All is well, that ends well !!

So goes the Shakespeare saying but is all well in Indian cricket, after y'day's win? Are the demons in Sachin's mind gone? Is Indian bowling, as good as what it looked y'day or more important - is the big 3 ready to rock and roll on a WC stage? I would not rush into such conclusions, after having seen 3 decades of Indian cricket.
Lara committed harakiri by inviting India to bat, perhaps imagining that India will somehow cave in and they will have repeat of Chennai match. Well !! Such plans will work, if you have genuine wicket takers of the calibre of the fast bowlers of yester years from WI but not with a ragged Powell and a part time Smith opening the attack. Lara was afraid to throw in Taylor and Bradshaw for some reason and Uthappa began to free his arms quickly. He thumped an extraordinary 6 over point and arrogantly hit Powell over his head for another. He got out next ball but the stage was set. Uthappa has to quickly realize that there has been a ton of others before him, who had tried this bang-bang pyro techniques and have not been able to repeat this for long. Even Gilchirst, who can turn it on when he wants, does not go bang bang for every ball. There will be phases where Uthappa should simply bide his time' otherwise, he will end up as another Afridi or Sehwag.
Ganguly on the other hand, was in a dream touch, moving effortlessly and caressing the ball with characterisitic ease, without over hitting it. His pull 6 was a treat to watch and I have to say that I was first in the line to call for his head earlier but in this new avatar, all his weaknesses of the past - like not running the single or over dependence on 4s are all gone. Dravid was his usual circumspect self, playing the anchor role and when SG fell, one could visualize a repeat of Chennai scare since Sachin was not looking forceful either. Agreed, Sachin eventually hit a 100 but with 2 sitters drooped, it is not as if, he had hit a 100 during a successful chase or when wickets had fallen around. He was helped Dhoni, who played in his own style, pumping 6s everywhere. When it comes to judging Sachin, the bar is much higher and hence I am still not contended enough to say that the demons have gone out of his mind. Let us not rush to celebrate too much since his horror show against Paul Harris mere weeks ago, forced an Indian test loss. India is going to play Bangla in WC and I remember that there is more than one good left arm spinner there so as to remind Sachin that life is a great leveller.

In the WI innings, Agarkar snuffed any hopes with a peach of a delivery to clean up Gayle and when Lara was run out (unfortunately), it was all over. Pathan did not look threatening but at least stayed away from the shambolic show he put up in SA. In the end, it was an easy win for India. India played a XI , which in paper is probably their starting XI for WC but still there are lots of questions to be answered. Is Yuvaraj back for sure ? Can they afford to go with 2 spinners in XI? Can Kumble be a better bet than Powar? Is Pathan worth a spot for a 5th bowler? Can Uthappa deliver abroad? Some answers may emerge in the forthcoming SL series.

Robin impressive in Chennai ODI loss

Robin Uthappa, more or less is now a certainity for the first choice opener spot in the world cup, after this audacious innings he played in the 3rd ODI against WI. He went bang bang with an incredible array of strokes, played mainly from the front foot and in sheer desperation Lara threw in Gayle in the 11th over. I wish Robin would have somehow waited for one more over before taking on Gayle. That airy fairy lofted shot meant the others have to pick up but with so many question marks in Indian batting, they fell by the way side, even though 268 is not a bad score. Considering where they were after 10 overs and after the Sachin/Dravid stand, Yuvi failed to deliver and so did Karthik. Raina did not impress either and the tail came and went. I was not impressed by Sachin's boring 50 (even though , Vengsarkar keeps pointing out how great he is in every available sound bite) and the larger question of his overall confidence and fluency remains as such.
When WI batted, it was quite clear that Sreesanth need not be trusted in the ODI game (at least not yet, since he has been giving away - not one but 2 boundary balls almost every over, he bowls). Samuels and Lara batted well enough and although there was some artificial excitement at the end (which led many a paper to write - Thrilling win etc), it was a tame finish by India on a wicket, where they should have scored 375+, after being 95/1 from 10 overs.

3rd ODI preview !!

Indian captain and selectors might sound confident, after the 2-0 win vs WI but I am yet to become an optimist since I have seen too many goof ups over the years. With Chepauk promising to provide an absolute batting paradise, all it takes is one big Chris Gayle assault on Sreesanth to ruin things. With the kind of changes contemplated and the nature of the wicket, I foresee a very high scoring match. If WI bat first, India will have a match in their hands since they will be easily chasing a 300+ score. The same thing can be said for WI, if India bats first but with so many changes and with Yuvarj coming in without much practice, I will still give the odds to WI.

Dinesh Karthik proves his worth

Dinesh Karthik silenced all the nay sayers who had been hollering 'What is this Madarsi doing @ number 6' by a remarkable innings. On a wicket which merited the term, 'the cowdung roll out' with puffs of dust coming from 1st delivery, the ball barely left boot laces. The usually consistent Indian batting habit of inconsistency returned and the top order caved. Sachin looks to be on borrowed time and he simply needs to quit before the pressure gets any further worse than what it is now. Karthik played a lovely innings and Agarkar, who hardly looked the batsmen with a test 100 for several years now, contributed for once. Joginder, who was labelled as an allrounder (after batting at 7 for Haryana !!) again proved that there is a big gulf between International level and Ranji games.
When WI batted, almost every one bowled well but they could not get past C'paul. Numerous run out chances were missed but India clawed out of a bad situation on a wicket that suited them. Powar bowled a dream spell and the rest of WI batting caved. It was a decent win but I guess, the wicket should be awarded, the worst ever possible award.

Neo sports black out, BCCI muddle & C'paul onslaught mar India revivial !!

Too long a heading; but, I guess, pretty much summarizes what had happened at Nagpur. On a Sunday, when the whole nation was praying for Indian cricket revival (and where else we can revive it, other than another dust bowl at Nagpur, the infamous stadium where a wall collapse, once killed some scores of teenagers), there was virtual black out with Neo Sports being not available. I am all for giving the biff to DD since I feel that they pretty much brow beat every other channel with the usual cry of championing the cause of masses. What will happen, if Neo sports shares the feed to DD and still need to cough up what they had assured BCCI ? I am for a free market economy and I wish that fair view is taken by everyone around.

Coming to the game, I can not go into much of a detail (since it was a black out in my area too) but from what I have read in news paper reports/net, Gangs played a different innings, where he was able to correct some of the mistakes of the past – like running quick singles, not only for himself but for his partner too. Then there was an unDravid cameo by Rahul (who can imagine him to hit one handed six over point?) and muscular blows by Dhoni. In the end, the bowlers fritted away all the advantage and nearly blew the match. The fielding was the usual, school boyish stuff with a decent score of half a dozen catches spilled (please note that I am not saying, grassed. In Nagpur ground, we have no such pretensions of green but I guess in the same ground, when they wanted, they did produce a green top in that famous match when Gangs sat down as a protest, when India played Aussies). I would not read too much into this win since the wicket was the usual Nagpur special. Let us wait and see whether any consistency can be seen from this team.

Another Pointless Tamasha series

So, what is new ? Absolutely nothing. Another pointless series, ahead of the all important World cup, Talks between DD and Nimbus going down to the wire (as I write this, they decided to break it off, just minutes before the 'go live' - never understood, why this tendency to reflect this 13th hour Indian mentality in every walk of life ?), another featherbed at Nagpur .....well, you can add another Indian defeat in another series.
With the brand new opening pair of Gangs and Gambhir, I do not expect any great reversal in fortune. Neither can run the quick single and both of them depend singularly for the boundary ball. Anyway, WI (Gayle and Co) are far too confident lot (thanks to the revival 4-1 against India, earlier last year) and they are unlikely to give it away too soon. Dravid will be left wondering (after these 2 series) whether he should continue playing cricket, leave alone being captain. Such will be amount of drubbing, that is awaiting India.

Familar Territory and familiar result !! Abject surrender

Rain provided the odd optimist some relief but nothing could prevent the SA march and it was a sad end to another series that India lost shamelessly. Dravid has to take the blame for being naive in several areas - he neither read the wicket before the match, during the match or after the match. India should have bowled out SA for less than 150 in both innings, provided he had Bhajji (in place of the unfit Munaf) or he had bowled the otherwise umimpressive Sachin, much earlier. We all know Kumble; he can be effective only in certain pitches and with such a big patch outside the leg stump (where a bowler like Warne would have walked away with 15 wickets), he dished out some absolutely common place stuff and it is a no brainer that he can not bowl from round the wicket.
Between spells of rain and another wicket to the credit of Pak umpire (Kallis being given not out - at the worst, it would have made the match interesting), SA marched on thanks to the decision to promote Pollack (I always wonder, how such decisions made by Indians never work but again we are talking about a mindless team with NIL strategy and a sleep walking, energy less spent bunch). Prince was a thorn as usual and India lost it all in no time.

So, it was a tame end from India's point of view. The only positives were Sreesanth's bowling and Dinesh Karthik's energetic keeping and effective batting. The rest were a horrible let down and that includes Sachin. He has to gracefully retire now and move out.

In a shortwhile, India will play another series at home and there might be an odd bright spot but the maladies look deep rooted and the scars have penetrated too far for the confidence to return.

The art of grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory

Indian cricket teams, over the years have perfected this technique of sliding to a defeat from seeemingly winning positions, without ever batting an eyelid and this team was no different; I have been shouting from roof tops about a common sense approach, as soon as they gave away those vital runs and decreased their lead in the 1st innings to a meaningless number but alas, the same old familiar story of mindless batting repeated itself.
I will put the blame squarely on Sachin. Here is a batsmen with such credentials (although . I am never ever convinced) in paper and he batted as if he had seen demons while facing Pual Harris. This is not the 1st time that he is dismantled by unknown lefties and the whole drag was so horrible that it proved be an embarassng display.
It all started with Shewag's promotion failing for the umpeenth time and when Jaffer failed to keep the glove out of the way, a high voltage drama followed with the possibility of a time out in test cricket for the 1st time. SG walked out eventually and played a decent innings but both he and Dravid got out at the wrong time and against the run of play. I have seen many a caught and bowled dismissal of Dravid and he repeated that here too to an innocous delivery. His failure to hit a single 50 in this series is another destabilizing factor for the anemic looking Indian batting.
I remember Steve Waugh's saying that most collapses begin with a run out and here too it was evident; what in the world was VVS thinking, behaving like an eighty year old grandpa. His run out followed by another Pak umpire victim, finished it all. Karthik put up a lone fight but the tail deserted him in quick succession.
The wickets of De Villiers and Amla might perhaps give the optimist Indian some hope but mark my words - India will loose this match. i have seen too much Indian cricket to fall for such optimistic tricks. They neither have the right bowler for this pitch (Bhajji) nor have the will to win. If not anything, the SA lower order is capable of dismantling the odd threat. It will be another pathetic ending to an otherwise engrossing test.

Even Stevens but India misses Bhajji !!

Dravid definitely missed a trick by not going along with one additional spinner and Munaf proved how one can get rusty in a matter of weeks, by being a comical fielder (he was no great shakes of a fielder to start with in anycase but he was atrocious y'day and the rest of the ground fileding was horrendous too); but, he somehow hung on to the all important Kallis' catch. India gifted too many runs to the lower middle order of Boucher and Pollack and this might prove to be decisive in the context of the whole match. Because of this largesse (with AK being totally ineffective since he is no big turner of the ball on a Shane Warne kind of wicket), India ended up with a lead which should have looked 100+. Anyway, Indian batsmen will have to take the initiative now and I guess Viru will open in the 2nd innings. A quick fire 40-50 from him can set the tone and in case he messes up again, their backs will be against the wall and a target in the region of 200-250 can be got by SA even in the last day pitch.

Advantage SA !! India surrenders initiative

Anil Kumble (AK) must have had dreams of repeating his New Delhi 10 wickets haul, when he saw a dust bowl at Newlands but alas, at the end of day 2, India seems to have given the advantage back to SA. They could have easily scored 550+ on a flat track like this but as in the past, some unknown spinner turning the ball squarely tied them up in knots. (I am not agreeing with this myth that Indian batsmen are good players of spin. On the contrary, most of current Indian test squad played hardly any domestic long version games and hence more or less are as suspect against genuine spin as against genuine pace. This was proved repeatedly when they fell to even 2nd tier spinners in important tests like the one against England at B'bay last year).
The 1st day efforts of Jaffer and makeshift Karthik was praise worthy. Jaffer was at his fluent best and played a nice knock and Karthik survived the new ball and helped in putting together the best Indian partnership for the series. The Pak umpire saw to it that we do not miss Mark Benson much by giving Karthik out but more than that, Dravid's dismissal after another 20+ score annulled the good work of openers. Sachin too could have taken his score beyond 100 but fell to an innocous left arm spinner delivery. Amidst falling wickets, SG did the best possible and for once- the Indian tail was a let down too, when they came back for some 20 odd - loosing the last 4/5. In the end, the Indian score is perhaps less by 150 or so from where they should have been.
Sreesanth struck early in SA innings but Smith ensured that the tempo with which he began (1st ball 6 off Zaheer) is not let down. 1st innings lead or SA coming close to India score looks on the cards since AK has been unable to look threatening. That leaves only one possibile result - India will have to fight real hard to save this test from here on.

Disappointment at Durban !! History repeats itself?

We have seen this shambolic show too many times in the past and hence I doubt very much whether the average Indian cricket fan will bother too much. After some miracle victory, they will come back and promptly hand over the advantage to the opposition and this time was no different.
If one looks carefully through the trend, right from one dayers, the batting has been a let down (for both the sides) and bowlers were made to look good. India won the 1st test primarily due to one afternoon collapse of SA batting and not due to their own batting skills.
India's lack of solidity at the top against genuine pace and its inability to take wickets at vital stages did them in again for the umpteenth time. It was disappointing to see India go down without a fight. They should have easily drawn the game in the last day, given all the deductions in time due to bad light etc. The top order caved in again and it is time to pack Viru. VVS promised much in the 1st and even in the 2nd but did not carry on to make it decisive effort. As far as the rest, the less said the better. Finally, between umpiring mistakes, bad light and horror show by top order (Viru, Dravid, Jaffer - what was he thinking,playing that pull in 2nd innings, SG and of course Sachin), India lost another test and went into history books as one country which is almost sure to loose the next test, after winning one.
The scene shifts to Cape Town, which is not that bad of a wicket when it comes to aiding spinners and the bounce will not be as bad as the traditional Durban wicket. Kumble will have to take some thing like 6 or 8 wickets in each innings, for India to have semblance of a winning possibility. The SA batsmen (Price and Kallis in particular) hopefully will get out quickly and not repeat their acts of past.