Absolutely stunning display of a lack of common sense..

When I saw the dismissals of:

1) Virat Kohli

2) Yuvraj Singh

3) MS Dhoni

4) Virender Sehwag

.. there were two common aspects: Firstly, a lack of common sense,and secondly, all of them were caught behind the wicket. That tells something.

1) Virat Kohli: When you've lost a wicket in the first over of the match, and you've got Virender Sehwag for company, common sense would tell you to give him the strike. Virat Kohli, who until today, had displayed great maturity, decided to give the old fashioned waft at a ball which was around the 10th stump.

Result: Caught Behind.

2) Yuvraj Singh: At a juncture where one consolidates, a batsman of the experience of Yuvraj Singh should be more careful in shot selection. Another ugly waft at a ball bouncing high. With 2 slips in place, that shot is hardly called for, ESPECIALLY when you've already lost a couple of wickets early on.

Result: Caught in the slips.

Of late, this sort of dismissal is signalling a trend in Yuvraj Singh's ODI career. It's very easy to see his mode of dismissals - getting caught in the slips early on in his innings, by playing a nothing shot to a ball outside the off stump. This has become a common-sight now, and there doesn't seem to be any growth of maturity in shot selection.

There's one thing that is definitely growing, and that is his paunch. Yuvraj's languid movements in the field is a very good indicator of his lack of fitness. This is nowhere close to the Yuvraj we knew around 2-3 years ago.

3) MS Dhoni: The calmest player in the Indian ODI squad today. His ugly waft was VERY uncharacteristic. On another day, Dhoni wouldn't have even played that ball. Let's give him the benefit of the doubt.

Result: Caught Behind.

4) Virender Sehwag: This to me, was the turning point of the match. Neat catching practice into the hands of the wicket keeper, to a ball he could have possibly played anywhere. A shot which was uncalled for, and lacked common sense, especially when you're 4 down with almost nothing on the board.

Result: Caught Behind

Suresh Raina and Ravindra Jadeja were the saving grace of India's batting. Jadeja seems to be increasingly showing that he's made for this level. His commitment levels and his skills seem to have gone a notch up since his debacle in the T20 World Cup last year.

Yet, when there were 5 overs to go, with 2 wickets remaining, Suresh Raina plays an ugly shot to get out - knowing fully well, that even if he had just stayed put, India's score could have touched 260/270 - which in hindsight could have been VERY competitive. Scoring a 100 isn't enough, it's how you finish it and how much it helps your team that matters in the end.

The Bowling:

Ashish Nehra's injury was a turning point, given the fact that he started very well and got Tharanga out in the first over.

There are still a couple of shocking things which are of note:

1) Zaheer Khan's bowling in the 47th over, 17 to win of 18 balls:

Thissara Perera - who's proved to be a thorn in India's flesh, is known to be a compulsive hitter. The order of the day was plain and simple. Yorkers and more of them.

2 balls in a row, the first, almost cleaned Perera's stumps, the 2nd, a low full toss, was almost a catch at thirdman.

Now, when you've had such good results with 2 consecutive balls, why would you want to suddenly bowl short and get slapped for a boundary?

Zaheer Khan did just that. Got pulled for a boundary.

2) Sreesanth: The less said the better, his performance today seemed to lack any sort of sense. Short, short and shorter was his mantra of the day. The length that is, and not his attitude.

Overall:

Positives:

Suresh Raina's batting: It looks like Raina has declared that he's good enough for the big stage. Today's innings was definitely a solid indicator.

Ravindra Jadeja's all-round skills: Jadeja seems to have come to stay, and I am pretty much impressed with his all-round capabilities.

Negatives:

Overall, the batting lacked any element of common sense. Gary Kirsten would be tearing his hair off (whatever's left of it) when he sees these dismissals on tape.

Fitness needs to be addressed with a lot of these current players. Yuvraj in particular seems to be becoming a little, shall we say, prosperous?

The bowling: I hope Eric Simons (India's new bowling consultant) provides the intelligence which seems to be lacking, in a huge manner. Otherwise, looking ahead at the World Cup in 2011, with this bowling attack, we aren't going to get anywhere. It's not because of the lack of talent, it's because of the lack of intelligence.

Post your comments. Would appreciate it.

Cheers,

V

Ranji Trophy Final Jan 2010 and other stuff..

.. this one's poised for an interesting finish (Ranji Final 2010). Mumbai have all but put one hand on the trophy. It all depends on how effectively the Karnataka bowlers can clean up the Mumbai batting in the 2nd innings AND bat out of their skins while they chase. They have let the advantage slip away through some ordinary catching, and of course, lady luck going Mumbai's way.

For all the latest scores and updates --> http://www.cricinfo.com

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.

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

A new beginning!

Phew man! It took quite a while, but here's my own repository of EVERYTHING THAT IS CRICKET!

I have truckloads of views and opinions, so does my Dad - we have a LOT of discussions on cricket. So I figured, why not keep an online blog about all our thoughts and welcome cyberspace into it!

So here goes! Sproingggg! (in case you didn't get it, that's my springboard of a leap into my own blog.. DUH!)