When India embarked on the Zimbabwean sojourn with a new look side, it was clear that their aim was to test out the bench strength in the team. And, while the opening game against Zimbabwe turned out to be a disaster, Rohit Sharma’s well-compiled century did stand out as a glimmer of hope amidst the ruins for the Indian side.

And, after tasting defeat against the minnows, his match-winning ton against Sri Lanka was equally impressive. Though there were moments of impetuousness, Rohit did well to ride his luck and come up trumps. The fact that his preceding ton was in a losing cause made this innings all the more special.

There was never been any doubt with regards to his talent. However, he has often been unfair to his promise over the last couple of years. True, he has a right to feel that he has been let down by the selectors on occasions.

Despite this, one has to believe that he has been given enough opportunities in the past to prove his mettle. One constant criticism of him has been his inability of cross the 20s and 30s. In this context, the consecutive tons in the tournament should make him a lot more confident of crossing the ‘cameo’ barrier in the future.

Rohit can take inspiration from the youngster who was at the other end during their match-winning partnership – Virat Kohli. Till not too long ago, Kohli was also consistently falling after getting starts and looking well-set.

However, once he registered his maiden ODI ton last year, there has been no looking back for him. Kohli has been consistently notching up significant scores. His latest effort, in partnership with Rohit, was proof of his ever-improving maturity.

Even when Rohit was getting impetuous, Kohli remained calm and gave India a Dravid-like assurance, if one can take the liberty to say so.

To put things into perspective, Rohit’s centuries have come against two relatively weak attacks. And so, he needs to remain consistent against the serious teams as well in the times to come. Still the amount of time he has spent on the crease should only do him plenty of good.

But, amidst the accolades Rohit shouldn’t forget that there is one department in which he needs to make a remarkable improvement, and nothing less. That is the fitness aspect of his game.

He has put on too many extra kilos in the recent months and looks worse than a retired cricketer. Rohit needs to understand that the days of Arjuna Ranatunga and David Boom are long over. With so much one-day and T20 cricket being played these days, a team cannot afford a liability in the form of an overweight cricketer.

After all, fielding has become an equally important aspect of the game now, on par with batting and bowling. By no means is one expecting Rohit to turn into a Suresh Raina, however he cannot expect to remain a certainty in the team unless he works on the one aspect often underestimated in Indian cricket.

India have often had to pay the price for their lethargic fielding, so it is somewhat surprising that they still aren’t working on it diligently.

If Rohit is able to overcome these couple of shortcomings that exist in his game and remains mentally strong, there is little to stop his from achieving greater heights in international cricket.

The Proteas clinching a one-day series win against West Indies should come as a surprise to anyone. After all, they have lost a one-dayer to West Indies just once in the previous 15 battles between the two sides. However, following the debacle in the T20 World Cup, it was paramount for both teams to get back to that winning feeling as quickly as possible.

And, so while too much can’t be read into the triumph, the South Africans should use the confidence gained as a stepping stone towards building a winning combination for the 2011 World Cup in the sub-continent. There are still two more games to go in the series, and a 5-0 whitewash ala the Hansie Cronje days would do the side no harm at all.

Despite not being at their best, South Africa have still easily managed to outplay the Caribbeans. Batting has proved to be South Africa’s strength in the series, and even when it failed in the third ODI, the bowlers stood up to seal the series for their team. With the willow, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers have been particularly impressive.

And, it has been mainly due to the duo’s efforts that the Proteas now find themselves in such an impregnable position. AB has been having a golden run in one-day cricket of late, and South Africa would be desperately hoping that it lasts a lot longer, and even against much-stronger teams.

Like de Villiers, Amla also is going through a purple patch. He was always a good Test match player, but now that he has found his bears in the 50-over version as well, South Africa can afford to look beyond Herschelle Gibbs, who form has consistently petered away with age.

While these have been the chief positives in the batting department to come out from the series so far, a couple of worries still remain. None bigger than that of their skipper Graeme Smith, whose form remains wretched. He has got a number of starts lately, but hasn’t been able to convert most.

And, his ability to pick up injuries freakishly has been haunting him and the side rather frequently. Smith would dearly love to put the bad memories behind him, and start afresh from the fourth one-dayer. With the series in the bag, South Africa will get a chance to experiment. And, so the likes of Loots Bosman, Alviro Petersen and David Miller should get a chance to remind the selectors of their presence as the World Cup nears.

Shifting focus to South Africa’s bowling, Morne Morkel has been the stand-out performer, putting West Indies on the back foot with his pace and aggression. It was his bowling effort that was significantly responsible in the Proteas defending a meagre total in the third one-dayer.

Dale Steyn has remained pacy as ever and has been keeping the batsman on their toes. South Africa’s tactics have also been well-thought out. Kieron Pollard hasn’t been allowed to free his strong arms. Darren Sammy did manage to flay the Proteas attack in one game, but their bowlers came back well to restrict him in the next encounter, indicating they had learnt their lessons quickly.

With two games left, South Africa now need to go for the kill. Yes, as aforementioned, they are bound to experiment. However, it shouldn’t be at the cost of the game. A fine balance needs to the struck between the two, so that the momentum gained via the hat-trick of wins is not interrupted.

It is so often the case when a player is said to be extremely talented, that he can overtake even the all-time greats of the game. However, in the process to achieve that legacy, something goes wrong down the line. And it makes the player believe that he is a failure. People would think he hasn’t delivered to his potential. Consequently, it’s almost time to bid goodbye to cricket for the player or hang around courtesy the belief that your captain or the selectors have in you.

When I thought about this, the first cricketer who I remember fits into the bill, is none other than Vinod Kambli. Kambli and his best friend, Sachin Tendulkar put up the highest partnership of 664 runs in a school match in 1988 of all-time, until it was broken in 2006 in Hyderabad.

Ever since then, many believed that Kambli was far more talented than Tendulkar. The comparisons began to grow after Kambli played his first ODI for India in 1991, two years after Tendulkar made his international debut. He had an amazing, almost a Bradmansque start to his career. He hit 4 centuries in his first 7 Tests for India. He also was at par with Tendulkar in ODIS as Tendulkar didn’t establish himself in the format, like the player he is today.

However, he lost his way soon. The ‘law of averages’ caught up with him. His weakness against the short ball was noticed by many teams, who used it in great effect. He was undisciplined and inconsistent which resulted in him being kicked out of the Indian team many a times.

He ended his Test career in 1995 only and ODI career in 2000. And Tendulkar has had a glorious 20-year long career, and till today he has dominated all bowling attacks in the world and given his best for India when it matters the most. So in the light of Mumbai cricket and Tendulkar, Vinod Kambli was a huge hype at the start of his career but could never live up to the expectations of the till-date unforgiving Indian fans.

Secondly, in the Indian sub-continent, another player who I can dwell upon is Mohammad Ashraful. The Bangladeshi batsman became a household name right after his debut Test. At just a tender age of 16, against a powerful Sri Lankan attack, Ashraful defied all the odds and scored 114 runs off 212 balls, which might have lost Bangladesh the match, but it did give the country a future to live for. However, as expected, Ashraful did not live up to the hopes that he had created with that knock.

His lean patch continued for another 3-4 years until he hit back with a cracking 158 against India at Chittagong. Ashraful then had a kind of a golden run for the next six months considering that he was not even 21. He scored a memorable century against Australia in England in 2005, creating an upset as Bangladesh won by 5 wickets.

Although Bangladesh did not make it into the finals of that triseries in England, yet it was widely believed that if Ashraful was in top form, the country could win some more matches against top teams. But then again, Ashraful lost his steam as he was dropped from the side during the ICC Champions Trophy in India. And then all of a sudden, after a good 2007 World Cup, Ashraful was selected as captain of his country at the age of 22! But again, it didn’t make a huge difference as his batting suffered still and his captaincy wasn’t up to the mark.

As a result, he was even dropped as captain from the 2009 World T-20 onwards. Currently, his place in the side is under scrutiny and I believe it is due to his experience of 10 years of international cricket that captain Shakib al Hasan and coach Jamie Siddons are persisting with him. If he doesn’t return to his best, and Bangladesh find an ideal, young batting star, it could be curtains to Ashraful, who has under-performed right throughout his career.

Bangladesh is developing as a cricketing nation, but had Ashraful been able to play knowing how much is he capable of, Bangladesh could have by now atleast been in the top 8 in the rankings of ODI cricket, if not Tests.

JP Duminy is another contemporary player that I can think of. Duminy was first spotted in 2004 where he made his ODI debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo. However, a strong batting line-up prevented Duminy to retain his place in the side after that series. Though, there was some hope for him.

Ashwell Prince got injured ahead of the tour of Australia in 2008. Duminy was sent in as replacement. And he took full advantage of this opportunity by scoring an important half-century, remaining unbeaten to steer South Africa to the victory post chasing a mammoth total of 414 on a fast track at Perth in the second innings. He then scored a match-winning 166 in the next Test at Melbourne.

A brilliant Test series was followed by impressive performances in the ODIS and T-20s against Australia in Australia as well as in South Africa, in the return series. This helped him earn a $950000 contract with the Mumbai Indians for a period of two years, making him one of the most expensive players in the IPL ever. However, there was nothing much to celebrate about from here on.

He didn’t live up to his value in the IPL 2 and IPL 3. He struggled in the home series against England in 2009 and in India in 2010. And currently, on the tour of West Indies, he isn’t favoured in the starting XI by captain Graeme Smith. So JP Duminy has found it tough going after an amazing tour of Australia, when he made his debut. But it is expected that he makes a good comeback and help South Africa become No.1 in all three formats of the game. Otherwise, the team is ready to give its batting reserves a crack at the international level, which could hasten the end of his career.

In the West Indies, the one player who I believe is a huge hype is Kieron Pollard. Pollard got known across the world as a dangerous all-rounder following a match-winning 51 runs of just 18 balls against New South Wales in the 2009 T-20 Champions League. This paved the way for a stint in the IPL 2010 with the Mumbai Indians, being the tournament’s most expensive player ever, if media reports are to be believed.

Pollard also signed a contract with South Australia, for the KFC Big Bash last season. However, statistics show that after the Champions League, Pollard has struggled to make it big for the West Indies side. He has scored 359 runs in 13 innings at an average of just 27.61, in one-day cricket, even though he has batted mostly either at 6 or 7 in the batting order. His condition in T-20s is worse when it comes to play for his country.

He has made 104 runs only in 10 innings. Even in the IPL, barring the last 3 games of the Mumbai Indians, Pollard certainly didn’t live up to the expectations of many as the most expensive player as his value was less whenever Mumbai won. And it was worse when they lost.

For South Australia as well, Pollard didn’t make a major contribution, but somehow they won the championship. Kieron Pollard is still sought-after due to his all-round abilities, which are crucial in the shorter formats of the game. Yet, if he doesn’t mature in time, like the other cricketers in the article, he too could face the axe by various teams which could make him face the dead end of his career.

Kevin Pietersen

If there is any batsman in the world who bowlers hate the most to bowl at, it has to be England’s Kevin Pietersen. However, he is not exactly England’s. He is South Africa’s. He was born in Pietermaritzburg, Natal. He played in the country till he was 15. Until it was time that the quota system based on race, took place.

This didn’t allow Pietersen to play for South Africa. So he left his home country and went to his mother’s country, England. From thereon, Pietersen had every incentive to make it big as a cricketer. His story is inspirational so much so that he is undoubtedly my favourite player.

His rise has been majestic, and this was proved when he got a call up to play for England in a one-day series in Zimbabwe in 2004. However, what amazed me was his concentration which made him determined to make it big in international cricket.

And I was won over with his performances in South Africa in 2005. People abused him for being a traitor. However, despite the pressure, he went on to score three hundreds in seven one-day matches.

And he was humble enough to give the credit of his amazing debut to his then-captain Michael Vaughan, who told Pietersen to only watch the ball and nothing else.

His performances further at home against Australia and Bangladesh caught the eyes of the English selectors who had an otherwise tedious job to select the best 15 players to challenge the Australians for the Ashes in the summer of 2005. And he was preferred ahead of Graham Thorpe!

Pietersen made sure that he lived up to the faith that his captain Vaughan and coach Duncan Fletcher had in him, by top-scoring with a 50 in the first Test at Lords.

Though England lost badly, yet it helped Pietersen to get better and better. He ended the Ashes with 468 runs in 10 innings, which aided England in winning the coveted prize.

He followed that with his second test hundred in Pakistan, making him already England’s Mr. Reliable. However, as his stature was increasing, England became lackluster as they were beaten 0-5 by Australia in 5 Tests, in the process losing the Ashes.

Pietersen’s critics questioned his match-winning ability. However, he continued his good form despite England exiting from the Super 8s stage of the World Cup 2007.

He scored a double-century against West Indies at Leeds, as the innings yet again showed how much he loves dominating a bowling attack right from the world go. His form never dipped as he proved himself to be a perfect batsman.

He scored Test hundreds in New Zealand, India and West Indies over a period of two years. His tally of Test hundreds is now 16.

However, cracks began to appear in Pietersen’s batting when he was made captain in 2008. Though Pietersen continued to score, but his knocks were not convincing enough.

A strained relationship with the then coach Peter Moores, didn’t let him do well and the team. It resulted in an Ashes-like whitewash in the ODIS and a defeat in the Test series in India. A modest showing followed against the West Indies away and at home.

And then his downfall began. It is ironic that the man, who rocked the cricketing world with a fantastic debut against Australia, is four years later not making an impact against the same opposition and it results in him losing his form. Pietersen didn’t play three Tests of the Ashes 2009, which England won.

And further irony was that he failed in the same format of the game in a country where he made his mark as a top cricketer. And in his ‘home’ country, South Africa. He struggled right throughout the tour.

This had a multiplier effect as he didn’t play as the real Kevin Pietersen in Bangladesh. In fact, the mediocre Bangladeshi bowling attack was able to invent something which no other country had done in the past. An easy way to get him out is with the use of a left-arm spinner.

This weakness made Pietersen vulnerable and pundits believed that it would take some time before he regained his form. And he did soon. Pietersen makes the statement ‘Form is temporary, class is permanent’ so valid. He played well for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the IPL 2010 in India, for a team where he is the million-dollar man.

A successful IPL resulted in an equally successful World T-20 in the West Indies for Pietersen. He was a major force in England winning a global tournament in 35 years.

This was proved with him winning the man-of-the-tournament award. Currently, he must be the happiest man in the world as he has been not just a loyal English cricketer with a tattoo of the 3 lions, but also a complete family man having just witnessed the birth of his first child with wife, Jessica Taylor.

He has always been a good son too, according to his mother. Can there be another Pietersen? I don’t think so. Not at the moment.

The ultimate dream of an aspiring, young cricketer is to book a place for himself in the national team. And the national cap is a proof of this. Indeed, the world population is increasing from time to time.

As a result, the number of people who wish to enter the world of cricket as players is increasing at an alarming rate. The top cricketing nations in the world want to continue to dominate so players, who have worked hard in domestic cricket, might easily get a call-up into the national team.

India, for instance, has emphasized on the importance of a mix of the young and old. Greg Chappell, the former India coach, started this tradition through the rotation policy in 2005, which allowed newcomers to prove their worth at the international level.

Although Chappell’s tenure was forgettable in the history of Indian cricket, he could be given enough credit to have worked upon young players in order to win more matches for India in the future. RP Singh, for instance, earned his national cap in 2005 against Zimbabwe.

So did Suresh Raina, against Sri Lanka in the same year, at the time when the 2007 World Cup was just 18 months away and India was suffering a leadership crisis as well as team fighting.

These two players have turned out to be important for the Indian ODI team, and RP Singh is also a good Test match bowler. And since 2008, India has been giving away national caps to players than ever before. It is due to a phenomenon called the IPL.

There are many examples in this case, such as Pragyan Ojha, who had an exceptional first year with the Deccan Chargers, considering his team’s poor performance. In the same season, Manpreet Gony, a talented fast bowler, did well to steer the Chennai Super Kings into the finals, which allowed Dhoni to pick him in the playing XI in the Asia Cup, soon after.

Ravindra Jadeja played a crucial role in helping the Rajasthan Royals win and this made Shane Warne, his captain recommend him to play for India. And his wish came true in February 2009 when Jadeja made his debut in Sri Lanka.

And recently, R Vinay Kumar of the Royal Challengers Bangalore also played a match in the World T-20, after a terrific IPL where he finished in the Top 5 wicket-takers category and a decent Ranji Trophy too.

Abhimanyu Mithun also got his national cap in an ODI against South Africa in February 2010 when he ended as the highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy last season.

It is not just India, even England are following the same method by keenly following county cricket. Jonathan Trott was picked first in 2007 after a fantastic season with Warwickshire as England were looking to build a strong team in all three formats of the game considering a poor Ashes series and an extremely disappointing World Cup campaign in the West Indies.

One of the toughest selections that England had ever made was for the Ashes series in 2005. A young, swashbuckling batsman named Kevin Pietersen was picked ahead of a far more experienced and reliable Graham Thorpe in the squad of 15.

Michael Vaughan and Duncan Fletcher believed that a youthful English side was all that they needed to beat a strong Australian team, and that proved to be correct.

The transition happened in one series where Ian Bell and Pietersen played memorable knocks to get the Ashes back in England after a long gap of 19 years. Thus, in a country like England, where soccer is followed passionately by many youngsters, the ECB is giving incentives by allowing young players to enter the cricketing fray, in order to make their careers in cricket and help England become a top nation in cricket in the long-run.

Australia and South Africa are ranked highly in all three formats of the game as they believe that it is through playing T-20 for the national side, that youngsters can be tested and then can make the cut in the ODI and the Test teams respectively.

The performances in the IPL and the KFC Big Bash are crucial criteria for selection. For example, Australia’s team which made it to the finals of the World T-20 in 2010 had many players who played first in the T-20 format and then the ODIS. David Warner, for instance, played for Australia first in a T-20 game against South Africa and he made a name for himself in the same match to qualify for playing in the ODIs.

Players like Daniel Christian and Steven Smith are established, young T-20 players who are trying to pave their way into the ODI team as well. Australia have a strong and an overall young bowling attack in ODIS which can help them rotate so that the best XI can be chosen in major World Events or in important series such as the Ashes.

South Africa too have players such as Rory Kleinveldt and Loots Bosman who are T-20 specialists and are bound to be in the ODI team if they perform well in T-20s and domestic cricket. David Miller, too had a good T-20 outing against West Indies recently, and as a result earned a call-up into the starting XI recently, with South Africa axing JP Duminy!

Other teams such as New Zealand and Sri Lanka already have a good amount of youngsters playing at the international level. So, giving away national caps doesn’t make sense, though they should be doing this wisely in the long-run, in order to rise in the ICC rankings.

Minnows such as West Indies, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are not able to groom youngsters in order to mentally prepare them to play for their country.

Although the IPL and the Champions League has helped, yet their players are motivated my money and so would prefer playing more in such tournaments. And lastly, teams like Pakistan should be united enough to accept young blood in the side any further after the country has been suffering due to a callous administration, which has no interest in the welfare of the team.

Pakistani players also need to be taught that their country is more important to play for rather than themselves. It is only then that the meaning of giving out a national cap becomes more valid.

This is the first game of the Micromax Cup in Zimbabwe between the hosts, India and Sri Lanka. Zimbabwe is entering this tournament with a disastrous performance in the World T-20, being knocked out in the first round.

However, they did learn important lessons after beating Australia and Pakistan in the warm-up matches of the tournament, under a new captain, Elton Chigumbura. India, also didn’t do well in the same tournament, having being knocked out in the Super 8s stage.

They are under pressure back home and as a result most of the seniors have been rested in order to give youngsters a chance to perform. So all this makes it an interesting match as India have a new-look team and a new captain in Suresh Raina and Zimbabwe also are looking to start afresh in order to prepare for the World Cup next year.

At the Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo the conditions favoured the batsmen to a certain extent. As a result, India won the toss and elected to bat first. Dinesh Karthik, and Murali Vijay, both Tamil Nadu players too, were out in the middle to open the batting.

India tried to take control of the game thanks to horrendous bowling from the Zimbabwean skipper himself, which resulted in 36 runs coming in 2 overs. And the sundries read 24.

However, Zimbabwe fought back in no time. Vijay’s running between the wickets could be described as if he was walking in a park. As a result, a run-out sometime or the other was evident, and it did happen. Three balls later, the usually athletic Virat Kohli, batting one down, got run out without scoring and facing a ball!

And much sooner, the settled Karthik also edged a flighted delivery from the former captain Prosper Utseya and Brendan Taylor, the Zimbabwean wicketkeeper held on to the catch.

It was 61/3 in just 12.3 overs when the two biggies in this second-string Indian team, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma were at the crease. Raina, tried to play a captain’s knock by nudging the ball here and there responsibly, thereby curbing his aggressive shots.

In the end, it proved to be slightly slower innings than expected as he scored 37 runs off 53 balls, with just two boundaries. However, Sharma batted extremely well, considering the flak that he had been facing over the pub incident in the Caribbean and the issue of him being overweight.

He certainly proved his critics wrong by scoring 114 runs off 119 balls at an impressive strike rate of 95.79, which included 6 boundaries and 4 sixes. Ravindra Jadeja, was also a bright spark of the Indian batting scoring a run-a-ball unbeaten 61 and with some help from Yusuf Pathan’s lustrous hitting, India managed to reach a competitive total of 285/5 in 50 overs.

For Zimbabwe, it was Chris Mpofu who was the best bowler as he finished with figures of 2/63 in 10 overs. Utseya bowled well to keep India below 300. Yet, it was a tough task for Zimbabwe to chase 286, against an Indian attack which is young and has proved its ability in tournaments like the IPL and Ranji Trophy.

However, the Indian bowlers didn’t bowl to their potential as Zimbabwe started off in blazing fashion. It had to take a slider from Amit Mishra, by far India’s most experienced bowler in this match, to remove Hamilton Masakadza who in the end scored 46 runs off 43 balls. Despite the loss of this wicket, Zimbabwe was in a dominant position at 88/1 in 13 overs.

The pace trio of Ashok Dinda, R Vinay Kumar and Umesh Yadav struggled to stop Zimbabwe from putting up good partnerships and allowed Zimbabwe to bat freely as Brendan Taylor, a very underestimated batsman scored as many as 81 runs off 103 balls, as the required rate never went out of reach. Although at one stage, Zimbabwe required 50 runs off 36 balls, they deserved to win.

Charles Coventry, whose ferocious hitting is known courtesy the innings of 194 against Bangladesh last year, also went at a strike rate of 128. Chigumbura is a clean hitter of the ball and the captain couldn’t have felt more delighted than seeing the youngster on debut, Craig Ervine, scoring a half-century and winning the match in his debut one-day game as captain with him himself being at the other end! Ervine played a calm, controlled knock which made Zimbabwe overhaul India’s score with 10 balls to spare.

Raina’s captaincy and team selection came into question. Using Jadeja in the last few overs was not the best of tactics and so he paid the price for it. Yusuf Pathan wasn’t given more overs and instead Raina banked on inexperience to deliver. This caused a major upset and opens up the triseries in dramatic fashion.

Brendan Taylor was named man-of-the-match and he could lead Zimbabwe to more wins in the future against top nations, if he continues to perform in this vain. On the other hand, Raina and India has a lot of thinking to do as they would face Sri Lanka (yet again!), next up. And the Tigers would be looking to pounce on the prey which has already been wounded so severely.

Chigumbura - leader of the home pack

In spite to being pitted against a second-string Indian side, one has to say that Zimbabwe’s win in the opening encounter of the tri-series was nothing short of an upset. After all, Zimbabwe have been playing with a makeshift team themselves for half a decade.

Even so, this series presents them with a great opportunity to gain some much-needed experience and start the process of getting their cricket back on track. The comprehensive victory against India was a perfect step in this direction.

Even since their top players quit the scene owing to political instabilities, Zimbabwe have struggled to put together 11 men to take the field and also to find an opposition, with most teams backing out when the crisis was at its peak.

And so, with India and Sri Lanka arriving in the African nation, Zimbabwe stand to gain the most, irrespective of the result.

There were plenty of positives in the opening game itself for Zimbabwe as they took full advantage of the inexperienced Indians and handed them a rude jolt. Among the ones who were particularly impressive was a debutant named Craig Ervine, who batted with nerves of steel to guide the team home in what should have been a tough chase even against a weakened Indian bowling line-up.

True, he was helped to a great extent by the enormous start that the openers gave the home side. Still, it can never be easy for a first-timer to go out in the middle under tough circumstances and see things through to the very end.

The fact that Ervine succeeding in staying at the crease till the winning runs were hit should stand him in good stead, at least for some of the future matches.

It wasn’t the debutant alone, though, who stood up to be counted. The most striking aspect of Zimbabwe’s win was that each and every batsman made a significant contribution during the chase.

The intent to win, which was a hallmark of 90s’ Zimbabwe even when they lost, was palpable in this bunch of players. And so, they went out with a positive attitude, which worked wonders for the spirit of the team.

The openers Hamilton Masakadza and Brendan Taylor handled the newbie Indian bowlers with consummate ease and the confidence only rubbed off on the rest. And, every time Zimbabwe looked in a spot of bother, there was someone to bail them out, be it Ervine, Charles Coventry or newly-elected skipper Elton Chigumbura, who hit the winning runs.

This was one of the key factors that contributed to Zimbabwe’s elusive triumph against a Test-playing nation, apart from Bangladesh.

On the contrary, India shouldn’t read too much into the defeat. Considering the lack of experience in the side, they were bound to struggle even against Zimbabwe.

The best they can do is have a peek at what some of their youngsters like Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav and Vinay Kumar are capable of and look forward to build a team from there for bigger battles.

All three mentioned are pace bowlers, a department in which the cupboard is definitely looking bare, and hence rather significant. The World Cup is now only months away, so India cannot afford to play merry-go-round for long.

This series should give them an opportunity to shortlist some of the rookies, who they believe can come in handy during the mega event.

Having seen their ragged performance in the opening game, it is evident that they have a lot of hard work to do. But, this is just the start for Suresh Raina and co.
The valiant knocks from Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja, though in a losing cause, should inspire the newer members of the team to pull up their socks.

While there isn’t much for the viewers to gain from watching this experimental series, the same cannot be said for the teams.

South Africa vs West Indies

The highly anticipated ODI series between West Indies and South Africa got under way on a Saturday morning at Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua.

The match was monumental for the stadium’s future as it had last hosted a Test match between West Indies and England in 2009, which was abandoned with only 10 balls being bowled. So, North Sound was indeed a happy place to be in, even as South Africa won both the T-20 internationals against the hosts.

And yet again, South Africa didn’t disappoint at all. A comprehensive win by 66 runs was a fitting reply to those critics who questioned Graeme Smith’s captaincy, which was said to be ruining South African cricket. The match began with Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, having won the toss and elected to field first on a damp wicket due to rain before the start of the game. South Africa lost two huge wickets of their captain and Jacques Kallis in a span of 10 overs.

However, Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers had some other ideas. The pair put up a 129-run partnership for the third wicket, in the process registering identical scores of 102. West Indies bowled well in bits and pieces, picking seven wickets with Dwayne Bravo picking 3/40 in 10 overs.

But South Africa was in the driver’s seat after posting 280 runs in 48 overs of batting. During their chase, West Indies didn’t look like a team on a mission to prove that their performance in the World T-20 was a few bad days in the office. They didn’t bat with their hearts out with the team losing Andre Fletcher early.

The captain, Chris Gayle and Bravo, batting at No.3, were on course of winning the match for the hosts until Bravo fell in the 8th over itself, falling to a rash shot rather than good bowling by Ryan McLaren. And worse, Gayle’s dismissal followed in the 13th over, after playing an impatient shot of Morne Morkel.

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine put up a 4th wicket partnership, which was slow enough to allow the rest of the batting line-up to crumble under pressure in the last over. Charismatic all-rounder Kieron Pollard hit a quick-fire 44, but the team succumbed to some good South African bowling as they were bundled out for 215 in a mere 44.1 overs, with Morne Morkel picking up 3/40 in 8 overs which included the wicket of the West Indian captain.

Hashim Amla was the man-of-the match for his fine 102 which led the foundation of a big total to post for the South Africa.

It was the same old story again in the 2nd ODI at the same venue. This time, South Africa won the toss and elected to bat first. Captain Graeme Smith was looking to finally get back into form, until he was bowled by West Indies spinner Nikita Miller.

However, that didn’t demoralize the South Africans as it was once again, the wall of South Africa, Hashim Amla who played well for his 92 at an impressive strike-rate of 96.84. South Africa had good, quick partnerships to get exactly 300 runs in 50 overs. Kallis, also with a half-century alongside AB de Villiers and David Miller took advantage of Amla’s foundation innings to put South Africa in a winning position at the innings break.

West Indies didn’t learn from their poor chase in the last match and faltered again. It was a slow start from the West Indies with Gayle getting out first in the 11th over. And it looked like it was all over at 236/7 in 44 overs, when Bravo fell for a well-deserved 74. However, Darren Sammy put up a brave fight which made even the critics of the West Indies believe that they could win from a precarious position, with just 6 overs to go!

A flurry of outstandingly-struck sixes helped Sammy score 58 runs of only 24 balls. This is the only positive that West Indies can take from this match which they narrowly lost by 17 runs, and as a result 0-2 down in a 5 match series, which means that they have to win all of the next 3 matches to win the series.

Hashim Amla was yet again the man-of-the-match, but West Indies have certainly found a third all-rounder in the team in Darren Sammy who scored the fastest fifty for the West Indies in ODI cricket, ahead of greats such as Brian Lara, Vivian Richards and his captain, Chris Gayle! No matter whether the first 2 ODIS have been bad for the hosts, yet the increasing quality of cricket played in this series makes the last three matches a lot more exciting.

West Indies fans enjoys in the stadium

Right after a successful World Twenty-20 Championship, West Indies will be hosts to the touring South Africans. To kick off the tour, South Africa plays West Indies in 2 Twenty-20 internationals.

Both teams have few things in common. Firstly, both are in the T-20 mode following the IPL and World T-20. Secondly, both the teams were knocked out unceremoniously from the World Championship in the Super 8s round. Thirdly, both have a point to prove as they look to get back to their winning ways.

North Sound in Antigua has been decided to host both the T-20 internationals. The first T-20 has had a huge hype following criticism in South Africa over the team’s recent performance, including calls for Graeme Smith to quit as captain.

The surprising exclusion of Mark Boucher, making AB de Villiers the wicketkeeper, was also not received well by many of their fans and critics. On the other hand, West Indies too were feeling the heat with their knock-out in the world championship, being the hosts of the tournament.

Some of the selections were baffling and as a result, losses must have put Chris Gayle, the captain under pressure ahead of the first T-20 international.

However, Gayle had some luck at the toss when he had a choice and decided to bowl first on a slow surface. After the early loss of opener Loots Bosman, South Africa tried to gain some momentum with a 73-run second wicket partnership between the experienced duo of the captain Smith and Jacques Kallis.

However, the team suffered after the fall of Kallis in the 16th over. None of the batsmen were able to stay at the crease, and score at a fast rate. This allowed the hosts to come back into the match in the last five overs as South Africa finished at 136/7 in 20 overs. Kemar Roach and Kieron Pollard picked two wickets each for the West Indies.

However, South Africa had an unsung hero in Ryan McLaren. McLaren, best known for playing a crucial role in helping the Mumbai Indians enter the final of the IPL this year, picked a staggering 5 wickets for just 19 runs in 3.5 overs which included the wicket of his teammate in the Mumbai team, Kieron Pollard.

Apart from the dangerous Pollard, none of the West Indies batsmen tried to attack. As a result, South Africa prevailed easily by 13 runs, which did lead to some cooling down of the temperament of the South African fans who had nearly lost hope in their team. On the other hand, West Indies had some work to do before the second T-20 international at the same ground, the next day.

The next match turned out to be a cracker! Again, West Indies won the toss and had a bowl in similar conditions the day before. South Africa batted poorly, in fact much worse than the last game, putting up a mere 120/7 in 20 overs. The score could have been lower had the debutant David Miller not fired and off-spinner Johan Botha not contributed down the order.

Jerome Taylor made a comeback for the West Indies and did a splendid job by picking 3 wickets for 16 runs in 4 overs. However, what the West Indies might have not realized is that South Africa has not just a good pace attack but also a spin attack.

And Botha had not finished. He picked 3 important wickets with the ball, those of Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kieron Pollard and Ramnaresh Sarwan. West Indies, and not South Africa was choked in the end as South Africa held their nerve to win by the narrowest of margins batting first.

By a mere 1 run. South Africa played reasonably well in both the matches, considering the pressure that they were facing. On the other hand, West Indies only became more weakened and demoralized ahead of the one-day series, which could have a huge impact on the entire tour.

Kevin Petersen celebrates with his teammates

The time is ripe for Test cricket to take centre-stage after a T-20 extravaganza which involved the IPL and the World T-20. And what better advertisement can Test cricket get, than the start of the traditional English summer. The hosts, England are on a roll after winning the World T-20 in the West Indies, beating Australia emphatically in the final.

They were flawless throughout the tournament, which made many believe that the team can go the distance by winning not just the Ashes in Australia this year, but also the 50-over World Cup in the Indian subcontinent next year. Thus, England begins their preparations of the upcoming tough winter season, by facing Bangladesh at home first up in 2 Tests.

On the other hand, Bangladesh had a poor World T-20 as they were knocked out in the first round itself. And on this tour, they even lost their warm-up match against the England Lions, making their job of competing against a confident English team, even more difficult. However, Bangladesh is improving for certain and with a top-quality player like Shakib al Hasan as their captain, they stand a chance of at least a fighting draw, if not a win at Lords, where the first test is being played.

Playing at Lords in London, is a dream for any cricketer in the world. After all, it is the ‘Home of Cricket’. However, at the same time, it can build up pressure to those same excited cricketers who are looking forward to make an impact at the venue. And that exactly sums up the first day of the first Test for Bangladesh.

Shakib al Hasan won the toss and made a baffling decision to bowl first in good batting conditions. This was a perfect opportunity for England to put up a huge score against a Bangladesh side whose average age is just 22. And England did exactly that.

The skipper Andrew Strauss and Jonathan Trott, batting at No.3, put up a 181-run partnership for the 2nd wicket after Alastair Cook fell early for just 7 runs, being lbw to Shahadat Hossain, perhaps the spearhead of the Bangladesh attack in the absence of the experienced Mashrafe Mortaza.

Strauss didn’t look like he had taken a break for 4 months as he batted like the way he does, that too at his home ground and by far his favourite, Lords. The England captain scored 83 runs of 129 balls until he played a lackluster shot to get clean bowled of Bangladesh off-spinner Mahmudullah.

Trott hung on the other end as he saw the wickets of an in-form Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell falling. Pietersen, who won the man-of-the-tournament award in a successful World T-20 campaign, was expected to make a big score again, even if Test cricket is a different ball game.

He was looking in great touch until it was Shakib al Hasan, who once again dismissed him. It was great captaincy as he took advantage of Pietersen’s weakness against left-arm spin, which was evident in Bangladesh as well.

England was perhaps missing the ‘rested’ World T-20 winning captain, Paul Collingwood as his solidarity would have helped in the situation. But Trott continued to bat till the end of the day, scoring a brilliant 175 not out at the end of the first day’s play, his first Test hundred at Lords and the second of his career, after the Ashes-winning hundred at The Oval in the same city on his debut last year. He looked so comfortable at the crease that it was a complete contrast of his woeful batting in South Africa last season.

Trott’s batting also helped the debutant, Eoin Morgan play his natural game. Morgan wasn’t nervous on his debut at Lords and he carried his good form in the West Indies in this game. He was on the verge of getting a half-century as he was stranded on 40 not out at the end of the day with England at 362/4 in 90 overs. Bangladesh didn’t bowl exceptionally well, and it was more of the mistakes committed by the English batsman rather than the brilliance of their bowlers that got them the four wickets.

After a poor first day, the visitors had a better second day. Even as Trott completed a glorious double-hundred, Bangladesh was able to pick up wickets regularly. Morgan missed out on a half-century by adding just 4 runs from his overnight score of 40. Tim Bresnan, who is a Freddie in the making, showed that he can bat well.

Unfortunately though, he was adjudged out on 25 of a good Shahadat delivery and an exceptional catch by Junaid Siddique at first slip. Graeme Swann was in an attacking mode, like he usually is in when he bats, but it didn’t help his team much as he took a risk of the bowling of Shakib, giving the skipper his second wicket.

By then, Bangladesh was confident enough to bowl out England as Trott too departed after an outstanding 226, batting for nearly 11 hours. And they did so successfully as Shahadat Hossain as his name was ready to be put up on the famous Lords honours board for picking up five wickets in an innings, in the process being the first Bangladeshi player to achieve this feat. It was a decent comeback from Bangladesh but there was more to come.

Bangladesh’s openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes must have been told by their skipper to go out hard at the English bowlers. And that’s exactly what they did. James Anderson, by far England’s top pace bowler, was rusty on his return. He didn’t play a single game in the World T-20 in the West Indies.

This cost England dearly as his bowling made Andrew Strauss run out of ideas. England were also missing Graham Onions, who is out for three months due to a knee injury and has been the ideal for opening the bowling with Anderson in Tests over the last year or so. Stuart Broad has been rested, and arguably he is England’s in-form bowler at the moment.

Hence England’s bowling attack in this match lacks the potency which was so much in abundance as seen in the Ashes series and in South Africa last season. However, these can’t be excuses as Tamim Iqbal batted really well and was set for a huge score until he went for a risky single and was run out by Kevin Pietersen for a quick-fire 55 runs of just 62 balls. The first-wicket partnership itself was of 88, and Iqbal was supported well by Kayes who scored a well-deserved 43.

At the end of the second day’s play, both the openers fell, leaving both a confident Junaid Siddique, who also scored a fifty and a sedate Jaharul Islam unbeaten at the crease with the score being a surprising 172/2 in 53 overs. If the weather doesn’t play truant in the next three days of the test, this could turn out to be a cracking contest.

Something which even the most ardent Bangladeshi supporter wouldn’t have hoped for against England in England after a disappointing series the last time around, in 2005!

Shahadat Hossain celebrates his wicket

I write this article as I watch Bangladesh take on England at the home of cricket lords. Its lunch time on the second day of the first test match and Bangladesh seem to be playing without any motive, an absolute disgrace to the game of test cricket.

It was almost coming down to lunch time before umpire Ashoka de Silva from Sri Lanka decided on one more over before the clock ticked over the stipulated 1 o clock time. Bangaldeshi skipper Shakib al Hasan handed the ball over to former captain Mohammad Ashraful.

Ashraful bowled an over of absolute dollies depicting nonchalance towards the game of test cricket. Slow leg breaks, nothing more than 40 miles per hour short and wide, some looped up even over the shoulder. The balls were so slow that one of them couldn’t be recorded on the speed gun. Atrocious piece of cricket!

So, the question arises should test cricket be streamlined to the top 8 teams in the world? Will test cricket miss the Bangladeshi’s?

The matter is as much the concern of survival of test cricket as it is of giving an opportunity to upcoming nations like Bangladesh on the international arena. But do they deserve it? Are they doing justice to it?

After seeing something like this I have my reserves about answering these questions.

Well, it can always be said that the critics are always out armed with daggers ready to strike. However, in retrospect one could say that it was one over to lunch and a culmination of slackened bodies and minds could have caused this.

Whatever be the reason, one thing is certain international test cricket was not made for this. International test cricket was made for quality and I am afraid that is not to be seen anywhere keeping the ashes aside.