162/8 (20)
149/6 (20)
273/4 (38)
188/4 (28.4)
392/4 (50)
201/0(23.3)
6 games into the NZ series and the slow rumble of "roll out the green tops" is reaching a steady crescendo.
Listening to Simon Doull and Iain Smith on the commentary reaffirmed this - the Kiwis are totally in awe with India's batting prowess and don't have any answers to reverse the trend.Hence, "roll out the green".
Which may seem the right idea. But is counterproductive.
India's strength in Test cricket is its bowling. India's batting was always there - post the 2003/04 series in Australia, the Indian top 6 was considered amongst the best top 6's in the history of cricket.
Between then and now, what has changed is the bowling. There is more depth, more bite and more variety in India's bowling stocks than in anytime of its cricketing history.
And this is why the "green top" theory is counterproductive.
Think about this - on a wicket where NZ struggled to 270/5, India scored 201 runs without losing a wicket ( or breaking into a sweat). And the over by over comparison makes for an interesting read. NZ scored 6 runs or more 22 out of the 47 overs. 7 overs contributed 10 runs or more.
In contrast, India scored 6 runs or more 19 out of 23 overs. 8 overs contributed 10 runs or more.
Granted that the green tops will assist the Kiwi bowlers a bit more and will even control India's run flow. But, on the flip side, it will give India's bowling a huge advantage.. Recent history shows that India's bowlers have been better then the opposition in exploiting bowler friendly conditions ( Jo'burg, Perth, Old Trafford).
So while the Kiwi bowlers will get a leg up, the Kiwi batsmen will, in all probability, have to live the nightmare India's batters endured the last time we were in NZ.
NZ's best bet then - roll out the flattest wickets they can roll out. Sure, the Indian batsmen will notch up records. But it will keep the Kiwi batsmen in the game, and, with a little gumption and luck, the Kiwis could bat India to a stalemate.
Which wont be a bad result after all!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Demolition Derby
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18 comments:
be better off playing above the clouds.
I'll be surprised if the Kiwi bowlers even show up for the tests after the butchery of Sehwag!
Kidding aside, its interesting how well Indian bowlers have done in "favourable conditions". In Perth, while the "wild thing" aka Little Man Tait, was relegated to being a boundary-rider, Pathan picked up the MOTM award.
That greentop myth is about to be shattered in this tour, I guess.
Personally I prefer a green top for the test series... A good test for the batsmen who often end up as mere paper tigers when conditions are not pampered for them.
Either way, India should still do better even if it is a green top due to the bowling attack. However having said that, the bowling performance of this team in the t20 and ODIs was way below the mark.
Homer, not so sure. We are too dependent on Ishant and Zaheer. One injury and NZ may lord us over on green tops.
And a green top for tests mean that the relatively low scores of the test batsmen would be compared to the heroics of this ODI team on flat pitches and uninformed people will have a field day propping up the likes of Yuvraj and Raina as better than Laxman and Dravid.
Indian bowling bothers me. Give anything that can help it.
Homer,
rolling out a green top is probably the only way, some interest could be build in this series, though india has been winning, a lack of contest is waning my interest down
NC,
Sure.. :)
Cheers,
Leela,
Which is why I back the Indian bowling unit to come on its own under favorable conditions.
If it seams, it will spin. And if that happens, can the Kiwis handle an attack of say Zak, Ishant, Bala, Mishra and Harbie?
Cheers,
Som,
I would hope so.
Cheers,
Scorpi,
And yet, when compared to the Kiwis, our bowling as done better.
Also, the question to be asked is - which of the two attacks is capable of taking 20 wickets. And consistently at that ?
Cheers,
Raj,
And the Kiwis on Dan Vettori - thing is when you look at the roster depth, do we have the players who can fill the gaps?
I would say yes, that Balaji is a good third seamer and Munaf is a better proposition as a Test bowler than an ODI one. Also, there is Irfan - given his performance in the latter part of the 2nd T20, who is to say he wont come to the party on greentops?
Also, Yuvraj is in the Test squad. And Dravid is hopefully playing his last Test series. So maybe there is a case for Raina after all :)
Cheers,
SB,
And that will be a self defeating gesture by the Kiwis :)
Cheers,
Ankit,
But TRP's are up, grounds are full and we are all talking about it :)
Cheers,
Homer,
lol, since when did we bloggers start bothering about TRP's? and grounds are full? certainly because half of it is broken down!
True Ankit.. but the interest level across the board has not waned, as the numbers show :)
Cheers,
"And Dravid is hopefully playing his last Test series"
Come on, leave the guy alone Homer :)
Cheers Naresh :)
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