Okay, so we did not quite eviscerate them the way we should have ( what business did India have not defending a total of 320 odd against Pakistan at Mohali ? It is on such games that the momentum of an entire series is changed) but, having won at Kanpur, India has a leg up on Pakistan.
And there is more good newsKamran Akmal's continuing descent behind the stumps has forced the Pakistan team management to call for another wicketkeeper to boost their squad for the remainder of the current tour against India. Though not officially confirmed yet, Sarfraz Ahmed, the promising young wicketkeeper, will be the man going to India.
Now, I do not expect the new keeper to make it for the next ODI at Gwalior.
Which gives India the window of opportunity to let Kamran Akmal know exactly where he stands in the Pakistan pecking order.
And also an opportunity to have a go at the new keeper whenever he dons the gloves ( hopefully the last ODI at Jaipur).
And India should go as hard as possible at both Akmal and whoever the new keeper is during the ODIs themselves.
Because that sets up the Tests. And with a keeper with shaky confidence going into the Tests, Pakistan are already on the back foot.
Now, can India step up to the plate and deliver?
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Keeping woes..
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13 comments:
Yup homer,
with some common sense this series could have been 3-0 with every possibility of white wash...
we just let pak to be in this series with first mindless batting and than bowling...and thats where we lack...to maintain same intensity and focus...
India lost a golden opportunity of blanking out pak from ODI series and thus laying a foundation for Test series with a team who dont have a settled keeper and settled bowling attack...
i am saying this coz going by what i saw in yesterdays match it will be just short of miracle if not miracle itself if Akhtar is gonna survive for Tests...and with Asif already ruled out for entire series i can already see some wrinkles on Malik's face...
straight point,
a rookie wicjet keeper along with a rookie attack led by a rookie captain - Anil Kumble could not have asked for a better platform as captain :)
Cheers
PS:- Was traveling and so haven't watched any of the games.. Blogging resumes as of today :)
Akmal was so good in Australia a few years ago, its a shame he has dropped off.
Actually, Akmal won't be keeping in the next ODI, nor that rookie Sarfaraz. In all probability, Yasir Hameed might open as well as keep in Kamran's place.
Secondly, the Gwalier pitch is supposed to be a batting beauty. So not many chances of nicking behind. And I fully expect our bowlers to mess up again on a flat track!
homer
although i have put below comments somewhere else but i would like yor opinions on VP and RS roles as bowling and fielding coaches....
Ever since VP has taken over as bowling coach i am yet to see his imprints in our bowling...although he has come in open about Munaf but i would like him to come with some explanation about why we are so consistently bad at start and death overs??? donald was with england team for far less time and yet we could see his impressions on their bowling...
he is not in honorary job...he is being paid to do his job so must be asked to provide explanation of his failure.
also i share same feeling about robin singh for the brilliant fielder he was we are yet to see the results of his coaching...if third odi fielding effort was anything he also owes some explanation...we were never great fielding team but our catching was still good but now catching too has gone downhill and we are fielding with Gateway of India between our legs...
all in all we are bowling and fielding like millionaires...
whats your take???
chandan,
Yasir Hameed will definitely be in the Pakistan top 3 in the tests and so, its a pretty substantial risk - having him don the gloves.
That said, if he does do so, how about bringing the paddle shot against all comers.. Keep the keeper busy, hope he drops a few ( and that gnaws at his confidence).
Thing is, we have an advantage, any which way you look at it.. It is upto us to exploit this advantage..
Cheers
straight point,
Both VP and RS have been at this job since the BD tour, right?
And England had Troy Cooley and Kevin Shine working with the bowlers well before Allan Donald stepped in.
And finally, the Indian bowling lineup is a very different beast with the red ball in hand.
That said, I agree that both the coaches need to be accountable - for the performance of their wards on the field and for their own performance off it. Thing is - who is going to ask those questions?
Cheers
homer, are you trying to say that performance with red ball (test matches) should discount the performance with white ball (ODIs)...
whatever form of cricket, we have to maintain a minimum performance level and we are going increasingly downward in bowling (at the stat and death overs) as well as fielding...its just that we are doing good on batting front otherwise we will be loosing more matches than we at the moment...
and being specialist coaches they owe explanation...but then you are right who will be asking :(
Straight Point,
The fact remains that we are a pretty handy Test bowling side while being an ordinary ODI bowling unit.
One can look at the Test bowling performance and state that we are pretty good while the opposite is true for ODIs.
As regards the fielding, I have always maintained that having an younger unit or an older unit makes no difference as long as the fielders want the ball to come to them. If one is averse to having the ball anywhere close to thier zip code on the field, irrespective of age, they are going to be pretty ordinary fielders.
Can this be changed? Sure... But then, are the people who are being taught, willing to learn? On evidence so far, that does not seem to be the case.
Can there be a system in place that rewards performance on the field and penalizes non performance? Sure. Will we implement it? Rewards, certainly.. Penalties - I wont be holding my breath :)
Cheers
One thing thats peculiar in the fielding is the level of fielding in the T20 and the ODIs. we are an exceptional in T20, but very shambolic in ODIs. Barring ST and SG, the teams that play ODIs and T20 are same.
May be RS and VP should be asked to give a plan for the bowling and the fielding....The ODI bowling continues to be same tracked with opening bowlers leaking runs like millionares and in aplenty, whereas Zaheer has clearly struggled in the ODIs since the England series.
I doubt if Akthar will last full ODI series.....he looks pretty tired and unfit already....and with asif out too....i m sure we will win both ODIs and Tests against Pak .
Hey Test team news.....Gambhir dropped and dinesh kartik in ....wat do u have to say about that ??
AND Lara also dropped out of ICL..who is left in ICL btw now...everyone seems to be heading towards IPL now ....lol
Ashu,
Could it just be that our attention spans are no greater than the length of an Hindi movie?
Anything longer and we cannot bring the same focus and intensity to the job?
Cheers
Jane,
The ICL may still flourish.. Time will tell.. As regards the team selection, it has been along expected lines..
And that is fine really. Because in Kumble's first series as captain, you would not want to rock the boat..
Cheers
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