Posts Tagged ‘Tests’
India look for a series win
Posted on: April 2, 2009
India leads 1-0 in the 3 test match series against New Zealand after the comprehensive win in Hamilton last week. India will take on the hosts again and this time in Napier for the second test of the series. Dhoni and Gary Kirsten would want to wrap up the series in Napier. If this happens, it will be a great achievement from the team India.
India have announced an unchanged team for the second test match and understandably so. The batting looked good in Hamilton and the bowling was persistent. Munaf Patel has for now sealed the third seamer position in the team and Harbajan with his 6 wicket haul has solved the spin problem for now. Batting for the Indians has not been a problem in this series. Daniel Vettori knows that they have to do something different in the second game to upset the Indian batting line up. Their bowling looked toothless in the first test and did not look like taking 20 wickets.
New Zealand batting also struggled against Harbajan on a flat batting track. It was a bad loss for the hosts and it seems like on a good wicket they are no match for the Indians. Vettori wanted Jacob Oram to be back for the second test but that isn’t a possibility right now. It seems for the Kiwis Jeetan Patel will be back in the squad. The Kiwis will also worry about the form of their No1 bowler Kyle Mills who has been largely ineffective in this series in all formats.
All in all this will be another interesting game and I guess the toss will be important again for the home team. Dhoni and India would want to get the series win here to cap off a wonderful series. Best of luck to the team and hopefully we will win the series in Napier.
India look for a series win
Posted on: March 25, 2009
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | General
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India leads 1-0 in the 3 test match series against New Zealand after the comprehensive win in Hamilton last week. India will take on the hosts again and this time in Napier for the second test of the series. Dhoni and Gary Kirsten would want to wrap up the series in Napier. If this happens, it will be a great achievement from the team India.
India have announced an unchanged team for the second test match and understandably so. The batting looked good in Hamilton and the bowling was persistent. Munaf Patel has for now sealed the third seamer position in the team and Harbajan with his 6 wicket haul has solved the spin problem for now. Batting for the Indians has not been a problem in this series. Daniel Vettori knows that they have to do something different in the second game to upset the Indian batting line up. Their bowling looked toothless in the first test and did not look like taking 20 wickets.
New Zealand batting also struggled against Harbajan on a flat batting track. It was a bad loss for the hosts and it seems like on a good wicket they are no match for the Indians. Vettori wanted Jacob Oram to be back for the second test but that isn’t a possibility right now. It seems for the Kiwis Jeetan Patel will be back in the squad. The Kiwis will also worry about the form of their No1 bowler Kyle Mills who has been largely ineffective in this series in all formats.
All in all this will be another interesting game and I guess the toss will be important again for the home team. Dhoni and India would want to get the series win here to cap off a wonderful series. Best of luck to the team and hopefully we will win the series in Napier.
Sehwag remained unbeaten on a magnificent 309 (n.o) as records tumbled on the third day of the first test match between India and South Africa in Chennai. This was Sehwag’s second triple hundred making him only the third in the history of test cricket after the legendary Sir. Don Bradman and Brian Lara. Sehwag also became the fastest to the landmark scoring the runs in only 278 deliveries.
South African bowlers toiled hard on a flat pitch and the rate at which the Indian innings has progressed would have given the coach and captain Greame Smith a lot to think about. SA would be hoping to dismiss Sehwag quickly on the fourth day to get the RR down which is more than 4 runs per over for the Indians.
The Indians would be hoping to go ahead by 200 runs by tea and put pressure on the SA batsmen later in the day. Sehwag’s innings was punctuated with 47 hits to the fence which include 5 sixes. This is his second consicutive ton after his match saving hundred against Australia in Adelaide.
All in all it was great day for the Indian team and for the first time it seems like there can be a result in this test match. Much will depend now on the rest of the Indian batting and the spin duo of Anil and Bajji, when SA start their second innings. India are just 72 runs behind with two days to go and 9 wickets in hand. Day 4 promises an exciting day of cricket. But for now lets celebrate one of the finest innings played by an Indian cricketer.
Hashim Amla scored his fourth test century and his first against India as South Africa dominated the second day. The day started with SA on 304/4 with Hashim Amla on an unbeaten 85. He did not waste too much time getting to three figures hammering Sreesanth for three boundries in a row. De villiers played one shot too many to edge a Sreesanth delivery to Dhoni, he made 44. Sreesanth bowled a good spell in the morning troubling the batsmen with pace and movement and looked like the only bowler capable of getting any breakthrough.
After De Villiers departed Boucher joined Amla and after surviving a close LBW appeal, he settled down and scored 70. Amla was clearly the star of the day for the proteas as he made 159 and guided his team to an imposing first innings total of 540. The Indian bowlers struggled in the heat of chennai with the pitch not giving them any assistance. Sehwag and Jaffer survived the new ball against the pace of Dale Steyn but they have a long way to go. Day 3 in a way will decide which way this game will go as a batting collapse by the Indians could hand the advantage to the proteas.
India would be hoping to get close to the SA total and see if they can put some pressure on the visitors on the 4th and 5th days.
SA gain upper hand
Posted on: March 26, 2008
SA on top after day 1 of the first test in Chennai. The SA team finished on 304/4 with Amla unbeaten on 85. The opening pair of Mckenzie and Greame Smith gave the proteas a great start, later captalized by their middle order to finish strongly on day one.
The India bowlers toiled hard on an unresponsive pitch and struggled to control the run flow. RP Singh and Sreesanth started very well with the new ball beating both the SA openers regularly but were unlucky not to dismiss them. Once the early overs were negotaiated the South African batsmen took control and mostly remained untroubled. Anil Kumble and Harbajan claimed two wickets each for the Indians. If there is any truth in Harbajan’s statement after the end of the days play its going to be hard work for the bowlers for the next couple of days.
The Indians would be hoping that they can dismiss SA for less than 500 if possible. Again the onus will be on the spinners.
Cricket takes centerstage again
Posted on: March 24, 2008
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | IPL
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After all the recent hype and hapoola surrounding the IPL and the Australian tour, focus is back on cricket with the India-South Africa series. In the recent times the youngsters in the Indian team have indulged in too much of trash talk after the series down under. India did well there and the series was controversial, but it should have ended once they landed on the Indian soil. There has been too much of trash talk going on in the media by few Indian players. India has a chance of becoming the number 1 team in the world but we have a long way to go. The series in Australia was just a step closer to the goal and was not the destination. We play Australia, SA, Srilanka and England this year and its going to be a tough season. Australia got the tag of world beaters with consistant performances over a decade and not by winning couple of titles.
South Africa on the other had have remained calm and composed. They havent gone overboard with their comments in the media even though there was one inappropriate one by their cricket chief. SA know that the best way to win a series is on the cricket field and not in papers. India should be happy that the test team is different from the ODI team and the seniors have taken a measured approach when dealing with the media. They all expressed their happiness over the team’s success down under but also spread the word of caution regarding any complacency.
The youngsters should realise that they need not retaliate to any comment made on them in the media. The great example to that was Ishant Sharma replying to John Buchanan’s comment advising him to put on some muscles. There was not need for any retaliation as the former Australian coach was just expressing his opinion while praising Ishant’s performance down under. Dhoni’s comments on the seniors on the wake of a test series was uncalled for as he was playing with all of them in the same. Even though everyone seems to be backing his comments, the timing of the same is the one causing concern.
Amidst all the media frenzy concerning the IPL and the player auction, the Indian team prepares for their second stern test in the last few months. The team returned with their pride intact after the first one but the series against the proteas will be an equally important hurdle for them to cross. Anil Kumble will know that and thankfully he has the experiance of himself, Sachin, Sourav, Laxman and Dravid with him.
I hope that this series lives up to its expectation. India would want to win this series to cap off a great 4 months of cricket.
A Wonderful Test Series
Posted on: January 28, 2008
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | Test | test cricket | Test match
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The Adelaide draw brings to end one of the most fascinating test series in the recent times. The Indians would be really pleased with the way the came back in the series after two defeats. This series also was the last on the Australian Soil for the big 5. Sachin, laxman and Kumble had a great series but Dravid and Sourav would be ruing missed opportunities.
In a way the last two test matches brought focus back on cricket after the chaotic Sydney game. Both the teams played hard and competitive cricket over the past one month and 1-1 would have been a fair result. Bad preparation cost India the Melbourne game, bad umpiring and some bad shots cost us the Sydney test match.
Australia in the end proved that they are still the number one team in the world but only by a little margin. The Indian team has again proved to the rest of the world that Australia can be beaten in its own den. Brett lee was the best bowler in the series with 20+ wickets and has improved leaps and bounds since India toured Australia in 2003/04. It seems like Australia have found an ideal replacement for Glenn McGrath. The Australians though are finding tough to replace Shane Warne as the experiment with Brad Hogg failed miserably in this series. The fact that both Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke out-bowled Brad Hogg is an able testimony for his failure in this series. Australia would be hoping that Stuart McGill recovers from his injury really quick to fill the void left by Shane Warne. Adam Gilchrist’s retirement also came as surprise as there were no indications of the same prior to this series.
Matthew Hayden was again their best batsman against the Indians as he was in the prior meetings between the two sides. Andrew “Lucky” Symonds played some important innings for his side in this test series and so did Micheal Hussey and Clarke. Stuart Clarke provided able support to Brett Lee in the fast bowling department and Mitchell Johnson was terribly inconsistent throughout the series. I have never seen a test bowler bowling so many wides as Johnson did in this series.
The Indian team again relied on Sachin Tendulkar for some big runs and to his credit the “Little Master” did not disappoint his captain. Dravid and Sourav had a very inconsistent series but as usual VVS Laxman had a great series against the Australians. Irfan Pathan, who I think should have played since the first test, gave a good account of himself by winning the man of match award contributing handsomely with both bat and ball in India’s win in Perth. Sehwag again one of the players who should have been in India’s playing X1 in both Melbourne and Sydney had a great end to this series by scoring a match saving 150 in the Adelaide test.
The inexperienced bowling attack performed very well against the strong Australian batting line up with Ishant Sharma being the find of the series for India. RP Singh bowled beautifully in the series in patches but lacked consistency. Kumble was once again the star performer for India in the bowling department as he captured 20+ wickets in this series. He captained the team really well during the difficult time after the second test and also made sure that he brought out the best from his team.
Overall India gave a good account of themselves in this test series. India remains the only team to have at least won one test match against Australia in every series they have played with them since the 2001/02 series.
India tour England amidst chaos
Posted on: June 1, 2007
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | Sports | Test | test cricket | Test match
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The Indian team prepare for one of the toughest series after the World Cup. Even though they beat Bangladesh in both tests and one-dayers, Rahul Dravid would be the first one to admit that England would be a different proposition altogether. The Indian team is without a coach for this tour also, thanks to the coach hunting fiasco by the BCCI. The board has not made things easy for themselves and the team with a very poorly conducted selection process which caught the attention of the media world over for all the wrong reasons.
Rahul Dravid has already mentioned his concern over touring England without a coach and also regarding the teams preparation. The good thing about this series is that India got to play South Africa in a three match series in Belfast, Ireland in similar conditions to what they would be facing in England. India won the hard fought series 2-1 and registered their first overseas series victory against South Africa. This series should give India the much needed confidence before the all important tour.
The Indian team selection for the English tour had little surprises, Sehwag was dropped from both the one-day and the test squads as expected. The problem with Sehwag was not the lack of runs itself but the way he had been throwing his wicket away after getting promising starts. The recently concluded Afro-Asian cup was an example of the same. Sehwag got to decent starts in the first two games but played atrocious strokes to get himself out. Harbajan Singh and Pathan were the other notable absentees from the Indian touring party, more so due to their lack of bowling form in the past few months.
The Indian team would be relieved to see Sachin scoring some runs in the recently concluded series in Ireland, in the meanwhile crossing yet another milestone. Sachin became the first batsman in One-Day internationals to cross 15000 runs. A great achievement when you consider that he still has a batting average of 44 and a strike rate of 85. The Indian team would take lots of positives from the series against SA, as most of their batsmen made runs and would also be happy with the performance of Zaheer ahead of the test series. Anil Kumble might be the lone spinner in the team with Sreesanth, Zaheer along with another medium pacer would form the bowling combination atleast for the first test.
The Indian batting order might face a few headaches with Yuvraj scoring some valuable runs in the one-day series, making it very difficult for the captain to leave him out of the playing X1 for the first test starting on July 19th.Well all in all the Indian team would want to finish this tour by winning both the Test and the one-day series against England. Captain Rahul Dravid would be hoping that the seniors in the team including himself, can inspire the team to achieve success on this tour.
Another tour abroad
Posted on: November 12, 2006
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | ODI | Test | test cricket | Test match
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