It is now official - the Indian-English ODI on the weekend ended in a tie not because of the abilities (or lack of) of the players - it is more to do with the venue - Bangalore. There might have been a pact between ICC and the new administration team led by Anil Kumble to make the World Cup more exciting.
If the first set of news was about the movement of the India-England match from Eden Gardens to down South, the next few days saw the controversy over the tickets. Once the match started, both teams tried to outsmart themselves on their incapability to win a match and in the end, it ended in a stalemate that would have done a chess player proud. Today again, the Irish team stepped up the gas and defeated the English team in a chase that was the highest-ever.
The English team would now go back to their drawing-board and try to decipher where things went wrong - the same type of exercise the Indian team must have been doing from Sunday. What can India do from here?
The bowlers must feel happy in one way that they managed to tie the match that was 'lost' but they must be the first to put up their hands on why they reached such a situation after their batters had scored 330+. In both matches put together, the Indian batsmen have scored at an average of 7 runs per over. But, even this seems to be insufficient considering the lack of sting in the bowling and fielding.
There must be simply some way that the Indian team must make way for Ashwin. His carrom ball and other tricks in his bag are more than enough to bamboozle any international team. His lack of international experience means that there will not be many tapes about his bowling action. This only means that he can take wickets and by the bushel. Harbhajan is surely not doing what he can do on such wickets and on the back of such high scores. Piyush Chawla's lack of international experience shows up when he bowls boundary-balls in between wicket-taking ones. The next two matches are against the minnows - Netherlands and Ireland. Both have given the English team a tough time. This will be an ideal time to blood Ashwin in place of Chawla. Zaheer can be rested in one of the match in favor of Nehra if fit - it is very important to keep Zak in cotton wool wherever possible. Yes, I am saying this despite today's result but it is better to be careful in this case.
The batsmen could have scored more (now I am greedy, right) in the second match - the last few overs were not made use of, to the extent that they are capable of. Tailenders need to keep their head together and give the strike to the better batsman at the crease - something that was not followed. This mattered in a difference of few runs that could have won the match for India.The Batting looks settled comparatively with the top-order in good form.
The Indians needed this kick in the rear, to lift up their game after the wins they have been having (warm-up matches and vs Bangladesh). Will they crush their opponents in the next two matches? You bet.
If the first set of news was about the movement of the India-England match from Eden Gardens to down South, the next few days saw the controversy over the tickets. Once the match started, both teams tried to outsmart themselves on their incapability to win a match and in the end, it ended in a stalemate that would have done a chess player proud. Today again, the Irish team stepped up the gas and defeated the English team in a chase that was the highest-ever.
The English team would now go back to their drawing-board and try to decipher where things went wrong - the same type of exercise the Indian team must have been doing from Sunday. What can India do from here?
The bowlers must feel happy in one way that they managed to tie the match that was 'lost' but they must be the first to put up their hands on why they reached such a situation after their batters had scored 330+. In both matches put together, the Indian batsmen have scored at an average of 7 runs per over. But, even this seems to be insufficient considering the lack of sting in the bowling and fielding.
There must be simply some way that the Indian team must make way for Ashwin. His carrom ball and other tricks in his bag are more than enough to bamboozle any international team. His lack of international experience means that there will not be many tapes about his bowling action. This only means that he can take wickets and by the bushel. Harbhajan is surely not doing what he can do on such wickets and on the back of such high scores. Piyush Chawla's lack of international experience shows up when he bowls boundary-balls in between wicket-taking ones. The next two matches are against the minnows - Netherlands and Ireland. Both have given the English team a tough time. This will be an ideal time to blood Ashwin in place of Chawla. Zaheer can be rested in one of the match in favor of Nehra if fit - it is very important to keep Zak in cotton wool wherever possible. Yes, I am saying this despite today's result but it is better to be careful in this case.
The batsmen could have scored more (now I am greedy, right) in the second match - the last few overs were not made use of, to the extent that they are capable of. Tailenders need to keep their head together and give the strike to the better batsman at the crease - something that was not followed. This mattered in a difference of few runs that could have won the match for India.The Batting looks settled comparatively with the top-order in good form.
The Indians needed this kick in the rear, to lift up their game after the wins they have been having (warm-up matches and vs Bangladesh). Will they crush their opponents in the next two matches? You bet.
1 comment:
William Bates achieved the first hat-trick for England and in the same match became the first ever to score a 50 and take 10 wickets .A unique treble.
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