India hang on as Kumble retires
Posted on: November 4, 2008
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The Australians face an uphill task of keeping this series alive as the Indians have an impressive record at the Ferozshah Kotla ground. India havent lost a test match in 21 years at this ground. There has been some reports in the media that few former cricketers feel that Mishra needs to be played in the place of VVS Laxman in the team. This is a completely ridiculous call from the former players as VVS Laxman is a batsmen with a proven record against the Aussies.
India hang on as Kumble retires
Posted on: November 4, 2008
Team mates carry Kumble on their shoulder after the champion bowler announced his retirement from test cricket
The third test ended in dull draw after the bowlers from both the teams were unable to force a result. The Indian team after scoring 613 in their first innings dropped too many catches to let Australia off the hook to allow them to reach 577 in reply. Once that happened it was almost sure that this test would head for a draw and it did. The Indians were guilty of dropping too many chances on a pitch which was offering slow turn to the spinners. Sehwag was India’s most successful bowler in the Australian first innings taking 5 wickets.
The Indian batting though held on for a draw on the 5th day as the Australians had an outside chance of winning the test match. The Indian batsmen scored freely against an inconsistant Australian bowling in the first innings to set up the game in favor of the hosts. The bowlers bowled with lot of heart on a pitch which offered very little assistance. If only the fielders had held on to few of the chances created by their bowlers, probably we could have eneded up with a closer result. Ishant and Zaheer were good once again without luck. Anil was injured early in the Australian first innings after bowling 9 ineffective overs but Mishra troubled the Australians with his variations.
Sehwag was called upon to replace Anil, who had to leave the field with an injured thumb and used the conditions the best among all the bowlers on view. He accounted for 3 of the 4 Australian wickets to fall on the third day. Micheal Clarke, hayden and Ponting made valuable contributions to propel Australia to 577 in their first innings. Even though the test match ended in a draw it will always be remembered for being the last one played by one of the greatest cricketers India have ever produced. Anil Kumble surprised one and all by his sudden decision to quit on the 5th day of the test match. Kumble later said that the injury prompted him to take the decision.
Kumble had been subjected to media pressure after Amit Mishra’s successful debut in the Mohali test and no one can deny that it played a small part in his decision to retire. Kumble’s career spanned for over 16 years and he became the highest wicket taker for India overtaking Kapil’s tally of 434. Anil now finishes with 619 wickets which is the all time third highest tally in test cricket behind Shane Warne and Muralitharan. Kumble was a fierce competitor on the cricket field and a soft spoken induvidual off it.
India for sure will miss this great legend but as the old saying goes “Every good thing must come to an end”. I wish Kumble all the best for the future and thank him for providing us with lots of moments to cheer during his illustrious career. Good Bye to India’s greatest match winner.
Kumble Harbajan and Mishra during practice sessions
The Indian coach has made it clear that Kumble will play in Delhi if he is fit. That puts an end to all speculations involving the team selection for the next test. India is all set to retain the same squad which won in Mohali with just Kumble replacing Mishra being the only change. Anil Kumble will be captaining the Indian side in Delhi where the Indians would be hoping to seal the series.
The Australians face an uphill task of keeping this series alive as the Indians have an impressive record at the Ferozshah Kotla ground. India havent lost a test match in 21 years at this ground. There has been some reports in the media that few former cricketers feel that Mishra needs to be played in the place of VVS Laxman in the team. This is a completely ridiculous call from the former players as VVS Laxman is a batsmen with a proven record against the Aussies.
Amit Mishra had a great debut game but playing five bowlers has seldom worked in India. I guess India would be better of with four bowlers as the fifth bowler is always underbowled in a test match. well the Selections apart this series is heating up with the comments from Gilchrist against Sachin and with the pressure put by the Australian media on its players. The Australian team would quickly want to erase the embarassing defeat they faced in Mohali from their memories and would like to level the series in Delhi.
All in all we can expect another great game of cricket and hopefully the Indians can wrap up the series with another clinical performance.
India crush Aussies to go one up
Posted on: October 24, 2008
India crush Aussies to go one up
Posted on: October 24, 2008
Zaheer Cleans up Brad Haddin on the 5th morning
India crushed the world champions to win the second test and go one up in the series. The Indians will be really pleased with the win as this was a total team performance and was not achieved on a typical dust bowl. Almost everyone in the team contributed to the win with Dhoni brilliantly leading from the front. Dhoni had temporarily taken the responsibility of captaining the team in the absence of injured Kumble and proved that he is ready to take over the reigns when the great leggie steps down.
The Indians dominated the proceeding starting with the toss on the first day. A great start by the openers, fantastic century by Ganguly, good batting from Sachin and Dhoni made sure that India got to a competetive 469 in the first innings. Sachin and Sourav both reached singnificant landmarks during their respective knocks in the Indian first innings as Sachin became the higest run getter in tests and Sourav passed 7000 test runs.
The Indian bowlers complemented their batsmen splendidly by bowling out the Australians for 268 giving a lead of 201 runs. Zaheer and Ishant were impressive at the start with Mishra and Harbajan running through the middle and lower order. Amit Mishra had a fantastic start to test cricket grabbing 5 wickets on debut. He finished with 7 wickets in the match and seemed ready to take over the baton from Kumble whenever he decides to call it a day.
The Australians chasing an impossible 516 for a victory after yet another great batting display by the Indians in the second innings collapsed to a dismal 195 to hand a 320 run victory to the host. Ishant and Zaheer again among the wickets with Harbajan and Mishra combining well again in the second essay. Australians though will be really dissapointed with their performance as none of their top order batsmen were able to stay long enough to string a partnership and their bowlers were clueless against the aggressive Indian batsmen.
All in all it was a excellent display by the Indians to go one up in the series. It seems like Kumble will be back in the third test which means that Mishra would not be playing. Mishra has taken a gaint step towards the Indian test team with his performance which will stand him in good state once Kumble decides to hang his boots.
Even though the Indians have handed the Aussies their largest defeat in over a decade, they should not let complacency to set into their games. The Australians are still the number one team and it requires just one good innings or one good spell to reverse the situation for the visitors. Indians should continue their same ruthless approach in Delhi too and make sure that the series is won when the reach Kanpur for the final game.
India managed to achieve what they could not in Sydney earlier this year and managed to save the first test in Bangalore against the Aussies. The test match ended with a slight advantage to Australia as the dominated for the most of it. The Indians though would be happy that their batsmen got a good workout on the final day and almost everyone made some runs in the match.
The Australians would be dissapointed with their efforts in the Indian first innings where they allowed India to escape from a 232/7 to 360 reducing the lead to just 70. Australia’s major concern would be their spin department as Cameroon White did not pose any problems to the Indians on a wearing pitch. The Indians too would be worried about Kumble, who did not pick up a single wicket in this test match and has problems with his shoulder. Harbajan’s performance also was below par, even though he bowled well in the second innings.
India’s star this test match was undoubtedly Zaheer Khan with his gritty 57 in the first innings and picking up 6 wickets in the match on top of that. Zaheer deservedly won the man of the match award for his allround performance. The other top performer for the Indians was Ishant Sharma who constantly troubled the Australians to fininsh with 7 wickets in the match. The batting which failed to Impress in the first innings held their own in the second.
The Australians had a good match. Ricky Ponting finally scored runs in India with a superb hundred in the first innings. Hayden’s failure would be a worrying factor for the Aussies as he is their best in Indian conditions. Johnson bowled beautifully and troubled the Indians in the first innings taking 4 wickets in the process. Australia’s only worry would be their spin department.
All in all it was a gripping 5 days of test cricket. Both teams would be hoping to put up a better show in Mohali to go one up in the test series. Indian would be hoping that Anil Kumble recovers from the shoulder injury. Sachin would be hoping that he will reach the milestone in the next test match which he is currently behind by 13 runs.
Sachin walks back after being dismissed for 49 in the second innings
India managed to achieve what they could not in Sydney earlier this year and managed to save the first test in Bangalore against the Aussies. The test match ended with a slight advantage to Australia as the dominated for the most of it. The Indians though would be happy that their batsmen got a good workout on the final day and almost everyone made some runs in the match.
The Australians would be dissapointed with their efforts in the Indian first innings where they allowed India to escape from a 232/7 to 360 reducing the lead to just 70. Australia’s major concern would be their spin department as Cameroon White did not pose any problems to the Indians on a wearing pitch. The Indians too would be worried about Kumble, who did not pick up a single wicket in this test match and has problems with his shoulder. Harbajan’s performance also was below par, even though he bowled well in the second innings.
India’s star this test match was undoubtedly Zaheer Khan with his gritty 57 in the first innings and picking up 6 wickets in the match on top of that. Zaheer deservedly won the man of the match award for his allround performance. The other top performer for the Indians was Ishant Sharma who constantly troubled the Australians to fininsh with 7 wickets in the match. The batting which failed to Impress in the first innings held their own in the second.
The Australians had a good match. Ricky Ponting finally scored runs in India with a superb hundred in the first innings. Hayden’s failure would be a worrying factor for the Aussies as he is their best in Indian conditions. Johnson bowled beautifully and troubled the Indians in the first innings taking 4 wickets in the process. Australia’s only worry would be their spin department.
All in all it was a gripping 5 days of test cricket. Both teams would be hoping to put up a better show in Mohali to go one up in the test series. Indian would be hoping that Anil Kumble recovers from the shoulder injury. Sachin would be hoping that he will reach the milestone in the next test match which he is currently behind by 13 runs.
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The decision by the new selection panel to include Ganguly in the test squad for the upcoming series against the Australians was received by everyone with lots of speculation. Lots of media members even described it as a chance for Sourav to make a dignified exit from the International scene. Looking at what has eventually transpired I wouldnt be surprised if that news did not contain an element of truth in it.
Ganguly to retire after the Australian Series
The decision by the new selection panel to include Ganguly in the test squad for the upcoming series against the Australians was received by everyone with lots of speculation. Lots of media members even described it as a chance for Sourav to make a dignified exit from the International scene. Looking at what has eventually transpired I wouldnt be surprised if that news did not contain an element of truth in it.
Ganguly’s decision to quit after the Australian series has given him a chance to make a dignified exit from the Indian team which not many of his seniors have enjoyed in the past. Indian team always had its players either kicked out or banned in the past decade or so. Ganguly though has made a smart decision by announcing his retirement before the series has begun. Ganguly has been a wonderful player for India and most importantly was a great leader of men.
He took over the reigns in the year 2000 when the Indian team was plagued by match fixing scandals. He along with John Wright instilled lot of self belief in the team. Under his captaincy India improved their dismal overseas record and started winning on the foriegn soil. He deservedly still remains India’s most successful captain. Ganguly’s decline started somewhere in the mid of 2004 and continued till couple of years back till he made an inspired comeback in the series against the South Africans.
Sourav deserved one last hurrah in the Indian team and I hope that the selectors play him for the entire series. I salute Sourav for his great contribution to Indian cricket. He was a great batsmen and an important cog in the Indian batting wheel for more than decade. It will be hard to imagine a team without our Dada. I wish Ganguly a great last series and hopefully will it be a winning one. I wish that Ganguly will have what Steve Waugh did not have in his last series, a win.
Good Bye Dada! Thanks for everything.
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