Anis Sajan, Mr Cricket UAE, shares his frustration with Gulf News Editors
India; New Zealand; Virat Kohli; Kane Williamson; World Test Championship; cricket
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#UAEnews #cricket #WorldTestChampionship
India; New Zealand; Virat Kohli; Kane Williamson; World Test Championship; cricket
See more videos at https://gulfnews.com/videos
Read more Gulf News stories here: https://bit.ly/2HLJ2km
Subscribe to Gulf News on YouTube and watch more of our videos: https://www.youtube.com/user/GulfNewsTV
#UAEnews #cricket #WorldTestChampionship
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00:00When you said the ultimate test, we were all expecting to look, or rather looking forward to this ultimate test, that the daddy of all test matches.
00:08But I am afraid, instead of watching high-quality cricket, we are able to see rain.
00:20Hello everyone. Welcome to Straight Bad with Gulf News and Mr Cricket UAE, that's Anish Sarjan.
00:26With me and Anish is Kavitham Bhattacharya and we are discussing the ultimate test, the world test championship final between New Zealand and India.
00:34But despite being an ultimate test, we have had much of the day's play washed out today.
00:41Today the entire day's play was washed out, so was the first day's.
00:46So we had a bit of play on the second day and the third day.
00:49But not all is lost, we still have two days to go.
00:52Anish, what do you think, what can we expect in the next two days?
00:56Good evening Shyam, good evening Gautam, good evening to all the beautiful people of Gulf News.
01:02Well, when you said the ultimate test, we were all expecting to look, or rather looking forward to this ultimate test, that the daddy of all test matches.
01:10But I am afraid, instead of watching high-quality cricket, we are able to see rain.
01:15We have seen only 142 overs happen in a span of four days.
01:19Thankfully we had a reserve day, but in two days you are asking for too much.
01:23And the only team which can call all the shots is probably New Zealand.
01:27Gautam, what do you think can happen in the next two days? Because do you see a result from here?
01:34Difficult Shyam. I mean, see, the thing is, in the past we have had results in three days, three and a half days.
01:43Now, if you technically think that, okay, I have got one and a half days of play, two days are still left behind.
01:49But there has to be an exceptional pull-up somewhere.
01:52And we don't know how the weather is going to hold.
01:55I mean, though the predictions today I was checking because I had a lot of time.
01:59So then I saw that it's marginally better.
02:02But it's difficult to see a result at this point over the next two days.
02:10Yeah. And as I was saying earlier, at best we can get something like 150 overs.
02:16150 overs, we need to have a New Zealand play and then two innings, one from India and one from New Zealand.
02:22That's a tough ask really.
02:24So let's say a play happens over the next two days.
02:29Will the equations change? Will the rain improve?
02:33I mean, rain definitely will bring moisture, additional moisture.
02:37Will it affect India's game plan? What do you think?
02:41Well, Shyam, like you mentioned, we are talking about maximum even if they go 90 overs a day.
02:48They are actually asking about 98 overs a day.
02:50But that is asking too much from English weather with the light and all keeping in mind.
02:54Let's presume they get 180 overs of two days of proper test cricket.
02:59Now we hope the only way there is a result possible in this match,
03:04where probably New Zealand bats around let's presume 80 overs tomorrow and puts in 250 runs.
03:12That means they have given India a lead of around 140-130.
03:17And then you expect India to be probably feeling the pressure on the last day.
03:23And with 80 overs to play or 90 overs to play, come under pressure and get bowled out.
03:30That is where you see a chance.
03:32But if you think that India bowling out New Zealand and then batting and giving them a target
03:37and then bowling out New Zealand, they are asking for too much.
03:40You really have to be a spectacular person to judge the result of this match.
03:47But as I said, the only team which can call all the shots is New Zealand.
03:50Putting at least some sort of a score and making India bat probably 80-90 overs on the last day.
03:57Gautam, what Anish said right now is, technically from here, the only team which can win is New Zealand.
04:06Simply because they can put up a big score and hope to bowl out India.
04:09Which means the match will be over with three innings of the match.
04:12So, if India has to win, there has to be four innings which is quite impossible given the time frame left in the match.
04:18What are your thoughts on that?
04:22New Zealand can certainly reap the benefit of the hard work which they put in the final session yesterday.
04:29I would agree with Anish that if the lead is somewhere around 70-80 runs
04:40and then if wickets fall in clusters in the Indian innings and then finally New Zealand are left with a smaller target to get,
04:52it's still possible. Stranger things have happened in cricket.
04:57But I think Indians have a history of showing better resilience in the second innings in Test match cricket.
05:06That's why I'm more inclined to put my money towards a draw.
05:10And then we can discuss that in fact, I was just going through the column that Anish Bhai has written for us
05:19that why doesn't ICC take their lessons from the 2019 experience and over and over again.
05:26I mean, it's good to talk about the romance of the game and the English weather.
05:32But if it becomes a damn scrape, it can put off people who are actually putting their money in the game.
05:39I'm talking about the sponsors and the broadcasters here.
05:42See, even for the spectators, for us, even for people like us, when this is billed as the World Test Championship Final,
05:50this is like in Shastri's words which Anish keeps harping, this is the daddy of all tests.
05:57I mean, this is something which we look forward to. This is the daddy of all cricket battles.
06:01And to host it at a venue where we are at the mercy of the weather, I thought that is a thoughtless process in fact.
06:10And in fact, like Anish said about the previous experience of 2019, ICC should know better.
06:18But the thing is, there is little we can do about that. The match is there. We are still at the mercy of the rain.
06:24And we can only hope that the next two days, the rain stays away so that we can at least get some decent cricketing action and hope for a result.
06:33Any final impressions before we wind up, Anish Bhai? Because there is little left to discuss here now.
06:40No, no. Honestly, like you mentioned, fans who are sitting here and watching on television.
06:46Imagine the fans who are probably going to the stadium. Okay, they might get the ticket refunded.
06:50But I just want to bring my thought back to 2019. Here, I am not trying to be a crybaby.
06:54I was there to witness three games of India, where I had to see an India-Australia game.
06:59I had to see an India-New Zealand game. And I had to see an India-Pakistan game.
07:04I had planned 10 days of trip with my family and paid a huge amount of money for the air ticket, the hotels.
07:12I don't want to talk about how much money I spent.
07:15Luckily, I got the tickets because of a good invitation from the ICC.
07:21But my point is, people who go spending money on the tickets and spend money on the hotels, you expect the matches to happen.
07:31Like in our case, we got a good day because the sun came out in the India-Australia game.
07:35In the India-New Zealand game, not even one ball was bowled.
07:39And I will come to the India-New Zealand game little later.
07:41In the India-Pakistan game, our hearts were going up and down.
07:45Because the whole idea to travel all the way to England was to see that historic India-Pakistan game.
07:49And mind you, till the start of the game, we were not sure whether the game will actually start.
07:54Till luckily, the sun came out and India managed to somehow finish their 50 overs.
07:58And Pakistan probably batted 30 or 40 overs. And the match got over.
08:02Otherwise, we wouldn't have had a result in that match.
08:04I am sorry I am coming back and making this conversation long.
08:07Had New Zealand matched, the one which got rained off, had that gone in India's favour, you never know.
08:13New Zealand wouldn't have even qualified to the World Cup semi-final.
08:16I know there are no ifs and buts in cricket. Rain can happen anywhere.
08:20But when you know a place where there is rain written all over, the topic of debate in England for every person sitting there,
08:27what is going to be the weather next day, tomorrow?
08:29Nothing else is discussed in England, trust me.
08:31More than football and weather, nothing else is discussed.
08:33I am sure, Shyam, you guys can endorse it.
08:36It is really frustration.
08:37I can empathise with you here.
08:41Going all the way and looking for some real good action.
08:45If rain is what you get, what's the point?
08:47And I saw the game at 13 degrees.
08:49Shyam, I saw the India-Pakistan game in 13 degrees.
08:52Imagine what happens when you go to the stadium and watch the match in jackets, fully at 13 degrees.
08:57But because it is the India-Pakistan game, you wanted to see it.
09:00Oh, and certainly not an ideal situation, really.
09:05Gautam, any final thoughts before we wind up this good discussion?
09:11Yes, I completely understand Anizbhai's frustration.
09:15And at the same time, what I would like to point out is, you see, the way the sport is being run,
09:22eventually, it is three nations who get all these mega events on a cycle
09:30because that big three policy may have been done away with.
09:34But in cycles, if you look at it, it is India, Australia and England.
09:38So, you are bound to come across this kind of a situation or the other.
09:44Now, you cannot blame the ICC because they thought that, well, what better venue than
09:53Lodge, which they call the home of cricket, to keep the final.
09:59They couldn't keep it there.
10:00They had to take it to a game sport because they had the advantage of the integrated hotel inside the stadium.
10:06That's where the change of venue took place.
10:08So maybe, you know, it's time to look at the way the marquee events are being rotated.
10:15In fact, Kevin Peterson, for one, who is a much-traveled cricketer and he's got very radical views,
10:24he has named Dubai, that he says that it could have been the ideal venue as a neutral venue for the World Test Championship final.
10:31So that's good news for us.
10:34Why not?
10:35That is a wonderful thought.
10:39Go ahead. You go ahead. Go ahead, Shyam.
10:41No, no, go ahead. I think you have very…
10:44Now, my point to what Gautam said, that they could have kept it at Lodge or they could have kept it anywhere.
10:50But this is just a one-off test match.
10:52It's not a best-of-three where you put in your two years of hard work.
10:56You make it to the finals.
10:58And then, you are having a rain-affected, out of four days, two days, completely wiped out.
11:03Out of the two days, whatever rain matches you got is 142 overs.
11:08I mean, is this a joke?
11:10It's the World Cup final.
11:11It is setting a platform for the other finals.
11:13Because you remember, when ODI final happened, people looked forward to the next final.
11:18Because that's the big fish.
11:20Then came the T20 World Cup.
11:22This was the ultimate, as they said, the ultimate test.
11:25What are we seeing? The ultimate rain?
11:27If we are so distraught, you can imagine how frustrating it must be for the players.
11:36Ten days of quarantine. Ten days of quarantine in England and then get to see two days of cricket.
11:43I hope there is a result and I get a slap on my face.
11:46But you are asking for a miracle, Shyam.
11:49Yeah, I completely agree there.
11:51And you should also remember, the players have to pay for their spouses' tickets and spouses' and families' tickets also.
11:57And the bill for them also.
11:59So, having spent all that and gone there, if there is no result, I am sure they would be much more disappointed than any of us.
12:07So, thank you for being with us.
12:10Shyam, I will just chime up with one thing.
12:13I don't know whether you heard about Harsha Bogle.
12:15He was supposed to commentate in that series.
12:18What was his tweet?
12:20As much as I would love to commentate on this iconic final.
12:24The World Test Championship final.
12:26I don't want to go for 30 days in England just for 5 days of cricket and do that 10 days of quarantine.
12:32That was his word.
12:34Same thing, Shyam.
12:36Shyam, I can tell you.
12:38I have spoken to a number of cricket writers who have cut short their plans.
12:43Because that 10-day quarantine expense, which their companies have to bear and they have to shy away from that.
12:50Because you have got another one-month gap after that.
12:53So, what do you do?
12:54You cannot afford...
12:55Watch the rain, Shyam.
12:57Watch the rain, Gautam.
12:58Exactly.
12:59People are spending from their own pockets.
13:02It hurts.
13:03Absolutely.
13:06It doesn't make any sense.
13:10It doesn't make any financial sense for spending so much money for 5 days.
13:14We can clearly understand their reservations.
13:19Let's hope the rain stays away.
13:22Even if there is a result, so long as we get some decent cricketing action, I would be happy to see that.
13:27And I am sure, as a cricket enthusiast, you also would love to see some good action tomorrow.
13:33Let's see how much can we get tomorrow.
13:37Have you guys had any look at the weather forecast?
13:41Yes, it's very good tomorrow.
13:43But I am not sure about the light.
13:46As I said, 98 hours is the maximum you can bowl tomorrow.
13:50That's what the ICC rules allow in a day.
13:52Maximum 98 hours.
13:54Now, mind you, it's been raining throughout.
13:56It's not stopped raining.
13:57So, it doesn't guarantee that the wicket will be ready tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
14:01Oh, the outfield will be wet.
14:03The ground has to be clear.
14:05Because in England, they don't spread mats like Sri Lanka.
14:08In England, they only cover the ground.
14:10They don't cover the outfield.
14:11So, it has to be player safety which comes into play.
14:15Fingers crossed, we hope a 10.30 start.
14:18Rather a 1.30 start.
14:20If it doesn't get delayed, we should get at least 90 overs.
14:23I am hoping maximum 90 overs tomorrow.
14:27Let's take one day at a time.
14:29Let's see. At least we get some full days played tomorrow.
14:32Fingers crossed.
14:35Thank you very much for joining us.
14:39I am sure all of you are equally disappointed as much as we are and the players.
14:44For the latest updates from the Ultimate Test in Southampton,
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14:56Thank you very much. Good night.