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This pitch and situation is tailor-made for one man. Rahul Dravid. If he was allowed the freedom of playing the finals (even after Vijay Mallya offered to charter him to Bangladesh), then I have a feeling that the story would be slightly different.
Karnataka's Abhimanyu Mithun is doing his chances no harm at all with his fast-medium bowling.
Yes. Fast-medium.
Yes. Fast-medium.
For all Indian Cricket fans out there (me included obviously), let's face the truth. This guy is a good bowler, no doubt - has a lethal yorker, a good bouncer, and very Javagal Srinath-like when it comes to his in-dipping deliveries. But, he's nowhere close to being a Kemar Roach or a Brett Lee. His pace at the most would touch the high 130s. He would average around 130-135kph. I think that Indians all over are over-awed everytime the media reports about a new FAST bowler on the horizon. Henceforth, I'd call an Indian fast bowler "FAST" only if he is capable of bowling at 145kph + consistently!
I still have a feeling he's going to make the grade very soon, provided he learns the tricks of his trade intelligently. I use the word "intelligent" here, because of the fast-medium bowlers India has been producing of late, there's hardly any bowler who fits the bill of being "intelligent".
Intelligent according to me, means the following:
1) Bowl yorkers consistently during the death in in ODIs or T20s.
2) Consistent line and length during the beginning of an innings, please use the short balls sparingly - as bouncers. Otherwise you know you're going to get walloped.
3) Learn the art of patience in Test Cricket, use reverse swing potently, learn the art of making the batsman play every ball.
Zaheer Khan is a good candidate for 3). I don't see any other bowler who fits the first 2 points. As Ian Chappell has stated today : http://www.cricinfo.com/india/content/current/story/443658.html
India will not be able to consistently stay@ the top unless they unearth a really intelligent fast bowler and a good spinner.
Going back to World Cricket on the whole -
IPL:
The player's auction is just a week away.. and I think the Royal Challengers Bangalore ( MY TEAM! OH YEAH!) have a pretty settled look.
They could have done well to buy Stuart Binny, but Mumbai Indians made a quick and interesting move for him.
I feel they lack just an all-rounder. Shahid Afridi would be an ideal pick, Kieron Pollard would be even better! The team will surely be more rounded with either of these acquisitions.. then it would be the question of dropping a foreign player from the 11. Given the fact that there are only 4 allowed in the 11, it's going to be a difficult decision - but a good problem nevertheless!
Australia vs Pakistan:
Looks like Kamran Akmal has finally been made to eat his words. (or gloves?) From the latest reports, it doesn't look like he will be playing the final match of the test series with Sarfraz Nawaz all but ready to take his place, and that doesn't seem like such a bad thing looking at Sarfraz's first-class record.
Let's see if that is going to make the Pakistanis more competitive. I fear this will be a 3-0 whitewash in favour of Australia, unless Mohammad Yousuf comes up with the goods with his captaincy and batting.
South Africa vs England:
Who'd have thought, that England would be winning the one-day series as well as be 1-0 up in the Test Series with one match to go!
Not me!
Either way, England have done India a huge favour :D Even if South Africa manage to square the series, they will not be able to reclaim the number 1 spot in the ICC Test rankings.
Hats off to Graham Onions. Now this one would surely leave a bad taste in the South Africans' mouths :D
More to follow when I get more inputs from my head and Dad ;-)
Cheers,
V
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