Up and Running : The Steyn Gun

Over the years, the cricketing fraternity has seen fast bowlers shine, win test matches for their teams on foreign territories and become a folklore. In the last few decades, we've seen legends like Malcolm Marshall, Dennis Lillee, Michael Holding, Joel Garner, Kapil Dev, Imran Khan, Wasim Akram and many more bamboozle the great batting line-ups with their art, skill, swing and pace. Personally, having never seen these legends bowling live is an unfortunate event for me. And this brings me to Dale Steyn; a bowler I've admired long for his determination, fitness, strength and skill in an era where the bat has dominated the ball invariably. Dale Steyn has been a true leader of the attack for South Africa in the past decade. His greatness needs no endorsement as his record speaks volumes of the talent he possesses with the ball in hand, especially in Test Cricket. His ability to swing the ball both ways at the start, to reverse swing the ball later, to crank it up a notch and trouble the best even in those dead pitches of the sub-continent makes him a truly wonderful asset to South Africa and World Cricket. He stakes the claim to be hailed as not "One of  the greatest" but the greatest fast bowler bar none in the history of Test Cricket. Reinforcing these viewpoints are few of the following stats:

1. Steyn was top of the ICC Test bowling rankings for a record 263 weeks (a testament to his fitness)

2. Steyn's career strike rate is insanely good at 42.0, meaning he takes a wicket every 42 balls, a genuine wicket taker.

3. Steyn is the quickest fast bowler in history to get to 400 wickets in Test Cricket.

Best of this generation
Records will still say that James Anderson is the best fast bowler of this generation but the batsmen and the contemporary greats of the game will tell a different story. That this champion has done all this in 89 tests is a further proof of his greatness. Off late, Steyn has been plagued by injuries. It is a shame in the last few years injuries have cut short his incredible career. Since 2015 he has missed more than 25 tests. In the mean time, Anderson has surged ahead. Taking nothing away from Anderson and going purely by statistics, Steyn would have been close to 550+ Test wickets had he not succumbed to those injuries. Wherever he went, home and away, Steyn left an indelible mark on every crowd, every fan, every lover of the art of  fast bowling and infused new life in an otherwise lifeless era for bowling aided by flat heavy bats and lifeless pitches. Steyn is 35 now and hopefully, has a couple of injury free years ahead of him. So, let's sit back and enjoy a master ply his trade till the time it lasts. 

Renaissance of Liverpool : Down to the 'Klopp' effect?

It's that familiar time of the year again for the English Premier League fans. Liverpool have been waiting for the crown that has eluded them for so long, sometimes due to collapse under pressure like the infamous "Gerrard Slip" and sometimes by inspired opponents. This year though, one thing is present in this team that teams of the past didn't have; A desire to be the best. They were on the cusp of winning the Champions league last season when all hope evaporated with an injury to their talismanic man, Mohammed Salah and a few moments of despair for their goalkeeper Karius. They were the only team in the competition having three forwards with 10 or more goals, a feat unprecedented till now. And they were consistent in the league too, having brought a halt to the near unstoppable Manchester City with a 4-3 enthralling win at Anfield. If that was the sign for the things to come, this team has gone a step further this season with their best start to any EPL campaign , an unbeaten start of 18 games. All of this has resulted because of smart team changes, an efficient goalkeeper in Allison, a miserly defense, a fiery attack combined with something which we're all familiar of in the past; the genius of Jurgen Klopp. The same Klopp who brought an end to the near invincible Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga with back to back victories.

Klopp is Pep's Kryptonite 

Consider this : Till the latest Klopp Vs Pep showdown, Klopp holds a staggering 6 victories and 13 draws from 19 encounters against probably the best manager of the last decade, a manager credited for the successful 'Tiki Taka' of spanish football and the rise of Leo Messi , undoubtedly, one of the greatest players of all time. This record coupled with Liverpool's first victory over Manchester United at Anfield (First in the last 8 attempts) shows the shrewd tactician in Klopp. He has ticked the saying, "To be the best, you have to beat the best" by bettering both Pep and Mourinho in his short time at Anfield. He has raised the hopes of the most loyal fanbase in the world, for whom the wait kept getting longer and longer for a major silverware. Klopp has infused this side with a sense of purpose, belief and an indomitable will to fight all the odds in their quest for glory but never were those traits more effective than this season's dominance. The season is all but over with City still being only 4 points behind but the manner in which Klopp's team plays suggests Liverpool will continue the trend; A trend which has seen 9 out of the past 10 champions leading the table during the Christmas break. If Liverpool go even deeper and as far as even win the Champions League, we should not be surprised because here is a man who has given his team this attacking flair and a messiah in Mohammed Salah, who in his second and an average season at best, is still leading the goal scoring charts. It is Klopp's time of reckoning. The resurgence of this historic club is all down to the 'Klopp' effect.

Selection Conundrum for King Kohli!

How life changes for a sportsperson of such a high stature like Virat Kohli can be gauged from the fact that within a week what was termed as a great touring side is now being touted as a side with many selection blunders throughout the course of the year. So, How much water does this claim hold? The player Kohli, for his own part, has been simply magnificent. A hundred in South Africa, England and Australia in the same calendar year proves beyond doubt why he is the best player in the world. He has led the scoring charts in every series, be it runs, hundreds or the sheer class which he possesses  has left not only the Indian fans but fans worldwide amazed at his consistency and will power to overcome the odds everytime the team is in trouble. As for Captain Kohli, things don't seem to go as smoothly though. He has experimented with the team combination far too often, making glaring errors , most notably being dropping vice-captain Ajinkya Rahane for the first two tests in South Africa , playing two spinners at a surface which was the most conducive to fast bowling and playing 4 quicks in Perth where the man of the match turned out to be the opposition spinner. One can argue that Australia playing 6 left handed batsman in their line up was a possible reason for not picking Jadeja. However, it exposed a long tail from no.8 to no.11 which could not contribute or support the other batsmen. Compare it to the opposition tail and this is one of the reasons India ended up losing the match. The form of the openers has not helped either, who have this year not registered a single 100 run opening partnership or spent enough time in the middle to not expose the middle order to the new ball. Add to that the injury sustained by Prithvi Shaw and India have a lot to ponder for the third test beginning in less than a week.

So, where do Kohli and India go from here? One might be tempted to rope in Mayank Aggarwal owing to his brilliant first class records recently. But does bringing in a youngster in the middle of the series against the most potent bowling attack in the world help the team's cause? Another option calls for trying Rohit Sharma for the opening slot , a position which he has so cherished in the white ball game as to being the only cricketer to score 3 double hundreds. Or do we select the original combination of K.L. Rahul and Murali Vijay and give them one more opportunity? Captain Kohli has a lot on his plate as far as the team selection goes. One thing is for sure , this series will determine whether Ravi Shastri's claim of this team being the "best touring Indian team ever" has any credibility to it or not and whether India should be looking to diversify its options if they fail to win a series against an opposition bolstered by their bowling attack but without two of their best batsmen in their ranks in David Warner and Steve Smith.