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By:

Waleed Hussain

4 March 2025 at 8:04:30 pm

Masters of the Three-Hour Party

Congratulations, West Indies. You’ve done it again. You’ve reminded the world that when the music is loud, the boundaries are short, and nobody has to bat longer than it takes to finish a Red Stripe, you remain an absolute force of nature. Chasing 250 against India in Ranchi with Shai Hope smashing an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls and Sherfane Rutherford going berserk for 84 off 37? Pure Caribbean swagger. Second-highest successful chase in T20 history. Cue the fireworks, the Instagram reels, and...

Masters of the Three-Hour Party

Congratulations, West Indies. You’ve done it again. You’ve reminded the world that when the music is loud, the boundaries are short, and nobody has to bat longer than it takes to finish a Red Stripe, you remain an absolute force of nature. Chasing 250 against India in Ranchi with Shai Hope smashing an unbeaten 102 off 45 balls and Sherfane Rutherford going berserk for 84 off 37? Pure Caribbean swagger. Second-highest successful chase in T20 history. Cue the fireworks, the Instagram reels, and the inevitable “West Indies are back!” headlines from people who only watch cricket when it fits between dinner and bedtime. It’s almost touching how reliably the Windies can summon this brand of chaos. Give them 20 overs, a flat pitch, and the promise of franchise contracts, and they turn into a travelling carnival of six-hitting. Rutherford swings like he’s still in a Caribbean Premier League final. For three hours, they are irresistible, making you believe the old magic never left. And then the sun comes up, the pitch starts offering a bit of bounce or turn, and the same team suddenly looks like it has collectively forgotten how to hold a bat for more than 40 minutes. Test cricket continues to treat the West Indies like a particularly cruel practical joke. Bowled out for 27 by Australia in Jamaica. Regular sub-200 totals that barely last until the drinks break. A collective batting average since 2020 that makes you wonder if some of these players have ever seen a red ball outside of a museum. The once-feared pace attack is now a polite suggestion. The batting line-up, once stocked with men who could dominate for sessions, now collapses with the consistency of a poorly built sandcastle at high tide. In T20, they are the cool kids at the party - loud, flashy, impossible to ignore. In Tests, they are the ones who showed up without doing the homework and are now staring at the floor while the teacher asks questions. None of this is entirely the players’ fault. The system that produced the greatest teams in cricket history has spent the last two decades slowly dismantling itself with the efficiency of a controlled demolition. Domestic structures that produce short-form specialists rather than long-form craftsmen. Pitches that encourage hitting rather than grafting. A calendar so dominated by franchise leagues that a five-day match feels like an unpaid internship. Why spend six hours a day in the middle grinding out a fifty when you can smash three sixes in an over, collect a cheque, and be home in time for dinner? The board’s financial struggles only accelerate the exodus. Yet the sarcasm writes itself when people still talk about a “resurgence.” A resurgence in T20 is like being the best dancer at a wedding after three drinks—impressive in the moment, completely irrelevant the next morning. The West Indies have been “resurging” in white-ball cricket for years now. They win a T20 World Cup, look dangerous for a series or two, then quietly disappear when the format requires anyone to stay at the crease past the powerplay. Meanwhile, Test cricket, the format that once defined Caribbean identity, that produced Holding, Roberts, Ambrose, Lara, and Richards - continues its dignified funeral. The occasional win against Sri Lanka or a competitive draw is treated like a renaissance. Every time Hope or Rutherford clears the ropes, someone inevitably starts waxing lyrical about the “Caribbean way,” as if the Caribbean way was invented in 2008 when T20 became profitable. The old West Indies didn’t just entertain for three hours. They dominated for five days. They made opposing batsmen question their life choices. They produced sessions of sustained hostility that felt like weather systems. That version of the team is not “adapting to the modern game.” It is being actively replaced by a product better suited to highlight reels and franchise auctions. So yes, celebrate the record chase. Enjoy the sixes. Applaud Hope for looking like a proper leader under lights. Just don’t insult anyone’s intelligence by calling this a balanced resurgence. The West Indies are currently world-class at the version of cricket that requires the least amount of sustained concentration and the most amount of Instagram potential. In the version that still separates the serious from the spectacular, they remain a cautionary tale wrapped in maroon. (The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal)

Indian Shipbuilding A Must Win Marathon

Writer: Capt. Naveen S Singhal
Capt. Naveen S Singhal
Dec 5, 2024
4 min read
Shipbuilding

With a coastline of 7500 KM, it is hard to imagine, that for the first 20 years (1947-1967) India had no ‘shipping ministry’. In 1967 a Shipping ministry “coupled” with ROAD transport was established. Since then, this ministry has been on a name changing ride, not once, not twice but six times. In 2009 the “ROAD Transport and Highways” was de-coupled and ‘Shipping’ ministry was formed. Turning point came in 2015 with a clear maritime vision for 2030 and 2047. Ministry was re-christened, aptly to Ministry of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” in 2020.


Why is Shipbuilding important for a country?

a. A Shipyard becomes an opportunity hub and like a queen bee requires the support of an industrial colony to manufacture machinery and equipment.

b. National Shipyards support fleet renewal needs of the Navy.

c. Contributes to national GDP, increases inflow of FOREX.


Korea shipbuilding is 8% of GDP. Japan’s automobile industry is 2.9% of GDP. India’s shipbuilding a meagre 0.000578% of GDP. In context, India’s pharmaceutical industry, ranked third largest in the world is 1.72% of India’s GDP.


International Shipbuilding Market

The market is estimated to reach around USD 200 billion by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 4.84%. While India is at bottom with 0.07% of world share, behind Philippines 1.5% and Vietnam 1%, however on the positive side, India has done well in taking care of its defence needs, with 37 of 39 Naval ships being built in India yards. Rear Admiral S Shrikhande researching on maritime as a Fellow at Wollongong University, Australia, says “Shipbuilding in India needs both, serious incentivisation and dogged determination and not harping on being a big ship breaking country. That Garden Reach shipyard has a $54 million order for merchant ships from a German owner, is a good sign.”


Were Shipyards of 20th century in Flight mode?

Prominent shipyards in India were built in the colonial period. Mazagon Dock 1774, Garden reach 1884, Hindustan shipyard 1941 to cater to British navy and merchant fleet needs. Cochin shipyard 1972, Adani Katupalli 2013, Reliance Naval and Engineering, Rajula Gujarat 1997 and others have limited capacity, hence a lot more work to do. Capt. Subhangshu Dutt (Singapore) a mariner and now a shipowner, says “GOI should hold hands in any collaboration till the marriage with the foreign entity is reasonably stable. He also suggests that “new shipbuilding sites should be given to existing successful shipyards since they have decades of experience and talent. Consortium of 3 or more parties may also be good idea”.


Shipbuilding GOLD

As per SPLASH report the demand for LCO2 carriers could reach 2,500 ships by 2050. As per other estimates, 40% of global fleet of ships could have wind propulsion by 2050. A surge in such vessels is due to an unparallel waves of decarbonization in the shipping industry. Demand for ships with ‘carbon neutral’ badges, such as Dual fuel, Wind assisted, Nuclear fuel ships, Hydrogen powered ships, Liquified CO2 (LCO2) carrier, is outstripping supply. A must in the ‘bucket list’ of every Shipyard. Pinning down a standard ROI in shipbuilding is not easy, but experts suggest it could range from 4% to 15% for the high demand ‘carbon neutral’ ships. While an LNG new build vessel could cost US$ 250 million upwards.


International collaboration

On China’s shipbuilding success story, Manoj Pandalanghat (Singapore) a mariner and ship owner believes that “China has around 50 active Shipyards. Each have a few large dry docks. In each dock two or more large vessels are built simultaneously. Thus, a single yard is able to roll out 2/3 vessels/month, 36 vessels/year and 50 shipyards roll out 1800 vessels/year”.


China could be a jaldi-5, but India needs a sturdy Mount Fiji. Besides technology, Japanese bring the most important hand baggage of soft-skills and culture, essential for success from keel laying to delivery. Maruti’s is a standing example.


Food for thought for New Delhi

a. Expertise: Hire Naval Architects and shipbuilding experts with current international experience.

b. Government assistance: Land, Financial support, subsidies and timebound clearances.

c. Monitoring: PMO should monitor the first 5 to 10 years till Shipbuilding takes-off on this long-haul flight to destination 2047.


India’s Shipbuilding is expected to grow to $237 billion by year 2047. On a back of the envelope calculations this works out to about 4% of India’s 2047 projected GDP of $ 5 trillion. While cars are driven on roads, however the Ministry of roads and transport has little to do with “Automobile manufacturing”. On a similar note, ‘Shipbuilding’ as an industry has little to do with Ports, Shipping and Waterways, thus it may be worthwhile to consider a separate ‘Ship-building’ wing in the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways headed by a dynamic cabinet rank minister. Since 2047 targets are stiff and an uphill task, so in all probabilities, the officials in Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways are likely to push beneath the carpet, delays and failures of Shipbuilding with sweet success stories of “Ports, Shipping and Waterways” and if this does happen then India will not only miss the Shipbuilding bus of 21st century but a lot more from a national security and strategic perspective.


(The author is a Shipping and Marine consultant. Member Singapore Shipping Association and empaneled with IMO as a specialist consultant. Views personal.)

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