It’s been an interesting and eventful year for Indian cricket. In march, the early exit from the World Cup, Then winning some tests and series for the first time, Winning the T20 World Championship without the “Big Three” under the leadership of the “aggressive” new captain MS Dhoni. Rahul Dravid quitting captaincy, Appointment of Dhoni as the ODI captain, dropping dravid from the ODI team, amongst other comparatively smaller issues.
Now the year seems to be coming to and end but the stories coming out of the cricket board just doesn’t seem to. The latest debate the “Test Capatincy”. Now that Sachin Tendulkar has declined to accept the “challenge”, the selectors are once again in the public eye. Whom do they pick? Dhoni? Ganguly? Kumble? Laxman?
Well one thing is for sure! It is going to be the talking point for a long time.
If I was to choose out of the lot I may choose either Dhoni or Laxman. Dhoni being appointed the captain doesn’t feel right at this point in time. Laxman may be a surprise because he himself isn’t a surety to be played in the playing eleven. Ganguly may hesistate to take up the challenge considering what has happened in the past and his record with the board and the selectors. The problem with Kumble is that the selectors may just over look him looking at the fact that at most he may playt for another year or so.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Cricket or Soap???
The recently concluded World T20 was no less than a corny Ekta Kapoor soap opera if you were an Indian supporter. The tournament started with rain washing away the first match against the Scottish thus making the Pakistan game a must win. They did and how! Again losing the first super 8 game to the Kiwi’s and then coming back to beat the English and the South Africans to meet the Oz in the semis and then beating them and setting up a dream finale with the arch rivals Pakistan and then winning it in the last over! (grabs breath) it wasn’t any less than a soap with heroes(men in blue), Heroines (cheerleaders), climax anti climax and also the villains (purists)
YES WE GET IT!
“Hutch is now Vodafone!” Yes we know! With so much bombardment of the same who wouldn’t notice the change. Well I am sorry but I can’t help but write about it. When Hutch first turned to Vodafone for some odd reason I was pretty excited. And when I saw the first ad my excitement grew. But for the last two days now it’s getting on my nerve. Vodafone here, Vodafone there, Vodafone everywhere. I wonder how much media space these people bought. Every second hoarding and TVC I see on is either the pug or the hutch boy and girl. I was watching the India- Australia match the other day and as soon as the Aussie batsman was dismissed, the earlier lovable now irritating dog appeared from nowhere. The length of the ad does not help at all.
PS: THE COMPANY HAS NOT PAID ME ANYTHING TO WRITE ABOUT THEM. BUT I AM OPEN TO DISCUSSION.
PS: THE COMPANY HAS NOT PAID ME ANYTHING TO WRITE ABOUT THEM. BUT I AM OPEN TO DISCUSSION.
Sunday, February 25, 2007
RESURGENCE OF INDIAN CRICKET
In the year 1970-71, when India beat West Indies in West Indies, everyone thought India had the best team at that time but the fact was West Indies was fielding its weakest team. Again in 1970, when India beat England at the oval it was again thought that India had arrived but that was the time when Indian spin was the talk of cricketing world and they ruled for another ten years. Except for two stars in Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev subsequent to the spin era, there was no name mentioning in the Indian team. But the team was performing well at home but was failing miserably overseas.
The late 80’s saw a young Azhar scoring three consecutive centuries against England but the team performance was not much to write about. India was basking in the glory of 1983 world cup triumph but the standard of cricket in India was going downhill. BCCI was worried. It had funds to spare but didn’t know how to raise the standard of cricket. In a collective wisdom in the late 90’s they thought of hiring a foreign coach for the team and thus in 2000 came John Wright of New Zealand as Indian coach and fortunately the stint was for a period of five years.
This was a period when the Dravids and Gangulys were getting their feet in. Srinath was slowly getting into his stride and a host of other fast medium bowlers were waiting in the wing. Anil Kumble was slowly peaking, Sachin was at his best but the team was not winning. John Wright was a worried man.
When the all-conquering team of Aussies led by Steve Waugh landed in Mumbai in 2001, nobody gave India any chance. The scene became gloomier after the India lost the first test in Mumbai within three days. Then came the turning point at Eden gardens, Kolkatta. After being followed on India came back from behind to defeat Australia in one of the greatest turnaround ever. Laxman’s 281 was the talk of the cricket world for many more years to come. The test also saw the emergence of one more world-class spinner in Harbhajan Singh. When everyone thought that the Aussies will bounce back in vengeance, India surprised them with a close victory at Chennai, thus winning the series and also ending the 16 tests unbeaten run of the Australian side.
In the same year, in the One Day Series, India fielded a rookie batsman named Virendra Sehwag who was to become one of the most feared batsman in the next few yew years. With batsmen like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Sehwag in the line-up Indian batting was considered one of the best in the world. India just wanted a couple of good fast bowlers in the line up to supplement Srinath, fortunately the Zaheer khan’s and the Agarkars and Prasads stepped in at the right time. All said and done India had a bad reputation to erase i.e. tigers at home but chokers abroad. The good work continued and by the time the 2003 world cup came India had a good chance. The build up to the world cup was not the most ideal one. They were beaten handsomely by new Zealand in very alien conditions suiting the fast bowlers of new Zealand. After the initial hiccups India came into their own to reach the finals of the world cup only to be thrashed by the ponting led Australia. Thus the Indian team returned to India with their heads held high. The confidence was sky high as was evident in their next series against Australia in 2004 in Australia. The team almost won the series but finally settled for a one all draw. This was one of the most fiercely competed series, where the strong Australian team was made to fight every inch of their way. This tour saw the emergence of another star in Irfan Pathan. The purple patch continued with the tour to Pakistan after fifteen years. India recorded their first test series victory in Pakistan. They also ended up winning the ODI after trailing the 5 match series 2-1.
Another reason that could be termed as a catalyst for the resurgence of the Indian cricket is the selection committee. Though there have been question raised about the term and the selection of the committee members, there is more transparency in the system since the selectors have been given a fixed period to get the results in. the dropping Ganguly, a bold move in itself was an example of the efficient working of the selection committee. But there have been certain instance that have raised quite a few eyebrows, the selection of VRV Singh, Wasim Jaffer did not go down too well with the public and the former players. As these selectors are doing a voluntary job, there isn’t any incentive for them to prove themselves to anyone. Irfan Pathan’s and Yuvraj Singh’s place in the team for the world cup was an issue that could be handled in a defferent manner. All other players were selected on subject of their fitness but yuvraj just played one twent-20 match to get back into the national team. The ideal situation would be where the national selectors are chosen on by former players and these selectors would be paid their salaries on the basis of how the team performs. Performance based salary system is the way to go.
The late 80’s saw a young Azhar scoring three consecutive centuries against England but the team performance was not much to write about. India was basking in the glory of 1983 world cup triumph but the standard of cricket in India was going downhill. BCCI was worried. It had funds to spare but didn’t know how to raise the standard of cricket. In a collective wisdom in the late 90’s they thought of hiring a foreign coach for the team and thus in 2000 came John Wright of New Zealand as Indian coach and fortunately the stint was for a period of five years.
This was a period when the Dravids and Gangulys were getting their feet in. Srinath was slowly getting into his stride and a host of other fast medium bowlers were waiting in the wing. Anil Kumble was slowly peaking, Sachin was at his best but the team was not winning. John Wright was a worried man.
When the all-conquering team of Aussies led by Steve Waugh landed in Mumbai in 2001, nobody gave India any chance. The scene became gloomier after the India lost the first test in Mumbai within three days. Then came the turning point at Eden gardens, Kolkatta. After being followed on India came back from behind to defeat Australia in one of the greatest turnaround ever. Laxman’s 281 was the talk of the cricket world for many more years to come. The test also saw the emergence of one more world-class spinner in Harbhajan Singh. When everyone thought that the Aussies will bounce back in vengeance, India surprised them with a close victory at Chennai, thus winning the series and also ending the 16 tests unbeaten run of the Australian side.
In the same year, in the One Day Series, India fielded a rookie batsman named Virendra Sehwag who was to become one of the most feared batsman in the next few yew years. With batsmen like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Sehwag in the line-up Indian batting was considered one of the best in the world. India just wanted a couple of good fast bowlers in the line up to supplement Srinath, fortunately the Zaheer khan’s and the Agarkars and Prasads stepped in at the right time. All said and done India had a bad reputation to erase i.e. tigers at home but chokers abroad. The good work continued and by the time the 2003 world cup came India had a good chance. The build up to the world cup was not the most ideal one. They were beaten handsomely by new Zealand in very alien conditions suiting the fast bowlers of new Zealand. After the initial hiccups India came into their own to reach the finals of the world cup only to be thrashed by the ponting led Australia. Thus the Indian team returned to India with their heads held high. The confidence was sky high as was evident in their next series against Australia in 2004 in Australia. The team almost won the series but finally settled for a one all draw. This was one of the most fiercely competed series, where the strong Australian team was made to fight every inch of their way. This tour saw the emergence of another star in Irfan Pathan. The purple patch continued with the tour to Pakistan after fifteen years. India recorded their first test series victory in Pakistan. They also ended up winning the ODI after trailing the 5 match series 2-1.
Another reason that could be termed as a catalyst for the resurgence of the Indian cricket is the selection committee. Though there have been question raised about the term and the selection of the committee members, there is more transparency in the system since the selectors have been given a fixed period to get the results in. the dropping Ganguly, a bold move in itself was an example of the efficient working of the selection committee. But there have been certain instance that have raised quite a few eyebrows, the selection of VRV Singh, Wasim Jaffer did not go down too well with the public and the former players. As these selectors are doing a voluntary job, there isn’t any incentive for them to prove themselves to anyone. Irfan Pathan’s and Yuvraj Singh’s place in the team for the world cup was an issue that could be handled in a defferent manner. All other players were selected on subject of their fitness but yuvraj just played one twent-20 match to get back into the national team. The ideal situation would be where the national selectors are chosen on by former players and these selectors would be paid their salaries on the basis of how the team performs. Performance based salary system is the way to go.
DOWNFALL OF INDIAN CRICKET
It can be boldly said that the glory days of Indian cricket was in the two years that followed the World Cup victory in 1983. The whole scenario changed after winning the World Series in Australia in 1985. It turned out to be the last memorable, successful tournament for a long time to come. In the late 70’s and the early 80’s. as the West Indies had an all conquering team, except Australia there was no other country who could give these two teams a run for their money. The 1983 victory of India in the world cup was indeed a team effort rather than any extraordinary talent. The Indian team of the 1983 world cup consisted of three – four players of average skills who were helped by the English conditions in their bowling. But the same team on their return home were beaten 5-0 by the same West Indies team in India. After that the tournament victory in Australia in 1985………was last major victory for India before the downslide started.
Though a star was born in 1989 by the name of Sachin Tendulkar, with most of the batting stalwarts aging, there was no one to fill up the vacuum. It was not until the champions trophy in 2000, that India reached the finals of a major tournament.
The golden era of the Indian spin quartet was over. Sunil Gavaskar who was the best opening batsman of that era was nearing the end of his career. The mainstays of batting like the Vengsarkars, amaranths were at the end of their careers. With the retirement of Kapil Dev in 1994, the bowling department looked woefully inadequate. For many years India struggled to find the right opening combination in both batting as well as bowling.
Sachin was very young and inexperienced and Srinath, who was to be the spearhead of the bowling attack was just settling down. The two new youngsters who made their debut in 1996 at Lords –Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly were too raw to take over the mantle from the seniors. Moreover, the Indian team was traditionally coached by an Indian coach who unfortunately were not professionals enough. At the same time, the standard of cricket in other countries was improving rapidly. With the enormous popularity of cricket in India, BCCI was making huge money but they were finding it difficult to get the right results on the field. During the same time, the West Indies cricket had declined unbelievably, the south Africans who came into mainstream cricket in 1992 had built a formidable team with some outstanding fielders but the Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh lead Australian team was going from strength to strength with no real competition from any cricket playing countries of the world.
The BCCI in its wisdom finally thought of a foreign coach to coach the Indian team and the former New Zealand opening batsman, John Wright was roped in to coach the national side and the rest as they say is history, may not be a fairy tale but a turnaround all the same with India reaching the world cup finals in 2003.
Though a star was born in 1989 by the name of Sachin Tendulkar, with most of the batting stalwarts aging, there was no one to fill up the vacuum. It was not until the champions trophy in 2000, that India reached the finals of a major tournament.
The golden era of the Indian spin quartet was over. Sunil Gavaskar who was the best opening batsman of that era was nearing the end of his career. The mainstays of batting like the Vengsarkars, amaranths were at the end of their careers. With the retirement of Kapil Dev in 1994, the bowling department looked woefully inadequate. For many years India struggled to find the right opening combination in both batting as well as bowling.
Sachin was very young and inexperienced and Srinath, who was to be the spearhead of the bowling attack was just settling down. The two new youngsters who made their debut in 1996 at Lords –Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly were too raw to take over the mantle from the seniors. Moreover, the Indian team was traditionally coached by an Indian coach who unfortunately were not professionals enough. At the same time, the standard of cricket in other countries was improving rapidly. With the enormous popularity of cricket in India, BCCI was making huge money but they were finding it difficult to get the right results on the field. During the same time, the West Indies cricket had declined unbelievably, the south Africans who came into mainstream cricket in 1992 had built a formidable team with some outstanding fielders but the Mark Taylor and Steve Waugh lead Australian team was going from strength to strength with no real competition from any cricket playing countries of the world.
The BCCI in its wisdom finally thought of a foreign coach to coach the Indian team and the former New Zealand opening batsman, John Wright was roped in to coach the national side and the rest as they say is history, may not be a fairy tale but a turnaround all the same with India reaching the world cup finals in 2003.
Alexander Chapman Ferguson
A look down memory lane
The name of Alex Ferguson is synonymous with Manchester United. This past Monday, he completed two decades at the helm of Manchester United as a manager. He was appointed manager of Manchester United after his impressive stint as manager of Scottish club Aberdeen, whom he had guided to their first ever Scottish League win. It was the first time in fifteen years that the Scottish league had not been won by either Celtic or Rangers. Ferguson also led Aberdeen to European success by winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, by defeating Real Madrid in the finals. They beat the likes of Bayern Munich on their way to the finals.
On November 6 1986 Ferguson had replaced Ron Atkinson as the manager of Manchester United, who was sacked by the club on the back of a streak of poor performances. He managed to finish eleventh out of the 22 clubs of the Championship, in his first season in-charge.
The following season he made some big name signings, Viv Anderson, Brain McClaire and Steve Bruce. These signing surely improved the team performance as they went on to finish in second place nine points behind the champions Liverpool. This was a great improvement over their previous season. But the following season was one of the lows of his career. United were expected to do well when Mark Hughes had returned to the club, but it wasn’t to be. By finishing eleventh in the league and losing to Nottingham Forest in the quarter final of the FA Cup, Ferguson’s managerial stint seemed over, with fans unfurling banners in the scoreboard end that said “Three years of excuses; ta-ra Fergie” on his third year anniversary at the club.
The first four years between 1986-90 at Old Trafford weren’t the most memorable ones of his career, with no major titles coming their way. He described them as “the darkest period he had ever suffered in the game”
In January 1990 Manchester United were drawn away to Nottingham forest in the FA Cup, one of the most feared teams in England. Ferguson was expected to lose the match and consequently his job but it wasn’t to be so. United defeated Forest 1-0 and eventually won the Cup. This Cup win could be termed as a turning point in Ferguson’s Career. The Cup was thus the first major achievement for Ferguson with Manchester United. However they had finished a lowly 13th position in the league.
The next year United had secured a place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup on the virtue of their FA Cup victory the previous season. Ferguson managed to take united all the way to the final to set up a clash with the Spanish Champions Barcelona, whom they beat in the finals. After this victory, Ferguson announced that the following season United would be champions of England. Considering that they hadn’t won a league title since 1967 it was a brave statement. That very season he managed to take United to the Finals of the league Cup but unfortunately lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the finals.
Though they won the League Cup in the 91-92 season, it was overall a disastrous season.
It is hard to believe that Ferguson managed to keep his job for more than five seasons without winning the Championship title. It was only in the 92-93 season that United won their first league title under Ferguson. It was the introduction of the talismanic French striker Eric Cantona, whom Ferguson bought from Leeds United that changed Manchester United’s fortunes forever. Cantona with Mark Hughes took the club to the position it always aimed at and that is the top. Thus ended United’s 26 year league title drought. They, in the process became the first ever Premiership winner after the league’s restructuring. Ferguson was voted the as the Manager of the Year.
The next season began with the signing of Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest.
United successfully defended their title by retaining the league title. Ferguson also managed to guide United to the League Cup final where they eventually lost to Aston Villa. But what made the season a memorable one, was the FA Cup victory over Chelsea with an impressive 4-0 win in the finals. United became only the sixth team in the history of English football to have achieved the feat of winning the League Championship and the FA Cup double.
In the 1994-1995 season, United did not manage to win a single trophy but there was one man whom Ferguson bought from Newcastle United, Andy Cole. He paid a record fee to sign Cole. The reasons for the trophy-less season were many injuries and suspensions to key players, the most famous one being the suspension of Eric Cantona for assaulting a Crystal Palace supporter. He was banned for four months, putting Ferguson’s plans for the season in a disarray. Though the season went down in the record books as a trophy-less one for United, it wasn’t all that bad. They lost the League Championship on the last day of the season and they managed to reach the finals of the FA Cup.
The next season could be termed as a milestone year in the Club’s history. Though it did not begin all that well, players like Paul Ince and Mark Hughes moved away from Old Trafford. Ferguson was criticised for selling off his key players. Ferguson himself was pretty confident that he had able replacements for the outgoing players in the form of Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham. His critics weren’t impressed by his move of selling the big name players and replacing them with little known ones. The season did not begin the way Ferguson had hoped it will. They lost their first league match to Aston Villa. But there was no looking back from there as Ferguson’s boys put up a streak of performances that made them the champions of England that season. The icing on the cake being the winning of the title on the last day of the season with a win away at Middlesbrough. They also won the FA Cup that year by beating Liverpool in the finals.
The 96-97 season saw United winning their fourth Premiership title in five years.
That was all the success Ferguson had that season. United were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round by Wimbledon. They managed to reach the semi finals of the Champions League, but the low point of their Champions League campaign was when they lost their 40 year unbeaten home record in Europe to Turkish Club Fenerbahce.
The season also marked the end of Eric Cantona’s Career, arguably United’s best player.
The neat season, Ferguson made an inclusion to the team in Teddy Sherigham. The season again went trophy-less. They finished second behind Arsenal in the premiership and made it to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Come the next season and Ferguson was determined to win at-least one trophy. In his bid to do so he bought Jaap Stam and Dwight Yorke from Parma and Aston Villa respectively. This season turned out to be the best one in the club’s rich history. They went on to win all three major tournaments they played in, the Premiership title, FA Cup and the Champions League. They beat Juventus in the semis and Bayern Munich in the finals to win the Champions League. They beat Arsenal in the semis and Newcastle in the finals to claim their hold on the FA Cup. They won the league by just one point. In 1999, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition of his services to the game.
The following season, United wrapped up the Premiership very comfortably. They won by a margin of 18 points to second placed Arsenal. United dominated the whole season. As the season was coming to a close, Sir Alex Ferguson the signed Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy. But Nistelrooy failed the medical test. While working on regaining his lost fitness, he suffered a knee injury which kept him out for a year.
The 2000 -2001 season saw Ferguson go out and buy Fabien Barthez, a French goalkeeper. In the process of signing him Barthez became the most expensive keeper signed by a British club. The highlight of this season was the returning to form of Teddy Sheringham. He won a couple of player of the year awards for his goal scoring exploits. They won the Premiership title, making it a hat-trick of titles. During this season Sir Alex acquired Argentinian attacking midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron. This transfer deal turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes Ferguson had made in the transfer market. Veron was eventually sold off to rivals Chelsea.
Ferguson was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall Of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager.
The 2001-02 season went without a single trophy for United. What made it worse, was the sale of Jaap Stam to Lazio at the start of the season. It was a decision that stunned the fans. The signing of the 36 year old Laurent Blanc, the French Defender as a replacement for Stam raised quite a few eyebrows. The season was dramatic, at one point of time in the season, United were languishing in ninth position 11 points behind the leaders Liverpool but a turn around took place when United put together a string of performances that took them to the top of the table. United could not keep up the same intensity for long and ended up finishing third at the end of the season. This was the lowest the club had finished since 1990-91. In the Champions League, they were knocked out in the semi finals by old foes Bayern Munich. United’s run in the league cup and the FA Cup did not last long. Ferguson had planned to retire at the end of this season but decided against it and admitted that he would like to stay on for another three years.
Before the 2002-03 season could get under way, Ferguson had managed to sign Leeds defender Rio Ferdinand for a record fee. United finally got hold of the Premiership title after a season that saw a mixture of high and lows in the league table. Around March they were 8 points behind leaders Arsenal but just 2 months before the end of the season, the supporters saw a resurgent team that made good the deficit of points and went on to win the title.
2003-04 was a disappointing season where United finished third in the Premiership and lost to eventual Champions Porto FC in the Knock out stage. In the League cup too, Ferguson could not manage to take United past the early stages of the tournament. The new signings were unable to create any magic for the team as they struggled to even earn a first team start. 19 year old Cristiano Ronaldo was also signed from Sporting Lisbon.
In the next season, as Chelsea’s financial support grew stronger by the day, the on-field performance also started getting better under new manager Jose Mourinho. With big name signings, Chelsea had no problems in wrapping up their first title in almost 50 years. United too made their fair share of signings in youngster Wayne Rooney and Argentinian defender Gabriel Hienze. United could not manage to win even a single trophy that season. Injuries to key players also hampered their chances to win anything. They made it to the FA Cup finals but lost to Arsenal on penalties after completely dominating the match.
The next season was a complete disaster, not because the club was taken over by American business tycoon Malcolm Glazer but because United failed to make it past the group stages in the Champions League. Their performance in these group stages was so poor that they even failed to make it into the UEFA Cup qualifications. This season also saw Roy Keane leaving, after a long and successful stint at the club. They managed to finish second behind Chelsea. The only trophy that United won that season was the League Cup. They won by defeating Wigan Athletic in the finals.
The 2006-07 season started out as a very special one for Ferguson. This was his 20th season in charge. He made some addition to the previous year’s squad that failed to create magic on the field. He went out and bought Micheal Carrick from Tottenham Hotspurs and also got in a young goalkeeper from West Brom, Tomasz Kuszak. He sold off Ruud Van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid after a bitter dispute with him throughout the second half of the previous season. They have managed to start the season on a bright note and are leading the Premiership table with 28 points, three points ahead of second placed Chelsea. There is a strong belief in the United camp that Ferguson will manage to wrap the Premiership title in favour of them. There aren’t many who are betting against him.
There might not be too many managers who could emulate Sir Alex Ferguson in a football field.
The name of Alex Ferguson is synonymous with Manchester United. This past Monday, he completed two decades at the helm of Manchester United as a manager. He was appointed manager of Manchester United after his impressive stint as manager of Scottish club Aberdeen, whom he had guided to their first ever Scottish League win. It was the first time in fifteen years that the Scottish league had not been won by either Celtic or Rangers. Ferguson also led Aberdeen to European success by winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup, by defeating Real Madrid in the finals. They beat the likes of Bayern Munich on their way to the finals.
On November 6 1986 Ferguson had replaced Ron Atkinson as the manager of Manchester United, who was sacked by the club on the back of a streak of poor performances. He managed to finish eleventh out of the 22 clubs of the Championship, in his first season in-charge.
The following season he made some big name signings, Viv Anderson, Brain McClaire and Steve Bruce. These signing surely improved the team performance as they went on to finish in second place nine points behind the champions Liverpool. This was a great improvement over their previous season. But the following season was one of the lows of his career. United were expected to do well when Mark Hughes had returned to the club, but it wasn’t to be. By finishing eleventh in the league and losing to Nottingham Forest in the quarter final of the FA Cup, Ferguson’s managerial stint seemed over, with fans unfurling banners in the scoreboard end that said “Three years of excuses; ta-ra Fergie” on his third year anniversary at the club.
The first four years between 1986-90 at Old Trafford weren’t the most memorable ones of his career, with no major titles coming their way. He described them as “the darkest period he had ever suffered in the game”
In January 1990 Manchester United were drawn away to Nottingham forest in the FA Cup, one of the most feared teams in England. Ferguson was expected to lose the match and consequently his job but it wasn’t to be so. United defeated Forest 1-0 and eventually won the Cup. This Cup win could be termed as a turning point in Ferguson’s Career. The Cup was thus the first major achievement for Ferguson with Manchester United. However they had finished a lowly 13th position in the league.
The next year United had secured a place in the European Cup Winners’ Cup on the virtue of their FA Cup victory the previous season. Ferguson managed to take united all the way to the final to set up a clash with the Spanish Champions Barcelona, whom they beat in the finals. After this victory, Ferguson announced that the following season United would be champions of England. Considering that they hadn’t won a league title since 1967 it was a brave statement. That very season he managed to take United to the Finals of the league Cup but unfortunately lost to Sheffield Wednesday in the finals.
Though they won the League Cup in the 91-92 season, it was overall a disastrous season.
It is hard to believe that Ferguson managed to keep his job for more than five seasons without winning the Championship title. It was only in the 92-93 season that United won their first league title under Ferguson. It was the introduction of the talismanic French striker Eric Cantona, whom Ferguson bought from Leeds United that changed Manchester United’s fortunes forever. Cantona with Mark Hughes took the club to the position it always aimed at and that is the top. Thus ended United’s 26 year league title drought. They, in the process became the first ever Premiership winner after the league’s restructuring. Ferguson was voted the as the Manager of the Year.
The next season began with the signing of Roy Keane from Nottingham Forest.
United successfully defended their title by retaining the league title. Ferguson also managed to guide United to the League Cup final where they eventually lost to Aston Villa. But what made the season a memorable one, was the FA Cup victory over Chelsea with an impressive 4-0 win in the finals. United became only the sixth team in the history of English football to have achieved the feat of winning the League Championship and the FA Cup double.
In the 1994-1995 season, United did not manage to win a single trophy but there was one man whom Ferguson bought from Newcastle United, Andy Cole. He paid a record fee to sign Cole. The reasons for the trophy-less season were many injuries and suspensions to key players, the most famous one being the suspension of Eric Cantona for assaulting a Crystal Palace supporter. He was banned for four months, putting Ferguson’s plans for the season in a disarray. Though the season went down in the record books as a trophy-less one for United, it wasn’t all that bad. They lost the League Championship on the last day of the season and they managed to reach the finals of the FA Cup.
The next season could be termed as a milestone year in the Club’s history. Though it did not begin all that well, players like Paul Ince and Mark Hughes moved away from Old Trafford. Ferguson was criticised for selling off his key players. Ferguson himself was pretty confident that he had able replacements for the outgoing players in the form of Gary Neville, Phil Neville, Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt and David Beckham. His critics weren’t impressed by his move of selling the big name players and replacing them with little known ones. The season did not begin the way Ferguson had hoped it will. They lost their first league match to Aston Villa. But there was no looking back from there as Ferguson’s boys put up a streak of performances that made them the champions of England that season. The icing on the cake being the winning of the title on the last day of the season with a win away at Middlesbrough. They also won the FA Cup that year by beating Liverpool in the finals.
The 96-97 season saw United winning their fourth Premiership title in five years.
That was all the success Ferguson had that season. United were knocked out of the FA Cup in the fourth round by Wimbledon. They managed to reach the semi finals of the Champions League, but the low point of their Champions League campaign was when they lost their 40 year unbeaten home record in Europe to Turkish Club Fenerbahce.
The season also marked the end of Eric Cantona’s Career, arguably United’s best player.
The neat season, Ferguson made an inclusion to the team in Teddy Sherigham. The season again went trophy-less. They finished second behind Arsenal in the premiership and made it to the quarter finals of the Champions League.
Come the next season and Ferguson was determined to win at-least one trophy. In his bid to do so he bought Jaap Stam and Dwight Yorke from Parma and Aston Villa respectively. This season turned out to be the best one in the club’s rich history. They went on to win all three major tournaments they played in, the Premiership title, FA Cup and the Champions League. They beat Juventus in the semis and Bayern Munich in the finals to win the Champions League. They beat Arsenal in the semis and Newcastle in the finals to claim their hold on the FA Cup. They won the league by just one point. In 1999, Alex Ferguson received a knighthood in recognition of his services to the game.
The following season, United wrapped up the Premiership very comfortably. They won by a margin of 18 points to second placed Arsenal. United dominated the whole season. As the season was coming to a close, Sir Alex Ferguson the signed Dutch striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy. But Nistelrooy failed the medical test. While working on regaining his lost fitness, he suffered a knee injury which kept him out for a year.
The 2000 -2001 season saw Ferguson go out and buy Fabien Barthez, a French goalkeeper. In the process of signing him Barthez became the most expensive keeper signed by a British club. The highlight of this season was the returning to form of Teddy Sheringham. He won a couple of player of the year awards for his goal scoring exploits. They won the Premiership title, making it a hat-trick of titles. During this season Sir Alex acquired Argentinian attacking midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron. This transfer deal turned out to be one of the biggest mistakes Ferguson had made in the transfer market. Veron was eventually sold off to rivals Chelsea.
Ferguson was made an Inaugural Inductee of the English Football Hall Of Fame in 2002 in recognition of his impact on the English game as a manager.
The 2001-02 season went without a single trophy for United. What made it worse, was the sale of Jaap Stam to Lazio at the start of the season. It was a decision that stunned the fans. The signing of the 36 year old Laurent Blanc, the French Defender as a replacement for Stam raised quite a few eyebrows. The season was dramatic, at one point of time in the season, United were languishing in ninth position 11 points behind the leaders Liverpool but a turn around took place when United put together a string of performances that took them to the top of the table. United could not keep up the same intensity for long and ended up finishing third at the end of the season. This was the lowest the club had finished since 1990-91. In the Champions League, they were knocked out in the semi finals by old foes Bayern Munich. United’s run in the league cup and the FA Cup did not last long. Ferguson had planned to retire at the end of this season but decided against it and admitted that he would like to stay on for another three years.
Before the 2002-03 season could get under way, Ferguson had managed to sign Leeds defender Rio Ferdinand for a record fee. United finally got hold of the Premiership title after a season that saw a mixture of high and lows in the league table. Around March they were 8 points behind leaders Arsenal but just 2 months before the end of the season, the supporters saw a resurgent team that made good the deficit of points and went on to win the title.
2003-04 was a disappointing season where United finished third in the Premiership and lost to eventual Champions Porto FC in the Knock out stage. In the League cup too, Ferguson could not manage to take United past the early stages of the tournament. The new signings were unable to create any magic for the team as they struggled to even earn a first team start. 19 year old Cristiano Ronaldo was also signed from Sporting Lisbon.
In the next season, as Chelsea’s financial support grew stronger by the day, the on-field performance also started getting better under new manager Jose Mourinho. With big name signings, Chelsea had no problems in wrapping up their first title in almost 50 years. United too made their fair share of signings in youngster Wayne Rooney and Argentinian defender Gabriel Hienze. United could not manage to win even a single trophy that season. Injuries to key players also hampered their chances to win anything. They made it to the FA Cup finals but lost to Arsenal on penalties after completely dominating the match.
The next season was a complete disaster, not because the club was taken over by American business tycoon Malcolm Glazer but because United failed to make it past the group stages in the Champions League. Their performance in these group stages was so poor that they even failed to make it into the UEFA Cup qualifications. This season also saw Roy Keane leaving, after a long and successful stint at the club. They managed to finish second behind Chelsea. The only trophy that United won that season was the League Cup. They won by defeating Wigan Athletic in the finals.
The 2006-07 season started out as a very special one for Ferguson. This was his 20th season in charge. He made some addition to the previous year’s squad that failed to create magic on the field. He went out and bought Micheal Carrick from Tottenham Hotspurs and also got in a young goalkeeper from West Brom, Tomasz Kuszak. He sold off Ruud Van Nistelrooy to Real Madrid after a bitter dispute with him throughout the second half of the previous season. They have managed to start the season on a bright note and are leading the Premiership table with 28 points, three points ahead of second placed Chelsea. There is a strong belief in the United camp that Ferguson will manage to wrap the Premiership title in favour of them. There aren’t many who are betting against him.
There might not be too many managers who could emulate Sir Alex Ferguson in a football field.
LAXMAN NOT LUCK'S MAN
LAXMAN BUT NOT LUCK’S MAN
281 is a famous number in the Indian cricket history. 309 maybe the highest individual score by an Indian in a test match but the 281 by Laxman in 2001 home series against the mighty Aussies who had conquered everything on their way and who had won consecutive 16 test victories before, was a landmark innings in the annals of Indian cricket. After being dropped from the ODI squad for the forthcoming SA series on the basis of his reported fitness problem, the mild mannered Laxman came out with a rejoinder stating that he’s fit to play. But the team selected is full of unfit players.
What one would find common in all VVS Laxman interviews is that he wants to win matches for India and of course his desire to play in a World Cup, after the fiasco of 2003 when he was dropped from the World Cup side to make way for Dinesh Mongia.
These statements from one of the batsmen of contemporary Indian cricket who has by all accounts has played one of the greatest test innings of all times, is a not only a reflection of his unfulfilled desire but also vagaries of Indian selection. It is worth recalling Adam Gilchrist’s statements a few years back-“ after every matchwinning innings by VVS, we see him dropped for the next series”. No doubt, the best cricket team of the world holds him in high esteem, but not our selectors.
Laxman’s story is about a talent, tampered by the authorities very frequently, to the detriment of Indian Cricket and also to him personally. Here is a cricketer who has played all his life at that crucial number three position for his School, Club, State and Zone. But he was pitch forked into opening the innings against the bowling attacks that included Alan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and many such tear away bowlers whom the world feared. He did a decent job of that. Infact after his first test innings as an opener, the great Sunil Gavaskar in a column of his had said, “the way Laxman batted in his very first test did not indicate that he was playing his first test match, he batted like a veteran of many test matches playing South African bowlers at utmost ease.”
A batsman’s true caliber is assessed only when he plays successfully in the true and fast bouncy pitches of Australia. No Indian batsman other than Laxman likes the pitches of Australia. In the tour of 1999 of Australia, after starting very promisingly, he could not go on to get big scores. But in the second innings of the final test in Sydney when all was lost for India, he came up with one of his stroke-filled innings of 167 in an Indian score of around 250, that too after all the top order had failed. The innings was not lost on Steve Waugh, the then Aussie skipper, who spoke of Laxman highly after that innings. After this great innings , he was to return back to India as he was not included in the ODI squad. But injuries to other key batsmen forced the Board to retain him in the ODI squad, unfortunately he did not live up to the expectations in the ODI’s.
Just before the Aussies arrived in India in 2001, another great Indian batsman of yesteryears Dilip Sardesai had this to say-“Laxman is as good as the big three(Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly) and he should play in all three tests”. After the first test at Mumbai was over in less than four days with a victory to the Aussies, no one gave India a chance as India’s strike bowler Anil Kumble was injured and India was playing a rookie spinner in Harbhajan Singh. In the second test at Eden gardens Calcutta, when India followed on, not only the test series but also the Indian cricket was at crossroads. Laxman had scored a brave 59 in the first innings coming in at number 6. Following on, when India started its second innings, after the first wicket fell cheaply, as fate would have it, Laxman was sent in at number 3 instead of Dravid who was slightly indisposed. The rest is History.
After this innings everybody thought Laxman has made the number 3 slot his own. That was not to be. After a couple of failures in South Africa, he lost that no.3 slot permanently. This dented his confidence. Soon it seemed like he was losing ground to the youngsters who were blooded into the side. His place was always under pressure. The pressure to perform in almost all the matches he played in, got to him and affected his free flowing stroke play. Those inside out cover drives, effortless on-drives and those trademark flicks to the leg were becoming rare. Added to this, he had to bear the tag of a slow mover in the field and not suited to play ODI’s. The reasons always given for dropping Laxman from the ODI squad is that he is not fit or he is a slow mover and many such excuses on those lines. These statements come from selectors who choose Saurav Ganguly and Ashish Nehra saying that they are matchwinners, neglecting their fielding prowess. If players like Nehra and Ganguly can be selected in the playing eleven despite their fielding abilities, then one wonders what wrong has Laxman done. Afterall, other than Kaif, Yuvraj, Raina and Agarkar, the fielding standards of others is almost at par. I wonder how many players in world cricket have been dropped from their team because they are slow fielders. How is it that Wasim Jaffer, a known slow mover was selected ahead of Gautam Gambhir for the forthcoming South Africa series. It is not that Laxman isn’t a good fielder, his slip catching and outfield catching abilities are second to none. Agreed that he does not have the greatest throwing arm and the quickest of feet. One could come up with names of players who have been worst fielders than VVS and have had a longer career. Then why discriminate Laxman?
There is no doubt that Laxman is a matchwinner. In the final ODI in the 2004 series in Pakistan, when the series was locked at 2-2, Laxman came up with a strokefilled century in the decider, to record India’s first ever ODI series victory in Pakistan. The string of centuries in Australia against the hosts and a Zimbabwe side that included many of their premier players in 2004, the crucial 69 in the Mumbai test on a pitch in which 22 wickets tumbled in two days and in which test India recorded a face saving victory in the 2005 series, are few instances where Laxman’s match winning abilities have come to the fore. One of the reasons for this could be because there is no influential selector representing the South Zone. It is a general perception that players from the states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh don’t have the same backing and support from their state boards, as compared to the states in the North.
The present Indian team is quite young with promising players like Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina, etc. But to win a premier event like the World Cup, you need players with experience and class. Like when the chief selector Vengsarkar himself admitted that here is a dearth of talent in the country, experience and class should have been given a chance. But unfortunately Laxman is left out high and dry.
If India has to win the World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, something special has to happen. Who else can do this except our Very Very Special Laxman.
FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.
281 is a famous number in the Indian cricket history. 309 maybe the highest individual score by an Indian in a test match but the 281 by Laxman in 2001 home series against the mighty Aussies who had conquered everything on their way and who had won consecutive 16 test victories before, was a landmark innings in the annals of Indian cricket. After being dropped from the ODI squad for the forthcoming SA series on the basis of his reported fitness problem, the mild mannered Laxman came out with a rejoinder stating that he’s fit to play. But the team selected is full of unfit players.
What one would find common in all VVS Laxman interviews is that he wants to win matches for India and of course his desire to play in a World Cup, after the fiasco of 2003 when he was dropped from the World Cup side to make way for Dinesh Mongia.
These statements from one of the batsmen of contemporary Indian cricket who has by all accounts has played one of the greatest test innings of all times, is a not only a reflection of his unfulfilled desire but also vagaries of Indian selection. It is worth recalling Adam Gilchrist’s statements a few years back-“ after every matchwinning innings by VVS, we see him dropped for the next series”. No doubt, the best cricket team of the world holds him in high esteem, but not our selectors.
Laxman’s story is about a talent, tampered by the authorities very frequently, to the detriment of Indian Cricket and also to him personally. Here is a cricketer who has played all his life at that crucial number three position for his School, Club, State and Zone. But he was pitch forked into opening the innings against the bowling attacks that included Alan Donald, Shaun Pollock, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis and many such tear away bowlers whom the world feared. He did a decent job of that. Infact after his first test innings as an opener, the great Sunil Gavaskar in a column of his had said, “the way Laxman batted in his very first test did not indicate that he was playing his first test match, he batted like a veteran of many test matches playing South African bowlers at utmost ease.”
A batsman’s true caliber is assessed only when he plays successfully in the true and fast bouncy pitches of Australia. No Indian batsman other than Laxman likes the pitches of Australia. In the tour of 1999 of Australia, after starting very promisingly, he could not go on to get big scores. But in the second innings of the final test in Sydney when all was lost for India, he came up with one of his stroke-filled innings of 167 in an Indian score of around 250, that too after all the top order had failed. The innings was not lost on Steve Waugh, the then Aussie skipper, who spoke of Laxman highly after that innings. After this great innings , he was to return back to India as he was not included in the ODI squad. But injuries to other key batsmen forced the Board to retain him in the ODI squad, unfortunately he did not live up to the expectations in the ODI’s.
Just before the Aussies arrived in India in 2001, another great Indian batsman of yesteryears Dilip Sardesai had this to say-“Laxman is as good as the big three(Sachin, Dravid and Ganguly) and he should play in all three tests”. After the first test at Mumbai was over in less than four days with a victory to the Aussies, no one gave India a chance as India’s strike bowler Anil Kumble was injured and India was playing a rookie spinner in Harbhajan Singh. In the second test at Eden gardens Calcutta, when India followed on, not only the test series but also the Indian cricket was at crossroads. Laxman had scored a brave 59 in the first innings coming in at number 6. Following on, when India started its second innings, after the first wicket fell cheaply, as fate would have it, Laxman was sent in at number 3 instead of Dravid who was slightly indisposed. The rest is History.
After this innings everybody thought Laxman has made the number 3 slot his own. That was not to be. After a couple of failures in South Africa, he lost that no.3 slot permanently. This dented his confidence. Soon it seemed like he was losing ground to the youngsters who were blooded into the side. His place was always under pressure. The pressure to perform in almost all the matches he played in, got to him and affected his free flowing stroke play. Those inside out cover drives, effortless on-drives and those trademark flicks to the leg were becoming rare. Added to this, he had to bear the tag of a slow mover in the field and not suited to play ODI’s. The reasons always given for dropping Laxman from the ODI squad is that he is not fit or he is a slow mover and many such excuses on those lines. These statements come from selectors who choose Saurav Ganguly and Ashish Nehra saying that they are matchwinners, neglecting their fielding prowess. If players like Nehra and Ganguly can be selected in the playing eleven despite their fielding abilities, then one wonders what wrong has Laxman done. Afterall, other than Kaif, Yuvraj, Raina and Agarkar, the fielding standards of others is almost at par. I wonder how many players in world cricket have been dropped from their team because they are slow fielders. How is it that Wasim Jaffer, a known slow mover was selected ahead of Gautam Gambhir for the forthcoming South Africa series. It is not that Laxman isn’t a good fielder, his slip catching and outfield catching abilities are second to none. Agreed that he does not have the greatest throwing arm and the quickest of feet. One could come up with names of players who have been worst fielders than VVS and have had a longer career. Then why discriminate Laxman?
There is no doubt that Laxman is a matchwinner. In the final ODI in the 2004 series in Pakistan, when the series was locked at 2-2, Laxman came up with a strokefilled century in the decider, to record India’s first ever ODI series victory in Pakistan. The string of centuries in Australia against the hosts and a Zimbabwe side that included many of their premier players in 2004, the crucial 69 in the Mumbai test on a pitch in which 22 wickets tumbled in two days and in which test India recorded a face saving victory in the 2005 series, are few instances where Laxman’s match winning abilities have come to the fore. One of the reasons for this could be because there is no influential selector representing the South Zone. It is a general perception that players from the states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh don’t have the same backing and support from their state boards, as compared to the states in the North.
The present Indian team is quite young with promising players like Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina, etc. But to win a premier event like the World Cup, you need players with experience and class. Like when the chief selector Vengsarkar himself admitted that here is a dearth of talent in the country, experience and class should have been given a chance. But unfortunately Laxman is left out high and dry.
If India has to win the World Cup 2007 in the West Indies, something special has to happen. Who else can do this except our Very Very Special Laxman.
FORM IS TEMPORARY, CLASS IS PERMANENT.
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