Thursday, September 21, 2006
R.P Singh Should Be Replaced...
Today’s match will affect India in a very significant way. More than an opportunity to reach yet another final, a win here will restore India’s confidence in itself. India on more occasions than one has betrayed a sense of non-belonging at the top. India has undeniably in the past, sneaked into exotic positions and slunk away with drooping shoulders. Now what assumes importance is the opportunity to prove its capacity like Australia’s to play with consistency and sense of purpose. India has a history of flattering only to flounder. Top teams also lose matches but such defeats assume significance by their rarity while India tends to celebrate its rare moments of glory.
In the last few matches India’s pace attack has exposed itself. One weak link does a lot of damage to the prospects of the whole team. The selectors have after very careful study found that they liked R.P.Singh’s economy more than Sreesanth’s firepower. And as a result they dropped Sreesanth from the team for the Champion’s Trophy. Now we see an R.P who has slid down to pretty ordinary levels and leaks runs furiously without getting among the wickets. The omission of Sreesanth has become all the more glaring in the absence of Pathan. Pathan used to inflict the crucial blows in his first spell which put a lot of pressure on the batting team. Now along with Patel, Sreesanth has to get those breakthroughs and bring an amount of sharpness to the new ball. R.P. in his present form does not look capable of that.
So to get rid off the flab in India’s bowling, it might be better to drop R.P and play someone else. But who? It could be Romesh Powar. A short man, Powar can create a loop and provide effective support to Harbhajan Singh.and they can hopefully put the brakes on Australia’s consolidation. He is a useful contributor with the bat too. But that alone need not be the way to go about handling this issue. Dravid has at his command Tendulkar, Sehwag and Yuvraj to bowl the fifth bowler’s quota. That will bring Kaif in. Or India can play Mongia for R.P. Batting will get strengthened and these options especially on these pitches as we have seen can prove productive.
All other bowlers in fact do pretty well now. Agarkar bowls like a champion, as if those wayward ways are a bad memory. Patel is very efficient and Sreesanth though he goes for a few is capable of crucial breakthroughs. Harbhajan’s so far has been a masterly show. I will not forget so soon the way he tormented Hinds, made him look miserable and then finally prised him out in the last match.
Anyway it could turn out to a humdinger, this match. India has to make a supreme effort to earn the final berth but Australia too may not find it a cake walk.
Tags: Powar or Mongia for R.P, use more spin
A Tough Task Ahead Of India
Rain god’s inclination to stay away from the scene of action has certainly influenced the quality of cricket at Kinrara Oval. The full quota of fifty overs was possible and that has allowed the game to develop more on a structured pattern. So a variety of patterns woven were put on display and this and its adequate response brought about a qualitative change in the game’s attractiveness.
Despite the low scores, cricket on Wednesday was absorbing. The pitch gave a little to both quickies and spinners. The ball moved enough for the bowlers to put an element of doubt in the batsmen’s minds. And there was a bit of seam also to help the pacers. Spinners who had the skill and courage to create a loop got some purchase and bounce. And absence of the scorching sun saw to it that the conditions remained there through out the match.
And thus batting was a trifle difficult on this pitch. Not that it was actually a substandard one or a sub-150 pitch but technique and some luck were needed to do well on this pitch. Tendulkar showed that runs could be scored here without resorting to unconventional methods as attempted by some West Indian batsmen who sensed panic.
West Indies did well with the ball. They were without Edwards and Taylor. The new ball was shared by Dwayne Smith and Collymore who was the only player selected for his bowling. All others were batsmen who could also bowl. Smith with his dibblers worked up enough guile to entice India’s leading batsmen into fatal errors. Bravo, Gayle and Samuels did well to apply the brakes on India’s attempt to post a reasonable total when Tendulkar and Harbhajan almost broke though towards a fighting total in the middle overs. It was the unfortunate run out of Tendulkar which prevented India from going past 200. But to be fair to the match, it was that run out which injected some suspense into the game.
India’s decision to put two of its best batsmen at the top is vulnerable at least on certain occasions where the atmosphere or pitch affords some help to the new ball bowlers. Even run of the mill quickies become demons then. With Tendulakr and Dravid back in the pavilion with not much on the board on a helpful track, a significant recovery will become very difficult for India. But this experiment has a positive side to it. Usually most of the one-day pitches are programmed to aid free stroke play. Now with the added advantage of five more Power Play overs, India more often than not stands to gain with this setup. Horses for courses might be what the Indian camp has in mind.
Now with the West Indians in an unusual position for them, India and Australia should fight for the other finalist’s slot. Australia has one point more than India and the last thing India can afford to have is the interference of rain. A simple win will do for both the teams and things are at this moment a little more difficult for India as its pace is rather shaky. The Australian attempt to tweak the team composition a bit might work in favor of India. But a confident display alone would allow India to put its nose ahead even against a cruelly tweaked team. Then even Australia would not fancy much tweaking in a virtual semifinal!
Tags: India-Australia semifinal, effective Indian bowling
Monday, September 18, 2006
Evenhanded Approach by Rain gods
It seems rain gods have developed a special liking for Indians. They got into the mood in Sri Lanka and not fully satisfied with their performance there have moved with the team to Malaysia. They have intervened in both the matches India played there hijacking a win from India’s hands in the first one and saving India from the jaws of defeat in the other.
Against the West Indies, despite a strong reply by them, India was the better placed team when rain stepped in making any further play impossible. Lara might have fancied his team’s chances but scoring 5.5 runs for 30 overs was not the easiest thing to do. I would have put my money on India since West Indies would have found the going difficult as the run rate would have been a little too demanding for them with not many specialist batsmen padded up. And you can imagine how bad luck makes its calculations with laser sharpness as one ball less would have made the match a no-result!
The second match was slightly different. India proved that Australia could be contained. They did it through their spinners who were supported by the pace bowlers possibly ashamed by their poor show with the shining cherry. Whenever the Aussies tried to break the shackles off, Indians tightened the noose a little bit more. And finally India was left with a score which was highly gettable for the strong Indian batting lineup. But rain had its own plans. The interruption brought Duckworth/Lewis into reckoning and it put India in an unenviable position of scoring at just less than seven an over. Suddenly India was asked to do several things together. And the gathering dark clouds did not make things easier. They kept reminding India that they could make things more unattainable with another interruption. But luckily they perhaps over-calculated things a bit too far and in the process made further play impossible and thus let the Indians off the hook. A little over enthusiasm on the part of the rain gods saw to it that the match did not go past the twenty over mark. Indians thus were in the West Indies’ position. More rains made them merrier.
But 35 for five was not a realistic reflection of the match as such. The changed demand structure put added pressure on Indians and injected a certain measure of uncertainty in Indians’ minds forcing them to push things too far and get into the zone of discomfort and perish. India perhaps would have won neither of these matches. But a full quota of fifty overs perhaps would have made India look a slightly better team.
India has to win at least one game out of the next two and hope that Australia would take care of the West Indies. As a win against Australia may be the more difficult one, its next match against the Windies will be the crucial one. Winner of this match could go into the final. Beating West Indies is not at all beyond India but the extra pressure may not make things easier for Dravid’s men. And this week, weather could make irrelevant all cricketing considerations.
Tags: Rain saves India, effective Indian spin, must-win situation
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Indians Have to Pitch'em Up
Last time I got so carried away by the sheer brilliance of Tendulkar’s innings that I could not look at the match as such. Actually his innings dimmed the fact that India actually lost the match even though via the Duckworth-Lewis route.
It was a satisfactory batting show on India’s part though heavily influenced by one innings. India duly made use of the Power Play, settled down to beef up the innings in the middle overs and plundered runs at death. Of course the ridge on the pitch might have made things very difficult for India had not Tendulkar chosen to prove that he was slightly superhuman. Remember India lost Dravid, Sehwag and Dhoni to balls which hugged the pitch. And Dravid and Tendulkar got rapped on their knuckles by balls that pitched near those shooters. If Tendulkar had gone in the early part of the innings-he actually got a life at five- D/L perhaps would not have come into play.
But any innings could be influenced by such ifs and buts. What irritates you is the rank inability of the Indian bowlers to adapt to conditions. They had the advantage of batting first and learning first hand about the pitch. And they like all of us knew that Kinrara Oval had very short square boundaries. And that anything short would get carted over those parts with great contempt. But the Indian pace men perhaps with the exception of Munaf Patel chose to bowl short. How can a team which was eager to exploit the opportunity provided by rain gods ignore these gifts?
I cant visualize a scenario where the coach does not brief his bowlers to watch their length. And the skipper who should have been very much concerned about the short pitched stuff was not seen to make an effort to intervene.
If the Indian bowlers persist with their atrocious length against Australia, then no batting effort could keep India afloat.
Tags: Duckworth/Lewis, good length, short boundaries
Friday, September 15, 2006
If Injuries Can Do This To Him
Eating one's own words at least on certain occasions seems to be a pleasant experience. Think of a master chef, almost branded as a former magician of the kitchen, who conjures up some exotic stuff out of mundane and often just passe vegetables! Yes. I, to be
honest, thought that Tendulkar would slide down a gear and look for (and find with comfort) an ordinarily good batsman's slot on his return from injury. And see what he has done! He it seems has unlearnt a lot of confidence-sapping lessons and has decided to go back to the golden days of his career.
His innings at Kuala Lampur was a journey back to the world of shots played with breathtaking audacity and unbelievable dexterity. It was not an ideal comeback pitch. But as if having decided to show his Viswaroopa, he opted to play a wonderful knock on a pitch which at least at one end let the ball rear up with venom and
shoot and get under the radar. A few crawled past him and at least one rapped him on his knuckle. But he did not allow even the pitch to persuade him to play a more percentage cricket.
His innings of course followed the pattern most of his innings have taken. An initial phase of risk taking and quite a few strokes including some streaky ones. Then consolidation based on steers and nudges for singles. And finally a comeback where strokes with abandon and hard-run twos and threes combine together to pile up
runs in shovels. His last few knocks before the injury were very feeble attempts to follow this pattern. A careful perhaps cautious approach got underpinned to his innings and it prevented him from enjoying his cricket. The real Tendulkar did not care about runs.He
was all attitude. Arrogant, audacious and thus almost divine. During the last few innings, he was making it sure that runs were coming.
I only hope this innings is the beginning of another golden chapter in the great man's saga. What struck you most was his brilliant technique which helped him negotiate some potentially dangerous deliveries. The versatility he was endowed with because of his
technique enabled him to play attacking shots even against decent deliveries. I won't forget for a long while a ball he left alone off one of the quickies. He went gently forward planning to squeeze some runs off it. On seeing it move a shade away from him, Tendulkar continued with the stroke but closed the face of his bat allowing a thin shaft of sunlight between bat and ball. The initial fury of an appeal ending up in a whimper of awe on the part of the keeper was perhaps the greatest tribute paid to the great master. Carlton Baugh would tell his grandchildren about how the legendary Tendulkar once left a ball.Just as Deryck Murray now talks of the
balls let untouched by Sunil Gavaskar who for a change would open the face of his bat forcing the close-in fielders to miss a heartbeat.
I am happy I could see that innings, otherwise I would not have been convinced of the comprehensive nature of his comeback. Now I can keep chewing my words with the same abandon that laced his innings.
Tags: Tendulkar, comeback, comeback innings
