India's failed tactics

India’s tactics in Melbourne for accommodating the new millionaires was baffling.  To play with all slow bowlers in Australia is something that would never win any game for you. When the attack reads PK, VK, RJ, RS and of course R Ashvin, the odds for winning go very high. 

Baffling to see the world cup winners Sehwag and Zak rested / dropped. Also Umesh Yadav who would bowl with much pace than VK+PK combined, was rested.

Tactics ?

No, mental disintegration of the team management whoever forms it. Selector, captain, vice-captain and of course good for nothing coach Duncan Fletcher. Such a move would have been impossible in the days of Gary Kirsten or even John Wright.

Lack of strategy or lack of vision. Stubbornness, adamant, hell bent to play Jadeja no matter if he doesn’t perform or gives too many Six hitting balls.  Whatever you want to call it.  MS Dhoni is now trying to sound as a captain who has a feeling of “I cannot go wrong any time”.  He’s got a 17 strong squad and 2 pace bowlers, 1 bowling allrounder who has proved his worth in this country are resting the bench and the lads like Vinay Kumar and Jadeja who for no worth of their own got million dollars in their bank played in the team.

Result : Jadeja was spanked for 41 runs off 16 balls.  How many runs did he make or save? If you sum them, they wont exceed 41.  So is that an allrounderesque performance?  One game on same ground (different format though) you give 16 runs in 3 overs and immediately the next game 41 runs off 2.4 overs? What about the confidence / momentum/  consistency? Now that he is in CSK, he would virtually be immovable in the team and none can touch him.

Australia were 2/35 in 11 overs when rain stopped the game and when they returned they scored 181 in 21 overs out of which 167 runs were scored off spinners.  R Ashvin and R JAdeja are CSk properties and they would be given an extended run of play in all formats of game irrespective of their performance.

Compare the performance of Ashvin in IPL and then in international games where he has come in place of Harbhajan Singh. And the reason for Bhajji’s ouster ? Not taking enough wickets and more of containing bowler. So how has Ashvin corrected those to justify his continuous inclusion? Why would anybody not doubt that his allegiance to CSK and Srikanth is sole factor for him being in the team and not wickets / performance. He cannot run, he gets run out every 2nd game.

His performance from England tour :

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/26421.html?class=2;spanmin1=01+Aug+2011;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

20 wickets in 15 games. 16 of which are against weak England team in 10 games. And if you remove them then the figures are very poor. 4 wickets off 5 matches. 4 of which are against West Indies in India. 4 in 4 in India are sorry figures. Where are the wickets? Where are the carom balls? Where is good damn performance?

A look at his T20I and T20 career reveals even more stark contrast:

T20Is

6 games, 6 wickets,  Average of 47.5, economy of 7.91 and best figures of 1/22.

Compare that with the T20, most of which are in IPL:

60 games,  74 wickets, 4/18, 6.35 economy rate,  S/R of 18.4 half of T20Is

He has to take wickets and become an aggressive spinner as opposed to the version he is now.

And if India has to compete in Australia and “defend its title”, then they have to respect conditions and chose their sides accordingly.

And you don’t have to rest a player who has hit the highest score in an ODI in his last game.  

My XI for today’s game:

1.      Tendulkar

2.      Sehwag

3.      Kohli

4.      Sharma

5.      Dhoni

6.      Raina

7.      Pathan

8.      Ashvin

9.      Praveen

10.     Zaheer

Ranji form of incumbent Indians

Tracking Test contenders:

Suresh Raina :

Hit a double ton against Punjab. Good show of form, but would depend on how Yuvraj and Kohli fare in the Tests. A comeback seems far off for now. 

Harbhajan Singh

No favors done playing in the Ranji game on a lifeless track. Went wicketless and only delaying the possible comeback for the Tests.

Rohit Sharma

A century against Railways shows good recovery from injury. Could comeback in the ODI team.

Manoj Tiwary

A hundred in the game vs Gujarat would mean he can retain his place in the ODI series should some seniors chose to rest before Australia tour.

Selection anomalies

The first test vs West Indies at home after 9 years is 4 days away and the Test team for it is declared. The usual suspects in batting have returned, the injured players have returned and the selectors have chosen to revamp the bowling attack altogether. They have committed as usual blunders and thats going to cost heavily to the team.

Here are the anomalies:

1. Harbhajan Singh has been dropped from Test squad on the basis of his England Test form and previous ODI form of 2011. He hasnt had that bad tests altogether as selectors think so. He bowled fairly decent in SA and in West Indies before failing in England. The problem with him has been he has had quieter periods with the ball followed by a 3 or 4 wicket haul in Test. The consistency he used to have in 2002 - 2006 days is no longer around. And that probably takes selectors and his critics to think that he is woeful in Tests too.

A look at his 12 month record doesnt paint a very sorry picture that deserved him to be dropped.

Over last 12 months he has played 11 Tests and accounted for 38 wickets at not so decent average of 38. This figures involve a poor return of 2/287 in England. And fairly decent returns of 15 in 3 in SA and 11 in 3 in West Indies.

SA and WI are countries where he hasnt had much of success in the past. Whats worrying though is in last 12 months he's got just 1 5-for. And that was against SA in SA.

http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/29264.html?class=1;home_or_away=1;home_or_away=2;spanmax1=02+Nov+2011;spanmin1=02+Nov+2010;spanval1=span;template=results;type=bowling

I think he should have been given one more series to prove his mettle and if another failure, then perhaps he should have been then dropped. Alternatively, the second aspect of this drop can be that he would get to play 3-4 Ranji games and if he gets some form in it, that would be handy in Australia as he would be the only spinner to have some experience in there.

Replacements

The replacement for Harbhajan is R Ashvin who showed up decent figures in ODIs vs England. 11 in 5 with most of them holing out to the middle. Not sure if that should count in judging him to be a very good spinner. His carrom balls and doosras were easily negotiated. And basis of this and some decent success in IPL Ashvin has got in the team. Also dont forget that the selection head has pushed out TN openers out of the team and so to keep N Srinivasan happy, he's got Ashvin in the team. Thats for the conspiracy mongers to be happy.

Pragyan Ojha is back after some good performances in domestic circuit and Rahul Sharma is also finding a place in the Test team after ODI team. Worse, he has even got a contract in Grade C with IPL success. Superb!! His domestic record for Punjab is patchy. 18 wickets off 10 games. Average of 45 and best figures of 6/92. Last outing in whites got him 2 wickets in the entire game. Betetr thing would have been he should have playing in Ranji games.

Exclusions

Whats baffling is the ouster of Praveen Kumar. Dunno whats the basis of his ouster. He was the one of the very few performers on that ill fated England tour. 15 wickets in 3 games @ 29 is not a bad performance inviting an axe. 27 wickets in 6 tests with a strike rate of 59 and average of 25 is very good figure for a bowler once touted to be only ODI specialist. What forms the reasons for his ouster are beyond comprehension. Worse, the selectors didnt even offer an explanation if he was injured or has some other constraint. Performance is certainly not the reason why he is dropped. And if it is, then selectors are real jokers.

Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav are supposedly pacy bowlers in the nation and they found a place too soon in the test squad. They havent really been in wickets in the games they played and except for few pace deliveries, they havent shown real hope that they would be knocking the timber off the batsmen.

In absence of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth, a half fit Ishant Sharms shall be leading the pace attack before the Australian tour.

Ajinkya Rahane shall be confined to the benches unless somebody (2 at least) get injured in the first choice XI.

Yuvraj Singh should find a spot in the starting Xi given he made a 50 in his last test innings before he got injured.

Probable XI :

1. Sehwag

2. Gambhir

3. Dravid

4. Tendulkar

5. Laxman

6. Yuvraj

7. Dhoni

8. Ashvin

9. Ishant

10. Ojha

11. Yadav / Aaron

The other sad aspect is the rushing of the injured players in the team. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Sharma and Yuvraj return from the injury. Except for Sehwag who has played some form of cricket to gain fitness, the others havent played much cricket to prove they are ready for internation cricket once again. Specially Tendulkar who has been busy with waving chequered flag to the Indian GP F1 race and moving to new house. And the mad hype for his 100th 100 would be on once again.

It would be a pity that he would be playing his first test against West Indies in 9 years time. The last time he played was in 2002, the last series WI played in India. He missed the 2006 and 2011 tours to West Indies on the pretext of injuries and rest.

India look good to go 2-0 up

The 3rd and final Test of this series is seeming to be going India's way should weather permit on day 4 and day 5. If weather would have been good all this far, India would have been 2-0 up in the series thus far.

Its just good for India that the man who leads them in all 3 formats of the game and their World cup winning man has got back some form, some runs before the tough England tour begins in few days time. He had been scratchy and pathetic in all the 4 innings before today's 50 and in this process he also got to 3000 Test runs in 57 Tests, not bad for a man who was considered untechnical and ugly to watch when he came 7 years back.

Laxman is continuing his good form in the series and this would only mean better in the tougher England series in few days time. 3 50s in as many innings is sureshot welcome from the man who likes to bat in crisis. He may not need to bat in the 4th innings depending upon the size of lead India gets on day 4.

Raina has almost sealed his place for the # 6 spot in England and he would be keeping Yuvraj out for while from the Test team with a super 3rd 50 of the series. But the biggest beneficiary of the first Indian innings was ABhinav Mukund who not only grinded hard but also made some runs to boost his confidence. Its almost certain he would be walking out in Lord's test with Gautam Gambhir as Viru is yet to get total fit and might not make it to the Lord's.

A lot depends on how much Dhoni and Bhajji make on the first session of the day 4 and another 50-60 runs would be very handy given the brittle batting of West Indies and weather permitting, India shouldnt find going 2-0 up so difficult.

Backing Ashvin for success in West Indies ODIs

R Ashvin, the tall 24 year old spinner from Chennai and one of the vital cogs of CSK's twin IPL titles. He has been hailed   as country's second best spinner after Harbhajan in ODIs at least. He has just played 9 ODIs, 2 in World cup, 5 in NZ series and 2 in that ill fated Zimbabwe tour. But he has earned a place amongst fans to be brave hearted and a constant trier. He doesnt held himself back from tossing the ball up in the powerplays in ODIs and T20s, he  gets thrashed but more often than not he picks up wickets. 

He proved that in the IPL and CLT20 that he can be a very good new ball bowler and he often started the attack in the world cup (against West Indies and Australia - 2 games he played).  Got Watson in the Quarters in the first 10 overs. And then he was dropped for  the next 2 games. He again proved his mettle in the IPL when he constantly grabbed Chris Gayle in the final and a game before when later was rampaging. 

MSD has handled this man very well and its fortunate for Ashvin that MSD is also India captain. When he returns for the England ODIs, Ashvin would be keen to perform well in the West Indies ODIs and sneak a place in the starting XI ahead of Harbhajan Singh. Its most likely that Harbhajan would always play ahead of him in conditions favoring just one spinner, but if Ashvin could keep Bhajji on toes, only the Indian bowling attack would be benefitted. 

After Kumble's shoulder surgery of 2001, India hasnt had an attacking spinner in the ODIs. Harbhajan fitted that role very well in early 2000s but in last few years he has become more of containing bowler than an attacking bowler. He cannot be always relied to grab wickets in pressure situation, something which Kumble always did for Azharuddin and Tendulkar in 90s. 

India has tried a lot of spinners in supporting role to Harbhajan after Kumble bowed out of ODIs -- Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra (very few ODIs), Yusuf Pathan, Piyush Chawala, Ravinder Jadeja etc. But none of them have been able to cement their places in the starting XI. Also Sehwag's dodgy shoulder in last 2 years havent helped India's cause,  he has proved many times he is better off spinner than Harbhajan Singh. 

If Ashvin is able to replicate his IPL success in ODIs and T20Is for India then not only he would be a serious contender for Tests but also India would have much better bowling attack as compared to now. He is in the team in West Indies only for the ODIs, but if he puts up a strong performance, say 2 wickets on average per game and giving away 4.5 - 5.5 runs an over, he would be very tough to ignore for the tougher tours coming up later this year. 

And thats when Ashvin would be just Ashvin and not IPL Ashvin.

India win by 80 runs

India won and they play next Australia. Australia's quest for the 5th title is going to end in Ahmedabad and Ponting is going to continue walking to his ODI sunset. Doesnt matter if he does not walk on the field.

India won by 80 runs however not before getting a scare when Devon Smith and Ramnaresh Sarwan were batting with ease. That time, the Indians had given up on the chase and they looked despirited, deflated and even disinterested.

It took Zaheer to strike once again as in England game to bring India back in the game and after that Windies choked or they just didnt have it in them to win from the strong position they had for 2nd game in running. R Ashvin made his way to the team on his home ground and got 2 wickets. Well he didnt inspire a lot of confidence as in that he shall turn the bowling woes to riches. He got 2 wickets, which even Nehra got that day and even Chawla got. 

He didnt turn the ball square on a pitch he knows more than anybody else other than Tendulkar. He didnt bowl that many carrom balls....So whats the hype and talk all about? Harbhajan Singh was useless in the first spell but then it took his maiden over to get Zaheer strike off Smith's stumps in his 2nd spell. 

Munaf Patel, well he is as useless in the team as is Yusuf Pathan, the fuddi Pathan. Good for nothing lads. Cant bat, cant bowl and cant field. 2 liabilities. Munaf did a ugly swipe in the 50th over 5 balls 2 soon. Ashvin hit the ball to a 4 in the 49th over and he looked to take score past 270 but our Munnabhai couldnt stick around yet again. This lad was insipid in the field and when he bowled. He looks so disinterested and he sleepwalks the game. Why is he even in the team ?

Sachin Tendulkar walked when he was not out given by Steve Davis. He should not have walked and should not walk in the knock out games ahead esp against Australia. He didnt nick it and there is no snickometer for the DRS. So even if there was a review, he would have got away. But then the man has played his cricket with integrity, so he wont compromise against it. 

Gambhir again threw away the start he got. Kohli and Yuvraj then took the score to 173 when it looked India would cross again the 300 mark, but it was a distant dream. They collapsed yet again losing 7 for 50. Rampaul took 5 as did Bresnan and Steyn previously. 

This kind of performance wont be good enough to win the world cup. So India has to address the batting powerplay and middle order batting below 4 once again. That just cant do in the quarters especially when the next 2 games are against Australia and Pakistan(if both win).

Looking back at the moral sapping defeat to SA

So India lost the first game of the tournament and in an insipid style.  In a way it was good they didnt deserve to win after spineless performance from the lower middle order and the middle order.

Yuvraj Singh attempted what he does the best -- hit successfully, but Saturday wasnt his day. MSD has forgot to hit fours and sixes and like dogs he scratches around and then stands infurirated and gives some spectacularly inefficient statements in the press. Yusuf Pathan is a mug and he shines occasionally to seal his spot for next few games. He has never delivered when needed the most. The best he can do now is to focus on IPL career. No more needed in the world cup.

He is useless in all departments. Cant bat, cant bowl, cant field.

Same goes for Virat Kohli. After that opening 100, he has faltered away. He has been bowled, caught & bowled, run out in last 4 games. What was he attempting on Saturday is best answered by him.

Coming to the fielding, it was the best display in the tournament unforunately didnt come good. Munaf Patel continued to be lax and listless with ball and field. Do we really need him? He is too passive and Sreesanth is too charged up. Extreme characters in the team.

He leaked runs in 48th over in England game too and here again. Both times he got the opposition in the game again after Zaheer Khan and Harbjhajan respectively had got India back into the game.

Foolish stuff.

Ashish Nehra, I guess his India career is almost good as over. No imagination, no yorkers like Zak and no wickets. Giving last over to him was a big mistake. Well if he did manage to get RP out and somehow stop 13 runs from being leaked, India could have hailed him as hero. But he did a good favor to the side by leaking 18 runs to a tail ender.

India needed this defeat at this stage and hopefully after the 8 day break they shall come out all guns blazing. The quarters scnario would be clear by then. They shall know what they'd need to do to go through should there be some upsets in this next few days.

Hopefully they will learn something from the games so far and make some changes in the personnel :

Suresh Raina for Virat Kohli in his IPL home ground

R Ashvin for Munaf Patel in his home and IPL home ground

May be Sreesanth for Nehra

Sreesanth is drama queen / king, is erractic and all the negative things, but only one thing he's got what others in the pace department dont have -- PACE. And if he is ready to play in the team cause and not let his emotions get better of him, he can very well turn out to be surprise package for West Indies.  But dont know predictions dont always come true in Indian team combination.

There is a very little chance India might not make it to the final 8.

The remaining games are:

SA vs Ireland : SA expected to win and get 8 points

WI vs England : England need to win this to stay afloat. if they do they shall end up with 7 points.  If they lose, they are out and BD go in. India also go in.

SA vs Bangladesh :  SA should win this and top the group with 10.  If BD win they go through and if SA lose this one they should still make it provided they dont lose to Ireland.

India vs WI : If India lose to WI and BD win their other game vs SA and WI lose to England they could go out depending on how bad they lose. If India win they end up 2nd in the group and go through.

I guess the turning point in Saturday's game were:

1. 9 for 29 in 9

2. One additional over for Zaheer in batting power play where he leaked 17 runs and if he was saved for last over, he could have got India 2 points.

3. Nehra over Harbhajan

Hopefully this was the bottom India saw and hereon they shall rise to the occasion and not squander the 100s from Tendulkar and starts from Delhi dashers.

Why India should win the world cup and no other country should

I support bloody men in blue. Men in blue which hail from the land of corruption, land of Sonia Gandhi and MMS. Its a big thing that I support bloody men in blue despite all their faults, their falliability to the mistakes on the field, their larger than life stature on the field, the likes of Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and of course MS Dhoni, the man from Jharkhand.

These men are good enough to give any team run of their money, be it from the down south Sri Lanka or neighbour Pakistan or even down under Australia.

We do have falliables like Freesanth bholaram sakharam DK but we also have the likes of GOD, his look alikes, Dhoni, Kohli, Sardar and of course Appaam Chu***nandan shiromani Sreesanth. But when combined this bloody men can give any team in the world a good pasting, a good defeat by the virtue of the cruel bat. These men inflict wounds, scars on the soul, long lasting impact good enough to decode people of their mystery, This men prompt the likes of Kumar Fungasakara to ask his bowlers bowl deliberate no balls or even prompt the likes of Graeme Swann or Ravi Bopara to speak high like "bring on the bloody Indians" or "silence the Indian crowd".

Yeah we are bloody Indians, corrupt, mismanaged and of course pampered. We dont  have the best of infrastructure in the world, we may be corrupt and regionalistic. We might bother about Gandhis, Kalmadis, Rajas, Karunas and other Mamtas, but we bloody care about our cricket. We want revenge, we want the bloody world cup to be in India. Snatch it from bloody Aussies and keep it in India. Not to win it for an individual but for the spirit of cricket, for that unknown cricket fan that spends  invaluable time of his life watching his idols. Idols in infalliable guys like Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dhoni, Yuvraj and of course Harbhajan.

We want the cup to be ours. Not of the bloody Lankans who want to win for a chuck. We want to win it for a man who has played cricket with all purity, divine intervention and bloody cold blooded humility and honesty for 21 years, who did not ask any rule to be bent for his brand of game or who did not break any tv set in his life or did not ask any umpire to give the opposition players out on any illegal catch. Or somebody who talked big and delivered less or nothing. We want to win for men who keep low profile and do the talking on the field when it matters, We want to win the cup for bloody top Test playing nation, we want to now capture the topmost ODI crown too.

Yup, we bloody Indians want to win the world cup. No matter where we are, in India or USA or troubled waters of Mid east, we want to win the damn world cup. That would quench out thirst for a world title. None deserves to win the title as bloody Indians as much we have waited for 28 years  to get the coveted trophy to where it deserves, bcos we play our cricket clean, we dont have chuckers, we dont have Pricks, we dont have slingers, we dont have spot fixers, we dont have cheaters, we dont have womanizers, we dont have idiots, we have cricket playing men whom we adore more than the national icons. We want the cup to be called bloody world champions Indians.

Yeah the cup belongs to India and only India.

Post South Africa series

A 1-1 is not a fair result in the end of the series which was well fought and dominated by India after the centurion drubbing. India lost the plot on day 4 when they allowed SA to race to 341 from 6/130. At that scoreline with an out of form Boucher and injured Kallis on the crease, it could have been a easy victory if any one of them was dislodged earlier. But India failed to cease the initiative.

Th captaincy became defensive, except for Zaheer and Harbhajan there were no intent from the other bowlers. One of them was even fined for his now usual (mis)behavior.  What is the use of such a bowler who is unable to provide the breakthroughs when needed and has his own set of rituals to follow even if the over rate is slow. I raised that point in one of the posts below and there it was, India was fined for slow over rate. Kallis was one of the factor behind the slow over rate when he frequently asked for physio during his not out innings.

A target of 340 was always going to be tough on day 5 wicket. And if India had any outside chances to win the test they were dependent on Sehwagasque start,alas he too switched off. he went to defensive mode and scored just 11 off 40 bals before getting out.

If Sehwag could have got going his trademark style who knows the Saffers would have been under some pressure.

Gambhir once again showed his class in 2nd innings, he not only played with an injured left arm, but also stuck out in the middle depriving the SA bowlers of any chances to flutter India.  He came good in this series in 2 tests he played. A 80 in last innings followed by patient, fighting 90 in this one. A century would have been better, but this team is not about the milestones, but the fighting spirits.

India lost horribly in the first test, came back great in 2nd to dismiss SA for 131 and almost won the 3rd test. It was a replica of 2007 when India messed up their batting in 2nd innings and this time it was the bowling.

The biggest question after this series would be Dravid. What next ? Is he going to wait till May to go to West Indies and England thereafter or would he call quits. There is no competitive cricket to follow for him except IPL 4 to help gain some batting form. But the question is how long will he prolong himself after a rut which has gripped him for a year now.

The question is how long would Sachin Tendulkar carry on. Would he retire after the World Cup? Or quit ODIs and continue tests. I think that would be the most possible scenario that he would give up ODIs to prolong his test career by a year or 2. This year is very important for India considering the tests it has to play in 4 continents or countries -- India, West Indies, England and Australia. We would be anticipating nothing less than wins in WI and Australia and an epic series to follow in England. And if India faces a mass exodus in its 3 best batsmen then does it have the replacements ready for the remaining greats of Indian great middle order of 2000s?

A lot of this would clarify in the coming months.

Harbhajan : Now or never

A shame and a disgrace for the best Test team in the world. A team that blanks Australia 2-0 is content with 2 draws with a # 8 team in the world.  A team that wins Tests more often than it draws or loses is not able to win a single Test against hapless opposition which was blanked 0-4 by a minnow team.  Someone from the opposite camp is good enough every time to thwart the champions with a stubborn 100.

Be it Mac, Baz or Bewda Ryder, they are men of character and might not be blessed on talent, but high on temparament and attitude.

India is a  concerned unit right now. The bowling attack has not been able to take 20 Kiwis wickets in any of the 2 test matches so far. Pitches anyone? Not quite.  Look at the bowling attack -- Zaks, Santh, Harbhajan and IPL.

Except Zaks, noone is toothy enough to take wickets on consistent basis.

Harbhajan is happy making runs with the bat whereas he should be concerned on his dwindling bowling stocks. Few years back when he was young and better bowler than he is today, he consistently took 5-fors and 10-fors. Look at his numbers, 24 5-fors. Most of them coming in his early years of Test cricket. And at a time when he should have been doing a Kumble to the team, he is not even himself that he was in early 2000s.

Harbhajan the bowler needs to step up. Ojha is good for bowling marathon spells but not good enough to run through an opposition in a single sensational spell of spin bowling which we have witnessed in home Tests in last 2 decades. When Kumble was around, the visiting teams had tormenting times starting 3rd session of 3rd day. And now they are happy to bat out for a draw. And when there is an occasionally inspired spell of bowling from one of the visiting bowlers, India finds itself in a dock. Heavens gracious we have batsmen capable enough to bail us out of the hole, but tis the bowlers who put us back in the hole with their headless and mindless bowling.

Time is ripe to look elsewhere for the spinning options, if Harbhajan does not mend up his ways and takes charge as leading Indian bowler now that Zaks is out to a groin strain.

Chak de phatte Ulu de patthe Harbhajan!!

India edge ahead on day 3

Harbhajan Singh is on a roll. Batting wise.

3rd consecutive 50.

69, 115 and now 85 not out. Good enough than Sangakara's scorelines.

Even better is his approach to shield his slapmate Sreesanth, who is restrained so far and has not seen Andre Nel in Arnel, Martin, Southee or Vettori yet.

Tomorrow few more (30-40) runs would put Kiwis to pressure and then IPL Ojha and Harbhajan himself can expect a quick wickets to ensure India does not chase bigger 4th innings total.

The middle order has not been able to impose itself on the inexperienced Kiwi attack -- Tendulkar, Dhoni and Raina have not been able to score as much as they want to...

VVS Laxman scored 74 in his first home test in 14 years of Test cricket. He has been on song off late and would continue to carry this golden run in 2011 too when India play away series in West Indies, England and Australia preceeded by West Indies at home.

Another interesting Test match looms with a realistic possibility of a result.

McIntosh steals thunder with a wonder on Day 1 in Cyberabad

India is struggling to take Kiwi wickets on regular basis and their inexperienced batsmen are making merry of the attack which bamboozled Australia 2 times in row. The Indians are posting a sorry figure for now and their great spinners mr Harbhajan Singh and IPL Ojha playing on his home ground so early in his career are totally ineffective thus far in the series.

Ojha has played a lot of cricket on the new stadiu in Uppal and he should know the nature of pitch, yet he starts with a sorry figure that makes us believe he is a disinterested fellow in Tests.

Harbhajan has taken his MoM award a bit too seriously for he has now stopped focussing on bowling. A good step at this point of time would be to give him a rude shock which could be well an axe for the nextd 4 Tests and instead take a rookie Ashvin. The wickets are not ocming and chances are they might not come again, but then if Ashvin gets more wickets, it would be a bonus for India.

Sreesanth is erractic and 2nd time in 3rd Tests he dismissed a batsman of a no-ball. Attitude and temparament anyone?  Beauty spells in hours and mostly erractic line. Perhaps he is coming in Tests again for free. He has not played first class cricket off late, has got injured, bowled at NCA and nets. And came back. He is putting Ishant Sharma out of the team.

Today would be a key day to decide if India wins this series 1-0 or 2-0.

India's nemesis Bewda Jesse Ryder is still on crease and old tormentor Dennie Bettori is yet to come.

And if Bhajji continues to bowl the line he is bowling right now, our spin stocks are as good as West Indies or Australia's.

Motera Musings

India were out of the hole again and the revival was sparked by familiar face in VVS Laxman and new batting allrounder Harbhajan Singh who got a MoM award for batting. Surprisingly he made a 100 and a  50 in a same game to become 8th batsman in the history to accompalish this feat.

The Kiwis were no pushovers and to me following were the high points of this test match:

• Superb fast bowling spell by Chris Martin on 4th evening to give a strong chance out of nowhere to Kiwis to win the test match.
• Match turning partnership by Ryder and Williamson on day 3 to bring Kiwis in touch distance within India's first innings score.
• Spectacular collapse of India in 2nd innings to be at 5/15 with just 43 runs lead.
• The man called VVS Laxman with his awesome 2nd innings record. Enough said.

The low points:

• The Motera pitch : lifeless, dull and flat. Perhaps that prevented MS to declare when India were 200 up in the fourth innings lead and safely out of danger.
• India's impotent bowling attack. Barring Zaheer Khan and to an extent Ojha, the others were insipid. 
• Continuing bowling failure of Harbhajan Singh would soon come to a point where coach and captain would need to decide if he continues to be # 1 spinner in Tests.
• Gautam Gambhir's insipid 2010 run continues.
• Sehwag's 2nd innings record continues to be patchy.
• Sreesanth should now be relegated to dancing on reality shows. He is just no use to India's lineup. Ishant Sharma seems to be better bowler than this guy.

India would be disappointed that they could not beat Kiwis and continue their winning streak. On the other hand, the Kiwis would be more than happy to get the draw with strong performances from Ryder, WIlliamson, Baz and Martin. I just hope no more tests are scheduled in Ahmedabad in near future if it continues to roll out docile, Srilankan type pitches.

A monumentous Test match

What a test match it was.  Ful too paisa vasool. As a superstition I wrote on the blog that Australia would win the game while I knew that someone would do something magical cos it was Australia and India can fight back from worst of the situation against this team. Woke up at 2 AM in the night and glued to the webcast till the presentation was made. Every moment of the final session of final day is a picture to cherish for long time to come.

Its the quality of cricket India and AUstralia are capable to produce every time they take the field. Intense, gigantic and great cricket. Even the lesser mortals of Australian team gave a tough fight to Indians. And in the end even though India won, it was Australia too who showed a lot of improved behavior on the field. Especialy Ricky Ponting who did not go overboard to push for the victory.  The scenes of Sydey 2008 are still afresh, but this was a sea change.

Australia did not have the penetration on the final day when it was most required. Bollinger, the to go man on final day was out injured (thanks to CSK campaign) and Hauritz was a no brainer against India.

Johnson struggles on pitches with little bounce and Hilfy did his bit, but in the end Ponting's men ended on the losing side. No disgrace though. Defeats against Australia except 2008 Sydney never hurt as much against Sri Lanka and Pakistan do. But then SL and Pak are no contesters against India.

Everybody contributed in the win right from Sehwag to Ojha except Gambhir who's suddenly developed a lean patch. He is out 2nd time to injury in consecutive Test series. That gives an opening to Mukund and though he wont play, Vijay would partner Sehwag again in Bangalore.

Dravid had his moments in first innings, Tendulkar missed a 100, Raina made a well deserved 86 and Dhoni, though regressed in batting, captained well. Ishant Sharma sprayed balls all over in first innings and had injury to his ankle / knee, he returned back to bowl with heart out and star in that monumental partnership for 9th wicket. Ojha did his bit in 2nd innings with ball and Zaheer Khan, as usual was excellent with old SG ball.

Harbhajan did disappoint with bat and ball in both innings, but the man who would be remembered whenever this great Test match would be mentioned is VVS Laxman.

What a player he is. Underrrated and under praised(whatever). He has now got victories in back to back chases with back to back back injuries. Crisis and adversities make Laxman thrive and excel, that very few players do. But that has been the hallmark of this great Indian middle order. Batting with a runner, with a bad back and scoring runs at almost S/R of 95 is excellent stuff.

That makes him count above the flat track bullies of Lanka. Sangakara and Jaywardhena have scored more runs and hundreds than Laxman, but hardly their innings are counted as in the same breath as in for Laxman.

Bangalore should make another exciting contest and if India wins, then it would be a whitewash of mini sorts for India. But do not under estimate Australians for they would give one more intense shot to the indians to save their pride and gain some confidence for their next Test in Brisbane on Nov 23.

India vs Australia D1T1

India Australia test happen at a very wrong time for me. When its day time in India, its night time here and barring weekends, its very difficult to catch up the live action on the field by being up the whole night.

India caught up with the Australia in the 2nd session to choke Australia at a scoreline of 5/224 which did not look a possibility at 2/179.  Ojha and Harbhajan did the best -- choke runs without taking wickets and that helped Zaheer Khan to strike with the old ball.

Thats where the utility of Zaheer Khan is. He is a superb exponent with the old ball and he should fancy 5-for tomorrow.

Watson and Ponting threatened to run away with the match in the first 2 sessions and onyl a gem from Raina saved India from usual day one starting troubles.

5/224 is an unusual scoreline for Australia..Perhaps an indicatot of the decline in Australian fortunes off late.

Getting Wastson and Paine early would be the key tomorrow.

300-325 should be the score India looking forward to wrap up Australia in 1st innings.

Yuvraj's omission is baffling.

India's team for the first test is almost a good one except following:

1. Yuvraj's omission is baffling. He did not get a chance to demonstrate his so called loss of form in Tests after the disastrous Galle test. Next test he was injured and next one Raina persisted over him. Ideally he could have been given one chance to prove his form in Tests and then drop would have been justified. Now that Che is in, it seems that for forseeable future Yuvraj's Test fortunes are on hold for now.
2. Che finally gets in the team but is he going to play ? He would no more than a drinks man. Ideally he should replace Dravid at 3, but then Dravid has had one poor series in Lanka and he should be back in form again.
3. Harbhajan in the team is baffling. He has not been in form, fitness and sane mind.  As SP says he is a spot fixer in Indian team.

Zaheer, Ishant, Harbhajan and IPL should be the lineup for bowling.  GG, VS, RD, ST, VVS, SR, MSD for batting.

Mumbai Chokers

For this very reason MI is a team who would not win the CL20 or IPL. Except Tendulkar the rest of the team is a mixture of jokers. Good for nothing. Sathishes, Rayudus, Pollards all combined dont make half of what Sachin Tendulkar contributes. I feel for the guy. He gives his all even in a club tourney and the big money makers dont even put the worth of the talent to bail out the team of the crisis.

Zaheer had a forgettable comeback, but thats excused as coming from a break. Harbhajan never takes wickets this days be it T20s or Tests or ODis. And he is still India's no 1 spinner....Get off dude.

The Lions who had just 2 Test players or ones with some international experience ran amok the IPL team which is costliest, belonging to the richest Indian and captained by a guy who has made more runs, scored more 100s than anybody else in the cricketing world. Yet they are unable to win a tight contest. Chokers would be a good tag to label on Mumbai Indians.

Except for Sachin Tendulkar none other were playing a game. And when Tendulkar got out, the game was all over for MI.

There was a tweet from Rajdeep Sardesai that more people watched Boppana Quraishi lose the uS open doubles final than Tendulkar and he'd never expected this to happen. Cmon man this is a CLT20, not an India match.

Media is going gung ho about possible India Pakistan combine to play sport. Thats an impossible union ever.  Media keeps imagining things and when they get a rude jolt from Qureshis (Foren mantri) and 10%s (rashtrapati), they get back to usual bashing........

CLT20 : Mumbai Indians Preview

Mumbai Indians are placed top of group B in the CLT20. And they are led by Sachin Tendulkar, so that should make it an interesting watch.
Sachin had an awesome IPL 3 at home and he remodelled his game to suit T20 switching from the ODI mode and excelled in it. He had just made a 200 in the ODI at Gwalior vs SA and he had excelled in IPL too.
The MI squad is:
Shikhar Dhawan, Sachin Tendulkar, Ambati Rayudu, Saurabh Tiwary, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, R Sathish, Ali Murtaza, Dhawal Kulkarni, Aditya Tare, Kieron Pollard, Dwayne Bravo, JP Duminy, Lasith Malinga, Ryan McLaren.
The starting squad could be:

1.
Tendulkar
2.
Dhawan
3.
Rayudu
4.
Bravo / Tiwary
5.
Duminy
6.
Tare
7.
Pollard
8.
Zaheer
9.
Harbhajan
10.
Malinga
11.
McLaren / Kulkarni
MI team does not look very strong and if you take out Tendulkar then there is virtually nobody to anchor the innings. The team looks prone to collapses and should Tendulkar not excel this team does not look good to go through the semis.
The fortunes of the team depend a lot on Tendulkar and subsequently on the middle order which looks a bit weak. Tiwary has not had any match practice despite being part of 2 teams in SL.
Zaheer would be back from shoulder injury and he would surely be a little rusty. Harbhajan Singh has not been in great form recently in the Tests or ODis or T20s. He bowled well in IPL but went wicketless in world T20 and was a shadow of himself in the SL test series.
Kulkarni has had a good A tour of England in May - June and Malinga was in top form in the test series with India.
Key players:
Tendulkar, Malinga, Duminy, Bravo and Harbhajan Singh
Prediction : Semis if Tendulkar fires and first round if he does not.

Harbhajan needs to go

For sure it wont be the case in the remainder of the series that Harbhajan Singh would be dropped, but he makes a strong case to be dropped.  It’s a long time he was dropped from the team for incompetence, but this is the right time for him to know that he cannot go on and on for long time without actually having wickets under his name.  Ditto goes for Pragyan Ojha.  He bowls with lot of “character” and guile in T20s but the same goes for a toss in the Tests and ODIs he plays.

9 wickets in 6 ODIs this year, no wicket in World T20 and 12 wickets in 4 Tests this year with 1 5-for are sorry figures that make sorrier reading.  He has had an average of 61.5 vs Bangladesh and no average against SL this Test.

ODI figures make even poor picture. 1 wicket against BD, 2 against Pak and 3 against SL.  Economy of 4.8 runs an over and 29 runs for every wicket.

It’s a very rare thing in days of MSD’s captaincy to drop Harbhajan, whereas the previous 3 captains did no favors to the man when he was not in the best of the form.  Perhaps he’s got complacent that his place in the team is for granted. Time for somebody to shed off that cobweb and clutter in his mind.

But the question is who are the replacements?  Amit Mishra  ? R Ashvin ?

Spin bowling scene is scarier than  the fast bowling concerns.

Galle Test Day 3

Indians managed to sniff out some early wickets on a helpful pitch, thanks to the efforts from A Mithun and Ishant Sharma. However the Sri Lankans are still going strong with no signs of declaration whatsoever.  Samarweera, Lady Jaywardhena and P Jaywardhena went quite early than expected, but then its turn of Malinga and Herath to bat on and on.

SL might have murali have some runs in his belt too. Who knows he might even get a single wicket or not. Sehwag might spoil his swansong or even anybody from the top 7 can do so. 

Malinga has got a  50. Herath has already got it. Chanaka and Muttiah would have it too. 600 should be apt score for them to score in a rain truncated game.  They are now batting since day 1 and we are in session number 8 of the Test.

A lot of blame has to go to the Indian spin attack too which is just insipid and lacklusture as Sri Lankan desire to win. IPL Ojha has gone for 100 and Harbhajan is following suit. Ishant bowled bad on day 1, but made great amends on day 3. He needs confidence and time, something which Srikanth is not ready to give him. He should have been playing in England on the A tour, instead he was sitting home and some Ganpathys and etc were representing Indian bowling in England.

Poor Amit Mishra had a poor tour game, IPL Ojha had 8 wickets in that game, he is finding wickets hard to come by in the games that matter. He is other example of cricketers who give  their best shot in IPL and not so good shot when playing for country.  Raina, Sharma being the other members of the IPL glorious club.

Post Anil Kumble, the Indian spin bowling looks bleak and Harbhajan is now at best a stock restrictive bowler who doesnot find wickets any more. 

SL are showing no signs of declaration whatsoever.  But we hardly expect them too. They have been showing churlish buffoonery every time they step to play Test cricket, thus killing its spirit and soul every time they play. 

Malinga is fast approaching his 100. What a comeback it would be for him in Tests after 3 years.

Sangakara is having a sheepish grin and he is practicing a speech in post match conference full of character words and assertive stuff to feed his articulate image in the media.

No wonder that major batting records in Tests do belong to Sri Lanka and most of them are at home ending in dull lame boring yawning draws.

Top 10 Test partnerships (for any wicket)

Correct as of January 23, 2010:

Runs	Wicket	Batting partners	Batting team	Fielding team	Venue	Season
624	3rd	Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	South Africa	Colombo	2006
576	2nd	Roshan Mahanama and Sanath Jayasuriya	Sri Lanka	India	Colombo	1997
467	3rd	Andrew Jones and Martin Crowe	New Zealand	Sri Lanka	Wellington	1990/91
451	2nd	Donald Bradman and W H Ponsford	Australia	England	Sydney	1934
451	3rd	Mudassar Nazar and Javed Miandad	Pakistan	India	Hyderabad, Pakistan	1982/83
446	2nd	Conrad Hunte and Gary Sobers	West Indies	Pakistan	The Oval	1957/58
438	2nd	Marvan Atapattu and Kumar Sangakkara	Sri Lanka	Zimbabwe	Bulawayo	2004
437	4th	Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera	Sri Lanka	Pakistan	Karachi	2008/09
429*	3rd	Jacques Rudolph and Boeta Dippenaar	South Africa	Bangladesh	Chittagong	2003
415	1st	Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie	South Africa	Bangladesh	Chittagong	2008