India win in style, Again!

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?

Aussies in trouble?

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!

Second ODI: Pak vs. India

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.

Thoughts before the second ODI: Pak vs India

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.

Feels Good: My suggestions are being heard!

Two of my suggestions on this blog have been heard!

1. Adding Romesh Powar to the Indian ODI team. He has had a great domestic season and can provide the fireworks needed in the last 10 overs. Considering that all our bowlers go for 50+ runs in their 10 overs, his bowling is decent bet too.

2. Attapattu opening the innings for Sri Lanka. In the crucial game he seemed to have taken the plunge to open and sure enough SL won convincingly over the Proteas.

Gmail ok?

I have had intermittent problems with Gmail today. When sending a message I get the “sending…” sign at the top right followed by “oops….try again later”. In general, it also appears to be very slow today. I don’t think its anything at my end because all other sites work just fine.

First ODI: Pak wins close match

It was a tough and exciting match. Ultimately India lost firstly because of D-L and secondly because India’s batting in the last five overs failed miserably. The Indian fieldng overall was brilliant. Sachin’s uncharacteristic yet productive knock ended prematurely, robbing India of his presence for the final onslaught. He had only himself to blame for a needless reverse sweep. Crtics could argue that relieved at having reached a landmark Sachin momentarily forgot that he had a bigger responsibility of keeping one end up till the end.

Murali Karthik appears to be hopelessly short on confidence and seems terrified to bowl to the Pak batsman. Its best to give him a rest irrespective of whether Bhajji is available or not. In his very first over, Mallik launched him for a straight six followed by a four.

I thought Mohammed Asif deserved the MoM award. He bowled brilliantly on a batting pitch and troubled all the batsman he bowled to in addition the three wickets he picked up.

The after match interviews were interesting. All Pak players appear to be taking English lessons. To start with, many of them seem to thank Allah in English unlike before.

Inzy’s interview was hilarious. When asked about his dismissal he innocently said, “I don’t understand these rules. Last time (referring to his Faisalabad dismissal against England) I didn’t touch the ball and they said I was out! This time I touched the ball and still they say I am out!”

Rameez Raja’s commentary is way too biased. The guy comes across as being so excited or upset depending on the Pak situation. Someone needs to tell him that commentators need to at least appear and sound neutral.

First ODI: Pak vs. India

India put up a fine batting performance. Having sent in all its big strikers up the order India sorely missed a big hitter at the finish. I think India did the right thing with regard to the batting order. Unfortunately for India Sachin succumbed to a poor decision. He definitely appeared set to play the entire 50 overs.
A true bowling all rounder (like Romesh Powar) could have helped India pick up an additional 20-30 runs.

It remains to be seen if India can survive the Pak aggression as they chase. The total is definitely within the reach of the Pak team. Depends entirely on India’s ability to pick up quick wickets.