It is a silly*, maybe trivial* question to ask. It’s parochial*, if not a touch provincial*. But are South Indians not suited for Twenty20 cricket at the highest level, the operative words being “at the highest level“?
Look at the 15-member team playing in the Twenty20 World Cup now on in England. There is not single player from Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh or Kerala. Sure, six of the 15 play for southern teams in the Indian Premeir League (IPL), but there is not one player who can be called a full-blooded South Indian. (Pragyan Ojha plays for Hyderabad in the Ranji Trophy but he hails from Orissa.)
Even in the 2009 IPL in South Africa, there were few Southern stars who blazed away, at least who blazed away consistently. It was Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, et al, all the way…. Barring occasional flashes of brilliance from Anil Kumble, few bowlers made a mark. (Only S. Sreesanth and Yo Mahesh, and Robin Uthappa figure in the top ten of best bowlers and fielders in the first two editions of the IPL.)
This raises the question: are South Indian players not suited for slam-bang Twenty20 cricket? Do we/they not have it in us/them to blast our/their way through, innovate, break the rules? Can’t we/they throw ourselves/themselves on the field? Are we/they not equipped mentally or physically? Are we/they too superior for such tamasha cricket?
Or will this, too, pass?
* (*) (*) (*) If you do, please don’t waste your time
Also read: Secret of Anil Kumble‘s success is his un-Kannadiganess
churumuri 
chee thoo! adaralli yEnide skillu aaDakke!?
yakkamakka beesaddu, *kamakkakke yesayadu ashTe! :<
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interesting question: I noticed it myself sometime back.
To be fair, only Sreesanth, Kartik, Badrinath and maybe Uthappa could be considered to be in contention for a place in the 15 for T-20 or ODIs.
I think the reason has to do with the rise of UP as a cricketing powerhouse, surpassing south indian teams in excellence. This is reflected in our ODI team and once Dravid and Laxman retire, in the Test team as well. Only Sreesanth and maybe, Badrinath, could claim a place in a Test XI, but won’t feature as regularly as say, Rohit Sharma or Ishant Sharma.
As to why this is so… it could be one of those cyclic things (remember when we had 7 in the ODI team??!!) or maybe the start of a longterm decline of cricket in South India.
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Churumuri .. i always enjoy reading your blog .. but this was not good .. too silly .. yes .. hight of simplification .. and blaming it onto something not worth mentioning… if Southies are soft then how would u explain
Kris Shrikanth .. Visvanath .. they were explosive .. it just that currently non of the better players from ‘south of india’ are in form .. pick other sports and you will see changed pic .. bloody or tough sports has very very healthy or dominent mix of people from south of india.
btw which are the ‘tough’ parts of India?
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Like England, Scotland and Ireland India should send more teams to the tournament. One team is too little for a country with a population more than a billion.
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1. dinesh karthik wil be replacing Shewag as of today.
2. There has been a gradual shift in cricket in India. It used to be dominated by educated middle/upper middle class players. That was when it Maharastra and Karnataka dominated the team. Now more people have the opportunity to play and players from smaller towns, with grittier attidutes, growing up in harder conditions have been finding success. These same players would not have come to selectors attention a decade ago.
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First we discover that Australians are racists
Now you tell us North Indians are latitudinarians!
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Watch this clip, RK says “Rekha does not seem to know English well, may be she is somewhere from south”.
http://ibnlive.in.com/videos/94471/rajesh-khanna-wonders-if-rekha-understands-english.html
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Rohit “Sharma” is a Telugu. He is actually Rohit “sarma” which has been changed to “Sharma”.. This is true.. I am not kidding.
And here is the proof:
http://www.hindu.com/2007/09/24/stories/2007092458390200.htm
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I second Goldstar,Rohit hails from A.P,his family had arrived in Mumbai just when he was 2 0r 3! I saw an interview of his,where he said as much.
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Its all the matter of time. Haven’t we seen Indian team with 6 Kannadigas? Then, should we call that time as pro-kannadiga, and only kanndigas used to play cricket in India?
Over interpolation of a small sample in time, is a bad analysis and shouldn’t be presented as a universal statement.
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An interesting argument Churumuri!
We are the only team in the world with an quality mix of regional players, different languages, different playing styles. We have amazing talents filled in every corner of our country. The talent who maintains his quality of play survives….Lets hope to see a good mix of good players….deserving players!
I am proud to be an Indian… Check this video:
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I have a different take.
South and North Indians are relatively better performers in full-pants game and very bad at half-pants game.
Full pants game being Golf, Shooting, Billiards, Snooker, Chess and Cricket.
Half pants games being Volley Ball, Foot ball, Basket Ball, Hockey, Athletics, (both Track and Field) Badminton, Table Tennis, Lawn Tennis (save for a Paes), Wrestling, Boxing (save for an odd medal),
Full pants games require less sweat, less stamina, less strength compared to half pants games which require more stamina, more strength and more aggression.
you can play five days of test cricket without so much as a drop of sweat on you. but playing 15 minutes of badminton or football could drench you with your own body sweat.
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@ Channa,
What you said is very true. When it comes to cricket we become too much patriotic and we don’t show the same attitude when it comes to indulging in corrupt practices which in reality is more unpatriotic. Vehemently oppose when someone talk about state and language and the next day go to Corporation office to get birth certificate to enable his son/daughter to get American citizenship. Country is full of such people.
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@Simple:
South India has produced very good players in football(Pradeep?), hockey(Coorgis like Ashok etc), badminton(Padukone, Saina, Anup Shridhar), tennis(Bhupati), athletis(P.T Usha)
Though I agree with the point that half-pant games require more stamina than full pant games. Thats the reason why they wear half pants, so that movement is easier.
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Is churumuri so stupid as to not understand a simple change in a trend that is always changing? Get a life. Little kids in schools ask such questions.
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All South Indians should stop eating idly and start consuming rajma chawal. Or rather, idly should be made out national breakfast so that everyone has the equal opportunity.
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Complex
In the last 60 years India has produced almost NO or extremely few half pants champs, but we have produced SEVERAL full pants champs.
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@Simple
I misread your comment as saying that Southies are worse in half pant games than Northies.
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