Ryan Harris is hardly surprising

Well this has been the routine for me whenever I go through the cricket news on various cricket sites that I'm not satisfied with the way comments are made taking into account a player's flash in the pan brilliance. Just after one good performance, the Australian spearhead- Ryan Harris is making news as a surprise for Australia. This, I guess cannot get stupid anymore. I just remember some commentator making an all rounder out of Krishnamachari Shrikanth when he became the first player for India to have had 2 five wicket hauls in ODI cricket. And so has been Ajith Agarkar.

The world needed just one good innings from Ajith Agarkar to rate him as another Kapil Dev for India when he smashed the Zimbabwean bowlers to score the fastest fifty for India when he did it off just 22 balls. I don't know whether it is because both Kapil Dev and Ajith Agarkar achieved that feat against Zimbabwe that such comparisons are made. And, the moment Irfan Pathan is found getting the ball to swing; he is rated to someone like Wasim Akram. This was one thing that even Chaminda Vass couldn't afford to do despite following Akram for decades.

However, both Ajith Agarkar and Irfan Pathan are not being seen anywhere in the international arena at present. And then I can recall the way Ajantha Mendis bowled Sri Lanka to victory in the Asia cup 2008 who not only became the highest wicket taker in that series but was also awarded the man of the series. Later on he bacame the fastest bowler in termas of matches to take 50 wickets in one day internationals. However, statistics suggest that most of Mendis' wickets came against lesser known teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and UAE. The only exception being his 6 wicket haul against India in the finals of the 2008 Asia cup.

But still, he could not take the game forward for Sri Lanka. Mendis never became the threat that he was. And the most funniest of them all being the comparison between Avishkar Salvi and Glenn McGrath with both of them sharing only the bowling action. And, I would be glad if anyone could tell me where Avishkar Salvi is now and what is he doing. But, nothing can be as bad as the one under consideration where Ryan Harris is in full praise for his 5 wicket haul in his maiden game and that too against Pakistan who have so far not been able to win even a single match at OZ. So has been Saqlain Mushtaq who at one stage was the leading wicket-taker for Pak only to be sacked for almost a decade.