Stumps on Day 2 of the I'm-the-bad-test
A first innings lead of over 400, and they're not done with us yet! It looks bad for India. I still wouldn't say we've lost it yet, because the pitch is certainly flattening out, and the South Africans have no spinners of note, so if there are a couple of batsmen ready to gut it out in the middle, they might be able to take us to a draw.
But what went wrong? How did we get here, neck deep in the shite?
Let's try to answer that under a few neat heads...
1) The brilliance of Steyn - This guy has been destroying batting lineups regularly for more than a year now. He is way and out the best bowler South Africa has. His pace, accuracy and venom are enhanced with that seeming hatred of the three stumps peeping out from behind the batsmen. With him playing you can rest assured than once the recognised batsmen are out (which probably wont take too long), the end of the innings is near. That he would make an impact was entirely expected.
2) The test specialists: Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman - The three pillars of the batting order (without Sachin) are expected to score the bulk of the runs, but with no recent competitive cricket to test their form or keep them match fit, India was asking for trouble. Anil Kumble's effectiveness has been waning noticeably this season. His strength and penetration is based on his accuracy. The words "Anil Kumble" and "nagging line" in the same sentence used to be a cricketing cliché, but he seems to be losng that edge now. All the oldies are terribly unfit and their shoddy fielding is an insult to fans like us.
Personally, I have a feeling that because they were kept out of the one day squad (and perhaps rightly so) they neglected their fitness and field drills. Something needs to be done to ensure that they are fit enough to be on the field for an entire day, even if they are not involved in the national side. They are entitled to their place in the squad, but that doesn't mean that they don't need to work their asses off to improve their fielding. Dravid has voiced (shocking) opinions when he was captain that because players of his generation are not fit enough, the youngsters need to step up and give the team the edge in the field. It is an appalling attitude, blatantly shirking responsibilities of contributing in the field, and what was worse was that not one "expert" commented on it.
3) Bewildering Bowling Selection - RP Singh has only just returned from injury and is clearly quite out of form. It is astounding that this kind of thing can't be detected in the nets and pre-game training. The ideal spearhead Ishant Sharma was denied to India through injury, but I feel the swing of Praveen Kumar should have been made available.
Irfan Pathan (henceforth referred to as Pathy) has proven time and again that (if not given the new ball) he is more about restriction rather than penetration and is best suited to the shorter forms of the game. Yuvraj or Kaif should have played in his place, though whether they would have top scored with 21 runs not out is debatable.
Kumble is nursing an injury, and as mentioned earlier, is losing his teeth of late. A genuine leggie like Chawla should have played.
Sreesanth & Harbhajan are young and energetic and while not the most consistent are the only two bowlers in this team capable of producing wicket-taking balls. Well, maybe there's Sehwag, but that's just being silly.
4) Mind-boggling captaincy - Kumble played the good host to perfection, persisting with himself, Harbhajan and Pathy in the morning session, giving nothing to Sreesanth until the new ball was available. Normally, the wait for the new ball would have been acceptable, but I think he missed a trick here. The morning moisture was completely gone by the time Sreesanth came on, and the batsmen had got their eye in. If he could get a wicket like Kallis' after the batsman was set, imagine what he could have done with the moving ball in the morning. Kumble obviously didn't. For all his statesmanly conduct, he has the creativity of an old sock.
Now a word for our tormentors. South Africa have had us on the rack and rightly deserve their position at the brink of a series victory in India. Kallis -- one of the best allrounders to have played the game -- and de Villiers -- all potential, but nothing tangible until today -- ground India into the dust, and despite the hospitality extended to them by Captain Kumble and the curator, need to get some credit for what they've achieved.
Just on the side, a lot of "fans" have been blaming the cricketers' attention being on the IPL, but I don't think we need to blame them for making money. They have performed in the past and are merely reaping the rewards for that now. It's important that we keep them motivated. Don't forget the sorry decline of the Windies team because their players haven't felt that their pecuniary compensation was enough.
A first innings lead of over 400, and they're not done with us yet! It looks bad for India. I still wouldn't say we've lost it yet, because the pitch is certainly flattening out, and the South Africans have no spinners of note, so if there are a couple of batsmen ready to gut it out in the middle, they might be able to take us to a draw.
But what went wrong? How did we get here, neck deep in the shite?
Let's try to answer that under a few neat heads...
1) The brilliance of Steyn - This guy has been destroying batting lineups regularly for more than a year now. He is way and out the best bowler South Africa has. His pace, accuracy and venom are enhanced with that seeming hatred of the three stumps peeping out from behind the batsmen. With him playing you can rest assured than once the recognised batsmen are out (which probably wont take too long), the end of the innings is near. That he would make an impact was entirely expected.
2) The test specialists: Kumble, Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman - The three pillars of the batting order (without Sachin) are expected to score the bulk of the runs, but with no recent competitive cricket to test their form or keep them match fit, India was asking for trouble. Anil Kumble's effectiveness has been waning noticeably this season. His strength and penetration is based on his accuracy. The words "Anil Kumble" and "nagging line" in the same sentence used to be a cricketing cliché, but he seems to be losng that edge now. All the oldies are terribly unfit and their shoddy fielding is an insult to fans like us.
Personally, I have a feeling that because they were kept out of the one day squad (and perhaps rightly so) they neglected their fitness and field drills. Something needs to be done to ensure that they are fit enough to be on the field for an entire day, even if they are not involved in the national side. They are entitled to their place in the squad, but that doesn't mean that they don't need to work their asses off to improve their fielding. Dravid has voiced (shocking) opinions when he was captain that because players of his generation are not fit enough, the youngsters need to step up and give the team the edge in the field. It is an appalling attitude, blatantly shirking responsibilities of contributing in the field, and what was worse was that not one "expert" commented on it.
3) Bewildering Bowling Selection - RP Singh has only just returned from injury and is clearly quite out of form. It is astounding that this kind of thing can't be detected in the nets and pre-game training. The ideal spearhead Ishant Sharma was denied to India through injury, but I feel the swing of Praveen Kumar should have been made available.
Irfan Pathan (henceforth referred to as Pathy) has proven time and again that (if not given the new ball) he is more about restriction rather than penetration and is best suited to the shorter forms of the game. Yuvraj or Kaif should have played in his place, though whether they would have top scored with 21 runs not out is debatable.
Kumble is nursing an injury, and as mentioned earlier, is losing his teeth of late. A genuine leggie like Chawla should have played.
Sreesanth & Harbhajan are young and energetic and while not the most consistent are the only two bowlers in this team capable of producing wicket-taking balls. Well, maybe there's Sehwag, but that's just being silly.
4) Mind-boggling captaincy - Kumble played the good host to perfection, persisting with himself, Harbhajan and Pathy in the morning session, giving nothing to Sreesanth until the new ball was available. Normally, the wait for the new ball would have been acceptable, but I think he missed a trick here. The morning moisture was completely gone by the time Sreesanth came on, and the batsmen had got their eye in. If he could get a wicket like Kallis' after the batsman was set, imagine what he could have done with the moving ball in the morning. Kumble obviously didn't. For all his statesmanly conduct, he has the creativity of an old sock.
Now a word for our tormentors. South Africa have had us on the rack and rightly deserve their position at the brink of a series victory in India. Kallis -- one of the best allrounders to have played the game -- and de Villiers -- all potential, but nothing tangible until today -- ground India into the dust, and despite the hospitality extended to them by Captain Kumble and the curator, need to get some credit for what they've achieved.
Just on the side, a lot of "fans" have been blaming the cricketers' attention being on the IPL, but I don't think we need to blame them for making money. They have performed in the past and are merely reaping the rewards for that now. It's important that we keep them motivated. Don't forget the sorry decline of the Windies team because their players haven't felt that their pecuniary compensation was enough.
3 comments:
i have absolutely no idea who you are but this is a brilliant blog!
merci bien!
Nice post dude. T
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