for beating us by 5 wickets.
Suppose we had lost against Australia instead of Bangladesh, would that have made us feel any better?
Are we disappointed because we lost to Bangladesh or because we played bad cricket?
I fancy a lot of Indians are angry because of the former. I am ticked off because of the latter.
Here are my reasons
1. Captaincy - I have gone on and on about Dravid's captaincy by the numbers. Can we see some enterprise please? There is a difference between working out the numbers in the dressing room and actual match situations.
Sehwag has not been in top form. And he will probably be the fall guy today. But surely a lot of the blame must go to the captain. Playing Sehwag is one thing- opening with him on a wicket with something for the bowlers- how smart is that?
2. Dhoni the finisher - How many times, I mean how many times will we have to live with Dhoni coming in at a critical situation and playing his game without any thought to the match situation? It happened in Mumbai, happened in Newlands, happened in Malaysia..When is enough enough?
3.Constructing an innings - At Cuttuck, on a "non standard" ODI wicket, our batting struggled. As it did in South Africa. As it did in Malaysia. As it did in India ( during the Champions Trophy).And Zimbabwe. Sure, the opposition was at the top of its game but come on- 2225 ODI caps amounts to something doesn't it?
4. Doing the little things right - Look at the number of threes run during Sri Lanka's innings against Bermuda. Look at the number of 3's in the Indian innings. Fair enough that the opposition is giving you nothing to hit, but have we forgotten to run the singles? Or the twos?
On a wicket that is easing,the keeper and the first slip are a tad too deep. How many games before the realization comes that it is not all bad to take a forward step behind the wickets?
Granted that Tamim Iqbal was chancing his arm. So why would one want to take the power play and continue playing the pace bowlers?
Is it really too much to expect the Indians to play good, smart cricket - irrespective of the results?
If this is the quality of cricket we should expect from you then stop patronizing us with your sound bytes on "processes" and "flexibility" and "11 as 1" and "defeats being the best teacher".
Kudos to Bangladesh for outplaying us - and thank you for showing the "best and most experienced batting lineup in the world" how it should be done.
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Thank you Bangladesh
Cerebral.
our captain is- vide all the gushing in the mainstream media over his "cerebral" captaincy
Last ball of the 9th over- batsman charges the bowler and gets a 4.So what does our "cerebral" captain do to stem the flow of runs - take the second power play..
Last ball of the 10th over - batsman charges and tonks a six over third man.
We have been down this road before - remember the Windies run chase at Malaysia?
But have we learnt any lessons?
Beautiful..
6.1 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, no run, Huge shout for a catch but it went off the helmet grill! Banged in short, it rose head-high, Iqbal shaped to pull but it was too fast and the bounce was steep. It hit him on the grill and bounded off to Sehwag at second slip.
6.2 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, no run, Oh ho! Iqbal charges out and has a wild slash and is beaten.
6.3 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, no run, length-delivery, on the middle stump line, worked to midwicket
6.4 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, no run, similar delivery, Iqbal tries to force it through mid-off, the bat-face shuts and the ball rolls over to mid-on. Iqbal wants a run but decides against.
6.5 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, FOUR, Wah Wah! Super punch shot through point. Short of length and on the off stump, Iqbal hops back, his head still and punches it past point
6.6 Khan to Tamim Iqbal, FOUR, This boy is a fiesty batsman. He charges down the track, Zaheer drags back the length but Iqbal knifes through the line. Up and over mid-off for a fab four.
Only one word to describe Tamim Iqbal - ATTITUDE
A question of attitude
or questionable attitude?
Our "patta champs" - those great worthies who "crushed" West Indies and Sri Lanka at home, made a hash of first use of the wicket against Bangladesh.. thus negating the captain' decision to take first strike.
191, in the end, is a competitive score- what is galling is the manner in which the Indians went about putting that score.
We may still go on and win this one, after all our strength is our bowling ( though we are in denial). But the questions remain unanswered.
There was no effort to pressurize the Bangladeshis- vide the number of 3's run on a largish ground. Vide too the number of maidens (8) played by a team with 2225 caps between them.
Vide too the pacing of the innings - where was the sense of urgency? And what of not lasting 50 overs? And where were the partnerships?
This is the team that india wanted. These are the results India deserves.
159/7
Dhoni gone!!!!
Yup Yup, the finisher has done well to keep up with his recent record of playing with nothing between his ears.
Having typed that, Ajit gets a life line - plumb in front, not given.
So, will India play out 50 overs?
159/8 harbhajan played on
Oh, and by the way, India has a 8/11 win loss record for scores between 176 and 250.
Over to you Rahul!!!
Dhoni without a senior
at the other end.. Should be fun!!!
Can he prove me wrong that he does not quite play with the game situation in mind?
76/4 in 26.3 overs
29*1
7*2
1*3
5*4
------
6/1 21/2 40/3 72/4
ergo - our "much vaunted" batting lineup can neither work the ball around for the singles and twos, run hard for the threes, hit the ball hard for the fours or string together a partnership.
Happy Days!!
Now, hope and pray our "weak link", the bowling, delivers
A question of cricketing intelligence.
On a wicket on which Jayasuriya got his fingers in a tangle, knowing that the ball will do something early on, what does India do on winning the toss and opting to bat?
Openwith Ganguly and ... Sehwag.
While it is heartening to see the captain repose faith in his beleaguered ex vice-captain, but in light of the conditions- why open with him?
Of course, Sehwag did his darnedest to throw it away by nearly running himself out ( do our processes include a small aside on grounding the bat while running) and then actually threw it away by playing the bounce and not the length and getting out.
Given the conditions, given Sehwag's form, given that the players have seen the bounce extracted by the Bermudans in the first game against Lanka,given that there is a little more grass on the wicket, why open with Sehwag?
For all the talk of processes, all the talk of flexibility, it is this "playing by the numbers" aspect of Rahul's captaincy that ticks me off.
And now for the fun part - Rahul will be buttonholed in today's press conference about Sehwag's form and the decision to play him first up, Rahul will mount a spirited defense, paint himself in a corner and then have his hand forced for the next game..
Friday, March 16, 2007
Clinical..
the way Scott Styris and Jacob Oram went about crafting New Zealand's comprehensive win over England.
Chasing a middling total of 210, the Kiwis were in some strife at 19/3. However a brilliant counter attacking innings by Craig McMillan , abetted in part by Styris, helped weather the storm.
Having done the repair work and transferred the pressure back onto the Poms, McMillan perished, playing one shot too many.
At this stage, with the Kiwis 72/4, England had a legitimate chance to impose themselves on the game. That they were unable to do so is largely because of the masterclass by Styris and Oram on how to play the pressure game.
A 6 wicket win with 9 overs to spare does justice to the difference between the two sides in the park today.
R I P Manjural Islam
Report - here
On reading the news, I could not but think back to two other promising players whose lives were nipped in the bud.
One played international cricket for England and was the brightest star to emerge from those shores.
The other was a talent spoken of in the same breath as Sachin Tendulkar.
R I P
Thank You Johnnie Walker
| 29.6 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX |
| 29.5 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX |
| 29.4 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Wah Wah! Low full toss and guess where this went Yep. A slap slog and it went over deep midwicket! He is going to go for 6 sixes in this over! |
| 29.3 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Carnage! Flatter one this time but it makes no difference to Gibbs. He just stands there and delivers. This one also has been sucked over long off |
| 29.2 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Murder! Floated on the leg and middle stump line and Gibbs sends it soaring over long-off. |
| 29.1 | van Bunge to Gibbs, SIX, Violence! Gibbs charged down the track and hoicked it over long on. |
The "Six Sixes Challenge" has been launched, with tournament sponsor Johnnie Walker offering the $1 million to Habitat for Humanity housing projects for the first batsman to hit six sixes in one over at the World Cup.
(h/t Scribbbler)
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Aye Bermuda!!!
6 wides, 9 no balls, 17 extras - Nerves
7 fours, 1 six, run rate 7.75 - Inexperience
1 dropped catch - Heartbreak
19 stone cop on the biggest stage in cricket - Priceless
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Hey now!!!!
Tait to Haq, 2 runs, OUT, Clarke misses a run-out but McGrath does it! Punched to cover and they set off for a run. Clarke fires in a throw at the non-striker's end, the batsman had given up but the ball misses the sticks. They run for overthrows. They turn greedy, they want two of them but Haq can' t beat McGrath's throw. He was looking pretty good in the middle but he has to get back to the hutch now.
----
25.2 Harbhajan Singh to Hussey, 2 runs, That was almost the third run-out of the innings! Hussey turns it past square, there was an easy single but the second was suicide! Haddin was woefully short when the throw came into Harbhajan who whipped off the bails at the non-strikers end, Haddin was initially given out but replays showed that Harbhajan had broken the stumps without the ball in his handIn both cases the bowler lost possession of the ball after breaking the stumps.. One was given, the other not
Yesterday ...
MAKARAND WAINGANKAR on various BCCI initiatives which I hope come to fruition.
Rohit Brijnath on the Ponting Gavaskar spat.
Bob Simpson and Frank Tyson on Australia.
Ian Chappell on liming!!
Mukul Kesavan on Sri Lanka.
Hang on Mr Selvey!!
How quickly fortune's wheel can turn. Last week, West Indies were humiliated by Pakistan, bowled out for 85. But yesterday at Sabina Park, which has been massively developed, they gained revenge when it mattered. They beat Pakistan by 54 runs and sent the crowd into raptures. Little encouragement is ever needed for noise in this neck of the woods but it would not have been a quiet night in Kingston.So how do you rate England's chances today against Australia Mr Selvey?
Update :- Mistake corrected,the article has been updated
How quickly fortune's wheel can turn. Last week, West Indies were humiliated by India, bowled out for 85. But yesterday at Sabina Park, which has been massively developed, they came good when it mattered. They beat Pakistan by 54 runs and sent the crowd into raptures. Little encouragement is ever needed for noise in this neck of the woods but it would not have been a quiet night in Kingston.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
A most interesting passage of play...
The Md.Yousuf dismissal- and the lead up to that wicket.
Here are my two cents -
Md.Yousuf and Inzamam were doing a good job rebuilding the innings after the initial bone headed display of batting by the Pakistani top order. The recovery was well under way, although the run rate kept mounting all the time.
But that is not the point.
On the outside, it seemed oh so middle overish with the batsmen ambling for their singles and the bowlers and the fielders going thru the motions. There was however, in the overs leading up to the dismissal, a visible lifting of the fielding effort by the Windies.
Players were throwing themselves around, singles were being cut off, hardly any twos were being run.
Over 27 could have marked a change in momentum because the Pakistani batsmen cobbled 6 runs without breaking a sweat.
And that is why I believe over 28, and specifically Marlon Samuels' effort in the outfield, contributed significantly to the Md.Yousuf dismissal.
Here is my explanation why ( blame me if it sounds inane :) )
When a batter is looking to maintain his wicket, it does not make that great a difference being denied runs- because that is not what the objective is anyways.
However, when a batter is looking to move on, being denied runs adds to the pressure. And when the very same batter and his partner are limited to running singles for shots that look like they are heading for the boundary ( no value for money), it brings about frustration.
Marry frustration with pressure and what we have is a batsman trying to do something different- to get more/maximum value for money.
Hence this
| 28.4 | Smith to Mohammad Yousuf, no run, Yousuf takes a step down the track and across to the off, shaping to flick to the leg side, and is almost bowled rounds his legs |
| 28.5 | Smith to Mohammad Yousuf, no run, again the crowd roar their approval as Yousuf makes things hard for himself outside the off stump |
That the wicket fell the very next ball is incidental- in my mind, it is the buildup, application and eventual capitulation to pressure that made this passage of play a most interesting one !
Pacing an innings
The innings started with Michael Holding stating that the Sabina Park wicket is a beauty to bat on. Inzi won the toss and elected to field as he expected some help for his bowlers early on. Lara was of the opinion that the wicket may slow down later in the day and the slower bowlers will come to play.
A wicket for everyone- so to speak !!!
Here is the breakdown of the West Indies innings on a 5 over basis which illustrates the stop-start-stop nature of the West Indies innings.
5 overs 22/1
10 overs 40/1 18/0
15 overs 54/1 14/0
20 overs 69/2 15/1
25 overs 77/3 8/1
30 overs 101/3 24/0
35 overs 137/3 36/0
40 overs 156/3 19/0
45 overs 184/6 28/3
50 overs 241/9 57/3
(23*4, 7*6) 134 runs of the 241 in 4s and 6s!!!
Except for the slog at the end, the West Indies were not really able to stamp their authority on the game- even with wickets in hand. And the slog might have not come about if Inzi had not brought his quicker men on- but that is a matter of conjecture.
Looking at the Windies batting card- lots of double figures, but no one really going on to make a big big score.5 scores between 15 and 50 and one score above 50 but less than 100 tells its own story.
One thing that impressed me was that when Marlon Samuels was going hell for leather ( a calculated ploy if there was one), Inzi surprisingly did not do the sub continental thing and push his field back. Nice!!!
Another was the Brian Lara late late cut to score his first boundary - off Danish Kaneria. I cant stop gushing about it. My first reaction was that the ball had come off the handle of the bat - so late it was played. A thing of beauty!!!
BTW, I did not notice a ball change for discoloration during the course of the innings- maybe I missed it, but if there was no ball change- that is interesting!!!
Coming back to the Windies innings, I cannot but think back to the Indian innings against the Netherlands- the pattern is eerily similar.
So- 242 to win for Pakistan in 50 overs- should make for an interesting chase.
Nobody Knows...
how this World Cup will shape up. Partly because of injuries and mainly because no one is quite sure how the wickets in the Carib will play. And not to forget, the much publicized string of losses suffered by the Aussies.
Where ever I look, whatever I read, there is a corresponding article/opinion that is 180 degrees to what I have just read.
The slow bowlers will come into play says Ponting. Not quite so says Roberts.
Chasing is better opine some. Setting targets easier say others.
Middle overs are crucial. Starts are crucial. End overs are crucial. Bowling at the start important. Middle overs bowling a factor. Death bowling critical.
Pace and bounce will deter batsmen. Pace and bounce will allow batsmen more freedom to play strokes.
Small ground mean plenty of boundaries- and sixes too. Sluggish wickets mean getting the ball of the square difficult.
Minnows too weak and undervalue the tournament. Minnows dangerous, can upset the applecart.
And then we have the professional sages - who look at the same stars and the same charts and the same numbers and cant still figure out what the hell is in store for us!!
Then there is the opening game today. Between two teams that define and redefine the mercury in mercurial. On a wicket that has not been played on before.
So what lies in store?
Will today's game provide any indicator at all on how this tournament is going to shape up? Will we have to wait till the first round is done and dusted to understand the trends? Will those trends matter- after all the Super 8's are going to be played on a whole different set of grounds in the Carib.
Will the Super 8's give us pointers to the semis?
Nobody knows anything except - for the next 6 weeks the Most Open World Cup ( ever!!!) is going to a part and parcel of our lives - eating, breathing, living cricket!
So stock up on the beer, get those bag-o-chips ready and let the Game begin!!!
Update :- Kartikeya previews today's game between the West Indies and Pakistan.
Update 2 :- Patrick Kidd at the Line and Length has Grounds for concern
Monday, March 12, 2007
ICC's priorities!!!
Riot police prevent play in Zimbabwe Zimbabwean opposition leader beaten EU ambassadors try to trace opposition leader Tsvangirai Analyst says Mugabe isolated, desperate and dangerous.
ICC ask for no Urdu
Yup, such are the ICC's priorities!!!
Update:- I started working on this post on the 12th- had titled it Zimbabwe. Then got sidetracked and the post was lying in my draft box.
Then saw this outrageous suggestion by the ICC wrt their press conferences. Ticked me off no end, hence appended that article to the original.
Here is Andy Bull in the Guardian (h/t Prem)
