Indian Cricket Unleashed: January 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

India select their team - what could have been

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 8:34 PM

Indian selectors announced their squad today for the first test against South Africa at Nagpur. The injuries to Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Sreesanth made the selectors choose other outsiders to the fifteen.

The team looks balanced with 4 pacers (Zaheer, Ishant, Tyagi, Mithun), 3 spinners (Harbhajan, Ojha, Amit Mishra), 2 keepers (Dhoni, Saha), 2 reserve batsmen (Vijay, Badrinath) and the other legends (Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Laxman).

A good selection in the given situation but what could have been better was to try out a pace-bowling allrounder. A Irfan Pathan, given his exploits in the domestic season, could have provided a better value to the team rather than a Badrinath or a Vijay alone. This position will become critical once India start travelling overseas. The players who can contribute with the ball, bowl slow and hence there is a need to have 3 pacers always. If only an Irfan Pathan can be added to the squad, he could give the team better balance like what Kallis or Flintoff for their sides. Of course, I am not trying to compare the players here but that is what can be possible. The option could have been tried out in the Bangladesh series but now the situation warrants a change and why not try this one.

Now, it looks like Laxman will come in place of Yuvraj and Dravid's place will be taken by Badrinath - reward for some good performances on the domestic circuit for a long period. If he performs, India would have found a good batsman. If not, it is time to move on to Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Manish Pandey.

Vinay Kumar must have felt bad that he was not given a chance in the test team earlier than Mithun. If a pacer has to be given a chance (which the Nagpur pitch seems to suggest), Tyagi might be the first option for the think-tank as he has been in the 15 for some time now.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Bangladesh Zakked by India

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 8:35 PM

Bangladesh, as expected, lost the 2nd test match against Bangladesh today - no surprises but that was not visible in the first hour. The overnight batsmen were playing comfortably and it looked like the lead would be erased quite easily.

Enter Zak or Zaheer Khan, as he is known in the team. He continued his intensity, as he showed last evening. Balls were moving around at a pace that the hosts could not cope up with. All varieties - round-the-wicket balls to the batsmen that moved away after pitching, balls from wide of the crease that hit the stumps, everything. Reverse-swing at his best - one that could be seen by any learner.

So, India start their journey back - a week's rest before they take the No.2, South Africa. What have they gained? Not much except their bowlers return to form (Ishant in particular) and their batsmen's continuous performance. The injuries will make them worry - couple of more days will reveal the actual status.

Bangladesh - as I mentioned repeatedly here - have a long way to go. They have the potential but do not seem to have the patience to play a long innings. The team has players who scored centuries and fifties in the series but none more than one batsmen in one innings - collectively, they never clicked. Lesser said about the bowlers, the better. As Sehwag mentioned, they really cannot take 20 wickets - let us face it. It is true and one has to respect it. They came close in the first innings of the Chittagong test but that was it.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Tamim delays the defeat at Mirpur

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 8:57 PM

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to a well-played century by Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh team survived the 3rd day against my expectation and took the match into the next day. If not for the last few overs, their score would have looked much better.

Zaheer Khan's reverse swing helped India break the highest partnership ever for Bangladesh. The 2 quick wickets has put the pressure back on the hosts and I am not sure if they can fight back yet again in the match. If they manage to put a lead of 150-200 runs, Gautam Gambhir for one, will feel that he has a chance to score yet another century - maybe not, since his partner is a certain Virender Sehwag!!!

The first part of the day was dominated by MS Dhoni's batting - especially with Ishant Sharma, he showed a display very similar to Mahmudullah on the first day. He was dismissed very close to his century but the lead was quite good for the Indians.

Yuvraj Singh and Rahul Dravid did not come out to bat and that must be one worry for the Indians ahead of their South Africa series.

What will happen tomorrow? Well, I do not feel there is any chance of Bangladesh escape defeat in this test match by any way. They will be confronted by the Indian attack that will want to finish the match and hence, the long tour early. Will it end by the lunch? Maybe not. By the first hour after lunch, the hosts will be dismissed and the openers will knock off the lead. Let us see how close is my prediction!!!

Monday, January 25, 2010

Sachin and Dravid take the match further at Mirpur

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 7:48 PM

Image by Dhammika Heenpella / Images of Sri Lanka via Flickr

Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar took India to the brink of an innings victory in the 2nd test at Mirpur.

Rahul Dravid was admitted to the hospital after he was hit by a short ball - the last time I remember such an incident was in Adelaide. Other than this incident, the batting and the luck associated with the Indian team was all with the visitors.

The Indians scored at a fair clip with the 2 veterans scoring centuries that must have not rated very high on their career but nevertheless they are test runs & that is how they approached the game - scoring runs to ensure that the Indians do not get into the over-confidence thinking mode again.

The openers put on another century stand and it was sad to see Gautam Gambhir get out after his half-century - it is doubtful that he will get a chance to bat in the 2nd innings and hence would not be able to match Sir Donald Bradman. He however, got his opportunity to score a 50+ score for 11 consecutive matches like another Great, Sir Viv Richards. I will not get into the argument or discussion of who is better or whose runs are better. This is scope for another day.

The one surprise today was the absence of Yuvraj Singh - is he hiding any injury is the question on everyone's mind. Murali Vijay scored 30 but could not carry on further - a lost opportunity on a possible hundred.

What next? The Indians will score another 50-75 runs to get to a lead of 300 runs. Then, in the 2nd hour of the day, the Bangladesh team will start their 2nd innings in a state of pressure. They will not be able to survive the remaining overs of the day. So, overall, a 3-day test match in offing.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

India cruise ahead at Mirpur

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 7:51 PM

Image via Wikipedia

With a clinical performance by the bowlers, India took a start to regain the series 2-0 against Bangladesh. As has been the recent trend, the tailenders ensured that the Bangladesh total resembled something decent - Mahmudullah came very close to scoring his maiden century but India bowled out the opposition to leave him stranded.

Ishant Sharma has done well in the last 2 innings and that is real good news for the Indian think-tank before the SA series. Pragyan Ojha also contributed to the wickets tally - he seems to be a good prospect for the Indians and augurs well for the spin options. Amit Mishra and he will play turns in playing for the national team. Zaheer was his usual stuff in taking wickets at the right time.

5 dismissals for MS Dhoni made it a good outing for him. If only the Indians had dismissed the team for less than 150, it would have been a perfect day.

The start for the Indians was as usual - Sehwag and Gambhir hitting their now-customary half-century stand. The freshness in the pitch has gone and the pitch seems to be good for picking. I expect both the openers to bat once and big to leave the Bangla team behind.

The next 1 and half days will be a tough proposition for the Bangla team, who do not seem to understand the nuances of test cricket. They are barely able to face the 2nd new ball on pitches that are good for batting - how do you expect them to win matches then? The bowling, as everyone knows, revolves around Sakib - no 20 wickets there, as Sehwag had mentioned few days back. The batsmen do not have the patience to play out good balls and target the bad ones - they still seem to be in the ODI mode and start playing shots as soon as they get to the crease. Ashraful's dismissal was representative of this fact. Unless they have a domestic structure which encourages players to play longer, their results will continue to mirror this.

Also in the news was an article saying that Sri Lanka will host India again this year !!! What is wrong with the BCCI and the Sri Lanka board? Are they so hand-in-glove that they want to keep playing against each other and reap the benefits of the TV revenues? God only knows.

The defending Under-19 Champions India have crashed out of the World Cup thanks to their defeat by the arch-rivals Pakistan. The final four teams are - Pakistan, West Indies, Australia and Sri Lanka. Something is being done right in the under-age teams of Pakistan and West Indies - hopefully they will revive the cricket of the seniors and make cricket interesting once again.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Will it be another 2-0 for India?

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:38 PM

Image via Wikipedia

India start the second test against Bangladesh in the right form to go for a 2-0 win in the series. There will be however 2 replacements in the team - Sreesanth and VVS Laxman ruled out of the match today.

The Indians will be looking to improve their performance in the first innings, as compared to the same in the first test. Gautam Gambhir will be looking to join Bradman at the top with 6 consecutive hundreds in as many test matches. Sehwag will be keen to improve his average against Bangladesh from his current 32 to somewhere close to his career average of 52 (to do this, he needs to score 140 in the next innings). New Zealand and England are the 2 other countries against whom he has got an average less than 50.

Whoever comes in place of VVS will have a chance to impress the selectors and retain his place in the squad for the next series. Yuvraj also gets another chance to prove his worth at the test level. The bowlers did a decent job in the first test for most of the time (except for the phase where tailenders enjoyed themselves). There will be 2 changes to the team with Sreesanth going out and Harbhajan coming back to the squad. I would suggest that Amit Mishra given another chance alongside Bhajji,

Bangladesh will expect someone to support their captain Sakib in the batting while they will try to prove Sehwag wrong in showing their ability to take 20 wickets in a test match.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

India complete the win at Chittagong

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:37 PM

Image via Wikipedia

Thanks to a good spell of bowling by Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan, the Indians trounced the Bangladesh team by 113 runs. The bowlers picked up wickets regularly to make the score 170-7 but the bowlers somehow took the pedal off the gas.

The lead bowlers were tired by their bowling spells and the backups (Sreesanth and Amit Mishra) could not finish the tail. Amit bowled well but without luck - the edges went to boundaries spoiling his figures.

The Indians did well at the end and as Sehwag mentioned, the Bangladesh team did not take 20 wickets!!!

The match was completed well before light had any impact on the match on the final day.

The Indians must feel happy that Ishant Sharma came back to form - the sight of the 3 pacers bowling well in tandem should be good news for India before the South Africa series.

The batsmen are doing well but the team would miss the services of VVS Laxman in the next test because of injury. Whether Rohit Sharma will be played or will the selectors continue with Dinesh Karthik is to be seen.

As far as Bangladesh is concerned, the team is still learning in test matches. They have a long way to go before they can get competitive. As far as bowling is concerned, only their captain is consistently effective. While their batting is still fragile, it is their lower order that helped out in both innings. The series is going to be a 2-0 finish for India - very little doubt about the result.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Gambhir puts India on course for another win

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 8:43 PM

Image via Wikipedia

5 centuries in 5 consecutive test matches - Who are the players who have achieved it in test cricket? Kallis, Mohammed Yousuf and now Gautam Gambhir. Has anyone done better? who else, Don Bradman.

Centuries against NewZealand (away), SriLanka and now Bangladesh has made Gautam Gambhir reach the elite list of players. He has been in prime form since the T20 World Cup two years ago.

His confidence is at sky-high and the Indian team is reaping the benefits of this form. Today was no different. First with Amit Mishra and then with Rahul Dravid, Gambhir went on piling runs at a rapid rate that put pressure on the Bangla team.

Sehwag had mentioned about Bangladesh being an ordinary team. This infuriated the hosts which resulted in a low score in the first innings. But, this team will not make the same mistake twice, in the same match. Everyone made contributions around Gambhir to keep the run-rate ticking along.

The Indian team scored enough runs in time that ensured that they had time to bowl out the Bangladesh (which will be justified only tomorrow). 2 wickets fell today, thanks to good bowling from the Indians. Ishant seems to be coming back to his old form - only time will tell if it is for good. Zaheer is doing his bit by guiding the bowlers on the right line and length to bowl on this pitch.

I do not feel that the Bangladesh team will be able to withstand the pressure of the large target ahead of them. If the weather does not interrupt tomorrow, the match will be over in the next 50-60 overs.

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

India flexes their muscles at Chittagong

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 7:52 PM

Image via Wikipedia

India dismissed Bangladesh for a solitary run short by flexing their bowling muscles at Chittagong. The bowlers, thus ensured that the Indians were not embarrassed by a first-innings lead for the Bangla team.

It was a team effort with all bowlers coming to the party and picking up wickets. The pace bowlers pitched the ball up and made batting difficult for the batsmen. Zaheer and Ishant, in particular, made the ball talk with their lengths. Sreesanth alternated with good balls, no-balls and 4-balls to complete an inconsistent performance. Amit Mishra came to the party also with tail-end wickets.

The batsmen came out with the intent of scoring a good total in the 2nd innings and the scoring rate reflected the approach. Sehwag was his usual self and Gambhir gave him adequate support. The lead became 123 runs in no time. With 2 days to go, the match seems to be in a good state of play - the Indians of course, are in a position to define a target of 350-400 runs in the next 2 sessions and have 4 sessions to dismiss the Bangladesh team. The Bangla team had made a strong statement about their capabilities in the first innings (thanks to Sehwag's pre-match statement) but the energies seem to have dried up in the second stint. Hopefully, they will be able to regroup tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the IPL-3 auction happened and the franchisees were able to spend their purses in picking up players in the auction.The Pakistan players were very hopeful of being selected for any team but it was not to be. The West Indies players like Pollard and Roach were the ones who were given high fees to be selected.

India have showed glimpses of their capability as a No.1 team in the world. They now have to expand on today's situation and do the necessary formalities to win the match. Weather might be the only factor that might delay or deprive the Indians.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

India suffers from over-confidence

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 4:57 PM

Image via Wikipedia

Bangladesh are an ordinary side, said the vice-captain (till yesterday) and captain of this match, Virender Sehwag. This was very much reflective of the mood of the Indian team - bordering on the arrogance and a pinch of over-confidence. The Bangla players were hurt by these statements - they thought of taking silent revenge on the Indians.

When the Bangla captain won the toss, he elected to field. Wrong decision, said Sunil Gavaskar. Sehwag started off in his familiar fashion - the run-rate was more than 6 and India reached fifty very soon. The ball was talking but the openers were lucky to survive the odd danger and reach yet another fifty partnership.

After lunch, the Bangla bowlers started their tricks - especially Shakib Al Hasan and Shahadat Hossain. It was more themselves than the bowlers to be blamed.

Sehwag was taken aback by the pitch, Gambhir by the extra bounce, Dravid by the reverse-swing, Laxman by his one-second laxity, Yuvraj by his hestitation.

Sachin Tendulkar carried on, completing 13000 runs in the process and scoring yet another fifty in his career. Dinesh Karthik fell to the swing while Amit Mishra was dismissed by a well-directed yorker. The bowlers were chipping away ever so slowly. With Harbhajan Singh not playing in this match, the Indian spinners are under pressure to perform here - the ball is turning with bounce. Amit Mishra needs to come to the party and strike. The faster bowlers also have support on this pitch and it would be interesting to see how Ishant and Sreesanth support Zaheer.

At the end of the day, the bad light halted the charge but Sehwag must have got the message repeatedly throughout the day - the Bangladesh team is no more a pushover, not in their backyard.

Friday, January 15, 2010

Karnataka's topsy-turvy campaign ends

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 1:59 PM

Image via Wikipedia

Karnataka's Ranji campaign which was topsy-turvy from the beginning of the season came to an end with a disappointing loss to Mumbai.

The Domestic season started for the Karnataka players by the introduction of KPL - the local Board's offshoot of the now-legendary IPL. The matches were played with zest and sponsored by the local corporates - all in all, a half-successful business model was introduced even though Kumble and Srinath were not happy with the tournament.

There were many players who performed well in the bat and ball but the selectors did not rush to bring them onto the Ranji squad. If you notice, only a handful of players from the Top-10 list have made to the national team. In fact, there was a minor controversy over the selection of players as well.

Once the team was selected, credit needs to be given for the Management (Rahul Dravid, Robin Uthappa, Coach Sanath Kumar) for keeping the focus on the field. This resulted in a wonderful performance by the young team who never lost any matches in the tournament till the final. The top run-getters and wicket-takers were from this team itself.

The team has enough potential to prove themselves in the longer run and have time on their side to take their revenge on Mumbai in the next edition. Some of the younger players in this team have the option to show their wares in the Duleep Trophy also, to impress the selectors. Hopefully, Harsha's thoughts on the A series is read by the selectors and some action planned.

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Mumbai win the Ranji but who cares

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 3:16 PM

Mumbai won the Ranji Trophy today to win the title for the 39th time. It was one of the interesting matches (let alone domestic) in recent history. Two factors was very evident here - the crowd support in the Tier-2 centre, the sporting pitch on offer. These two ensured that the match was interesting on all days. Only if the BCCI were sporting enough to pre-pone the match to allow Rahul Dravid play the match!!! The last match that I remembered was the one where Haryana defeated Bombay in the final - Kapil Dev and Dilip Vengsarkar being the rival players who made the match memorable.

Manish Pandey has proved himself in the IPL by being the only Indian to score a century. He took couple of seasons in the domestic championship to display his wares. This season he is the leading run-getter for the country but his innings in the Final was proof enough that there is hope for the future Indian team. The teenager has so much of time to spare at the crease and approached the target with a very calculated approach. Only after his dismissal did Mumbai have any visions of victory. Surely a talent to watch in the coming days.

The Karnataka team had the bowlers with the highest number of wickets in the competition as well as the highest run-getter. They had not lost the first innings lead in any of the matches until the final. The young team displayed enough gumption to prove their mettle as runners-up.

But, the way Mumbai performed in this match (with their attitude) does not make them worthy winners. The way their senior bowlers - Ajit Agarkar and Dhawal Kulkarni behaved was disgusting to say the least - this from the players of Sunil Gavaskar's backyard was not expected. The lip-service that was given to the young Karnataka players was visible on national television for everyone to see - I am not sure how the BCCI has allowed such behavior to carry on in their domestic structure. The behavior carried on during the third day when the captain Robin Uthappa was given a colorful send-off. Competition is good but when combined with such a disgusting show of character, it does not befit the champion status.

Catch of the match - The star of the match, Manish Pandey, took a stunner on the field to dismiss Nayar.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Sri Lanka win the Idea Cup

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:38 PM

Image via Wikipedia

Sri Lanka won the Idea Cup by 5 wickets thanks to the Indian's all-round average performance in the final match, both in batting and bowling. 5 batsmen got out in the first 10 overs itself - meaning that there was no ammunition left in the tank for the final overs. The target was going to be difficult to defend, as has been the case in this tournament.

The Indians have a major problem in ODIs - not only do they know how to bowl in the death overs but they have not planned on the PowerPlay overs. The bowling looks so ordinary that even an asking run-rate of 10 seems reachable. Multiple bowlers have been tried - Zaheer, Nehra, Sreesanth - but of no avail. The spinners did their job but that was not enough - Harbhajan has to pick up wickets rather than focus on restricting the runs allowed. Ravinder Jadeja has shown potential just like Virat Kohli - how they proceed from here will be interesting to watch.

What the Indians need is more matches with the youngsters tried out in critical situations so that they gain the expertise. There is no point in trying out the same team, especially against similar competition. Sri Lanka showed the way by playing their junior players and winning the Idea Cup - the approach was destined for glory which was what the final result.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Interesting news on the cricket front

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:40 PM

Quite few interesting bits of news today that merit reading...

Aakash Chopra writes about how domestic matches in India need to be restructured - he has very good suggestions on how to improve domestic cricket. He has been building his reputation online for his frank and insightful opinions on cricket (domestic, in particular).
Ranji trophy Final - this final seems to be the most followed domestic match of all time, especially in the day and age of T20. The match has tilted towards Mumbai today, thanks to the performances of its bowlers. Salvi, especially, was in the background so far in this season until now. He has lived up to the initial promise of a Glenn Mcgrath-type in this match.
Ian Chappell does not think that India is a long-term No.1 team. He says that there is no champion bowler in the team. I do not agree that there are no bowlers though they are not consistent. Are players from the current Ranji final potential Indian new-ball bowlers? Possibly.

Monday, January 11, 2010

Virat Kohli takes India home

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:42 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - MARCH 2 : Virat Kohli...

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

In what was an inconsequential match, India coasted to victory thanks to a century by Virat Kohli.

In the morning though, it was good bowling in the beginning by Sudip Tyagi and some smart fielding and catching made Bangladesh lose 5 wickets for less than 100 runs. Once again, India lifted their feet off the pedal and let the opposition score almost 250. That must be the only complaint against the Indian team today. The end-over bowling is still patchy - another area of improvement that must be looked at.

MS Dhoni seems to look at Amit Mishra as one option during the PowerPlay overs - a good strategy that did not work so well today but well worth a try again. Virat Kohli does not seem to be doing anything wrong - what with his average more than 50 now!!! He has moved himself higher in the selection for the full-fledged team (maybe Raina with his slightly-better fielding and bowling might be the favorite still). My wish for Jadeja to get more batting overs was not fulfilled but that is not my complaint.

As Prem Panicker rightly put it in his blog, we were denied the opportunity of seeing Rahul Dravid and possibly Sachin Tendulkar play the finals of the Ranji tournament in Mysore today. Thanks to the BCCI's policies and stubbornness, the prospect looks very doubtful now to happen again.

Sunday, January 10, 2010

India and Sri Lanka to meet in the Tri-nation finals - any surprises?

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:23 PM

Image via Wikipedia

India and Sri Lanka have met so frequently in the last few months that probably the captains thought that they would change the composition of the team and see how the competition would fare. Sangakkara also wanted to give his bowlers a chance to try their hand at a situation which is not suitable for them. Good thoughts in a tournament that had a 3rd team who did not come to the party.

India bowled and more importantly, fielded well in this match. Sri Lanka also were thinking at the back of their mind about the final match - this one was not so significant as they had qualified for the finals. Dilshan was dismissed thanks to some good planning by the Indians - hopefully, the Indians have the lid on him from now on. Amit Mishra proved that he has regained some of his lost form - good signs again. He must be included in the team more often like this.

Virat Kohli and Gautam Gambhir played their customary innings and ensured that the small total was chased easily. Kohli seems to be getting consistent and this is good news for the team - he gives an impression similar to Yuvraj (on the field) - hopefully he will emulate the Singh in his exploits also. Sudeep Tyagi was also decent in his spell.

Hope the Indians experiment again tomorrow - maybe MS Dhoni should be given a rest against Bangladesh and Sehwag given the reins. I would also like to see Ravinder Jadeja be given a stint higher in the order - to test his mettle against the Bangladesh team.

Thursday, January 07, 2010

Management Lessons from the Australia cricket team

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 7:36 PM

A very interesting case-study of how the Australian team overcame all their problems to win a series in India.

Overcoming Challenges

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Winning Ugly...

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:22 PM

Image via Wikipedia

After conceding a lead of more than 200 runs in the first innings, Australia defeated Pakistan by 36 runs!!!

This is probably the best example of the Aussie-patented way of 'Winning Ugly'. Of course, they did not use their mouth but some smart batting by Michael Hussey and the tailenders helped the Aussie cause.

The Pak keeper Kamran Akmal dropped Hussey thrice !!! Why are the catching standards so dismal for sub-continental teams? From current teams, only Sri Lanka have the best fielding squad of the four test-playing nations in Asia.

Pakistan also had played very less tests over the last 2 years - probably they did not know how to win. When the chase started, I was more confident about Australia winning the match than Pakistan, knowing their brittle middle-order.

Why is Faisal Iqbal playing at No.3 in place of Yusuf? He is not test-match material at any stage in his career. Shoaib Malik is any day a better batsman.

Hopefully, the Pakistan team can save a whitewash by drawing the next test.

Tuesday, January 05, 2010

Why is Harbhajan in the squad?

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 9:28 PM

Is it because he was the default spinner after Anil Kumble?

His bowling in the last 2 years has not been any impressive at all...The figures seem to be better against Sri Lanka and especially in the sub-continent pitches. Otherwise, it is not good at all.

Is it because he is in good terms with the captain MS Dhoni (he is supposed to be a business partner as well)?

Of late, Ravinder Jadeja and sometimes even Yuvraj Singh have bowled better than Bhajji. On spinning pitches, it is not a guarantee that Bhajji will win the match for his team.

Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla need to be given chances very soon. Harbhajan is living on past glory, clearly.

Probably a rest is what is advised for Bhajji - some domestic matches against opposition who play spin well will help his bowling.

How long will the patience of MSD and selectors go on?

Selectors - Play him in the test matches is fine but ODIs - please rest him!!!

Sunday, January 03, 2010

Return of the Swingers

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 7:24 PM

The swing bowlers seem to be making a comeback in test cricket. The last 2 months have seen the revival thanks to three set of bowlers in different continents.

It all started with Sreesanth against the Sri Lankans at Kanpur - a brilliant spell of swing bowling at its best.

Then, Anderson and Broad repeated the dose to South Africa at Durban.

Today, it was Asif, Sami and Gul against the Aussies.

Good times are swinging again!!!

UDRS controversies

Thought by Madhu Rao just about 10:55 AM

The DRS system seems to be getting into controversies gradually.

During the trials, the Indian team did not like it during the trials in Sri Lanka. Is it the reason why it was not used in the previous series nor the next one against Bangladesh?

Sri Lanka was not happy with the decision not to use, probably because they did well with the UDRS system.

The ongoing test between Pakistan and Australia saw multiple challenges with varying degrees of success - commentators like Ian Chappell were not so convinced about the accuracy of the technology.

West Indies, who faced the system last series, also were not so keen about the system.England also do not know how to use the system!!!

Is it because teams do not know how to use the UDRS effectively? Interesting times ahead with the UDRS.

What is your say on the UDRS?

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