Author: Pran Kurup

Wow! What a terrific game! Australia was at its best but SA came back very strongly. For the Aussies, Hayden was his usual self, over powering with his brutal muscle power. Michael Clarke on the other hand was great to watch. Clarke was in truly sublime form and clearly overshadowed his captain. His innings underscored the reasons for his top billing in Australian circles.

It was a treat to watch the South African openers maintain a superb run rate right from the get go. They McGrath was greeted with three successive boundaries! Shaun Tait and Bracken were whacked around the park. Ponting & co. were at a loss until de Villiers run out. Hats off the Graeme Smith. The guy can really walk the talk. Unfortunately for him, the South African innings came apart after the loss of both openers. Kallis was too slow and simply didn’t do enough to maintain the momentum. None of the other batsmen really got going. To give credit to the Australians they came back strongly through Brad Hogg. His stumping dismissal of Gibbs immediately after being hit for a six was a classic. It was the turning point of the South African reply.

When you see these two teams performing it is very clear that Team India simply did not have what it takes to compete at this level. Andrew Hall’s final over (he conceded 4 runs to the likes of Symonds) was sheer genius at work. India’s opening bowlers in contrast gave away over 20 runs in extras in the very first 2-3 overs against Sri Lanka. The fielding standards in the match were also pretty high despite which so many runs were scored. A final between these two teams would probably be the best. But then you never know. My predictions seldom come true! 🙂

Team India put up a completely spineless show against Sri Lanka and simply didn’t need deserve to go to the super eight. There is no question that Indian batsmen were mesmerized by Muralitharan at his best. The total of 255 was definitely achievable provided the batsmen applied themselves. Unfortunately, barring Dravid and Sehwag (who was at his best in a long time), none of the batsmen really showed the character and the application to take India through. As for the bowling, the number of extras that India gifted away caused the team dearly and eased the pressure on the opposition. Once again, Dravid failed to utilize the services of Sehwag’s bowling but instead relied on Sachin and Ganguly. Harbhajan failed to get India the much needed break-throughs.

The question before the BCCI is about where does Team India go from here? A good place to start would be enforce some accountability. This means a change in Coach or Captain or both. Chappell has failed to deliver what he was hired for and should be let go. Dravid for his part has never shown any signs of drop in his performance as a batsmen. But at the same time firing the Coach but retaining the captain might be questionable given that the ultimate “decider” on the field is the captain. One can’t escape the fact that Dravid has not been able to inspire his team members to excel though he himself has set a high standard of performance.

It might be best for India to look at a fresh approach. One that is different but yet more suited to the game in its present form and taking into consideration deep rooted Indian issues such as super stardom of its players among other things. India could draw a leaf out of South Africa, who took the daring step of naming the 22 year old, aggressive, inexperienced Graeme Smith as captain in 2003 after their World Cup defeat. Now SA is rated the top team!

It might make sense to go in for a new look ODI outfit without any of the ageing superstars but instead a team with young and upcoming players under the leadership of either Yuvraj or Kaif. The so called superstars can be given a few years of Test cricket before they phase out for good.

This might be a good time to adopt John Wright’s recommendation of having a professionally recruited paid 3-member selection committee instead of the current zonal arrangement.

The BCCI appears to be making the right noises at the present moment. One can only hope that these are not mere responses with political overtones but a genuine desire to make fundamental changes.

India’s match against Sri Lanka is a “make or break” event (given the current environment its best to avoid “do-or-die”) for India. If India lose, Dravid’s captaincy could be at stake, because as things stand, Greg Chappell seems destined to continue as coach, and there has to be some level accountability after all the hype and hoopla about team India. India’s team combination is far from settled and some difficult choices lie ahead of Dravid on the eve of the most important match of his captaincy thus far.

Persist with Uthappa

Virender Sehwag’s century against Bermuda means nothing. Yes, nothing. Absolutely nothing. If Sehwag can’t score runs against part time pot-bellied cricketers who earn their daily living by serving as policemen and school teachers, he might as well quit for good. On the other hand, he at least made some runs. That’s a good start. One can only hope that his captain does not promote him to open the innings once again. (In fact, in his current form Sehwag is best in the middle order) It would be prudent to persist with Uthappa at the top of the order. There is also talk of bringing back Pathan in place of Uthappa. India lost the match against Bangladesh because of a failure of it’s batsmen. To drop a front-line batsman for an all rounder whose bowling form is highly questionable would be terrible mistake.

Retain Agarkar

Agarkar is a far safer bet than Sreesanth and should be retained in the eleven despite his lacklustre show in the first two matches. He has had a slow start but can be an asset once he settles down. Sreesanth on the other hand is a bowler of extremes. On a helpful pitch he could pick up valuable wickets, but otherwise he could take a beating, something India can’t afford with just four bowlers in the side.

Harbhajan for Kumble

It was a good move to bring in Kumble in place of Harbhajan for the match against Bermuda. Kumble is a difficult bowler for the likes of Bermuda, but for more seasoned players of spin like the Sri Lankans, Harbhajan makes a much better bowler, particularly in ODIs.

Last but not the least, Sehwag’s bowling talents must be utilized to the maximum. His bowling could prove to be more useful than that of either Sachin or Yuvraj.

Sri Lanka destroyed Bangladesh by a huge margin. Despite the victory, this was more of a Bangladesh defeat than a Sri Lankan victory. The Bangladesh team put up a dismal show and were no where close to the form they displayed against India. The bowlers were not consistent and the fielding was of poor quality to say the least. So many direct hits were missed and catches dropped. Besides, Bashar backed this up further with some poor captaincy. The 300+ total was too daunting for the young line up and Bangladesh was never rally in the chase. All in all a shabby performance from Bangladesh, certainly not super-8 quality.As for Sri Lanka Chamara Silva could be the player to watch. He has a very calm demeanor, but can strike the ball extremely well. He could be a dangerous batsman in the middle and slog overs. Jaywardene continues to struggle and should probably cede the number 3 slot to Sangakkara. Jayasuriya, despite his poor fitness, is still the prize wicket at top of the order. As for the Sri Lankan bowling, Malinga was impressive today consistently clocking 145+, yet extremely accurate. Vaas on the other hand was in the 120+ at best. The rest of the bowling was hardly tested in this outing since the Bangladesh top order more or less crumbled.

India should beat Sri Lanka to earn a spot in the super-8. If they don’t, then they don’t deserve a spot in super-8 either. In the two outings thus far Sri Lanka, hasn’t really been stretched. India on the other hand has tasted defeat and is in a do-or-die predicament. The circumstances set the stage for an exciting clash between India and Sri Lanka on Fri.