Beer, Chips and Cricket

This is a site about drinking beer, eating chips and thinking cricket. I am not a former player, a television commentaror or a journalist; my qualification to being worthy of hearing is that I drink a lot of beer, eat a lot of chips and think a lot about cricket. The thoughts need not be politically correct and often include colourful language but there will be no deliberate bias towards any player, community or state. I don't care about popular opinion or perceptions and I speak it as I see it.

Monday, February 19, 2007

Sehwag's run out in final ODI

It was a dumb way to get out ... but then I don't really think it gives us any new reflection on Sehwag's attitude ... it is not as if he didn't get into the crease coz he doesn't give a damn. I think it is just an Indian habit to be careless .... even at the end of his illustrious career, Azhar used to cross the line carrying his bat in the air while taking a run ... and many a time replays have showed that had the ball hit the wickets, he would have been out not coz he was far away from the crease line but just coz the bat was in the air. The same is true of many others ... hey, I have even seen Dravid do the same many a time.

A friend of mine pointed out a parallel with the New Zealand guys running out Muralitharan who was rushing to congratulate Sangakkara. They called it unsportsmanlike then ... and the call was almost universal ... the Black Caps r cheaters. Legally they were in the right ... but from the point of view of the spirit of the game, they were wrong.

I personally think there could be no parallel to this case and Sehwag's run out. Firstly Murali had completed the first run ... and while his mad rush to congratulate Sangakkara might be uncalled for, at least the run had been completed and the keeper can always say "hey I thought he was going for the second", even if we all know it wasn't so. In Sehwag's case, he was lazily walking across the pitch to the other end after guiding the ball to third man ... the throw from third man was a nice, looping throw coz no one was really thinking of a run out ... when Sangakkara collected it, Sehwag was about 5 feet away from the crease line at the non-striker's end ... he was strolling towards the crease with his back towards Sangakkara ... and Sangakkara hesitated just a fraction of a second before lobbing the ball towards the non-strikers end ... and when the ball hit the stumps, Sehwag had almost turned towards the keeper's end again ... he was just planning to turn around to see if the match was still on, I guess ... :-) ... his feet had not yet touched the crease line ... and technically speaking, the run was not completed coz unless he crosses or touches the crease line, the run is not complete.

If a man crosses the crease line ... and maybe strolls out to pat down an offending blade of turf on the pitch or so, one can say "hey it is not on to try and run him out". But if the guy taking the run has not even reached the crease line, it is definitely a run out ... look at it this way - by running out Sehwag, Sangakkara actually saved a run for Sri Lanka ... coz Sehwag had technically not completed the run.

Anyways ... when lady luck is not on ur side, these things happen. It will be an interesting world cup to watch, for sure.

Cheers

The Chuckster

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