Looking forward

The second Test is done and dusted, and while we dominated them both, we failed to win either (although luck played a huge part in that). Here’s what we need to do moving forward:

• Drop VRV - Even if Sreesanth, Pathan and Patel all fall sick before the next Test. He’s dead-weight as far as I am concerned. I was suprised when he played in the first Test, let alone the second. And his batting makes McGrath seem like a top-order batsman. Personally, I’m not impressed with Sreesanth either and can’t understand what all the hoopla surrounding him is. At best, he seems mediocre. Munaf Patel on the other hand clearly has a lot of potential and will probably be a permanent member of the Indian pace attack for the next decade. The same can’t be said about Sreesanth. And don’t even get me started on Powar. That means we need to get some bowling back-up. Agarkar, Nehra and Balaji are worth another chance.
• Develop Sehwag’s bowling - Sehwag is certainly an under-rated bowler. A lack of control and variation holds him back, although his accuracy is acceptable. Bowling huge, ripping, off-spinners is not enough. Under-spin, top-spin, doosra and varied pace can turn him into a full-time bowler. Imagine that.
• Five bowler strategy - I’m a huge advocate of having five bowlers, especially when we usually have a couple that come cropper. Eventually, Sehwag could be that fifth bowler, but until then, we need to have enough firepower out to go that last mile and finish off the opposition. That’s another reason to get some back up pacemen. Inability to bowl out a half-decent batting line-up on the last day of a Test match doesn’t bode well for us. Plus, we seem to be doing alright in the batting department at the moment as it is.

Wha..? (Part II)

Doesn’t moisture in the pitch mean that it’s going to assist the pace bowlers? What’s all this talk about moisture smothering sideways movement? I’m not saying the pitch wasn’t better to bat on the first day than it was the second, it certainly was; but how is moisture to blame for that? Did I miss something?

Wha…?

A pack attack of Sreesanth, Munaf and VRV Singh? VRV Singh!? No Pathan, no Harbhajan!? You’ve gotta be kidding me.

No room for Powar (Part II)

Name	O	M	Runs	W	Avg.	Econ.
Powar	29	1	153	4	38.25	5.27
Harbhajan	49	4	192	3	64.00	3.91
Yuvraj	6	0	27	1	27.00	4.50
Sehwag	13	0	61	1	61.00	4.69

Clearly, Powar hasn’t done anything great. His economy rate is the worst and his average is not that great either. We can easily have the part-time spinners fill in for him with little ill-effect, if any.

While he can bat a bit (ave. 6.50 from 3 innings in this series), he hasn’t done anything to show he can contribute big hits at the end. His fielding, on the other hand, is a huge liability. Simply awful. As is his fitness. If Ganguly can be dropped for his poor fielding (it wasn’t the only reason, but an important one nonetheless), then so can Powar. Hell, Kumble would be a much better pick than Powar. He would certainly bowl better, and can bat just as well.

My initial thinking was that Kaif would make way for Tendulkar when he comes back, but now I am certain it has to be Powar.

Here is Part I.

Lessons to be learnt

India’s hot-air balloon, rising dramatically over the last few months, has been popped by none other than the Windies. As we come crashing down to the ground, it’s time to reflect on what went wrong. I think we’ve basically forgotten the lessons that turned our ODI performances around in the first place. It’s time to get back to the basics.

1) Fielding: When Chappell first came on, that was one of the biggest improvements you noticed on the field rightaway. Players were making great stops, return throws were spot on and they were hitting the stumps 4 times out of 5 when they had a shy at the stumps. All of them, not just one or two players. Compare that to the dismal display in this series. Today, from 30 feet away with all stumps visible, Raina tried to knock down the stumps and missed. That’s fine. What was not was that he bounced the ball, and it went right over the stumps. When you bounce the ball, it has to travel more distance, and is slowed down quite a bit when it bounces. A non-professional like me knows that, so I’m surprised that Raina, one of the better fielders in the team, did that. What I am afraid of though is that nobody might have caught it, and they’ll keep on continuing to do that. Another aspect of fielding is fitness. After the initial efforts when Chappell came on board, it seems not much has been done in this area. Players need to be pushed beyond their current fitness levels.

2) Extras: We need to get them under control. Spinners bowling wides is not acceptable. Same thing for no balls. We have to try and minimize them. We did that against other teams earlier in the season. Bowlers need to regain that control.

3) Run-outs: Losing crucial wickets to run outs, especially when the player is just not alert, or being lazy, or trying to avoid being hit by the ball, is inexcusable. Get it right.

4) Tactics: Innovation, like in the real world, can go a long way in the sport. We certainly have the room to play, what with all the new rules. Experimentation shouldn’t end at playing with batting order. When defending a small target, try not taking the last powerplay until the 45th over. This could also be very effective when defending huge totals. In a game that’s obviously being won, send in Agarkar or Harbhajan to practice some biffing. Signalling to the wicket-keeper if you’re about to bowl a slower ball or down leg-side (suggested by Dean Jones) is a great idea. Make the tail-enders take their batting seriously, and have them practice slogging. During the early overs, it’s okay to go over the top. In fact, you want to. That’s the whole bloody point. Forget about trying to thread the needle. Sehwag is especially culpable because he understands this concept, and likes to hit in the air, but he hits it at a slightly above-head height. That’s catchable, and he’s often gotten out that way. Also, if you’re hitting it in the air, put a little extra effort into it. Convert those fours that land within two feet of the rope to sixes. Those runs addup. Sehwag can easily do this if only he gives it a little more loft.

If we can do these things, and pick the best team (that means no Powar), there’s nothing in the world that can stop us.

Did I miss any problems?

Cardinal Sin?

I’ve heard several people, including Rahul Dravid, my hero (yes, he has become the first person in my life to be conferred with that sobriquet), that not batting the full 50 overs in an ODI is “cardinal sin.” I beg to differ. For if you bat the 50 overs and don’t score any runs, that’s much worse. Of course, that’s an extreme example. The point is, being aggressive and getting all out in the 45th over is better than playing 50 overs but scoring fewer runs. In the last game, India couldn’t quite figure out the runs-wickets equation. With 9 overs to go and 4 wickets in hand, you’d have expected some aggression. But the Indians were so preoccupied with saving wickets that they forgot to score runs. In Rao, Harbhajan, Powar and Agarkar you had a specialist batsman and three players capable of a good biff. Yet, they just managed 24 runs from those 9 overs. 41 runs from 15 overs after scoring 211/3 from the first thirty-five is so far below pathetic, we’ll have to invent a new word for it.

What does this mean? India’s trailing to a side that recently struggled to distinguish itself from a third-grade Zimbabwean team. I’ve mentioned several times in the past that India’s real test will come abroad. Now that we’re abroad we’re struggling against a team in the bottom rung? Does this mean we haven’t improved nearly as much as we thought we did? Does it mean we can forget about winning the Test series? About being the best in the world? I am glad to say that the answer is no. Call it optimism or foolhardiness, but I predict two much easier wins for the Indians in the next two games.

What a game!

Quite frankly, it was a snooze-fest until we got into the last 15 overs. A brilliant knock from Yuvraj, but he faltered on the last hurdle. Windies win by a run. The problem was that Yuvraj didn’t get any support. We needed just a little bit from the tail, not much. But Agarkar and Bhajji departed tamely without helping any. Oh well. Yuvraj will be disappointed, but that doesn’t take any sheen off his wonderful, well-paced innings. Considering what happened in the penultimate over, he came back strongly in the last one. Only to…

There’s no need to panic, of course. We were bound to fail chasing sooner or later. It happens to everybody, including the Aussies. Just think of it as a blip on the radar that was enjoyable nonetheless.

India’s Kallis

In ODIs, Kaif is India’s Kallis, without the consistency of scoring runs of course. I’ve written about how he’s not suited for the ODI game before, so there’s no need to elaborate. I didn’t watch today’s game, but a look at the scorecard clearly tells you that he single-handedly put tremendous pressure on the rest of the line-up. The game shouldn’t have been nearly as close as it was.

Dravid involved in another run-out. Boy, that surely has to be his Achilles Heel.

Just as edging is Yuvraj’s. Has anybody else noticed how often he edges through the slips area? I don’t think I’ve seen a game in the past year where he hasn’t done that. Luckily for him, he won’t get four slips in ODIs. Tests are a different story though, so he’ll have to fix this problem if he hopes to do well in the longer version of the game.

PS The Sabina Park ground must be small: the scorecard says Dravid hit two sixes.

Another ODI series

And my money would be on a 4-1 Indian win. 5-0 can’t be ruled out though.

Ponting vs Tendulkar

There was a scenario a couple of seasons ago when Warne and Murali were neck-to-neck with the most number of wickets in Test cricket. Then Murali went out for a while due to injury, and Warne took a clear lead. But Murali is much younger than Warne and hence is pipped to be holding the record when the two hang their boots.

We might have a similar scenario with Ponting and Tendulkar. The most number of Test centuries being the stat that will be contested here, of course. With 9 centuries from 14 Tests, Ponting is in the form of his life. And with 31 centuries, he’s lagging Tendulkar by only 4. He’s also 20 months younger than Tendulkar (April, 1973). Although Tendulkar is recuperating from a shoulder operation at the moment, he’s expected to be back in time for the Test series in the Caribbean next month. The progress of both the batsmen will be keenly followed by the entire cricketing world.

This is one of the posts lost over the last weekend.