do we deserve this...only...?

shared by straight point on Monday, October 13, 2008

such is the state of affair...or faith in our famous middle order that many of us are silently praying that we save this match...

where drawing this match will be seen as victory...

as i am wring this last 10 overs have produced staggering run rate of 1.7...

against combined might of clarke and white...

when two of best batsmen of this era are at crease...

one would have thought that after inspirational and challenging declaration from punter we will see equally aggressive cricket...

but no...

we have already settled for a draw...like this was the only option left to us...

as if winning matches is left to only sehwag...

once he is out...we shut the door on win...as an accepted reality...

that after one half of world is yelling from roof top that our famous four are still the best in business...there are not alternative of this bunch of talent...etc etc...

what benefit of the talent...which has collective experience of over 50 years...more than 100 international centuries...which shuts the door on win completely once an opener gets out cheaply...

some faith on ability and skill...

against a team who has watson playing as specialist test bowler...white as specialist spinner...and clarke as 'world class spinner'...

some cricket...from a team who is looking to be no. 2 in world (if not no.1)

where one team has risked loosing a match to see if they can force a win...
and another has risked winning in saving a match...

so lets join our hand in praising...applauding our team which is fighting for a draw...

there is no alternative...

39 comments:

Anonymous said...

We will have to wait till the rest gets arthritis... Then there will be some relief for us.

Anonymous said...

I dont agree SP.. not in this match situation.

It is not about Sehwag getting out and India giving up the ghost, it is about reading the match situation and closing Ricky POnting's opportunities.

Remember that the run rate required from us was much higher than the run rates in any of the 3 innings played.

And remember too that we lost two wickets in quick succession and the momentum was with the Aussies.

Gautam Gambhir fell when the score read 77. Lose one more wicket in the second session and the Aussies were right in it.

Granted we scored at a rate of 1.7 against the spinners, but it is a lot better than losing 2-3 wickets to them.

And the plan could also have been to consolidate before going at the Aussies in the last session ( if light dd not intervene).

We have to draw this test, nothing more nothing less.

Cheers,

Viswanathan said...

"that after one half of world is yelling from roof top that our famous four are still the best in business...there are not alternative of this bunch of talent...etc etc.."

I humbly differ.

John said...

I agree with Homer. Granted they had a wonderful opportunity to put Oz under the mat in the first innings, but it was wonderful batting in the second stint. Laxman, Tendulkar were superb.

straight point said...

yes scorpy...we will have to wait...and scale down our expectations too...

straight point said...

homer

do you expect oz to give us run chase on platter? one has to earn it first by intention and than by positive execution...

and its not the job of one batsman but whole team...

Granted we scored at a rate of 1.7 against the spinners, but it is a lot better than losing 2-3 wickets to them.

yo mean that we can even back orselves to score good against clarke and white?

your comments are aptly reflecting the defensive mindset of our team...

straight point said...

ott what part?

straight point said...

john

i think we have already scaled down our expectations from this team...

oz will never give you an inch you can only win from them by playing positive cricket irrespective of if its first or second innings...

and i have reasons to beleive that there was simply not a bit of intent to even look for win...

intent is the key word here...

Homer said...

SP,

Just for the record, Ricky Ponting took 243 balls to score 123 runs.

Australia, with 8 batsmen in the line up, scored 430 runs in 150 overs(149.5 to be precise).

And they did this on the first two days of the Test, when batting conditions were at their best.

Also, the "
you mean that we can even back orselves to score good against clarke and white?" is facetious - we scored 89 of the 177 runs in our second essay off them ( thats a tick more than half our score).

Cheers,

Homer said...

SP,

"
oz will never give you an inch you can only win from them by playing positive cricket irrespective of if its first or second innings...
" - so how do you explain the fight in the first innings when India climbed back from 232/7 to 360 all out..

And how do you explain that in the first innings, we scored our runs at 3 rpo while Oz was at 2.8?

I agree with us trying to win all matches, but there are certain battles where a stalemate is just as good as a win.

Cheers,

straight point said...

are we measuring our response the way opposition plays...

so if tommore ponting scores 100 in 1000 balls we will say we have no business of even thinking for a win...?

and we all know where the fight back came from homer... :)

Homer said...

SP,

If Ponting scores a 100 in 100 balls and India potter around at a run rate of 2 rpo, I will be the first to call them into question..

But, and I cannot emphasize this enough, in this match the batsmen cannot be blamed.

IMHO, if blame has to be placed, place it on team selection and captaincy.

Going into the test with 4 bowlers and with Kumble nursing a shoulder injury against a team packed with 8 batsmen was stupid, to say the least.

And allowing the game to meander along ( in both innings) instead of creating opportunities was the reason we could not be better placed going into the final day.

Cheers,

Anonymous said...

Only Sehwag causes any concern to opposition in this kind of situation. I wonder if a plan was discussed at all for a possibility of a win or was it save the match from start of the day?

straight point said...

lets put this way homer...

assuming that you are more or less equal with the opposition...when you will fancy your chances best of win...most

when opposition playing defensive cricket with 8 batsmen and virtually two and a half bowlers

or when opposition playing as best and aggressive as they can

straight point said...

I wonder if a plan was discussed at all for a possibility of a win or was it save the match from start of the day?

this is it RS...

this is my grudge...

Homer said...

SP,

I will fancy my chances every single time but I will also be looking at cutting my losses instead of jumping headlong into disaster.

Tilting at windmills does not do us any good.

Cheers,

straight point said...

its not that i am against draws homer...

but the last comment of RS and mine sums up the crux of this post...

there are enough reasons to believe that way for me...

cheers!!

i declare our match as draw which is not bat at all... ;-)

Homer said...

SP,

I had posted at the end of the first day's play that Oz was playing for a draw and I have commented on more than one blogs that 8 Oz batsmen and 4 Indian bowlers is the recipe for a stalemate.

I think we go into Mohali with good batting practice under our belt, a good look at the new look Aussie set up and an Aussie side that probably is hurting over the draw.

And I like that :)

Cheers,

Homer said...

And I am sure every Indian will loving listening to these words

"They were very defensive. I mean I have never seen an Australian team play such defensive cricket, which is a good thing for us"

Cheers :)

Anonymous said...

out with the old and in with the new... I think it has to be appreciated about Aussies that no matter how old or big records you have...you need to perform to stay in the team...a bad patch is acceptable...but its very clear the best performing players play...

a complete mindset change is required where the team matters more than individual players...

same issues in PK too by the way...only worse...and the sad part is there is no scarcity of talent in either countries....

Trideep said...

As long as Sehwag was there.. India looked like winning. But then its how Sehwag played. Even SRT was playin quite well initially. It was only after Gambhir got out that he also played slow. Which was understandable in the beginning. But SRT & Lax shud have tried a bit more.. I agree that light intervened. if that was not the case.. may be we cud have seen something different from these two.

Anonymous said...

when one team has played for 4 days with the sole intent of creating 'losing' as not an option, here we go, blasting the other team to get the shutters down for not going for a win on a day 5 pitch at 3.8 rpo..with 3 wickets down for 77 chasing 300.. when the history of test cricket tells us a very different story about teams chasing a 300 in the 4th innings..

Anonymous said...

India failed to win the match not because because of its bowling, they created too much hype about the spinners who delivered nothing, now Kumble is trying to become a hero or in other words trying to save his arse by saying he was playing with an injury, its all bull crap, I agree with Homer going in with four bowlers was a mistake and I stated that when the team was announced.

But the good thing is both teams came out even in this match nobody got the upper hand.Both teams are fully exposed to each other now.

This Australian team is not a pushover but is also not invincible.

Same way Indian bowling is still toothless and their middle order is not what it used to be.
So if you expect India to win in every situation you are expecting too much, in certain situations its better to be safe than sorry.IMO this draw was a good result.

The series is wide open lets see which team learns from its mistakes and adjusts quickly.

straight point said...

yes homer that was some sweet music to our ears... :)

straight point said...

that was some optimism TRI :)

straight point said...

a warm welcome rahul...thanks for dropping by...

i think you got the post totally wrong mate! i questioned the intent of experience against the might of 2 and a half bowler attack...

straight point said...

very well said wasim bhai...

with current state of our middle order draw was safer bet...

you have also rightly pointed about kumble...the talk of injury is just a hogwash to divert attention from his 'spectacular' bowling effort...

Balajhi said...

SP, India is not known aggressive chases. Except for the Chennai tied test when we chased 340 odd, India generally shut the doors too early in the day. That in fact is one of the reasons why we collapsed quite a many times in 4th innings'.

More than the intent, it is the inability to mount a chase that is hurting. This team has lost it. The batsmen can no longer concentrate for longer and they have gone backwards. Nowadays even a 50 from them is cheered and highlighted. The tank is getting emptier, faster.

straight point said...

you are absolutely right NB, we have collectively lost it...

if you saw the match live how srt was etching to go back to dressing room rather than concentrating on job at hand...his expressions before the delivery which got him out was like if bowler launched a missile on him...

no wonder we see 40-50ees from them as you have pointed out...

Anil Singh said...

Yesterday i was thinking on similar lines. When the key test palying nations have adopted the winning mind-set, teams from Indian sub-continent are still playing for a draw.

But I think there's more than what meets the eye. Some teams resort to negative tactics more than others and in that case it becomes difficult to play with them.

If Test matches are to be made truly competitive-- similar rules should be adopted regarding wide-balls, no-balls.

But I think the existing rules are formulated taking into consideration the fatigue and exhaustion involved.

Regarding fab four, I think they can still play, at least the tests.

Anonymous said...

I agree with you in parts SP, but not entirely. I'm actually with Homer in that the Aussies got the best of the pitch for batting, esp later half of day 1 and early day 2. Had Ponting been given out to Ishant in that initial period, they would not have got to 430. After Day 3, it was almost impossible to get those runs in the time allotted. I did think SRT and Lax played rather well and SG played the tactics the Aussie way. On a different note, he needs to pass that tactics baton to someone - but no one seems to have the guts for it.

As for us, I remember reading one of us say that as a nation, we don't dominate. Yes, part of the problem has been that when we're chasing a big one, we are instantly looking to draw and collapse. This has happened even in the Fab 4's prime (though maybe not against Aus barring that 99-00 disaster tour).

I must add that this time I enjoyed your cynicism - "against a team who has watson playing as specialist test bowler...white as specialist spinner...and clarke as 'world class spinner'." :)

straight point said...

AB, they can play no doubt but can we consistently win with this kinda 'play' is the question...

the persons who used to dominate, and run marathons...are being dominated by the likes of watsons, whites, clarkes and are huffing and puffing while reaching 50 meters...

straight point said...

thanks VM!!

the question here is not whether draw was fair result or not...did we any point of time looked for win even if remotely...

will we be telling about all the excuses for draw had sehwag stayed for longer period?

and finally though they are not push overs...but if we cant fancy our chances against this oz team than when we will?

Anonymous said...

If ponting has played a gamble by declaring the inning, we have equally played the gamble by playing for draw, we not even think or played a single over where one can imagine that we wish to put some interest in the day.
Why not we are expert in loosing the match in a day.

yes, we were looking at sehwag for win. If this type of lollypop (declaration opportunity) were to begiven to ponting, they must have win.

Onely one aggresive session would have been enough for us to win...anyway we respects the guests..

straight point said...

if only they were thinking like you, SA :)

we would have won or not is another matter...but my grudge is that we never thought of that way...

i have seen pitch conditions, opposition bowling strength etc getting redundant against positive approach...

but i don't think they have left with enough gas in their tanks to go for the kill on fifth day of a match...

Gaurav Sethi said...

SP, give it a few hours, we'll know. Expect strong hints today evening on Jumbo. Surprised there's nuthin on his fitness yet - but he hasn't got a net in two days, does that mean anything? Go figure

straight point said...

lets see gaurav...

i respect kumble and only few posts back i highlighted the need to respect their dignity...

but not at the cost of team chances...no player whosoever, is bigger than game...team...

i guess the end is lot nearer than he/we thought...

Anonymous said...

Kumble is out the question is did he sat out on his own terms or he was made to sit out by the BCCI.

I like this combination and the first session belongs to India, they are already playing much more aggressively, the wicket looks slow and good for batsmen, its going to be a big match for Mishra.

straight point said...

wasim

the 'transparency' bcci shows is anybody's guess...so while we knew in advance that clark is unfit and wont play...kumble's decision was kept close to chest to the last min as if bomb would have exploded had the declared in advance...

anyway, this is best chance (not sure about wicket) for mishra to leave and 'amit' stamp on this match :)

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