Men in Blue redeem themselves

Dravid won the toss for the 2nd consecutive day and decided to bat again, when the thought about the record 16 chases would have crossed his mind. It was a good decision and not the run of the mill variety, which forces you to stick to your strengths alone. Sehwag was back in his elements (man ! he loves the Paki attack) and Dravid played a methodical innings, which only he can play. Sehwag had his moments of fortune and hesitancy but in the end managed a very decent innings, clubbing a six too on the way. Dhoni played in a relatively restrained manner (by his own standards) but those behind the wicket drives off Malik were one splendid piece of improvisation. At the 40 over mark, India was well set for a finish around 300, with plenty of wickets in hand but Afridi/Asif and then Rana fought back superbly. Not withstanding a brief cameo from Yuvi, India ended up with a very 'chasable' 269.
When Pak batted, Pathan got a lucky break - getting Farhat for his 100th ODI wicket (Pathan is a mere 21 years age - imagine the distance he can go with this potential !!) and then cleaned up Afridi, who in the past had destroyed many an attack (and heart) from India. With that 'flesh in the thorn' Younus Khan going early, the victory was always round the corner but Inzi never gave up till his inevitable run out. The glee in Rahul's face, when he ran to the stumps to catch Inzi short, was very 'un Dravidish but I can understand that considering how Inzi had spoiled party so many times in the past. Inzi had his moments of fortune - he was atleast out 2 times to straight forward LBWs (Rudi ..watch out !!) and should have got caught too twice. Ramesh Powar bowled superbly and he has been one revealation indeed. His style is almost classical 'Prasanna' variety - no doosras but slow, slower and slower flighted ones with adequate spin. I wish Powar can get to some decent fitness levels and also improve his fielding. This type of bowling will also be ideal for tests too.
Coming back to the game, India fought well and were led well by Dravid. He should have got the man of the series rather than Inzi, in my opinion. The cricket calender will be inactive for a few days for India before the WI tour begins later. The next thing to look forward is the selectors meeting on 20th but I do not expect any surprises at all here.

Desert Disappointments !!

The middle eastern desert - Sharjah especially had been a bane of Indian cricket with countless losses to Pakistan over the years - since the days of Javed Miandad sixer off Chetan Sharma. The desert was deserted by BCCI after the match fixing scandal but things seemed to have taken a new turn with a new venue - Abu Dhabi but the Indian luck continued to be the old variety.
India won the toss and their innings never took off. Robin Uthappa, as expected chipped one in the air (with his pre-determined run down the wicket and uppish drive tendency - more and more sensible bowlers will eat him for breakfast, lunch and dinner together). Then there were the needless runouts (against a horrendous fielding team like Pak that is a crime) and a listless innings by Venu, who is trying to establish himself. In the end, the total was way too low for being defended and Younus Khan, who is yet to get tired of feasting on India (he is almost going in the Miandad, Zaheer Abbas proportions in accumulating runs against India) saw to it that there are no last minute heros from Indian bowling attack.
India could have set the record and all with those 16 chases in patta wickets but they are yet to master setting up a total, when they bat first, especially when early wickets fall and Dravid gets out too. They do have a valid excuse here - the punishing schedule - BCCI has not allowed them to sleep for any time - from the time the season began against SL. Gavaskar's 'take pride' statement not withstanding, the gruelling schedule did seem to have impacted India since I saw jaded faces , compared to have a relatively fresher Pak team. They at least had a few more days off, after their SL tour. I was also very, very impressed with the way Mohd. Asif has assumed the Pak attack's mantle. He is very economical and not easy to get off in the early overs, unless one is prepared to take risks. All said, India should put in one last hurrah of effort and redeem themselves today.

Listless Poms show !

Another listless display of England team was on display in the last ODI at Indore. From where they were around 40th over, they could have gone to a 300+ score but lost their way later. Shreesanth picked up 6 wickets but I am not impressed; most of those wickets were towards the end and that too given in an attempt to slog. These wickets remind me of the typical Agarkar spell, where he used to pick some cheap wickets in the end. Shreesanth is definitely improving but still far from being a finished product.
India used its strong batting line up and finished the match in style. A quick word about Robin Uthappa - I did not see one impressive, honest cricketing boundary from him. Most were hit with the deliberate front push of the foot work (in quicker wickets, this will land him in trouble) and most 4s were 'air fairy' uppish types. I am not convinced that he is the answer to the opening woes but in sub-continent wickets, he might still survive and provide some early impetus to an innings. Anyway, the leg weary, heat drowned poms limped off with another defeat and they must be glad that the taxing schedule is over at last.

Flop parade of Viru and Kaif continues

I am not sure how many more innings have to be gifted to get Viru back to form. Trust me, with more matches, it is getting no better. As far as my memory goes, he has not played one significant ODI innings in the last 25 or so matches (except that consolation innings against SL, when he came down the order). Same goes with Kaif, who has this unique ability of making batting look far more difficult than what it is. Amidst all the flop parade, Dhoni uncorked a special for his East Zone/Jharkand fans. Powar was also a pleasant surprise and the two produced a good partnership and a decent total for the Indian attack to bowl later in the afternoon.
That was when the trio of medium pacers took their captain's example and continued the flop parade even later. The trio, which is expected to don the blues for the next decade simply were not upto it and England benefited from having a specialist batsmen opening the innings (Ian Bell) rather than the 'neither here - nor there' Mark Prior. Bhajji and Powar restored some order later but it was late.
My take from this Jamshedpur match - Without Dravid, Indian batting will be at cross roads in either form of cricket and this is all the more important, when wickets fall early. Same goes with Pathan. His early strikes with the white ball in the ODI variety is simply the tonic before the spinners can strangle the opposition. It is alright to bowl at 140 with high arm action (VRV) or stick to line and length (Munaf) or do neither but follow the old Agarkar path (RPS) but when you are leaking at 6-7 an over, no total is easy to defend or no field is worth being set. Munaf especially has been a distinct flop, after his decent show in tests earlie.
I also hope that Kaif and Viru get the can now at least.

Abject Surrender !

This is a tale of captains, who both gambled but one came out with flying colors thanks to the state of the wicket and the recklessness of the opposition. With Pieterson and Collingwood scoring at a canter, Dravid gambled not to take the 2^nd powerplay but when he eventually took it, instead of ending up with a huge acceleration, English wickets tumbled one after another. Yuvaraj Singh, bowling his innocuous left armers picked 2 wickets and even the hapless Sehwag bagged 2. In the end, 237 is not the kind of score that is going to test the rampaging Indian side, even with several out of form batsmen. England should have atleast gone upto 300, considering the blistering knock of Pierterson but Flintoff and the rest did not have the gumption to go for it, in the hot sink of a climate at Kochi.

Sehwag failed again and was promptly rewarded with captaincy for the next 2 ODIs. I am yet to see a significant innings from him, right from the SL home series. I am not sure whether he should be persisted with and that too as captain. But again, the favors dished out some players has gone to such an extent that anything is possible and I do not rule out all oddities. Kaif’s horrendous run of failures continued, but the rest are in good knick and ensured that the 4-0 brown wash was complete without much ado.

Another day and another win ! Why Uthappa?

It was another routine day at the office for the Indian team. The usual top order failure was there on a strip that resembled more of a beach cricket turf than real international cricket pitch. The ball hardly rose but even in such a wicket, Sehwag and Kaif failed (again). Yuvaraj was in fine touch even in the brief innings at Faridabad and continued on his good form. His partnership with Raina destroyed England but more than that, the English show lacked any will. There was no real quality in bowling and except Flintoff, the rest was routine stuff. Yuvaraj did not waste an easy opportunity like this and stroked his way to his 7^th ODI 100, through powerful strokes all around. Raina, played decently and got a half century but he could have gone for less but for the gift from Geriant Jones. Raina and Dhoni, in the later part of the inning ran a 2 when the ball was hardly 2 feet from the stumps and that said much about the will of Poms.

When England batted in the afternoon, they had too big a score to chase, considering the afternoon heat and the form of their batsmen. Colligwood showed some gumption but it was all too late.

Later in the day, More announced that Robin Uthappa is selected in place of Gambhir for the remaining ODIs and the Dubai ODIs too. I am no fan of Gambhir but they seemed to have decided to drop him even before the 3^rd ODI started since otherwise, why was he excluded from the XI? More talked about performance of Robin (IMHO – he has not set Cauvery on fire. I can’t remember any substantial innings, other than the one he played in the Challengers) but here is bad trend that only looks for youth and nothing else. If you go by performance alone, why is Kaif and Sehwag persisted with? Different yard sticks for different folks I guess. My selection would have been Vidyut Siva for opener slot and Hemang Badani for the middle order slot and I would have rested Sehwag and dropped Kaif once and for all.

Raina and Dhoni see India through to 2-0

Cricket in the outlands of India, away from the main cities has always been dicey proposition – plagued by mis-management, horrible wickets and poor facilities to players as well as playing public. The mega bucks with BCCI has not really helped in improving the situation and we had another thoroughly mis-managed affair at Faridabad for the 2^nd ODI. The wicket was so so but I am getting tired of the run feasts and it was okay to see a match, where the bowlers had some say; but the lathi charge to spectators and damaging the body of a woman and a 9 year old child spelled the kind of treatment that awaits the brave souls who are pouring into the coffers of BCCI, unmindful of the discomforts.

Coming to the game, England was back into self doubt mode and after a reasonable start, thanks to Powar messing up a simple caught and bowled, failed to take the initative. Raina off all people, floored one in the deep but still England could not put up a big enough score that could challenge India. Ramesh Powar, bowling traditional off spin bagged 3 and Sreesanth came back with some cheap wickets in the end. All in all, neither Peterson nor Strauss’s effort was sufficient enough and England ended with some 40-50 runs short of where they should have been.

The Indian chase had a decent beginning for a change but I am far from convinced about Sehwag’s form. He needs to be given a break for sure and he rarely looked to be the old Viru we know. The usual collapse happened and the usual contribution from Dhoni was called for but what is a refreshing change is the youngster Raina rising to the occasion. He played the big hits when needed and in general was kept in check by constant advice from Dhoni. Two strokes, which stood out from Raina’s innings were the wallop over midwicket and the flip-hoick he played a couple of times over fineleg for deliveries outside the off stump. Has India discovered a new Michael Beven ? Too early to say but the potential is there and what has to been seen is whether consistency can be combined with the talent.