India won the first test in an emphatic manner with a day to spare and reinforced the belief that they are indeed much superior to the Kiwis at the moment. That the Indians dominated almost each and every session of the match is another fact to support their domination over the proceedings. However, a test victory in NZ came after a long gap of 33 years is something hard to believe actually. Does that mean that no Indian team that ever toured NZ after Pataudi’s team was good enough to win a test match there? However, I do believe that winning a test match in NZ was more of a mental block than anything else. And the way, the current team is on a roll, it is indeed difficult for any team to pose a challenge to them.
Dhoni won the toss and decided to field first. Indians generally have been poor starters in a Test series abroad, especially when they start a tour with the Test series. However, this was not the case this time and Dhoni’s decision had more to do with an attacking intent of picking wickets rather than being a defensive one of shielding his batsmen from the early moisture in the pitch. The Indians seamers made a very good use of the conditions and the Kiwis were 61/6 by the end of the first session. That was a very decisive moment in the larger context of the result of the match. Kiwis were undone by some very good exhibition of pace bowling by the Indian trio of Zaheer, Ishant and Munaf and they were literally in shambles. The susbsequent sessions saw a rearguard action by Ryder and Vettori and they managed a pretty decent total of 279. Vettori and Ryder both got to their centuries and that was some consolation for both of them. Vettori indeed is a wonderful batsman especially in the tests and I have lost count of the number of occasions he has helped NZ to recover from some batting collapses (the latest being the Test series against minnows Bangladesh). Indian bowling was very disciplined and the bowlers made full use of the moisture present in the first session. As the day progressed, the pitch became better for batting and hence the centuries from Vettori and Ryder. Ishant was pick of the bowlers picking 4 wickets and its always good to see the youngster doing well. His presence as an attacking bowler in the Indian bowling department is something to cheer about. He also forms a pretty lethal opening attack with Zaheer Khan. Munaf is good bowler from a test match perspective and the bowlers overall did very well. India had to bat out seven overs in the Day 1 and the openers started their innings in pretty much one day mode with Sehwag being in a ruthless mood. India ended day one in a strong position having bundled the Kiwis for a rather modest 279 and scoring 29 without losing any wicket.
When Day 2 began, all eyes were on Sehwag, as the dashing opener from Delhi looked like murdering another hapless Kiwi attack. However, he was run out, courtesy some stupid calling by Gautam Gambhir, and in walked Rahul “The Wall” Dravid. The duo batted with a very sensible approach and steadied the innings. Gambhir departed for a well made 72 and deserve some praise for his batting as well. He consistently walked down the pitch to negate the swing that the bowlers could get and also was intelligent enough to put the run-out behind him. India later lost Dravid and Laxman by the close of play but they had touched the NZ first innings score by then and Sachin and Yuvi were still there. Day 2 also belonged to India, and it was good to see none of the batsmen getting carried away. All were willing to work hard for their runs, and it was a day of vintage test cricket.
When Day 3 began, Sachin was the cynosure of all eyes as he looked all set to get another hundred. Sachin began on a very confident note and hit some boundaries to make sure that he did not have to labour to the nineties. While Yuvi was out soon, Sachin continued to motor along with Dhoni at the other end. He reached his century soon and put on a valuable 115 run partnership with Dhoni. That was the stage where NZ started heading towards a sure defeat. Even when Dhoni got out, the Indian tail continued to wag with the likes of Bhajji and other bowlers chipping in with some invaluable runs. Zaheer made a very important and quick fifty and Sachin made a masterful 160. India amassed a huge total in 520 and looked on their way to achieve something which had eluded them for quite some time.
With a very handy lead of 241, NZ were always going to be under pressure. Their second note began on a disastrous note as McIntosh was out in the first over of Zaheer. Guptill batted well, but kind of threw his wicket to Bhajji and the tailender Mills could not survive the last over. At the close of third day’s play, India again held a position of complete advantage and supreme control and things looked pretty bad from the Kiwis’ perspective.
When play resumed on Day 4, it merely looked like a question of when and not how. NZ lost the wickets of Taylor and Ryder in the first session itself, and the writing was pretty much on the wall for Kiwis. Bhajji Singh bowled beautifully and from 199/8, the Kiwis did very well to reach to 279. McCullum did well for his 84, but then again it was only a question of delaying the inevitable. With a meagre target of 39 to chase, Gambhir and Dravid did the job in less than 6 overs to seal a memorable win.
For India, the win once again helped them stake their claim for the BEST side in the world. This stupendous victory was achieved by contribution from all the players and therefore is even more special. While Day 1 belonged to the Indian pace attack, Day 2 and 3 were set up by meaningful and substantial knocks by almost all the batsmen. Sachin lead the pack and I don’t think I can write any words that will do justice to all that he has done for Indian cricket. The man has donned the mantle of Indian batting for several years and he just refuses to bow down to anything. Way to go Sachin !
Day 4 was again marked by a wonderful display of spin bowling from Bhajji Singh, and it was good to see him getting into the role of India’s lead spinner by performance and not just by default. Indian pace attack lived up to the expectation and so did the Indian batting line-up. While Zaheer and Ishant can challenge the best of batsmen, we also have a very good spinner in Bhajji Singh. He bowled beautifully and once again made me fall in love with the art of spin bowling (The first time he did was in the infamous World Cup Final in 2003 when he had Hayden caught behind by Dravid).
If you are a NZ supporter, then things would look disappointing to you, to say the least. However, NZ are a very young team at the moment, and they have a long way to go. In Flynn and Ryder, they have atleast two new batsmen who belong to the Test cricket arena. Vettori is also more like a batsman these days and provides some strength to the lower order. However, their bowling looked very ordinary and Kyle Mills was the biggest disappointment of the match. He is the senior bowler in this bowling attack but looked like the least experienced of all. O’Brein was the one who impressed the most among the Kiwi bowlers. Even Vettori had a moderate outing, but then not many spinners fancy their chances against India. There would be at least a couple of changes in the team which faces India in the next Test. For India, the only concern is the injury to Sachin Tendulkar. Otherwise, India looks like the team to put your money on. Unless NZ raise the level of their game significantly, it is going to be another walk in the park for India at Napier.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
A successful venture overall
India played some exceptional cricket in the ODI series against NZ to pocket another trophy and increment their tally of victories in bilateral series. That this triumph came after some 33 years makes it even more special. Again it is also important to note that the same NZ team gave the Aussies a run for their money in their own backyard just a month ago. Indian batting continued to flourish throughout the series but for the last game (India did so poorly in the last one day that I am not writing about it at all :)).
For India, the positives which emerged from this series are tremendous. The batting clicked on a regular basis and proved that Indian batsmen can continue playing their strokes in alien conditions and on foreign pitches. Some people do argue that the NZ grounds are small and the pitches have favoured the batsmen, but then they have been the same since some time now. However, not many teams have come to NZ and managed to score like the Indians did.
With the completion of this series, Sehwag has quite easily and deservingly earned the tag of most attacking batsman in the world cricket at present. He is the best batsman at the top of order for India and with age too on his side, he should continue to serve India for some pretty decent time. Sachin and Gambhir are the two ideal partners who can open with Sehwag. While Tendulkar did very well in this series, Gambhir quite did not live up to the expectations. However, it’s not something to really worry about. The concern for the team management right now is which place Gambhir should bat at. On current form and experience, Sachin and Sehwag should open the innings and Gambhir is not actually the best bet at Number 3. Yuvraj should be the one coming at that stage especially if India gets to a good start. Yuvraj has the attacking intent to capitalise on a good start. Raina has a style which is more or less similar to Yuvraj’s but then Yuvraj’s experience has to be rewarded by allowing him to come a bit up in the order. Raina should bat at number 4 but then again Gambhir is again overlooked. Most of Gambhir’s successes have come while batting up the order, so in that case Gambhir should not bat at any position lower than 4. This combination makes Raina to come at Number 5, which is not too bad. At number 6, we should have the next batsman coming in which could be Rohit Sharma. However, Dhoni is quite an experienced batsman, so he can take the number 6 slot and push the last recognised batsman (Rohit Sharma) at number 7.
However, this order should be subject to change and Dhoni understands this point more than anyone else. For example, allowing Gambhir to bat at Number 3 in case the opening stand does not yield much. Secondly Dhoni can always go up the order and he does that more often than not. Lastly, while playing in subcontinent, the last batsman can be omitted and a tits and bits player like Irfan Pathan or Ravinder Jadeja can be included. Lastly the four bowlers for India should be Bhajji Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar.
Bhajji Singh is a seasoned campaigner and so is Zaheer Khan. The two have done well for a period of some years and they are the senior most bowlers in the team now. Zaheer is actually in the form of his life and this augurs very well for India. Ishant and Praveen on the other hand are still novices as compared to Bhajji and Zaheer. Praveen had a decent series but Ishant definitely had a disappointing one by his standards. Ishant bowled too full on many occasions and also gave a lot of extras. However, he is still a young kid and spending more time in the middle should help. Praveen Kumar bowled well in patches but he should realise that his strength is his impeccable line and length, and therefore should never deviate from it.
The present team is a very good one day outfit for India and the batting strength and depth is good enough to send shivers down the spine of any captain or coach who are going to face India. For a change, Indian bowling combination is also balanced and therefore the chances of success, whether playing at home turfs or abroad are very high. However, Indian fielding is still very ordinary and that is one serious concern.
Secondly, the complacency which the team showed in the last ODI is another issue.
The test series will begin very soon and it remains to be seen if the team is able to get into the test mode at a fairly quick pace. On paper, India easily is the better of the two teams and therefore should win. However, the Kiwis have a reputation of challenging the best sides and therefore are no pushovers. I am sure the test series will provide ample moments of excitement to watch for and also for me to write about :).
The ODI series was a very successful venture for India as a team and for me as a blogger. Would like to thank all those who read my match reports and commented on them as well, especially Dr. Channa :).
Looking forward to the 3 Test series with much hope and enthusiasm.
For India, the positives which emerged from this series are tremendous. The batting clicked on a regular basis and proved that Indian batsmen can continue playing their strokes in alien conditions and on foreign pitches. Some people do argue that the NZ grounds are small and the pitches have favoured the batsmen, but then they have been the same since some time now. However, not many teams have come to NZ and managed to score like the Indians did.
With the completion of this series, Sehwag has quite easily and deservingly earned the tag of most attacking batsman in the world cricket at present. He is the best batsman at the top of order for India and with age too on his side, he should continue to serve India for some pretty decent time. Sachin and Gambhir are the two ideal partners who can open with Sehwag. While Tendulkar did very well in this series, Gambhir quite did not live up to the expectations. However, it’s not something to really worry about. The concern for the team management right now is which place Gambhir should bat at. On current form and experience, Sachin and Sehwag should open the innings and Gambhir is not actually the best bet at Number 3. Yuvraj should be the one coming at that stage especially if India gets to a good start. Yuvraj has the attacking intent to capitalise on a good start. Raina has a style which is more or less similar to Yuvraj’s but then Yuvraj’s experience has to be rewarded by allowing him to come a bit up in the order. Raina should bat at number 4 but then again Gambhir is again overlooked. Most of Gambhir’s successes have come while batting up the order, so in that case Gambhir should not bat at any position lower than 4. This combination makes Raina to come at Number 5, which is not too bad. At number 6, we should have the next batsman coming in which could be Rohit Sharma. However, Dhoni is quite an experienced batsman, so he can take the number 6 slot and push the last recognised batsman (Rohit Sharma) at number 7.
However, this order should be subject to change and Dhoni understands this point more than anyone else. For example, allowing Gambhir to bat at Number 3 in case the opening stand does not yield much. Secondly Dhoni can always go up the order and he does that more often than not. Lastly, while playing in subcontinent, the last batsman can be omitted and a tits and bits player like Irfan Pathan or Ravinder Jadeja can be included. Lastly the four bowlers for India should be Bhajji Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar.
Bhajji Singh is a seasoned campaigner and so is Zaheer Khan. The two have done well for a period of some years and they are the senior most bowlers in the team now. Zaheer is actually in the form of his life and this augurs very well for India. Ishant and Praveen on the other hand are still novices as compared to Bhajji and Zaheer. Praveen had a decent series but Ishant definitely had a disappointing one by his standards. Ishant bowled too full on many occasions and also gave a lot of extras. However, he is still a young kid and spending more time in the middle should help. Praveen Kumar bowled well in patches but he should realise that his strength is his impeccable line and length, and therefore should never deviate from it.
The present team is a very good one day outfit for India and the batting strength and depth is good enough to send shivers down the spine of any captain or coach who are going to face India. For a change, Indian bowling combination is also balanced and therefore the chances of success, whether playing at home turfs or abroad are very high. However, Indian fielding is still very ordinary and that is one serious concern.
Secondly, the complacency which the team showed in the last ODI is another issue.
The test series will begin very soon and it remains to be seen if the team is able to get into the test mode at a fairly quick pace. On paper, India easily is the better of the two teams and therefore should win. However, the Kiwis have a reputation of challenging the best sides and therefore are no pushovers. I am sure the test series will provide ample moments of excitement to watch for and also for me to write about :).
The ODI series was a very successful venture for India as a team and for me as a blogger. Would like to thank all those who read my match reports and commented on them as well, especially Dr. Channa :).
Looking forward to the 3 Test series with much hope and enthusiasm.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
India win the one day series
India won the fourth ODI at Hamilton to seal the fate of this one-day series. India have done exceedingly well with the bat in the series so far and Bhajji Singh’s prediction that India is going to make a clean sweep is a distinct possibility. It will really require something very very special from the NZ team in general and from their bowlers in particular to win the last inconsequential ODI.
NZ were bolstered by the return of their captain Vettori, and after winning the toss, he planned to do something different by asking Indians to bowl first. Indian bowling was much better to begin with and the NZ openers didn’t find the going easy. However, much sense prevailed and both Ryder and McCullum decided to stay on and wait for the loose deliveries. McCullum is playing as a batsman these days, and he has proved that he has all the qualities of a modern ODI batsman. Both Zaheer and Praveen bowled a decent line and length and it was not until the introduction of Ishant that the NZ batsmen really started to feel at ease. Ishant did not have a very good first over, and suddenly the momentum started to shift in the favour of NZ. Ishant also bowled a couple of no balls and it was good to see Bhajji making a fine save on a free hit. Dhoni, as expected introduced spin and immediately gave a life to McCullum, a missed stumping. The first wicket stand was eventually broken when Yuvi deceived Ryder and a top edge was safely taken by Raina. However, with the spin attack of Yuvi and Yousuf Pathan, the Kiwis were strangulated a bit and that also bought them the wicket of Taylor. Guptill joined McCullum and slowly but surely McCullum also started to play a bit of shots, he is famous for.
McCullum fell leg before to Zaheer and Oram fell immediately to Ishant in the next over. That brought McGlashan to the crease and he was instrumental in taking NZ to a healthy total. Thankfully for NZ, Guptill departed at the right time, since he was not contributing much and Elliott in company with McGlashan did some repair work to take NZ to a decent total. To get 270 in 47 overs is a pretty demanding task unless you have to bowl to someone like Sehwag and then there are some more like him to follow.
For NZ, there were a few positives to come from this innings. Their batsmen did reasonably well and McGlashan played some interesting strokes and made a nice half century to support his candidature for further selections. Indian bowling was definitely better but their fielding was again disappointing. Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir let go easy chances and with a team like NZ you may be able to afford these lapses, but definitely not with Aussies or S. Africa.
Indian chase began on a wonderful note and Sehwag, as he has always looked on this tour, again looked invincible. The whole innings was more like a highlights package and I don’t think there is much to discuss about that. Sehwag kept on hitting the ball with utter disdain and Gambhir did just the right thing by rotating the strike and letting Sehwag take much of it. However, something that deserves mention is the running between the wickets. Sehwag was scoring boundaries at will but never did he refuse a quick single and that was the most heartening aspect of the partnership for me. None of the NZ bowlers was spared and the run rate just kept on soaring. I really find it difficult to write something about Sehwag’s batting, because you could not really pick something from the innings. He kept on going for his shots and there were a couple of miscued hits as well (that is practically always the case with Sehwag, the way he bats) but overall he looked very much in control. The NZ bowlers looked like some club standard bowlers who were dispatched to all parts of the ground. That Sehwag made his century in 60 balls is just an addition to statistics, but he never was troubled through out. Gambhir gave him good support and with the rain interruptions, the only question was if the match would indeed be completed. But on India’s part it was good that they ended up winning (they would have won the series otherwise also). Somehow, I feel that it was good for NZ too that they lost. May be, this will help them realise that they were truly outplayed and they need to make some serious amends.
Things look very good and positive for India but they have to guard against complacency for the Test matches are a different ball game altogether. Dhoni also need to give a kick in the butt to his players and also ask someone to give him one as well (perhaps Robin Singh) as the Indian fielding was again pretty ordinary. Finally, it is good to see Indian team realising its full potential. Theoretically speaking, India always have a good collection of highly skilled batsmen but it has seldom happened that all of them have fired on a consistent basis and help India won continuously (touch wood).
That’s all for now. Will be back with the report for the last ODI and an analysis of the whole ODI series.
NZ were bolstered by the return of their captain Vettori, and after winning the toss, he planned to do something different by asking Indians to bowl first. Indian bowling was much better to begin with and the NZ openers didn’t find the going easy. However, much sense prevailed and both Ryder and McCullum decided to stay on and wait for the loose deliveries. McCullum is playing as a batsman these days, and he has proved that he has all the qualities of a modern ODI batsman. Both Zaheer and Praveen bowled a decent line and length and it was not until the introduction of Ishant that the NZ batsmen really started to feel at ease. Ishant did not have a very good first over, and suddenly the momentum started to shift in the favour of NZ. Ishant also bowled a couple of no balls and it was good to see Bhajji making a fine save on a free hit. Dhoni, as expected introduced spin and immediately gave a life to McCullum, a missed stumping. The first wicket stand was eventually broken when Yuvi deceived Ryder and a top edge was safely taken by Raina. However, with the spin attack of Yuvi and Yousuf Pathan, the Kiwis were strangulated a bit and that also bought them the wicket of Taylor. Guptill joined McCullum and slowly but surely McCullum also started to play a bit of shots, he is famous for.
McCullum fell leg before to Zaheer and Oram fell immediately to Ishant in the next over. That brought McGlashan to the crease and he was instrumental in taking NZ to a healthy total. Thankfully for NZ, Guptill departed at the right time, since he was not contributing much and Elliott in company with McGlashan did some repair work to take NZ to a decent total. To get 270 in 47 overs is a pretty demanding task unless you have to bowl to someone like Sehwag and then there are some more like him to follow.
For NZ, there were a few positives to come from this innings. Their batsmen did reasonably well and McGlashan played some interesting strokes and made a nice half century to support his candidature for further selections. Indian bowling was definitely better but their fielding was again disappointing. Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir let go easy chances and with a team like NZ you may be able to afford these lapses, but definitely not with Aussies or S. Africa.
Indian chase began on a wonderful note and Sehwag, as he has always looked on this tour, again looked invincible. The whole innings was more like a highlights package and I don’t think there is much to discuss about that. Sehwag kept on hitting the ball with utter disdain and Gambhir did just the right thing by rotating the strike and letting Sehwag take much of it. However, something that deserves mention is the running between the wickets. Sehwag was scoring boundaries at will but never did he refuse a quick single and that was the most heartening aspect of the partnership for me. None of the NZ bowlers was spared and the run rate just kept on soaring. I really find it difficult to write something about Sehwag’s batting, because you could not really pick something from the innings. He kept on going for his shots and there were a couple of miscued hits as well (that is practically always the case with Sehwag, the way he bats) but overall he looked very much in control. The NZ bowlers looked like some club standard bowlers who were dispatched to all parts of the ground. That Sehwag made his century in 60 balls is just an addition to statistics, but he never was troubled through out. Gambhir gave him good support and with the rain interruptions, the only question was if the match would indeed be completed. But on India’s part it was good that they ended up winning (they would have won the series otherwise also). Somehow, I feel that it was good for NZ too that they lost. May be, this will help them realise that they were truly outplayed and they need to make some serious amends.
Things look very good and positive for India but they have to guard against complacency for the Test matches are a different ball game altogether. Dhoni also need to give a kick in the butt to his players and also ask someone to give him one as well (perhaps Robin Singh) as the Indian fielding was again pretty ordinary. Finally, it is good to see Indian team realising its full potential. Theoretically speaking, India always have a good collection of highly skilled batsmen but it has seldom happened that all of them have fired on a consistent basis and help India won continuously (touch wood).
That’s all for now. Will be back with the report for the last ODI and an analysis of the whole ODI series.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
India take a 2-0 lead
India did well to win the third ODI in Christchurch. As I wrote in my previous blog, Indian batting is a tremendous asset and when they fire in unison; you can win matches with dropped catches and some very stupid bowling (Munaf Patel, leading the pack).
India did not start too well, with the law of averages catching up with Sehwag. But, he is a sort of player with an extremely aggressive intent and I don’t think he will regret playing that shot. Gambhir steadied the innings a bit with Sachin and none of them tried to be too adventurous. Gambhir did depart in 13th over and even the strongest of the optimists would not have predicted the storm that was about to follow. Enter Yuvraj, and the rest as they say is history. He started with a wonderful cover drive and when he strikes the ball in that fashion at the start of his innings, you get a gut feeling that this guy is going to make a big score today. Sachin and Yuvraj had started to middle the ball pretty well, and then came the master-stroke- the batting power play. India made 69 in that PP and made sure NZ will have to make a herculean effort to give them even a remote chance of winning the game. Yuvraj batted in splendid fashion and made it look the easiest thing in the world. At the other end, Sachin was playing beautifully and had almost made his mind that he is going to bat right through the innings. When Yuvraj did depart in 29th over, India had already compiled 203 and therefore were all set for a big score. Dhoni started with a bit of caution and even benefitted from a life, but by then the Master Blaster was on a song. The duo kept on making life miserable for NZ bowlers, and McCullum must have felt that his first day in Captain’s Office was really a tough one. NZ bowling was pretty ordinary, to say the least. Of course they suffered a big loss in Vettori’s absence (In a team devoid of star players, Vettori is the only one who can command the tag). Moreover, Oram did not complete his spell and neither did Butler, though I doubt whether it would have made any impact on the final score.
Sachin eventually had to retire at 163, though 200 was a distinct possibility. Sachin has been a tremendous player for India over the years, and it’s great to seem him scoring big hundreds. I remember when Sachin opened for India in NZ for the first time, India were 1-0 down in the series, and his strokeful 88 helped India level the series. I was in class 6 at that time, and the day was also special, the festival of Holi. India had started that one day series with a new colour jersey which was a combination of yellow and dark blue [I was wondering why do India always choose to try their new colour jerseys in NZ only].The great man has given so much to the Indian cricket over the years, and still continues to do the same.
Dhoni and Raina also hit some big strokes in a small ground and helped India reach a very competitive total of 392. NZ bowling has been below par in all the games that they have played and as I said, Vettori’s absence made things even more difficult for them.
NZ started their chase on a very strong note and both the openers seemed hell bent on punishing the Indian bowlers. The Indian bowling was also well below their usual standards and the bowlers look a bit complacent. Zaheer and Praveen looked like waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen. However, Munaf Patel was not even trying to do something. A dropped catch off him didn’t help either, and Indian complacency and lack of application was getting more and more evident. Ryder and McCullum kept on taking a bit of chances (they had no choice) and it was paying off well. The introduction of spin did not bring any relief to Dhoni as Bhajji was hit for 2 consecutive sixes in his first over. In such scenarios, the only way to get a wicket is to pray that the batsmen do something foolish. And Ryder did oblige. McCullum was run-out by quite a distance and brought some smiles to the Indian faces. Meanwhile, Ryder completed his century and looked like the key player for NZ if they were to fancy any chance of winning this game. However, wickets started falling in a heap when an alert Yuvi’s throw got rid of Taylor and then Yuvi had Guptill leg before the wicket to an arm ball. From 166 for no loss, NZ were suddenly 182/3. Ryder started to feel the absence of batsmen around him and lost the plot as he chipped Bhajji straight to Zaheer at long-off. Those four wickets started a procession of sorts and with more than 200 runs still to get, it was going to be India’s game only. When your bowlers concede so many runs, it’s as good as impossible to chase the target. You need to keep the asking run-rate with in your reach and make sure that you do not lose too many wickets. It’s like ignoring your studies throughout the year and then looking for the final night before the exam as your time to get things right. It comes off only occasionally, not always. Zaheer also came back well and chipped in with the wickets of Elliott and McGlashan after Bhajji had removed Oram. The ninth wicket partnership between Mills and Southee saw a late recharge from NZ, but they were ably supported from some generous half-volleys and length deliveries from Indian bowlers. Munaf looked like on a vacation and should not be playing in the next game in all probability. Yusuf did manage to have Mills out and the expression on Zaheer’s face when he caught Mills told the story. Praveen wrapped the innings and India won by a 58 run margin.
The win made sure that India will not lose the series but this is surely not enough. India must win the series with a 4-0 margin, given the differences in the teams’ composition. India definitely have a better combination than NZ and their team also boasts of a lot of stars. When India won the T20 World Cup in 2007, Adam Gilchrist had later said that Indian young turks are amazing without specifically naming anyone. I believe the current Indian team does have a lot of amazing strikers, and India can win a lot of matches solely on the basis of their batting, like they did today. However, if India do want to be THE BEST team, then a lot of things need to get fixed. Dhoni was modest enough to accept this at the post match presentation and admitted that he set a bad example by dropping a sitter early in the innings, and the trend continued.
Let’s hope that the team will put up a much better performance in the coming ODIs.
India did not start too well, with the law of averages catching up with Sehwag. But, he is a sort of player with an extremely aggressive intent and I don’t think he will regret playing that shot. Gambhir steadied the innings a bit with Sachin and none of them tried to be too adventurous. Gambhir did depart in 13th over and even the strongest of the optimists would not have predicted the storm that was about to follow. Enter Yuvraj, and the rest as they say is history. He started with a wonderful cover drive and when he strikes the ball in that fashion at the start of his innings, you get a gut feeling that this guy is going to make a big score today. Sachin and Yuvraj had started to middle the ball pretty well, and then came the master-stroke- the batting power play. India made 69 in that PP and made sure NZ will have to make a herculean effort to give them even a remote chance of winning the game. Yuvraj batted in splendid fashion and made it look the easiest thing in the world. At the other end, Sachin was playing beautifully and had almost made his mind that he is going to bat right through the innings. When Yuvraj did depart in 29th over, India had already compiled 203 and therefore were all set for a big score. Dhoni started with a bit of caution and even benefitted from a life, but by then the Master Blaster was on a song. The duo kept on making life miserable for NZ bowlers, and McCullum must have felt that his first day in Captain’s Office was really a tough one. NZ bowling was pretty ordinary, to say the least. Of course they suffered a big loss in Vettori’s absence (In a team devoid of star players, Vettori is the only one who can command the tag). Moreover, Oram did not complete his spell and neither did Butler, though I doubt whether it would have made any impact on the final score.
Sachin eventually had to retire at 163, though 200 was a distinct possibility. Sachin has been a tremendous player for India over the years, and it’s great to seem him scoring big hundreds. I remember when Sachin opened for India in NZ for the first time, India were 1-0 down in the series, and his strokeful 88 helped India level the series. I was in class 6 at that time, and the day was also special, the festival of Holi. India had started that one day series with a new colour jersey which was a combination of yellow and dark blue [I was wondering why do India always choose to try their new colour jerseys in NZ only].The great man has given so much to the Indian cricket over the years, and still continues to do the same.
Dhoni and Raina also hit some big strokes in a small ground and helped India reach a very competitive total of 392. NZ bowling has been below par in all the games that they have played and as I said, Vettori’s absence made things even more difficult for them.
NZ started their chase on a very strong note and both the openers seemed hell bent on punishing the Indian bowlers. The Indian bowling was also well below their usual standards and the bowlers look a bit complacent. Zaheer and Praveen looked like waiting for things to happen rather than making them happen. However, Munaf Patel was not even trying to do something. A dropped catch off him didn’t help either, and Indian complacency and lack of application was getting more and more evident. Ryder and McCullum kept on taking a bit of chances (they had no choice) and it was paying off well. The introduction of spin did not bring any relief to Dhoni as Bhajji was hit for 2 consecutive sixes in his first over. In such scenarios, the only way to get a wicket is to pray that the batsmen do something foolish. And Ryder did oblige. McCullum was run-out by quite a distance and brought some smiles to the Indian faces. Meanwhile, Ryder completed his century and looked like the key player for NZ if they were to fancy any chance of winning this game. However, wickets started falling in a heap when an alert Yuvi’s throw got rid of Taylor and then Yuvi had Guptill leg before the wicket to an arm ball. From 166 for no loss, NZ were suddenly 182/3. Ryder started to feel the absence of batsmen around him and lost the plot as he chipped Bhajji straight to Zaheer at long-off. Those four wickets started a procession of sorts and with more than 200 runs still to get, it was going to be India’s game only. When your bowlers concede so many runs, it’s as good as impossible to chase the target. You need to keep the asking run-rate with in your reach and make sure that you do not lose too many wickets. It’s like ignoring your studies throughout the year and then looking for the final night before the exam as your time to get things right. It comes off only occasionally, not always. Zaheer also came back well and chipped in with the wickets of Elliott and McGlashan after Bhajji had removed Oram. The ninth wicket partnership between Mills and Southee saw a late recharge from NZ, but they were ably supported from some generous half-volleys and length deliveries from Indian bowlers. Munaf looked like on a vacation and should not be playing in the next game in all probability. Yusuf did manage to have Mills out and the expression on Zaheer’s face when he caught Mills told the story. Praveen wrapped the innings and India won by a 58 run margin.
The win made sure that India will not lose the series but this is surely not enough. India must win the series with a 4-0 margin, given the differences in the teams’ composition. India definitely have a better combination than NZ and their team also boasts of a lot of stars. When India won the T20 World Cup in 2007, Adam Gilchrist had later said that Indian young turks are amazing without specifically naming anyone. I believe the current Indian team does have a lot of amazing strikers, and India can win a lot of matches solely on the basis of their batting, like they did today. However, if India do want to be THE BEST team, then a lot of things need to get fixed. Dhoni was modest enough to accept this at the post match presentation and admitted that he set a bad example by dropping a sitter early in the innings, and the trend continued.
Let’s hope that the team will put up a much better performance in the coming ODIs.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
India return to winning ways
It was good to see India coming back strongly after the losses to NZ in the two T20 matches. Well, Indian team has traditionally always been equipped with a lot of talented batsmen, and when they do come good, the chances of success increase tremendously. The famed batting line-up did not do too well in the T20 matches and consequently we lost both of those. However, T20s are not the real test of strength (at least I believe so) and this ODI series provides a wonderful opportunity to India to stake a claim for the best ODI side in the world.
India started off pretty well, with Sehwag in wonderful nick, and when he bats in that fashion, you can only sit and applaud. Sehwag to me looks like the most attacking batsman in the world (marginally ahead of Pietersen) primarily because he is so clear in his mind. He does not let any iota of doubt enter his mind when he decides to hit the ball. Sachin Tendulkar with years of experience and tonnage of runs and records provides an ideal partner to Sehwag. The duo started well, and the loss of Sachin’s wicket did not mean much to India at that stage. India was off to a wonderful start, and then came Mr. Captain Cool- Dhoni. Dhoni deserves a lot of appreciation for the way he has established himself as an international cricketer. He was supposed to be a wicketkeeper-batsman. But his rise to become the captain of Indian team is the stuff fairy tales are made of. He went in, knowing fully that the team needed to consolidate at that point and he took the responsibility (However that does not make him the best Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly holds that crown, as per me). Dhoni batted with calm and did not let anything bother him; he was quite content just being there. Actually with Sehwag, you can afford that luxury. The loss of Sehwag and Yuvraj brought another talented batsman Raina. Raina has been in and out of team but the guy established himself during IPL. I still remember the four sixes he hit in the semi-final against Kings Punjab XI, the ball just kept on sailing. He has all the big shots in his armoury and that was what India needed. Yusuf Pathan is another IPL find and he is a very useful batsman coming down the order. He entered the situation that he would have loved to be in, and some lusty blows from him took India to a healthy total.
In nutshell, India batted just the way they should have done in the last two T20 matches. However, it’s better late than never. Dhoni also did the right thing by shuffling the batsman according to the situation, and remained the top scorer. Lastly, the three stars of this batting effort- Sehwag, Raina and Dhoni have something in common. More on that later.
NZ began their chase on a disastrous note as they lost their star batsman to Parveen Kumar. McCullum is a wonderful batsman for T20 matches mainly because he does not have to bat for long periods of time. However, I believe he does not have the technique and the range of shots to repeat his heroics in ODIs and that too consistently. He has started to win matches for NZ but he won’t be the match winner that Sehwag is for India or say Habibul Bashar is for Bangaldesh (Does Bangladesh win any match actually ??? …trying to be funny). Praveen Kumar bowled a wonderful line and so did Zaheer. Being the more experienced and senior bowler, it is expected of Zaheer actually but Praveen Kumar is a very useful ODI bowler as well. He bowls wicket to wicket, exploits the new ball and is faster than he appears. With the wicket of Ryder in 8th over, Praveen made sure that NZ were going to struggle always. Guptill and Taylor tried to bring some life back in the match but with the asking run rate climbing up every over, NZ were all set to loose. And it did happen. The rain delays didn’t help their case either. But the mammoth total India had posted was always going to pose problems for the Kiwis. In such scenarios, their best chance is to open with McCullum and expect that he gets them off to a flier. Didn’t happen today but may be, some other day. Bhajji Singh bowled beautifully and the wicket of Broom (stumped on a doosra) was a treat to watch. Nothing better than foxing a batsman with doosra (Remember Bhajji doing the same to Ponting in Sharjah and getting banned later for one ODI, also did the same to Kallis when India successfully defended 232 in S. Africa 2001-02). The star bowlers for India were Zaheer (he is easily the best fast left-arm pacer right now, and let’s hope he remains the same), Praveen and Bhajji. India won comfortably in the end, and opened their account in NZ. It was disappointing to see India lose those T20 matches and I was starting to wonder what if India does not start this series with a win. The media would have started post-mortems into virtually everything related to the team and its composition. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, and we had some reasons to celebrate.
My flatmate also bought some sweets (he just got his first salary) and we celebrated.
This win did confirm a few things. The first among these is the fact that for India to win, they need their batsmen to fire (like blaming the poor Irfan Pathan [one time fast bowler] for the last T20 loss while defending a meagre 150). It also confirmed the fact that players from small towns have started to make a mark in Indian cricket. Dhoni (Ranchi), Sehwag (Najafgarh), Raina (Ghaziabad), Praveen (Meerut) and Bhajji (Jalandhar), all these provide ample testimony to what I have said.
Lastly, it also proved that whether I stay at Ambala, Chandigarh, Mohali or Cork, I will continue to follow cricket with the same passion as I used to do when I was in school.
That’s all for now. Will write about the second ODI provided India wins.
India started off pretty well, with Sehwag in wonderful nick, and when he bats in that fashion, you can only sit and applaud. Sehwag to me looks like the most attacking batsman in the world (marginally ahead of Pietersen) primarily because he is so clear in his mind. He does not let any iota of doubt enter his mind when he decides to hit the ball. Sachin Tendulkar with years of experience and tonnage of runs and records provides an ideal partner to Sehwag. The duo started well, and the loss of Sachin’s wicket did not mean much to India at that stage. India was off to a wonderful start, and then came Mr. Captain Cool- Dhoni. Dhoni deserves a lot of appreciation for the way he has established himself as an international cricketer. He was supposed to be a wicketkeeper-batsman. But his rise to become the captain of Indian team is the stuff fairy tales are made of. He went in, knowing fully that the team needed to consolidate at that point and he took the responsibility (However that does not make him the best Indian captain, Sourav Ganguly holds that crown, as per me). Dhoni batted with calm and did not let anything bother him; he was quite content just being there. Actually with Sehwag, you can afford that luxury. The loss of Sehwag and Yuvraj brought another talented batsman Raina. Raina has been in and out of team but the guy established himself during IPL. I still remember the four sixes he hit in the semi-final against Kings Punjab XI, the ball just kept on sailing. He has all the big shots in his armoury and that was what India needed. Yusuf Pathan is another IPL find and he is a very useful batsman coming down the order. He entered the situation that he would have loved to be in, and some lusty blows from him took India to a healthy total.
In nutshell, India batted just the way they should have done in the last two T20 matches. However, it’s better late than never. Dhoni also did the right thing by shuffling the batsman according to the situation, and remained the top scorer. Lastly, the three stars of this batting effort- Sehwag, Raina and Dhoni have something in common. More on that later.
NZ began their chase on a disastrous note as they lost their star batsman to Parveen Kumar. McCullum is a wonderful batsman for T20 matches mainly because he does not have to bat for long periods of time. However, I believe he does not have the technique and the range of shots to repeat his heroics in ODIs and that too consistently. He has started to win matches for NZ but he won’t be the match winner that Sehwag is for India or say Habibul Bashar is for Bangaldesh (Does Bangladesh win any match actually ??? …trying to be funny). Praveen Kumar bowled a wonderful line and so did Zaheer. Being the more experienced and senior bowler, it is expected of Zaheer actually but Praveen Kumar is a very useful ODI bowler as well. He bowls wicket to wicket, exploits the new ball and is faster than he appears. With the wicket of Ryder in 8th over, Praveen made sure that NZ were going to struggle always. Guptill and Taylor tried to bring some life back in the match but with the asking run rate climbing up every over, NZ were all set to loose. And it did happen. The rain delays didn’t help their case either. But the mammoth total India had posted was always going to pose problems for the Kiwis. In such scenarios, their best chance is to open with McCullum and expect that he gets them off to a flier. Didn’t happen today but may be, some other day. Bhajji Singh bowled beautifully and the wicket of Broom (stumped on a doosra) was a treat to watch. Nothing better than foxing a batsman with doosra (Remember Bhajji doing the same to Ponting in Sharjah and getting banned later for one ODI, also did the same to Kallis when India successfully defended 232 in S. Africa 2001-02). The star bowlers for India were Zaheer (he is easily the best fast left-arm pacer right now, and let’s hope he remains the same), Praveen and Bhajji. India won comfortably in the end, and opened their account in NZ. It was disappointing to see India lose those T20 matches and I was starting to wonder what if India does not start this series with a win. The media would have started post-mortems into virtually everything related to the team and its composition. Thankfully, it didn’t happen, and we had some reasons to celebrate.
My flatmate also bought some sweets (he just got his first salary) and we celebrated.
This win did confirm a few things. The first among these is the fact that for India to win, they need their batsmen to fire (like blaming the poor Irfan Pathan [one time fast bowler] for the last T20 loss while defending a meagre 150). It also confirmed the fact that players from small towns have started to make a mark in Indian cricket. Dhoni (Ranchi), Sehwag (Najafgarh), Raina (Ghaziabad), Praveen (Meerut) and Bhajji (Jalandhar), all these provide ample testimony to what I have said.
Lastly, it also proved that whether I stay at Ambala, Chandigarh, Mohali or Cork, I will continue to follow cricket with the same passion as I used to do when I was in school.
That’s all for now. Will write about the second ODI provided India wins.
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