So mission oz is done and dusted with...
if there was any more motivation needed by our team to win finals straight this tour provided every bit of it...
while previewing CB series i said that this series is going to be first step towards long journey... that it will be very important series for team india coz our selector showed lots of courage by selecting youngsters for this tough series...
i also wished that if not for anybody this team should succeed for sake of selectors...they gambled big time against tide...and needed assurance in the form or favorable results...but we not only succeeded but went far ahead of everybody's imagination and won in straight sets!!
i am not good at in depth analysis so here are some facts which caught my imagination...
- dhoni has made this team the reflection of his self...care free yet not lost...focused without taking undue pressure...cool but composed...
he not only takes risks but owns them...thats why he made hero out of first joginder (though with some luck) and secondly with praveen kumar...how many would have thrown the new ball to him to bowl at guys like hayden, gilchrist, ponting...in pressure cooker finals...
for me he is the man of the series coz not only he scored at crucial time for india...he handled and guided his team to win which his more pedigreed predecessors failed to do so...
- teams spirit is at all time high and one instance at second final displayed it so aptly when harbhajan took the wicket of symonds...everybody flocked harbhajan and covered his face for his expressions then could have created another crap headlines in oz media...
- Our bowling has taken huge leap...with ishant undoubtedly being the find of the tour...i bet opposition team will think twice before giving us green tops...
if only we can look after bowlers well...we will win more matches overseas as well as home and onus is also on BCCI to not let this momentum go waist and prepare sporting pitches for SA tour without even iota of doubt...no more dead tracks for me...
- some one (most preferably kirsten with team management) please sit with sehwag and most importantly yuvraj and tell them in no uncertain terms what is expected from them coz sachin is not going to be around forever and they must put their hands up and behave responsibly as senior guys to take our team to next level...
thats why this time i had not sympathy for sehwag when he was left out coz he invited his exclusion by blowing away his good form...
they have let team down on so many occasions...refusing to heed to put team cause first for the flair of their 'natural play'...if the batsman of stature of sachin can do it...no reason why they cant do it...
- by blunting binga in consecutive finals india has exposed a significant weakness for other team to cash on that if you don't loose wickets specially to lee their bowling lacks penetration and almost looks pedestrian...
if i were CA i will be deeply disturbed by this...coz they keep on harping about lack of quality spinners but do they have good pace bowling too??? its an urgent question before them the answer of which they need very quickly...
take well deserved rest, but be focussed guys...coz we tend to loose all momentum during breaks...
.
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while i leave more illustrious blogger friends to review this match and series in particular...i would like to remember this series as the pre-view of things to come...
for the first time team winning with 2-1 is facing more questions than answers...
that their 'best' spinner was almost not required to bowl in fourth innings consistently...
that their 'best' tear away fast bowler was not asked to bowl in perth...
that when hayden did not played in one match they collapsed and could not recover...and lost a match at the venue where they thought win was as assured as FD with the govt. bank...
that almost a second strung bowling attack made them dance in crease their opposition team was supposed to...
that they can also wilt in pressure and look as listless as they looked in field in later part of series...
that they dropped as many dollies in this series as they have not in all these years...
that they now can not take 20 wickets even on their friendly 'perthy' conditions...
more than that they should be scared of had Lee being any sort of bowler he was in not so distant past in terms of bowling and physical fitness...what would have been results...
while this is truly a tribute to Lee...its shuddering thought for CA...
they have so many questions to answer to...
that they lost it completely in the end was shown in their post series presentation ceremony when they did not even deemed it fit enough to call upon guys on whose very names the series was played...the trophy was named...
i do not know the where abouts of border but certain gavaskar was not too far away...
but things have been like this for them...
on other hand india even with 2-1 down in the series looked like team in ascendancy...
that they have finally started to come together as 'team india' rather than bunch of star players...
that their young bowlers were not overawed by aussie team...gave them the taste of their own medicine at their 'own den' augers well for the future of indian team in bowling department...
that they have finally started to get their team combinations right thanks to come back men like sehwag...pathan...
that we are zeroing on good pool of players who can compete at highest level without bothering about reputations...
that they were finally able to bury the tag of 'soft travelers' deep in 'perth'...
that team who don't run well between wickets...don't field well... cant save those 30 runs on field cant convert ones in to twos...twos into threes...is not even as physically fit...can compete with the team which does these things day in day out...then imagine if we start doing just that...
if only we can sustain the momentum...look to keep on working on weaknesses...we can surely give it a shot to being no. 1...
what you say??
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Its all very easy to say lets forget debacles...lets look ahead and forget what happened in past...move on..lets regroup...and start a fresh...lets not get dejected and focus on what lies ahead...
and its another thing leaving all things behind and winning at Perth...
this is the win which makes you value old virtues bit more...
the old virtues of 'winner win despite all adversities'...when everything is stacked against you...your self belief and hard work always pays...that winners don't look at misfortunes as excuses to crib upon...they take them in their stride and WIN...
and what a win India!!
...when nobody gave you any chances...when nobody booked fourth and fifth days tickets fearing waste of money...you had other ideas...
its arguably the greatest test win for india...coming from 2-0 behind...coming after worse that could have happened...at the 'real home of oz'...WINs never tasted better...
there are other issues to discuss...but thats for another post...
lets savior this moment...this win...and join hand in applauding India...and lets which ever part of world you are from not come in the way of true appreciation...
meanwhile...
to the atheist, start finding a place to move to India...
and soulberry...you owe me a drink now...see i am not yet fully drowned by this win...
to symond...
what a moment...'the luck' chose to desert you...
and finally...
"eik aur karega....haan karoonga"
(kumble asking ishant...will you bowl another over? and ishant saying yes will bowl)
you guessed it right, the best moment for me of todays play was how young ishant made veteran ponting finally surrendering his wicket to him...
whats your moment...??
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india take a bow...
take a bow to a man...
we all loved to thrash...we kept him under constant surveillance...we all conspired to keep him out for flamboyant guy...we hanged an axe over his throat and yet he kept on playing...he never laughed at his detractors...he never swayed fists in anger after accomplishing a task...he kept on doing his bit silently...and today too he did just that...without any air of arrogance...fake punches in air...his innings...his contribution today...which goes beyond the runs he scored for india... could well be the difference between india winning or loosing...he, arguably, is one of the best fourth innings batsman if not the best ever...
ladies, gentleman and uncles too...
his name is VVS Laxman...
at the same time lets not forget what another come back kid today did for india...
We-r-Fan Pathan...
his efforts were no less today...from being dusted to death as finished article...he has fought his way back against all odds...against all adversities...and how...what a platform he has chosen to mark his return...he has re-surfaced as breath of fresh air...and rekindled our hopes...
whatever be the outcome of this match lets just praise them...
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if you don't know already this is the sound of air blowing out from perth baloon...
we were promised of lots of chin music...were asked to wear dancing shoes for this 'hot' track...but look who is dancing now...the shoes are well there but somehow the destination is changed...
just before the match started when everybody wrote india off... i was discussing with my friend soulberry that india becomes far more competitive, than people would like to admit, on pitches which offers some assistance...the same happened at scg and now it has happened in perth too...
if only our tail wagged for one more over (despite all that happened at scg) things could have been different...mind you theres lots of cricket still to be played but its better feeling when you are on top with 1-0 scoreline than 2-0 against you...
way to go india!!
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had it been like back to back test matches we would have been saved of from lots of s@t..so i think that there was so much gap between scg test and waca also contributed to the non sense happened (and still happening) on the behest of journalism, media reporting etc...where everybody had his share of scg pie...and even today we can hear the resonances...
how i am etching to hear the sound of willow hitting the ball...the theatrical appeals...the chin-music...it almost seems like eternity...when we last heard it...i tried to 'adjust' my mind by seeing movies...but could not as i was missing the real drama...
so if we have forgotten 'the sound' amongst all the mayhem...that same sound will resume from tomorrow onwards...as they say...let the show begin...
...fasten your seat belts folks...the 'pacy' drama is about to unfold...
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back to cricket...the way we used to discuss it...in not so distant past...remember??
amongst the rumor that india team management is still not happy of this truce...and hope that perth test will be played...i think team india have some problems in their backyard too...
of picking the right team. after the hindsight of two tests they must have come to know about what should be their batting order and what bowlers will they pick...hopefully...
so here is my team in this order...
sehwag
dk/dravid
vvs (coz i am still not convinced of dravid's form and convinced of lax's)
sachin
ganguly
dravid/dhoni
pathan
kumble
harbhajan
rp
ishant
i believe that whatever are the conditions we should field our best bowlers...and hence the selection of harbhajan...i think its no coincidence that wasim was called/asked to see pathan and him saying that pathan has re-gained some pace and in swing movement...adding his previous experience of bowling in australian conditions and batting depth he provides to the team gives him advantage over pankaj singh and vrv...besides i wont field two rookies after so much happened and the pressure cooker scenario of perth...
the only thing is whether they will drop dhoni or play dk...although i guess that dhoni's day has still not come but i would like team management to field dk...coz manner of all dhonis dismissals (except last one) were like beaten for pace and perth being pacier wicket i would bet my money more on dk than dhoni to succeed...
what is your team??
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i thought to stop writing till the oz tour is over...i was deeply heart to see what all was happening in the name of cricket...and so on...i could not stand to see what happening to the game i love so much...
i have another confession to make (sorry dinnie, i did not mentioned it before)...
i am what i am bcoz of cricket...not exactly the same way as you might start thinking...let me explain...i come from very humble background...and when i decided to join IT as my career the biggest hurdle before me was english...(which is still today)...i was able to truly learn about this language by watching cricket...listening the commentary...the discussions on tv before or after the matches...the interviews of players...the passion of cricket showed me the way...from muttering words to the confidence of actually speaking...to many it may seem not as arduous as it sounds to you but for me it was something...today i am running an export firm and talk and deal with people across world...
before you accuse me of promoting myself, i wanted to share this little secret so that you can understand how i must have been feeling...
but then i thought what means more to me...my love for cricket or my hate for these uncompetitive umpires...referees...my passion for cricket or the 'passion' shown by aussies at SCG...and answer was simple...
so i decided to move on...i am in no illusion of sort that peoples were holding their breath for my next post...but anyway...here i am...
coz, i was taught at very early stage that...
"when the debate is about who is right rather than what is right...never debate..."
and for aussie team (and friends)...may this win should not discourage you...
.
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or what you would call it...if there is better word...please don't hesitate to express here...i promise...all comments however explicit will be retained...
its an utter shame that this test match will be decided not by the skills of teams but the white men...in my entire life span of seeing test match i cant remember so many wrong decisions going against particular team...its almost as if they are on mission...
if india goes on to loose this match i will give men of match to these two gentlemen...
also i don't understand that why criticizing umpiring is taken on similar terms as criticizing australia...as some of our australian friends seems to react...
as i said in my previous posts we will see enough shockers in this series than in entire year...why these umps pee in this pants and sh@@t when the appeal is made against or in favor of aussies...
and what about some of appeals the replays of which are shown now...where is the much talked about game spirit...do the champs have to resort to this low??? look at ponting's appeal...
can we decide next match on perth at toss please???? head australia wins...tail we loose...
its over i cant write more...
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or what you would call it???
i am sulking big time...
if playing with aussies is the toughest task...what would you say when umpires lands their support and then third umpire too joins the party???
if they were embarrassed by giving ponting out (he was out before too but does that matter) they made india pay big time for their own laxities and how...
the buckner is becoming 'the burner' specially with india...he has gone past his use by date too long ago and i still don't know when ICC will SEE it...
these type of decisions are becoming quite a regulatory...players are punished for showing even semblance of dissents but when on earth we will make umpires as accountable as players is remained to be seen...i hope i see it in my lifetime...
here was a team who after the thrashing in first test was clawing his way back into this test with aussies on mat at 130 odd for six wickets and we were in for some good contest...thats when umpires decided to have their impact on this game...its not as if india did all things right (later about that)...but when on earth we will see a fair contest between BAT and BALL which is what cricket is all about???
i am still sulking...
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although i wanted to be proved wrong but somehow i didn't see the fightback coming...when i saw so many peoples airing their optimism that we will go for win...manage at least draw...put up resounding fight to salvage some pride...and i was skeptic coz there were no grounds based on what i saw in first innings...and i was not wrong...
i pity kumble...i really feel for him...you wont see spinner taking five wickets on first day of test match against australia and that too on their soil...
for all the efforts he put up he deserved more...he deserved more from his batsmen who he thought were his master cards...his strength....but he was left to throw his hand in despair coz not a single batsmen looked to guts it out there...there was no one standing to be counted...to fight the 'demons in the pitch' which was more subcontinentish pitch...but as the match progressed we saw that demons were elsewhere...they were in minds...
don't look anywhere than dravid to understand the demons i am talking about...time has come for india to decide what to do of him...he is clearly struggling for his form...his approach...and more importantly his mental strength he was used to known for...will we keep on going for him in the faith that he is just an innings away from his previous best...but somehow i don't see it coming...in these days of back to back test matches...where is the time...but if i am kumble i would have one to one talk with him...this is the time when champion player like him need support.. i would make him feel wanted in current setup...i would not let him fade away in his wilderness so easily...i would give him at least another test...but with an ultimatum...
if a batsman who is stated to be 'in the form of his life' comes to crease like this...there was no body language...no air of confidence...and plays the way he played (and i am not even talking about his scores) it would be better he is confided to the comforts of dressing room...coz by sitting there he served india far better...all other guys were on their toes thinking that there's one sitting outside who can replace them...
it was only Ganguly (and to some extent sachin) who came unscathed and looked at par...special mention must be made to gangly who many thought (uncle included, who famously said that aussies will be having orgasmic pleasure by seeing him coming to bat) that he will be stream rolled by aussies etc etc...but he just refused to lie down...played his shots and remarkably rotated the strike which he is not known for...its not coincidence that only time india looked in control (batting wise) was when ganguly and sachin were batting together...
the fact that aussies hardly crossed 350 in both innings and yet they won by more than 300 runs speaks volume about the 'efforts' of our famed batting lineup...was that a pitch where our illustrious batting lineup could not score even 200 in both innings?? are we living in dreamland where our batsmen score far heavily than in reality...?? are we expecting too much from these lions-on-paper batsmen??? we must look within and search for the right answers...this was by far the worst performance we came up with in recent times...
we will have to find solutions and that too quickly...it would be very interesting couple of days in indian dressing room and specially for kumble of what he comes up with...to counter this 'freezing attitude' in our batting...next couple of days will give us an idea how kumble has taken this defeat and what combinations he would come up with...
coz another bad day in the office and we can safely say tata to this series...
i would go for full leather and would field
jaffer/dk
sehwag
laxman (coz he looked good for more, so no. 3)
sachin
gangly
Dravid (if he has to bat slow better be at this position but as i said with an ultimatum)
dhoni /(yuvraj in case DK gets opening slot)
zahir
rp
kumble
harbhajan (to share burden of kumble i wont place rookie here at this moment)
what will be your final xi...
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first of all let me say sorry for disappearing from scene...there were some urgent issue which kept me out of touch, forcefully, for few days...anyways....seasons greeting to all...
while i leave indepth analysis to more accomplished bloggers here are some wrong'ns from me...
time and again it is billed as our batting vs opposition bowling and considerable time and ink is spent on highlighting how bowling is our weak point and how our famed batting have to carry the burden of it...
if first two days of the test match anything to go by we must stop and ponder...are we putting too much faith on our batting...is our faith misplaced?? when we, literally with two bowlers, can restrict aussies to 9 wickets for around 300 in a day when other teams with much better and gifted bowling attack could not do so...and our batters with combined experience and pedigree could muster not even 200 on board...we must stop and ponder over it...
the way our 'great batters' gave advantage on platter gained by our 'weak bowling' almost saying sorry to aussies that they didn't meant to...is disgusting, inexplicable and pathetic...to say the least...how many wickets were taken by aussies?? where was the application needed??? where were batters when india needed them to guts it out in middle...???
we must sort out our batting order (in the second innings) and combination (for next match) quickly coz there's no one to hold on to in case of collapse like today...
this effort(??) has left india to the situation that now if we manage a draw from here will be nothing short of a miracle...its still early days yet but by the time test series will be over...some pretenders are definitely going to be sorted out there...
in know DK was not playing today but those who says so what he scored some half centuries in SA and ENG...should see dravid's innings today to know what those 'meaningless' half centuries meant to india...his innings was not going anywhere clearly indicating he was not enjoying or one must say willing to do the job he was doing over there...
one question which comes to my mind...if india have to gamble...than on which one we should gamble...
a reluctant genius or a willing mortal...??
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with so many nicely put round ups...nothing left to add anyway...so here are my doosras...
those who still feel that kumble was not aggressive in declaration should read very nicely argued posts of fellow blogger kartikeya's discussing declatations...and friend soulberry's hope and hopelessness needless to say i totally agree with them...
at the risk of repeating myself (i have already commented this) i would say that don't get carried away by pak's 'india gate' kind of batting...the way they were getting out...and please uneven bounce was nothing to do with their dismissals...with bats at least a foot away from the line of bowl...would have embarrassed even club cricketers...
that result was possible irrespective of declaration timing but coz another team was hell bent on committing mass suicide...and surprisingly no one has uttered a single word on how pak batsmen started unfolding...
......
everybody seems unanimous that the misbah was the find for pak in this series...while not taking away any credit from him...of how he batted and how he saved pak from precarious positions every time without fail...and people all over calling him another 'wall'...worthy replacement of 'ul-haq' etc etc...
i would wait for another series...just for the reason that in virtually every innings he gave clear and grabable chances to our fielders in very early stages of his innings and had we got some of them his averages (and dare say series result) could have been very different of what they are now...specially after not so good SA series...i know that its not the fault of misbah and he did not let these chances distract him and build upon that...but you can not expect other team to be so magnanimous in their approach...so lets wait for another series...
.......
i still don't know what harbhajan has done in this series to be on oz tour...i thought he has already seen sydney...isn't it??
.......
i should also give credit where its due...me included...some of us infact...no...many of us questioned the probables selection but it also takes courage to correct mistakes...they should be appreciated for that and by giving kumble more say at team selection coz ultimately he is the one who is gonna face the music... they deserve praise too...although i still feel that they are taking one too many rookie in bowling department...but who knows??? this pankaj singh could well turn out to be another ace in a pack of cards??
.......
theories were going on that dravid will be asked to open the innings to accommodate yuvraj...and going by some reports in media even team management started thinking in this line...and suddenly we (and yuvi) see sehwag coming in...by all probability he will play in boxing day coz you dont want to look fool by selecting him only to warm benches out there...
sehwags selection is 'googly' for everyone...without going into that this is another 'feather' in kumble's cap without even landing in oz...that what this selection means to sehwag coz he would be headless chicken if he doesn't know already...i would be interested in how yuvi see this selection...
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with everything about recent test match stated in blogs and elsewhere covering almost all aspects...i am glad that my faith on Kumble was largely right when i posted "Challenges before Kumble"...
although its early days yet...but given his experience the job seemed nothing new to him...he turned out to be an aggressive captain quite contrary to many who thought he will be bit defensive in his approach...
i liked his approach and homework he did for the match and some points stands out, according to me, not necessarily in this order:
- he did not wanted to get distracted by media's bizarre selection reactions by dropping any of laxman or ganguly...coz he had faith in laxman and did not wanted him to sit out and we all know how one part of india reacts when ganguly is dropped...so by keeping the same line he steered cleared of all the tamasha which could have distracted him in his first test as captain and teams preparations for the first teast match. thats why he made the statement "yuvi have to wait" well ahead of first day of test match...so there wont be any kite flying and everyboday will remain focussed to the job and preparations...
- by giving more overs, than any test captain, to ganguly he made it clear to ganguly and everybody that he perceives his role in the team differently than many...
- by giving more overs to ganguly he caught pak off guard coz in first innings they just could not decide whether to attack or defend him and they played to kumble hands in second innings when they blindly decided that they will attack ganguly...triggering the collapse...
- by not giving enough overs at one stretch to harbhajan (specially in first innings) he clearly made the point to harbhajan that his bowling did not inspired that much confidence in him...that lead to improved showing of harbhajan in second innings...though i feel that he is still far away from his 'test' form (still in one day bowling mode..shooting down bowls on leg stump and not giving enough air and loop to the deliveries)...
- by being honest at press conference that he merely wanted to change ganguly's end and not taking the credit of great move that was there for his taking...it requires guts...
- the way he has backed dinesh is also remarkable coz thats what a player specially youngster looking to cement his place in the team wants, is the captains backing...and by backing him openly has thrown a gentle reminder to karthik that his performance is monitored...
so all in all a good beginning of the job which is considered one of the toughest assignment in modern cricket...
what you say?
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As ayaz memon puts it in his latest column :
"He is confronted with his first dilemma much before the first ball is bowled in the three-match series against Pakistan which begins next Thursday. Can he afford to keep the world’s best player in limited overs cricket out of the five-day game?"
modern cricket has changed so much that challenges before captains does not necessarily starts with game anymore and if you are 'newly' appointed to the job, knowing that you are warming the chair for another person to take over and that too almost at the fag end of career...the word 'challenge' acquired new meanings...
but if latest article of Harsha is to be believed, about the way kumble turned up for selection meeting, makes me feel that we are in for something special...
and first glimpse of this will be seen through his selection of final eleven....how he sees yuvi's recent exploits...what he makes of saurav poking at balls of akhtar's pace...how he interprets laxmans recent innings at domestic level (which are nothing much to write about)...the choice of second spinner and composition of team. will he go with the comfort of his tried and tested colleagues or will he choose to tread his own way at the cost of unpleasing some of them...
will he be the gentleman captain he is or will he be the fierce competitor and aggressive captain he is too...if he bowls less or more he will be attacked likely for under or over bowling himself...so how he will tackle always-on-your-face media...the (non)functioning of BCCI...and finally the big ego and mouth of DBV...
lots of questions...and the answers of these is with only one man...our own Kumble...so next few days curtailing to first test are going to be very interesting...
but something tells me that kumble having got the cap, which he desired so much throughout his career and was hurt for never treated as potential one, wont let this chance go away without stamping his class...the authority with which he bowls tirelessly...
one thing is for sure...we are in for some interesting time...
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some how i feel fit asif, more fitter akhtar, and some in form batsmen of pakistan would have challenged team india to the hilt before difficult tour of down under...
now since this will not be the case, so we wont be knowing that whether our batsmen are 'really' in form or just pouncing on cake of their pie...
it could well create false sense of team buzzing with form with every chance of complacency creeping in...which could be sure recipe of disaster...
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