Bad manners not excusable on the field

Meanwhile,Mohd Yousuf has retired for now. There is nothing unusual about that except that few others before him actually announced it that way. Many great players across eras have retired and returned. Jordan did and Schumacher has and his great countryman Imran did,maybe influenced by the ladies stand chanting kabhi alvida na kehna at Lahore during the 1987 World Cup semi-final.

While you never know what tomorrow brings in Pakistan cricket,you cannot help getting the feeling that this is it for an extremely classy player who,for all his grace and style and runs,always had a cloud hovering above him. So with Inzamam gone,and presumably Younis and Yousuf too,you wonder who will carry the legacy of great Test batsmen from Pakistan. Hopefully there is a kid out there who wants to play long innings. Maybe Umar Akmal,who has impressed many.

And at the IPL,Sachin Tendulkar continues his purple patch; this time not just as batsman but as captain too. He must enjoy this because while his inbox is forever full of accolades about his batting,the captaincy folder has not always been overflowing. But in the first half of the IPL,his leadership has been a breath of fresh air.

In the first game he backed his youngsters,Tiwary,Rayudu and Sathish and played only three overseas players. In every game thereafter,he has given these young players the confidence they need by sending them out at crucial moments. Tiwari,for example,has retained his No 4 slot ahead of Bravo and Pollard,Rayudu gets to bat at No 5 and even Sathish,just returning from the ICL,has a clearly defined role. If he gets 15 or 20 in quick time at the end,and does little else,his captain seems quite happy with him.

Bravo and Pollard occasionally get the No 3 slot to allow themselves to rediscover form but I think the best move of all has been to put Ryan McLaren in the side and,in doing so,free Lasith Malinga to play the role Tendulkar likes him to; bowl behind the new ball and at the death. It helps that McLaren can bat and indeed,the Mumbai Indians now have three all-rounders in crucial areas and a floater in Sathish. McLaren doesnt mind bowling up front and that releases Malinga to bowl no more than one over early on and leave his captain with enough options at the end.

Tendulkars challenge though will be to keep his team hungry game after game. Sometimes a winning streak can pose a leadership challenge; players can become complacent,start believing they merely need to turn up. Already against the Kings Xl they looked ready for the picking and only just scraped through against the weakest side (and that is a story in itself). Hopefully for him,that will have been a wake-up call and if that is indeed the case,much good will come out of it.

But the team to watch,as ever,is the Rajasthan Royals. Shane Warne is both,persuasive leader and child-like colleague. Yes,you read right. Ive been meeting him at the toss and at the post match presentation a few times and he has been excited as a child.

Now thats an interesting one actually. One of the greatest cricketers of all time plays a mans game with a child like fervour. So,can the two go together? Maybe thats one for Kevin and Andrew!