NEW ZEALAND: IDOLS FOR UNDERDOGS .....

New zealand underdogs

New Zealand cricket has always been under the crtics’ scanner and very famously termed as the underdogs. This team, as many say, has the potential to strike it big but never has it hit the bulls eye except the odd champions trophy at Nairobi or the more recent one in South Africa.

Let’s just see how this team has done over the last decade or so and we will find for ourselves that merely calling it “underdog” would not be fair. I have been following NZ cricket for the last 12 15 years and i have not seen one single superstar or the big -wig from this side, but do not mistake me this side has produced some really competitive players who may not possess superflous talent but yes they have what it takes to be noticed at the international level.

Starting with the early 1990′s the NZ team was carried by players like Martin Crowe, who, I think, single handedly brought New Zealand fame in the 1992 World Cup with his explosive batting and also by his witty and courageous captaincy – who could forget the famous Deepak Patel move? He made him open the bowling on Australian tracks which was if not innovative but brave.

Also one more thing that stood out was the aggressiveness in which NZ went out in that tournament, which, sadly I have not seen elsewhere. More so, recently, it has reached to very low levels where there is a need of one leader or rather one star player who can really hold the team together .

Then came the middle and the late 90′s where players like Fleming, Cairns, Harris, Astle made their presence felt with their match winning capabilities and also there were some underrated players, who, on their day could do wonders – like McMillan, Roger Twose etc.

The memories of these players are well preserved in the Australian tri-series which usually had NZ in them and one could really get some nerve biting last ball encounters when the two teams AUS and NZ were playing .

The new generation also produced some new faces but one may not recollect them long as they did not play long or were hampered with injuries – the likes of Shayne O’Connor, Chris Drum and Shane Bond.

The real problem with New Zealand is as I said earlier, lack of super talented players but one can see they may one of the few cricket playing nations which had more than one all rounders at their dispoasl every match, it is just that they could not strike it big.

Yes, we all know here is a country which has limited talent or maybe limited resources but one should not rule them out as they displayed some of the finest performances one can ever see in a cricket match.

Here are my three favourites. You may call it all time NEW ZEALAND best performances.

1) NATHAN ASTLE: It was difficult to select but yes surely the performance of Nathan Astle has to be considered as one of the best ever innings played by a New Zealand batsman given the situation of the |Test match. Yes, his team eventually lost the match but nothing can be taken off from his individual efforts which included some adorable shots through the off side. He had scored the fastest 200 ever but what was more important was his intent to win the test match.

2) CHRIS CAIRNS: It was the final of the ICC Knockout trophy at Nairobi and the opponents were India – a tough match for NZ overall but what stood out was again a champion effort from Chris Cairns. Cannot call it aggressive but surely a treat to watch. Here is a guy who many consider a slogger, but on that day he just proved many wrong and showed that he may be a slogger but when situation demands he can be much more than a slogger.

3) CHRIS HARRIS: It was the quarter-final of the 1996 Wills World cup and the stage was set for a great encounter . Here NZ batted first and set a really good score thanks to heroic performance of Chris Harris who smashed a brilliant 130 smashing every Aussie bowler to all parts of the park.Unluckilly here again NZ could not get the victory as Aussies were just too good for them.

Well talking of NZ as a restricted and and underdog may be absolutely correct seeing the recent run, but what matters is that they have some really good players in their dressing room who could be the next super stars. Likes of Ross Taylor, Jesse Ryder and others look promising batsmen but the worry lies in the bowling department. Surely Vettori’s there but there has to be some person who plays second fiddle to him.

Jeetan Patel has looked promising but not impactful,but yes there is surely room for improvement.Also there are bowlers like Elliot, Southee, Butler who have been in the team but not been consistent .

What is to be seen is that whether the young and bruised NZ team realize their potential and make it bing or is it the same Underdog tag they are going to carry on from generation to generation.

Karthik Iyer

CRICKTHIK