warning signs for team india...

shared by straight point on Friday, March 13, 2009


if we have recovered from the massive impact of JATMAN's innings... then i would like to draw your attention to some sloppiness which is creeping in team india slowly but steadily...

if bowlers are bowling like millionaires then fielders too are fielding like billionaires if not less... the catches are being dropped...the balls are allowed to pass thru what we call 'India Gate' and even then you can find them smiling about the whole affair...as if it doesn't matter...

there is distinct lack of interest and intensity in the field...

they say malice starts from the top and here too its not different either...

dhoni has started to miss catches, stumping he would take even in sleep walk...and better wicket keeper than him would at least save 10 or more runs behind wicket...which can be very crucial if you are playing teams who are more competitive than nz are at the moment...

india is consistently struggling to find third seamer...

dhoni's clear lack of confidence in yusuf pathan is baffling to say the least...yusuf often don't get the chance to bat thanks to the enviable batting line up we have which is firing like never before...but he is not given enough chances to bowl either...

in christchurch he bowled 4 balls took 1 wicket...and in hamilton his bowling analysis read 5 overs for 14 runs and 1 wicket...he was instrumental in putting breaks on nz openers who were going great guns but surprisingly was not even allowed to complete his quota of overs...

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what more a bowler can do under the circumstances...? what he is there for in indian team then...? what is his role...? is he playing as specialist batsman or as an allronder...?

if you are playing him as specialist batsman than i think playing an extra bowler will help india more...and if he is playing as an allrounder then why he is not even allowed to complete his quota of overs when bowling well...?

india is winning comprehensively despite all this sloppiness coz of sheer batting power...so all these issues are getting brushed under carpet...but we must look to keep the intensity going...keep using our resources to optimise the outcome...

to me...good teams analyse thier deafeats...but great teams analyse victories...

the signs are there...it would be better if team india look to eliminate them when winning... otherwise it will look very ugly when not...

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ah! perfect... frankly apart from the batting pyrotechnics, the rest of their performance is high octane horse crap.

straight point said...

thanks scorpy...

it is and yet they are doing it match after match...without looking serious enough to counter the lethargy...

beings be to question what prasad, robin are doing exactly...?

Gaurav Sethi said...

Think MSD accepts he's not a natural keeper, as must we - he looks to makeup with his leadership, batting, that's the deal with MSD, a mixed bag.

Don't need to get into Patel's and DK's keeping, do we

Yusuf is an enigma, is nowhere near the finished product, a very good bet for T20, and a 50-50 choice for ODIs.

Think of him as a batting allrounder - as does MSD, and as was/is the case with Viru, Sachin, see captains not straining them with the extra responsibilty of bowling if they can help it.

gotta change that mindest with Yusuf. need to make him think abt his game, becoz his batting approach can be quite startling.

straight point said...

but even by 'MSD' standards those drops and mis-stumpings were embarrassing to say the least coz we have seen him doing better job...

yusuf can be enigma but till then we are not gonna try him responsibility how we will know...? he was clearly bowling better than yuvraj and even bhajji at that moment when he was taken off and fixed mindset can be seen in handling him...

the position of third seamer is not yet settled that is why we are seeing same combo of ishant and zaheer match after match inspite of workload...

seeing the lethargy fielders too have started to 'chipping in' with their contribution...

the moment we lose couple of games this will be exposed in even more uglier manner...

Anonymous said...

SP,

Agree completely.. Viru is not going to fire every day.. and the famed batting lineup will have an odd failure.. It's always better to analyse the shortcomings when you are winning rather than when you are losing

Ankit Poddar said...

precisely, and this is one thing that stops india from being world beaters, the team gets so pleased with the batters bat, that the rest is just procedure for them, after it!

Anonymous said...

True, SP. The bowling has been pathetic, so has Dhoni's wicketkeeping. Dhoni's preferential treatment of Irfan and differntial treatment of Yusuf is baffling, if not stupid. I still don't think much of his captaincy. He is riding on the other people's skills/luck. Yuvraj and Dhoni still cannot score on tricky pitches, but that's another story altogather.

Well, said, SP, in what can only be SP-style.

straight point said...

thanks namya :)

they must not relax and become complacent...

straight point said...

yes ankit...if they want to become world beaters they must keep on improving...

straight point said...

i am flattered VM! thank you very much... :)

yes...its very baffling...

it all looks very well when you are winning and nobody wants to look at gray areas...but the moment you start losing the same things which you kept ignoring while winning comes back to bite you...

so its better to keep vigilant eye even when you are winning...

Soulberry said...

The other warning signs are lack of effort in a dead encounter (which could crep into regular tournament play) and..

straight point said...

yes SB!...the point of regular tournament you have made is very valid one...coz the moment you relax all of your campaign can get derailed...

i was also surprised to see than we could not swing or seam like nz bowlers...what could be the reason...?

the dropping catches are becoming nemesis and spreading like disease...i wonder what robin has to say about this...

Kinka said...

Good changes in the home page. Looking good.
Sketch of Straight Point is also attractive...

straight point said...

thanks kinka...would have been even more nice if you commented on post too... :)

Kinka said...

Good points raised for dhohi when he is on top...

MSD is a great captain...and lucky man too.
Our players are in very good form. hence his bad decision converts into good results...
sometimes he don't care the opportunities..like in the case of yusuf as you mentioned. and
I must thank to munaf for bowling two full toss bowls in his last over in last one day... was no there any need to ask munaf to bowl?
Also i am not agree with his experiments as he do with playing position of the players..
every time you cannot be the winner in gambling

straight point said...

largely he has been spot on with his 'gambles'...but he now that we are seeing more of him in dfferent situations...he is comng out as the captain who at times seems flexible but is stubborn to the level of rigid as far as his favorite player goes...

so while yuvraj gets almost full quota of overs but yusuf will get his mandatory 4-5 overs as if written in stone even if he is bowling well...to give you an example...

and less said about munaf is better...may be some other day... :)

YellowMonkey said...

http://blogs.livemint.com/blogs/silly_point/archive/2009/03/17/exuberance-papers-over-the-cracks.aspx

Indeed, no meaningful devlopment at all!

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