Indian Women's team for the Asia Cup

Mithali Raj (Capt-Rly), Jhulan Goswami(V Capt) Priyanka Roy (Ben) Jaya Sharma (Rly) Karuna Jain (WK, Kar) Rumeli Dhar, Amita Sharma, Neetu David (Rly), Deveika Palshikaar, Snehal Pradhan, Anagha Deshpande (Mah), Thirushkamini M D(TN), Seema Sharma (Rly) Seema Pujare, Ashah Rawat(Dli), Gouhar Sultana (Hyd).

The post mortem

which was inevitable following the crushing defeat at Motera.

First off, congratulations to the Proteas for an emphatic win. Superb performances all round and quality cricket on display. I agree completely with Graeme Smith in his assessment that "This was the perfect Test match for us,".

The genesis of the defeat can be traced back to Day 4 of the Chennai test - 159/9 after being 468/1

• gave the South Africans extended batting time against our bowling
• gave the South bowlers confidence after being under the hammer on Day 3
• put the onus squarely back on the Indian side that had had injury worries ll through the first test
• killed whatever momentum the Indians had
  

The leadership or lack of contributed too

• Anil Kumble did not like the green on the wicket and got into a slanging match with Dhiraj Parsana, the curator
• To compound the folly, he chose to bat on the very wicket he had had issues with. Which is genius, really!!
• After capitulating for 76, the Indian approach on the field was lackadaisical at best. To let the Proteas back into the game after having them at 117/4 points to some serious lack of planning
• On Day 2, under a cloud cover on a greenish wicket, India opens with - Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble.
  

We lost and thats not such a bad thing. We lost because we repeatedly shot ourselves in the foot and that is shameful.

Our leadership went AWOL, nobody put their hand up to be counted, VVS Laxman wafted at a wide one after an edge on the previous ball just fell short of the slip cordon, Raul Dravid decide the best way to counter the short ball is to jump a couple of feet in the air and get behind the ball ( and guide it to the slips), Wasim Jaffer batted himself out of the team, RP and Irfan were clueless as were our fielders.

Long story short - we choked!

Thank You Gary Kirsten.

"There is pressure. You have lost a Test here, so it's important for us to bounce back and we have the confidence we will bounce back,"

said the captain in the post match interviews.

Yeah well, what are your options really?

What you will do is to roll out a dustbowl at Kanpur, level the series and then talk up how good the team is. Which is a travesty because you do not believe in how good you really are.

PS:- Irfan Pathan plays for Baroda. Whose coach is Paras Mhambrey and CEO, Makarand Waingankar. Perhaps Mr Waingankar can pen an article explaining why Irfan is as listless as he was in the Motera test and why one of India's brightest prospects when he made his debut is now an afterthought when the team gets selected.

PPS: Remember this

Negating reports in a section of the press that he has been ordered two-week rest by Indian cricket team physio John Gloster for tendonitis in his right hip, Sachin Tendulkar said that he was as fit as a fiddle and was looking forward to the home series against South Africa from March 26.

So, will Sachin please explain this

Sachin Tendulkar is yet to recover from his groin injury that kept him out of the ongoing second Test against South Africa in Ahmedabad and will also miss the third Test in Kanpur, starting on April 11.

And if there is no plausible explanation, why should he be an automatic selection for my city's IPL team?

PPPS:- Where is Lalchand Rajput, the man involved in India's Twenty20 win, the series win against Pakistan at home and our stellar tour Down Under? Why isn't he a part of the team think tank?

Living in denial

South Africa's 8th wicket partnership stands unbroken at 42. AB DeVilliers cracks an unbeaten double ton. Kallis chips in with a ton of his own.

And then the rains come down.

Omens that India can still save this test ?

Go the Thimphu girls!!

Ugyen Dorji, one time author of the Bhutan Cricket weblog and current webmaster of the Bhutan Cricket Council Board, reports on the upcoming inter school girls cricket tournament at Thimphu.

I'm loving it!!!

India end up making 76 runs in 20 overs in the second test at Ahmedabad. The Cricinfo ball by ball commentary reads

India proved why they are the Twenty20 champs - bowled out in exactly 20 overs.
You lay out featherbeds, you get 500 plus scores at will. You dish out a seaming
surface and you get a capitulation inside a session. That's the beauty of Test
cricket.

Ouch!!

While the batting performance has been disappointing, it may not be such a bad thing after all. The ball is doing a lot and India has the bowlers who can exploit this. Plus, they have the advantage of bowling on the first day, when the wicket is still fresh.

And, if they bowl half as well as I expect them to, we should limit the South Africans to a not significant lead. And worse case, we should be batting sometime on Day 3, when the wicket should not have as many demons ( nor will the Indian minds as cluttered) as seen on the first day.

And, South Africa still has to bat last on this wicket!

Dear Anil,

Whatever happened to playing good cricket, irrespective of the surface or the opposition or availability of players?

What happened to "I think we’ve done well to be leaving behind something important for the next generation of cricketers - a belief that they can actually come here to Australia, compete with the Aussies on their terms, on their turf and win. Instead of putting a message across to other teams, we can put a message across to our own teams. Keep believing".

We discovered that the reason for Kumble’s grumpy behaviour at the media briefing (which lasted exactly three minutes, 20 seconds) had everything to do with the argument he had in the morning with the Motera pitch curator, Dheeraj Parsana.

The curator has left a grass covering on the wicket, and in the morning, when the Indian team arrived for its nets session, Kumble urged Parsana to shave off the grass on the wicket. Parsana, according to the sources in the Gujarat Cricket Association, flatly declined Kumble’s request.

Is this the legacy you wish to bequeath the future generations of Indian cricketers?