India's Humiliation in the Pune test!!

"If Australia play well, India will win 3-0. That is if Australia play well. Otherwise, 4-0.", said former Indian offie, Harbhajan Singh before the India-Australia test series got underway. Even Sourav Ganguly, an astute reader of the game, predicted that this series could also go 4-0 in India's favor like the England series. Only Virender Sehwag sounded a note of caution, stating that the law of averages may catch up with this Indian team, while predicting a 3-0 or 3-1 kind of a scoreline.

Looking at these predictions as well as the numerous articles in media (which were dismissive of Australia's chances), I became increasingly uncomfortable. After all, everybody was labeling this Australian team as one of the weakest ever. Possibly, the "experts" were being lazy with their analysis. May be, they were taking cue from Australia's last tour of Sri Lanka in July-August 2016, where they were thrashed 3-0. Perfectly reasonable to assume that they were mindful of how the visiting South African team beat Australia 2-1 only 3 months back. I became so wary of how everybody was writing this Australian team off, that I tweeted the following before the 1st test got underway:

So what happened? Why did this Indian test team's juggernaut come to such a screeching halt at Pune? And how come many experts didn't see that coming? After all, this was Australia's first test victory in India since 2004!! (yes, you read that right). And, this was also India's second worst test defeat on home soil - coming 2nd to that very test in 2004 (held at Nagpur). Not to mention, India's combined total of 212 runs across 2 innings and 20 wickets in Pune, is their worst match aggregate ever on home soil. The time for serious soul-searching is now.

What did the experts fail to notice?

The tendency to oversimplify & overlook details and perspectives is all too prevalent today. Especially, if these details unsettle the neat conclusions that one seeks or those that don't fit the prevailing narrative. 

The pivotal moment for Australian cricket during this season came after they suffered a humiliating innings defeat against South Africa in the 2nd test at Hobart in November. This was their 5th consecutive test defeat and there were immediate fallouts - the chairman of selectors, Rod Marsh, resigned and Trevor Hohns became interim chairman. Plus there were wholesale changes to the squad. Three cricketers debuted for Australia in their next test vs South Africa at Adelaide - opener Matt Renshaw, middle-order batsmen Peter Handscomb and Nic Maddison. Also, in came Mathew Wade as the wicket-keeper replacing Peter Nevill while pacer Jackson Bird replaced Joe Mennie. Also, Steve O'Keefe was drafted in against Pakistan in the 3rd test in January 2017 at Sydney. These changes infused a new sense of purpose amongst the Aussies and since then, they've won 5 consecutive tests (including the Pune test). Both Handscomb and Renshaw have been very impressive since their debuts while O'Keefe has made a great comeback.

Youngsters apart, the experienced hands in the Aussie ranks are much too familiar with the Indian conditions. Warner, Steve Smith, Starc, Shaun Marsh have all played regularly in IPL; Warner even led his franchise to their 2nd IPL title in the last edition. While Warner and Steve Smith have very impressive test records, Shaun Marsh has a fantastic record in Asia. Also, what was largely forgotten in the noisy narrative (that "Aussie batsmen will crumble against spin") was the fact that their current batting line up boasts of several batsmen who play spin bowling very well. Steve Smith, Shaun Marsh and Peter Handscomb are very nimble on their feet and are acknowledged as good players of spin bowling.

Determining factors in the Pune test

It'll be useful to analyze what went wrong for India in this test and how Australia prevailed in such dominating fashion. Of course, it would be too simplistic to pin this down to a few factors but I'll still make an effort to highlight the major factors.

The pitch 

The pitch at MCA Stadium in Pune came in for some scrutiny. The surface was very abrasive and devoid of any moisture. This resulted in the ball getting scuffed up pretty quickly and the pitch offering plenty of turn and bounce from the 1st session itself. I tweeted the following after watching the opening hour of play (mind you Australia's opening pair were yet to be separated):

As a matter of fact, the match got over in a little over 2.5 days. The pitch was unlike any India have played in this home season. This rank turner can only be compared with the pitches used during South Africa's tour of India in Nov-Dec 2015. In that series, South Africa didn't cross 200 in any of the completed matches (the Bangalore test was rained off) while India crossed the 300 mark only once. Needless to say, the Australian team adapted much better to the dry surface in Pune vis-a-vis the South African during that series while India's much vaunted batting lineup simply crumbled. On such pitches, a finger spinner is much more lethal given that he can turn the ball a long way even when bowling at a quick pace and at a flatter trajectory. It's still unclear whether this pitch was prepared on specific request from the Indian team management (Kohli denies this) or it was a case of under-preparation given this was the first test match hosted at this venue.

Aussie spinners outbowled their Indian counterparts!

Yes you read that right!! Despite playing three spinners including two off-spinners (presumably to counter the plethora of left-handed batsmen in Australia's batting lineup), Indian spinners were out-bowled by Steve O'Keefe and Nathan Lyon. How did that happen? Some experts have pointed out that on a raging turner like this one, in order to get a dismissal, the deliveries have to be fuller in length (vis-a-vis good pitches). Since the ball turns appreciably after pitching, the closer it is to the bat, the lesser it'll deviate before reaching the bat and thereby has a greater chance of taking an edge instead of missing the bat. Both O'Keefe and Lyon kept the ball much fuller vis-a-vis Jadeja and Ashwin, thereby either inducing an edge or missing the inside edge for an LBW dismissal. The below pitch maps amply demonstrate this:

Source: ESPNcricinfo.com

Source: ESPNcricinfo.com

Notice in the above pitchmaps as to how the Aussie spinners are closer to 2 - 4 mtr range and there are fewer deliveries in the 4 - 6 mtr range vis-a-vis the Indian spinners (in the respective 1st innings). In the 2nd innings, the Indian bowlers tried to bowl fuller (esp. Jadeja) but they were still not full enough.

Source: ESPNcricinfo.com

Source: ESPNcricinfo.com

All in all, while the left arm spin of O'Keefe wreaked havoc amongst the Indian batting line up comprising mainly of right-handers (10 out of 11 batsmen are right-handers), Ashwin couldn't do as much damage against the Aussie batting line up comprising largely of lefties (6 out of 11 batsmen are left-handers).

Aussies batted with a plan, the Indians appeared clueless!

In the pre-match conference, the Aussie skipper spoke about how the spin was inconsistent on Asian pitches (unlike the Australian pitches) and hence, how difficult it was to pick the off-break from the one that didn't turn (even though it was delivered as an off-spinner). On such pitches, Smith professed that one needs to eliminate one half of the bat. In other words, the batsman needs to ensure that he plays the line of the ball and doesn't follow the deliveries that turn. This way, he may get beaten on the outside edge of the bat but not on the inside edge (thereby eliminating LBW). Smith practiced what he preached and got a masterful 100 in the 2nd innings. Renshaw played well in both the innings and specifically targeted Jadeja by repeatedly going down the pitch against him. Mitchell Starc used the long handle to good effect in both the innings and came up with very useful contributions down the order. Overall, the Aussie batsmen showed a lot of grit and patience to muster totals of above 250 in both the innings.

On the other hand, the Indian batsmen looked clueless against the Aussie bowlers esp. O'Keefe. In the 1st innings, they were first bamboozled by the Aussie pacers and then were either too tentative or too dismissive against O'Keefe. In the 2nd innings, they kept missing the straighter ones to either get bowled or LBW. Apart from KL Rahul in the first dig and Pujara in the 2nd, none of the other Indian batsmen showed any fight. As a result, India barely managed to score above 100 in either of the innings and they lasted for less than 75 overs (combined for both the innings).

Australia's superior fielding!

Australia's superior fielding, esp. their close catching, held sway and thereby played a significant part in this match. Handscomb held some outstanding catches in the first innings and both Smith and Wade were safe. On the other hand, Indian fielders dropped Smith three times during the course of his 2nd innings hundred. "Catches win matches" never sounded this prescient.

What lies in store for the rest of this series?

The Pune test was a sudden wake-up call for this all-conquering Indian team. There was possibly a hint of complacency coming into this test but this thrashing must have put them on guard. They'll now know that these Aussie boys are more than a handful and making a comeback & winning this series will test their character and grit to the fullest. I do expect Virat Kohli & Co. to make a comeback in the remaining tests and if the Aussies can continue playing with the same determination and tact, we'll have a cracker of a series - possibly one to rival the memorable 2001 series.

Indian Game Developer Summit 2010

I attended the Saltmarch Media's Indian Game Developer Summit 2010 in Bangalore on 27th Feb. Now someone may ask, Why? After all, I am no game developer. I can't even write a few 100 lines of programming code to save my life. I am an investment banker and what the hell is an I-Banker doing at a conference mingling with the tech geeks? Well, being an I-Banker doesn't stop someone from being a game enthusiast (check my twitter intro: http://twitter.com/swapstick) and it is in this capacity that I flew to Bangalore on Friday (26th Feb) night.

The flight was delayed by an hour and a half ensuring that I'd only reach Bangalore on Saturday (00:20 hours to be precise). I told myself that things can only get better from hereon. Except that half an hour later, I got a call from my travel agent that the bus I was planning to take for my return journey was cancelled. Anyways, I reached Bangalore by 00:30 am and reached my friend's place by 2:00 am. After a little sleep (yep, that's what I call 4.5 hours of sleep), I was at the conference venue (Nimhans Convention Centre) by 9:00 am. After registering myself for the event (and receiving a nice blue bag), I entered the IGDS arena (believe gamers like that word).

The opening keynote ("Envision, Enable, Achieve") was delivered by Carl Jones, Director - Global Business Development for CryENGINE at Crytek. Carl spoke about how Crytek was founded in 1999 by a small team of 10 people in a smallish town in Germany. And how within 10 years of consistently pursuing 'AAA' success and focusing only on organic growth, it has become one of Europe's largest independent game developers. There were a few demo videos which demonstrated the capabilities of Crytek's engine (understand that the latest version would be made more affordable for developers shortly). It was also interesting to note that at Crytek, game designers don't focus too much on having detailed design documents. Instead the core design framework focuses on documenting the game pillars supported by various game features and according the developers more flexibility. In the Q&A session that followed, I wanted to ask him as to why don't they look at inorganic growth strategy (esp since EA has been growing this way) but the clock struck 10:20 before the microphone could reach me. All in all, it was a fantastic opening to what would eventually turn out to be a trend-setting event.

From thereon, three sessions ran parallel in three halls. So the next session that I attended was "Creating Successful Online Games" by Robin Alter, Co-Founder and CTO at Kreeda Games India. Robin emphasized on how important it is to involve the client (i.e. publisher) throughout the game development process by providing them with prototypes, animation modules etc. At Kreeda, the developers follow Kreeda Development Methodology comprising 5 Ds: Discover, Define, Design (enterprise-level), Develop and Deploy. Robin also touched upon a new game they are developing and announced that the Beta version would be launched shortly. A good session but once again I couldn't ask my question in the shortish Q&A session.

In college, we were the perennial LLBs (Lords of Last Benches) but here, sitting at the back was costing me the opportunities to ask my questions. So I broke the norm and sat among the first few rows for the next session, "Create, Distribute and Monetize your Games using Adobe Flash Platform" by Harish Sivaramakrishnan, a Computer Scientist and Platform Evangelist at Adobe Systems. In the 'Create' subsection of his presentation, Harish talked about powerful runtimes like Flash Player 10.1 (beta) which can be used for porting PC games to mobile platforms and Adobe Integrated Runtime (AIR 3) for desktop games as well as tools like Adobe Stratus. He also touched upon 3rd party libraries which could be used for creating different applications. But for me, what took the cake was the next subsection, 'Distribute'. Here, Harish introduced Adobe Distribution Manager, a powerful tool that can be used to add Adobe applications (like games) to social networking platforms like Facebook, MySpace, iGoogle etc.; track and analyse user engagement (eg no. of gamers) and distribution data; create campaigns & make MONEY (through ads). Finally, he had just enough time to introduce Shibuya (still in Beta version) which can be thought of as an online marketplace for AIR applications. This time I had an opportunity to ask a couple of questions. But there was one little problem. Being technologically challenged (i.e. TCed), I didn't have any.

Did I forget to mention about the various exhibition stalls by various sponsors like Nvidia, Adobe, DSK Supinfocom, AIGA among others? On display were state-of-the-art systems, demo videos, information on various gaming courses etc. This truly enhanced the value proposition of IGDS 2010.

My 3rd session was "Business of Online Games" by Tridib Roy Chowdhary, Director of Products at Adobe Systems. Now this was one session where I expected myself to be an active participant. Tridib started off by talking about the typical value chain in the video game industry (developer -> publisher / aggregator -> portal -> gamer and advertisers who bring in the revenue). The depressing part (if you are a developer) was that in the traditional value chain, typically only 5% of revenues reach the developer. Given that advertisement in games is still under-penetrated, Tridib suggested trying other gaming genres like advergames, dynamic in-game advertising, social games etc. But all these pale in comparison to the Mochi model. In the Mochi model, developers can earn as much as 50% of the revenues and publishers thrive on volume-play. And finally I did ask a question (about developers building their own brands) and received a satisfactory reply. A great session and a perfect way to go into lunch.

The food served at lunch was tasty and hygienic & quite frankly, I was pleasantly surprised. A big thanks to the organizers as they ensured that none of us had to go out for lunch. That left us some time to visit the stalls and network.

Post-lunch sessions are always tough (at least from what I can recall from my college days). So once settled into the comforts of the audi chair, I should have been excused for taking a little nap. But the prospects of my next session ("Sell Your Game, Adopt a Game Designer" by the DSK Supinfocom team) kept me awake. It was a decent session wherein the importance of game design was emphasized. It was also useful to watch a couple of game review videos (from Gamespot.com) and appreciate the difference a good game design makes.

"Preparing for the Great Indian Social Gaming Rush" by Sumit Gupta was my next session. At the outset, Sumit (CEO and Founder of BitRhymes) defined social gaming and for the sake of "TCed" people like me, I'll repeat the same here. Social games are casual games designed for non-gamers urging them to play with their friends for 5-10 minutes daily. Having evolved from Asia (China, South Korea and Japan) and spreading to the West, India needs to catch up. Growth drivers for the Indian market include continued growth of social networking sites, low cost of production and convergence of business models towards virtual goods. It was interesting to listen to Sumit explaining how iteration is a critical part of social games, post-production is longer than pre-production, cost of gamer acquistion is very low, and how BitRhymes (set up 2 years ago) started making profits from the 1st quarter itself (truly inspiring, I must add). At ARPUs of $0.4/month(for good games) to $1.0/month (for top games) in the US, this seems a great idea.

Time for the last session, "The Creative Core Team" by Jithin Rao, Producer at Ubisoft Pune. Going into the session, I thought this would be more about how to assemble a core team for a startup studio. However, this session was more about how important it is for an established studio (typically spending mega bucks on each title) to have a core team who complement each other very well (given that so much is at stake). Having said that, it was a good session since it gave us a fair idea as to the involved parties in the development of a game (of course, most of us don't think of this while playing a game). Producer, creative director, art director, lead designer, lead level designer, lead sound designer, lead programmer and brand manager. All of them play a very important role in making an entertaining game. For small studios, most of the core team members play a dual-role.

That brought an end to a thoroughly entertaining, exhausting and enlightening day. I couldn't attend all the sessions even though I wanted to. To compensate, the organizers have promised us soft copies of the presentation materials and video sessions. And to round it off, all of us received a T-Shirt and certificate as a token to mark India's first game developer summit.

A word of thanks to the organizers for putting together a fantastic show. The planning and execution of this event were absolutely top notch. Keep it up guys. Remember what I said at the start, things could only get better. They certainly did.

The Year of Tendulkar Redemption!

They said he couldn't score in the finals of an ODI tournament. They said he had never won us a test match by scoring a 100 in the 4th innings. They said he was on a downslide and capable of only minnow bashing. Also that Ponting, Kallis, Dravid etc. will easily surpass him. So in a year where India staked a genuine claim to being a world beating side, Sachin Tendulkar has answered his critics in the most befitting manner.

Right from SCG to Chepauk, Tendulkar batted like a man possessed. While his 154 at SCG wasn't enough to save India from an umpire-induced defeat, his 71 (which came to an end with another questionable decision) at Perth and his partnership with Rahul Dravid went a long way in helping India towards becoming the first sub-continent nation to win a Test at the bouncy WACA. This was followed by another gem at Adelaide. In the ODIs, he helped India win the tri series final (2-0) with two amazing knocks, first controlling a tricky chase with the calmness of a monk and then setting up a fighting total in the second final. Injury ruled him out from the SA series and the subsequent ODI tournaments (also part of IPL). He came back against Sri Lanka in the tests with the series billed as the battle between M&M (Murali and Mendis) and India's Fab 4. Sachin failed to make an impact on the tests although he picked Mendis better than most. He looked comfortable in all his innings (except the last where he was troubled by injury) before he found out a way to get out (BTW, Mendis picked him up only once i.e. in the last innings). Despite this being just one blip since WC 2007, the media roundly criticized him (and the others as well) after the series labelling the Fab 4 "over the hill".

The following series against Australia was thus the marquee series of the year. Indian team had to prove to themselves as well as others that Sri Lanka was just a minor blip on the progressive radar. It was a battle of Australia's fading heroes against India's upcoming stars. It was Ganguly's last series (later turned out Kumble's farewell series as well) and India's most successful skipper wanted to stamp his authority one final time. There was also a small matter of Tendulkar being just a few runs away from becoming the highest run scorer in Tests.

The first test was a close affair with Australia dominating till Zaheer and Harbhajan fought back through some resilient late order batting. The 4th innings required India to bat through the final day and save the match. When Tendulkar walked in at 24/2, familiar last day horror scenes must have been racing through the minds of the fans. But Tendulkar (in the company of Gambhir and Laxman) displayed exceptional determination and technique in handling the pressure and bowlers and his innings helped India draw the match. As it turned out, this was Australia's best chance of enforcing a win in the series.

The second test at Mohali began with all the talk about the little champion breaking Lara's record in the match. India batted first and Sehwag and Gambhir gave them an excellent start through a stand of 70. However, India lost a few quick wickets and when Ganguly joined Tendulkar in the middle, the score read 163/4. Tendulkar again came to the rescue with a fluent 88 and a 142 run stand with Ganguly. In the process, he also broke Lara's record and became the 1st person to score 12,000 test runs. Thereafter Dhoni and Ganguly ensured that India reached 469 and with Australia's top order struggling, India won the match by 320 runs. Dhoni made 50 in both the innings and debutant Amit Mishra picked up 7 wickets in the match.

By the time the 3rd test started in Delhi, India were on a high and Australia were really struggling. So when India batted first, everybody expected another run feast. But with Sehwag failing and Dravid's prolonged slump continuing, Tendulkar was again at the crease at 27/2. Continuing with his rich vein of form, he again rescued India with a lovely 68 and in company of Gambhir (who was in great "touch", Shane Watson notwithstanding) took India to 157/2. With both Gambhir and Laxman striking double centuries, India posted a mamoth 613/7 decl. But Australia fought back with all the premier batsmen contributing and cut the lead to just 36. India had to bat really well in the 2nd innings but again India fell to 53/3 and again Tendulkar (47) in the company of Gambhir and Laxman denied Australia any sniff of victory. The match ended in a draw. This test was also the last for Kumble and he was a given a heroic farewell.

It was left to the final test at Nagpur to decide the series. Ironically, it was here at Nagpur four years ago that Australia clinched its first test series on Indian soil in more than 35 years. India needed to deny Australia a win to retain the Border-Gavaskar trophy. India won the toss, Dhoni decided to bat and Sehwag in the company of M. Vijay (making his debut in the absence of the suspended-Gambhir) provided a solid 98 run opening partnership. Everything was going according to the script before the debutant off-spinner Jason Krejza struck twice to remove Dravid and Sehwag to leave India in a spot of bother at 116/3. In came Tendulkar and he continued his excellent showing in the series, stitching together a crucial 146 run partnership with Laxman and scoring his 40th ton (10th against Australia) in the process. India posted a competitive 441 and although Australia fought back gallantly, Virender Sehwag and Dhoni ensured that the advantage wasn't squandered and the series was won with a resounding 2-0 margin. Gambhir was adjudged as the man of the series but its pretty clear that Tendulkar was the difference between the two sides.

Having done so much, one would have felt that this was good enough for the year. Little did we know that the best was still to come. Inspite of the terror attacks in Mumbai, the English team showed great courage to continue with the test series and were the frontrunners in the 1st test at Chennai with a 75 run lead in the first innings. Strauss and Collingwood were going strong and at one stage it looked like India will have to battle really hard to even save the match. Then three things happened. Zaheer Khan gave an amazing exhibition of reverse swing in the afternoon of the 4th day and Sehwag smashed a 68 ball 83 to give India a realistic chance of victory on the 5th day. Finally Sachin Tendulkar decided that it was about time that he erased those painful memories of 1999 at the same ground. England had no answers as Tendulkar swept, cut, pulled, drove his way to glory. India chased down 387 and Tendulkar brought up his 41st century.

Hence, in 12 months of brilliant batting, Sachin Tendulkar answered all his critics in style. In 2008, he scored 479 runs at 60 with 2 100s in matches that India won. Not bad for someone who has been criticized (unfairly, shall we say?) for not contributing in India's wins. Tendulkar has indeed redeemed himself in 2008.

Federer: 3rd favourite?

I just read somewhere that Bjorn Bjorg believes that Federer is the 3rd favourite at this year's Wimbledon behind Nadal and Djokovic. Now, there is no denying that Nadal has improved his grass court game tremendously and Djokovic has been in great touch this year. But to discount a 59 match winning record on the surface and five straight Wimbys would be a folly. If anything, Federer's mono-affected performances reveal the steely character of the man. That he managed to reach the semis or better at the two slams is no mean feat. Who knows? By September, we might see him equalling Sampras' record of 14 slams.

Atheletes are known to go through such "bad" patches (compared to their own high standards). Tendulkar, Woods, Sampras, Ali have all been through this. Great champions find a way out of this and emerge stronger.

I don't see any crisis with his game as yet. Even if he fails to win the next two slams. Federer's game is based on precision in shot-making and creativity. The creative mindset is still intact. Its just that his consistency has deserted him to a certain extent (look at his unforced error count this year). This can be attributed to the after-effects of mono as well as the rise of several other players (including Djokovic) who throw him off his rhythm. Once he gets his consistency back (more likely on the faster surfaces), the beautiful game will start flowing again. That punishing forehand, that versatile backhand, those angled volleys as well as the deceptive serves. The very facets that brought me back as a die-hard tennis fan during 2003 Masters Cup (victory over Agassi in the final with a 6-0 second set).

Nadal's victory at Roland Garros will spur Federer on to play better and we all know that if Federer starts playing in the "zone", there's likely to be only one winner (especially on the faster surfaces). Part of the reason why baseliners have started to do well at Wimby is due to slower courts and slower balls. Its a tribute to Federer's adaptability that he's won at Wimby using serve & volley (to a significant extent in 2003) as well as by staying back (2006, 2007). Therein lies the answer to all the critics' questions. That he's by no means finished. And that he is the strongest contender at Wimby '08. Those in doubt will have to wait till 6th July.