Cricket India

Unbelievable is this transformation from a loser, its tail tucked between its legs to a convincing winner who held the upper hand through almost all the sessions of the first cricket test at Wanderers. India almost at the end of its tether after the drubbing it took from the Proteas, bounced back with tremendous grit and sense of purpose and handled the adverse conditions surprisingly better than its better-equipped opponent. The test lasted just three and a half days but it was a memorable one not just because India won it but because of the way the winner crafted the victory.

India was in serious trouble after the one-day debacle. It tried everything it could but met with failure. By the time the one-day series ended, even its ardent followers had lost hope in their team. Because of the insurmountable conditions which swamped India, Indians had no answer to the questions posed to them on these pitches by the South African bowlers.

Then the miracle. All that could be cited as a possible reason is the inclusion of three old warhorses in the team. But such tinkering alone could not have brought about the turnaround that took place at Wanderers. It is true that Lakshman, Ganguly and Kumble performed well. In fact their contributions were vital and did much in giving shape to this historic win. But that would be ignoring the simple truth that this has been a very rare occasion where everyone pulled his might effectively. Even V.R.V.Singh who had to be content with a single wicket bowled within the overall plan. Wasim Jafffer who did not make many runs did enough to keep the middle order from getting exposed to the South African new ball. All others played their role in pushing the hosts back to such an extent that a come back was impossible for them. Lakshman and Ganguly in both innings, Dravid and Tendulkar in the first innings, Zaheer Khan in the second, all ensured a stiff target getting which would have been much against the run of play. SreeSanth, Zaheer and Kumble bowled with sharpness and closed all routes of escape for the batsmen. Literally this was a perfect-ten team effort. But even among the several good contributions one stood out. SreeSanth’s. He bowled like a champion. Sticking to the corridor of uncertainty like a leech, he brought in variations. Bowling his out-swingers as his stock ball, SreeSanth occasionally brought the ball in. He cleverly varied his pace and length and allowed no batsman any freedom to take liberties with him. Maintaining a dream seam position, he often reminded one of Richard Hadley. Os course this lad has to travel a long way to achieve the effortless ease with which the old master made the ball bend away and into the bat from close to the wicket. But even Sir Richard would have nodded in approval at this superb exhibition of swing bowling aided of course by the seaming track.

All this summing up of good performances won’t take you to the possible reasons for this unexpected Indian victory. It, I am sure, will be subject of discussion in the media till the next major issue crops up. I personally feel there are mainly two reasons for this South African debacle. One the pitches. Two, the different efficiency level shown in the adjustment from one mode to another. First the pitches. Usually countries prepare pitches suited to their genius for the test matches. They don’t show the same eagerness when it comes to the preparation of one-day pitches. Because quite a lot depends on the quality of the pitch to make a one-dayer a success which is a pre-requisite for the healthy state of the coffers. Here South Africa ensnared the Indians with nasty surfaces in the one-day series and brought about a clean sweep. But the Wanderers pitch was not as threatening as the one-day tracks. I remember Kallis making a comment that here the third and fourth days would be the best for batting.

Next, the difference brought about by the difference in format. On unfamiliar pitches to get maximum runs in limited overs can be a very daunting task When a different format allows you the freedom to tackle the job on hand with as much leisure as possible, it can bring abut a great change in the efficiency levels of the visitors. India stung by the reverses and probably by the senseless criticism at home, had a few days of serious practice and played tough cricket. The presence of the senior pros might certainly have helped them here. Also knowing that they have to support the batsmen fully, the bowlers stuck to the job of tight bowling. They proved that a game can be played by two teams. The pitch with its peculiarities helped both teams. It helped India more because they showed more sense of purpose. The South Africans, flush from a heady win were quite late in adjusting to the needs of test cricket. The strokes they played in the first and early part of the second innings were ample evidence of their lackadaisical approach and lack of respect for the Indians.

Things will be different from now onwards. The losers are stung badly. They will come hard at the Indians in the next two tests. It is a question of preserving their honor and history of invincibility. Smith and co can’t afford to throw away so much and continue to hold their heads high. Indians have two tough tests ahead but they it seems have become familiar with the ingredients of a decent fight and may not forget them so soon.

# posted by Upendra Varma @ 6:02 AM 0 comments links to this post

India has begun its second leg of the South African journey showing its inability to handle the new ball and its reserve power which pulled the chestnut out of fire A century by Pathan has put India in a comfortable position against a second-grade team which though includes a few players sharp enough to get into the main eleven. Pathan was perhaps proving that the faith reposed on him by Chappell was not a misguided one. All the investment made on him by the Chappell has perhaps started to yield results. Anyway this ton has at least made a place in the playing test eleven certain for Pathan.

More important than this century was the innings played by Sourav Ganguly. It is rather difficult to talk about Ganguly and his good innings without discussing his strange inclusion into the Indian team. So allow me to begin at the beginning as it should be ie with his selection.

Ganguly nowadays carries the label of a comeback man though the comebacks have often been for just a match or two. But still he has shown enough pluck to fight his way into the Indian team as if it is his backyard. Ganguly went out of the Indian team mainly because he had lost his batting efficiency and has acquired a skill to chase the deliveries outside the off-stump. His problems with the Indian coach might have helped his ouster from the team. But he has not done enough to show that he has overcome his failings as a batsman. His runs in domestic cricket were not against any quality bowling nor were they impressive enough to push men like Kaif or Mongia out of the squad. But the quagmire that the present Indian team has fallen into has helped Ganguly to walk into the team. There are enough reasons to suspect that he has been used as a weapon to prod the senior players in the teams and perhaps to needle the captain. If the selectors have done this to move away from the responsibility of the one-day debacle, I don’t know how wise this happens to be.

The runs he made against the Rest of SA may not be sufficient to bolster the Indian team’s cause. I am happy to read that he showed some tight technique to handle the bouncing, seaming ball. I only hope that he is capable of maintaining his form through out the series. And I only wish his presence will not cause any bitterness among the tourists.

Now about Lakshman. So much has been written about what he would have done if he had been included in the Indian ODI squad. Any way he is given an opportunity to redeem himself. He with his half-cock ways is not likely to find things easier in SA than the other seniors in the teams. He is tall and his upright stance might help him to some extent but he might not be equal to the guiles of the seaming ball.

On a seaming track Virender Sehwag may better bat down the order. There is nothing sacred about his opening slot because he did not come into the team on the strength of his ability to handle the new ball. And unlike in the one-dayers, the field will stick to you so long as the ball does something. So it would only make sense to keep Sehwag from the crease till the ball has lost some of its shine and the pitch some of its lateral
movement.
Tags: Ganguly, Pathan's century

# posted by Upendra Varma @ 11:54 AM 0 comments links to this post

Response to India’s cricket performances is as fast as running commentary about the same thing. People just don’t have any time to absorb what they have seen and then respond to it. In their eagerness to be the first to be out with the comments many just shoot off the hip. The last match of the one day series against South Africa has been played. The pitches have afforded bounce and lateral movement in all the matches and the conditions for the testst can not be any different. And any amount of fault finding and knee jerk reactions would not save the day for you.

Everybody knew what was in store for them in South Africa. And when results prove the apprehensions right, what right these people who have not done their homework to criticize the Indian team for the debacle.

On Indian tracks our batsmen would go half cock forward and play through the line imperiously frustrating the best of bowlers because they are confident that the ball is not going to move laterally on pitching  And they equally sure that the ball would not rise above the thigh unless it pitched in the bowler’s own half. This piece of information is ingrained into their system for it is their lifeline. Any aberration is likely to dent their averages. Seasons of continuous adjustment can not be wished away just on landing on alien shores.

Any solution to this problem, should hinge on India’s willingness to sacrifice its inherent advantage in a home series.

This is just like Wimbledon in the present international tennis scenario. There was a period when the serve and volley expert was God on a tennis court. Slowly for reasons like exorbitant cost and difficulty in maintenance, grass courts gave way to other forms of surfaces. Now the swing is almost complete with just two weeks of major tennis taking place on grass. Roland Garrows continues to be on clay, and Flushing Meadows and Australian Open have boldly moved over to artificial surfaces. So if you are a net-rusher there are just two weeks of glory in a tennis year for you. If you are good on a synthetic top several weeks could be yours.

In cricket also if a team is good at playing on surfaces like those available in the sub-continent, its good days are numbered in proportion to the number of days it plays at home. Teams which are comfortable on faster, bouncier tops, may find the going easier outside their home pitches also because more countries have such pitches at home with slight variations. But when England, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa travels to India, they have much more than the Bombay Belly to worry about.  They have to a lot of unlearning to do once they land in India. The same thing happens to India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka when they tour to other parts of the cricket atlas. So India like other teams has to take a decision either to bask in its home glory or to perform well every where.

Quite a lot of changes will take place if India decides in favor of the second option. Superstars may lose a bit of their shine and good batsmen may slide down towards the average mark. In the bowling department, spinners may suffer but the quick bowlers may become more respected when they tour.

It is a decision up the administrators’ alley. They have many angles to probe. No one would risk the displeasure of the Indian market which has made BCCI powerhouse behind ICC. But the debacle has at least made the powers that be aware of the necessity of action on this front. What they can do is to bring about major infrastructural changes in Indian cricket.

# posted by Upendra Varma @ 6:09 AM 0 comments links to this post

The India-South Africa one-day series has come to an end, with a result on the expected lines. India, totally ill-prepared to handle the bounce and off-the-pitch movement that the South African pitches confronted them with, buckled under the onslaught by the Springboks. Its batsmen who failed to make the necessary but difficult adjustments to deal with the bounce perished meekly. The bowlers who were happier than their fellow batsmen, fared well except in the last match but showed that they needed much more exposure to such pitches to get anywhere near their counterparts.

Indian batting often projected a picture of haphazard planning. South African bowlers on their home pitches had to be taken much more seriously. Instead the usual take-advantage-of –the- initial-fifteen-overs strategy was attempted in a very inept way. India always started with a bundle of losses that made any realistic hopes of a competitive score impossible. And such a disastrous start also neutralized the good work done by Zaheer Khan for India. Indian batsmen’s inadequate technique against the spongy bounce-most of the sharply climbing deliveries ended up at a comfortable height when they reached Boucher- should have convinced the think tank that an early exploitation of the open country yet to be populated as a strategy was not just on. But it took three defeats and a mountain of criticism which drowned them in despair for them to implement a different approach to its innings. In the last match at Super Sports, they, inserted by the hosts on a lively track, decided to forget that the bat is given to create runs and not to block the ball with great stubbornness. But they hardly realized that success of a horse depends on the course also. How can you ever hope to open with someone like Sehwag and attempt to block your way out of trouble? Someone like Jaffer should have been there with Tendulkar to execute that idea. Laxman should have been held back at least when India lost a wicket so early as he hardly had any opportunity to have a knock up on South African soil. Sehwag and Laxman gone for peanuts meant a timid approach for such a long while which nipped India’s chances of an upset win. Gradually 150 looked good and 200 became an exotic score. But all such calculations became irrelevant when the Indian bowlers became totally ineffective for the first time in the series.  

The misery continues with a narrow win against a second grade team in the Twenty-20 match as a consolation. Now they have more than ten days to prepare for the next round of struggle against the same adversaries-the South African pace and the more
spiteful adversary the pitches.

Tags: ODI series for SA

# posted by Upendra Varma @ 5:56 PM 0 comments links to this post