Monthly Archives: October 2010

The Great Escape–Day 5, 1st test

Posted on 5 October 2010 by | 1 Comment

If the only way you could find out the score was through Cricinfo and you couldn’t get through to the site during the final stages of this game, it was because every Indian around the world was frantically hitting F5 (refresh) on his/her browser window Smile

It must have been frustrating, not knowing what had happened. Thankfully, it all turned out to be good news for India. When the eighth wicket fell at 124 and India needing close to a hundred runs to win, everyone (including me) had written India off. With Laxman batting with a bad back and a runner with Ishant Sharma at the other end and just Ojha to follow, it was only going to be a matter of time….but the fat lady hadn’t sung yet.

Somehow, Indian managed to pull it off – this will be remembered as one of the great wins on Indian soil, and firmly belongs with other classics such as Calcutta 2001. The architect of that Calcutta win was again responsible for guiding India through and IMO, should have been named the man of the match. Zaheer went away with the award, but it was Laxman’s magic that eventually won the game. Laxman has had a great run this year and while most people have a modest record in the 2nd innings – Laxman has thrived (his 2nd innings average is 50.47 compared to his 1st innings average of 45.67). Since 2009, every time he has been asked to bat in the 2nd innings, he has had a 50+ score. Laxman has also always reserved special treatment for Australia, against whom he averages 55.58 as opposed to 44.53 against the rest.

Credit should also be given to Ishant Sharma – coming in at No. 10, he scored 31 valuable runs and more importantly built the highest partnership in the Indian second innings of 81 runs with VVS Laxman. When he was out LBW (which was a questionable decision) to Hilfenhaus , India needed just 11 runs to win. What an effort! After a few tense moments of close LBW shouts, over throws, and confusion while running between the wickets, India managed to get those 11 runs. What a win!

Although the match was a nail biter in the end, it had its constant ups and downs. Each team somehow contrived to lose a good position every few hours and the match could have gone in either direction. One can’t help but feel sorry for Australia. I now truly believe that the golden era of Australian Test cricket is over – the Australia of old would never have lost a match from such a position of strength as they had today. Surely, they will rise again, but I wouldn’t bet on them regaining the ashes this year.

This test match had a combination of some good umpiring and some very questionable decisions – and when a match is as close as this, you can’t but wonder what if one of those decisions had gone the other way – India has been hesitant to use the UDRS system and this should be a wake up call for them.

-Mahesh-

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Deja vu

Posted on 4 October 2010 by | 10 Comments

Offering a chance for redemption as it does,RobSteen has envisaged Test cricket as holding a mirror to life itself. Indeed, try imaginingHeadingley 1981 orEdenGardens 2001 without the 2nd innings, and it’s not hard to see his point. While such instances of Saturnalia are memorable in their rarity, every once in a while another breed of Test matches sends along a representative. These creatures witness pulsating tugs-of-war, some ebb, some flow, a myriad small battles and yet at the end of the first half, both teams find themselves exactly where they started off. The 2nd innings now assumes an invitation to seize the day, escape the equilibrium, and disrupt status quo. A bold statement, an audacious sleight of hand, or even a reckless gamble can leave the opposition broken in the wake. Tendulkar inChennai 1998, Warne inAdelaide 2006.

Let me turn to two precedents to make my point. A dozen years ago, the same teams battled for a dead rubber atBangalore. Of a more recent vintage, but the same species, is the CapeTown test on India’s tour of 2006-07. Strong Indian batting performances lit up the opening day on either occasion. While both games were India’s to boss, the opposition never let them shake off the tail. Secure in the knowledge that the burden of initiative was on India, they laid the mines, and hid in the trenches. The pressure of forcing the hand proved too much to handle. We slipped. When the balance is so fine, and lasts for so long, even one session of supremacy turns the game on its head.

We do not know yet, if the current Mohali test will fall under this category. It certainly threatens to do so. The team batting first was ahead by 24 runs at Bangalore, and by 41 at Cape Town. The numbers are similar. But in this case, India is not the prime mover. For an underdog Australian team, the position of playmaker could be unfamiliar territory. India have the relative luxury of being the holding midfielder. The 4th day’s play should go a long way in unravelling the mystery. Perhaps this time tomorrow, we will have a picture that is less foggy.

-i3j3Guest (TS Kartik)

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Aussies retain advantage–Day 3 1st Test

Posted on 3 October 2010 by | 3 Comments

The batting team cruises along nicely and seem to have all the momentum – then one wicket falls, and suddenly every thing changes. It happened on Day 1, when Ponting’s wicket fell and it happened again today when Tendulkar’s wicket fell.

India had just crossed 350 and both Tendulkar and Raina were cruising along nicely. Tendulkar looked set to score his 49th Test hundred, when suddenly against the grain of play, he fell LBW to North. That was the 5th wicket to fall – soon, the other 5 fell for the addition of just 51 runs.

Suddenly, the Aussies regained the advantage they had lost in the first two sessions, when Dravid and Tendulkar and Raina reduced the deficit sufficiently. Johnson took 5 for 64 and his two wickets of two balls (Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh) was partially responsible for speeding up the demise of the Indian innings.

This is going to turn out to be a really good test. If the Aussies, bat all of tomorrow and put up 250 on the board (plus the lead of 23), it will be a tough chase on a final day pitch.

I’d say that at the end of day 3, the Aussies still hold the advantage in this match. Having said that, if the Indians can dismiss the top 3 batsmen in the morning session of play, Aussies will be in a bit of trouble – their middle order is a bit flaky and I don’t expect the tail to pull through another rescue in the same Test. The Indians would be well aware of that – Harbhajan Singh needs to fire for that and let’s hope he does.

-Mahesh-

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Advantage Australia– Day 2, 1st Test

Posted on 3 October 2010 by | Leave a comment

I spoke yesterday about how India should be careful not to let the Australian tail wag and that is exactly what they didn’t do. The last 5 wickets added another 206 runs in the end, and Australia had a respectable total of 428, well above the 1st innings average at Mohali, which is in the high 3oos.

Australia just seemed to be content on batting out time late yesterday and even this morning and it seemed like test cricket of old, where you played not to win, but not to lose. The intent to win just didn’t seem to exist. Australia did show some positive intent once Mitchel Johnson came on to bat – this is the way Australia should have batted and put more pressure on the bowling. India also made some tactical errors. Their persistence with the old ball was baffling. Sure, Ishant couldn’t bowl straight away– but Zaheer should have taken the new ball and partnered with Harbhajan Singh. India just didn’t try enough to nip the wickets out – it appeared that their strategy was just to slow down the runs, and the wickets would come automatically.

After Zaheer’s five-for, India came out blazing. It was as if the two countries were batting on two different surfaces. India raced off to 100/1 in the 17th over and the title to the post would have read “Advantage India”, if Sehwag hadn’t lost his wicket in the penultimate over of the day. With 3 more days remaining, there is still a possibility of a result and it could go either way – however the scales have slightly tilted to Australia’s favour – their safety first approach seemed to have worked this time.

-Mahesh-

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What’s all the hullabaloo about?

Posted on 2 October 2010 by | 2 Comments

The batsman is out of the crease – the wicket keeper takes off the bails and as he walks back to the pavilion, someone from the opposition says something. The batsman turns around from his walk, points the bat at the player and a heated exchange follows. No, I am not talking about the Ponting run-out incident on the 1st days play at Mohali – I am talking about Harbhajan Singh being stumped of Clarke’s bowling in the 2nd ODI in Cochi the last time Australia were here in India.

Do you see a pattern? Its the same thing being enacted again, only the actors are different this time around. Was Zaheer out of line? Without a doubt. Should Ponting have turned around to exchange words? I don’t think so…

These two teams have a history of having a go at each other – and although I am not a big fan of this, I am not completely surprised by this incident either. But I found it funny that the Herald Sun calls Zaheer a “serial sledger”. What a laugh! The last time the incident happened, Harbhajan was portrayed as the bad guy, as he turned around to point his bat at the opposition after he was given out (the fact that someone said something to trigger that was somehow left out). Harbhajan is no saint, and neither is Zaheer – the point is, the Aussies aren’t either. So, I don’t see what all the fuss is about Smile

Coming back to the actual game, Australia made a mess of a really good position. They were 153 for 1 in the 42nd over, with both Ponting and Watson playing quite well, and then boom – the run out happened. Suddenly, the whole match turned around. The Aussies went into a shell, the runs stopped coming and by the end of the day, they had just added another 70 runs! If that wasn’t bad enough, they also lost another 3 wickets in the process. The Indians would definitely be happy with the opposition’s score of 224/5 at the end of the days play. It is not a bad achievement considering the fact that India were one bowler short (Ishant got injured) and  Harbhajan wasn’t really that threatening with the ball. The Australian tail can wag though, and India should be careful not to let them off the hook – particularly as they will be batting last in this match.

-Mahesh-

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Cat and Mouse

Posted on 2 October 2010 by | Leave a comment

It’s been a hell of a week. Since last Sunday, my Facebook wall has been peppered with posts and comments on the Chennai Super Kings’ triumph at the Champions League, A.R. Rahman’s Jai Ho tour of North America, the Commonwealth Games howlers & the feverish excitement of the build-up towards the release of Endhiran! Just in case you put us down to be a group of hedonists, we’ve been quite concerned about the Ayodhya verdict too. Finally, last evening, amongst the babble of “Gummthalakdi gumma vaa”, Kalmadi jokes & Rajni punch dialogues, a friend put up a status that simply said “Ah! Test cricket.”

Is it just me, or did the Aussies slip in unnoticed? Sure, there’s been some chirp. Hauritz threatens to target Sachin & Johnson promises to pepper Sehwag. Ahem guys, you’d do better to ape Pidge on the field! Clarke is wary of Harbhajan. Shouldn’t he be calling him an obnoxious whatsits? Ponting looks to Tendulkar for inspiration. Whatever happened to Gilly’s autobiography? Where’s the rancour fella? We signed on for blood and gore, not a peace summit.

The anticipation amongst fans has been muted too. Anaesthetised by a deluge of India-Sri Lanka cricket? Or disappointed with a 2 match rubber? Harsha Bhogle calls it a quickie. I’d say it’s just a striptease. Millimeter from 3 Idiots might have a more colourful description, though not very parliamentary!

I settled down last night (9.5 hours behind IST), armed with a combination of Cricinfo, Test Match Sofa & live streaming, playing the highlights of Chennai 1998, Eden Gardens 2001, Adelaide 2003 & Perth 2008 in my head. I could not have been more disappointed. Mohali resembled the last day of the Asian Test Championship match at Kolkata, when most of the stadium had to be evacuated. Things got worse with the pitch report, and Ishant’s first delivery, which bounced twice on its way to Dhoni. Creeper for lbw, as the commentator from Test Match Sofa put it! Attrition is not a pleasant word, whether it is in context of the software industry or Test match cricket.

Catches were dropped, Ishant broke down, and the Aussies strung together a stand. Was it getting worse and worse? Not quite! It was a grind alright, but it was also intense Test cricket action. The passion simmered beneath the surface. Not high octane, but definitely not low voltage. The restraint of a Mani Ratnam terror flick, as against the celebration of violence in a Quentin Tarantino offering. Then Ponting got out. A send-off, an exchange of words & frayed tempers.

Clear your diaries people. The Border-Gavaskar is back in town!

(Guest post from TS Kartik)

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Series preview: Some players need to step up

Posted on 1 October 2010 by | 5 Comments

The test series starts tomorrow and barring any last minute injuries, the Indian team should read something like this -

  • Sehwag
  • Gambhir
  • Dravid
  • Tendulkar
  • Laxman
  • Raina
  • Dhoni
  • Harbhajan Singh
  • Zaheer Khan
  • Ishant Sharma
  • Sreesanth/Ojha

The choice of Sreesanth or Ojha will most likely be decided on how green the pitch is at Mohali. On paper, the team looks good, but in my opinion, a few players need to step up and play to their potential in this series.

The batting is not much of a worry – Sehwag has had a good run of scores, Tendulkar is in a purple patch, Laxman has had a great year so far and Dravid, although not among the scores in the Sri Lanka tour looked solid. And I am not worried about Gambhir either – although he has not been making the same kind of scores he made in 2009, he just hasn’t played enough tests. And with Raina coming into the team to back these people up, it looks solid.

The bench strength is OK, if not great – Every time, we’ve needed someone to fill in a spot in the batting, Vijay has come in and provided good relief – but you don’t cement your place in the side with a good 30 or 40. You need to get hundreds and he hasn’t done that yet. To be fair to him, he has only played 7 tests, but still – I’d say it is time for him play a long innings and get that elusive century. Pujara is unlikely to get a game this series, but he is one for the future.

The bowling as Mohan pointed out, is a worry. Zaheer Khan is the only one who fills me with any confidence and even he is coming back from injury. Ishant/Sreesanth (again coming back from injury) will probably do enough to back him up, but the main concern for me are the spinners and Harbhajan Singh in particular. The fast bowlers may get the early break through, but it is the  spinners who are going to win matches in India and to be frank, I am not confident that Harbhajan and co can do it. They seriously need to step up and perform.

Did you know when was the last time Harbhajan Singh took a five wicket haul against the Aussies? In 2004! Six years ago!! OK, I am sounding a bit dramatic here – he has played just 6 tests against them since – but still…he hasn’t had the kind of success against the Aussies, that we expect Bhajji to have. The magic that Bhajji weaved in that golden series in 2001 is long gone and his performances with the ball has consistently come down. Don’t get me wrong, his batting average against them has soared and he still brings a sense of apprehension and uncertainty to the Aussies when he he is bowling, but the air of invincibility is gone, even if Michael Clarke talks him up.

Harbhajan is a confidence bowler – once his bowling takes a hit, he starts bowling flat and fast and as soon as a wicket falls, his bowling changes dramatically – suddenly, the ball slows down, there is more flight, more loop, more turn and more people huddled around the wicket to put that extra pressure on the batsman. That is the bowler we saw in the 2001 series,  and that is the bowler we would like to see turn up for the test series this time. He needs to step up and play the role of the lead spinner and take the burden of leading the bowling in spin-friendly conditions.

Amit Mishra is another worry – he made his debut with a five-for against the Aussies but has since done nothing of significance. He has played all his matches on spin-friendly tracks of the sub-continent and one would expect more from him. Pragyan Ojha is about the same, although he bowled better than Mishra in Sri Lanka, he just doesn’t have the wickets in his kitty. I suspect that Ojha would get the nod ahead of Mishra in the series, but whoever gets the chance really needs to lift their game up and get wickets.

It doesn’t matter if the batsmen pile up runs, if you can’t get the opposition out twice, you just can’t win matches.

-Mahesh-

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