Month: February 2008

Both Dravid and Ganguly have been phased out of the ODI team in favor of youth. Sachin is the last of the veterans so to speak remaining in the side. It is unfortunate that both Dravid and Ganguly were not given a more formal send off from the ODI team. The Indian selectors and Sachin himself should ensure that the same fate does not befall Sachin. The timing is perfect for him to announce a formal withdrawal from the ODI side.

There is no question that MS Dhoni is a captain who appears to know exactly what he wants. Of late he has shown that he can have his way as well. The upcoming finals against Australia would a be perfect time for him to score a heavily and then make an announcement of his plans. Instead, if Sachin chooses to wait too long, Dhoni won’t hesitate to act. There is plenty of opening talent waiting in the wings to take on the opening slot in ODIs. This is not a reflection of Sachin’s form. He still has it in him to be successful in ODIs but the reality is that the man at helm believes in having younger players (and rightfully so!) and so far his strategy has paid off.

India lost to Australia in the most recent ODI. The important fact is that India came within striking distance of the Australian total. A creditable recovery after being four down for 51 runs. A clear indication that this team is capable of putting up a fight. Thus far Australia has beat India consistently in this series despite being restricted to small totals until the most recent ODI.

However, this Indian team has what it takes to beat the Aussies in this series. The top order has been a little flaky, but it is possible that it will come together in time for the finals. Barring Sehwag, most players in the top order have at least one 50+ score in this series, which is a positive sign. The running between wickets is by far the best India has ever had. The ground fielding good but the direct hits could use some improvement.

On the bowling front, Harbhajan appears to be the weak link (though I have never seen this mentioned ever in the press). I can’t remember the last time Harbhajan grabbed a bunch of wickets. He almost always picks up one or two wickets at the most. At the top of the order, Ishant Sharma has proven to be a wicket taking bowler. But India badly lacks a wicket taking bowler in the middle overs. In fact, Sehwag (or Piyush Chawla) might be a better bet as the fifth bowler. In the most recent match against SL, coming into bowl with more than half the side back in the hut, Harbhajan failed to get any breakthroughs. Thus, India let SL off the hook to end up with a total of 179 runs.

With a small tweak or two and some luck, Dhoni and his boys have a great opportunity to beat the Aussies in the finals. It remains to be seen how effective they can be.

My Pick: Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Uthappa, Pathan, Praveen, Sreesanth, Ishant. (Or play Chawla in place of Sehwag and open with Uthappa).

For the second time in a row, team India lost due to poor tactics. After a brilliant bowling performance which helped India restrict Australia to a very achievable target of 204 runs, India made a complete mess of the run chase. Once again it was a case of poor tactics on the batting front.

Irfan Pathan at Number 3

With a seemingly achievable target at hand, sending Irfan Pathan at number 3 was a questionable decision. The bigger issue though was that Irfan didn’t appear to be batting to a plan. Was he supposed to attack? Was he supposed to bat like a regular number three? If he was sent in to pick a few quick runs to ease the pressure on the rest it certainly didn’t look like that was his intent. He was neither here nor there when it came to helping India achieve the target. He ended with 14 from 30 balls. It appears to be a case of a capable batsman not knowing what he was supposed to do!

What is even more alarming Dhoni’s defense of the decision.

“The Kookaburra ball does a bit in the first 12-15 overs, so it’s important to keep wickets in hand. Once the ball gets old, it becomes easier and is to the batsman’s advantage,” he explained. “Sending Irfan up balances the batting order and keep it stable. And Irfan at 8 or 3 doesn’t make too much of a difference.”

Pathan was sent in to conserve wickets! Sounds like Dhoni has more confidence in Pathan’s ability to survive at the crease than Uthappa, Yuvraj, or Rohit Sharma? How can it make no difference whether Irfan bats at 3 or 8?

Rohit Sharma – Rash Shot

With the loss of a couple of wickets and score of close to 50 on board, Rohit Sharma’s goal would have been to stick it out to the very end, rotate the strike, and build an innings while the stroke makers kept the score moving. Instead he played a completely reckless, airy drive and lost his wicket. Sounds like a case of complete lack of instructions from the captain and the think tank, yet again. If he was indeed instructed to stick around, then it signals a complete lack of responsibility on his part.

Yuvraj at number 3?

This match might have been a perfect opportunity to get Yuvraj back into his groove. At number 3 he would have had plenty of time to settle down and get some runs. Besides, he would have had an eye in before facing up to Brad Hogg (his nemesis of late). Instead Dhoni seems be shielding (or hiding him!) in the batting order, which is truly bizarre. One could argue that the early loss of Yuvraj would have put pressure on the batting. Not really. There would have been Rohit Sharma, Uthappa, Dhoni and Pathan to follow. Moreover, it would given India a good feel for what to do with Yuvraj if he failed yet again.

Munaf is a Misfit

Munaf has lost all his pace. He barely manages to cross the 130+ mark. Matt Hayden tonked him for a 6 in his first over like he was playing a spinner! Munaf can’t bat and his fielding is poor. Apart from being young, his inclusion is contrary to Dhoni’s desire to put together a good fielding side. To top it all, his body language is telling. Wearing a watch, sporting a stuble and ambling up to the wicket, he comes across as someone stranded in line at the electricity board office waiting for things to happen. Surely, he can display some minimal enthusiasm and excitement.

Uthappa Needs Some Exposure

Robin Uthappa has been languishing at the bottom of the batting line up leading the tail. He has shown in the past that he is an aggressive batmen in the Sehwag mould. The Australian pitches might actually suit his style provided he is sent early enough to settle down and get his eye in. With Sehwag not in the team, this would a been a perfect opportunity for Uthappa to come up the order and make some runs. Besides, it would have been a good measure of his current form.

Poor Handling of the Batsmen

Dhoni deserves credit for handling his bowlers extremely well (besides doing a terrific job with the bat). The five bowler combination is a winning strategy and the return of Pathan as the all rounder makes this possible. However, Dhoni’s approach to handling his batting arsenal has been very poor to say the least. Yuvraj is out of form, Sachin and Sehwag haven’t really fired in a big way, Uthappa has not really been tested, the backups Dinesh Karthick and Suresh Raina (both terrific talents in their own right) are busy warming the benches (along with Manoj Tiwari), and the series has already crossed the half way mark. On the bowling front, it might make sense to try Piyush Chawla in place of Harbhajan Singh. Chawla is a better batsman and Harbhajan seldom takes more than a couple of wickets though he does bowl 10 fairly tight overs. Piyush Chawla could be a better wicket taking bowler.

Does Dhoni not have an active team management?

The Indian think tank includes Kirsten, Dhoni, Yuvraj, Sachin, Venkatesh Prasad and Robin Singh? Surely, they could together come up with a better overall strategy and sensible tactics to orchestrate these easy victories. The sad part is that this is a terrific one day side and clearly has what it takes to beat the Aussies and the Lankans. The match against Sri Lanka will be key to getting their act together and gaining some momentum for this series. Another defeat will make it three in a row and might be harder to recover from.

The rain shortened ODI between India and Sri Lanka was an exciting game. Sri Lanka knocked off the D/L target rather comfortably thanks to Jayasuriya’s rollicking start. Analyzing the match after the result it surely sounds like the Indian think tank missed a trick or two.

Runs are Never Enough When the Weather Can Intervene

With the match shortened to 29 overs, and a clear likelihood of rain, Team India’s goal should have been to get as many runs as possible. Under these circumstances, India got off to a decent start with 49 runs in 8.2 overs (a run rate of over 6 runs an over) when Sachin Tendulkar was out. With just 20 overs to go on a ground with at least a couple of short boundaries, and free stroking batsmen like Yuvraj, Uthappa, Dhoni and Pathan still to come, India goofed badly by sending in Rohit Sharma. No offense to the young man. Rohit Sharma is a terrific talent and has a bright future ahead of him, especially in Test cricket. But the decision to send him in at number four in the match ultimately caused India the game (Sreesanth bowling performance coming in a close second).

Wrong Batting Order

Rohit Sharma is an “anchor player” in the Rahul Dravid mould, who is incapable of the brutal strikes that one could associate with Yuvraj, Uthappa, Dhoni and Pathan. His natural game comes in handy when there is a desperate need to contain the fall of wickets. In this match, this was hardly the need of the hour. With still 20 overs to go, an out of form Yuvraj or a match practice hungry Uthappa might have been a better bet at number 4 especially with Dhoni and Pathan to follow.

Poor Planning

The net result was that India ended up with a score of 195 at a run rate of 6.72, a marginal improvement over the run rate at the end of the first 8 overs. Most importantly, India failed to give Yuvraj, Uthappa and Pathan a chance to have a go. Rohit Sharma’s final score and strike rate hides the fact that he struggled mid-way through his innings and team India lost the momentum required to set a big score. If Yuvraj or Uthappa had managed to settle down, India might have been able to end with a flourish that would have set even an aggressive T20 total. Unfortunately, it looked like India was playing throughout assuming that this was going to be a 29-over match when in reality India should have planned for the eventuality of a further curtailment.

By the time the target was reduced, India was defending a modest T20 total of 154 on a ground with short boundaries against one of the most aggressive batsmen in the game with an erratic Sreesanth. It was pretty much game over then and there. Having keenly observed Dhoni’s leadership, his performance as a captain in this match was easily one of the low points in his captaincy stint thus far.

Moral of the Story

Never save your best hitters on a rainy day.

p.s: If you are wondering how Rumsfeld made it to a cricket story, its because he has become synonyms with tactical errors.

India’s fightback last night after being four down was remarkable. Gautam Gambhir continued his dream run in the T20 World Cup and the good form in the domestic circuit with one of his finest centuries. Last night’s performance was brilliant in every sense. His running between the wickets, his handling of Muralitharan and his big hits down the ground were all very impressive. The ease with which he reached his 100 in the last over speaks volumes of his confidence. Under Dhoni, Gambhir seems to have found his groove. With his position in the team now rock solid, we might just see him scale greater heights. 

Dhoni on the other hand deserves to be commended for a real captain’s knock. The manner in which he curtailed his bang-bang style of aggressive cricket and deployed instead a more sensible and steady approach is a sure sign of his maturity. Walking in at a time when India was struggling, he played a calm innings with some aggressive running between the wickets. This was easily the best running between the wickets that India has displayed in a long time. Most importantly, this was against the Sri Lankan team whose ground fielding was excellent, barring a couple of dropped catches.

Yuvraj’s failure once again proved that he is a very poor player of spin. Brad Hogg and Muralitharan have always troubled him. In addition to overcoming his poor batting form, he will need to figure out a way to tackle these two bowler in order to come good in this series. India’s good score despite the failure of Yuvraj and the limited success of Sachin and Sehwag, should serve as a psychological boost to the young team after the disastrous T20 game against Australia and the batting failure in the first ODI.

The selectors and the captain want to focus on youth for the ODIs. Agreed. A good forward thinking move. But how does one explain the inclusion of Manoj Tiwari ahead of Dinesh Karthik and Suresh Raina in the first ODI against Australia? Not that there is a world of difference between these folks as far as skill is concerned. Dinesh Karthik has been in Australia for a few weeks now and has played a game or two. In other words, he is best prepared of the lot in terms of getting a fee for the conditions, which incidentally is a huge factor when playing in Australia. Suresh Raina has more experience and has been in good form in the domestic circuit. To top it all, Manoj Tiwari barely landed in Australia the day before the ODI!

Dhoni said he goes by instinct. In other words, his instincts tell him the Tiwari is a better bet than an acclimatized Karthik and an in form Raina. Hopefully, Tiwari will justify his captain’s faith in him in the match against Sri Lanka. After all, he can’t be dropped after one failure. If he fails again, he will make room for Yuvraj in the third ODI. Where does that leave Raina and Karthik? They can make the team only in place of Sehwag or Uthappa.

The team selection is clearly questionable. It is a little premature to attribute motives behind Dhoni’s moves. The rest of the series should provide good insights into Dhoni’s thinking and captaincy.