Posts Tagged ‘Tests’
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The Indian selectors were forced to sort of send an A team to West Indies under Suresh Raina as most of the senior players decided to either rest or missed out due to injury. The biggest offenders were Sehwag and Ghambir as they were already aware of their injuries but still decided to participate in the IPL. Sachin and Yuvraj also requested the selectors to be omitted from the squad to the West Indies. The funniest part is that these same players decided to play through the IPL even though they were exhausted after an emotional World Cup triumph. An international series treated with such scant respect is something hard to imagine.
Even though the seniors miss out from the series, this for sure gives us an opportunity to test out our bench strength. Suresh Raina who will be captaining the side will be aware that this isn’t going to be an easy series. No matter which team turns up for this series, India are expected to win both the test and ODI series comfortably against a weak West Indies side. This will be Duncan Fletcher’s first series as Indian coach and he will get the firsthand account of India’s bench strength. For the youngsters though this will be a great opportunity to showcase their talent at the international arena.
Players like Badrinath, Rohit Sharma, and Shikar Dhawan would for sure get an extended run in the 5 match series and they would hope to cement their places in the ODI squad. The ODI team tough would probably suffer the least as we still have Raina, Rohit, Parthiv Patel and Kohli in the team who has played quite a few ODI’s for India. The bowling also has lots of experience in the presence of Bajji, Munaf, Praveen and Ishant along with Ashwin and Mishra. So the ODI team in all probability should do reasonably well but the major issues will be with the test squad which is missing three major players in the top of the order.
The test team will mark the debut of Abhinav Mukund, the dashing opener from Tamil Nadu who has a brilliant domestic record. He will join Murali Vijay at the top of the order. Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman and captain Dhoni will have to probably guide the middle order which might consist of Kohli/Badri/Raina in the mix. The bowling though will be at its full strength in the presence of Zaheer, Sreesanth, Ishant, Munaf and Bajji. The selectors have done a decent job with the team selection considering that they were left with no option.
The ODI series begins tomorrow and it gives a depleted WI team a great opportunity to challenge an under strength Indian team. The series for sure will be competitive and Raina will surely want a better series as captain than the one he had in Zimbabwe last year. The series will be important for few youngsters who would want to impress with some good performances. This series also gives us fans a peek into the future, a future without Sachin/Dravid and Laxman in the squad. This will also give us a chance to look at the options we have when the greats eventually hand up their boots. The series starts tomorrow with the one-off T20 game, which will be followed by 5 ODI games. The test series begins on the 20th of June for which Dravid, Dhoni, Zaheer and Laxman will join the team. An interesting series in the offing and in spite of the big names missing from the squad, team India should win both the series comfortably. Good luck to Raina and hopefully he can complete the ODI series with a win under his belt.
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The second test between India and New Zealand just concluded at Hyderabad earlier this week and it was another boring draw. India, who were expected to roll New Zealand over considering the huge difference in the rankings have found this series pretty hard till now. With two draws in two games, the kiwis will be swelling with pride as none of the teams baring South Africa have gone away from India with a drawn series in recent times. The major problem for the home team has been the pitches and the lack of bite in the bowling department.
India has always been a tough place to tour for the western teams but in recent times with pitches getting flatter, teams have started to adapt much better. New Zealand has always done well in India as their previous tour was also a drawn series. Did the Indian team expect an easy series? Probably yes. Even though all the Indian players came in the media and claimed that they were not taking the Kiwis lightly, I am sure in their minds they thought it was going to be a piece of cake. The intensity was missing and the players seemed to go through the motions. It was just couple of brilliant innings from Harbajan which has helped India from trailing in this series.
So two draws in two games, which has been a very rare sight in the past year or so in India. Almost every series has produced a result and most of the games have been result oriented. So if we analyze closely, the problem is that both the teams have struggled to bowl out the opponents on flat pitches. Indians always have had issues with their bowling and it has shown through in this series. Harbajan has struggled to pick wickets, Sreesanth has been very inconsistent, and Ojha has been steady but doesn’t seem like someone who will run through sides. New Zealand again is a one man bowling team, in spite of an inspired spell by Martin in the first test; they still rely heavily on Vettori to pick wickets. Indian bowling though has been really disappointing, especially in the second test.
India was 122 runs in front of New Zealand with two days to go and you would expect the number 1 team in the world to win from that position. Indian bowling looked toothless and did not look like taking any wickets in the absence of Zaheer. Zaheer has been India’s stand out performer for Indian over the last 2 years and without him the bowling looks toothless. The below table shows the Indian bowling performances over the past couple of years:
Performance of Indian bowlers over the last 2 years
If you look at the list you will see that Zaheer has been exceptional, considering that India has played most of the games in the subcontinent. But the rest have been pretty ordinary. India’s premier spinner Harbajan averages little over 35 and the rest to put it mildly, have been mediocre. So how have India been winning games? Well the answer is pretty simple, the batting. Indian batsmen have been in supreme touch over the past couple of years and they have racked up huge scores. When India batted first they have scored big and even when they had to chase a big score they have matched the opponent or scored more than them. So the Indian bowlers have had the luxury of picking up wickets at an expensive average. So on an average the Indian bowling combination (Zaheer, Sreesanth/Ishant, Ojha and Harbajan) has to concede 374 runs for their 10 wickets going by their record over the last 2 years. It’s Hardly a mark of a top ranked test team.
India now needs to win the final game at Nagpur to win the series which is not the situation the team would have assumed at the start of the series. The team bowling combination has to be looked at seriously with an important series against the saffers looming large next month. The Indians would also be hoping that Zaheer is fit for the all important series as he has been our premier bowler over the last couple of years. I hope that we do better in the final game and win the series against New Zealand which will give us some confidence going into the next series against South Africa
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It was brilliant to watch Bajji play in the last couple of games. Coming into the 5th day at Ahmadabad, India was starring at an embarrassing defeat against 8th ranked New Zealand. Bajji who walked out to bat with Laxman batted brilliantly to save the game for the Indians with a brilliant hundred, his first in test cricket. He followed up that innings with another blistering hundred in the next game in Hyderabad to prove that the innings in the first test was not a fluke by any means.
So great news, we have unearthed a good lower order batsman but have we lost a bowler in the process? Rewind 4 years back to another case of similar transition which ruined a career of a promising bowler. Irfan Pathan was a brilliant find for India and for couple of years since his debut in 2004 he was a good new ball bowler who can bat a bit. Later for some reason his bowling took a back seat and he started batting so well that he could have walked into the X1 just as a batsman. The team management though said that he needs to concentrate on his bowling as it was his primary skill and sent him back home in the middle of an overseas tour. Is the management ready to take the same decision with Bajji if the trend continues?
Indian bowling has suffered really badly in recent times. The number 1 ranking and the brilliant win/loss record does not give us the complete picture. The truth is that the Indian bowlers have been hugely benefitted by the great batting line up. The Indian batting has been able to rake up tall scores, which helped the bowlers to put pressure on the batting sides to force a result. Harbajan Singh also has struggled as a bowler over the last couple of years. Except for couple of performances, one against New Zealand last year and one against South Africa earlier this year, he has been largely mediocre. To be frank none of the spinners have looked the part in the recent years.
If we look at Bajji’s record this year, you will see that he has really struggled with this bowling; he averages 44.72 with the ball this year with just one 5 wicket haul. His batting though has had an upswing as with his recent exploits, he has an impressive average of 33 with 2 hundreds. To be frank as an Indian supporter I would like to see Bajji contribute more with his bowling rather than with his batting. Indian bowling struggles without Zaheer and the spin department has been in a mess for over 2 years now since the retirement of Anil Kumble. Harbajan Singh was supposed to take the mantle from the great Kumble but unfortunately he has struggled to step into his shoes.
I am not sure how to take his sudden surge in batting form. Even though his three innings have helped India immensely in this ongoing series, his bowling has been a huge let down. He has one more match to redeem himself before we set out to South Africa next month. India would surely need a decent performance from him against South Africa to complement the pace attack if we have to challenge the host. Only the coming months will tell us how his career will shape out. If he continues to perform badly with the ball, in spite of his valuable batting the selectors might want to look for other options. I hope that Bajji doesn’t follow in Irfan’s footsteps and rediscovers his bowling form. India needs Bajji the bowler more than Bajji the batsmen in the coming months which I am sure he is very well aware of.
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No fast bowlers, No all rounders, No spinners and basically no bowlers is what we are made to believe by the selectors with the kind of selections we have been seeing in the past few years. So my question is that 20 odd domestic teams in our first class set up and we are saying that there is no bowler who is half decent at the international level?which is kind of hard to believe. I guess it’s time for the selectors to expand their horizons a little bit and tap the talent in the lesser fancied teams.
If Assam plays Mumbai in the Ranji trophy and a bowler from Assam takes a 5+ wickets in the game and ends up as one of the leading wicket takers of the season with good average and strike rate, shouldn’t he be looked at more seriously? Players representing weaker teams will most often be pitted against a stronger opposition which according to me makes their performance much more worthwhile. The player I am talking about is Sachin Rana from Haryana, the guy averages 33 with the bat and 22 with the ball at the domestic level in 35 first class games, have we ever heard of him? I guess never.
He is not even been considered for any A tours or even the Emerging players trophy. I thought that we are desperately in search of an all-rounder. How will we know if he is any good at all without giving him any opportunity? I am guessing there would be lots of Rana’s in the domestic setup who would have fallen through the cracks due to our selection process. I guess unless you are playing for a high profile team you will not be noticed. Over the past 6-7 years the selectors have not looked past Irfan Pathan for the all-rounder spot. God knows how many still play or have played for teams like Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam etc who were never even looked at.
Looking at the domestic averages for 2009/10 season, apart from the regular bowlers there are other bowlers who have topped the list like Abid Nabi, Abu Nechim and Sanjay Budhwar. These bowlers have been very good this season and have overall better or comparable records to the other bowlers who have been considered often for the National team or for A tours. I understand that it is difficult for the selectors to sit through and watch all the games but how difficult is to look at the top performers for a particular season and then pick a squad based on that for various A tours? It seems like unless you perform in IPL, you will not get noticed by the selectors.
I am not saying that any of the above players will be the solution to India’s problems but unless we try them out how will we know if they are any good? All these guys have performed very well for their respective domestic teams and have been consistent over couple of seasons. If India wants to unearth a gem, they need to dig deeper than to just look at the high profile teams. Politics and regionalism not withstanding India might have already found some solutions.
I am just hoping that good talents don’t get lost due to the shortsightedness of our selectors and players with potential get opportunities no matter whom they play for. I hope players like Sachin Rana, Abu Nechim, and Abid Nabi get a chance to prove their potential at a higher level. I would have expected to see such promising youngsters in the Emerging players squad rather than seeing Parthiv Patel who has already represented India at the highest level considerably and is for sure not an emerging player. Unless our selectors wake up to this fact we will not see quality bowlers/All-rounders in the near future.
Yousuf and Younis Banned for Life
Posted on: March 10, 2010
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Younis and Yousuf recieve life ban
Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) shocked everyone with their decision to ban the two most senior players for Pakistan in Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan today. It was known that after the inquiry commission reports the PCB might impose a ban on Rana Naved and Shoaib Malik for a period of one year, but this one was totally unexpected.
The reason given by the PCB for the ban of the two was that they caused infighting, which in turn damaged the team unity. Afridi and the Akmal brothers (Umar and Kamran) were slapped a fine of $24000-$35000 and have been kept on 6 month probation to mend their ways.
The life ban on Yousuf and Younis means that they will not be considered for any future games for Pakistan from here on in any format, but the PCB have allowed them to participate in their domestic tournaments, county cricket and in any such foreign leagues. Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved have been banned for a year from representing Pakistan in any form of international cricket starting now. It was not very clear as to what was the reason for the bans on Rana and Malik.
This now puts the selectors in a predicament as they have punished almost all of the senior members of the squad, and choosing a captain for the upcoming T20 World Cup is going to be a challenge. From the available pool of players – since Afridi has been placed on probation – Razzak might take the mantle for the T20 WC. He is the most senior member left in the Pakistan squad, and he is almost certain to represent them in the 20 over format.
The captain for the ODI’s and Tests will leave the selectors pulling their hair out. Whether they will name Afridi as the captain for all three formats is something to wait and watch. The inquiry commission has certainly left the Pakistani cricket in further turmoil, and it will take a lot of planning by the PCB to get the team on track.
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Bajji and Ishant need a break from test cricket
With 2 days to go the Indian team is starring down the barrel in first test of a two test series in Nagpur. Sehwag’s positive comments notwithstanding, it would be a miraculous escape if India does manage to save this game. This match is the exact replica of the 2008 series where South inflicted an innings defeat on India in the first test.
The batting yesterday was for sure a disappointment and in spite of the heroics of the debutant Badrinath the Indian team fell 325 runs behind the South African first innings total. Sehwag and Badri held the Indian innings together after a top order collapse which left India 50 odd for 3 wickets. The partnership, which added 136, looked to have pulled the hosts out of the woods but a late order collapse meant that India is fighting for survival at the start of the fourth day.
Dale Steyn was the chief wrecker for the tourists as he picked up 7 wickets in the Indian first innings, one more than what the Indian bowlers managed collectively. It’s amazing to know how the focus always remains on the batting failures as no one seems to be critical of the pathetic Indian bowling performance. The South African bowlers have managed to bag 12 wickets on the pitch where the Indian bowlers toiled just less than 2 days for a grand total of 6.
The Indian bowling is a real cause for concern, there is no support for Zaheer in the pace department and as far as the spin bowling is concerned less said the better. Harbhajan Singh has been really disappointing and has really struggled to step into the shoes of Anil Kumble. Amit Mishra also has failed to fulfill his early promise which leaves India with not many options in the spin department. Pragyan Ojha and Piyush Chawla are the only options left for the selectors.
Ishant is nowhere near international standards and has looked clueless. His performance against Bangladesh has been ordinary and for sure needs an extended stay away from the team. The Indian team somehow needs to unearth some decent bowlers if they have to stay on the top of the rankings. It seems like the team has to look past Harbhajan and Ishant for the test matches. Sreesanth will be available for selection for the second test and I am sure he will be replacing Ishant Sharma. I would have really liked to see Abhimanyu Mithun in the lineup as I am sure he couldn’t have done worse than Ishant. This test match seems all but lost barring a miracle so I guess the think tank would already be thinking about the second test in Kolkata.
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India's cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni poses with International Cricket Council's (ICC) test championship mace
Indian captain Dhoni said that India will play more tests in 2010 to have a chance in defending their number 1 rankings in test cricket. After receiving the mace for ICC (International Cricket Council) test championship from Haroon Logart (ICC Chief Executive) Dhoni said,
“Quite a few Test matches are on proposal and I don’t think that we will play only four Tests next year. We will play more than that”
On becoming the number 1 ranked team in the world he said,
“It is a special feeling to receive this mace. I am taking this on behalf of the team and the BCCI. Being an Indian, it is a proud moment. We have really worked hard as a team in the last 14 months to get to this position. We want to remain here longer and everything depends on our performance,”
It’s brilliant to see that the BCCI have woken up to the fact that India needs to play more test matches in 2010. The CSA (Cricket South Africa) have already agreed to alter their upcoming series against India to include 2 test matches which is a welcome relief. Even Gautam Ghambir echoed his captain’s sentiments by saying that India needs to play more test cricket.
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Indian team became the number one test side after defeating Sri Lanka 2-0
India recently have been crowned as the number 1 test team in the world in the latest ICC rankings after their impressive 2-0 win against the Sri Lankans earlier last week. Even though I am really proud of the achievement I am also little bit frustrated by the fact that the Indian team isn’t playing any test cricket till October of 2010 after their short series against Bangladesh earlier next year. BCCI have canceled the test series against the South Africans which was supposed to take place in the month of February next year to accommodate the IPL.
It’s really baffling considering that India will still be playing the ODI series. Sachin Tendulkar has already expressed his displeasure over this situation. The Indian team has worked really hard over the past 18 months to achieve something which has been a dream for every Indian fan but it’s unfortunate that they don’t have an opportunity to maintain their position. While all the other nations have their itinerary packed with test matches throughout the year, India will be playing a bunch of ODI’s and T20 games.
So after the ODI series against the proteas, India will be playing the IPL at home followed by the T20 WC in West Indies, ODI series against the Aussies and then will be playing the champions league later the same year before they host the Black Caps for a full series. I would have been happier if the BCCI had canceled the ODI series against the South Africans and just played the three test series as that would have given an opportunity for India to widen their lead over the second placed team in the rankings if they had won the series. Unfortunately that will not be the case for Dhoni and his men at the moment.
BCCI has been rightly criticized in the media for their decision to cancel the test series to accommodate the IPL. The criticism seems to have worked though as suddenly the BCCI have discovered the necessity for India to play more test matches as they have requested both Australia and South Africa to consider a revision in the schedule to reduce the ODI games for couple of test matches. Even though it does seem like a ploy to clear their name in the media and the bad press they have been receiving for the past few days, I am at least happy that they are trying something. This is an excellent opportunity for the BCCI to popularize test cricket in India as we are now the number 1 team in the world.
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Sudeep Tyagi is the only new face in the Indian squad for the Australian series (Pic: courtesy Cricinfo)
The Indian team for the upcoming Australian series was announced last week and the only new face in the squad was Sudeep Tyagi. Tyagi is the latest addition to the search for a good young Indian fast bowler. Tyagi had a great beginning to his domestic career but could not repeat the same in his second year of the championship. His success in the shorter format of the game has resulted in his selection in the Indian ODI team.
Tyagi is not an out and out quick bowler and fortunately he does not claim to be one. He bowls around 135-140 Km/hr and swings the ball both ways. He had an impressive showing in the Emerging Players tournament in Australia and also in the recently concluded Challenger Series in India. India will be playing the Aussies later this month in a 7 match ODI series where I am sure the selectors would want to test him out. Only time will tell if he breaks the familiar pattern of the current and past Indian seamers have been following.
Since 2000 the Indian team has had promising entrants in the pace bowling department like Zaheer, Nehra, RP Singh, Irfan, Sreesanth, Munaf, Ishant, Balaji, VRV Singh etc. If you take the careers of all the above mentioned bowlers one thing is common among them which is lack of consistency. All the above mentioned bowlers had a great beginning and an impressive first year in the International scene but could not sustain the same in the coming years. Bowlers starting to bowl at 135-140 to start with, in their second year average around 130 or lower. They lose their swing and pace and look pretty mediocre.
Ishant who had an impressive Australian tour earlier last year bowling consistently over 140 K is now looking ordinary averaging less than 130 K in speed and bowling freebees. What is causing such a drop in performance is something to be investigated. The BCCI have now taken the easy way out by sacking the bowling coach, which I don’t think is a solution to this conundrum.
Lots of theories have been floating around in the media to explain this situation like, too much cricket, too much money etc and I feel that it’s a bit of both. The adulation and recognition the players receive is tremendous and I feel that it becomes too much for them to handle. Players like Zaheer, Nehra and Munaf had to be dropped from the team for them to come back as better bowlers. The treatment seems to work, which means that the bowlers need a kick on their back side once in a while.
The other aspect is too much cricket which cannot be ignored either. Tests, ODI, and T20 which includes two BCCI tournaments now every year cannot be good for the bowlers. The big money and fan following so soon in their careers can only lead to drop in performance of these youngsters who are barely 20 when they make the side. Either the BCCI should follow the Aussie path by bringing in the players who have considerable domestic experience or should have performance based points system which will mean that their IPL place or the Indian team contract will be affected.
Now that another youngster is making his debut we have to be careful the way he is treated. We don’t want to hype him too much after couple of good performances. My suggestion would be that once the player makes his debut in the International arena, he should be made to concentrate on the National side rather than playing in the IPL or any other meaningless tournaments. Tyagi needs to understand that he has the best chance now to cement his position in the squad and not follow the path of his seniors.
In a recent interview he mentioned that he wants to perform like Zaheer Khan and I hope he was talking about the performances of Zaheer in the last two years only. Hopefully we can see a break in the trend of the last few years in the pace bowling department. Once Zaheer comes back we can have a good pool of bowlers which can augur well for the future of Indian cricket. I sincerely hope that BCCI does something about the bowling problem rather than adapting the drop and pick option.
Congrats Dan!!
Posted on: August 26, 2009
Daniel Vettori being congratulated by his team mates on reaching 300 test wickets
Daniel Vettori became just the 8th player in the history of cricket to have achieved the double of 3000 runs and 300 test wickets in test cricket. He completed the double in his 94th test. Congrats to Dan on this fabulous achievement. He has been one of the most underrated spinner in the world and one of the most unassuming character’s in cricket.
Below is the list of cricketers who have acheived this feat in the past (Courtesy Cricinfo):
List of Players who have achieved this feat in the Past
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