The Indian team retained the
Border-Gavaskar Trophy with a good performance in the 2-test series. How did the players contribute?
- Virender Sehwag - The first innings of Mohali test saw Sehwag in his usual flow. A top-edge saw him get out after scoring a fifty once again (11 consecutive test fifties). Later, the Aussies managed to restrict him to average scores and restrict the potential damage he could cause in the test.
- Gautam Gambhir - Was unlucky to be given out wrongly in both innings of the first test match, Gambhir missed the next one because of injury. He seems to have lost his touch in test matches after great 2 years of high scores. He has competition in terms of Vijay now.
- Murali Vijay - Vijay has managed to play whenever one of the opening slots has been left vacant. He has shown glimpses of talent that augurs well for the Indian team. Definitely part of the 3 openers who can be part of the Indian team for a long time to come.
- Sachin Tendulkar - Is anything left to be said about SRT? At this age, he must be more worried about the repeated question that everyone asks during interviews ("How long are you going to continue scoring runs?") rather than the problems on field.
- Rahul Dravid - The Wall has fallen from the great standards. His jinx in Bangalore also didn't help. The forthcoming series against NewZealand should see him back to form. If not, it is definitely high time he declared his innings.
- VVS Laxman - VVS ! He has proved his value to the team many times in recent test matches. He is definitely the man to handhold the team and be the bridge between the two generations of batsmen.
- Suresh Raina - Raina did not do as well as he could have in the 3 innings he played. He could not face the short ball in the Mohali test match and doubts still continue about his deficiencies.
- Cheteshwara Pujara -Pujara faced an unplayable ball in the first innings but made up for it in the 2nd innings. He has to be tried out in various conditions so that he can take up the positions of the legends once they hang up their boots.
- MS Dhoni - MSD should learn how to toss the coin so that he can win it next time. His batting has fallen a notch in test cricket whereas he dropped couple of important catches in the first innings of the series. His captaincy has not suffered though and that must be reassuring to the team.
- Zaheer Khan - Returning from injury, Zaheer showed that he did not take time to get back to prime bowling form. His talent with the new and old ball was a lesson for all bowlers - Indian and Australian.
- Harbhajan Singh - He took wickets but not the major ones nor at the right time. His performance has gone down and he could not contribute with the bat also. Bhajji has to improve his bowling quickly - he cannot go on with this form for a long time.
- Pragyan Ojha - Ojha bowled beautifully in all the innings and proved that he was the 2nd best spinner in the country.
- Ishant Sharma - Ishant suffered from no-balls but got the vital wickets in the 2nd innings in Mohali to start the Oz downfall. He has to get back to domestic cricket this season and resolve his problems.
- Sreesanth - This man still retains his spot in the team thanks to his talent but he was not able to penetrate the Oz batting in the last test.
The next series will be easier for the Indians - a NewZealand team that has suffered losses against Bangladesh at home. A good opportunity to improve one's career scores and averages.
No comments:
Post a Comment