Can't bat, bowl and definitely can't field !!

4th ODI - There was a small tit bit when Powar and Yuvaraj were batting. The camera showed Ravi Boppara and Gavaskar comapred the 2 and said Powar can bat (and I could not avoid a laughter - Powar is a joke in the field and with the bat).
The familiar story emerged with Indian top order failing for the umpteenth time. Ganguly has not played an important innings for well over a decade (his claim to fame was innings against countries like Kenya in WC) and he was scratchy as ever. Tendulkar is a liability anywhere in the order and except, Yuvaraj, the rest came and went. The lower order is a joke (can't understand, why Dravid sticks to sending Agarkar and Powar ahead of Zaheer. ZK atleast tries to put bat to ball and succeeds with a few ugly swipes; the rest can't even do that). In the end 213 is not a big target but when I went to sleep with England down in the dumps after loosing 7, I never imagined that Boppara and Broad will win them a match; but, we are talking about India - which always manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory !! The fielding was attrocious and the rest of the energy level was pathetic.
If Dravid does not have the guts to drop Ganguly, then God only save India !!

3rd ODI - It was the same old story. Bell has discoverd his ODI potential, thanks to unimaginative Indian bowling and horrible India fielding. In the end, 282 proved too much, after Ganguly played a Chris Tavare like innings with 63 dot balls. The lower order did not distinguish itself and the looong Indian tail is a serious liability.

Dravid plays a dream innings at Bristol

The fact that India was able to score a 320+ score (even in a small ground like Bristol) was a testimony to the great innings played by Dravid; and this in inspite of the selfish Ganguly and lacklustre Sachin - combination planning to ruin things with a start - that read 30 out of 10 overs. Dravid played an innings of unbelievable proportions, stroking his way to a fluent, effortless 92 out of mere 63 balls. Some of his shots were astounding and it was one of those days, where if the Indian lower order had some sense, he could have got a 100 too. Agarkar and Ramesh Powar decided to be heros, rather than giving the strike to Dravid and RD was denied a 100. This failing of the lower order - starting with the miserable Agarkar onwards, puts in a lengthy tail that lasts to a full 5 mugs with the bat.
Anyway, when India bowled - their fielding was so absymal that they almost lost the match, Numerous run outs were missed (starting from the 1st over itself, when Yuvaraj could have got Prior with a direct hit) and the amount of catches floored became countless when jokers like Powar and careless Ganguy made a mess o simple catches. When Broad stroked 20 from 5 balls off the last over from the listless Munaf, an unlikely victory was within sight but thankfully, Munaf did not bowl a no ball. It was a horrible end and somehow India scrapped through.

India fried at Rose bowl !!

What a beating it was ? The bowlers got fried, the fielding was ragged and batting, which was supposed to toy with the English bowling failed miserably - all of it combined to give a nasty drubbing at the 1st of the 7 ODIs at Roes bowl, Southampton. I did not watch all the overs in the match but from what little I saw, it was sufficient to conclude that this series will go the world cup way for India.
Signs of trouble brewing were evident even in the match against England Lions, when Luke Wright went on a pace, which looked like that he will get a 200 before the 50 over mark. The 1st ODI, revealed that the white ball is not going to swing and Indian batsmen don't have the luxury of the lethargic boundaries they have been hitting in tests (with aggressive field placing).
Sachin again proved that he is only a paper tiger and as far as Ganguly's run out - it looked school boyish. Did anyone notice that this the 53rd time, he is getting run out involvement in a ODI ? What a joke that was since he got run out off throw from Monty !!..what followed was even more pathetic. Gambhir (what is the meaning of all the useless runs he made in side games) was loose outside the off and did not appear fluent and the rest (including Yuvi) came and went.
I think that things will be very very tough for India, unless there is some drastic change.

Series win after 21 years !! Dravid allows Oval test to drift to a draw !!

In this hour of glory, especially after a long 21 year gap, let us not loose our objective in evaluating a test match performance - Dravid came a poor 2nd in terms of strategy and allowed things to drift and that allowed England to escape with a draw at the 3rd test match at Oval.
English batting in the 1st inning got a lease of life when Kaarthik spilled a regulation catch at leg slip (in fact, he has a habit of messing simple ones, for some reason). Cook went on to score a 50+ but Kumble fooled Vaughn at the right time and things could have gone worse had the Howell chap, not rejected that plumb LBW to Colly. Zaheer was not the same force as in Trent Bridge but the 2nd new ball worked wonders and there was a real chance to enforce the follow on by the end of day 3; but, Monty hung in there with Tremlet, who wanted to prove that he is a better bat than Sidebottom, who was sent ahead of him. In fact, this pair hung in there for 8 more overs on day 4 as well and that really delayed things for India.
In my opinion, Dravid should have enforced the follow on but somehow, he decided to play on and then came the familiar 2nd innings wobble of India. I wish, Karthik had struck it out for another 1/2 hour - that would have made a huge difference but he too got out and when the paper tiger - Sachin got cleaned out, like a tail ender, 11-3 was starring at Dravid and Ganguly. Dravid, then played an inexplicable slow killer that virtually eliminated the possibility of a result. Ganguly played a brilliant counter attacking innings but with Dravid not rotating the strike, precious time was lost and the eventual target of 500 came at least some 15 overs later than it should have.
The English batting in the 2nd innings was anhored by the peerless Pieterson, who again showed that he is the best of the lot (both teams put together); Kumble was not at all penetrative and the match petered out to a tame draw, not withstanding some artificial excitement in the end.
Indians certainly have reason to celebrate since test victories abroad have been as rare as sighting Haley's comet but let us not forget that they drew the test at Lords due to intervention by weather and by a proverbial whisker. Otherwise, the score line would have been 1-1, which would have proved nothing. The positives for India were the opening pair, a re-born Ganguly and a hungry Zaheer. The test series also revealed the old flaws of Tendulkar but as usual, everyone will forget about them, especially after a rare series win.

Kumble's Swansong !!

If someone had told me that in a 3 test series aginst England, the only batsman to score a 100 will be Kumble, I would have simply laughed it away and said that 'you must be nuts'; but that is what happened on 2nd day and Jumbo weaved, swatted, swayed, hoiked his way to a memorable 100, that produced as much delight in the dressing room as if some one had hit a Brandmanisque 300 in one single day. I was saying y'ay that the tail must hang around and they did that precisely and the English morale kept dropping.
The morning session began with the sedate Tendu (what is new ?) and a classy VVS, who almost overtook Sachin with a cream of boundaries on the leg side. Dhoni then consolidated things with a clinical assault when he cleaned up the useless post prandial dollies from pie throwers. (I infact liked the way, Dhoni made Kishore Bhemani look silly in the post match interview. Kishore said - Ah ! Mahi- you have not been in the best of form to which MSD quitely replied with a wry smile - the only innings I did not score was in Trent Bridge).
As the evening wore on, Jumbo's 100 became a reality and Shreesanth (man !! if he can show some more of a temperament, he looks a better batsman than even Zaheer/RP) and he got it with a typical mess up (by who else but Prior) between keeper's legs, the Indian dressing room is a scened to be seen. Wide smiles from Karthik to Ramki and Venky Prasad, whistling to celebrate his B'lore buddy's 100.
I did not know why Dravid did not declare that very moment since that could have been used toturn the screw even further. Strauss messed up an easy bouncer but Cook looks to be in good touch and the pitch is still full of runs. Kumble must be waiting to turn his arm over in a typical India like pitch.

Karthik proves his value !! Ian Howell goes blind !!

As expected, the oval wicket was a batsman friendly one and Dravid was glad to win an important toss. Jaffer and Karthik eased to an early pattern, where runs were easy to pick and Jaffer in particular looked to be in good touch. His upper cut 6 was a stand out but there were other pleasing strokes as well during his brief innings. His reach out shot to 3rd man, must have disappointed him since this is a kind of wicket, where a 100 is there for the asking. Dravid played positively and Karthik upped the anty by playing an innings full of utility - hurrying for every single run and egging his partner to run as well. Karthik's glorious off driver 6 off Monty was all class and some of his straight drives and cover drives were a treat to watch. Karthik has come off age for sure and just when things looked good - a double strike happened. Dravid got a very good yorker but I doubt very much whether Karthik feathered a touch or not.
Then came the excruciatingly painful innings, which we are quite used to from Sachin. He refused to play the hook or pull and looked every bit out of touch. He was tested by Anderson repeatedly and when Prior dropped him, he promptly shut shop. In the mean while, Ganguly was all class- his off drives, hoik off Monty and the leg side pulls were show casing a degree of class which we are used to; and then came the blinder from Howell (or Howler as Shastri put it). SG got a huge inside edge but Howell went blind and raised his finger and that was that. I wonder why Dravid and the rest of the India team did not stand out and do repeat of a Pieterson incident at Lords. The mistake was so huge and so obvious.
Anyway, VVS walked out and looked to be in good touch and if he can come up with a big score, India can put some big numbers. The tail must use Prior's benevolent byes since a mere 20 or 30 partnership can become 50 or 60 with Prior's handy contribution. India is still capable of messing up such a good start (it should have been easily 360 but for Tendu) but again, the pitch should help them to chart where they want to be.

Ahead of the Oval test - What must India do ?

The traditional English last test match is invariably at Oval, which is the 'other' ground in London - A dimaetric opposite to the stately Lords. The last and 3rd test match is starting today and if India does not want to repeat history of loosing one, after winning one, here is what they have to do :

• Stay positive and cut out the draw mentality. There is not going to be that much swing at Oval, compared to the last 2 matches but does not mean that reverse swing is not possible. Looking at the patchy outfield in photos, I guess, reverse swing will have to come into effect around 45th over. Neither Zaheer nor RP is good enough with that skill and they may struggle but they have to make it up by using the bounce.
• If India bats first - a huge first innings score and batting over 2 days is a must - They have to watch out for Tremlet since he will get steep bounce. If India bats 2nd, they better watch out for their famous choke act in the 4th innings. Invariably, they have given it away in meaningless 4th innings trembles and they must avoid that at all costs.
• Finally, Anil Kumble has to step in - he is at best mopping up tail in the last 2 and it is high time he strikes form.
  

Zaheer delivers the punch !!

Zaheer and RP did the star turn in this match and it all started with an incredible display in the 1st innings. When England was short out for 198 especially after RP's dream ball to Pieterson, things were looking for India. The openers consolidated things thro a 100+ stand but things were going south when Dravid fell but SRT for once played decently. SG and VVS did their part a big lead was there for Zaheer to bowl and bowl did he do with venom. i read all about the jelly bean incident and motivation and all that - to me, it was the English swing which did the trick. I saw Vaughn's innings and man !! from almost a non-playing captain, he has come back to sublime form in no time. When Zaheer bowled an exceptional spell on 4th day to remove Collingwood and Jumbo polished off the tail, India were left with a mere 83 to win. Tremlet showed them on how he can be a threat when there is bounce and India will have a tough time in a true pitch at Oval. But, for now let us celebrate a rare victory (only the 5th in English soil) and hope that they won't repeat their annoying habit of loosing one after winning one.

Rain saves India !!

First things first. I have not been able to update the blog due to hectic traveling but now, I am back and normal service will be restored. I doubt very much, whether this blog has such an amount of readership, who will plead me to write but all the same, I know the value of blogs - people will return, if the updates are regular.

Lords Test : India was obviously saved by rain but I was tempted to add that Steve Buckenor too played a part. The LBW appeal he turned down against Sreesanth will go into history books but still not going to negate the countless ones he had handed over against India for well over a decade. That particular ball from Monty was missing the off and leg but certainly not the middle. India survived to live and fight on another day. The take aways from this game is the form of Karthik, Ganguly and to some extent Dhoni. Dhoni especially played with common sense and ensured a draw when for the umpteenth time SRT disappointed. Indian bowling was okay but their mess up on the 1st day morning almost made them loose the test. I saw a few glimpses of Kevin Pieterson's innings and my word !! what a gem it was. He could change gears effortlessly and almost won a game for England with a price less innings studded with amazing shots. The way he dismanted Kumble is a worrying sign for India. Anyway, India survived and that is what matters in the end, especially after missing out so many such close encounters in yester years.