Read The Shorter Wisden 2013 Online
Authors: John Wisden,Co
In 50-over cricket, though, Bangladesh enjoyed one of their most successful years, winning five out of nine matches (all at home). They actually had a better strike-rate in 2009, when they won
14 of 19, but there was a difference this time: all Bangladesh’s victories came against top-class opposition.
In between the Asia Cup in March and a one-day series against West Indies, Bangladesh played a plethora of Twenty20 games, visiting Zimbabwe, Trinidad, Ireland and the Netherlands (where they
lost to both the home side and Scotland) in order to prepare for the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka. It all came to nothing when they exited in the first round, battered to bits by New Zealand’s
Brendon McCullum and Imran Nazir of Pakistan.
Bangladesh had hosted the Asia Cup for the third time, and it turned out to be a tournament to savour. On the nine previous occasions they had taken part, they failed to beat any of their
mightier neighbours. Now they surprised everyone, including themselves, by chasing down targets against India and Sri Lanka to qualify for their first final in the competition. It was only their
second appearance in a one-day final of any kind, after a triangular tournament in 2008-09. But the nation was heartbroken when Shahadat Hossain failed to hit the last ball for four, and Bangladesh
lost to Pakistan by an agonising two runs. Shakib and Mushfiqur Rahim cried in public, which only endeared them further to their fans. Shakib was named Man of the Tournament.
Emotionally, the Asia Cup had no parallel. But, in the cold light of day, the high point of Bangladesh’s 2012 had to be the one-day series victory over West Indies, who had arrived with a
raft of imposing big-hitters. Bangladesh were without Shakib, but won the first two games, including a 160-run mauling in the second, their biggest win in one-day internationals: never had they
looked so dominant against a Test-playing nation. West Indies brought it back to 2–2, but the Bangladeshis sneaked the last match by two wickets, igniting a street party outside the National
Stadium.
The find of the year was 21-year-old off-spinner Sohag Gazi, who came in useful against a West Indies side with their share of left-handers. Gazi took the first over on Test debut, and recovered
from being hit for six by Gayle off his first and fourth balls to get him out two overs later. It was the first of 12 wickets in the two Tests; he added nine in the one-day series. Mushfiqur was
considered by many to be a passionate and intelligent young captain – and revealed another string to his bow when he completed a master’s degree in history from Jahangirnagar
University.
Franchise-based Twenty20 arrived in February 2012, with the Bangladesh Premier League. Although Indian players were unavailable, there were several other international stars. However, the event
was marred by controversies, from confusion over the tie-breakers to decide the semi-finalists, to non-payment of players months after the event, and match-fixing.
Before the tournament began, Mashrafe bin Mortaza reported a spot-fixing approach from a 36-year-old player, Shariful Haque, who was banned indefinitely from cricket by the Bangladesh Cricket
Board in September. Both the ECB and the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations remained concerned about the payment structure and policing of corruption in the BPL. Mushfiqur
slammed the league as “disorganised” – and it had clearly been hurried through to fit a gap in the international schedule. The Pakistan Cricket Board threatened to prevent their
players from appearing in the 2013 edition, in retaliation for Bangladesh postponing a tour to their country for the second time because of the security situation. Meanwhile, the BCB extended the
franchise model to a new four-day competition, which began in December.
Bangladesh finished the year without a head coach, after two resigned from the post for similar reasons. Stuart Law completed nine months in the role just after the Asia Cup, and left expressing
a desire to spend more time with his family; he took up a position with Cricket Australia.
Family was also an issue for Richard Pybus, but his stint ended more acrimoniously. When
Prothom Alo
, Bangladesh’s leading daily newspaper, broke the story that he was working
without having signed a contract, Pybus resigned, accusing the BCB of “breaching privacy and confidentiality” through leaking. Pybus claimed an agreement had been struck by both parties
that he could spend time at home in South Africa between tours, but it was not written into the contract presented to him – so he did not sign it. He also complained about a clunky
administrative process. “I couldn’t even get the board to sign off on providing healthy sandwiches for the players after training,” he said. “Players were going down with
food poisoning during camps, so I wanted to offer them something better than a fried egg sandwich. I was told I couldn’t, because that was all the budget could afford.” The episode
showed how amateurishly cricket is run by the BCB. Shane Jurgensen, a former Australian first-class cricketer, stood in as interim coach for the West Indies series.
In line with the ICC’s rotating presidency, A. H. M. Mustafa Kamal was nominated as ICC vice-president, and had to resign from his position at the BCB. Nazmul Hasan, like Kamal an MP with
the ruling Awami League, replaced him as BCB president in October.
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Thirteen is no lucky number. But, for India, 2013 could not come quickly enough after a year that held precious little joy. If 2011 was saccharine-saturated – India began
it No. 1 in the Test standings and lifted the World Cup – 2012 was marked by strife and disappointment.
The year began with a 4–0 Test blanking in Australia, a few months after England had administered the same medicine. The problem was, India refused to swallow it. They believed life would
return to normal at home. A predictably flaky New Zealand side reinforced that complacency when they were bundled out for 159 and 164, to go down by an innings and 115 runs at Hyderabad, before
losing at Bangalore. India appeared to be in possession of a new star:
Ravichandran Ashwin, the off-spinner with a penchant for bowling doosras, carrom balls and much else besides, took 18 wickets in the two Tests.
New Zealand may have been well beaten, but for India life was far from rosy. The BCCI were confronted with a major challenge over the future of Duncan Fletcher, who could not claim one notable
result in his 18 months as coach by the end of the England Test series in December. In fairness, he had presided over a period of transition. On March 9, Rahul Dravid announced his retirement;
then, in August, V. V. S. Laxman said he’d had enough too. They did not plan it that way, but Dravid and Laxman had both ended their international careers in the Adelaide Test. “The
game is lucky to have you and I have been lucky to play before you,” Dravid told fans at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore. “My approach to cricket has been reasonably simple: it was
about giving everything to the team, playing with dignity and upholding the spirit of the game.” It even drew an emotional speech from the usually stony-faced BCCI president N.
Srinivasan.
When Laxman signed off, accused by some of holding up the inevitable progress of an as yet unidentified young Indian batsman, it was no less seminal a move. “I’ve always kept the
country’s success and need ahead of my personal aspirations,” he said. “While I’d love to contribute to the team, especially against England and Australia later in the
season, I think it’s the right time to give the opportunity to a youngster in home conditions before tough overseas tours next year.” That he was still good enough to play – and
did so for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy – was not in doubt. Neither did he deserve the insinuations and barbs that hastened his departure.
Sachin Tendulkar, for the first time in his career, was exposed to well-founded mutterings too. By the end of the year, Tendulkar, now 39, had gone 17 Tests in almost two years without a
century. Against New Zealand, his habit of playing across his front pad, without the assurance of old, left him looking extremely mortal. It prompted deep, but usually sympathetic, debate about his
place through England’s tour late in the year. Even when scoring 76 at Kolkata, he was battling against the fading of the light. Tendulkar made the move to call time on his one-day
international career (which, in truth, had been intermittent for a number of years), in the hope of prolonging his Test life.
With Dravid and Laxman gone, a whole new world opened up for Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara. While Kohli, ordained for greater things, found the going tough in the second half of 2012, Pujara
enhanced his reputation as a doer rather than a talker. His reputation as a greedy run-scorer was confirmed in the First Test against England at Ahmedabad, when he made an unbeaten 206 in seven and
a half hours, then 41 not out to see India over the finishing line. It looked as though England might never get him out. His 15 first-class centuries leading into the game were all numbers to be
reckoned with – including ten scores between 145 and 302 – but it was not until Ahmedabad that he was accepted as a worthy successor to Dravid at No. 3.
England came back fiercely to win a Test series in India for the first time since 1984-85. Kevin Pietersen’s masterful 186 on a Mumbai turner showed India up in conditions that should have
suited them best. India were forced to drop the ineffectual Zaheer Khan for the final Test, and played four spinners – to no avail. As the series turned England’s way, it became sullied
by a debate about pitches: namely to what extent M. S. Dhoni and Srinivasan could reasonably expect to dictate how they were prepared.
England returned home for Christmas between the Twenty20 and one-day matches, presenting a free window, which was filled by Pakistan, as the countries met for their first bilateral series in
five years. But India were overwhelmed by Pakistan’s youthful bowlers, and lost the one-day series with a match to spare. A narrow victory over England did at least return India to No. 1 in
the ICC one-day rankings. This was the format in which Dhoni was most valuable, but observers were beginning to ask whether he should redefine his role in one or more of the sides to stem the flow
of defeats.
Back in March, Kohli had scored superb centuries to beat Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but India were predictably distracted by the spectre of Tendulkar’s 100th international hundred and lost
the game in which he finally ticked it off, to Bangladesh, costing them a place in the final. India were beaten only once, by Australia, at the World Twenty20, but were so torn apart by Shane
Watson in the Super Eights that it left their net run-rate irreparably damaged.
The IPL ran into its share of problems too. Once again, it was left to a media house rather than the authorities to dig up the dirt. From the testimony of several cricketers who bragged about
receiving under-the-table cash payments in contravention of the salary caps in place, India TV exposed a culture of lying and a widespread disregard for the rules. The BCCI came down hard on the
five players in question – banning T. P. Sudhindra for life for “receiving a consideration to spot-fix in a domestic game” – but they did not censure the franchises
allegedly making the illegal payments.
The BCCI maintained their unyielding stance on the Decision Review System, to the frustration of the rest of the cricketing world. The ICC executive board met in Kuala Lumpur in June with a view
to enforce the universal application of the DRS. But the BCCI refused to budge. Outgoing ICC president Sharad Pawar chaired the meeting and, without his calling for a vote on the issue, there was
no chance of moving forward.
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New Zealand are no strangers to cricketing drama, but Hollywood’s finest scriptwriters would have marvelled at the turmoil packed into 2012. Fluctuating performances,
leadership conflicts and vehement protests from fans and former players made for a compelling but destructive soap opera.
The year was bookended with Test victories over Zimbabwe – by a national-record innings and 301 runs at Napier – and Sri Lanka, a 167-run triumph in Colombo born in adversity. But
precious little came in between, with six defeats in eight other Tests. Adding to the malaise were ten losses in 14 completed one-day internationals, and eight in 16 Twenty20 matches (plus two
eliminator-over failures at the World Twenty20).
Worse, the goodwill engendered from New Zealand’s first Test win in Sri Lanka for more than 14 years evaporated immediately, when – at the instigation of coach Mike Hesson –
Ross Taylor was removed from all forms of captaincy, and replaced by Brendon McCullum. A public-relations shambles ensued.
“I knew [working with Hesson] would be tough from the outset,” said Taylor. “I gave him as much support as I could, but it wasn’t reciprocated.” Taylor had batted
New Zealand to a series-levelling victory in Colombo with 142 and 74, knowing Hesson would recommend his demotion as captain regardless. Hesson maintained that his intention, articulated in
hotel-room meetings the day after the 50-over series defeat earlier on the tour, was to push for a split leadership, in which Taylor would keep the Test captaincy but pass on limited-overs duties
to McCullum. Taylor claimed this plan was not made clear at the time, and interpreted it as a move to get rid of him altogether. In his last match in charge, he saved his side from the ignominy of
equalling New Zealand’s worst losing streak of six Tests, set in the dark days of the mid-1950s. But it did not stop him pulling out of the end-of-year visit to South Africa, saying: “I
don’t believe I can give 100% to the game at this time.”
Some good did emerge from the mess, as anecdotal evidence of apathy towards cricket in New Zealand proved exaggerated. Taylor’s treatment unleashed rare passion from fans and past players,
who claimed he had not received the traditional Kiwi fair go. It prompted Martin Crowe, arguably the country’s greatest batsman and a long-time mentor of Taylor, to tweet that he had burned
his New Zealand blazer in protest. He later insisted the burning had been “metaphorical”, and would be giving the blazer to charity “very soon”. Meanwhile, Hesson’s
supporters believed he had been forced to make a brave decision in the interests of a dispirited team ranked eighth in Tests and Twenty20s, and ninth in one-day internationals, below
Bangladesh.