Overreaction Monday ft. Mohammed Shami, Irfan Pathan's claims and 2011 WC pandora's box

06/22/2020

This week, too, there is no surprise as cricketers and other people involved with the sport have made their presence felt, thanks to their bizarre and outrageous statements catching our attention. With the lockdown extended around most parts of the world, the statements are never-ending.

Sri Lankan minister’s ‘outrageous’ fixing claims

Earlier this week, former Sri Lankan sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who served during the period from 2010-15, remarked that the 2011 World Cup final was ‘fixed,’ with Sri Lanka losing the final battle against India by six wickets. Moreso, he went on to add that he would not let the details out in the public.

SC Take: There we have it, finally, after nine long years, Sri Lanka’s sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage has opened his eyes and decided to showcase to the world that his country was involved in corrupt practice. Well, it is very casual for cricket fans to claim that a game was fixed because their side could not live up to their potential on the day, the same case with Sri Lanka on that particular night against India. But those are fans; the same logic cannot be applied to one of the then most influential people in the Sri Lankan parliament. If he did have the proof, as he claims to, it should have been presented much earlier, than being nine years late.

On top of that, the claims in itself are outrageous, much like how many publications picked up the part of Australian skipper Ricky Ponting having ‘spring’ in his bat, which allowed him to score in a tonking fashion against India. He added that no player was involved but some politician did the malpractice, which begged the question, how come a game can be fixed without the involvement of the very basic people who are playing it, More importantly, it is a serious allegation levied against the team and it needs to be well verified before even claiming such a thing. I wouldn't be shocked or surprised if Mr.Mahindananda comes out and says that Australia bought the 2007 World Cup title from Sri Lanka and that game, too, was fixed.

The Indian pace quartet is the greatest of all time

India’s premier fast bowler Mohammad Shami believes that the pace quartet involving himself, Jasprit Bumrah, Ishant Sharma and Umesh Yadav is the best pace attack in the history of Test cricket.

SC Take: It is heartwarming to see Indian cricketers, especially pacers, brimming with confidence, for it was lacking in the Indian sides of the yesteryear and it is visible from their comments, but this particular statement from Mohammad Shami is the mother of all exaggerations. Indeed, there is no denying that this is the best pace unit India have had in their history and this lot have outbowled every other side in the world in the past 18 months, but that does not equate to them suddenly becoming the best of all time.

This argument could be shunned down by making direct comparisons with other great units, but the Indian pacers, for starters, would need to self-evaluate. Yes, they’ve been consistent and they’ve been good, but they have a long, long way to go, for if they were the ‘best of all time’ as Shami has claimed, they wouldn’t have lost 9 off their last 14 SENA Tests away from home. Good to see Shami having learnt a thing or two about overstatements from head coach Ravi Shastri, though.

Irfan Pathan claims he could have been the best all-rounder India has ever produced

In a recent interview with rediff.com, Irfan Pathan called himself a ‘match-winner’ and stated that he always played to make a difference to the team, irrespective of the role he was given. The former Indian player then added that he could have been the best all-rounder that India ever produced, had he played a bit longer.

SC Take: Well, Irfan Pathan’s sentiment here is understandable for he believes he had a lot to offer to Indian cricket than he eventually did but well, the best all-rounder ever, that is a tad exaggeration. After a few years of initial burst, Pathan lost his string as a pacer and even when he was brought in as a first-change bowler, he could hardly do anything. Him being used as a defensive option fell flat because his 125 military medium pace was smacked left, right and centre, to give his career a dramatic downfall.

Could he have done better? I certainly feel so that his batting was decent enough to leave a mark but he never utilized his full potential after being given the chance to bat up top. All he could do was some pinch hitting and some responsible partnership, all the while ignoring his main forte. Irfan was a lost promise but honestly, never was he ever on the plane to greatness.