Indian Contracts finalized

The new contracts for the Indian cricket team was finalized recently. 4 grades are given usually which mean players get different payments based on where they have been categorized (60, 40, 25 and 15 lakhs for grades A, B, C, D respectively).

Batsmen

Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Grade D
Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh	Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma	S Badrinath, Wasim Jaffer	Robin Uthappa, Ajinkya Rahane, Manoj Tiwary, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Kaif, Virat Kohli, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan

Bowlers

Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Grade D
Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh	Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra	Pragyan Ojha, Sreesanth, Amit Mishra	Ashok Dinda, R Ashwin, Sudeep Tyagi, Dhawal Kulkarni

Wicket-keepers

Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Grade D
MS Dhoni	-	Dinesh Karthik	Parthiv Patel, Wriddhiman Saha

All-rounders

Grade A	Grade B	Grade C	Grade D
-	-	Irfan Pathan,Yusuf Pathan	Piyush Chawla, Ravindra Jadeja, Abhishek Nayar

The list of players selected in the various types shows an imbalance which is very evident.

• The bowlers are very sparse - in fact, Grade D contains players who havent played international cricket at all (ones shaded yellow) - when are these players going to get a chance?
• The all-rounders are very difficult to produce!!! Unless you consider Harbhajan and Zaheer as all-rounders.
• What are the players like Kaif, Jaffer doing in this list? Do the selectors think they have a chance to play for Indai again? If no, why are they here?
• The test batsmen seem to be only in Grade A. Where are the potential ones (Badrinath and Vijay are the likely choices as of now) in the lower grades? When are they going to get a chance?

BCCI - can you explain this in our language please? Did you have a chat with our selectors also?

Victory for India - Kanpur fourth and final day

The only surprise on Day Four was the fact that Sri Lanka added more than 200 runs within the first 2 sessions. With nothing to lose, the batsmen threw their bat around and took their score to a respectable one. Samaraweera boosted his run-tally with another unbeaten knock.

Zaheer Khan seems to have developed a no-ball problem that needs some fine-tuning. Sreesanth was given one spell in the morning without any success. The two spinners did their bit by tying up the batsmen. Harbhajan picked up 3 wickets - not convincing but something that will give him confidence. Ojha has been the find of the match for me. He proved that he was a vital cog in India's team and along with Mishra, has the potential to take Indian spin through the next few years. He may still be dropped next match in favor of Ishant (the Mumbai pitch is likely to help pace) but that should not deter him.

Overall, the Indians were lucky first to have won the toss - that itself should be a factor of 25% of the win. The batsmen made merry (especially the first three batsmen) and the bowlers used the runs on the board to pressurize the Lankan batsmen to make mistakes. A good team effort and lots of positives to take to the next test.

Sri Lanka should still think positively. If they win the next test match, the series will be drawn. They should think that it was a loss of good fortune that Sangakkara called the toss incorrectly. If not, they would have had a good chance of winning this test. That is the only way to compete against the Indians in the last match.

The Session Dashboard has Sri Lanka score another half-point on the last day because of their runs. Otherwise, the dashboard reveals the one-sided nature of the test match.

India on verge of test win - Kanpur third day

Sreesanth - what can one say about him? He must be eyeing the Bollywood in his sparetime for his comeback has been nothing short of sensational. He was given the last warning from BCCI, remember? His state team made him a captain and then warned him again. He mentioned that it was a new start. All this and now what? A comeback test that gave him a clutch of wickets. His temper was in control and the first session saw a good spell of bowling from him. As is his wont, he mixed some superb balls with wayward giveaways. But, when he pitched the ball up, he reaped benefits. The overnight batsmen got out soon and the pressure started building on the Lankans.

Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene looked like they had come to terms with the wicket but strange shot-selections from both put SriLanka in further trouble. The pressure was always on the batsmen and the score also played its own tricks on the mind of the Lankans. The long tail meant that Prasanna had to repeat his first test heroics with Mahela. Try they did but after a sixty-run partnership, the team collapsed further.

Good bowling by all the bowlers on view from the Indian side. The fact that MS Dhoni started his spin with Ojha showed the amount of confidence he had with the debutant. Ojha bowled well and showed glimpses of promise that needs to be fine-tuned by the right experts to become a good end-product. Zaheer and Harbhajan gave support to Sreesanth and Ojha. The fact that Ojha bowled 12 maidens in his 21 overs which is more than what SriLanka could bowl in the entire Indian innings is proof to two things - one, the Indians bowled better and more importantly, the pitch had started to help them.

India wrapped up the Lankan innings just after tea and enforced the follow-on. MSD might have thought about the fact that his bowlers could possibly be on the field for more than 2 days. This happened in the first test also and a strong rearguard action from the Lankans could keep them longer. The first innings lasted around 90 overs and that would have given the captain enough confidence to ask the Lankans to bat.

Dilshan failed once again, thanks to a great ball from who else, Sreesanth. This ball showed that the first innings performance had given him enough confidence to bowl the way he used to be famous for. Then, there followed a lull before Sehwag was introduced in a master-stroke by MSD. The performance by Sehwag with the ball in the match against South Africa must have come to MSD's mind and he expected a breakthrough. That is exactly what Sehwag did!!! In the last hour, poor calling meant that Marathon Mahela returned early to the pavilion. This affected the concentration of Sangakkara in the very next over. The fall of four wickets and the long tail meant that the SriLankan team was in danger of getting out very cheaply in the second innings.

Overall, a good performance by the Indians on the field, helped in no small dose by the pressure exerted by the big score. The session-dashboard still shows only half-point earned by the Lankans during a brief run of play on the 2nd day. There is a very high chance that this match will be over by lunch-time tomorrow.

Sachin Tendulkar's progress in test matches

Sachin Tendulkar has been playing for the last 20 years and his performance is for everyone to see.

Below shows the way he has scored his runs and centuries.



Let me know your thoughts.

India press further - Kanpur second day

Rahul Dravid completed his century but did not let that control his run-scoring instincts. He raced at a pace that would make him look great in ODIs till he was run out backing up too far. It was visibly evident that he (more than any other Indian batsmen) wanted to show Ajantha Mendis how hurt they were in the last series when the latter took 26 wickets in 3 tests.

The SriLankan bowlers went through the motions just like the Indians on the first day - waiting for the wickets to fall or declaration to happen. Sachin Tendulkar gifted them a wicket when he tried a very uncharacteristic hoick. Rahul was unlucky to be out when he too (like Sehwag and Gambhir before him) could have scored a double century. Herath turned it around at the end of the Indian innings to push them to the end and the Indians responded in kind. They were not like the ruthless Lankans in the first test.

It was then the turn of Laxman and Yuvraj to continue the show and take the score beyond 600. The easy runs seemed to be a problem for Laxman for he lost his concentration and tried to something different - got out trying to loft the spinner. Obviously, things were becoming very easy for him and he didnt like it !!! One of the off days for MS Dhoni and he lost his wicket after fiddling at the stumps. The remaining wickets fell cheaply - in fact, last 6 wickets fell for only 29 runs!!!

Dilshan got out to the first ball but his partner Paranavitana and the skipper Sangakkara took the team to stumps without any further loss. The Indians bowled well, especially Ojha and Zaheer. The run-rate of SriLanka (2.82) shows a story of how the pitch has started to help bowlers (even though slowly). The Indians were able to score easily even though they were new to the crease. This stark difference is enough to sow seeds to the remaining SriLankan batsmen.

The pitch started showing some signs of life and it was good signs for the Indians. They had the match well in their pocket and could look at their bowling plans. One trick that the Indians missed was to try and bat the whole day today and score a large enough score so that they did not have to bat again. Not only that, they could have played till the pitch started playing enough tricks. This way the bowlers could have also had the additional rest and planned on bowling continuously the next 2-3 days. Of course, they did this the last test match also but this time the conditions and surface would be different.

The session-dashboard shows it to be still skewed in the Indian team for obvious reasons. The slow batting of SriLanka gave the Indians the half-point in the last session. Overall, a good position for the Indians to be in.

Sachin Tendulkar at the peak

Without any doubt, Sachin Tendulkar comes on tops from the list of players with more than 9000 runs.

See the progress on every innings - the number of runs and centuries he scores are better than the rest.



Sachin Tendulkar - may you reach 15K in test matches and 20K in ODIs

India dominate the match - Kanpur first day

What was supposed to be a 'more bowler-friendly wicket' turned out to be a graveyard for bowlers. Especially with Sri Lanka packing their side with 3 spinners, it proved to be a nightmare for their bowlers. Never have the Indian batsmen played so dominantly in their history. MS Dhoni did the right thing by opting to bat, after winning the toss. The first day, first session show his top-order performed in the first test was absent - to the misery of the Lankans.

Sehwag was dropped at 0 and made the best use of the chance - a century to him and a double-century opening stand with Gautam Gambhir set the tone for India. It was batting at its best. After the initial overs where he was circumspect, Sehwag opened out and his Strike Rate zoomed from thirties at one stage to more than hundred by the time he was out. Again, the bowling was at his mercy and only he could get himself out by a false stroke - this was evident by the way he stayed at the crease after his dismissal - a golden opportunity lost.

Gambhir continued his good run at the crease and reached his own century in the company of Rahul Dravid. The two continued the good work with a decent strike-rate (4 runs per over) to take India to 300 before Tea. Probably the fisrt time that a team had scored 300 in the first 2 sessions of a test match. He continued to accumulate runs after tea till a good catch by Murali sent him back for a well-made 167.

Rahul Dravid picked up the baton from Sehwag and started turning over the singles with Gambhir - he played his usual act while the stroke-maker made merry. The Wall is well and truly in full force - it will be a big hole to fill, if and when he decides to hang up his boots. He is on course to complete another century tomorrow - as is Sachin Tendulkar.

Sri Lanka suffered from their over-dependence on spin. Ajantha Mendis had his bowling smashed to all parts of the ground. The opening bowlers did not receive any support from the pitch to make any dent. If India gets its act together, the SriLankans are on their way to a loss in this test match. Obviously, a very early statement but Sri Lanka can do their best to prove me wrong.

The Session-dashboard does not show the exact dominance of the Indian team - because there is no points for dominating the match in such a manner. Each session is worth one point only and that is what India got in every session. The Lankans should get India out quickly tomorrow and hope for a good start. The pitch still looked good and I dont see any reason why the batsmen to follow Dravid and Tendulkar should not improve their averages.



Want to know how this works - check this blog post.

Session Dashboard

The Session Dashboard for the Motera Test Match is shown below - the progress on a daily basis is shown in the picture. Finally, the equal #sessions reflect the status of the test match - DRAWN.

The parameters for each session is scoring more than 100 runs and/or losing less than 3 wickets. Teams can share a session if the score is 100 for 4 (like what happened in the 1st test match).





Let me know what you think of this - the same Dashboard will be used for the future test matches. Is it required to be tweaked in any manner? If so, how? Share your comments.

Batsmen with more than 9000 runs

Thanks to the information available on Cricinfo website and Google's gadgets, I could create a gadget that shows the way each of the Great batsmen reached 9000 runs and beyond. Finally, there is just one person who stays on the chart - no points for guessing who - SACHIN TENDULKAR!!!



Feel free to try out various options on the chart and see how the comparison works.

The best way is to see the #Innings, Alphabetic order of batsmen, Average on each of the three axis - this is a good way to see who was faster to the milestones.

Updated the chart for players till matches held until 10th August 2010

Tame end to the first test - Final Day at Motera 2009

India had made their plans to survive the final day by playing watchful cricket - this was evident in the way Gautam Gambhir set out to bat. Amit Mishra gave him good company till a superb catch by Dilshan sent him back. Sachin Tendulkar came out and played the ball on its merit. He crossed 30,000 international runs during his knock - 6000 more than his next competitor (Ricky Ponting) and scored his 43rd test century.

All the way, Gambhir played with a fluency that was hard to ignore - he has always raised his hand when such efforts are required by the team. Especially the last two years has been his age of coming (four of his centuries, including his last three, have come in the second innings, two of them in match-saving scenarios). He did stay after lunch before getting out to Herath. VVS Laxman also decided to score a half-century in the 2nd innings to show that there was not anything dangerous in the pitch.

The Srilankan bowlers toiled just like the Indians did in the first innings but got their first three wickets by a combination of poor shot-selection, marginal umpiring decision and a wonderful piece of catching - nothing to do with the magic of the great man, Murali. The fourth fell again to a poor shot-selection by a batsman reaching a bigger milestone (hundred).

The match promised much but failed to deliver. Overall, the bowlers toiled hard but could not deliver much. The performance of the Srilankan bowlers in the second innings might have saved Harbhajan's place in the playing eleven of the next match. The only entertainment was provided in the first session on the first day when the 4 Indian wickets fell for 32 - after that, the remaining play could see only 17 wickets fall - that is not sufficient to produce a result.

Tweaked the Sessions-Dashboard to indicate the situation more properly - let me know what you think about the dashboard - whether it gives a good indication of the situation in the match.

India start their fight for survival - 4th Day at Motera 2009

The SriLankan team started the day with a big lead and were determined to make it a huge one. Both the Jayawardene's started milking the bowling and the fours continued. It was quite strange to see the number of boundaries that were hit even on the fourth day. Without any risk-taking, the batsmen could score at a fair clip. The lead very quickly jumped to 300. The Indians had given up all hope of taking wickets - they were waiting for the Lankans to throw their wicket - which they didnt do. A world-record partnership (72-year-old world record for the highest sixth-wicket partnership in Tests was broken by the duo) shows the hunger of the two Jayawardenes - they wanted to ensure that the Srilankans do not bat again in the test match.

The bowlers were very tired by the end of the Srilankan innings and were very relieved that Sangakkara chose to declare - there was virtually no way they could get any wicket of SriLanka otherwise. It is high time the selectors think of the value Harbhajan is able to bring to the team and decide the road ahead - after Anil Kumble's retirement, the off-spinner was expected to don the mantle of the leading spinner. But, it has not happened so far. A stint in the Ranjis will do him a lot of good.

They declared the innings 334 ahead of the Indians - now, the Indian team had to bat the remaining 5 sessions to ensure that MS Dhoni's unbeaten run in test matches as captain continue. They have done it earlier this year and have the capability to repeat it. Will they actually do it?

Sehwag and Gambhir started as though they would clear the deficit by the end of Day 4 and give Sri Lanka a target to chase in the last 2 sessions. They were scoring at a fair clip till Sehwag decided to throw it away after scoring his fifty. He suffers bouts of impatience when slow bowlers bowl to him and this became his undoing once again. He just could not resist the temptation to launch every ball into horizon.

Rahul Dravid played well for his 38 before getting out to Welegedara again - in fact, it looked very close and he could consider himself unfortunate to be given out. Another good innings with an above-average strike-rate for Dravid. Gautam Gambhir had played an innings of almost 11 hours in NewZealand earlier this year - hence, he knows how the survival can be done. He did not waste any opportunity to score (going at a strike-rate of little more than 60).

On the final day, India need to play out 90 overs from Murali, Herath and the opening bowlers on a pitch that did not seem to have worne out too much. The odd ball was spinning and keeping low but the Indian batsmen knew that patience and shot-selection was very essential to go to the next test undefeated.

The session-win status is still very much in favor of Srilanka - the session-difference shows clearly the number of sessions that the Indians need to play well on the final day and draw the match. Another 144 runs separate the two teams, which should make the last day intriguing.

Sri Lanka race ahead of India - 3rd Day at Motera 2009

Sri Lanka did what the Indian team could not do for the first 2 days - survive the first session and also score runs at a fair clip. Even though they lost 2 wickets in the first session, they gained control of the proceedings to make it difficult for the Indians. They gradually reached the Indian score and overtook it to have a lead of 57 by tea. They consolidated further after tea to take the lead in the match. By end, it was very evident who was the dominant force.

Thilan Samaraweera may not be a well-known game in international cricket but on sub-continental pitches, he is dangerous for his big knocks. Mahela Jayawardene is a well-rounded player and can be considered to be one of the greatest batsmen of SriLanka cricket - he showed why in this innings.He did not stop after his century and continued like Rahul Dravid in the Indian innings (in fact went even better). He was supported ably by his namesake (Prasanna) in his charge.

India's bowling appeared better than yesterday - Ishant in particular, regaining some of his lost form. The pitch is not helping any of them also. That left very less options for MSD, in fact. He did a good job by giving the spinners early overs to bowl before resorting to the new ball - do not believe that the pacers would have got any assistance with the new ball early in the morning.

During the days of Prasanna or Bishen Bedi, if a batsman sashayed down the pitch to attack them, there would be two-three fours hit followed by the batsman's wicket. Now, what happens if the batsman charge the bowler, the bowler gets into a negative line of thinking - I dont know if you agree with me but that is characteristic of the bowling of Bhajji especially.

There have been views on Dhoni's captaincy on how he has probably settled down into a more stereotyped way of captaincy. The fact that he would counter-attack with well thought-out strategies and innovative field placements when he started his captaincy stint is missing - no doubts agree with the observation. Whatever be the strategies, the first necessity is that of a good bowling attack. There is no sting in the bowling and wickets like the Motera doesnt help him.

The session-status shows a tilt towards the SriLankan team after the first 3 days. The difference in sessions shows the number of sessions that the Indian team should win, to get back into the match. From evidence seen so far, the chances are less. India need to do something similar to what they did earlier in NewZealand.

Sri Lanka solid in reply - 2nd Day at Motera 2009

Rahul Dravid mentioned during the post-match conference on the first day that India had to score minimum 100 more runs to be in a dominant position. Alas, he could not add even a single run to his overnight score. The team could hardly add 40 runs more. This was a par score, not a great one.

The bowling had to take charge for India and ensure that the SriLankans do not run away with the match. The bowlers contained the batsmen to around 4 runs per over and must have felt happy - for this would have been a good performance on a flat track in ODIs. Not in test matches though. With just one wicket to show till lunch time, the zing in the team seemed to have gone off. The bowlers, in fact, receovered and did well after tea to take the two wickets and reduce the run-rate from 4.5 to 4.0.

Dilshan played an innings very similar to what MS Dhoni played on the first day. He hit the poor balls for boundaries and rotated the strike to ensure that the left-right combination was in play. This did not allow the bowling to settle down. His 5th century this year has shown that he has come of age, as a batsman. After the fall of 2 quick wickets, Samaraweera and Jayawardene ensured that there wouldnt be any further collapse - they took their time to gauge the pitch and score runs. This partnership is very crucial as there is not much of specialist batting left after these players.

Overall, the Indian bowlers are not in good form. Zaheer played matches for Mumbai in the Ranji Trophy but not with great success. He showed glimpses of his form when he managed to get the 2 wickets of Dilshan and Sangakkara but it was a bit late for the Indian team. Ishant Sharma was average in the ODI series (in fact he did not play the latter half at all). Harbhajan showed signs of returning to form but not of test-class - he needs to be rested or rotated depending on the way you want to call it. Pragyan Ojha is a much better bowler any day. Amit Mishra has had no match practice for the last few weeks - he has been sitting on the boundary line for so long that he might have forgotten how to bowl long spells and take wickets. This is the bowling 'attack' that MSD has in his arsenal to take advantage of the 400+ score. The fielding also hasnt been of any help either - regular misfields resulted in boundaries, increasing the pressure on the bowlers.

The Sri Lankan team would look at a lead of 100 to 150 on the 3rd day and put pressure on the Indians. Early strikes in the morning will help the Indians get back into the match - the new ball will be available after 10 overs. Time is not a matter of concern at all. India's advantage has been definitely negated in 1 day. Unless the Indians can come out in the 2nd innings and bat like their statistics show.

Overall, the session wins stand at 3-3, thus justifying the status of the match which is at a balance.

Dravid & Dhoni to the front - 1st Day at Motera 2009

India had played only three test matches in the entire year - evidence was seen in the first hour itself when the scoreboard read 32 for 4. Swing bowling that attacked the stumps combined with lack of footwork from the batsmen meant that the top-order was gone in no time. The only batsmen in the top-order who had played well in a longer version of the game in recent time, never mind the domestic Ranji Trophy, could hold his place at the crease.

The Indian team was also distracted probably by trivia (Sachin Tendulkar playing his first match in his 21st year) - the batsmen didnt need any fielder or keeper to support the bowler in his wickets. Three bowled and one lbw meant that the feet were not moving properly. The last ODI at Gauwahati had shown this failing recently - the Lankan bowlers had done their homework and delivered successfully. Sri Lanka missed their frontline but probably it was a good miss - they repeated the success of the Australian second-string bowlers - maybe that is the key, as one reader on Cricinfo mentioned. Rest your front-line bowlers and the Indians will have no way of finding out the plans of the new bowlers (with no footage nor video analysis). They were definitely caught off-guard.

Murali was still far away from the bowling crease when the first four wickets fell - even when he came on, he hardly troubled the batsmen except for Yuvraj. Rangana Herath was attacked from the word go - the Indians obviously did not want to give him the confidence very early in the game. The opening bowlers did not make any impact after the opening spell. Murali and Herath had to bowl long spells that could restrain the batsmen from making more than what they finally did. Couple of balls kept low - this would be interesting for the rest of the match. Ominous signs for Sri Lanka.

Rahul Dravid had played positively and his strike-rate (as good as MS Dhoni's strike-rate) definitely showed the signs of a huge innings looming large. In the course of the day, he managed to become the fifth highest scorer in test matches. It has been a good comeback by Rahul, considering that many had written him off the same time last year. This knock will emphasise what a great asset he is to test cricket in large, not just Indian cricket. The world record of number of century partnerships is testimony to the fact that Rahul is the perfect team-man. Yuvraj Singh gave him company and threatened to go beserk after lunch, until he got out to a soft dismissal.

MS Dhoni can be considered to be India's Rahul Dravid in ODI matches. So, when both of them came to the crease, it was cricket at its best - concise & without any risks. Strike-rotation at its best. MSD had changed his game to match that of Rahul Dravid in the ODIs - following the same approach was very important in this situation and he did it convincingly. Thus, the run-rate for most of the day was never less than four - a good one considering the initial collapse. MSD's batting record as a captain continued with this century - he averages more than 50 as a captain in test matches - obvious proof that he relishes the additional responsibilities.

Dhoni's dismissal in the last session gave some hope to the Sri Lankans - otherwise, both Dravid and Dhoni were on their way to a huge score. Harbhajan and the tail should provide support to Rahul Dravid tomorrow so that the Indians can add a further 100 to the team total - this will put the match beyond Sri Lanka's reach.

The scorecard below shows the number of sessions that each side 'won' in the day's play. We will keep track of this during the five days of the match to see who is expected to win. Typically, a side needs to win a minimum of 7 or 8 sessions to win a test match. What happens here will be interesting.

Sachin after 20 years

Sachin Tendulkar after 20 years in the international arena, is at a stage of his career where he does not have to prove anything. His career has to be celebrated in a way his rivals feel proud of. From the time he stepped on the ground as a 16-year old to this moment, he has been a picture of great dignity. There is nothing for him to do anything more on the field - a World Cup win, yes. But, obviously, he needs help from the other 10 players also.

There are various tributes that are being done across the country - I have done my tribute in a way I feel appropriate.

The Best 5 knocks in test matches and ODIs have been identified accompanied by links, pictures and videos wherever available.

Test Matches
SRT-tests

Youtube Playlist - Very interesting to see that except one match in my Top 5, all matches have resulted in a loss or a drawn match.

ODIs
SRT-ODIs

Youtube Playlist

Suggest that all of you also share your best knocks and let me know your thoughts so that I can update the list.

Let us enjoy the 20 years of the legend.

PS - If there are any issues, please drop in a mail at madhusudan.gr at gmail.com

Indian test team announced for Srilanka series

The Selection Committee announced the squad for the India-SriLanka test series. Couple of surprises in the squad

• Sreesanth - Why he is in the team is a big suspense? He has played just one match (Irani Trophy) after his county stint. Of course, one more Ranji match where he didnt get any wickets. More than his form, his temper and temperament is a big question. Of course, if Zaheer and Ishant back & 3 spinners in the squad, he will be a backup option.
• Vijay - Maybe the selectors want to give him more big-match experience as well as backup for any injury scares to Sehwag and Gambhir.
• Badrinath - Similarly, backup option to the middle-order. Dont think he will play as well.

3 of the squad have no chances to play the test match in normal course.

The choice of spinners - there are 3 of them - will be Harbhajan and Amit Mishra. Though, I would prefer Pragyan Ojha instead. Looks like he will be the one dropped.

The Indian team would start as the favorites - for that, they will have to leave the Oz series debacle behind.

Match and Series to Australia

The Indian team was eager to draw level with the Aussies at the beginning of the 6th ODI at Gauwahati. MS Dhoni took the bold decision to bat first on a surface that looked like it would give the bowlers some early support (as well as the early start) only for his batsmen to give up their wickets. MSD, in his pre-match session, had mentioned that he was not looking too far about the series. In fact, after the match, he need not look anywhere but his team. Inept batting performance cost the team the Mohali match while chasing.

Sehwag and Gambhir were beaten by the swing, Sachin and Yuvraj by the bounce. Raina couldnt keep his chip-shot down and India were staring at a sub-50 score!!!

MSD, just like he had done earlier against the West Indies, along with Ravinder Jadeja set up about repairing the innings until a bad decision by the umpire sent him back. Praveen Kumar, like he has been doing this series, made his batting count. In fact, he took the score to 170, more than anyone would have imagined at the beginning. Doug Bollinger bowled well to pick up 5 wickets - India continued their tradition to give debutants very good chances to create an instant impact.

Australia, for a change, missed couple of half-chances and one clear catch (of Praveen Kumar). They also seemed to have missed a trick to get the Indian batsmen out quicker than they eventually did. Even then, they had the match (and the series) in their pocket.

The wicket, though, had seemed to have eased out and India's fielding was 2 short (Munaf and Ashish Nehra are notorious for their bad fielding - batsmen know how to convert ones to twos if the ball goes in their direction). The score required was probably 50 runs less. The only way to win the match was get quick and early wickets.

The opening bowlers could not get any more than the wicket of Shaun Marsh. Harbhajan came to the attack and dismissed Watson and Ponting. But, the runs were obviously less to defend. The wicket of Cameron White came too late in the game to make any difference.

This series showed that the Oz team was far ahead of the Indians in the mental game - what with missing most of their first-choice players and still finishing ahead of the Indians. The Indians obviously can learn a lot by watching their opponents and apply it to their game. The upcoming series against Sri Lanka will show whether they have learned or not.

Lessons from the Hyderabad ODI

The Indians lost yet again in the ongoing India v Australia series by a close margin in Hyderabad. Despite Sachin Tendulkar’s pyrotechnics, the Indians could not get their 3^rd win in the series.

It panned out in such a way that Praveen Kumar was trying yet again (thrice in this series has he tried and failed) to single-handedly take India through the finishing line. Shane Watson proved to be the thorn in India’s flesh, just like Mohali.

Where did India fail then? 2 Australian actions on view were very interesting to watch:

• The run-out of Ravinder Jadeja. Forget the young man’s suicidal tendencies to run for anything and everything. The ball went to Cameron White and he could have tried to become a hero by throwing down the stumps. Instead, he reduced the chances of failing to almost none by throwing it to the bowler Clint McKay who was doing the right job by running to the stumps.
• The run-out of Praveen Kumar that ended the match. Nathan Hauritz fielded the ball cleanly and threw the ball to the gloves of Manou before PK could reach the crease. There were no fumbles by both the players involved.

Both these actions showed that in pressure, the Australian team could think straight and clean. This is essentially the difference between winning and losing. Probably, this is what MS Dhoni was referring to, in his post-match conference. Obviously, talent and temperament are other factors that matter in a close battle like this, as well. But, the ability to do their tasks (fielding, deciding where to throw the ball back) is something that the Aussies do better (even if it was a debutant like McKay).

SRT should be praised for the great innings he played last night but the innings was destined to end as the 3^rd highest score in a losing cause. The fact that Sachin has six of the top seven scores in a losing cause says something – obviously, lack of support at the other end (like yesterday) would be the first reason. One only hopes that Sachin will get enough reasons to celebrate his records in the near future, if his team-mates can learn from the master innings that was on show in Hyderabad.

The fact that Australia could put up a score of 350 itself is reason for worry. Agreed that the pitch was doing nothing – but this was the same pitch where Harbhajan Singh and Shane Watson bowled with discipline.

For the next match, what should MSD do?

• Ask his team to field in the same way that they have done the last 2 matches,
  
• Start taking their catches,
  
• Replace Munaf Patel with Amit Mishra. The Aussies have not been able to score against the spinners as much as they have against the faster bowlers. Why not pack the bowling with spin options?
  
• Suggest the batsmen to make their starts count, especially Viru Sehwag. Also, the batsmen should ensure that they stay at the crease till the last ball is delivered. No point in getting out before the overs are exhausted.

Lets hope the Indians come back in the next match and make the final ODI meaningful.

PS – One day earlier to the match, 12-year-old Sarfaraz Khan blasted 439, the highest individual score ever made in the Harris Shield tournament (best known for the 664-run stand in 1988 that brought Sachin Tendulkar and Vinod Kambli into the limelight). Is there a future Sachin in the horizon? Maybe not – check this piece.

The fight between T20 and ODI

The current ODI series is good advertisement for ODI format. Strike One definitely to ODI. Let us see how it pan outs as the series progresses.

GoAnimate.com: T20 vs ODI by madhugr


T20 and ODI discussion goes on…

MSD and Yuvraj see India through

Fantastic innings from MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh took India through to the winning line in the Delhi ODI against Australia.

A big partnership made sure that there were no hiccups at the end of the innings. The two (coincidentally ranked No.1 and 2 in the ICC Rankings) played a wonderfully paced innings which took the match away from the Aussies.

The Aussies had packed their bowling so much that the batting depended on Ricky Ponting, Shane Watson and Michael Hussey heavily. That they responded well meant that the wickets were in hand when the slog overs started. But, the Indian bowlers (slow ones - especially the part-timers) pegged them back every time they threatened to explode.

Ravinder Jadeja looks much better than the main spin bowler of India - Harbhajan Singh. Probably, it is a better idea to rest Bhajji for some matches - that will give him time off to look at how he is bowling. Yuvraj Singh, especially this year, has been doing well as a bowler and this match was no different.

Sachin and Sehwag started off cautiously - in fact, Sachin was outscoring Viru most of the time. Finally, it was the magic of MSD and Yuvi that took India through.

The pitch was slow but that is probably good for the variety of ODI matches. This was a low-scoring match compared to the ones usually played on Indian soil. It gave both the batsmen and bowlers equal support.

The Indians adapted better to the conditions and the wicket, as Ponting admitted. Ponting was also trying to hint that the umpires were not that great (given that both of them were Indians). But, it was very clear that the performances of the players backed their rankings in international cricket - a truly champagne performance.