series away from South Asia.Finally, it apperas the duo of Koh;li and Pujara have established themselves and several series win at home and two away have cemented this.

Taking a look at overseas performance of India since1932, two distinct pattern seems to emerge.One between 1971-1982 and one between 1996-2008.During this period while India managed to do well in India, it was competitive abroad winning series in England, West Indies and Pakistan, often for the first time.Both these phases saw India having two very  good batsmen, Gavaskar and Vishwanath in the first phase and Tendulkar and Dravid in the second.There was a decent support cast and good bowlers but the bulwark of two competent world class batsmen kept the team afloat.the decline of the second pair and now lacking any pair with similar capabilities, India finds itself in a situation where overseas visits often end with defeats and inconsistent performance.

There have been away series with bowlers led by Kapil Dev helping India make winning forays, home and away.There have been batsmen like Amarnath, Vengsarkar,Azharuddin and Sehwag who have shone and in Sehwag's case dazzled but the confidence the two pairs brought were unmatched.The present has Kohli, definitely the best ODI batsman today but who else?