The West Indies take a vital lead by winning back to back matches to lead the series 2-1. Indian have to do well to make sure the series isn’t decided before it is completed. The score-line like this is hard to believe for us the Indian fans. But as I have already blogged we have to give up our number crunching paranoia for the sake of the team.
West Indians carry the momentum.
Cricket is a funny game in more than one ways. The three runs out were the summary of things to come. Indians restricted themselves an opportunity to bat West Indies out of the game. The West Indians only had to bat the fifty overs and it might have been a cruise for them.
West Indies have a shaky start.
Irfan Pathan definitely looks out of boil. The conditions are not actually in his favour. He has to content with lots of left handers. He seems to be lacking control. He was again taken to task by Gayle. Sreesanth bough in first change and straight away claimed Samuels. Agarkar claimed Morton in the very next over. Sarwan walked in and looked in control.
Shame on selectors. Agarkar will be missing out on test.
The “youngsters” fund was bought in by Ganguly and Chappell only reiterated the fact. Ganguly fought hard for the team he wanted. He can be credited to bring in people like Yuvraj, Kaif, Sehwag, Nehra, Pathan, Parthiv and whole lot of others who seem to have been of the radar at least for now. But he stood by the players he wanted. He is perhaps paying the price now. Agarkar who has been the pick of bowlers at least in One Days has been excluded out of the Test. No reasons will ever be given for his exclusion. If the team is to be selected on merit which is based on performances then Agarkar was a surety in the Test team. His conclusion is a proof that good performances alone won’t fetch in the Test ticket. I would like to see him perform brilliantly in the upcoming One Day and make the selectors feel ashamed of his exclusion. Pathan is off the boil and Agarkar will do a team the world of good if he stays back.
Harbhajan again shows his class.
Harbhajan who was off the boil till, before the One Day series against England showed his class by dismissing the best players of any bowling, the ever mercurial Lara. Lara who walked in with no pressure to score runs was foxed by guile of Harbhajan. Harbhajan bowled a turning delivery pitched outside Lara’s leg stumped turning towards Rahul Dravid stationed at first slip. Lara turned to flick it fine and all he could do was to snick it and Dravid completed the formalities of the catch.
Chanderpaul makes it a cake walk for West Indies.
Chanderpaul is a complete opposite of Sarwan. He is awful to watch but has saved West Indies many a times from shameful lows. He has a brilliantly record against India and he will repeat his performances if the Indian bowlers don’t work him out. India could not get many inroads even after they managed to push the scoring rates beyond six an over. This shows that any team which has wickets in the end and can sustain pressures is bound to do well.
A few lessons to be learnt.
The Indian team and fans alike have to wake up to the fact that series against West Indies in West Indians is not a cake walk. They will be under pressure to do well in the next match. If they don’t do well then there series against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and England will be ruined. Is India remain a good One Day team or this tag is only applicable while playing at home? The answer to this question lies in the result of next few One Day games.
The third one day shifted out from Jamaica to Trinidad. The Indians took up batting first.
The Coach's curse.
Mr Chapell the things are good the way they are your job is not appreciation but extracting and maintaining a performance level an optimum level. Rahul Dravid seems to be going down the hill. I have enough confidence in him that he will come back. He was out in the first over.
Raina promoted, Kaif demoted, Yuvraj dumped.
Raina was promoted courtesy after Dravid was striked out early. He is a good player and I hope to see him open One Day. This will atleast prove that is he good enough to take a huge responsibility on young shoulders. The history of One Days suggest that a teenage protégé took up this responsibility more than a decades back and today his records is what Avogadro’s Number is to molecular chemistry. I think he can do it. Kaif was again given a raw deal. There was a noted slump in his form when he was dumped after scoring a match saving ninety against the English in Nagpur.
I am not convinced as to what is the rotation policy. Why was Yuvraj dropped? I am asking as I have not heart any news of a possible injury to Yuvraj? Why should a good finisher of a One Day game be dumped?
Sehwag tonks bad form.
Sehwag was lucky to be playing for this long without worthwhile scores for some time now. He played well and tonked his bad form with some innovative fanciful batting. I saw some cut shorts of his and they were all about power. His dismissal turned the match around for West Indies.
Middle order runs out.
The middle order batsmen chose “run out” as the preferred mode of dismissal. It was shocking to write it in simple terms. There was a huge collapse which saw Indians scoring just 60 runs of last nineteen over. The inexperience showed along with some poor team selection.
Bravo, Bravo.
Bravo looks good bowler and a very good lower order batsman. He impresses me and always seems to be in thick of the action. The West Indian bowling just exploded in the scene and Indian struggle to get past 250.
Gayle has a measure of Pathan. Agarkar looks in control.
Pathan struggling against Gayle and needs to do something early to make sure there is some success for him on what can be called helpful pitches. Ajit Agarkar is likely to get the berth for test as he has put in impressive bowling figures against his name.
The end of first edition.
India has to return favours to the West Indies if they have to win this one. The West Indies on the other hand would look to play out the fifty over and they will score the required 247. They have a decent middle order. It now looks a match between the Indian spinners and West Indies batting.
Showing posts with label Harbhajan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Harbhajan. Show all posts
22.5.06
Cricket: India vs W.I. Second ODI.
This blog is about the end of a certain dream run, that whipped up an aura and hype that Indian cricket was searching after Ganguly was dumped and Sachin Tendulkar was mired by a combination of poor form and injuries. It was a breath taking run but none of the fans thought it would end by not chasing a score which seemed to be the walk in the park for the Men in Blue.
The West Indies put in.
The Indian bowling got the better of West Indian top order with the Gayle phenomenon was punctured by Agarkar. His dismissal was a combination of some over confidence and some very penetratie bowling by Agarkar. It was all credit to Agarkar for keeping a tight line first up. Morton was easy picking for Pathan. Lara is always vulnerable wide out-side off-stump. He was sucked into the temptation of flirting with a wide delivery.
Chanderpaul also fooled.
Chanderpaul, who is the most effective but most awfull display of batting interms of style and stroke play. He has often been thorn in Indian bowling flesh, he did not last too long after Harbhajan was hit over the top for couple of boundaries came back to clain Chanderpaul. He hit a simple catch to Kaif in the covers on a ball which should have been hot for a boundary.
Sarwan sticks on.
He is another delight to watch. He is one who often gives in when u think he is going to open up for some delightful strokes. He battled against cramps and dehydration and come up with a gritty knock and helped Windies to get close to 200. In the end he won the Man of the match
Bowling looks good.
Pathan and Agarkar looks good. I hope Agarkar is retained for Tests. Munaf Patel seems to be wondering how to bowl on green wickets. It is a weakness tough, the Indian batsmen don’t know how to bat on green wickets and bowlers looked puzzled when they have to bowl on a green top. This has been a traditional weakness. The wisdom of line and length is not often followed and the advantage is often returned to the hosts.
The beginning of the end of a “Dream Run”.
As proclaimed by the Indian coach, Dravid often makes sure there is no collapse in the top order. The slump started with Sehwag hitting the ball straight into keepers hands and Dravid walked out of park after Bradshaw got him caught behind courtesy the left arm bowlers angle. The next to go was Pathan who hoiked the ball knee height to mid on where Samuels took a night catch. His dismissal was also the trigger of defeat and this is were the dream run begun to take a sad turn the other batsmen just completed the formalities. When Kaif hit a ball high up in the air and did not cover enough ground and a simple catch was completed I shut my TV close in dismay.
Say no to experiments.
They came and went with no one waiting to hold one end up it was downhill after Indians were reduced 60 for 4. It is time that Indians stoped with experiments coz there are careers of people like Kaif and Raina at stake. I think Sehwag has to be dropped now. Suresh Raina should be asked to open the batting. Kaif should be the regular one down even if Tendulkar returns. Irfan Pathan should cover the number seven slot. Dhoni should precede him. Yuvraj should guide the middle order from three down.
An advise to Indian fans.
I am also included in this list.The dream run has ended. I think we all fans are lovers of stats. This has to be given up and we should back our Team to do well rather than resign to submission. This match also reminded me off a match in ’99 World Cup, South Africa vs Australia. A tied match.
It again made my belief that “Indian cricket team is a team which can make a one sided match exciting” you can call it whatever you want but this feeling in me is there to stay.
There are some more exciting moments for us the spectators hopefull some of them would not be as heart breaking. The end which are sad are often very painful. This is how the dream run ended.
The West Indies put in.
The Indian bowling got the better of West Indian top order with the Gayle phenomenon was punctured by Agarkar. His dismissal was a combination of some over confidence and some very penetratie bowling by Agarkar. It was all credit to Agarkar for keeping a tight line first up. Morton was easy picking for Pathan. Lara is always vulnerable wide out-side off-stump. He was sucked into the temptation of flirting with a wide delivery.
Chanderpaul also fooled.
Chanderpaul, who is the most effective but most awfull display of batting interms of style and stroke play. He has often been thorn in Indian bowling flesh, he did not last too long after Harbhajan was hit over the top for couple of boundaries came back to clain Chanderpaul. He hit a simple catch to Kaif in the covers on a ball which should have been hot for a boundary.
Sarwan sticks on.
He is another delight to watch. He is one who often gives in when u think he is going to open up for some delightful strokes. He battled against cramps and dehydration and come up with a gritty knock and helped Windies to get close to 200. In the end he won the Man of the match
Bowling looks good.
Pathan and Agarkar looks good. I hope Agarkar is retained for Tests. Munaf Patel seems to be wondering how to bowl on green wickets. It is a weakness tough, the Indian batsmen don’t know how to bat on green wickets and bowlers looked puzzled when they have to bowl on a green top. This has been a traditional weakness. The wisdom of line and length is not often followed and the advantage is often returned to the hosts.
The beginning of the end of a “Dream Run”.
As proclaimed by the Indian coach, Dravid often makes sure there is no collapse in the top order. The slump started with Sehwag hitting the ball straight into keepers hands and Dravid walked out of park after Bradshaw got him caught behind courtesy the left arm bowlers angle. The next to go was Pathan who hoiked the ball knee height to mid on where Samuels took a night catch. His dismissal was also the trigger of defeat and this is were the dream run begun to take a sad turn the other batsmen just completed the formalities. When Kaif hit a ball high up in the air and did not cover enough ground and a simple catch was completed I shut my TV close in dismay.
Say no to experiments.
They came and went with no one waiting to hold one end up it was downhill after Indians were reduced 60 for 4. It is time that Indians stoped with experiments coz there are careers of people like Kaif and Raina at stake. I think Sehwag has to be dropped now. Suresh Raina should be asked to open the batting. Kaif should be the regular one down even if Tendulkar returns. Irfan Pathan should cover the number seven slot. Dhoni should precede him. Yuvraj should guide the middle order from three down.
An advise to Indian fans.
I am also included in this list.The dream run has ended. I think we all fans are lovers of stats. This has to be given up and we should back our Team to do well rather than resign to submission. This match also reminded me off a match in ’99 World Cup, South Africa vs Australia. A tied match.
It again made my belief that “Indian cricket team is a team which can make a one sided match exciting” you can call it whatever you want but this feeling in me is there to stay.
There are some more exciting moments for us the spectators hopefull some of them would not be as heart breaking. The end which are sad are often very painful. This is how the dream run ended.
29.3.06
Cricket: Spinning fortunes.
Do fortunes favour the braves? Or do the braves make their own fortunes? I think everyone if determined enough can make their own fortune. The question is debatable and should be answered in the light of the day. India did make some fortune and pulled victory from the jaws of defeat.
I have all ways maintained this at least for last couple of years, “India is that team that makes a one sided match exciting”. I mean it both ways. I have seen them screwing up some matches which seemed that as though they were in the kitty. But not always. There are some matches like these and some played over the last couple of series, which makes me, see something, which never resembles “Never Say Die”
Just about the Aussies.
They won an away series. “Shane Warne, he does it best when he takes wickets in all.” I managed to tweak the lines if “Notting Hill” starring a Julia Roberts. He just sniffs at opportunity and makes it count big. He took 6 for 86 leading Aussies to a 112 runs victory. I feel sorry for South Africans but they are not doing the right things. Jacques Rudolph will do a better job as the twelfth man then someone at five down. There is so much confusion in their ranks that the whole display is disheartening.
Ricky Ponting will pose a threat or may be surpass Tendulkar’s record of centuries. He is so marvellous to watch on a seeming green track. He fights fire with fire and last couple of calendars can be name after him. He has the advantage of captaining the most successful pair of bowlers Warne and McGrath in the game’s history along with the most prolific all rounder the game has seen, Adam Gilchrist, how I believe will come good in the third test. There are many other superlatives like that of Hayden and Langer and many other. I hope Ricky Ponting does well and breaks Tendulkar’s record of most centuries in a test. Tendulkar’s record of most centuries will be unfathomed for long.
Toss crucial.
England did the right thing by winning the toss and putting India into bat. They might have seen India’s recent performances. No matter who wins the toss, they will put the opposition into bat. Darvid again tried to hold fort. With little success.
Woeful decisions.
Indian team management have taken some woeful decisions. There are two key players in one-day team namely Yuvraj and Kaif. They both are specialist fielders in their own domain. They also happen to be good one-day batsmen with Yuvraj having a penchant for finishes and Kaif having fondness to provide solidity along with suppleness. There have been some wrong decisions, which may be responsible for their ordinary performances. I would have expected them to show good this time round. But alas, they could not. Kaif was kicked out for making ninety and then Yuvraj had a horrid time of it while in the field. He was today out bowled on an indecisive drive and Kaif in search of runs was left gasping as a traveller on seeing a mirage in the dessert. Kaif woes can be traced to he being not promoted to bat in the fourth tie against Pakistan and then he being dropped after making a 91.
It is the case of one being undermined (Kaif), and one being over weighed (Yuvraj); neither is helping the Indian cause.
Tail hai na…
Yes, the Indian lower order batting seems to be doing well this season. I think after fielding, this is seems to be a major plus of our team. The young bowlers are not mere pushover and today contributed to more than 60% of the runs the team made. Gautam Gambhir often tends to get wild with his stroke play. Sehwag looks as timid as a cat on a rainy day. He needs to score runs. The handling of Yuvraj and Kaif needs to relook. Dravid making runs is surety in cricket these days. Fielding was breath taking.
Pathan strikes the edge.
If Dravid making runs is surety then Pathan taking a wicket early in his spell has become a norm this season. He dismissed Strauss for nothing and the script for England was to be followed. He then dismissed Owais Shah who comes prefers talking rather than make his bat do the talking. I hope he realises soon that he is being paid for scoring runs. He has an amusing way of batting home. He hit a glorious drive to the boundary and the bowling might have looked like a walk in park for him. He would not have enjoyed the walk in the park after being dismissed by Pathan with a trademark leg before.
They, Flintoff and Pietersen.
Flintoff and Pietersen have such huge persona. Pietersen is the blue-eyed boy of English cricket who hogged deserving limelight in the past year. Flintoff ride has not been the same. The previous year has been good for him as well. The have a liking for hitting big sixes. They both are vulnerable against spin. They will have an innings in this series, which will make you realize that One-Day is such as batsman game. They both looked in hurry and in control until they got out. They both go out to Singhs. They both displayed what not to do against the spinners.They got out when the score was 117. They both are responsible for this defeat.
Great English collapse.
The English batting collapse is the most common phenomenon in cricket these days. They have a tendency to collapse be it at home or away against fast or spin. I had wanted to seem them collapsing in Test. They did it just once when 5 wickets went down for 17 runs. They did it again today. They lost last seven wickets for 47 runs. A very forgettable display of batting.
Twister Harbhajan.
A twister tends to spin around itself. This twister is a bit different. He comes capped with a proud turban. He loves the English batting, he back himself to bowl them out anywhere. He rocked and the English batting was shell shocked as he took 5 English wickets. The fact that he batted brilliantly to score 37 runs helped him bowling well.He is one more case of being written off.
Alls well that ends well.
I know the series has just started. It was a good win because the bowlers did the bulk of the job. They managed to get scores with bat and then bought English to knees. I consider this match as a good beginning as our batsmen tend to get all the limelight no matter how well the bowlers bowl. If the bowlers defend a small target then the effort has to be applauded.
Markers for Indian victory.
There are two markers for Indian victory in a match. They are fielding, I mean ground fielding and control over extras wides and no balls if these two look impressive then India invariably wins the match. This was the case today. They say the catching was amazing and they just spare 3 runs in extras.
I have all ways maintained this at least for last couple of years, “India is that team that makes a one sided match exciting”. I mean it both ways. I have seen them screwing up some matches which seemed that as though they were in the kitty. But not always. There are some matches like these and some played over the last couple of series, which makes me, see something, which never resembles “Never Say Die”
Just about the Aussies.
They won an away series. “Shane Warne, he does it best when he takes wickets in all.” I managed to tweak the lines if “Notting Hill” starring a Julia Roberts. He just sniffs at opportunity and makes it count big. He took 6 for 86 leading Aussies to a 112 runs victory. I feel sorry for South Africans but they are not doing the right things. Jacques Rudolph will do a better job as the twelfth man then someone at five down. There is so much confusion in their ranks that the whole display is disheartening.
Ricky Ponting will pose a threat or may be surpass Tendulkar’s record of centuries. He is so marvellous to watch on a seeming green track. He fights fire with fire and last couple of calendars can be name after him. He has the advantage of captaining the most successful pair of bowlers Warne and McGrath in the game’s history along with the most prolific all rounder the game has seen, Adam Gilchrist, how I believe will come good in the third test. There are many other superlatives like that of Hayden and Langer and many other. I hope Ricky Ponting does well and breaks Tendulkar’s record of most centuries in a test. Tendulkar’s record of most centuries will be unfathomed for long.
Toss crucial.
England did the right thing by winning the toss and putting India into bat. They might have seen India’s recent performances. No matter who wins the toss, they will put the opposition into bat. Darvid again tried to hold fort. With little success.
Woeful decisions.
Indian team management have taken some woeful decisions. There are two key players in one-day team namely Yuvraj and Kaif. They both are specialist fielders in their own domain. They also happen to be good one-day batsmen with Yuvraj having a penchant for finishes and Kaif having fondness to provide solidity along with suppleness. There have been some wrong decisions, which may be responsible for their ordinary performances. I would have expected them to show good this time round. But alas, they could not. Kaif was kicked out for making ninety and then Yuvraj had a horrid time of it while in the field. He was today out bowled on an indecisive drive and Kaif in search of runs was left gasping as a traveller on seeing a mirage in the dessert. Kaif woes can be traced to he being not promoted to bat in the fourth tie against Pakistan and then he being dropped after making a 91.
It is the case of one being undermined (Kaif), and one being over weighed (Yuvraj); neither is helping the Indian cause.
Tail hai na…
Yes, the Indian lower order batting seems to be doing well this season. I think after fielding, this is seems to be a major plus of our team. The young bowlers are not mere pushover and today contributed to more than 60% of the runs the team made. Gautam Gambhir often tends to get wild with his stroke play. Sehwag looks as timid as a cat on a rainy day. He needs to score runs. The handling of Yuvraj and Kaif needs to relook. Dravid making runs is surety in cricket these days. Fielding was breath taking.
Pathan strikes the edge.
If Dravid making runs is surety then Pathan taking a wicket early in his spell has become a norm this season. He dismissed Strauss for nothing and the script for England was to be followed. He then dismissed Owais Shah who comes prefers talking rather than make his bat do the talking. I hope he realises soon that he is being paid for scoring runs. He has an amusing way of batting home. He hit a glorious drive to the boundary and the bowling might have looked like a walk in park for him. He would not have enjoyed the walk in the park after being dismissed by Pathan with a trademark leg before.
They, Flintoff and Pietersen.
Flintoff and Pietersen have such huge persona. Pietersen is the blue-eyed boy of English cricket who hogged deserving limelight in the past year. Flintoff ride has not been the same. The previous year has been good for him as well. The have a liking for hitting big sixes. They both are vulnerable against spin. They will have an innings in this series, which will make you realize that One-Day is such as batsman game. They both looked in hurry and in control until they got out. They both go out to Singhs. They both displayed what not to do against the spinners.They got out when the score was 117. They both are responsible for this defeat.
Great English collapse.
The English batting collapse is the most common phenomenon in cricket these days. They have a tendency to collapse be it at home or away against fast or spin. I had wanted to seem them collapsing in Test. They did it just once when 5 wickets went down for 17 runs. They did it again today. They lost last seven wickets for 47 runs. A very forgettable display of batting.
Twister Harbhajan.
A twister tends to spin around itself. This twister is a bit different. He comes capped with a proud turban. He loves the English batting, he back himself to bowl them out anywhere. He rocked and the English batting was shell shocked as he took 5 English wickets. The fact that he batted brilliantly to score 37 runs helped him bowling well.He is one more case of being written off.
Alls well that ends well.
I know the series has just started. It was a good win because the bowlers did the bulk of the job. They managed to get scores with bat and then bought English to knees. I consider this match as a good beginning as our batsmen tend to get all the limelight no matter how well the bowlers bowl. If the bowlers defend a small target then the effort has to be applauded.
Markers for Indian victory.
There are two markers for Indian victory in a match. They are fielding, I mean ground fielding and control over extras wides and no balls if these two look impressive then India invariably wins the match. This was the case today. They say the catching was amazing and they just spare 3 runs in extras.
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