Australia has a long tradition of some very useful players who came lower down the order and built a reputation to salvage a crumbling ship. As far as I can remember, there was Doulg Walters, who has played some magnificent innings during his time. Then there was Alan Border, again someone who always stood up when required and shepherded the tailenders to carve out a nice score. These days they have someone in the form of Michael Hussey. He brings in stability and some solidness to the batting order. He too has played some wonderful innings, the latest one being the one in the first test of the current series.
I think India’s VVS Laxman also falls in the same category. He is very Australian in that sense and probably that is the reason why he is so successful and respected by the Australians.
Monday, November 29, 2010
The Ashes 2010: England make a bold statement and Hussey finds form
At the end of Day 1 of the first test match, one got that “oh no, not again” feeling with England failing to capitalize on a good toss. Australian bowling also seemed to have found the teeth and sharpness that was lacking in the past few months with Peter Siddle claiming a hat-trick. One thought that the English team had frittered away a good opportunity get their hand up in this opening battle. They should have scored at least 350 in the first innings and I think the early loss of Strauss and that Siddle hat-trick really made the matters worse. Cook and Bell got some runs on the board but got out when they we settled and failed to get the big tons. Pietersen also got out after scoring a 40. Siddle was the surprise package and finished with 6-54.
The Australian reply was very strong and the openers got them to a good start. England came back strong and demolished their middle order cheaply but then came that superb knock of 195 from Mike Hussey. He and Haddin ensured that the Australians got a big enough lead to start thinking about a win. They finished with a lead of 221. I was very impressed with Steven Finn, who finished with a 6 wicket haul. He is tall, fast and has the ability to create some awkward angles for the batsmen with his height. I think he will cement his place in the side by the time this tour is over. Swann was also impressive but Hussey read him like a book and carted him all over the park. He needs to come back with Plan B for the next test match.
With that huge deficit on their minds, the English reply almost started disastrously with Hilfenhaus getting Strauss almost plumb in front in the very first over. Fortunately for England the appeal was overruled as the ball was going over the stumps as the replays suggested. From then on, it was just one way street. Strauss, Cook and then Trott piled on runs aplenty and England had the privilege of declaring the innings at 517-1 with a impractical ask. The only academic interest was if they could get some wickets and gain some psychological advantage. Australians lost Katich early but the pair of Ponting and Watson ensured a draw.
I think this test match has exposed the weakness in the Australian bowling attack. If you take out that one over when Siddle collected a hat-trick, there was nothing in the game for them. In the second innings they failed to pose any questions and when there were edges the fielders floored those edges. Mitchell Johnson must have realized that he is no Glen McGrath and he would do well to focus on his bowling rather than engage in sledging. He needs to get his radar repaired too. There is no spinner worth naming in Australian squad. So Ricky Ponting has a lot to think before the second test.
England on the other hand will come out stronger. They have managed to handle the pressure well, their bowlers looked to attack and they seem to have a more balanced attack too. So on technicality I would say this test is England’s on points, just by a whisker.
PS: And I must mention the one incident on the final day when Ponting claimed a catch and the umpires ruled against it. There was a big discussion among the Aussie commentators on how he is an honest fielder and a skipper. Well we Indians know very well from that infamous Sydney test incident.
The Australian reply was very strong and the openers got them to a good start. England came back strong and demolished their middle order cheaply but then came that superb knock of 195 from Mike Hussey. He and Haddin ensured that the Australians got a big enough lead to start thinking about a win. They finished with a lead of 221. I was very impressed with Steven Finn, who finished with a 6 wicket haul. He is tall, fast and has the ability to create some awkward angles for the batsmen with his height. I think he will cement his place in the side by the time this tour is over. Swann was also impressive but Hussey read him like a book and carted him all over the park. He needs to come back with Plan B for the next test match.
With that huge deficit on their minds, the English reply almost started disastrously with Hilfenhaus getting Strauss almost plumb in front in the very first over. Fortunately for England the appeal was overruled as the ball was going over the stumps as the replays suggested. From then on, it was just one way street. Strauss, Cook and then Trott piled on runs aplenty and England had the privilege of declaring the innings at 517-1 with a impractical ask. The only academic interest was if they could get some wickets and gain some psychological advantage. Australians lost Katich early but the pair of Ponting and Watson ensured a draw.
I think this test match has exposed the weakness in the Australian bowling attack. If you take out that one over when Siddle collected a hat-trick, there was nothing in the game for them. In the second innings they failed to pose any questions and when there were edges the fielders floored those edges. Mitchell Johnson must have realized that he is no Glen McGrath and he would do well to focus on his bowling rather than engage in sledging. He needs to get his radar repaired too. There is no spinner worth naming in Australian squad. So Ricky Ponting has a lot to think before the second test.
England on the other hand will come out stronger. They have managed to handle the pressure well, their bowlers looked to attack and they seem to have a more balanced attack too. So on technicality I would say this test is England’s on points, just by a whisker.
PS: And I must mention the one incident on the final day when Ponting claimed a catch and the umpires ruled against it. There was a big discussion among the Aussie commentators on how he is an honest fielder and a skipper. Well we Indians know very well from that infamous Sydney test incident.
Friday, November 19, 2010
The Ashes 2010: A curtain raiser
The 2010 Ashes series gets under way on the 25th and there is already a lot of discussions about the possible outcome this time. This series always generates the kind of excitement that I have not seen in any other series. So here is my take on the current version.
The Poms have done nothing wrong since they announced a near perfect squad for the tour. They have brought in a quality spinner in Monty and they have a unit that is well balanced in all the departments. They have solid opening batsmen, their middle order is good too and they have a wicket keeper who can contribute. Then they have a quality attack consisting of swing and spin bowlers. The only missing element in their squad is a true pace bowler. Most of them have scored runs and taken wickets in the prep games and seem to be in a good nick. Ever since Andy Flower has taken over as their coach, they have improved by leaps and bounds.
The Aussies on the other hand have had a wretched 6 months or so. They have lost to practically every team that matters and more importantly they have not won anything for a long time. Their batting relies mainly on Ponting and the rest of the batsmen are under the scanner for their poor run of form. The bowling department is also weak and the only threatening bowler they have is Mitchell Johnson. But you know the stories about his mental fitness and the radar problem that he has. That nervousness is also reflected in their team selection. The home team has declared a squad of 17 players for the first test.
Australia also has another problem to cope with. With the English squad so nicely balanced and in form, they have a tough task in preparing the wickets too. If they make batsmen friendly wickets, then the Poms will score heavily against a weak attack. If they go for fast, bouncy wickets then their own batting will come under the guns as the Poms have a decent pace attack. Turning tracks will also be disastrous. So what should they do? In my mind their best chance lies in either winning the first test match when the Poms would be still adjusting to the conditions or win one solitary game and then play for draws. If they select the second option, which is against their nature, the series will be a very dull affair.
So what is it going to be? My bets are on England winning it with a margin of one test, 2-1 looks like the most likely result. I am very eager to see the first test match and see what the Aussies throw at the Poms. Keep reading!!
The Poms have done nothing wrong since they announced a near perfect squad for the tour. They have brought in a quality spinner in Monty and they have a unit that is well balanced in all the departments. They have solid opening batsmen, their middle order is good too and they have a wicket keeper who can contribute. Then they have a quality attack consisting of swing and spin bowlers. The only missing element in their squad is a true pace bowler. Most of them have scored runs and taken wickets in the prep games and seem to be in a good nick. Ever since Andy Flower has taken over as their coach, they have improved by leaps and bounds.
The Aussies on the other hand have had a wretched 6 months or so. They have lost to practically every team that matters and more importantly they have not won anything for a long time. Their batting relies mainly on Ponting and the rest of the batsmen are under the scanner for their poor run of form. The bowling department is also weak and the only threatening bowler they have is Mitchell Johnson. But you know the stories about his mental fitness and the radar problem that he has. That nervousness is also reflected in their team selection. The home team has declared a squad of 17 players for the first test.
Australia also has another problem to cope with. With the English squad so nicely balanced and in form, they have a tough task in preparing the wickets too. If they make batsmen friendly wickets, then the Poms will score heavily against a weak attack. If they go for fast, bouncy wickets then their own batting will come under the guns as the Poms have a decent pace attack. Turning tracks will also be disastrous. So what should they do? In my mind their best chance lies in either winning the first test match when the Poms would be still adjusting to the conditions or win one solitary game and then play for draws. If they select the second option, which is against their nature, the series will be a very dull affair.
So what is it going to be? My bets are on England winning it with a margin of one test, 2-1 looks like the most likely result. I am very eager to see the first test match and see what the Aussies throw at the Poms. Keep reading!!
Thursday, October 14, 2010
India-Australia Second Test @ Bangalore : Indians remain No 1
After winning an important toss and putting up a score of 478, Ricky Ponting must be thinking that he could not lose this test match. On the contrary he must have been thinking a win. The start of the Indian innings was according to his script too. Sehwag got out to a stupid shot, and a batsman of his caliber and seniority should know how not to get aggravated. Dravid perished fishing outside the off with his bat too far away from the body. Unusual dismissal for a person who has such an exquisite technique and temperament. The Australians had to wait for over 6 hours before claiming the third wicket. In that period Murali Vijay and Sachin demonstrated total control over the hapless Australian attack and both scored centuries. The Maestro went on to score a double and looked good to score his first triple, until he played a loose shot. Indian bowlers came into their own in the third innings of the match and ensured that India had a chance to win the test. Ricky Ponting yet again got out in the seventies and that means Sachin is 10 centuries ahead of him, with some easy test matches coming up. The final innings required Indians to score 206 to win and they got there quite easily. Dhoni played a master stroke after Sehwag departed early. He sent in Cheteshwar Pujara at 3 ahead of Rahul Dravid. Firstly, it upset the Australians thought process because they would have been expecting Dravid to walk in. Second, Pujara must have felt very positive with the confidence shown by his captain. And it also ensured that if things did not work out, Dravid was there to stop any collapse. Superb move, and it paid off.
Overall, the Australians performed very poorly in all the three departments. Their batting revolved around Watson and Ponting, no one else stepped up. Bowling was pedestrian except in small spells. At this rate, the English team must be licking their fingers at the prospect of winning the Ashes. They really do have a good chance to win. Ponting will be under tremendous pressure because he has now lost too many matches on the trot without a win. His strategy and field placing on the final day also attracted a lot of criticism. They need good fast bowlers, good spinners and batsmen who can play the reverse swing.
As far as Indians are concerned, batting is our mainstay and all of them delivered. But this series really belongs to the bowlers. They bowled well, batted well and showed character. Fielding can definitely improve; remember those dropped catches in the first innings of the series. We are not creating enough run out opportunities and thus putting the seed of a doubt in the batsman’s mind. Singles are available very easily. On the batting front, we have a good problem with too many people claiming too few spots. We now need a good bowling all rounder, someone like Kapil or even half of that. Pity that Irfan vanished from the scenes after showing so much potential. That person will also ease the burden on the main strike bowlers.
So we retain the No 1 ranking very convincingly. Well done India and look forward to the next series.
Overall, the Australians performed very poorly in all the three departments. Their batting revolved around Watson and Ponting, no one else stepped up. Bowling was pedestrian except in small spells. At this rate, the English team must be licking their fingers at the prospect of winning the Ashes. They really do have a good chance to win. Ponting will be under tremendous pressure because he has now lost too many matches on the trot without a win. His strategy and field placing on the final day also attracted a lot of criticism. They need good fast bowlers, good spinners and batsmen who can play the reverse swing.
As far as Indians are concerned, batting is our mainstay and all of them delivered. But this series really belongs to the bowlers. They bowled well, batted well and showed character. Fielding can definitely improve; remember those dropped catches in the first innings of the series. We are not creating enough run out opportunities and thus putting the seed of a doubt in the batsman’s mind. Singles are available very easily. On the batting front, we have a good problem with too many people claiming too few spots. We now need a good bowling all rounder, someone like Kapil or even half of that. Pity that Irfan vanished from the scenes after showing so much potential. That person will also ease the burden on the main strike bowlers.
So we retain the No 1 ranking very convincingly. Well done India and look forward to the next series.
Wednesday, October 06, 2010
India-Australia First Test @ Mohali : What a cliffhanger
If one was looking for a classic commercial to promote test match cricket, he should have been at Mohali over the past 5 days. A great test match between two evenly balanced teams, ended with a win for India with the narrowest of the margins. I am sure a number of people stopped watching the telecast/webcast for superstitious reasons when we needed 20 odd runs. I was among those people. Such was the tension and the swing of fortunes that either team could have won. So let us take a deep breath and look back.
I thought the Indian team looked rusty in the first innings and it was shocking to see Dhoni drop two regulation catches. Sehwag too dropped an easy chance and all of these lapses proved costly. Shane Watson scored a uncharacteristic slow century and Tim Paine scored a 90. With 400+ runs on the board, Aussies looked like they could not lose this test match. But the Indian response was very good, at least the first half. Everyone at the top of the order contributed and it was a shame to see Sachin miss out on his 49th. Then I don’t know what happened but Dhoni and Raina threw their wickets away to irresponsible shots and we were caught short of the target. Ideally we should have consolidated and got at least a 50+ lead.
In the second innings, things were very quiet and the match was heading towards a draw till Ishant got into the act. He got three (well almost three) wickets in an over and that got the team charged up. Zaheer and the spinners also chipped in and we had a game on our hands. 216 to get in the fourth innings was definitely gettable.
The Australians are known for their never-say-die spirit and they came out with all guns blazing. Whatever thoughts the Indians had were blown to pieces in a matter of few overs. At 55/4 on day 4, all was lost. Then came that heroic innings from Ishant and VVS and India won by the smallest of the margins.
The reason I said the teams were balanced, is because if you look at the score sheet, there is a fifer from both teams, there is a century and a near one on either side. The fielding of the two teams was superb largely, except for some glitches.
The umpiring in this test match was poor. There were at least 5 bad decisions, but as they say everything evened out in the end. Some of those decisions were rank bad and I was surprised to see Billy Bowden making mistakes. May be the age is catching up on him.
We go into the second match with some key players nursing injuries. Ishant, Gambhir, Laxman and Bolinger are doubtful starters. But these two teams are capable of creating something out of nothing and providing excellent entertainment to all the spectators.
I thought the Indian team looked rusty in the first innings and it was shocking to see Dhoni drop two regulation catches. Sehwag too dropped an easy chance and all of these lapses proved costly. Shane Watson scored a uncharacteristic slow century and Tim Paine scored a 90. With 400+ runs on the board, Aussies looked like they could not lose this test match. But the Indian response was very good, at least the first half. Everyone at the top of the order contributed and it was a shame to see Sachin miss out on his 49th. Then I don’t know what happened but Dhoni and Raina threw their wickets away to irresponsible shots and we were caught short of the target. Ideally we should have consolidated and got at least a 50+ lead.
In the second innings, things were very quiet and the match was heading towards a draw till Ishant got into the act. He got three (well almost three) wickets in an over and that got the team charged up. Zaheer and the spinners also chipped in and we had a game on our hands. 216 to get in the fourth innings was definitely gettable.
The Australians are known for their never-say-die spirit and they came out with all guns blazing. Whatever thoughts the Indians had were blown to pieces in a matter of few overs. At 55/4 on day 4, all was lost. Then came that heroic innings from Ishant and VVS and India won by the smallest of the margins.
The reason I said the teams were balanced, is because if you look at the score sheet, there is a fifer from both teams, there is a century and a near one on either side. The fielding of the two teams was superb largely, except for some glitches.
The umpiring in this test match was poor. There were at least 5 bad decisions, but as they say everything evened out in the end. Some of those decisions were rank bad and I was surprised to see Billy Bowden making mistakes. May be the age is catching up on him.
We go into the second match with some key players nursing injuries. Ishant, Gambhir, Laxman and Bolinger are doubtful starters. But these two teams are capable of creating something out of nothing and providing excellent entertainment to all the spectators.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Mouth Watering Test Season Ahead
A fter some very dull test match series like the India-SL series or the very controversial series involving Pakistan, at last we can now look forward to the prospect of some good quality test cricket. First there is the India-Australia series in India, which should be quite an exciting series considering that the Aussies are currently rated No. 4 on the test rankings. They would spare no effort to change that ranking. But they have arrived with a very weak bowling attack, I think. Their batting is also not tested on these types of wickets. Indian selectors have done a pretty good job with the team selection by bringing in Pujara in place of Yuvraj. The kid deserved an outing. If Ishant and Zaheer can get into the rhythm, and the spinners in form, I guess we have a good shot at the series.. Since this is only a two test match series, I am predicting an India win.
Immediately after that is the Ashes series in Australia. I am a little sad that my friend Harp scuttled the plans to go and watch the Ashes live in Australia, but this series promises to be a very engaging duel since England seem to have a decent team and Australia is on the wane. The two teams are equally balanced if you ask me.
As an aside, it is sad to see so many talented fast bowlers from Pakistan wasting their careers on (alleged) betting money. Despite very tough conditions (economically, politically and quality of life in general) in their country, they manage to spot the right talent and have produced some very good bowlers in the recent past. Unfortunately, they have not been able to mould these players into good sportsmen. The result is that there are frequent scandals and stories surrounding this team. Betting, drugs, ball tampering, you have them all.
Immediately after that is the Ashes series in Australia. I am a little sad that my friend Harp scuttled the plans to go and watch the Ashes live in Australia, but this series promises to be a very engaging duel since England seem to have a decent team and Australia is on the wane. The two teams are equally balanced if you ask me.
As an aside, it is sad to see so many talented fast bowlers from Pakistan wasting their careers on (alleged) betting money. Despite very tough conditions (economically, politically and quality of life in general) in their country, they manage to spot the right talent and have produced some very good bowlers in the recent past. Unfortunately, they have not been able to mould these players into good sportsmen. The result is that there are frequent scandals and stories surrounding this team. Betting, drugs, ball tampering, you have them all.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
First 200 in a ODI
I know that this blog is not the place for discussing ODIs, but special occasions call for some exceptional treatment. One such special occasion was the Second ODI between India and SA at Gwalior where the little master turned the clock back and scored the first ever double century in an ODI. He was at his destructive best and we were fortunate to have witnessed this master innings of his. In my opinion, he is the rightful owner of this record and thoroughly deserves it.
There will be more people scoring double hundreds, possibly during the World Cup 2011 when a number of weaker teams will participate in the tournament. The distinction of being the first to conquer a peak is always remembered by many and that is why Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay are famous. That is why Neil Armstrong is a familiar name. Reading the papers in the morning today was that sort of feeling with everyone in the cricketing fraternity praising this genius.
Congratulations Sachin, you have made us proud!!
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