Captain Who?

So everyone and his uncle (including yours truly) have proclaimed that MSD is not a test captain and he needs to make way for someone. The question then is who is that Golden child? Here are my thoughts.

I am sure we are not bold enough to have an outsider made the captain purely for his leadership skills. Someone like a Mike Brearley is a dead idea in India; otherwise Anil Kumble could have been a candidate. He is still fit, bowls better than the current spinners, can still take wickets and above all has a studious mind that he uses!

That leaves us to choose a player from the current team. Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli are being looked at as future captains, but both have to prove their mettle yet. I doubt if Gambhir will retain his place in the side and Kohli is still very young. Then we have the seniors and from that lot I would rule out Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman since both are close to the end of their careers. Dravid has relinquished the captaincy once and he is not getting younger. VVS is old and his reflexes will force him out of the team soon.

So we are down to Sachin and Sehwag as the two contenders, if we assume that Zaheer Khan is not a captaincy material. Sehwag in my mind is not suited to be a captain. He is careless and therefore cannot set an example for his team to inspire them. I can't imagine him taking the field, like Kumble bowling with a heavily bandaged head to protect his jaw. He also does not look like a person who is patient and can plot something, two qualities that are essential in a test captain. So my vote is against Sehwag.

Sachin, although not many will agree, still deserves a second chance as a skipper. When he captained, he was too young and he expected a lot from his team, I think he has matured now. A look at his record as captain of Mumbai Indians and also the enthusiasm he shows is quite convincing. He still has a couple of years of cricket left in him. Moreover, he is possibly the greatest learner of the game even today. Retiring as the captain of India will be a fitting end to his illustrious career. So my vote is Sachin.

I have ruled out two other possibilities. Selectors may just decide to continue with MSD, which is possible. And the return of Yuvraj Singh. Yuvi is going to take some time before he is fully fit and then he has to make a comeback.
So Sachin it is!!

Comments please.

Fairytales and Nightmares

As I write this article, we have almost lost the Fourth test barring the proverbial Fat Lady to sing her song. Australia deserved to win in the manner they did and the 4-0 margin of defeat clearly reflects the difference in attitude, application and preparation of these sides. Before the tour began, Australian’s had a not so good series with New Zealand and South Africa. They had a string of below 100 all out innings and had a spate of injuries to some key players (Shane Watson, Pattinson). Their stalwarts were not able to get big scores and critics were asking for Ponting and Hussey’s head. Everyone thought the rebuilding of the new side would take much longer. India on the other hand a full strength squad after a long time and we thought our batting will score runs by the buckets against this poor second string Aussie attack. But that was before the tour!

The two sides have been like chalk and cheese, or fairytales and nightmares or love and marriage or any other paraphrasing for the wide chasm between the two teams. In my mind, the fortunes changed on two critical turning points in this series. The first one was when Sachin got out towards the end of Day 1 at MCG and from then on began the Indian slide downwards. The second I thought was when, India took the pressure off Ponting by removing Zaheer and bringing on Ishant as soon as Ponting came to bat. We brought him into form and he is talking of the next Ashes tour already.

Tactically, India lost the plot with being unimaginative. First, they should have asked Sachin to play the ODI series against WI and get that big monkey off his back by scoring the ton-of-tons. Then I thought we were very rigid in our team selection. If the team management thought so highly of the playing eleven, then why did they carry the rest of the players around? Poor Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha should have been given at least one outing to prove their worth. They should have blooded in Rahane in place of Gambhir in the final test. Our planning was also poor. The bowlers did not have specific plans for key players, field placements were unimaginative and we lacked the motivation to create opportunities. This style of MSD to wait for things to happen is hurting us badly.

So here is my assessment of the individuals from the two sides:

INDIA

• Virendra Sehwag : He is done as an opener. His attitude to not play in and then score is hurting us. If he stays in the side, he should bat lower down the order.
• Gautam Gambhir: His coach said on the radio that he has a problem outside the off stump, has a problem with short pitched stuff. So why is he still in the side as an opener? These are two basic things required of an opening batsman.
• Rahul Dravid: I am his big fan, but he himself would admit that he has been sorted out by the opponents. Getting bowled out so regularly is not something he would like to remember. He would also call it a day once in India I think.
• Sachin Tendulkar: Flashes of brilliance, but the monkey on the back weighed down heavily on his performance. He missed a golden opportunity to end this last Australian tour in style. I think he has also disappointed a fairly large cross section of his fans who toured to see him reach that milestone.
• VVS Laxman: Not Very Special anymore. I think he should call it a day now. He had ample opportunities to bring in those classy match saving knocks, but all of them went begging. As fielder too, his reflexes are not the same anymore.
• Virat Kohli: He realized the danger lurking around his position in the form of Rohit Sharma and quickly made amends. He has shown maturity in batting but he needs to show the same level of maturity in his behavior both on and off the field. 
• MS Dhoni: Questions are being raised about his leadership style in Test matches, his keeping and therefore his position in the team. He is not a captain for the test matches period.
• Zaheer Khan: Much was expected off him in this series. He produced a couple of brilliant spells but not enough to turn the tide. As a leader of the bowling unit, he did not show any spark.
• R. Ashwin: The selectors had given him a blank cheque by dropping Bhajji, but he had to cash it. Unfortunately, he did not. As the leading spinner in the side, he was required to be imaginative, but he lacked the guile. The opponents figured out his variations quickly and from then on he was pedestrian.
• Umesh Yadav: The find of the series in my opinion. It feels nice to see a young lad running in and sending the wood work cartwheeling. He needs to be nurtured and guided. I hope he does not go the Ishant way.
• Ishant Sharma: Probably will be dropped after this tour. He has not learnt from the Aussies and has wasted a golden chance. He will not find such wickets again for a long time.
• W. Saha: Good wicket keeper and showed some spine to stay at the wicket and score runs. With MSD firmly in the side, he is going to be sidelined again.
• Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane and Prgyan Ojha: Why were they not played?
• Duncan Fletcher: He has not shown the level of readiness that Micky Arthur or Andy Flower have shown. I think he will be the sacrificial lamb after this tour. Eric Simmons’ contribution too will be questioned.

AUSTRALIA

• David Warner: He is Australia’s answer to Hayden’s retirement. Can be lethal when in form. He will form a good opening pair with Shane Watson.
• Ed Cowan: Started off nicely, but he has his problems. Will be replaced by Shane Watson. 
• Shaun Marsh: Possibly the only failure from Australian side in this series. His position will be challenged.
• Ricky Ponting: I would have liked to see him retire, but we ended up reviving his career. He showed grit and determination in the face of some very strong criticism. When the runs came, he ensured that he cashed in and scored some big knocks.
• Michael Clarke: The Pup has matured as a captain and is here to stay in that role. His batting was never questionable, but his leadership was. He has now shown that he can be tough and his press briefings were also mature and respectful of the opposition. He is like Mark Taylor in many ways.
• Michael Hussey: Hard working cricketer who will possibly survive till the Ashes because there is no replacement. What he lacked in runs, he compensated with hard work.
• Brad Haddin: Australia needs a new wicket keeper. Haddin is losing his skills rapidly and he is not getting younger either. So we will definitely see a change.
• Peter Siddle: The star of this series in my mind. He has always given 100% every time and produced results. He was thrust into the role of the bowling captain, and he took that responsibility on his shoulders. He has also improved as a bowler and therefore troubled the batsmen.
• Ben Hilfenhaus: He has wickets to his credit, but I have doubts. He will probably be in the team for some time. Due to his ability to swing the ball, he may even go to England.
• Other Bowlers: They came in and did their job commendably. All of them bowled well and to a plan.
• Micky Arthur: Great preparation and execution of plans. Ably assisted by Craig McDermott as the bowling coach.

WAC(A)ked Out

I have absolutely no intention of writing about the game at WACA. It was almost a replay of SCG, except that this time it was bludgeoning Warner who took the game away from India. Whatever the Indians have been saying about Sehwag, was done to them by Warner. Other than that, the fifer for Umesh Yadav was a just reward for some good bowling on this tour. Nothing else deserves any space on this blog.

Instead I am going to play out the possibilities from here on. Let us see how many of these come true.

1. India will make changes at Adelaide and bring in Rohit and Ojha. The nature of the wicket would mean that both of them would be successful and that would be a big slap on the captain’s face, who went with four supposedly fast bowlers at WACA.
2. I have a feeling that Duncan Fletcher would be the scapegoat for the failures on the last two tours. MSD will be provided a smooth exit on his own terms. I have a feeling that Sreekanth would also be eased out.
3. VVS and Rahul Dravid will announce their retirement after the tour. They will probably get a last farewell test at home.
4. Sachin would play in the Tri series because he is the sort of person who would like to come back with his head held high.
5. The team for ODI, will bring in the usual suspects who have done nothing to prove their fitness or form. I see Raina, Murali Vijay, Yuvraj, Munaf, Praveen Kumar coming back. I do not see any change in the result. We would possibly be the third team.

A word on MSD's horrible captaincy this series. When he selected 4 quickies, I am sure he did not account for the fact that he has to get 90 overs in a day from them. That means rouchly 20 overs per bowler per day. If one of them went for runs, his options were exposed. Also he ran the risk of over rates, which has now become reality.

In the Australian innings, when they were 8 down, instead of calling Ishant to pair up with Yadav, he threw the ball at Sehwag. Why not try to warp up an innings and curtail the lead?


Finally, in the second innings I would have tried something different to upset the Aussie plans. Like asking Dravid to open, have VVS coming in at three and use Viru down the order. That would have forced Clarke to use Siddle early on to go after Dravid and may be would have produced something different. He has fixed plans and set moves.  He is not innovating like he used to do earlier.

Sydney Suffering

A lot was expected of the Indian team in the second test match at SCG. A historic venue celebrating its 100th test match, a venue which Sachin rates as his own ground and the close contest in the previous encounter pointed in a very intense contest. In reality it was a completely one sided contest with the India team throwing in the towel in the first session itself.

Once the Indians frittered away the advantage of winning the toss, they had very little time to recover. We could get to a decent enough total thanks to some rearguard action from Dhoni and Ashwin. Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman all fell in a heap and I would say Tendulkar too. Because a 40 from Sachin is below par. To their credit, Zaheer Khan produced a brilliant spell to have the Aussies down to 3/39. Then as Ponting walked in, MSD made that inexplicable change to bring on Ishant and lost the momentum. The Indians, would like to forget the next three days because there was no respite from free scoring. Ponting, Clarke and Hussey scored runs as if they were playing against a school team. Each one of them got a century and Clarke scored a triple.

There are only two ways to look at a score in excess of 600. Either the wicket has eased out and therefore it is easy to score runs or the bowling/field placements were mediocre and hence the team scored freely. In this case it was the latter. When the Indians came to bat, the usual service was resumed. Aussie quickies, though short on experience, produced impeccable line and length to get the famous batting line up rattled. None scored a century and that tells the story.

I think the Indian cricketers are spoilt with flat docile wickets at home and a surplus of ODIs and T20s. These matches make the players and the board rich, but spoil the game. No batsman is willing to stay longer at the crease and frustrate the bowlers. On the contrary, the Aussies throttled the boundaries and forced the Indian batters to take risks. These matches also make the captains a bit defensive, because the success lies in restricting runs rather than claiming wickets. So I agree wholeheartedly when my friend says that Dhoni plays a test match like five ODIs. He lacks the skills that Kumble or Strauss has. Dhoni does not plot a downfall, he waits for it happen. He does not go for the kill when we have the upper hand, but takes his foot off the pedal. Because he is happy containing the opposition than getting it over with.

Finally, I also got feedback that I am being too soft on the famous four. But hasn’t enough been written about them already? They are under the gun and if they want their reputations to stay good, they have to deliver in the next two games.

Dhoni’s got his Knickers in a Twist

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has not been his usual self on this Australian tour and that is reflecting on the performance of the team.

Look at the first two tests. At MCG, we had an opportunity to get Ponting out of this series. He came to the crease with a string of low scores and his confidence dropping. He looked tentative and Zaheer was bowling good line at that time. Instinctively, Dhoni brought on Ishant in the next over and I think he lost chance there. Zaheer had bowled just 6 overs and could have bowled an extra over. Such set moves are analysed over and again these days and MSD should know that they are not likely to get him any success. If he had got Ponting out quickly, then it would have immediately created a problem for the Aussies with possibly an end of the road for Ponting. As it turns out, we have conceded a century to him at SCG and his career is revived.

Then there are some weird field settings that perplexed the bowlers about the line to bowl and took the pressure off the batsmen. Having fielders midway is a good plan for middle overs in a ODI, but when you have the opposition under pressure, it leaks easy singles and relieves the pressure. Even when the Indian quickies were bowling good line MSD did not set an attacking field with a strong slip cordon.

It is also very concerning to note that the Indian team has conceded over 600 runs to all the top teams very recently. Agreed, we had limitations in England, but a champion team needs to have backup plans. In Australia we have the full strength bowling attack, yet we conceded 600+ score. What is worrying also is the fact that on the same wickets, our batting has failed to score. That is a double whammy.

The same middle of the road defensive approach also plays a vital role in not being able to warp up an innings after having taken 5 or 6 top order wickets. Routinely, the opposing teams have had their tails wagging and scoring useful runs.

For India to have any impact in this series, MSD needs to get his act right. He is the leader and has to lead from the front. His planning and strategies needs to be well thought and proactive. I think both in England and in Australia the opposition coaches have done a stellar job in creating plans for the Indians and executing them on the ground. MSD needs to learn and learn fast.

Boxing Day Test at MCG : A see-saw battle

For the second year in a row my plans of seeing a boxing day game with friends did not materialize. I missed the Ashes game last year and this year it was the tour opener. But after seeing the pictures on TV on day 1, I thought it was a blessing in disguise. The stadium was full of blue T-shirts and I suspect that the Aussie spectators were outnumbered.

India started with a full strength squad and that was a good beginning. The bowling attack looked solid with Zak, Ishant and Umesh Yadav being supported by Ashwin. Kohli got selected ahead of Rohit Sharma and that too was based on the recent form. After losing the toss, Indians immediately put the Aussies on the back foot with two quick strikes. Then came a recovery of sorts with Ponting and Cowan putting up a good partnership. I thought the Indian bowling in the second session was a bit short and lacked the penetration. More importantly, that session allowed Ponting to play himself in and gain some confidence. After tea again, India struck quick blows with Zaheer Khan claiming two in an over. That one over by Zak was proof enough that he is back to his peak fitness and raring to go. Hussey and Cowan later were unlucky to fall to some poor umpiring. Aussies media obviously cried foul with DRS not being in use in this series. After having Aussies reeling at 214-6, I thought Indians gave away 50 runs too many in the final total of 333.

The response from the Indians was good. Although Gambhir got out early, Sehwag, Dravid and Sachin showed their class and at one stage India looked set to get a big first innings lead. But against the run of play, Sachin got out in the last over of the day on 73, yet again missing an opportunity to get that elusive ton-of-tons. He was playing freely and scored briskly at the start of his innings. Dravid was his usual self. India were 214-3 at the end of Day 2. With Dravid still batting and VVS, Kohli and Dhoni still in the hut, Indians must have been planning for a lead of at least 150 runs. But Day 3 turned out to be bowlers’ day. Indian innings collapsed for 282, with the last 7 wickets falling for 68 runs. Poor batting and some good bowling by the Aussie rookies. India ended up conceding a lead of 51 runs as opposed to taking the lead.

Australian second innings started with a lot of action. Their top 4 wickets were gobbled up for a paltry 24 runs and the prospect of a collapse seen in SA looked on the cards. However, the two players who have the noose tightening around their necks stabilized the innings and brought it to a respectable score. Then again in quick succession Ponting and Haddin departed with score at 6/148. From then on, the tail wagged again and took the score to 240 thus setting a target of 292 to win for the Indians.

Sehwag had said in the press conference that anything under 300 was gettable, but that turned out to be untrue. The famous batting line up collapsed for 169 handing a win to the Aussies with a comfortable margin of 122 runs. Their young bowling attack stuck to their task and bowled intelligently. Indians I thought did not plan their innings at all. We had plenty of time on our hands and a partnership or two would have frustrated the Aussies. So yet again we lose the opening test match of a tour and have our backs to the wall.

For the second game at Sydney, I see Rohit Sharma coming in for Kohli. The choice of a second spinner would depend on the wicket on offer. If it is a green top, then I think we will go with the same combination. Let us hope that the team comes back with some solid plans to counter the Aussie attack.

Ind-Aus 2012: A curtain raiser

I ndia has a better than good chance of winning the series in Australia this time around. I am not saying that because I am a diehard India supporter, but because the balance is heavily tilted in India’s favour.

First of all, the Indian batting squad is at full strength and even the folks on the bench are in good nick. The second line of batters in Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Rahane are all in good form and have a solid technique to back the form. With the firm of Viru and Gauti back at the opening slot, we can expect this line up to deliver scores in excess of 350 every time. The bowling is where we have a few concerns with the injuries. If the entire squad is fit, then the team of Zaheer, Ishant, Umesh Yadav and Ashwin will be quite formidable. But if we lose key bowlers to injuries, then suddenly the attack looks very raw and young.

The Australians have had a few problems of their own in recent times. The senior folks have not scored runs lately and the young guns have failed to find their rhythm. They have folded up to some very low scores recently and that failure will weigh very heavily on their minds. The likes of Ponting and Hussey have the press asking for their heads and they have survived only because the replacements have failed. Their bowling is also not the peak and they have struggled to get 20 wickets consistently. The only chance they have is if Ponting and Hussey strike form and some of the bowlers recover from their injuries rapidly. But in my mind, the pressure of the recent defeats will bear on their minds very heavily.

The Aussies have enlisted the services of Greg Chapell as an expert and that to me is a sure recipe for disaster. Greg Chapell was a good player in his times but his methods as a coach have been very counterproductive. I hope that trend continues and we come back with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy this time.