Category: Cricket

India are struggling to chase England’s total. Great to see Kaif among the runs. Under pressure the guy has delivered. Hats off to him. For once, Kumble came good with the bat. Wonder if he can find his touch with the ball once again. Its crucial for India that he does.

I think Dravid’s lbw decision was doubtful (50-50). I think the batsman should have got the benefit of the doubt. The rest were out in my opinion. Its annoying to see Sachin not play his normal free stroking game. He unneccessarily tries to play like Dravid does in Test cricket and finally gets out without making a decent score. I don’t think Monty’s delivery to Sachin deserved a wicket. Monty hardly turns the ball. No great flight either. If the Indian batsman quit their unneccesary defensive mindset I think Monty can be thrashed around the park. He is what someone in India would describe as a “juice” bowler. (ie., ideal to be thrashed!).

It should be an interesting day or two of play ahead.

Now that Dalmiya is out of power, Pawar and company are going after him in a big way. Its bound to get ugly, but like most big issues in India I suspect this will be in the news for a while after which we won’t hear anything about the issue. Notice that the Test and ODI veues have started to move towards the West Zone! Tests are in Nagpur, Mumbai and Mohali (this one is for IS Bindra’s support!). The practice match was in Vadodara. There are no ODIs or Tests in Kolkata. Go figure!

For once I feel pretty good about the recently announced the Indian Test team.

• Piyush Chawla was a daring yet sensible selection although a little unfair to Murali Karthik.
• Gautam Gambhir could have been given more opportunities before being dumped. But it is true that he hasn’t made any big scores of late and Wasim Jaffer has been a prolific scorer in the domestic circuit.
• Sreesanth was a certainty after his performance in Pak and all the praise from the likes of Waqar and Imran.
• Agarkar and Zaheer Khan were anyway on their way out and didn’t justify further chances. So VRV is also a welcome addition. With the desi Shoaib Akthar waiting in the wings all these bowlers must be under pressure to perform.
• Suresh Raina was bit of surprise given that there are many prolific scorers in the domestic circuit. But I guess he recent show in Pak plus with an eye on the future the selectors decided to give him a shot. I suspect he’ll be replaced by Yuvraj provided Kaif plays in the 11 and scores some runs.
• As for Ganguly, I am glad the selectors finally made the call to dump him. Its time to move on and hopefully there won’t be any further controversies around this issue (what are the odds of that happening! 🙂

With the team falling apart with injuries and other fitness problems, this Test series should be a tough one for England or so it seems at this stage.

Pak were trounced by India in the ODIs. India was clearly a far superior side to Pak. The absence of Afridi and Shoaib made a huge difference to Pak and the final result. On the other hand, India won in style without three of their top players, Sachin, Viru and Pathan.

I think its time for Pak to think beyond Inzy for the ODIs. Even with the return of Shoaib and Afridi, I think Pak will enhance its chances in the World Cup if it can forge a new team without Inzy. This is in no way a reflection on Inzy’s form.

One day cricket has become extremely competitive. Fielding standards have improved dramatically. Batting demands adaptability, and often requires unconventional approaches. Inzy is no longer the devastating player he used to be. Besides he is a horrible runner and a below average fielder. One is tempted to compare him to Sachin, but lets not forget that Sachin is a very useful bowler, a decent fielder and excellent runner between wickets.

All rounders are the first preference when it comes to a place in any ODI 11. Specialist bowlers and batsman are very few and almost all of them are exceptionally good in their core competency area (e., batting or bowling) and are far above average in the fielding dept. if not exceptional.

I think a team under a Younis Khan makes sense though many question his presence in the team. But I think he has the potential to be Pak’s Rahul Dravid. He is an excellent fielder and good runner between wickets and appears to be a good captain. I think Pak’s team should be as follows:

Kamran
Shoaib Malik
Razzack
Younis Khan
Mohd Younus
Faisal Iqbal (or someone who is an excellent fielder and batsman)
Afridi
Naved Hassan
Shoaib Akthar
Sami
Mohd Asif

Its a tough call, but if Pak have to stand a chance in the next world cup, its time for them to take a bold step forward.

I agree with Ajit Wadekar’s view on Ganguly. Its time to bid him goodbye from Test cricket as well. There is way too much talent available in India for his spot in the team that it makes no sense persisting with him. He had a golden opportunity to redeem himself in Pak but managed only a few 30s and 40s. Dravid went out of the way to accomodate him in the team by opening the innings while two of India’s openers were warming the benches. This can’t go on. But I think it will 😦

Ganguly will find a place in the 15 thanks to all the polictics involved in team selection. (Btw, Yuvraj needlessly raked up the issue again with his needless comments)

With both Dhoni and Pathan proving to be quite capable with the bat I think India must go into the first Test against England with an attacking bowling combination. One could argue that it was India’s batting failure that resulted in the third test defeat against Pak. But unless the groundsmen can gurantee a turning track, I would opt for five bowlers instead of four.

My playing eleven for the first Test would be as follows:

Sehwag
Gambhir
Dravid
Sachin
VVS
Dhoni
Pathan
Kumble
Bhajji
Sreesanth
RP Singh

If a turning track can be more or less guranteed, then it might be ok to drop a seamer for a batsmam (Mohd Kaif).

India seems to have made winning (while chasing a target) a habit (well, almost! 🙂

Brilliant innings by Dhoni at the finish, a superlative display of batting from Sachin and the continuing good form of Yuvi, saw India through. The Indian bowling is still its weakest link. Its great to see India experiment. I won’t be surprised if Chappell rolls out some of the newbies (Munaf, VRV etc.) in the next series against England in place of Zaheer and Agarkar.

A couple of questions come to mind after last night’s match:

Why was Agarkar replaced after bowling a decent spell?
What was the thinking behind playing Zaheer Khan as super-sub?

The unpredictable Sri Lankans pulled off a convincing victory in the first VB series ODI. The Aussies are under serious pressure for the first time after the Ashes. It should be an interesting second ODI. The Lankans will need Jayasurya to fire in order to challenge a determined Aussie side. Its amazing how a team like the Lankans can transform into a threatening unit after so many repeated defeats!

India won in style. A terrific batting performance by the Indians. With a score of 100+ for no loss I thought India would experiment and send in Kaif or Raina at number three. But Dravid wasn’t taking any chances and wanted to square the series I guess before experimenting further. Viru was run out to a freak through that landed on the stumps. Viru had only himself to blame for not running fast enough. He ran the third run slowly not expecting a direct hit. He was batting at his best and seemed set for a century. Sachin looked to be in very touch until succumbing to his nemesis Adur Razzack (I can’t understand why Sachin gets out to this guy so often).

Pathan continues to be “happening player” contributing with the bat or the ball or both. He gave India a fine start by taking a wicket of the second ball of the match and then followed up with two more wickets later. The rest of the bowling was good in patches. India made up for it bowling deficiencies by effecting as many as four run outs.

If India have to fancy themselves of a chance in the next world cup the field and bowling has to improve significantly. Viru’s fielding is very suspect. Zaheer and Sreesanth are weak links in India’s fielding. Both of them throw extremely well but aren’t the best when it comes to pick up and making diving stops. While Viru’s batting is a huge asset, these two might find themsleves out of the World Cup team if they don’t tighten their fielding or dramatically improve their bowling. Strangely, Agarkar had a bad day in the field though in general he is an excellent fielder. Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina are simply electric in the field and truly exciting to watch.

With the series squared the next ODI should be more interesting. Pak was completely outplayed in this one. Without Shoaib Akthar to provide the sizzle, Pak’s bowling appears very weak.

Viru has been struggling in ODIs. With the kind of form that Dhoni and Pathan have shown and with Romesh Powar most likely in the team, it might make sense to revise the batting order. I think Dhoni should open with Sachin followed by Yuvraj. The rest of the batting order should be decided based on how the match progresses. I think the key lies in interspersing the hitters (Dhoni, Viru, Pathan, Romesh) with the steady types (Dravid, Kaif, Sachin who btw capable of both roles). Might make sense to give Dhoni, Sachin and Pathan the first half of the 50 overs while Viru and Romesh are saved up for the second half. Dravid and Kaif can play the steadying hand on an as needed basis.