Indian team at Crosshair !!
The score line screamed Tigers 1- Sheep 0, after defeat of India by Bangladesh. The men in blue have to play another must win game and prove that they are the tigers esp against the Sri Lankan Lions in full form. Rahul Dravid's team will be at Crosshair, when they take the Sri Lankan team tomorrow; they will watched for every move by the media; team selection, batting order, field placement and of course the sub par fielding will all be analyzed threadbare in chat rooms and talk shows. It is time for to prove and be counted for the men in blue but the question - are they ready ?
After seeing the pummeling handed over to Bangladesh by Lanka, I will say that the odds are not in favor of India. Lankan team will fight tooth and nail for the Super 8 points and hence will be ready with their weapons against India.
A word about y'day match. Jayasurya and Tharanga ensured that the revitalized Bangladesh does not forget its minnow status - at least not yet. They tore apart the Bangla new ball attack (the very same Morteza and Rasal, who were treated as if Imran and Wasim Akram were bowling at their peaks, by India). The left arm spinners, esp Razzak was slaughtered and here is the most impressive part- when it came to bowling - Sri Lanka summarily finished off Bangla team, Lanka has been able to dismiss both Bangla and Bermuda teams for paltry scores and here is where India will loose out. They appear too timid to counter the Lankan bowling. A mere few weeks ago, things looked the other way but that was back at home and as Moody rightly pointed out, every one knows how India plays, outside India.
I wanted to list the negatives, which are plaguing Indian batting at the moment -
So, all in all in all - what the percentage chances for India to defeat SL and make it to Super 8. Until yesterday, I thought that it is 25% but after seeing the SL-BD match, I have brought it down to 2%. Only a miracle can save India and I will be extremely glad to be wrong in everything which I had written above.
After seeing the pummeling handed over to Bangladesh by Lanka, I will say that the odds are not in favor of India. Lankan team will fight tooth and nail for the Super 8 points and hence will be ready with their weapons against India.
A word about y'day match. Jayasurya and Tharanga ensured that the revitalized Bangladesh does not forget its minnow status - at least not yet. They tore apart the Bangla new ball attack (the very same Morteza and Rasal, who were treated as if Imran and Wasim Akram were bowling at their peaks, by India). The left arm spinners, esp Razzak was slaughtered and here is the most impressive part- when it came to bowling - Sri Lanka summarily finished off Bangla team, Lanka has been able to dismiss both Bangla and Bermuda teams for paltry scores and here is where India will loose out. They appear too timid to counter the Lankan bowling. A mere few weeks ago, things looked the other way but that was back at home and as Moody rightly pointed out, every one knows how India plays, outside India.
I wanted to list the negatives, which are plaguing Indian batting at the moment -
- Sourav has gone back to his old ways and is unable to rotate the strike. His innings are more of a bane than boon because of the dot balls (he gave a maiden to Bermuda !!)
- Viru has been out of form for long and neither he nor Uthappa are known for big match innings, esp when it counts most.
- Yuvaraj is in good touch but by the time he appears at number 6, things will be too late and in any case, his achilles heel will be Murali. He is not a good player of top class spinner like Murali.
- Sachin will have his trouble against Jayasurya and can not produce the kind of magic required to play 'once a life innings'. Dravid is non entity and can not do anything spectacular, other than playing around someone else.
- Agarkar has rediscovered his old form (of bowling trash at all times) and the fact that he opens the bowling is going to give some spine chilling moments - not for the Lankan bats but for Indian fans. His deliveries are expected to be dispatched to both sides of the square boundaries. It is obvious that Agarkar serves the cause of opposition than that of India but alas, that is evident to every one in planet earth except Dravid.
- Kumble and Bhajji are looking extremely unimpressive. They are neither able to turn the ball nor pressurize the batsmen. Powar would have been handy here rather than the excess baggage - Pathan in the team.
So, all in all in all - what the percentage chances for India to defeat SL and make it to Super 8. Until yesterday, I thought that it is 25% but after seeing the SL-BD match, I have brought it down to 2%. Only a miracle can save India and I will be extremely glad to be wrong in everything which I had written above.
posted by Crick_Love at 11:16 PM
4 Comments:
Hey Excellent analysis,
Whenever I think of India Vs Sri Lanka encounter in WC all I want to remember is the 1999 World Cup match at Taunton. I just hope we come up with some kind of magic that is associated with the Indian Batting.
The odds are against India, and that fact that Sri Lankan's looked a professional unit on field only makes matters worse for India.
The Bangladeshies did not help their cause by missing simple run out chances. The score line would definitely be different had they effected those runouts. I expect India no to make such mistakes in the match.
The Toss:
The toss in this world cup seems to be of the utmost importance. Dave Whatmore seems to believe that practicing this element of the game will definitely help the captains at the toss. I really don't know how.
Indian Bowling:
I feel a lot will be decided at the toss. Having said that, I also believe we don't have the fire power in the bowling to dismiss the Lankans. Ajit Agarkar seems to be way off target. Zaheer Khan, in his first few overs looks good after that he fizzes away from decent to absolute crap. The spinners look toothless. This could be attributed to bad field placing by Rahul. In one of my earlier comments I had talked about aggressive field placings by Sourav for Bhajji. The same seems to be lacking this time around. Munaf, for me, looks good and looks like taking wicket when ever he bowls in the business area. However when he strays he goes for runs.
Bowling combination: I would bring in Irfan Pathan instead of Ajit Agarkar. Only for the fact that Pathan adds to the batting and can swing the new ball. I would also be tempted to play Harbhajan instead of Anil because the lankan top and middle order has many left hand batters.
Lankan Bowling: The less said the better for India. Vass looks in prime form always bowling in the business area. Malinga looks deadly with his sling action and pace. Mahroof benifits the most from tight opening spells as opposition players tend to relax after the opening bowling pair. Murali, he can spin the ball a long way even on a glass top and this might cause problems to any team. Then they have the bits and pieces bowlers like Jayasurya (if I can call him one), Arnold etc. The bowling looks very good.
Fielding : Sa you correctly pointed out, India start with a deficit of 40 + runs on the field when compared to Lankans.
My Prediction: Lanka will win comfortably. I will be very happy if I am proved wrong.
If India can sneek a win tomorrow, GOOD GOD, we can get into the next round with the more important bonus point. Watch out for the net run rate.
Cheers
PG
pg..all valid points. The Taunton match was different and the atmosphere and the prelude were different. Cricket is a momentum game and India simply does not have it in themselves now. I look for the obvious signs - body language, form, team dynamics, politicking etc and all of them point to negative scores for India. They are not functioning as a group and I do not think that the so called seniors are talking from the same page as that of coach. GC must be counting this as one of the last few days of his assignment and in all probability RD might be also. Here is where SG has to shed that self-absorbed focus and play for the team; but...
I wish that Uthappa and Viru combine and produce once a life partnership that SG and RD produced at Taunton but if only 'wishes were horses'......
Just read this link. What do you think of this?
http://whatzinnews.blogspot.com/2007/03/of-indian-cricket-and-fast-bowlers.html
Well !! Not much. No body had said that Munaf can not be quicker and be a containing type too (some one like - say - Pollack). It is all in the mental make up. Munaf used to be thrashed in the past in ODIs and hence he has become to trust the current style (thatis safe), which is bowling 10 overs for 45 runs with maybe 1 or 2 wickets. That is all.
As far as India not being able to produce fast bowlers, the malady is multi fold- it takes lot of effort to be a successful fast bowler. One needs to have the build, the brains and of course the athletic abilities that go with it. Indian domestic criket (I have seen local tournaments like Deodhar and Subbai Pillai (Ranji ODIs this year too) - they are played in such horrible conditions. There is a big difference in the playing conditions of a ODI international and the next level Ranji ODI. I mean the gap is on a 1-100 scale, the ODI can be scored at about 60 (I will rate 80/90 abroad) and the Ranji ODIs are played in conditions, which can be given a score of -40. Cows grass, dogs run , water is drunk from pots by players and worst the pitches are nothing more than the cow dung cake. BCCI dishes out huge money but there is no administrator worth the salt; how will you get fast bowlers in such conditions - you might get the odd clever medium pacer/ spinner - that is it.
Post a Comment
<< Home