team india performace review...

our bowlers need helpful conditions to be successful...

our batsmen don't...

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what last 'draw' test tells us about team india chances in australia...

thank you golandaaz of 'opinion of cricket'... his latest post "India v Australia - An Early Preview" made me write at sp after a long time...

i liked the way he concluded the post...

Not all wins are equal. Neither are losses. Some loses reveal a lot more than we are willing to read into. India's 4 Test match losses in England were not just shocking and humiliating but it also served an indicator of many collective missteps that no one is willing to talk about. Also a win-loss transaction is not a zero sum game. What England gained from the 4 wins, India lost far more than that. England simply confirmed their standing, India brushed the loss aside as "bad luck" and swept their real problems under the carpet. India are no longer as good as they were a year back and it will show in Australia.

specially the last line... to me india is not as good as year back was so profoundly revealed in last test against west indies team... we somehow managed a 'draw' while weakened west india team was further weakened by injury to their captain sammy... we managed draw against west indies which was reduced to only three front line bowlers and a part timer in samuels at home on such a pan cake of a pitch where a debutant, well almost, in ashwin who is not even a proper batsman scored almost run a ball...

imagine if sehwag not made those runs he did upfront at the pace only he scores... we either would have lost or played for a draw... and that's the pinching reality...

it seems that its written in the contracts of our illustrated seniors that run making has to be left to sehwag they can just carry on doing things at their own pace and comfort...

in england we suffered from this aspect more than anything... there was no one in the team that could have forced the issue or arrest the slump despite no one from our illustrated seniors looked out of form there...

at the twilight of their careers they need the push from upfront more than ever and its not a joke if india looks like batting on different pitch once sehwag departs... so our chances in australia lies how well sehwag plays for if he fails there we might have a repeat of england... in spite of having the experience of more than 37000 test runs and more than 100 centuries at our disposal between fab 3 at the other end and dhoni stubbornly refusing to improve as a test bat...

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warm-up games were better in my days...

so, it seems, we have seen apple falling from tree and discovered the law of gravity...

the parallel of above analogy for team india's beyond dismal performance has boiled down to warm up games...

even the bcci has seen the light and asked for one more warm-up game before the boxing day test... and lo... all team india being slow starter problem will be solved... 

this thought it so nobel and yet so simple that i am surprised how we missed it...?

more warm-up games...

i am sure (not even) the second xi players (which is a norm now for warm up games) will give enough match practice to our team... they will indeed push us so hard that we will be properly warmed before the boxing day test... never mind the fact that if that was the case... we would have been giving the same medical treatment to england team by now that we have been receiving... from the second test onwards...

this reminds me of what gary kirsten said in his last public appearance before he took the offer of coaching south africa team...

Kirsten thought before he joined the team, the Indian team did not know how to prepare for a game.

“If I had to rate it out of 10, I thought the way the Indian players practised was about 1 or 2. Basically, what I realised was there was no connection between preparation and play. We just upped the ante on our preparation and we had real purpose to everything we did and then the Indian team probably became the hardest working and preparation team in the world. From 2 we went to 7 or 8.”

are we missing a real story here...?

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is dhoni getting exposed...?

dhoni, the captain, has every trophy in his cupboard that can make any captain envious...

in one day cricket he is undisputed king and one of the most valuable batsman...

but when it comes to tests... the doubts start to creep in... with his keeping... and batting...

dhoni wicket keeping of late is almost everything that has made kamran akmal the butt of all jokes...

he is not going for catches... fumbling with regular takes... standing some steps back only to gift himself some much needed time... and before you jump on me that in english conditions keeper requires bit of time to cover for late movement... you obviously missed the west indies series...

it screws our slip cordon is one side-effect...

dhoni collecting ball below knee is a regular feature... as is ball dissecting him and first slip with him stuck on his feet...

india could have still afforded his keeping services given his batting was as stable as is expected of wicket keeper batsman... but here dhoni is regressing fast to say the least...

when india plays at full strength... the batting line up of viru, gambhir, dravid, sachin, vvs, raina/yuvi/che precede him... followed by a lower order crisis man harbhajan singh... who has played more match winning/turning innings than dhoni for quite a while...

one can clearly see the class in batting line up... and invariably at least two out of first six batsmen clicks for india big time and we manage to score a decent total if not outright winning total to give our bowlers a chance to force result... so dhoni not scoring on consistent basis goes un-noticed... india winning more matches than it loses also glosses over dhoni poor form with bat...

so when team india loses (like in this series with england)... or plays understrength team that requires dhoni to step up as batsman... he gets exposed...

a lot of dhoni being the next gilchrist is based on his odi career... while in tests he is yet to prove his credentials with reasonable consistency...

he was and never will be a technically sound test batsman... his play is based on percentage cricket... so when there is slightest movement in that percentage towards bowler... he obviously finds it difficult...

even gilchrist was not technically accomplished batsman... a lot of his batting was hand eye coordination... but what differentiated him with dhoni is... he trusted his instincts...

if a batting line up of viru, gambhir, dravid, sachinn, vvs, raina/yuvi/che, dhoni followed by bhajji cannot make dhoni confident enough to go for shots... be the player he promised... be the player he can be... wonder what will...

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are you ready to look ugly...?

most of times even in test matches you get batting beauties for pitches... at least for first three days... where ball will come onto bat nicely... quick out field and lots of open spaces coz captains won't look 'attacking' if they don't place catching fielders even on most patta wickets... with not very threatening bowlers around...

so you will get value for your shots... look very 'positive' and pundits will fall over one another in singing praises for you...

but along with patta wickets sometimes you will encounter pitches where scoring will be difficult... the bounce will be uneven... ball will rise off length... and off same length refuse to rise above knee level... scoring off square will get increasingly difficult and you will realise the shots on bounce, you are so fond of playing, have dried up... there will be lots of nudges... the ball will land in slip cordon on one tip... the shots won't have the timing you are known for... even half decent bowlers will trouble you... basically the pitch where you will not feel in... until you are really in...

what you will do...?

are you ready to look ugly...?

sabrina park was classic pitch of the mold where if you wanted to be in... you would have to be prepared to look ugly... the classic examination of not only your talent... temperament... but your humbleness in accepting the fact that boss... here i will have to give a quarter to bowlers first...

kohli's little innings was classic example in this regard...

he wanted to play flowing cover drives... he wanted to show that he can carry his odi form to the test arena... he wanted to show he can still be positive... but he was not ready to look ugly... despite being in clear discomfort against short balls... he wanted to show he was not... rather than let the phase pass by quietly letting the ball go above his shoulder by ducking humbly underneath... he wanted to show he can ride on it...

forgetting that, sometime in a test match, ducking too is quite a good option... it not only wears the bowlers out quickly... but force him to try something different... seeing that you are not being as disturbed by it as he wanted you to be...

not everybody can play like dravid... not in slower terms of scoring... but on how to let the moments of indiscretion pass without minimum harm... force bowlers to bowl to your strengths... and when you have stayed there enough... unleash yourself on tiring bowlers... or till match situation demands it to go for leather...

there was live example in front of some of our players who still think... its rather better to look 'positive' than look... struggling... ugly...

hope next time... when they will encounter similar situations... pitches... they will be better prepared... for not for nothing we call it... 'test' matches...

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when getting dropped is not a setback...

come durban test... and we might see a very talented cricketer in suresh raina being dropped for another talented player... cheteshwar pujara...

but this post is about suresh raina...

recent failures of suresh raina has not been well received... pundits have already started calling him limited overs cricket bully not suited for test cricket...  his perennial problems against short pitch bowling... his lack of foot work... basically you name it and he has that deficiency in his game...

for once i don't think he has any more short coming against short pitch bowling than the other talents around... its just that it has been hyped so much that he has fallen into no-man's land... the mind is cluttered with so many thoughts that it has started to infiltrate the functioning of his more strong skills... now more than the talent or skills it has become a question of temperament...

right now he seems to be in quandary whether to play a pull shot, he is perfectly capable of than most, or leave it... and in doing so isn't doing both... hence we saw him giving catching practice to slip cordon in centurion test... that was the shot of a man who wanted to leave it till last minute but played coz of instinct...

make no mistake... he has better footwork than most famed left-handers... he is one of the better players of spin... and has the skills that can change the complexion of the game by his sheer stroke play in just one session... given right dose of confidence and care... he could be the game breaker in the mold of gilchrist for india at no.6... but like many before him... he needs to find the right bearings to make a career in highest form of game... test cricket...

its only going to serve him good that he has been confronted with some uncomfortable questions at the very beginning of his test career and now knows exactly what it takes to be consistently successful at highest level... coz unlike one day cricket one can not get away in test cricket by just playing shots...

he needs to find his batting arc but for that he needs to be in relaxed and right frame of mind... which can only come from facing the same uncomfortable question again and again till it stops bothering you... once he will be able to make distinction of batting arc viz a viz which (short) ball to play and leave he will become that game-breaker at no.6 everyone wants in his team but only dreams about...

i know it is easier said than done but when playing at highest level was supposed to be easy...?

the same south africa tour last time saw another stalwart in virender sehwag getting dropped from team india... felt the pain of seeing team india playing from the idiot box in his own words... how he used that pain and how he has returned with vengence since then is a story worth telling...

so, if i were suresh raina, i won't see getting dropped from playing eleven as a setback... but a timely learning towards a long fulfilling journey...

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my two cents on... is dedication dying...?

once again the only comment from me on 'the asses' going on is that i can wait for the adelaide test to start... so if you came here looking for the asses... this is it...

thanks to mayank of freehit fame's hat-tip via tweet... i read latest aakash chopra's article... is dedication dying...?

he laments...

"The scales are heavily tilted in favour of the ones playing in the money-spinning IPL with regard to both money and recognition, and in some cases even selection. And if nothing is done soon enough to change that rather warped perception, at the risk of sounding cynical, this current set of players might be the last group who will see India at the top of Test rankings."

chopra of late is falling into the trap of populist themed articles where everybody comes knocking with customary wah! wah!... and this one is no different...

the article is written off the cuff that tries to sweep youngsters with one populist beaten to death stroke... "oh! look how ipl is corrupting the mindsets of our youngsters into easy money without putting much of an effort..."

first of all it just dismiss t20 cricket as if it does not require any skill set to be successful in it... if that was the case chopra would have been a star in indian premium league but that's obviously not the case...

the shorter form of any stream requires a different mindset and skill level which should not be dismissed disdainfully when compared to the longer format of same stream...

every 100 meter sprinter cannot be successful marathon runner... every ad film maker cannot be a good full length feature film maker... so while this is true its opposite is also equally true but that does not mean those who pursue careers in shorter forms should be simply dismissed in favor of those who pursue their careers in longer forms...

market gives equal opportunities for all talent to find their pastures... and so does ipl... i don't know if 100 meter sprinters or ad filmmakers are seen in lesser esteem... their work... their success dismissed with such disdain... just coz they happen to be successful in short form of stream that has longer form too...

in any case why would team india need players who would sell themselves short for lessor pastures...?

for every such players there are equal, if not more, players who want to grind it out in the middle dreaming of making it big at the highest level... yearn for that illusive opportunity and when it comes knocking... grab it with both hands...

our greats did not make a great team overnight and while when they won't be there and team india might slip a bit that would not necessarily be because of ipl... or comment on our youngsters ethics... it is too simplistic... 

the cricketing world is filled with success stories like zaheer's who was what sree is today in terms of temperament, was rightly dropped from the team more on attitude rather than talent, spent quality time in wilderness of county cricket where you are on your own without many noticing it... and came back to become a spear head of team india's bowling attack...

he did not fell for lessor postures or sold himself short coz he wanted to be known as good cricketer at the highest level...

and he is not alone... for every so called 'ipl dreamer' we have che waiting impatiently to just break into the test team...

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soulberry wants to 'spot fix' ranji trophy...

pardon the headline... but amongst the hoohaa of spot fixing saga... soulberry has taken a less treaded path of ranji trophy and eloquently argues it to be established as THE selectorial pointer for tests...

Having seen the better days of Ranji and participated in its viewing as one of a crowd, I understand the nurturing role Ranji Trophy played to foster essential cricket in India.

Let us make Ranji THE selectorial point for Tests. It doesn't have to be how many T20s you have playd or how many ODIs you have played. Rare exceptions may find their way via these routes, but that should not be the norm. It is in the overall benefit of the player and the game of cricket in India to have a sound, well-rounded game honed in a tesing, competitive Ranji environment. Also, grounds and pitces must be such that they foster good cricket and allow expression and polishing of all skills - batting, bowling and fielding - hile employing them in a fiercely contested match.

Imagine the sad irony if Rohit Sharma plays ahead of Cheteshwar Pujara in Tests!

if your head has already started spinning from spot fixing saga... and even if not... you know where to head...

a refreshing read on rarely talked about ranji trophy... makarand waingankar scores a bullseye...

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let's have a ball then...

recently a side got out to 88 runs and had it not being the ineptness of the team that bowled them out... the match would have been over in 2 and a half days...

yesterday another team came close to get bowled out to even less... it didn't... yet even after the bad light stoppage and a wicket keeper standing as 12th man for opposition team... the match could still be over in three days...

i saw as many as seven fielders in the slip cordon and wicket taking was not an event anymore... run making was...

cut to ssc...

the wickets were at premium there... the premium was so high that captains... even before bowlers... stopped thinking about purchasing them and let batters collect as many freebies as possible... how high the premium on wickets was can be proved by the fact that... one captain... sangakkara was seen having sweepers on even for no.10 and 11 batsmen... yet some call him attacking captain but that's beside the point...

on one pitch batsmen were there to just go and edge it to the gleefully waiting seven slip fielders... and on another fielders were employed as far from batsmen as possible to stop run making...

while in both cases there was just no competition between bat and ball... yet its only the ssc pitch which draws the criticism...

so correct me if i am wrong... it can be safely concluded that yawning draws on five days on flat pitches are test match killers... but a lottery of a pitch where 'who can pitch ball straight to get wicket'... where 'match' is as good as over in almost half days allotted for 'test'... actually saves the test cricket...

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shri shri muttiah muralitharan 800 spinbaaz...

cut above the rest...

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very very selfish laxman...?

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...

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thank you murali...

i wrote this post on murali in my early days of blogging... since then nothing has changed... i admire him like i used to... and though with age the tweaker in him has slown down a bit but spirit to fight is still intact... so to salute murali... i re-produce it here... as it is...

its no modesty but i sincerely believe that i am too small to write anything about murali... in any case there is not much left that can be said about murali...

...some believe he is bradman of bowling... some spit venom at the sight of him... never have been a player in the history of game who has invoked so contrasting observations, views...

some say the laws were bended to accommodate him... though many find no reason what murali has anything to do with it... some see it as the natural progression of laws to be more contemporary... though i must admit here that i am the one who thinks that laws are made to be changed with time... otherwise there won't be any meaning of that law which doesn't reflect the way society is behaving, living...

i read somewhere...

"Most people think that they are thinking when they actually are merely re-arranging their prejudices."

if only we can change our tinted specs for a while....

the picture will emerge of a man who inspite of facing criticism, calls of cheats, serious doubts about career... had the guts and stronger-than-steel mind to go there and do what he loves most... bowling to get batsmen out... on and on and on... who still hates when someone scores against him... even for a single... who single handedly have changed more matches than anybody in game... without getting the support his contemporaries enjoyed...

if for not for world record, we must salute the man for showing us, and the world, that how to fight demons and still come out on top...

i was seeing super slow mo other day and those eyes left me mesmerized... they were so focused... like arjuna who saw nothing but an eye of a bird...

thanks murali for showing us the class, the grit without necessarily indulging in sledging, on the face kind of verbals or any antics which many believed and believes the way to go...

thanks... for telling us that one can still do things gentlemanly and quietly and yet being fiercely aggressive... i don't know about many but i feel privileged to have seen him bowling... feel proud for him and i don't feel ashamed of my confessions...

and i know i am not alone...

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it's desperation time...

if south africa wants to level the series... admitted south african coach mickey arthur before the start of the final test at wanderers and he did not mince words on what south africa will gamble if they have to level the series with england... the 'green top' pitch to encash home advantage...

it was no coincidence that ten wickets fall on the opening day at wanderers with ball swinging and seaming from the first ball... and there was every possibility of another wicket or two had the day's play was not cut short coz of rain or poor light...

now imagine the furor it would have created in 'save test cricket' nations had the subcontinent captain or coach flaunted the 'home' advantage so openly in a press conference before the start of a final test after trailing 1-0 in the series and asked for a spinning track as the measure of 'desperation' to level the series... and had the ball spun from first ball and ten wicket would have fallen to spinners on day one...

instead what we see is these experts are falling over one another in singing praise for steyn on how brilliantly he bowled at wanderers... though its another matter they doubt the very spinner's skill saying any spinner worth its salt can run through the side under helpful spinning conditions on dry pitches...

talk about in depth analysis of these so called 'experts' on a mission to save test cricket...

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i value centuries in odis more...

...than the centuries on these roads that is prepared in the name of test cricket these days... on which any tom dick and harry can come with a bat in his hand and sleep walk to a test century...

test centuries can not come cheaper than this... so pardon me... but these days i value 100s in odis more coz though the pitches remain same... at least there is some added pressure to score/chase runs unlike tests...

so congratulation paul collingwood... you made my day yesterday...

though i would still settle for a three test series in which first two tests are played on batathons and then for the last test match they prepare a green mine field or a dust ball (according to 'home' advantage) to balance out things in favour of bowlers...

like batsmen... bowlers too have rights to be given tracks where they can run thru oppositions like hot knife in butter... specially after toiling endlessly on these roads... to boost their egos... and averages...

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why this discrimination between 'drama'...?

whenever a test match runs for close finish the first thing many of us do is to write some derogatory comparison with 't20 drama'...as if t20 is the bastard child of cricket and to prove our loyalty to the first child of cricket i.e. test cricket...we must condemn t20 and whatever it offers to us...at first available opportunity...without wasting time...or we will be labeled as 'traitors' of cricket...

yes i too felt my heart skipping some beats...to the gripping drama that unfolded yesterday...but i feel the same way when an odi runs close...and for that matter even t20 runs close...

i have seen tempers running high between the fans of two teams even in a t20 match...last 'warm-up' game between india and pakistan in t20 world 2009 being the case in point...

i feel the same thrill...same excitement of triumph...in a winning cause in tight finish...i feel the dampening spirits after the tight finish in a losing cause...

i have seen the dropping jaws in anticipation of unknown when misbah looped that shot in sky in the t20 2007 roller coaster finals...the excitement thereafter knowing the catch is taken on indian fans faces and gloom written all over on every pak fans...how some jumped out of sheer thrills on winning and how some heads limped in frustration knowing that they could have won...

so why discriminate between the thrill...the excitement...the drama...when even our heart don't...?

why we can't simply except that...

a drama is a drama is a drama...

irrespective of the length of game...that is...!!

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life...business...cricket...

...or shall i say...test cricket...

there comes a cycle in business...

when a certain type of business booms everyone wants to jump on the bandwagon to cash in...to make quick bucks...sometimes even at the cost of existing business...

but once the bubble bursts...it leaves only those players who are in it to not only make money but create values...business does repeat this cycle of elimination when it needs to...

so does life and so will cricket...

cut to the apparent threat...test cricket faces from new born baby-with-a-silver-spoon...t20 cricket...

while not denying that cricket has ultimately discovered the wings to expand world over...i am not overtly worried about the future of test cricket...

test cricket will be played...more intensely by few nations...few teams...which will have not only capable but willing players...we must continue to maintain the balance, focus and parameters like pitches right...

coz just like every player cannot play test cricket...every player cannot play t20 either...

who wants reluctant players...in life...in business...and in cricket...

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Test Cricket Health...

another boring draw on dead pitch and the knives are out...

every other voice is either mourning the death of test cricket or seeing it...

but to me test cricket is already in bad shape...

before you jump on me with already out knives...

please wait a moment...

zimbabwe aren't playing test cricket...i doubt (no, fear) they will...

bangladesh resolutely sticking to infancy level...

nz is exploring new lows every time they play test...

...and west indies ensuring there is a tough competition with nz even for this...

pak is either seeing tours getting canceled or busy issuing threats of doing same...

SL had most thrilling test series in oz where they at last found a man who can stand against them...

england recently invented a new cure of insomnia...but still won next best 'ashes' defeating nz...

pretty 'good' health i must say...isn't it...?

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