Indian Cricket Unleashed

Australian tour - All is not well with Indian team

2012-01-29T15:11:00.000+05:30

0-8 in consecutive overseas test matches. This is acceptable if the team in question is Bangladesh or Zimbabwe or even the current West Indian team. Not the No.3 team (which was recently No.1) in the world. The performance has led to a lot of disappointment in the hearts of Indian fans, ex-players, commentators, journalists. There have been a huge outcry to sack all the seniors of the Indian team. Why this Kolaveri? Is it justified?

Now, let us take a step back and analyse what went wrong and what (if any) did go as per plan?

The batsmen started the tour Down Under with a lot of expectations from their fans. There were suggestions that the team would win their first ever series in Australia. Hope, even after being white-washed in the four-test series in England, was probably not right especially without any remedial actions after the disaster.
There was no series of injuries as witnessed during the English series. Zaheer Khan went through an entire series without breaking down. But, this did not make a difference in the final analysis. The result was the same in both series.
By the end of second day in Melbourne, India were slightly ahead of the Aussies. They could not tighten the screws on the Aussies even after half-centuries by Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid. This is where, from the 3rd day of the test, things started to turn to the Aussies. Not able to seize the opportunities that came their way was a big mistake (Hussey's dropped chance by Dravid might have tilted the scales).
Planning by the Australian team cannot be ignored. The plans laid out by the support staff was on the dot, be it Gautam Gambhir or the other Indian batsmen. This should not be forgotten in the hue and cry raised about the Indian seniors.
The previous point also raises an important point on the effectiveness of the Indian support staff. Are they not able to impose their plans on the Indian team? Or are they not able to plan at all? Are Duncan Fletcher sealed? Why has he not attended any press conferences on the tour? Is there something that the public is not aware of? The head of Eric Simons is surely going to fall but that will not solve the entire crisis the Indian team is under.
Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav emerged as the positives of the tour but they must now endure the feeling of a whitewash through their initial years and emerge stronger. Only then, they can travel the paths of their current colleagues.

The BCCI had, through its powers, created tests from a non-existent schedule to ensure that the test team remains No.1. Can it do the same magic and conjure test series from nowhere (even against minnows like Bangladesh and Zimbabwe) so that the younger players can start playing tests? Or have they filled up the time with their money-making ODIs and T20s already? Can 'A' tours be restarted?

My review comments after the previous whitewash still remain - will they ever be implemented? God only knows.

Australian tour - Oz Planning - Part II

2012-01-29T11:56:00.001+05:30

Continuing from the previous post on Gautam Gambhir's dismissals, here would like to point the planning done on other Indian batsmen.

Rahul Dravid came into this series with a rich vein of form - scoring 3 centuries on the ill-fated tour of England as well as contributing heavily against the Windies both away and home. After this series, he was left contemplating a retirement decision based on the ways he has got dismissed. Look at the details below (courtesy Cricinfo)

1st Test at Melbourne - he's bowled 'em! what a ball to get early in the morning, as straight as you can get, fullish length, bang on off stump, straightens enough to sneak past Dravid's push and rattles the off stump, Dravid's front foot did not come as forward as he would have liked 214/4
cleaned him up! Dravid left a big gap between bat and pad to let the ball sneak in, Pattinson is besieged by his team-mates, it was angled in fullish and moved in further, Dravid was caught in the crease and ended up pushing way outside the line 58/3
2nd test at Sydney - through the gate and the malaise hasn't escaped Dravid yet! Hilfenhaus squares him up for a delivery that comes back in, Dravid gets forward but leaves a gap between bat and pad, the ball sneaks through and hits the top of the off stump 100/2
3rd test at Perth - Dravid is bowled, yet again! It wasn't the movement this time as it had been on previous occasions this series, that was a yorker aimed at the legs, Dravid was struck on the full outside leg and it ricocheted off the pads onto the stumps, quicker from Siddle and Dravid's bad run this series continues 32/2
3rd test at Perth (2nd innings) - Dravid is bowled again, yet again! Done in by a ball that swung in and was bowled full, moved in a touch further after pitching, Dravid got across to try to drive it through midwicket, he missed, it clipped the pads and then knocked out leg. 135/5
4th test at Adelaide - would you believe it, he's been bowled again, tad unfortunate, but full marks to Australia for sticking to a tight line and length, he was just a touch late in motioning forward, the ball bounced from a length, hit him near the elbow, and ricocheted on to the stumps 31/2

Sachin Tendulkar started and ended the series in the conquest of a 100th hundred. His technique was also tested by the opposition and his scores after a confident start went southward. Two of his dismissals were planned out very well in the series

Melbourne test - Sachin has looked positive throughout his stay, and that is what consumes him now, he reaches out to drive this pitched up widish delivery that moves away a touch, and gully accepts the thick edge, Siddle is overjoyed, Australia are dominant, and India face a stiff defeat 81/6
Adelaide test - Siddle strikes big, Tendulkar looking to push away from the body towards cover with a slightly open face and Ponting takes a very low catch at second slip, pitched up, the angle in to Tendulkar and the fuller length draws him forward, the open face takes the ball straight to Ponting, it was taken low enough for them to have a second look at it, looks alright 78/3

Virat Kohli enhanced his reputation in this series with a string of good knocks against the Aussies. He was one who was quick to recover from the initial errors he made in the series. Witness his dismissals in the beginning that the Oz bowlers capitalized on

Melbourne test - Virat departs now, caught in front, front foot moving across a long way, the bat had to do a lot of work in coming around it, it even brushed the pad on its way down, and the length ball had already nipped in to strike him in front of middle, Virat looked rather cross with the decision, wonder why 69/5
Sydney test - It landed on that crack on a good length and kept really low, the ball nipped back in sharply after pitching and as he tries to whip it to the on side he's trapped flush in front of the stumps and falls over at the crease 286/7

One can go on with similar examples of others dismissals as well but the bottom-line is that the amount of planning and execution to go along with it had been top-notch in this series. Kudos to Billy McDermott and his wards for the whitewash.

Australian tour - Planning was key for Oz win - Part I

2012-01-28T20:05:00.000+05:30

The 2011-12 series for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy has been finished. 4-0 is the verdict in favor of the Aussies. Convincingly won with two innings victories. There have been many talks going on about the veterans in the Indian team and how they were ineffective in the entire series. But, let us take this opportunity to congratulate the Oz team for their planning.

Let us look at the dismissals of certain players in the series and the planning becomes evident. Gautam Gambhir is the focus of this first part. His weakness outside the off stump was well exploited by the bowlers. Look at the way he has been dismissed (text courtesy Cricinfo):

1st Test at Melbourne - first innings - Gambhir once again perishes to an indiscretion outside the off stump. Top bowling from Hilfenhaus, but aided by an average shot too. Short of a length, at least a foot and a half outside off stump to start with. The ball then seamed away, and Gambhir had a good enough sight at it, to leave if he wanted to. He chose not to, and fiddled to produce a faint edge through to the keeper. Aus have a wicket. 22/1

1st Test at Melbourne - second innings - outside edge and gone, Gautam's problems outside off continue, Siddle letting it rip from just short of a good length, finding bounce, the angle and away movement taking it away from the left-hander, but importantly, making him play, would have taken a very good leave to let it go, but he ended up jerking his hands slightly to the left to poke at it, the edge loops to second slip 39/2

2nd Test at Sydney - first innings - That really squared up Gambhir, landed on middle and slightly shaped away off a good length, Gambhir was squared up with the extra bounce and movement, thick outside edge to Clarke at first slip 0/1

3rd Test at Perth - first innings - Australia in command here, they remove the set batsman, Gambhir plays a nothing shot, no footwork hangs his bat in response to a ball outside off that moves away a hint, a tickle down to the keeper, and the familiar failings of the Indian batting come to the fore once more 63/4

4th Test at Sydney - first innings - there's the outside edge, and Haddin takes a neat catch tumbling to his left, excellent line, made him play the pitched up delivery just around the off stump, and Haddin did the rest, it moved just enough away after pitching to take the edge 14/1

If the bowlers couldn't get Gambhir nicking to the slip cordon, they got him with a perfume ball. Witness these 2 dismissals

3rd test at Perth - second innings - What a scorcher! Banged in short and that darted away, Gambhir was taken by surprise, got on the back foot and tried to play it into the leg side, almost trying to fend it away, the ball pops up towards gully and Hussey takes a comfortable catch, an excellent short ball by Starc, India under greater pressure now. Came off the handle 24/1
4th test at Adelaide - first innings - Siddle all over India, Gautam falls to the bouncer, incredible delivery on this flat wicket, must have taken so much effort, Siddle bangs it in short, it gets way too big on Gautam, close to head high, he hops in the air as he has been doing all morning, wanting to bring it down, but ends up fending it away well in front of gully, Michael Hussey races forward and dives full length forward to hold on to it, what a delivery, what a catch, top stuff 87/4

The support staff of the Australian team has done their homework alright. Persistence as well as execution of the well-thought out strategy is the hallmark of great teams and this one seems to be on their way if handled well. The question that comes to mind is why the Indian support staff could not do the same?

Next post will be about Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar's dismissals in this series.

Perth test - Warner proves to be the difference

2012-01-15T12:22:00.002+05:30

The Indian team have won themselves two more days of break after the Perth test match, thanks to their dismal performance with the bat. It was a surprise that the Indian team managed to extend the match beyond the second day. In hindsight, David Warner was the major difference between the two teams in terms of scoring runs. The Indian bowlers did well to the other batsmen in the Oz line-up. Dhoni managed to put a brave face with the media after the 7th consecutive loss overseas but this was expected of him in the batting department. Warner proved that there was not much in the pitch that affected stroke-play. Sehwag should give up his mantle now to his shishya in world cricket (for this alone, Cricket Australia should thank IPL).

What happened wrong for the Indians? Everything mostly. Except for couple of sessions when they competed with the Aussies, nothing much worked for the Indians. Virat Kohli showed that he was well-equipped to take the Indian batting into future by his stints in both innings in this match. VVS Laxman hung around in the first innings but couldnt do much in the next. The old failings of Sehwag, Sachin and Rahul reappeared to keep their impact on the match to a minimum. Gambhir looked confident in the middle but got a nasty ball in the second stint. Dhoni disappointed as a batsman, once again giving an impression that he has a long way to go in order to counter the moving ball.

With the ball, it was an improved performance by the bowlers compared to the 2nd test match. Other than the period when Warner played a Sehwag-like innings, the Indian bowlers bowled well on lengths that would have done the Aussies proud. Vinay Kumar has played his first and last test match in his career - though he captured Hussey in the test, he does not seem to have many skills that can test batsmen around the world. Ashwin might have contributed better with bat and ball in this test - maybe bringing a spinner like him would have been a good ploy to counter Warner at his best. Virat Kohli and Umesh Yadav have given hope to the Indians as symbols of the future Indian test generations.

What next for India? VVS and Rahul Dravid are too proud players to hang around further. They have seen many victories with the Indian team (drawn series in Australia & SAF & SL, wins in England, NZ, WI, Pakistan) but the disappointments in England and now Australia must hurt them more than anything. They will now have to give way to the younger batsmen. Having made up their mind, they should take up the last match as though they have nothing to lose. Will Sachin Tendulkar take up a similar route? He looks good still and can go on for longer unlike the other two but only he can answer the question.

Virender Sehwag has turned out to be a damp squib after his double-ton in the WI ODIs - his performances after turning 30 seem to be dismal. His hand-eye coordination which had given him success all over the world seems to be fading (a la Krish Srikkanth). Rohit Sharma and Cheteshwara Pujara are waiting in the wings, ready to take the Indian team to the future. They should be allowed to play for India in the next few series (which will happen on Indian soil) so that they can gain confidence and refine their technique and temperament before they start touring again.

The Indian cricket seems to be going down and under every match - SEVEN successive matches lost outside their soil now. One feels that this is the worst possible scenario that they could have encountered but one can only wait for time to say whether they can slide down further. EIGHT will be reality next week? On current evidence, it seems to be straight-forward. Will BCCI do an enquiry or will it be done by amateurs like me on my blog as I had done earlier?

Oz Series - Comments on Indian team

2012-01-12T21:39:00.001+05:30

The Indian team has been facing a hostile press Down Under but the press back home is not good to them as well.

India's ex-coach, Greg Chappell, writes in Hindu on the steps the Indian team needs to take and highlights the areas he had pointed out earlier

Personalities should not enter into it. Just pick the players who you think can do the job.

HINT - Drop VVS & Rahul Dravid and pick youngsters to replace them.

Players will not respond to cajoling and threats from the coach alone.

HINT - Selection committee (as well as BCCI administrators) should also cajole and threat

fielding and fitness were two things that I identified nearly seven years ago that needed improvement. That it is still a problem is just not acceptable.

HINT - Younger players are the way to go forward

Greg agrees with the go-karting however - one that Sunil Gavaskar was not happy about.

Makarand Wingankar in the same paper, also points out different reasons that are contributing (as per him) to the ills of the Indian team.

newly married couples and whole lot of families with children on tour have certainly been a distraction

Makarand goes on to take a dig at the Master and his son

If he allows a son of a cricketer to practice with the team, he is not the Fletcher that we have heard of.

Australia series - India lose 6th overseas test in a row

2012-01-06T21:30:00.001+05:30

9.5 to 2.5. The session dashboard conveys a story that was grim for the Indian test team and its fans. There was hardly any session that the Australian team was tested to the potential that the Indian team had on paper. Right from the first innings on the first day, the match went downhill for the team.

The runs scored in the series by both teams reveal the true picture as shown below. Though the number of runs scored by the openers (thanks to Gambhir's second innings at SCG), bowlers (Ashwin being the main contributor), wicket-keeper (Haddin's dismal form continued), the difference of runs scored by both teams show the main reason why India is two tests down. Though the gulf of difference is because of Clarke's triple ton, the others like Ricky Ponting and Hussey have not been far behind.

VVS Laxman seems to have lost his Midas touch (is there something to do with his spiritual mentor Sai Baba's death?). Sachin Tendulkar has been drowned in the hype surrounding the Super Century (there is no other reason to be blamed for his failures to score a big ton). Rahul Dravid's defiance has been breached not once but repeatedly - putting a big question mark in his mind about his defence. Gambhir has retained his touch but will it continue in the remaining tests? Virat Kohli seems to have lost his spot to Rohit Sharma after two non-performances once again.

Number of runs scored in the series

The wickets taken in the series also reflect a similar trend for the Aussies - agreed that the Australian team has played only one innings compared to the two by India. The pace bowlers have made use of the helpful conditions they were provided (obviously luck played its role at SCG) to grab the wickets. The Indians have been found lacking here as well, despite doing well in the first test (again with conditions helping them). Ashwin has won the battle for spin against Lyon in this series but that does not amount to much in the series. Ishant has been bowling without taking any wickets, putting pressure on the others. Umesh has been lacking ideas when the pitch was not helping the Indians while Zaheer was off-color for the time the bat dominated the Indians on the 2nd and 3rd day.

Wickets taken in the test series

SCG test - Will India bounce back?

2012-01-02T20:19:00.003+05:30

Will he get his 100th Century at SCG?

Glenn Mcgrath and the pink color of his Charity Foundation has become synonymous with SCG test matches. The Australian (and Indian) team had their photo-shoot with the legendary fast bowler but it was surprising to see the now-retired paceman fired another salvo against the Indians by suggesting that Australia can win the series 4-0. The current players seem more interested about Sachin Tendulkar's 100th ton and how they will try to restrict him.

Is Mcgrath's prediction likely to happen? I dont think so. Why? Australia as a team is in the rebuilding phase and they are not as consistent as they used to be in the times of Mcgrath (as a player). The Indian bowlers will be itching to come back at the Oz batsmen on a pitch that is expected to help them. If VVS and SRT fire (as their numbers at SCG suggest), the Indians will have a better chance to equal the series.

Dhoni and Duncan Fletcher will ensure that they pull out all stops to keep the morale of the team high. There will not be any changes expected on either side (except for any last-minute injuries). India had their tails up in the first test but the downfall of Tendulkar meant the advantage went back to Australia. The last 2 days were fully dominated by Australia (except for few rare minutes). In this test, they should continue their spirits to keep the Aussies at bay. Aakash Chopra suggests that the batsmen should look at playing 160 overs to dominate the play. If they can do it, they will have enough runs on the board to defeat the Oz. Easier said than done, right?

Boxing day test - Australia take 1-0 lead

2011-12-29T11:30:00.002+05:30

Australia took a 1-0 lead in the test series by dismissing the Indian team for a paltry score in the second innings on the penultimate day of the MCG test. It was a good performance by the young bowlers against the batting might of the Indians who were expected to fare much better than this. Continuing a run of low scores in away test matches, the Indian team struggled to score against a target of 292.

The stats reflect the travails of the Indian batting - 1 score of 300 during the England tour as well as 1 score of 300+ in the 3 Caribbean tests does not do justice to a team that has four players in excess of 8000 runs in their career. Now, the Indians will do well to put this defeat behind them and look at the same time last year when they made a remarkable comeback against the Proteans on their soil (who had a much better bowling attack than the current Aussies). From a position of 200 for 2 when they were primed to take a good lead over their opponents, the Indians succumbed in the next 2 days to lost by more than 130 runs.

The day started with the Aussie tail scoring valuable runs and taking the target to a formidable 292. The Indian attack would take their deficiency to wipe the tail as an area of improvement for the forthcoming tests. Even then, the likes of Dean Jones thought that the Indians were favorites to score the runs required in the last innings. If the target was less than 300, Sehwag was confident of chasing it down. But, he was the first one to leave the crease even before lunch was taken. This dismissal raised the hopes of the entire Oz team so much so that after the lunch break, the bowlers were all over the Indians. The bowling coach, Craig Mcdermott, would have been very happy with the way his wards responded to his suggestions.

The Indians seemed to have lost the battle in the mind more than on the ground. Gambhir was once again dismissed poking to a delivery outside the off - a failing he had few years before his big innings. Sachin started well but failed to continue the show once again. The 2nd innings savior, VVS, once again failed in MCG - a bizarre statistic in his Oz tours. Dhoni and Ashwin tried to score runs but the Aussie win was just a matter of when and not if. Ashwin, meanwhile, showed that he can be a suitable No.7 (if Dhoni takes the No.6 position) batsmen for the tour and thus accommodate an extra spinner in the playing eleven. This will give the much needed depth for the bowling attack while putting the onus on the batsmen to contribute more.

Once again, a defeat in the first test match of the series for the Indians. But, there are many positives they can take from the match as well as areas of improvement. With the arsenal in their army, they should be able to mount a comeback in the series very quickly. Will the New Year seem them coming back? If I were a betting man, I will still put my money on India!

Boxing Day test - Bowlers rule the MCG

2011-12-28T15:18:00.001+05:30

It was a fascinating battle at the MCG where the bowlers from either side held the upper hand. Only the veteran pair of Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey managed to survive the carnage to put up a well-paced and crucial partnership in the second innings for Australia.

The day started with India in a good position to use the momentum of the partnership between Sachin and Dravid to score further and possibly take a handy lead. Hilfenhaus thought otherwise. Pitching the ball up and generating just enough movement to beat the batsmen and remind them of their old weaknesses, Hilfenhaus had the Indians play to the hands of the cordon behind the stumps. Dravid was bowled by a peach of a delivery while Kohli continued his overseas test match form by nicking to the keeper. Laxman was cleaned up by Siddle's well-pitched delivery while Dhoni continued his miserable run in test matches by edging to gully. All this while, Ishant was patient enough to continue his stint as a night-watchman but not for long. Ashwin showed what the top-order batsmen could have done by adding runs to the total and thereby reducing the deficit to a better-looking 51.

Australia's recent record has not been so great in the second innings - remember 47 vs South Africa as well as the recent debacle vs Black Caps in Hobart! There was a danger of a repeat performance when four batsmen perished to the bowling of Umesh and Ishant. Zaheer was bowling well and maintaining the pressure from the other end while the batsmen were getting out to the other bowlers. It needed the experience of Ponting and Hussey to stop the rut and keep the scoreboard ticking. Ponting looked more relaxed compared to the first innings while Hussey was on a mission to show his worth to a squad that cannot afford to miss him. Zaheer came back with late strikes but Hussey's miss by Dravid might prove to be costly.

Overall, a close dashboard for the test match with the Indians having a slight edge over Australia. The only difference will be the runs on the board that India will have to chase down. If the last 2 wickets are dismissed quite early tomorrow, India will expect their famed lineup to come to the party the second time.

Boxing Day test - India grit their way vs Oz

2011-12-27T14:13:00.002+05:30

The Indians put up a better bowling display in the morning to wrap up the last four Oz wickets, led by the swing of Zaheer Khan. The Aussies will be dreading the very sight of this bowler from now on, the bowler having retained his rhythm back after bowling a good number of balls this innings. Ishant and Umesh was supportive in their efforts to restrict the run-scoring without managing any wickets on the day. Ashwin came to the party to take the last two wickets, especially the last one was a wonderful sight to watch. A flighted ball on the middle-wicket that straightened to defeat the sweep and hit the stumps, must have given the Aussies another headache to deal with.

The Indian reply started in the usual fashion with their openers taking quick singles and rotating the strike. Gambhir was fleet-footed and ended his innings with a poke to the keeper. Sehwag continued merrily, chancing his arm and keeping the bowlers (and fielders) interested. Viru's batting is good to keep the captain and his bowlers occupied in thinking of various strategies to put in place. Whether they implement or not, the non-striker benefits from this by settling down at the crease. Rahul played a very typical innings that was very much in-sync with his nature and character. Grinding down the attack while Sehwag and later Sachin scored boundaries, Dravid accumulated runs in his own way.

Tendulkar had decided to score runs when it was offered, especially with his patented upper-cut with which he scored many boundaries on the day. He was picking runs with a great flourish and steady run-rate that was adequate for an ODI. The impending close of day was a distraction that slowed Sachin down, sending him into a shell. Peter Siddle was unlucky not to have Dravid dismissed because of his over-stepping nature. It was a similar delivery that dismissed Sachin in the fag end of the day.

A good day for the Indians when they captured all the three sessions of the day to take a lead over the Aussies in the Session dashboard. Tomorrow, they will hope to consolidate their position and take a lead of hundred runs before being dismissed.

Boxing Day test - Australia have noses in front of India

2011-12-26T14:19:00.002+05:30

India's fortunes in the 1st test on Boxing Day was expected to be hinging on the ankle and hamstring of their opening bowlers. Michael Clarke had this thought on the back of his mind probably and opted to bat first after winning the toss. Not surprisingly, the opening bowlers from India started gingerly, opting to be careful with their bodies than anything else. Warner and Cowan had a steady start before the introduction of the third pacer introduced runs and more importantly, wickets for India.

Warner tried to hook Yadav for another six but the extra bounce took his glove en route to the wicket-keeper. Shaun Marsh came and went without troubling the scorers, thanks to a full-pitched ball from Yadav. Ricky Ponting came to the crease and was promptly pinged on the helmet by a short-pitched one. This mislead the bowlers to focus on the short ball against Ponting, thereby playing into the hands of the Tasmanian Devil. The legend was losing his balance at the crease early on but with the diet of easy pickings, calmed his nerves and adopted a much better approach at the crease.

After the highest Australian partnership this year between Ponting and Cowan, Zaheer Khan decided to make his presence felt in the test match. Bowling with the older ball, he improved with each spell that he bowled and made the ball talk. This energized Yadav to bowl the perfect ball to Ponting. Shocking him with a short ball, Yadav followed with a full-length delivery that took the edge to slips. Once again, the century eluded the veteran but he was looking good at the end compared to the start when he resembled a cat on hot tin roof.

Zaheer castled Clarke after the short partnership between the captain and Cowan. Bowling around the wicket to bring the ball back, Clarke's cut was not enough to stop the ball from hitting the wicket. The very next ball, out-of-form Michael Hussey got what the commentators called a jaffa !! Though all technological evidence showed no clear signs, the umpire gave Hussey caught behind to loud shouts from the slip cordon. Ashwin chipped with the wicket of Cowan to reduce the Aussies to 214-6. Even-stevens in the day till then. It was then that Haddin and Siddle put their heads down to bring the score to a respectable 277 at the end of day.

It was good news for the Indians to finish the day with the scoreline, especially compared to the tea-time score of 170-3 but not good enough compared to the score when Siddle came to the crease. But, Dhoni would have felt happy that none of his front-line bowlers broke down after bowling 20 overs each (Zak bowled 23 in fact). Ashwin gave a good impression in his first stint Down Under by extracting spin and bounce on the first day of the test. Will the pitch deteriorate further to help him in the second innings is to be seen. Dhoni could have perhaps used Virat Kohli, Sehwag and Sachin for few overs in between to reduce the load on the bowlers but it was not to be.

Overall, an intriguing day but the session score-board at the end of Day 1 shows the Aussies slightly ahead at 2-1.

Down Under - who will shine for India?

2011-12-18T20:29:00.002+05:30

India has their best chance to win their first-ever series in Australia, thanks to a combination of strong batting line-up and not-so experienced team from the home team. To win the series, the Indian batsmen no doubt will have to lead the way ahead on pitches that might suit the Aussie team. Placid, flat pitches will not be offer - this will only play to the Indian team's hands. The pitches will offer bounce and seam in no small measures so that the young bowling attack will enough to trouble the Indian heavy-weights.

For the Indians, who will take the wickets that matter? Let us look at the last five Indian tours Down Under and see who has shone through

1985-86 series saw the Australian team in a rebuilding phase - probably very similar to what they are now. The new captain, Allan Border, took over the reins and this series was a hard-fought one. Only rain and the captain's stubbornness ensured that India left the shores without any win. Shivlal Yadav and Ravi Shastri were the leading wicket-takers in the series on both sides. Will Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha take clue from these performances? Kapil Dev chipped in with useful wickets in the series in a role that one expects Zaheer to perform now. One only prays that Zaheer does not break down once again
By the time India toured in 1991-92, the Australian team was a formidable one while India were not so great themselves. Kapil Dev and Manoj Prabhakar were the leading bowlers but the lack of a support seamer who could penetrate the bowling hurt the team (Srinath was early in his career and did not have the incisiveness early in the career to help the team's cause). Of course, the batsmen's lack of runs also contributed to the 4-0 rout.
Sachin Tendulkar captained the team during the 1999-2000 tour that was disastrous on many counts. A white-wash in the three-test series ensured that the Indian team was in shambles after the tour. The new-ball lineup consisting of Srinath, Agarkar and Venkatesh Prasad could not strike against the powerful Oz batting. A lone spinner (Anil Kumble in his early days) could not help Sachin's team make any impact.
2004-2005 was one series that India, under Sourav Ganguly and John Wright, performed to their reputation. Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh returned with the top 2 spots in the wicket-taking list. Zaheer played the four test matches but could not take as many wickets that one had expected him to. His partners - Ajit Agarkar and Irfan Pathan - could not make much headway in the matches they played. Murali Karthik was another spinner who returned with his head held high (another pointer to Ojha's possible success)
In the season of 2007-2008, India played a tempestuous series marred by on-field events on the ground. Ishant Sharma made an impact in the test match against Ricky Ponting though he did not have many wickets to show. It was the old war-horse, Anil Kumble, who picked up wickets by the bushel. Zaheer had matured on his second tour but broke down after playing one test. RP Singh and Irfan Pathan played the supporting roles to Kumble and Harbhajan in a series that was won by Australia.

If Zaheer can endure the series without any injury, the bowling attack with Ashwin and Ishant/Umesh/Mithun will prove more than a handful for the young Aussies.

Will the Indian sun shine Down Under? Hopefully, yes.

Interesting series soon Down Under

2011-12-14T06:52:00.001+05:30

Agneepath says the TV channels, announcing the start of a series that holds a lot of promise for many cricketers involved from both teams. India goes Down Under for their next series after the famous Monkeygate scandal. Things have changed, not just in the personnel involved but also in terms of improved relations with the players on both sides. The key protagonists during the last tour, Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh, went on to play on the same side for the IPL while both the then captains are no longer in the hot-seat (even though one of them plays for his team).

The Oz team has seen most of their star players leave and has seen some ordinary performances from their team (47 all out against South Africa and a defeat against NZ at home after more than 2 decades). The Indian team is rebuilding after their own debacle in England where they suffered a white-wash. They are still ranked high in the ICC rankings but that does not mean anything when both the teams go head to head on Boxing Day.

The Indians score on the batting front thanks to their strong lineup that has proven itself Down Under as well as everywhere else in the cricketing world - Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman will walk into any team that is currently playing international cricket. The supporting cast consists of players who are technically good as well as played key knocks for their state team in Ranji matches - Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli will be looking for the one slot that remains in the batting position. The 2 warm-up matches will prove a good pointer to who will make the cut. Rohit with his previous experience and recent form (even though against WI at home ODIs) will be my favorite.

Duncan Fletcher, after the English debacle, has favored the promotion of fast bowlers into the Indian line-up (though that seems to have been impacted by the injury to Aaron). Will Zaheer play a full series this time around (note that this is his third series and he has not finished one complete tour still) is the key factor for India's fortunes. Ishant will be itching to repeat his form of last tour while the third seamer's position is up for grabs. Considering his performance in WI and England, Praveen Kumar's absence will hurt. Mithun can bowl the long overs which is very vital for such a grueling tour. Umesh Yadav has looked fine in his appearances for the country but can he bring it all together for a longer period? Vinay Kumar can swing the ball both ways but his pace is nothing to write about - he has played in Australia earlier and how much he can impress the team management in the warm-up will decide who plays. The lone spinner's slot favors Ashwin more because of his batting talent. The Sydney test will see both of them coming into the eleven and that will represent India's brightest chances to win a test.

The Indians score better on the spin option while there is inexperience on both the sides in the pace bowling department. Zaheer Khan can stand out and make it count for the Indians - is he fit enough is one question that the entire country is waiting desperately. As Dhoni mentioned in his recent press conference, India can beat Australia this time around. Hope KJo and Hrithik Roshan bring their Agneepath luck to the Indian team!

Match-fixing is not done yet

2011-11-18T14:17:00.001+05:30

The match-fixing episodes seem to be tumbling out from everywhere, resembling the malignant cancer cells that one finds in patients. After the Pakistan trio got sentenced, there are bits and pieces of news coming from around the world regarding fixing.

Lord Condon has mentioned of widespread fixing in 1980s and 1990s by all teams, not just the subcontinent teams - he in fact, suspects all international teams of this (mis)action.

Vinod Kambli suspects the 1996 World Cup semi-final was fixed. Though Azharuddin made a big mistake by inserting the opposition in, he has done this earlier as well (remember the Gooch test in England - 333 and 123 from the bat of one man was the end-result).

Similarly, Lalit Modi mentioned recently that he was threatened to fix IPL matches. Unless he complained to anyone, this claim cannot be given the legitimacy as others.

Question to you - Peter Roebuck died a few days after Australia were dismissed for 47 against South Africa in a test match. Did he know anything?

India-Windies tests - India muscle their way

2011-11-18T06:49:00.001+05:30

After the first test display when the Indians were given a rude shock, the Indians ensured that they pulled up their socks and put up a display that underlined their strength at home. The batsmen came to the party which meant that the Windies had a large total staring at them.

Sehwag and Gambhir threw away their chances to make a big score while Sachin continued to play under pressure. It is better for the Indian team that the maestro gets his next century before the Oz series starts. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman continued their love story with the Eden Gardens and each other! Yuvraj Singh missed out on yet another opportunity to cement his place in the playing eleven - no wonder the selectors dropped him for the final test match. Somehow, he gives an impression that he is not interested to be playing test cricket - hope that is not true.

MS Dhoni picked up a century in the process, cashing in on the chances he got from the opposition. The captain overcame a lean patch in tests to score a confidence-boosting hundred. His captaincy was on the spot during the first innings while it became more defensive in the 2nd. Agreed that the pitch was placid and the bowlers were inexperienced, but MSD could have been more aggressive with his field placements.

The bowling of Umesh Yadav was fresh, compared to the others who have played for the country in recent times. The picture of stumps shattered by an Indian fast bowler was a sight to behold. Two opening bowlers who were operating at more than 140 kmph was a rarity, the pitch notwithstanding. If Ishant had performed to his potential, the match would have been completed much earlier.

Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin bowled well in tandem once again. They seem to be ensuring that Harbhajan's chances on the plane to Oz are depleted further. They capitalized on the chances that came their way in the first innings while being patient in the second sojourn. They will face better batsmen in their career but this experience of bowling a lot of overs will give them a good experience.

Considering the status of the series, it would be better to play Varun Aaron in place of Ishant. If one agrees to take some drastic steps and taking into mind the conditions of the wicket that one gets in Mumbai, it is not a bad idea to play three spinners in Mumbai. Virat Kohli can open the bowling with Umesh, a role that Ganguly used to do not so long back. Will Fletcher and MSD take this step?

India-Windies tests - India wake-up after Windies shock

2011-11-10T06:54:00.002+05:30

The Indian team recovered from a rude wake-up call given by a young West Indies team in the first innings of the Kotla match. After giving away a 95 run lead, the Indian team then dismissed their opponents quickly to notch up an easy-looking win. The match was made interesting by the rusty nature of the Indian batsmen in their first innings. If not, the match would have been more one-sided than it was.

The spin department shows promise with two young spinners grabbing a bunch of wickets - will they continue to perform is a question on everyone's minds. If they continue this performance for the next 2 matches, Harbhajan Singh might be wondering about his ticket to Australia. It obviously did not help that Bhajji could not get any wickets in the Ranji match he played! Pragyan Ojha's county stint has helped him become a better bowler and one can only wonder what the impact would have been if he had played an entire season.

Ashwin's debut was much awaited and he has performed in the way everyone thought he would - one good aspect of his bowling was the sparing use of his carrom ball. Unlike Ajantha Mendis who has gone out of contention because of the batsmen's ability to read his variations better, the tall off-spinner will do well in the future because of his perseverence and accuracy. Umesh Yadav, on the other hand, could not perform so well as his fellow debutant partly because of the surface and also because of his nerves. His performance in the second innings improved but against stronger opposition, one wonders how he will perform. Ishant Sharma needs another couple of test matches to come to his best form which will work out for the tests Down Under.

Most of the batsmen made starts but could not get going in the first innings. Gambhir and Sehwag started their innings as though they were still playing a IPL match - it looked good while it lasted but obviously the focus should be on a longer stint than the one they have. Sehwag has promised 2 centuries in the series - two fifties in this test match is just the teaser that has increased our expectations. Laxman and Tendulkar carried the team near the target in the second innings by their steady progress while Rahul Dravid waged a lone battle in the first innings when everyone else failed around him. Yuvraj Singh failed in both his innings but the think-tank will give him enough chances in this series to test his form further. One wonders why MSD fails in this format when his form in the ODIs has been outstanding - would be a good idea to play his ODI game in test matches also. His captaincy has been on the spot, a perfect example was the decision to have his spinners open the bowling in the 2nd innings - not wasting time with the pace bowlers and the new ball.

Overall, the scoreline looks 3-0 at the end of the test series - only a drop in the Indian performance will result in any other result. They have been woken up by the Windies in this test match, which means that the subsequent tests will see them back to their best.

India-English Return ODI series - Revenge

2011-10-28T19:17:00.002+05:30

Yet another English team visited the Indian shores to leave empty-handed. Of course, the Indians were complaining (even though the stands were not so filled up as the organizers had thought). The change of fortune for the English team started with the final T20I against West Indies when the young team was humbled by a even-younger spin attack. The lack of technique (against spin especially) was visible clearly in the match – something that would not have missed the attention of Duncan Fletcher.

The Indian team thrashed the visitors in every match except the 3rd where the margin of defeat was narrow. If one remembers the ODI series in England, the matches were won by England in a monotonous manner (chasing a reduced D/L score in weather that was not kind on the Indians after bowling on conditions that helped the swingers). Even then, the difference between the two teams was not so stark. Agreed that the English team missed Anderson and Broad in the bowling department as well as Morgan and Strauss (now retired) in the batting but the Indians were also missing their super-stars.

Rahane proved that he was not a one-series wonder but did not take the opportunity to shut the door on others who might fancy their chances to get into the Indian line-up. Parthiv Patel couldn’t step up to the expectation which meant that regular opener, Gautam Gambhir, was arriving at the crease earlier than he expected. The presence of Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina in the playing eleven has given India two players who can bat aggressively (while taking the quick singles/doubles), field menacingly and roll their arm over to cover up for a bowler’s bad day. The English tour must have given MSD the idea of trying out Kohli’s arm so that he can perform the role of Ganguly on overseas tours. Ravinder Jadeja continued his comeback in a manner that must have made the selection committee members happy and worried. Now, they would have to think how to fit in Yusuf Pathan in the line-up – that is a good headache to have.

Ashwin’s bowling caused enough headaches to keep the English guessing – his next tryst has to be the tests against West Indies at home. This will be an ideal series to try out Ashwin while giving Harbhajan the option to ply his wares against better batsmen (the Indian domestic trophy). Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav performed well in the opportunities given – early days but there is a lot of promise. If they can sustain their pace and bring in control and variation, Indian cricket can think of regaining their No.1 slot in tests. Vinay kumar did well in couple of ODIs but has to be given further chances to test his effectiveness on different wickets – brings in a variation to the attack with his bag of tricks.

MS Dhoni, though he didn’t say it anywhere, took his revenge on the drubbing his team received in England. Even after this emphatic win, he must be surely thinking on the Tour Down Under and how he needs to tweak the team to ensure that the tour doesn’t end up on a sour note. Rest must be the first thing on his mind after several continuous weeks of travel and play. Wish the Indian team management preserve him in cotton wool more than required.

India-England Return ODI series - The Indian team is back

2011-10-15T13:39:00.000+05:30

After losing against England on their disastrous tour, the Indian cricket team made a return to winning ways in a venue that has not been very kind to home teams. Hyderabad proved lucky for MS Dhoni, first with the toss and then with the bat & ball. The Indian team management must have been very happy with the performances by the young players though there is still a long way to go forward.

Raina and Dhoni along with cameos from Jadeja and Kohli ensured that the Indian total was challenging. The English team finally came to terms with reality - all the cricket writers who were hurriedly praising the team and management will now have to pause. The strength of the English team on sub-continental pitches has been a suspect for quite a while now - even with the recent 'hot' form behind them, the English faltered at every question the Indian players posed.

Spin will become a potent weapon for the Indians in the series, as the first match showed. The younger players in the England team had no clue for all the tricks of the spinners. The slowness of Cook and Trott was very much visible in the chase - something that will be on the mind of Andy Flower. It becomes imperative then that Kevin Pietersen should come to the party. Without his touch, the English will struggle to win on Indian pitches.

The bowlers, similarly, had no impact on the marauding batsmen. Yes, the first 35 overs were restrictive but the Indians changed gears in the last fifteen in such a way that the English were left trying to catch up. The Indian fielding, with young guns, showed major improvement compared to their recent trysts.

Are the Indian problems solved then? Not exactly. The top-order is still searching for form while the seasoned duo (Raina and MSD) keep performing consistently. This series will give the Indians a good opportunity to try out their second-string players in conditions where they will feel at home. If only a couple of players grab their chances and come good, the selectors will be having less sleepless nights.

On current evidence, the Indians look like winning the series at the earliest opportunity - will the English come back in the next match? Very unlikely!

CLT20 2011 Qualifiers - KKR edge past Auckland

2011-09-20T06:47:00.000+05:30

Topsy-turvy match as one can see from the graph below

CLT20 2011 Qualifiers - T&T start well

2011-09-20T06:46:00.000+05:30

Indian cricket - own Argus-like review

2011-08-28T22:06:00.000+05:30

The Argus review has been completed in Australia recently and the committee has suggested a number of moves, some of them ratified by the Board so far. If a similar review was done for Indian cricket, what would we find?

The true fact is that there have been quite a few bowlers blooded by India in the post-Srinath era. Not just bowlers, there have been middle-order batsmen and spinners in this list. Barring a few, none of them have gone on to be consistent in their approach. Quite a few have been injured while most of them have lost their way. Other than giving them their first chance, has the BCCI given them any directions? Not much. Have there been any opportunities these players received, other than the odd match or two as part of the senior squad? Nope.
Similarly, quite a few bowlers have been given chances in the ODI squad. They have been part of the regular circus undertaken by the BCCI on tours and series at home. Once again, no one takes care of these players once they are out of the team. How many times have we heard that Failure is the stepping stone to success. Even Laxman, Tendulkar did not make it big in their first few attempts - it was over time they have matured to the Greats they have become now.
What can one say about the Indian cricket schedule drawn by the BCCI? Is there any say of the players in drawing up this ridiculous schedule? Or is the BCCI just keen to milk the cow that Indian team is now. Such a schedule will only lead to injuries like the ones suffered by Zaheer, Gambhir and Sehwag.
The amount of money being paid by IPL franchises to the players is much more than what the BCCI plays as per their contract. This obviously shows where the players' priority lie. Can the BCCI take care of this disparity and ensure that the players are compensated well if they represent the nation. National pride aside, compensation plays a big part in the individual's interests.
The top-20 list of batsmen and bowlers who have done well in the domestic tournaments still shows veterans who are no longer considered for national selection. The other players have been given few chances but there is no one in the BCCI who can vouch for the greatness of these cricketers, can they? The pitches being used on the domestic circuit are either completely supporting the bowlers or the batsmen - there is no place for bounce, seam on these pitches.
Cricket academies where the younger players are groomed are no longer serving the purpose. Kiran More remarked that the NCA was a joke. Karsan Ghavri also added that he had not seen a youngster bowl 140kmph in the Bowling Academy ever. Even now, the MRF Pace Academy manufactures bowlers who are good in their art and have represented India for a decent period of time - latest being Varun Aaron. The first bowler from these stables was T A Sekhar who is the current coach in the same academy. Can the BCCI formalize this Academy so that more bowlers come out of this production-line to play for India?
Can the administration of the state cricket association be separated from the cricketing aspects? There used to be a concept of TRDO (talent scouts) earlier in the domestic circuit. Various cricketers like MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan are examples of players who have been identified by such scouts. Can these scouts/officers be re-initiated?
How much of the domestic cricket is being watched by the selectors? Can one get more accountability being drawn out of the performance of first-class players? Will a player like Bhargav Bhatt (leading wicket-taker) get more chances to ply his wares? Or will he get demoralised like Mithun who after getting his chance at the senior level (and making a decent performance) is back to the root-level without knowing what he needs to further his chance once again. Communication and Feedback to the players is an important aspect that needs to be included. Rahul Dravid had no clue that he was coming back to ODI after being dropped for a long while. Similarly, Murali Karthik has no idea why he is still out of the favor with selectors.
Will there be a clause in the contracts of the players where performance of the individual will have a bearing on the compensation he receives. It should be a reflection of the players presence in the next year contract as well. Only then will the players get a feeling that they are being watched for their performance and compensated accordingly.
Will Duncan Fletcher get a say in the selection as well as the injury management of players? Hope players like Sehwag and Zaheer (even though they were not fit enough after injury) are not fast-tracked to the playing squad.

Obviously, these 10 points were collected after reading the comments of ex-players, bloggers and other columnists. If one talks to other players like the Argus Review did, one can come up with an even bigger list.

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part V

2011-08-27T21:27:00.000+05:30

Is the Indian domestic cricket strong enough? Are we producing cricketers who are capable of representing the Indian national team? What are the performances seen in the domestic cricket that one can take solace from?

A list of the batting performances (combined numbers from Ranji and Duleep trophies) will show the leading run-scorers (in descending order of runs)

Many questions arise after looking at the list. The top 20 batsmen in the country shows two veterans in the list - two players who represented India as openers in the recent past - Aakash Chopra and Wasim Jaffer. Either of them were not in the contention when India lost Sehwag and Gambhir in the English series. They were not spoken about in any of the probable list either by the selectors or by the expert panel. Was age a factor in their rejection? Are we not ignoring these players and choosing others who are younger but not so competent enough? Though, one must mention that Abhinav Mukund appears second on the list.

Badrinath has been playing and scoring heavily on domestic pitches - one wonders why he was not part of the Emerging tournament? Has the selection committee already taken an opinion about him? Will he not make a comeback to the international team?

Manish Pandey appears as No.3 but if one remembers, he was banned by the IPL Governance Council for few T20s (trying to bargain his way with various IPL teams). A similar offence was done by another youngster (Ravindra Jadeja) in the previous version of IPL. What has the BCCI done in this matter? How are the younger players being mentored on the issue of money management? Anil Kumble had given a presentation to the BCCI on these aspects - has it moved forward? No word on how this is progressing now.

Rohit Sharma appears on the list - another player who has lost his way in the limelight. Cricketers like Ian Chappell have praised his technique so many times in his regular columns but Rohit is still not the list of players that the selectors will put up for any tour.

Similarly, a list of all bowling performances shows the list below

Bhargav Bhatt played the Emerging Tournament in Australia but if one remembers right, he was sent as a replacement once Rahul Sharma was injured. Sreenath Aravind was another bowler who got injured after getting selected for the tournament.

As in batting, the bowling list contains veterans like Jai Prakash Yadav, Sunil Joshi and Murali Karthik in the list of top wicket-takers. Another reflection of the lack of bowling riches in the country. One wonders where is Pankaj Singh as the No.2 wicket-taker - he is one who has potential if one listens to the likes of Aakash Chopra. Iqbal Abdulla is another player to watch in the future.

It is good though to see players like Mithun, Vinay Kumar, Ashwin, Yusuf Pathan, RP Singh in this list - proof enough that they are plying their wares in the domestic tournament earnestly.

Similarly, the Emerging Tournament squad contained players who have the potential - Ajinkya Rahane being one of them - but need the right exposure to hone his technique. The Tiwarys - Manoj and Saurabh - have been around for long time now but have not done the path-breaking performance to get noticed by the world. Umesh Yadav and Varun Aaron are the two bowlers whom India expects to bowl 140+ (if they dont get burnt out that is).

The others in the list are not so famous right now and there has been no sound-bites about these players in the media as well. Will they get proper chances in the future? Or are they one-off performances by these players only to fade away from the forefront? Have the Talent Scouts (are they still on BCCI rolls?) identified any future stars from these players?

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part IV

2011-08-26T15:07:00.000+05:30

The above table shows interesting insights into the basic needs of the Indian players. The first column shows the contract money being provided by BCCI to the players concerned as per the grades. There are 3 grades defined (base price of 1 Crore, 50 Lakhs, 25 Lakhs each) by BCCI. For comparison sake, the contract values are converted to Dollar value (1 USD = 46.07 INR being used) Similarly, the IPL franchises pay these players a given price (as per the auction when they bid for the player). If one considers that a player in a year has been selected for 20 test matches, 40 ODIs and 5 T20 matches, he will be compensated accordingly by BCCI (7 lakhs per test, 4 per ODI, 2 per T20I). Adding this to the base price, one gets the compensation every player receives from BCCI. The last column shows the comparison between the IPL prices of the players (versus the contracts being given). The table above has been sorted by the comparison number calculated. This reveals very interesting facts and it is no surprise that the players on the top of the table are the ones who have been 'injured' at various teams (thereby missing test/ODI series) or not selected (because of non-performance issues). Similarly, the ones at the bottom of the table are those for whom the Indian cap matters (even considering the fact that is for purely monetary basis alone). If one sees the English contracts, as per this article, the players are paid between 420,000 to 700,000 USD in a year. This is the base price and the match fees, win bonuses and sponsorship opportunities add to this base price. Aakash Chopra in this interview talks about a further parity in the Indian first-class cricketer's salary (forget international players)

Increase the remuneration in the Ranji and Duleep Trophy. At the moment a player gets Rs 1 lakh (US$ 2200 approx) per first-class game, but in the IPL the average player gets about Rs 30 lakhs ($65,000) for 14 T20 matches. So why should he sweat earning Rs 5 lakhs ($10,900) for playing one full season of first-class cricket? That gap needs to be bridged. You need to start rewarding players in domestic cricket.

Is this not proof enough that the central contract system of the Indian team needs a revamp? If the numbers are comparable to the ones the player gets from IPL, why will the players select the franchise compared to the country?

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part III

2011-08-25T20:02:00.000+05:30

One must be talking about scheduling of Indian cricket - how the Indians have been tired of playing so many matches. Others might be thinking why such a big deal is made out of such a small issue. To get a low-down on the actual dates, I tried to map the schedule of the Indian team from the time Australia toured in September 2010. The end-date was till the time India finish their tour Down Under. Each column below represents a fortnight in the calendar.

I have entered all the matches for IPL and CLT20 though a player will not play all the matches in the tournament. The schedule for the return tour by Windies is still not clear and that has been represented approximately (3 tests and 5 ODIs). The BCCI has now accepted Anil Kumble's proposal to play a warm-up match in Australia - but when is the slot available?

This schedule will give everyone a clear insight on the amount of cricket the team is subject to. Of course, the BCCI will say that they give the players an option to rest, if required. But, is this policy actually in practice? That is the question to ask the people concerned.

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem - Part II

2011-08-24T20:38:00.001+05:30

Following up on the earlier post, I decided to look up the number of players blooded by India in the last four years who can potentially step up to the test arena (numbers looked up are from 2007 Jan)

Shikhar Dhawan is the only other opener who has played in ODIs (apart from the usual suspects - Sehwag, Gambhir, Murali Vijay). He captained India in the recent Emerging Series tournament, performing decently. Though he was given ample chances in the Windies ODI, Dhawan did not justify his selection, often falling early to the quicks. Considering the record so far, it does not look like Dhawan's career will go anywhere until he shows a brilliant knock somewhere.
In the middle-order department, again the familiar names of Yuvraj, Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Badrinath appear. Those who have only played ODIs so far include Yusuf Pathan, Robin Uthappa, Ravinder Jadeja (can one call him as an all-rounder - not likely), Manoj Tiwary. Uthappa does not seem to be in the contention for any slot in the ODIs, forget test matches. Similarly, Jadeja has utilized all the opportunities he has given without cementing his place in the playing eleven - he is in a direct fight with Yusuf Pathan for the all-rounder slot (even though both of them are not present in the current squad chosen). Pathan has the potential to be a big game-changer for India and it might be a good gamble to bring him in the squad. Just imagine the impact he can make to the opposition if he gets his eye in. For a player who hit the Proteans for a century in their own backyard, he should be considered seriously.
Ashwin is the only spinner who has not played test matches so far. Ex-players like Sanjay Manjrekar and Ajit Wadekar suggest that he should be tried out as soon as possible in the test arena, avoiding the (short-form specialist) label that everyone has in mind. Iqbal Abdulla did a good job in the Emerging Tournament - will he be given the next chance to make an impact? A spot in the tour-game against visiting West Indies will be worthwhile. Rahul Sharma and Bhargav Bhatt are the others to keep an eye on.
The pace bowling department sees the usual names once again. The ones who have been given a chance in the ODIs are Asok Dinda, Sudeep Tyagi, Abhishek Nayyar, Vinay Kumar, Umesh Yadav, Manpreet Gony, Joginder Sharma, Pankaj Singh. A long list of bowlers on display where only Vinay Kumar is in the current squad. Vinay with his variations and ability to move the ball will help him in England ODIs. Yadav with his pace will be observed for a longer period just like Varun Aaron who has been selected as Ishant's replacement. Dinda played in Zimbabwe but could not make any impact with the ball. Nayyar was in the limelight as the Mumbai all-rounder but once again his performances did not match the hype. Will we see the younger bowlers like Tyagi, Gony and Pankaj Singh once again? Obviously they are not in the contention now but one never knows in the future how they will turn out to be.
Naman Ojha is the only other wicket-keeper who has played for India in the ODIs. His exploits as an opener for Rajasthan Royals ensured that he was given an opportunity - obviously he has not exploited it to make a name for himself.

Will the selectors try out any other youngster in the forthcoming series? Let us see.

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem

2011-08-23T21:36:00.000+05:30

The series is over. India have been white-washed by the English team convincingly, 4-0 being the verdict. There was no doubt who was the stronger team and the No.1 ranking at the end of the series was apt for the winners.

The jury is out. Ex-players are out with their comments and suggestions on how to improve Indian cricket but one thing is common among all the commentators - they are like the Indian industrialists who do not want to support Anna Hazare in the Anti-Corruption Drive. For fear of being an outcast in the eyes of BCCI and thereby losing their potential income, they do not blame IPL as one of the reasons for the Indian loss.

No longer the No.1

Sanjay Manjrekar in Cricinfo states that India needs a few urgent repairs. Manjrekar talks about pace bowlers first and then spinners.

Stating that India needs to look beyond Zaheer Khan, Sanjay lists the likely bowlers who can lead India's new-ball attack - Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma - while being disappointed with two other bowlers - Sreesanth, Munaf Patel. From the period Javagal Srinath retired from the international scene, India has played quite a few number of pacemen.
Let us look at the ones who are still in the hunt:

Irfan Pathan - played 29 test matches for India. Has a hat-trick to his name but lost his prodigious swing somewhere. Everyone criticized him for losing his pace which never was his strength. Injury further sidelined him, making it difficult for getting a look-in to the pace attack. Definitely should be in the plans for the future of Indian cricket. A fully-fit and in-form Irfan would have been a handful for the English attack with his swing and batting skills.
RP Singh - Eric Simons mentioned that he was selected over Munaf Patel because of his ability to swing. Neither swing was on offer nor pace was visible during his spell in the final test match. After having lost pace (more than 10kmph compared to the earlier English series in 2007), RP did not look like making any impact on the batsmen in any way.
Balaji and Ashish Nehra played test matches for India last in 2005. Injuries crippled them to cut short their promising careers. Though Nehra made a comeback to ODIs and has performed creditably, he has not been looked (by the selectors) as a possible candidate for tests (even though he was keen on coming back to the test arena). Balaji made a comeback two seasons ago in the IPL bowling at slower pace.
VRV Singh, Jaidev Unadkat were given chances on the tour to South Africa but they never capitalized on the opportunities. While VRV has fallen away, Wasim Akram has spoken very highly of Unadkat and one might see him make a comeback (provided he can add muscle to his slight frame). Abhimanyu Mithun on the Sri Lankan tour (in the absence of the leading bowlers), however, performed better than expected. But, he has not been seen once again in Indian colors. Will the selectors revert back to him for the Australian tour?

Similarly, in the spin bowling department, Manjrekar feels that Ashwin should be given a chance in the home series against West Indies. Who else have played for India in the same time-frame as above?

Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha are the ones who have been given the maximum number of chances after Kumble and in the absence of Harbhajan Singh. But, as Mishra showed in the recent series, on wickets that do not support spin, these bowlers do not make any impact on the bowlers. Pragyan Ojha should continue his previous assignment that was agreed with Surrey and gain experience on the county circuit. This will keep him in good stead for the future.
Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar are the other spinners who have played a couple of test matches for India. Though Chawla made a surprise comeback to the 2011 World Cup and has age on his side, he is not thought to be in the same frame as the other spinners. If he can be a bit faster in the air, Chawla can still help India in the long run. Powar continues to ply his wares in the Ranji tournament with average success.
Murali Karthik is the other bowler who has performed well whenever given a chance (which is mostly in a crisis situation). But, the selectors seem to consider him as over-the-hill even though he plays with success on the county circuit.

Sanjay finishes the article by suggesting that VVS Laxman does not have much time to play for India. Just a few test matches ago, the entire sub-continent was singing praises for VVS but look at the reactions now. There are obviously no other players who are good enough to take his role, yet. Who are the other middle-order batsmen whom the selectors have given a chance so far?

Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have been given enough chances to prove themselves. Both have showed that they cannot translate their potential shown in the shorter format to the longer arena. How longer will they continue to get chances their way? Should the selectors not look elsewhere now? Probably yes.
Cheteshwara Pujara, Virat Kohli and Badrinath have been given a few tests to show their prowess. Virat and Badri have shown that they have technical weaknesses against the short ball (Badrinath would have felt unlucky to have started his test career against the searing pace of Steyn). Pujara did well against Australia at home but in the series against Proteans, did not make a big contribution.
Rohit Sharma is the other name suggested by Anil Kumble in his comments after the debacle but these players should earn their spot in the playing eleven rather than being selected purely for youth sake.

In the opening department, Sehwag and Gambhir have been playing well but as this series once again showed, injuries and illnesses need to be planned in a proactive manner.

Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar had performed the role of opener very creditably on the tours to Australia and England. Though they still play domestic cricket, they are not on the short-list of selectors any more. Aakash would have been the ideal opener to replace Sehwag on the recent tour, even though it was a short-term option.
Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund hail from the state of Tamil Nadu. They have done well in few of the opportunities given to them so far but it is injustice to them that they have not been given the exposure to challenging pitches overseas on 'A' tours. Will the BCCI make the necessary changes to groom these players?

Ravi Shastri, the IPL veteran, remarked in his column - It's time for Indian cricket to identify players who are specifically suited to the different formats of the game. A way has to be found to encourage those cricketers who want to give Test cricket priority. There ought to be superior remuneration or compensation. How do you suggest this will happen, Ravi? Especially when the BCCI is filling its coffers with IPL as well as CLT20 tournaments, how can young cricketers get encouraged by the longer version? Is BCCI planning to start a new tournament on similar lines? Or are they going to increase the prices of central contract? What is your detailed proposal to achieve this, Mr. Shastri?

Pataudi, who gave away the trophy (named after his father) to England at Oval, predicted the next action that one can expect from the BCCI very correctly - The BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision. Cricket will continue [in India] the way it is, but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in.

Eng-Ind series - When India had a chance

2011-08-22T15:38:00.000+05:30

Though England have won the series against India convincingly, there were incidents when everyone involved felt that the Indian team had a fair chance of matching the English, at least in the first two test matches

First test at Lords

Zaheer Khan walks out of the attack after bowling a little more than 13 overs, reducing the Indian attack to a three-bowler (including an off-color Harbhajan). From a total of 62-2, England launch a score of 474-8 before declaring their innings. MS Dhoni is forced to exchange his gloves for the ball and comes close to taking Pietersen's wicket (denied by the DRS)

Dravid and VVS Laxman are going good at 182-3 when VVS gifts his wicket away. The Indians fold up for 286, barely avoiding the follow-on.

Ishant Sharma puts his best in an inspired piece of bowling to reduce England to 62-5. He does not return after lunch, giving Morgan and Prior enough time to break away and eventually Broad decides to cut loose against the tired bowling (162 runs in 28 overs). England set India a target of 458.

Gambhir gets hit on the elbow in the 2nd innings, ruling him out of the opening slot in the crucial final innings of the test next as well as the test match.

Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni take tea on the final day at 218-5 in 81 overs. With one more session to follow, all hopes are on these two to take India to safety. Dhoni had been there and done the rescue act during the Lords test on the previous tour. This time, he edges behind to start the procession of the Indians to end at 261 in the 97th over.

2nd Test at Nottingham. India were supposed to be the comeback Kings.

They did start on the right note by reducing England 124-8. Broad and Swann came together to take the total to 221 (adding 97 runs in a little more than 18 overs).
Rahul Dravid (again) and Yuvraj Singh were going great guns at 267-4 when Yuvraj poked to one outside off against Broad. Result was that India folded out to 288 (just 67 runs lead!)
Harbhajan Singh picked up an injury, once again reducing the Indian attack to a three-member show. Yuvraj and Raina bowled the additional overs to spare MSD the plight of bowling.
England were 24-1 by end of 2nd days play and quickly went to 57-2 before the Ian Bell show started. KP, Morgan, Prior and then Bresnan and Broad dismantled the Indian bowling to such an extent that the team was demoralized. The team must have lost their confidence during this innings - so much that their intensity got lower and lower after this mark. There was no way the Indians were going to extend the match to the final day. The humiliation was complete when the team was reduced to 55-6. After taking a 67-run lead, the match was lost by a whopping 319 runs - unbelievable.

After these two test matches, India were always playing catch-up. If only some of these chances were taken, the outcome of the series would have been different. Do you agree?

11 ways to encourage the Indians

2011-08-20T13:01:00.000+05:30

No point in writing any more posts about the on-going test series between India and England. Hence, decided to see how the Indian players can encourage themselves to come back in the last test at Oval - eleven different means

Sehwag should not play conventional shots any more - he should take advice of Ranbir Kapoor and play 'Upar Cut' whenever possible
Gambhir has to decide that he has to 'Make it Large' in every innings he gets a chance
Dravid has to go back in time when he was the face of Gillette just like other ex-champions (Roger Federer, Tiger Woods) and make (another) comeback
Tendulkar should have more Boost after spending all the hours on the field to get back his energy
VVS Laxman should apply Vaseline on his face and ensure that Michael Vaughan gets to see it clearly.
Suresh Raina should drink Pepsi Ghatak-Ghatak before going to the ground and play as though he is playing IPL for Chennai Super Kings.
MS Dhoni should intimidate the English 'bowler rascals' and ask the bowlers to 'mind it'
Amit Mishra, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth do not need any other encouragement than the time they need in the pavilion after spending three days on the field (for the fourth test in a row)!

Will this be good enough? Let us hope so.

Did the Indians have any luck at all against England

2011-08-15T18:29:00.002+05:30

In the ongoing test series between India and England, the rub of the green often went against the Indians - few instances noted below:

Zaheer Khan was ruled out of the first test at Lords due to injury - this reduced to the Indian bowling attack to three bowlers (one of them being an out-of-form 400+ wicket-taking spinner) and occasional captain-bowler. This was felt sorely when the English team (second innings) was at 62-5 and 107-6. The main bowlers were tired and without any backup bowler, the captain was direction-less.
Praveen Kumar pinged Kevin Pietersen's on his foot, looking very plumb only for the umpire to reject the appeal. A DRS review would have resulted in KP being ruled out, depriving him of the double century he eventually went on to score.
Gautam Gambhir, at forward short-leg, was hit by a strong pull-shot that made the Indians lose their other half of a great opening partnership which was till then crucial for the No.1 position in test cricket.
Stuart Broad's hat-trick had Harbhajan Singh edging the ball on to his pad which was not noticed by the umpire. Without DRS in this series, the Indians had no chance to review the decision. Thus the hat-trick hastened the closure of Indian innings and gave them a small lead over the English.
Harbhajan Singh, during the second innings of second test, pulled up a muscle which rendered the Indian attack again to three bowlers.
Rahul Dravid was beaten by unbeatable deliveries in the test series - only such balls could break the Wall in this series.
The weather was overcast for most of the Indian innings so far while the English had only one such instance (1st innings of second test) when they were bowled out by the Indians.

Gary Player once said

The more I practice, the luckier I get.

This quote more than sums up the performance for all the points mentioned above. Ishant Sharma's dismissal in the first innings of 3rd test was an example of how everything went right for England in this series.

One can give similar instances where the Indians contributed to their downfall with reckless shot-making, dropped catches as well as superb bowling by the English pacemen. No wonder, no one is talking about luck playing its part in the English ascent to No.1

Indian cricket - Beginning of the End

2011-08-12T14:20:00.001+05:30

It might be early to herald the demise of Indian cricket, with three days to go in the ongoing 3rd test match against England. But, that is inevitable looking at the performance of the two teams in the test match - other than half a session when MS Dhoni and Praveen Kumar were fighting back against the English attack, the Indian team has been listless throughout. The Indian team resembles a boxer who has lost two close rounds and has run completely out of steam in the third. The team seems to be going through the motions, just waiting for wickets to fall by chance.

Noted commentator, Henry Blofeld, explains in his own way India's fall from grace. Sachin & Co. have not done well in the series so far while the juniors also have not put their hands up. Can we blame the younger players like Abhinav Mukund, Suresh Raina? No, for they have never had a chance to work on pitches and conditions like these, let alone a team like England at their prime. The current Indian team is a mirror reflection of the English team that toured India in 1992-93 (which was comprehensively beaten 3-0 by Anil Kumble and gang). England should prove themselves on the sub-continent to prove that they can stay on top for a longer period but that is a story for another day.

Harsha Bhogle, meanwhile, talks about three players (Harbhajan, Yuvraj and Zaheer) who are at crossroads. But the problem is not limited to these 3 alone - where is the next generation players and what are the opportunities provided to them? An odd tour to Australia for the Emerging Tournament is what one sees regularly - where is the once famous 'A' tours? Why is BCCI not arranging them? Is it because there is no money to be made there?

The Indians were lucky in many ways to reach the pinnacle in test cricket as well as the World Cup win in ODIs. None of this was achieved by strategic planning by the BCCI. Gary Kirsten, MSD and other senior players planned the triumphs despite the bureaucratic organization that runs the sport. The fact that the ODI World Cup was played in the sub-continent meant that strengthening the batting department was a sure-shot path for success.

Similarly, the test team saw the nucleus remain the same for a long period without any planning for injuries or illnesses (I am not even talking about the retirement of the 3 stars in the Indian lineup). Sourav Ganguly has retired for quite a while now but his replacement position has been filled by Yuvraj, Raina, Pujara. During the current series, Sehwag and Gambhir (for 2nd test) were not available and what did the Indian team do? Go back to Rahul Dravid and the young batsman with no experience of these conditions.

Are there any others on the horizon we can look at?

In the opening department, other than Murali Vijay and Mukund, Ajinkya Rahane is the only other name that comes to mind. 3 names from a two-tier Ranji format - does it not say loudly that there is something drastically wrong here?
Similarly, in the middle-order, there is (as Harsha says, a coalition group of ministers) Cheteshwara Pujara, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma other than Raina. How many of these can stand up and say confidently that they can face the 90mph pace with ease? Look at Manish Pandey - a youngster who showed his talent in one Ranji season but the IPL bandwagon make his head spin around and go on journeys where money mattered more than everything else.
The wicket-keeping duties when MSD is not available is being rotated between W Saha and Parthiv Patel. Dinesh Karthik has fallen away in form and hence not on the nearest horizon.
During the last series against South Africa, J Unadkat and U Yadav were among the trio of bowlers on tour. Today, they are in Australia playing the Emerging Tournament along with Vinay Kumar and Varun Aaron. Where is Ashish Nehra who had mentioned that he would be available for test matches after World Cup was over? RP Singh was not deemed suitable for the Emerging Tournament but gets called when Zak is ruled out of the series.
The spin department shows similarly lack of riches - what happened to the Spin Academy that was launched by the BCCI? Why are we going back to Harbhajan for all overseas tours? If there is no one else suitable, why not go back to the good old Murali Karthik.

After this series, the Windies will tour India (possibly without Gayle again) and get beaten comprehensively in Indian conditions. All the outpour of today will be forgotten till the next overseas tour - this case, the Australian sojourn. No point in blaming the new coach Duncan Fletcher and captain MS Dhoni - it is the BCCI who has to show some sense in planning for the future. Will the BCCI consultants, Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar, stand up and do something for the country or are they happy to pocket the crores given by the organization?

Vaseline and Batsman Recalls

2011-08-03T18:03:00.000+05:30

Two off-field incidents made news in the second test between India and England - one obviously was the decision by MS Dhoni to recall Ian Bell after he was run out by the Indian team in the second innings. This led to a huge discussion all around the world whether it was right or not. The Indian ex-players also joined the noise-bytes made over the decision - Anil Kumble and GR Viswanath being two ex-captains from the state of Karnataka who praised Dhoni's decision. Nobody spoke about Viswanath's decision to recall Bob Taylor in the Golden Jubilee test between India and England - a pity that such a decision was not given the right advertisement.

The other incident was about the tweet given by ex-English captain Michael Vaughan. Vaughan suggested that VVS Laxman might have used Vaseline to cheat the HotSpot machine. Obviously, this led to players like Ravi Shastri and Sunil Gavaskar to voice strong opinions on Vaughan - in fact, Sunny Bhai even went to the extent of asking VVS to consult his lawyers!! Vaseline too had an earlier connection between India and England test matches - ask John Lever about it. Tony Greig gives a good spin over the incident but this only goes to prove that the English media has very short memory about incidents that do not show their team in a poor situation.

One common thread between these two incidents and the second test match was that England won the matches concerned!

Eng-Ind - MSD needs a break

2011-08-01T11:36:00.000+05:30

Captain Cool needs a break

What is important for the Indian team is to give MSD a break from cricket. He is clearly feeling (mentally) the fatigue of continuous cricket that he has been involved with. Maybe the bowlers will take a clue and bowl so slowly that the team will be warned and Dhoni will be suspended for the next test match.

His field placement on the 3rd day of 2nd test match was nothing above average. On a day when the English team was scoring so quickly, Dhoni did not do much to curb the run-rate. Agreed that the bowlers were not getting help from the wicket but that has been the case in instances where the Indian team has played at home. Remember how Dhoni used 8-1 field placements to bore out Hayden and the Aussie team in Nagpur? Or there could have been an attempt to ask the bowlers to bowl a negative line to restrict the free scoring. None of them were tried out. Similarly, in the first innings, Broad and Swann took the attack away from the Indians and added critical runs to the English total (an addition of 60-70 crucial runs).

His batting has been affected - it has been a long time since he has scored a substantial knock in test cricket (except for a fifty in the Windies test). His dismissal in the first innings of the second test triggered the collapse of the Indian batsmen (a deficit of minimum of 70-80 runs) - the attitude displayed by him during his stint at the crease was not befitting that of a No.7 batsmen, forget the captain of the Indian team.

If the chances were taken at the right time, the Indian team would have been sitting on a lead of 200 and not just 67. There in lies the tale of this test match. England has done well to come back thanks to sunlight as well as Bell/Pietersen/Morgan/Prior and may continue to make the score-line 2-0 but Dhoni cannot keep blaming the injuries to his bowlers alone as the excuse. In fact, he does not give any reasons and that is the best part.

His decision to revert the decision of Ian Bell in the same test was heralded by the media and the opposition team but it was not right to appeal in the first instance. That it was one of the junior member (Abhinav Mukund) who broke the stumps was pardonable but the appeal should have been rejected by Dhoni even before the 3rd umpire was called for. Anyway, all is well that ends well.

In trying to force him to play continuously, is the BCCI killing its golden goose - not just in terms of the attractiveness of the Indian team but also the longevity of a person like Dhoni. A fresh Dhoni who can revert back to his dynamic ways on the ground is what the Indian team needs. Will he get the break in the next test, thanks to the slowness of his bowlers?

Eng-Ind - 2nd test preview

2011-07-29T12:48:00.000+05:30

While the English press is already celebrating the win in the Lords test by saying that the team is a step away from being No.1, the Indian media is talking about the typical attitude shown by Indian teams in coming back from such situations. While both are partially true, the players must be quietly planning their own battles for the next test match with the hope that there will be enough support for their style of cricket.

Now, what should be the Indian approach in the next match to equalize the series? A number of small steps:

The famed batting lineup should come to the party. Rahul Dravid will most likely open the batting and he has to take this in the right spirit (and not just do it for the sake of the team).
Sachin Tendulkar has to forget the fact that he is one-century short of a landmark milestone. He cannot get bogged down by statistics and even though he will create history eventually, he has to free up his mind.
VVS Laxman has to blame himself for both his dismissals at Lords. If not, he has shown that he can correct his record in England. Will it start from this test? MSD will hope so.
Yuvraj Singh will be the player to take over from Gambhir and must ensure that his pie-chucking skills get Kevin Pietersen out quickly.
The Indian team should kindle Sreesanth in such a way that he performs with the ball and not lip-service.
Hope Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar have been kept in cotton-wool for the last 3 days.
Harbhajan Singh should start flighting and turning the ball now. It has been high time he has led the attack and he should realize that his bag of wickets is not justifying his performance on the ground.

Yes, a long list of tasks but not impossible for the Indian team.

Eng-Ind - England go up 1-0

2011-07-26T11:24:00.000+05:30

The 100th test match between India and England went the way of the hosts in a match that, though affected by rain, was played in bright sunlight most of the days. Though one can point their fingers towards the bowling, the famed batting of the No.1 test team in the world did not come to the ground. Agreed that the absence of Zaheer Khan helped England's cause but it was the clinical efficiency of the English team was visibly evident in the performances. The winning margin was almost the deficit that India had after both the first innings was completed - this meant that the match was lost then and there.

A look at the Indian eleven reveals the pluses and minuses from the test match:

Praveen Kumar. There was a question mark on his presence in the playing eleven. This match yet again, proved his worth to the team especially in such conditions. He was also a willing work-horse on whom MSD could go back repeatedly for an extended spell. Hope his fitness continues to be in the prime condition. His batting in the first innings showed how much Sehwag was missed by this team - the minute he started attacking the bowlers, the English were a bit disturbed.
Rahul Dravid. Hope no one raises the talk about his retirement plans once again. Rahul showed in the first innings why he is such a vital cog in India's batting wheel. His technique has changed a bit but it has helped him overcome the mistakes he was doing in recent times. It was a real surprise that he could not continue further in the second innings. He kept wickets, opened the innings and caught some tough catches - what more can the man do?
Suresh Raina. A dodgy decision in the first innings cut his knock short but in the second stint, he was the fulcrum of the Indian innings. He has showed in both the tours so far that he has worked hard on his shortcomings against the short ball and how. He was in no problems against the English bowlers during the innings - another attestation of Greg Chappell's prediction that he was a talent to watch out for.
Ishant Sharma. If he had listened to Zaheer Khan in the first innings, the Indian team would have been in a much better position in the test match. He was listless in the absence of Zaheer but produced a dream spell in the second. If he can repeat such spells in the forthcoming test matches, India has a good chance to equalize the series quickly.
VVS Laxman. His batting was in sync with his record of poor scores in the first test of a series (reflection of India's fortunes as well). He did well in the second innings but fell in both stints to his knack of pulling the ball in air.
Abhinav Mukund. His temperament was good in both innings and impressed all the greats in the commentary box. If he reaches out to Sunil Gavaskar before the second test, he will have better options to tackle the weakness of reaching out to wide balls. A good back-up for the combination of Sehwag and Gambhir.
Zaheer Khan. Had dismissed both the openers on the first day before he walked out of the match. Has continued a knack of not playing all the test matches in an overseas series. The sooner he can make a reappearance in the eleven, the better the chances of India in the series.
MS Dhoni. His batting seems to be still in B-mode while his captaincy was decent enough with all the issues going around in the team. The team was down to 8 fit men in the second innings and the captain did everything in his capacity to reduce the final target. It was a good move by him not to tax Ishant after the lunch on the fourth day, despite all criticism he received - remember the likes of Srinath and Prasad being overworked by Sachin Tendulkar leading them to severe injuries.
Harbhajan Singh. There is no reason why Harbhajan is in the squad - maybe the team management think that it is not right to drop a bowler with 400 wickets. His outcome in this test (though Dhoni did support him) was the same as Suresh Raina - not to belittle either of them. He was clearly outperformed by Swann. The English bowlers knew the exact lengths to bowl to him also - making him ineffective with the bat as well.
Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir has to get into his groove as early as possible. Obviously, his elbow will be in focus over the next three days. If Gautam can get going, the Indian team can seize the advantage over the bowlers quickly. Without Sehwag, India depends on GG to get going.
Sachin Tendulkar. The legend was bogged down by a viral infection as well as the hype surrounding his 100th century. He is probably putting additional pressure on him to score the next century (also, getting one in Lords was worrying him also). Hope to see him back in his groove in the next test.

England-India test series preview

2011-07-19T21:54:00.000+05:30

2000th match in history of test cricket
100th test match between India and England
1st test in a new series between the No.1 and No.3 in ICC Rankings
Sachin Tendulkar on 99 in the number of centuries (tests + ODIs)
Sachin with a sub-40 highest score at Lords

It does not get any bigger than this as a build-up to the test series that starts this Thursday. The return of Sachin, Gambhir, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth to the test squad will add strength to the Indian team. The English team is looking at the pinnacle of the ICC rankings by toppling the Indian team.

The Indian team did not get good practice on English soil in the single warm-up match last week. The last time they toured, they played the ODI tri-series and two warm-up matches (one of them had Strauss in the line-up) before the first test. Obviously, the result of the series was 1-0 in favor of the Indians. This time, it is just one match against Somerset to adapt to the conditions. The English pitches typically suit the batsmen on a normal sunny day but change their stripes rapidly after a passing shower. This is where the Indian team has to be careful about. The English bowlers could not dislodge the Sri Lankan batsmen mostly during the three test series except for a bizarre session when the Lankans collapsed.

Players to look for will be Alistair Cook and Ian Bell from the English batting line-up. Andy Strauss and Kevin Pietersen will be under pressure thanks to their recent failures. Similarly, Rahul Dravid and Suresh Raina will be on the spotlight after their successes in the Caribbean islands.

On the bowling front, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma can support Zaheer Khan in driving the advantage towards India. Harbhajan's lack of form will be worrying but after his 400-wicket landmark, he will be itching to go flat out. How much Greame Swann can trouble the batsmen will be key to the English bowling attack when the ball does not do much. The tall bowlers will be looking for the pitch to help their height and swing but will the pitches help?

Shane Warne thinks England will win 1-0 but I feel that there is a high chance of a drawn series.

WI-India 1st test - India win the series 1-0

2011-07-13T12:44:00.000+05:30

Being the No.1 team in the world, one expected the Indian team to win this series 3-0. Thanks to the team that was selected for the series (without SRT, Sehwag, Gambhir, Zaheer), the expectations was reduced and the public was not expecting a brown-wash. That the final verdict was 1-0 must be looked at as a good win for the team (with a new coach as well).

The first match was won by the team despite being in a precarious situation at one stage. Rain thwarted the victory march in the second test. The final test was going the Indian way till Kirk Edwards and Shiv Chanderpaul decided to show what they were made of. Chanderpaul has seen so much criticism come his way that he made his bat do the talking. There were talks that he was asked to quit test cricket and make way for younger generation - if his performance in this test was anything to go by, the youngsters have to prove themselves first before even thinking of taking his place in the eleven. Edwards on the other hand, looked shaky but went on to cobble a century.

The return of form of MS Dhoni and continued efforts of Suresh Raina, Abhinav Mukund and evergreen VVS Laxman were the highlights from the batting front. All this augurs well for the English tour where the four of them will most definitely play the Lords test match. Ishant Sharma bowled well again while Harbhajan improved his performance compared to the first 2 matches. The lack of penetration on the final day would worry Dhoni and Fletcher but with the return of Zak, there will be some solace.

Overall, a good tour for the Indians where they won 1 T20, 3 ODIs and 1 test match. Expected but nevertheless a decent result with the number of youngsters who were blooded in this series.

England, here we come.

India tour starts in England later this week

2011-07-10T17:29:00.000+05:30

The Indians have still not played their last day in the Caribbean at the time of writing this post. They start their tour in UK on the 15th with a tour match - 5 days to move across multiple time-zones and much tougher opposition. The Indian team composition will also differ (6 changes from the one that is playing West Indies).

Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir will be the prominent reinforcements to the Indian team. Virender Sehwag will be available from the second test onwards - Abhinav Mukund will play the role of an opener in the first test after performing his role to the best abilities. Dravid, Laxman and Sachin will be the strong middle-order that can take on any team in any conditions. They will be probably playing their last series in England and definitely looking forward to a fitting farewell. Suresh Raina has shown that he has got over his earlier weakness against the short ball by scoring fifties in this series. The inclusion of Yuvraj Singh is a good option to have but will he be present in the playing eleven? Very unlikely.

The bowlers on the other hand will get a boost with the return of Zaheer Khan. The best left-handed bowler in the business today, Zaheer will provide the guidance to the rest of the pace bowlers who must have been tired after the latest test series. How quickly the likes of Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar recover from the travel and test match rigors remains to be seen. Ishant has come of age in the WI series and he will be raring to go. Praveen Kumar showed that he can be an asset in the test match scenario just like the ODIs. Add Sreesanth and Munaf Patel to the mix and you have a world-class combination that the English team management will be worried about. W Saha and Amit Mishra might be the journeymen in the tour who will play the tour matches but will do no more duties in the test matches other than carrying drinks (unless a severe injury puts out the keeper or spinner).

Leading this team from the front will be the best captain of India (even better than the successful Sourav Ganguly) - MS Dhoni. He has already toured the Old Blighty (under the captaincy of Anil Kumble) earlier and with the company of Duncan Fletcher must be ready with the strategy to lead his team to victory in the series against the Andys (Flower and Strauss). He showed glimpses of his batting form while his captaincy with the beleaguered team has been brilliant and spotless as ever.

My take on the test series - an Indian win (1-0) or a drawn series (1-1).

WI-India 2nd test - Laxman and Ishant nearly make it 2-0

2011-07-03T10:26:00.000+05:30

Ishant Sharma with the ball and VVS Laxman with the bat almost got the win for India that would have enabled them to go up 2-0 in the test series. Bad light and rain had made the most impact on the match and they ensured that they will have the final say on the fate of the match.

Ishant Sharma had shown glimpses of form in the first test match - here, he took it a notch higher. It was very satisfying for the Indian fan to see him pinging the opposition batsmen on the helmet and then troubling them with his swing/seam. He was the leader of the pack and he came to the party whenever his captain asked for a breakthrough.

VVS Laxman, just like Rahul Dravid in the first test, held the Indian innings together after early inroads were made by the Windies pacemen. The short ball has never been a problem for the tall batsman - here also, he pulled out his horizontal bat whenever required to keep the bowlers at bay. Raina in the first and Abhinav Mukund / Rahul Dravid in the second innings gave him good company. He missed a century in both his innings but he would have been the happiest if India had gone on to win the match.

Mukund learnt from his own as well as the rival batsmen on how to survive and play on such wickets. His gritty performance meant that he was selected to continue in the Indian team for the England sojourn also. Suresh Raina continued to impress everyone with his gutsy performances - weaving and pulling whenever the ball was pitched short. He seems to have reclaimed his spot in the batting order during this series with the help of such timely knocks.

Harbhajan Singh again continued to disappoint - a bowler of nearly 400 wickets has struggled to pick up wickets once again. His friendship with the captain will be under strain now, because of such lackluster performances. It is time to look at Pragyan Ojha for the next test match.

MS Dhoni was involved in two incidents that could have made a difference to the verdict - one was his dismissal in the first innings of a no-ball (even though the TV umpire was involved, the wrong decision was given) while the other was the dropped catch by him of the wicket-keeper Baugh (Baugh and Bravo held the fort for Windies on the last day to ensure that the match would not be lost). Though it must be argued that, because of Dhoni's decision, the match came to life on the last-day after the declaration. One can say it was brave but obviously the form of Windies batsmen must have made it easy for MSD.

The last test match with India 1-0 up in the series. Will they make it 2-0 in Dominica?

WI-India 1st test - Dravid helps India take lead

2011-06-25T19:23:00.000+05:30

The Indians gained early lead in the test series in the Caribbean thanks to the heroics of Rahul Dravid and the bowlers.

The test started with a relatively inexperienced line-up on both sides. Two players on both sides had played in excess of 80 matches while there was a lot of inexperienced players also - 3 debutants from the Indian team. The table below shows the difference between both teams.

The bowler with the maximum number of wickets had the least impact in the test match while showing his latest prowess with the bat. It was the debutant, Praveen Kumar, who shone for India by swinging the ball both ways. Similarly, Bishoo from the Windies was effective with his leg-spin, capturing wickets of leading batsmen from the Indian team.

The batsmen with the highest number of runs on both sides, however, showed everyone how to bat on such a surface. He had done a similar act on the same ground the last time India visited the Windies. Probably the KSCA need to create a wall in Sabina Park the same way they have done in Bangalore. This will not only be a honor for the legend but also a way to remind their future batsmen of the four innings that Dravid played on this ground. The patience with which Rahul handled the vagaries of the pitch as well as the Windies bowling was worth every dollar spent by the crowd. The youngsters in the Indian team should feel blessed that they received such a master-class during their stint with the Indian team on how to bat in difficult conditions. There is nothing much that can be said about the WALL himself. He has time and again, proved his worth to the Indian team despite all the claims by the media that the younger stars were ready to take the mantle.

VVS Laxman had rare failures in both the innings - another class act who will be raring to be back at his best in the next test match. The Tamil Nadu openers could not capitalize the opportunity that was provided to them because of Gambhir/Sehwag's injuries - hope they learn from their mistakes and rise to the occasion in the future. Virat Kohli is regarded as 'future of Indian cricket' by Duncan Fletcher and one expected him to continue the good form from the ODI's. Alas, this was not to be in this test match - he will get more chances in this series to justify the praise from the coach. Suresh Raina used this opportunity to help the team recover from a difficult situation in the first innings even though he looked ugly while playing the short ball.

Regarding the bowlers, the Windies batsmen have now got used to Amit Mishra's variety - that could be the only reason for his less-than-usual haul of wickets. Is it time to bring Pragyan Ojha to the team? Ishant Sharma was good in patches but he is still not the bowler who troubled Ricky Ponting in Perth. If the Indian team plays as per their potential, they will have no reason for not winning the series 3-0.

SRT and MSD

2011-06-11T00:41:00.000+05:30

Sachin Tendulkar. Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Two legends who are adored by different generations, playing for the same team, but still manage to keep their head on their shoulders. Role models for the next generation cricketers in the Indian sub-continent. What more can one say? Only that the youngsters in the Indian cricket team are lucky to be sharing the dressing room with players who are extra-ordinary gentlemen as well as skilled professionals in the art they pursue.

If Sachin was the epitome of individual skills, Dhoni has shown that he is one who can shine in a team situation. For long, Tendulkar was failing to get the one team medal that was not present in his closet - the World Cup winners medal. He tried in five different World Cups but destiny was not on his side. It was meant to be in a team that was captained by the best captain that India had (in terms of accomplishments he is beyond the statistically-backed Sourav Ganguly). He scored two centuries in this World Cup but coincidentally they were the two matches that India did not win (tie against England, loss against South Africa).

Sachin tried his best to inspire a generation of young cricketers to share his dream but in trying to do that, his expectations soared. This was probably the burden that upcoming youngsters could not face and coming from the legend, they could not say it out openly. Dhoni, on the other hand, is very approachable to his players. He supports them when their form is down, like Piyush Chawla and Ashwin in the World Cup or Yuvraj Singh before. The support makes the players believe in themselves and come out much stronger.

Before you start thinking that this article is in favor of Dhoni, I would like to set the record straight that as a batsman he is far behind SRT. Though his ODI record is quite good and he has proved his worth time and again, he is not facing the issues that ailed the Indian team during Sachin's younger days. In test matches, Sachin is streets ahead of the rest of the world, forget Dhoni.

Together with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Indian team is lucky to have four gentlemen in the playing eleven. There might not be many matches that this quartet will play together in the future but as long as they do, we should enjoy the occasion. Such genuinely good successful human beings in one team is a rarity. Do you agree?

IPL4 - Best of the rest

2011-06-01T01:34:00.000+05:30

The IPL4 is over and CSK defended their crown successfully. RCB were not good enough in the final but which team would have been? Let me come up with a team of eleven consisting of players from the other teams who

have done well in the latest tournament
have 4 overseas players (just like the tournament guidelines)
have players who are not veterans or injured or rested

What did the team look like? See below

Chris Gayle - any doubts on this gentleman, even though his national selectors are not interested in him.
Paul Valthaty - stand-out performance in the IPL that helped Punjab defeat CSK
Jacques Kallis - the best all-rounder in today's age
Virat Kohli - I would make him the captain of this team as well
Shaun Marsh - The best opening batsman that Australia never chooses
Ambati Rayudu - Wicket-keeper for the team as well as last-over specialist (a la Javed Miandad)
Shikhar Dhawan - 400 runs in the tournament without anyone noticing it!
Iqbal Abdulla - Best performance by a youngster
Lasith Malinga - again, no more arguments
Rahul Sharma - A definite future Indian spinner maybe not in test matches to start but definitely in the shorter version.
Sreenath Aravind - Left-arm opening bowler in contrast to Malinga's pace.

What do you think of this team? Any thoughts? Will they beat CSK?

IPL4 - CSK defend their crown easily

2011-05-28T23:44:00.000+05:30

MS Dhoni added another trophy today to his crowded cabinet - second one this year after the 50-over World Cup. Chennai Superkings are somewhat similar to how Australia were in the international cricket till late. The CSK team came prepared for the finals, knowing exactly what to do. Each member of the team were pumped up and having experienced a victory last year, they knew what needed to be done. RCB, on the other hand, had been runners-up once and seemed destined to repeat the performance once again.

When the first innings started, it was very evident how the two teams differed on the nerve-count. CSK were stealing extra runs while RCB were giving away over-throws - a reflection of the dominance of the match from very beginning. Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey have been doing a decent job as openers in this edition of IPL but today they rose to the occasion with a sterling performance. Vijay's confidence must have been boosted by his selection to the Windies tour - his booming sixes came out of the closet enabling CSK to run away from their opponents. Hussey, as his wont, rotated the strike and hit the big shots equally well. Though the batting fell away after the dismissal of the openers, the team ensured that they passed 200.

Nothing went according to plan for the RCB's bowlers. Their fielders also let them down in this crucial match by giving away runs when they were not present - Two tough chances were dropped off Vijay as well. Zaheer Khan bowled reasonably well but none of the other bowlers could make any impact. Aravind and Gayle took wickets in their last over to reduce their scoring but by then the horse had bolted.

After 205 was scored, RCB had their hopes on Chris Gayle to fire. Ashwin produced his magic to get rid of the dangerous Gayle in his first over - two balls that turned followed by one that went on with the line. This meant that the pair of Kohli and AB De Viliers had to do all the running. They hit the big shots and rotated the strike, keeping the match in interest, till Raina and Jakati produced their bits of brilliance. Even though wickets fell around him, Sourabh Tiwary did not make any effort to increase the run-scoring. He does not seem to be cut out for the big stage at this time.

Overall, CSK retained their core players which meant that they had a settled combination. No tinkering of the team was done - evidence was the fact that the same team played for six consecutive matches. Players like Southee and Aniruddha Srikkanth contributed in the earlier matches while not staying in the eleven later. The local Chennai players contributed as well - Badrinath was exceptional whenever the team was in trouble while Ashwin was the spearhead in the spin department. RCB came into the final becase of the heroics of Gayle and when the Caribbean failed, their hopes went up in a smoke. As far as Dhoni is concerned, it was a regular day at office for the cpatain.

What a captain, What a team!

IPL4 - the final lines are drawn

2011-05-28T13:19:00.000+05:30

RCB made Mumbai rue their indifferent matches over their last week by thrashing them in Chennai. Chris Gayle started off with a powerful display against hapless Abu Ahmed (why did SRT do this mistake?). He was joined by his partner Mayank Agarwal, who took on Harbhajan Singh - yet another evidence that the Punjabi is losing his plot. Though the latter batsmen could not convert the start into a 200+ score, the target was much more than Mumbai could handle. Look at the worm below - the (R-B) difference was always over 40 at any point of time - signs that Mumbai Indians were never in the hunt during the chase.

Today, it will be the match between the South-Indian teams once again. The charismatic MSD against the cool Dan Vettori. There will be others who will contribute to the match but how the captains think out their strategy will be key. There are many mini-plots in the match - Gayle against Ashwin, Kohli vs Badrinath (for the Indian middle-order slot), Hussey vs Vettori, Morkel vs Mayank and so on. My favorites - CSK.

IPL4 - Mumbai beats KKR again

2011-05-26T11:23:00.000+05:30

Mumbai Indians, thanks to the blistering start by Blizzard and Sachin Tendulkar, managed to defeat Kolkata once again. KKR tried their best to delay the inevitable but Mumbai found their hero for each mini-crisis that came up during the batting innings. Earlier in the day, KKR suffered a mini-collapse only for their import, ten Doeschate, to get them to a decent score. On a pitch that was helpful to batsmen mostly, this score was not enough in the long run. Mumbai added to the pressure by gifting wickets away in their chase but finally managed to qualify for the next match against RCB.

IPL4 - Raina takes CSK to the finals

2011-05-26T00:55:00.000+05:30

Chennai Superkings came from behind to score a wonderful win over RCB (the same team that they lost to, in Bangalore few days back). Suresh Raina scored a quick-fire knock and overcame cramps at the end to guide his team to victory in the company of Albie Morkel. MS Dhoni had given the impetus after Badrinath steadied the ship with Raina. Altogether, a brilliant team effort by CSK to win in the last over.

The confidence the team has to chase down any score from any position is their biggest asset. The trust they show on players like Morkel or Raina was repaid at a very opportune moment. CSK scored 50 runs in the last 3 overs to win the match despite Gayle's heroics with the ball. The Caribbean failed with the bat but made up with the ball to increase his teams chances but to no avail.

Earlier, in the match, the bowlers led by Bollinger had done their bit to restrict RCB to a score that was eventually chased down. Though Virat Kohli helped RCB accelerate at the end, it proved to be less in the final analysis. The early dismissal of Chris Gayle made it easier for CSK. RCB, though, have another chance to make to the final in the next match while CSK are through to the finals at home.

IPL4 - Top 4 teams identified.

2011-05-23T23:08:00.000+05:30

It was a long-drawn affair for this year's IPL - 70 matches were played before the top 4 teams were identified. Here below, I have tried to note the individual performances in the IPL4 - teams that had batsmen scoring fifties/hundreds & bowlers claiming 4/5 wickets in an innings. It is not so surprising to see who has the best of all:

Batting performances has been led by CSK (Hussey, Badrinath, MS Dhoni being the stalwarts) - obviously hinting at their batting stronghold for success so far. Chris Gayle ensured that RCB gave a good fight to CSK (in fact, he was instrumental in the win over Chennai in the last match). It is surprising to see Punjab do well, helped by the heroics of Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh - they slipped in the middle bunch of games which cost them the final berth.
The bowling department sees Punjab and Mumbai lead the way - Malinga for MI while Piyush Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt did the job for Punjab XI Kings. KKR and CSK have no such performance at all.
KKR is a surprise - they have neither the number of landmarks nor the bowling performances. They are definitely the team that relied more on team-work rather than individual brilliance. Will this help them win the final matches? Time will tell.

IPL4 Match 70 - Last over win for Mumbai over KKR

2011-05-23T00:53:00.000+05:30

The last match of the group stage brought the exciting win that everyone was looking for. KKR was in front, except for the last over when Mumbai put one across Kolkata.

IPL4 Match 69 - RCB finish on top

2011-05-23T00:50:00.000+05:30

Chris Gayle - let us stop mentioning any further - led RCB to an easy win over favorites CSK. Though, it has to be argued, that the bowling of Zaheer Khan and Sreenath Aravind put the hosts in front with their early wickets.

IPL4 Match 67 - Dhawan eliminates Punjab hopes

2011-05-22T14:25:00.000+05:30

Shikhar Dhawan chose the right time to score his highest in IPL and thereby put up a target that was way beyond Kings XI reach. This eliminated their hopes to qualify for their top 4 - a sad end to a late surge by the Kings.

IPL4 Match 66 - Watson crushes Mumbai

2011-05-21T00:53:00.000+05:30

Shane Watson came to the party today to help send off Shane Warne in his last (so far) T20 match against Mumbai Indians. Mumbai are now in danger of losing their qualification.

IPL4 Match 65 - Kolkata almost through to last 4

2011-05-20T02:12:00.000+05:30

Kolkata overcame their ex-captain Ganguly (as part of Pune Warriors now) to win their match easily. The IPL is becoming a boring interlude now - seriously something has to be done next year or else this will eat into the profits being made so far.

IPL4 Match 64 - CSK unearth a new hero Saha

2011-05-19T00:28:00.000+05:30

CSK have a number of match-winners in their team and it was about time they unleashed a new winner - Wriddhiman Saha. Saha probably wanted to announce to the world what mettle he was made of - maybe a subtle warning to West Indies where he is going to be playing second fiddle to Kochi's keeper, Parthiv Patel. Kochi was left standing behind while Chennai surged to the top of the table.

IPL4 Match 63 - Gilly floors RCB

2011-05-18T10:48:00.000+05:30

It took a whirlwind knock by Adam Gilchrist, supported by Shaun Marsh, to stop RCB's winning streak in this IPL. Once the score was on the board, RCB had no answers to the bowling attack. It was a sorry finish to the game.

IPL4 Match 62 - Pune lose to Deccan's bowlers

2011-05-17T11:30:00.000+05:30

The bowling lineup of Deccan Chargers is impressive - Dale Steyn, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha. A supporting cast of Daniel Christian and JP Duminy were more than a handful for Pune Warriors. The target was easy for the Chargers batsmen to chase down.

IPL4 Match 60 - Valthaty fires against listless Delhi

2011-05-16T22:50:00.000+05:30

Delhi Daredevils after the loss of their skipper, Virender Sehwag, have appeared listless on the field. Paul Valthaty made use of an attack that was hardly threatening to notch up another half-century to take his team to a convincing win.

IPL4 Match 59 - Mumbai lose to Deccan Chargers

2011-05-16T22:47:00.000+05:30

Surprise result for the top-ranked Mumbai Indians.

IPL4 Match 57 - Dinesh Karthik helps Punjab beat Kochi

2011-05-14T06:06:00.000+05:30

Dinesh Karthik came to form at the right time in the match against Kochi to take his team to victory. Punjab stayed in the hunt, though theoretically, to qualify for the top 4 slots.

IPL4 Match 56 - CSK win 6 in a row at home

2011-05-14T06:04:00.000+05:30

CSK, thanks to a captain's knock, won their 6th match in a row at home against a Sehwag-less Delhi Daredevils. CSK thus made their way to the top of the table.

IPL4 Match 55 - RCB win their sixth in a row

2011-05-12T06:27:00.000+05:30

Since Chris Gayle has come to the scene, RCB has achieved greater heights on the field, led by the man from Caribbean islands. This match was no different, with a power-packed performance to follow up the good show put up by the RCB bowlers (Sreenath Aravind in particular has been making good progress). Virat Kohli, in his first match as a captain, impressed with his field placings and ultimately finished the match as the winning captain.

IPL4 Match 54 - Kings Punjab create a major upset

2011-05-11T06:25:00.000+05:30

The Mumbai Indians were probably too complacent - that could be the only reason for them to be all out in the 13th over for a score of 87. The Punjab Kings were not complaining however.

IPL4 Match 53 - Mitchelle Marsh comes to the party

2011-05-10T20:17:00.000+05:30

Sourav Ganguly made an emotional return while Manish Pandey scored his highest this season. But, it was Mitchelle Marsh's performance in the match that made it easy for Pune Warriors to stop their losses.

IPL4 Match 52 - CSK prove to be too strong

2011-05-10T20:14:00.000+05:30

MS Dhoni and his team were too strong for Rajasthan Royals in Jaipur. Shane Warne's team were probably still thinking about the pitch while CSK were ready to rock 'n' roll.

IPL4 Match 51 - Easy for Pune

2011-05-09T06:16:00.000+05:30

Yuvraj Singh was back at his home ground (not that of Pune but his own) and that was one reason he was able to snap his team's run of losses. A good team effort on the field meant that his team had an easy target to chase down which was achieved without much strain.

IPL4 Match 50 - Gayle strikes twice at same place

2011-05-08T20:53:00.001+05:30

Chris Gayle repeated his histrionics in Bangalore once again to take RCB to yet another convincing victory. Scary thought for the RCB Management that what will happen when law of averages catch up with Gayle but as of now, they are enjoying. Dilshan came to the party as well today and that spelt more trouble for Kochi.

IPL4 Match 49 - Rayudu keeps performing

2011-05-08T06:13:00.000+05:30

Ambati Rayudu shone once again for Mumbai, this time in partnership with Rohit Sharma, to take his team to a score that was going to be more than enough. Considering the bowling arsenal that Mumbai Indians have, Delhi stumbled to 7-4 before the middle-order came to the party. Hopes and Venugopala Rao tried to revive but the damage was too much to restore.

IPL4 Match 47 - Gayle force sinks Punjab

2011-05-07T06:14:00.000+05:30

In what was the most lop-sided contest in this IPL season, Chris Gayle led the way for his team by his scorching century and followed it up with a 3-wicket haul. The ground in Bangalore is relatively smaller compared to others around the country and Gayle made it look smaller with his large hits. Punjab was shocked by the impact shown by Gayle and collapsed against the huge target when it was their turn to bat.

IPL4 Match 46 - Sehwag show all the way

2011-05-06T05:20:00.000+05:30

Virender Sehwag had not shown his true face in the T20 format, especially in the IPL. He chose this match as the appropriate one to showcase his potential (as though there was any doubt) to the Deccan Chargers. A tough target set by Deccan was scaled down so easily that there was one full over at the end. Dale Steyn and Ishant Sharma were seen off - their 8 overs costing 40 runs only - while the other bowlers were targeted mercilessly.

IPL4 Match 45 - Hodge takes Kochi past KKR

2011-05-05T20:04:00.000+05:30

Brad Hodge's whirlwind knock at the end of the innings took Kochi to a score that they managed to defend successfully at the end. Despite a good start by Kallis and Morgan, KKR could not reach the target set by Kochi. The opening partnership was good but not at the rate that Gambhir would have liked. Raiphi Gomez's spell proved to be a difference for his team.

IPL4 Match 44 - Pune lose their 7th successive match

2011-05-05T05:58:00.000+05:30

One over! All it took was one over of Alfonso Thomas to take Mumbai to set Pune a target of 161. 28 runs were scored of that over by Kieron Pollard and Harbhajan Singh. Despite the heroics of Manish Pandey and Yuvraj Singh, the Pune Warriors were always behind the required rate.

IPL4 Match 43 - Hussey steers CSK to safe home

2011-05-04T22:16:00.000+05:30

An unbeaten 79 by Michael Hussey and his century partnership with Suresh Raina steered CSK to an easy win over Rajasthan Royals. Rahul Dravid's half-century came to naught in a match that took CSK to the top.

IPL4 Match 42 - Yusuf comes to the party

2011-05-04T06:07:00.000+05:30

Yusuf Pathan has had a relatively quiet IPL so far - he decided that Deccan Chargers presented the right opportunity for him to flex his muscles. His knock helped KKR reach a target that was always difficult for Deccan to chase down. Kolkata are almost on the verge of qualifying for the next stage, thanks to this win.

IPL4 Match 41 - Kochi chase down Delhi's target

2011-05-03T06:19:00.000+05:30

Delhi's paltry score of 140 was chased down easily by Kochi's batsmen. Prasanth Parameswaran was the surprise package of the match, getting rid of Sehwag and Venugopala Rao. Delhi's dependency on Warner and Sehwag is so great that after their early dismissals, there was not much hope left. Kochi's batsmen timed their chase so well that they reached the target 5 overs early.

IPL4 Match 40 - Tendulkar gets Mumbai back on track

2011-05-03T06:14:00.000+05:30

Thanks to his half-century and partnership with Ambati Rayudu, Sachin Tendulkar helped Mumbai Indians put up a competitive score for Kings XI Punjab. Punjab could never get going and the worm started going higher. Because of Shaun Marsh, the Punjab team was still in the hunt but once he was dismissed, things were all over for Punjab.

IPL4 Week 3 - comeback of the bowlers

2011-05-02T13:36:00.000+05:30

The highlight of Week 3 of IPL was Ishant Sharma's spell against Kochi Tuskers. The pitch was helping the bowlers but from an Indian perspective, it was good to see Ishant land the ball at the right places. His scalps included Brad Hodge, Mahela Jayawardene - meaning that he must have been doing all the right things. The pitch will be similar to what India will face on their tours this year and this showing must have gladdened MSD a lot. His week did not end in the same way however - against Dhoni's CSK, he was clobbered for 3 of the largest sixes seen in IPL this year of the last 3 balls of his spell by Albie Morkel. What a return to ground zero!

Rahul Sharma proved that he is another spin bowler who has the makings to become a consistent performer on the IPL arena. His victims included Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Johan Botha - surely a sign of larger things to come.

Sreesanth also bowled one of his best spells in IPL so far, against Sehwag's Daredevils, on a pitch that offered good support for bowlers. His ball to dismiss Sangakkara (in the same match that Ishant made his mark) was a perfect one except the fact that he overstepped. The ball was an example of what Sree can do on the cricket pitch, if he can keep his head together.

Iqbal Abdulla has been continuing the good work he has put in for KKR - another example of an youngster who is enjoying the greater platform that IPL has provided to such players. Will he make the next level in international cricket? Not too soon though.

With pitches getting slower, the bowlers have made a comeback in the tournament. Bowlers are able to defend scores of 120-140 with the help of slow, low pitches. This is where the batsman's technique comes to play.

IPL4 Match 39 - Albie Morkel justifies faith shown by CSK

2011-05-02T09:45:00.000+05:30

CSK and MS Dhoni showed enormous trust in Albie Morkel, something that even the national selectors of the South African cricket didnt. He showed last night what value he can bring to the table, first with his big-hitting and then with the ball. His show with the ball brought CSK back into the game after the blistering start given by Sunny Sohal.

IPL4 Match 38 - Taylor blasts his way past Pune

2011-05-01T21:42:00.000+05:30

What was a different ask in the last 5 overs became easy thanks to Ross Taylor's blitz in the slog overs. Pune Warriors lost once again while Shane Warne's Rajasthan reached the top of the points table.

IPL4 Match 37 - KKR defeat Kings XI

2011-05-01T06:21:00.001+05:30

KKR, through their spinners as well as agile fielding displays, restricted Kings XI to a score that was not going to create any difficulties for their batsmen. Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary ensured that there will be no hiccups in the chase, taking their team to the top of the table with ease.

IPL4 Match 36 - Sehwag's blitz blanks Kochi

2011-04-30T19:22:00.000+05:30

Sehwag proved to be the difference between the two teams - his blitzkrieg was what Kochi missed on a track that was helpful to the bowlers. The result was never in doubt from the first over - the frequent wickets making it easier for Delhi to notch up a rare win.

IPL4 Match 35 - Virat helps RCB beat Pune

2011-04-30T05:43:00.000+05:30

Virat Kohli's knock earned him not only the Orange Cap but also his team a winning target. Pune tried their best through Ryder and Yuvraj Singh but it was too little to make any impact. The end result meant that RCB notched up their first home win in the tournament.

IPL4 Match 34 - Rajasthan crush Mumbai

2011-04-29T19:36:00.000+05:30

In what was an anti-climactic match, Rajasthan Royals crushed Mumbai Indians by 7 wickets. The Mumbai team was strangled in the mid-overs by the bowling of Shane Warne and Johan Botha. Botha once again shone with the bat, taking his team past the easy target.

IPL4 Match 33 - Tiwary and Abdulla take KKR through

2011-04-29T06:25:00.000+05:30

Manoj Tiwary played probably his best innings in IPL so far to take KKR to a total that was going to be challenging for Delhi. Despite the efforts of Virender Sehwag and James Hopes, Delhi failed to get past the bowling of Iqbal Abdulla.

IPL4 Match 32 - Ishant flattens Kochi

2011-04-28T06:06:00.000+05:30

What looked like a decent target to chase was made to look like a mountain for Kochi Tuskers by the incisive bowling by Ishant Sharma. Ishant, after a long time, delivered a spell that highlighted his potential - he is really enjoying the opportunity to bowl alongside Dale Steyn. Sangakkara had in the first innings, held the innings together and pieced a score that looked par for the course. In the final count, it was 55 more.

IPL4 Match 31 - CSK win again

2011-04-27T20:12:00.000+05:30

CSK coasted to an easy win against Yuvi's Pune Warriors by eight wickets, completing a second win against the same time in 3 days. Badrinath and Suresh Raina completed the act, after the good start given by Murali Vijay. Yuvraj Singh and Robin Uthappa had contributed useful scores to help Pune post a score that eventually was not enough.

IPL4 Match 30 - RCB squeeze past Delhi

2011-04-27T06:02:00.000+05:30

Virat Kohli kick-started a potentially tough chase for RCB against Delhi Daredevils but he did not finish the match for his team. That task was left to Daniel Vettori and Syed Mohammed. After the fall of wickets, the run-chase became difficult as the worm shows below but RCB held its nerve to reach the target.

IPL4 Match 29 - Dhoni puts it past Yuvi

2011-04-26T06:17:00.000+05:30

Good friends, MS Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh, were on opposite sides captaining their franchises. Michael Hussey once again provided the platform for a score that was above-par for the match. Supported brilliantly by Albie Morkel with the ball, CSK romped home in a convincing win over Pune Warriors. This win was probably the spark Chennai was waiting for - will they turnaround their campaign now?

IPL4 Week 2 - Malinga reigns supreme

2011-04-25T14:45:00.000+05:30

Lasith Malinga was in the news the last week for having retired from test cricket. His reasoning was that his knee injury could not withstand the rigors of cricket where he had to bowl 15 overs or more in a day. In this context, the T20 format of four overs per bowler fits in ideally in his case. The fact that his ex-captains, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, supported his decision lends creditability to his decision. No one has been criticizing the decision like they do of others.

Not just off the field, Malinga continues to don the headlines on the ground as well. Look at his exploits for Mumbai Indians in 6 matches so far. 16 wickets at an average of 9 runs per wicket, economy rate hovering around 6 runs per over and more importantly a strike rate of a wicket every 9 balls approximately. This literally means that his average bowling figures this season have been 4 overs for 24 runs while taking at least 2 wickets. What a performer!

Similarly, on the batting front, Sachin Tendulkar has led the way (again, another Mumbaikar) with a strike-rate that is decent in T20 and a staggering average for this format. His performance dipped a bit, more due to the demise of his spiritual guru rather than any cricketing reason. Ably supported by Ambati Rayudu, SRT has dominated the batting most of the times. When he does not, the rival teams have to put up with Rohit Sharma and Andrew Symonds - imagine the plight of the bowling attacks! And we are not even talking about Pollard. This shows why Mumbai are the favorites to make it a successful season for Sachin - an IPL tournament win will be the icing on the cake for this season.

Shaun Marsh and David Warner are two Oz who must be wondering why they are not part of their national team more often. They are making statements regularly and this must be a good platform to showcase their form to the national selectors. Shane Warne, though, must be showing the same set of people what the current team is missing by his exploits. What a legend he has been!

IPL4 Match 28 - Warne's magic shines again

2011-04-25T06:21:00.000+05:30

The Best captain Australia never had.
The Best spinner from Australia at age of 42, more than four years after his retirement.
Shane Warne, take a bow!
His spell to restrict and then dismiss Kochi Tuskers was a repeat of his legendary ones. The match was reduced to a formality of a win for Rajasthan Royals.

IPL4 Match 27 - Mumbai eases past Deccan

2011-04-25T06:17:00.000+05:30

First it was the Rohit (Sharma) and Roy (Andrew Symonds) show. Then, Malinga took over with the ball and reduced Deccan Chargers to a chase that never was.

IPL4 Match 26 - Sehwag and Warner show

2011-04-25T06:14:00.000+05:30

Sehwag and David Warner combined very well to post a large score for Delhi. The target was always going to be a difficult one to chase but Shaun Marsh tried his best with a whirlwind innings in vain.

IPL4 Match 25 - Harbhajan sinks CSK

2011-04-23T10:18:00.000+05:30

Badrinath's valiant effort came to naught, thanks to Harbhajan's heroics - a long time since the Sardar took five wickets in any format. Rohit Sharma had given a good platform for the Mumbai bowlers which proved to be beyond CSK's reach. The last 'up' in the graph showing the effect Harbhajan's last over had on the match.

IPL4 Match 24 - Gayle force hits KKR

2011-04-22T19:37:00.000+05:30

An ex-KKR player and now an import for RCB, Chris Gayle smashed a century to help his team defeat KKR at Kolkata. The target was a stiff one but Gayle and Dilshan (and later Virat Kohli) reached the required score in a canter.

IPL4 Match 23 - Kings XI crush Rajasthan

2011-04-22T11:39:00.000+05:30

An overwhelming victory for Kings XI Punjab, thanks to the large score put up by Shaun Marsh, Paul Valthaty and Adam Gilchrist. Shaun Tait and Shane Watson bowled well but were not supported well enough by other bowlers.

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