at the end of day four... india were reeling at 82 for six with a paltry lead of just 110 with all recognised batsmen gone but for VVS laxman... with irratic bhajji on crease with him...
now bhajji is no ishant... he is known more for the flamboyance than the assurity ishant exudes when he is at crease... not many gave team india a chance at the end of day four of even drawing this test let alone winning from that position considering the factors were stacked against team india...
india not only needed to score some runs to first achieve what they would have felt a safe total but in doing so needed to consume at least 40-45 overs out of 90 possible overs on final day... with only bowlers at other end of VVS... and make no mistake... no ishant to follow...
india managed to do exactly the same with bhajji century being icing on the cake... and of course we all know how VVS revel under these, now his patent, circumstances... shows a character of this team that invariably finds a player who puts his hand up and say 'i will do it'...
so basically india had about 45 overs to bowl out new zealand had they declared and considering the last hour is cut off to call a draw about 30 overs to be precise to make things happen on a track when no wicket fell in first session... knowing the fact that it was easy to shut the shop on this track which had no apparent demons in it... even on third session of the fifth day...
but we would take none of it... rather than applauding the fact that just in past three test matches india has come from the brink of an almost certain defeat twice... ended up winning one of them... we must criticise... question our team's intention... motive... character and take moralistic stands on things which are highly subjective...
if team india is special... we the fan are even more so...
so now, being the true fan of team india, i too think that india should have gone for a win too, however improbable it might have been, and next time even if there are two overs left in the fifth day i would demand team india to declare and go for a win...
technically it takes just ten balls to achieve it...
india should have gone for a win...
shared by straight point on Monday, November 08, 2010
tale of two draws seen from jaundiced eye...
shared by straight point on Friday, December 11, 2009
a team chasing a target of 330 runs at home against a lowly ranked team... saves a test match by batting 75 odd overs... on a pitch that remained true till last ball...
cut to scene two...
a team coming behind from a precarious situation of 32/4 in first innings... facing a lead of 330 odd in second... bats 130 odd overs against a team that is ranked no. 2 to save a test match at home... on a pitch that remained true till last ball...
end result...?
the former was an 'engrossing' draw... a savior of test cricket... while the later was pronounced as a 'boring' draw that would kill test cricket...
the difference...?
one draw was played in australia... while the later... in india...
you owe an explanation sehwag...
shared by straight point on Thursday, November 19, 2009
he was dropped by wicket keeper chasing a wide ball... don't tell me he heard the no ball call that's why he played that daft shot...
then after a while... another catch goes down between slip and keeper for aimlessly prodding at a ball...
another such shot flies past slip for four...
then he wanted to ran himself out by going for a non existent single... he would not have been even in frame had the throw hit the stumps... in fact he gave up hope midway running that single...
ultimately he could not resist the temptation any more and throws his wicket to an ordinary ball...
all this happened when india is trying to save a match...
then he comes on mike after today's play is over and talks about patience...
can someone explain me all this...?
thoughts on second days play...
shared by straight point on Tuesday, November 17, 2009
sri lanka started the first session of this test match with clear advantage and must say that they have ended the last session of 2nd days play by regaining most of that...
they not only bowled india rather cheaply today but scored at decent pace to be at 275/3 at the close of play... and if they can see off first hour tomorrow without any flutters they will hold the aces in this match...
sri lanka should look to bat big and bat once in this match and see if the pressure of strong lead can force the result in this match which seems to be the only way we might see a result in this strip specially when team india’s opening seems bit wobbly...
from india’s point of view they must capitalise the early morning hour much the same way sri lanka has managed to do on two consecutive days or they will be the team who will be chasing the leather in this match... though sri lanka will start tomorrow play with bit of an advantage in a way that new ball is still 10 overs due... so by the time india will take new ball they would have eased themselves in...
spin bowlers from both sides have failed to make an impact... though some balls are bouncing sharply and some are spinning out of rough but the pace of wicket is such that batsmen are finding time to adjust...
if i were dhoni i will give spinners relatively hard ball to see if they can induce some errors from the batsmen... mishra should take heart from the fact that on many occasions he came close to taking a wicket and if he can adjust his bowling to the pace of the wicket... he can still bounce back in this match...
i expect ishant and zaheer to bowl bit fuller on this wicket specially early in the morning to see if they can swing or seam the ball... while using short pitch deliveries as surprising weapon on this pitch... contrary to what zaheer did at the start of innings today when i felt that he laid his cards open too early to dilshan with his line of attack...
it will be interesting to see if india can again manage to fight back in the game this time with ball in its hand...
PS: on side note... is it me or you also noticed the difference...? imagine what would have been the hoopla in media and alike had sachin achieved 11000 runs milestone with the type of scintillating innings dravid played yesterday... goes to show however well they do... some are never equals...
dravid drives... india rides...
shared by straight point on Monday, November 16, 2009
very pleasing day for india as well as rahul dravid...
from 32 for 4 to finishing 385 for 6 wickets by scoring most runs in a day... while dravid scoring 177 of those runs in a single day... a never before feat achieved by him... from that precarious situation... just goes to show what difference slight change in approach can make...
india lost first four wickets next to nothing on board... and to be honest one was bit skeptic about how dravid will approach the situation based on some of his recent innings at that point of time coz of late he appeared to be bit bogged down... seemed like a player who was holding himself back... but not today...
he came in refreshingly positive frame of mind... didn't let go loose ball just coz the situation demanded it... rotated the strike and therefore even though india lost quite a few wickets for their liking... the scoring was never a problem so much so that at one stage sangakkara appeared in doldrums whether to keep on attacking field or set a defensive one... hence his use of murli in then middle... when he could have attacked bit more with him... specially early in the innings when yuvraj came to the crease... but such was the onslaught from dravid that he kept sanga occupied... which also gave some breathing space to yuvraj and later to dhoni... who went on to score his second century and first in india...
although its easier said than done... but how i wish dravid keep this tempo not only for this match but in future games as well... that is too punish the bad balls irrespective of the situation and more importantly look to score which he showed today that he is perfectly capable of...
congratulations dravid!!
