very very selfish laxman...?

shared by straight point on Thursday, July 22, 2010

the batting or to be precise farming of strike from vvs laxman has been very strange in this test... though he has done it earlier but this galle test takes the cake... as if he is hell bent on giving every opportunity to murali to achieve that magic figure of 800 wickets...

when the more accomplished batsman is at crease batting with tailenders one would assume that the former will take the lead and farm the strike as much as possible... muck like hussey who is master at the art of batting with tailenders...

now there are two schools of thoughts one says that take every run which is available and trust tailender to do the job... another, like me, thinks that irrespective of what the personal belief you as a batsman may have... keep the team interest in mind and optimize every opportunity specially when one is saving the tests where occupation at crease become much more important... sometimes it does not take anything away from you if you play for your mate...

one instance from this match comes to my mind... when yuvi came to the crease it was clear that only few overs of the day were left... we all know that yuvi, specially in early part of his innings, does not play spinners that good... it was clear from the gestures of umpires that the next over, due to be bowled by murali, is most probably going to be the last over of the days play... but yet laxman showed no inclination to take the lead and play out murali instead...

now one can come up and say that if no.6 batsman can't play out last over of the day then he should sit out which is perfectly reasonable... but as a part of the team... one must sense these little things... as these small little things adds up to the final tally... who knows if laxman played out that over from murali things could have been bit different for team india today... knowing that two front line batsmen will be at crease followed by dhoni...

we all know about the dosti of sehwag and gambhir... and in one interview gambhir categorically said that when he would feel the pressure or would not time the ball as good as he would like... or struggle against particular bowler... viru will take the cue and play out that bowler or made him stand in non-striker end to let that phase pass out... no wonder they share such level of camaraderie and respect for each other...

now one cannot expect the same level of camaraderie from ever member of the team but the point is same as i said earlier... it does not take away anything from your game or reputation or your so called personal belief if you play for your mate...

as i was writing this mithun got out and laxman took the single off first ball of murali to expose ishant sharma for full over after doing the same with mithun for a while... one wonders...

18 comments:

Anil Singh said...

If a player who has stopped playing or is unfit for every format of the game; except for the tests; is called every time the team has to play for five days; One can understand the condtion of the team in that particular format.

Another thing, that needs to be seen is, what are we better at: batting or bowling?

straight point said...

sorry anil... i could not comprehend your comment to the post...

in fact i could not even make it out what you wanna say...?

Anil Singh said...

@straighpoint_________SP, I wanted to say, one can expect welfare from a player who is a constant fixture of the team; who spends maximum time in an year with the team. Laxman is called, only for tests, that makes him a misfit.

Another point that I wanted to make, is that, amidst our self claims to be a great batting side, whose bowling department always remains wanting; isn't time has come for us for a reality check ?

straight point said...

Another point that I wanted to make, is that, amidst our self claims to be a great batting side, whose bowling department always remains wanting; isn't time has come for us for a reality check ?

are you sure you are talking about team india who is no.1 at test cricket... which no team can be without consistently taking 20 wickets of your opponent in test cricket?

besides what does batting or bowling has anything to do with this post on laxman...?

Mahek said...

Laxman a misfit? Must say I've seen it all now.

Mahek said...

I didn't know consistently taking 20 wickets was a pre-requisite for being number one. Even if it is, let's see how often we've done it since the 2007 World Cup.

1 out of 2 in Bangladesh
2 out of 3 in England
1 out of 3 vs Pakistan
1 out of 4 in Australia
1 out of 3 vs South Africa
1 out of 3 in Sri Lanka
2 out of 4 vs Australia
1 out of 2 vs England
1 out of 3 in New Zealand
2 out of 3 vs Sri Lanka
2 out of 2 in Bangladesh
1 out of 2 vs South Africa
0 out of 1 in Sri Lanka

That's 15 out of 37 tests, take out Bangladesh and it's 12 out of 33 tests. Yeah, we've been consistently taking 20 wickets a test alright.

Mahek said...

Check that, 16 out of 35 tests. 13 out of 31 if you take out Bangladesh. I need to not do this manually.

straight point said...

thanks for the wonderful stats which clearly states that drawing tests can also make you no.1 in tests... wonder why we did not become earlier...

anyways... as i said in my earlier comment... this post is about laxman and i would like the discussions/debates/arguments in this premise only... irrespective of we agree or not... that is... :)

Mahek said...

Laxman isn't the only Indian batsman who does this. It drives me nuts too but apparently the team believes in taking the runs that come its way and showing faith in tailenders. It's a bit harsh to say he's being selfish by taking a single off the first ball. Afterall, it's in his best interests to have the tailenders out there as long as possible. It's not like they're playing gully cricket where the last man gets to bat on his own.

straight point said...

this is called 'not out' cricket mahek... i can understand of this policy is adopted in first innings when you have to put total... or when you have to make runs to overcome the total to win the match... but when you are trying to save a match it is not rocket science who has the best capability and skill to stay at crease... an accomplished batsman or a tailender...

its good that mithun, ishant and ojha stayed at wicket which has somewhat camouflaged laxman's allergy to take strike... had they capitulated the criticism would have been more severe...

but irrespective of whether tailenders capitulated or not laxman's thinking was stinking...

Mahek said...

Whatever it is, it's what all the recognised batsmen in the side have decided to go with. I'm not in favour of it but if this is how they want to do it then so be it. I wouldn't call it not out cricket or something similar, it's not like Laxman is playing for a place in the side.

straight point said...

i don't think that was necessarily the team thinking... its how individual behaves at the given situation... we have seen sehwag refusing to take that single when on 199 not even thinking about the double he later got...

i think someone had a word during the lunch time... coz after lunch he got run out taking strike back from a tailender... and he did not even stretch to save his life... what an irony...

some players will never come out of their comfort zones for anything... :)

Mahek said...

The guy is already out of his comfort zone batting at 5 instead of 3. I saw him take a single early on in the over even after lunch. He got out trying to take a single because his knees are completely shot and he can't put in the dive to make his ground. Clearly he was doing something out of his comfort zone by pushing himself as hard as he could. It's not his fault he can't push any harder. Atleast he makes up for it with his all-weather batting and water-tight slip catching.

straight point said...

when you are trying to save the match the last and most inexplicable thing is the run-out... that too when runs were not at a premium... occupation to crease was...

it was not by design that our tailenders guts it out... he lead all late order partnerships from the non-striker end by seeing tailenders gutsing out 4-5 delivers of their strike bowlers when actually he who should have faced them...

if this is not called staying in your comfort zone then we must throw out this phrase immediately...

Mahek said...

How is it his comfort zone if he's going to remain stranded and the team gets bowled out? I hope you're not suggesting that he's afraid of taking strike because if you are, there is no point continuing this discussion.

straight point said...

mahek... i am not saying that its you who have...

but tell me... was it just a coincidence that he took singles off first or second ball of over and let tailenders face the remaining part of over...?

Cricket Schedule said...

@pankaj
I don't think he did it intentionally but surely he was not caring anything and that should be point of the post.

straight point said...

I don't think he did it intentionally but surely he was not caring anything and that should be point of the post.

then let me ask you same question i asked in earlier comment...

was it just a coincidence that he took singles off first or second ball of almost every over and let tailenders face the remaining part of overs consistently...?

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