Cricket Tournaments

The Indian team may have retained their number two ranking in ODIs despite the loss in the tri-series finals, but their insipid showing does not augur well for the World Cup, which is just over a year away. The worrying aspect is that this is not a one-off loss. India have been faltering in the finals way too often in recent years and in most cases, it is the strong batting line-up that has let them down. The Dhaka final had a similar tale to tell. This is one aspect India will need to work on very hard if they want to be seen as strong contenders for the 2011 World Cup.

Cricket may be a team game, but it is important that each and every individual takes up certain responsibility and tries to fulfil it to the hilt, especially in such crunch games. Starting with the openers, Virender Sehwag can play only one way and should continue doing so, but his partner Gautam Gambhir could look at adopting a slightly cautious in case Sehwag is doing well. To be fair to Gambhir, he has been doing an excellent job and was plain unlucky to be dismissed in the finals, but then things could have been different had he decided to take his time and not attempted strokes from the word go.

Virat Kohli had a great series, but unfortunately failed on the D-day. While one can’t be too harsh on him as he is still relatively inexperienced, his shot selection was rather disappointing for a man in prime form. Kohli needs to realize that such purple patches don’t come in your career often and hence you must make the best use of it. The plus point in Kohli’s favour is that he has proved to be a quick learner – the transformation from scoring 30s and 40s to hundreds has been rather swift. He now just needs to carry on the good work.

Like Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni’s shot selection was also questionable. But then that’s the flip side of being aggressive. When it doesn’t work, it ends up looking rather ugly. India would dearly hope the experienced duo can get their act together in future finals. That is because if they fire, there is very little chance of India losing, such will be the brutality of their attack. In short, the Indian batters need to work out a proper mechanism when it comes to competing in finals.

To be brutally honest, the situation is equally bad in the bowling department, if not worse. And a lot of it has to be attributed to the non-stop cricket the Indians have been playing (for some weird reason, mostly against Sri Lanka) as well as the power play restrictions. Zaheer Khan has clearly lost the edge he held over batsmen over six months back and his partner Ashish Nehra’s fitness concerns have comeback to haunt him again. To lose Nehra in a final was a big setback for India and vindicates the selectors’ stance to keep him away from the Test squad. Harbhajan Singh continues to bamboozle us all and this has been haunting India for a dangerously long time. Time for some soul searching, boys.

Virat Kohli continued his rich vein of form, registered the second ODI century of his career as India got the better of Bangladesh in an inconsequential encounter prior to the tri-series finals.

Chasing a decent target of 248, Indian batters eased to the target with Virat Kohli’s contribution being supported by cameos all around. Earlier, batting first, Bangladesh recovered from a precarious 95 for 5 to post a reasonable score of 247 for the loss of six wickets.

Shakib Al Hasan’s was the star of the show with the bat for the hosts, striking an impregnable 85. He was ably supported by Mahmudullah, who carried on his good form against the Indians and remained unbeaten on 64. Unfortunately for Bangladesh, the Indians proved to be too good for them once again and raced home to an easy win.

Kohli, who was deservedly named Man of the Match, batted in a commanding manner, proving that he has learnt very quickly from his past mistakes. His cuts, drives and pulls were equally impressive and the beleaguered bowlers had no answer to Kohli’s prowess.

He slammed Shafiul Islam for a number of boundaries with great authority and similar punishment was meted out to Naeem Islam as well. Kohli went on to complete a well-compiled hundred with a leg side whip off Shakib’s bowling and end the game.

The new India number three was lucky to be offered a couple of lives. Mohammad Ashraful dropped him off Syed Rasel’s bowling at deep midwicket. Kohli was then on 83. Very soon, wicket-keeper Mushfiqur Rahim missed a stumping chance created by Shakib.

A couple of balls later Suresh Raina was reprieved as well, but it hardly could have had any impact on the game.

What could have helped Bangladesh was early wickets, but that was far from the case. Dinesh Karthik and Gautam Gambhir were offered plenty of width to play their favourite shots.

While Dinesh cut with ease, Gambhir flicked away a number of deliveries directed at his pads. The openers though would be disappointed for failing to capitalize on their starts. Karthik edged one to the keeper when on 34 and Gambhir’s wild swing led to his downfall while on 41. India lost Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in pursuit of the chase, but Kohli and Raina saw India through without much difficulty in dewy conditions.

Despite the loss, Bangladesh can take heart from their batting performance, their recovery being nothing short of sensational. The fightback began courtesy a century partnership between Shakib and Mahmudullah. Shakib, who was given a life when in the 30s, went on to punish the Indian bowlers severely.

He was especially severe on the spinners, slamming Ravindra Jadeja and Amit Mishra for sixes over midwicket. It needed Ashish Nehra’s skill, a slower ball, to see the back of Shakib. At the other end, Mahmudullah continued with his merry ways.

He was severe on all the bowlers, be it the seamers or spinners. Naeem contributed a whirlwind 22 towards the end as Bangladesh took 95 from the final 10 overs. But, it still wasn’t good enough to overpower the Indians.

When India take on Sri Lanka in the tri-series game on Sunday, they would hope to push for a win and guarantee their place in the final. But things wouldn’t be all that easy in spite of their recent triumphs against Lanka. This is because Sri Lanka have been the best of the three teams in the tournament so far and their unbeaten record stands testimony to it. India, on the other hand, India have been horribly ragged, especially with the ball. Not that their batting performance has been especially great. In both the games they have been in deep trouble. If not for MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli, they might well have ended up embarrassing themselves against Bangladesh after the loss to Sri Lanka.

Sadly, the toss has been a hugely influential factor in the series. And even the half-an-hour early start hasn’t it made much difference. In all the games, the team batting first has won and unless the trend changes, this tournament will end up being quite a farcical one. Having said that, Sri Lanka might try the experiment of bowling with the wet ball given a chance considering they are already through to the final. Ironically, it would also present India with their best chance of handing Lanka their first defeat of the tournament and securing their berth for the finals.

Whether they bat or bowl first, the fact remains that India’s bowling needs to show marked improvements. Zaheer Khan has been India’s bowling spearhead for a while now, but he certainly hasn’t been at his best since the start of the series against Lanka in India. Probably, he needs a break to recharge his batteries. It’s the opposite case with Ashish Nehra. Having made a strong comeback into the side and cementing has place as the second seamer, Nehra now has to prove his consistency. To be fair to the left-arm seamer, he hasn’t had the best of conditions to bowl. Still, a cricketer with his experience will be expected to do better. Harbhajan Singh’s inconsistency in recent times has been baffling, and a real cause for worry. One can’t predict what he will dish out on Sunday so better wait and watch.

Speaking of India’s batters, Kohli, Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh have been among the runs while Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina too have made useful contributions. One the one hand, India would want these men to continue firing and on the other hand will hope for the openers Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir to explode in the manner we all know they can. That would solve a few problems for India.

Sri Lanka too would want their good batting form to continue. They would be boosted by the return of Tillakaratne Dilshan. Even in his absence, Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera and Mahela Jayawardene came up with the goods (read centuries), which is a great sign for the side. Their bowling effort has been commendable as well with Chanaka Welegedara being especially potent while spinner Suraj Randiv is improving with every game.
With two well-matched sides, one can only hope and pray that the toss doesn’t end up hampering either team once again.

With the series level at 1-1, India and Sri Lanka will have plenty at stake as they lock horns at Cuttack. Whoever clinches the game will become favourites to win the series, as the other side will have to come out victorious in the final two games to end on top, a rather improbable proposition if you go by history. For one, Sri Lanka will go into the match believing they can upset the Indian applecart once again. This after their magnificent chases in both the games played so far. India may have won the Rajkot battle, but it was undoubtedly Lanka who won more hearts, coming tantalizingly close, chasing over 400.

While the Indian batting has been in awesome form, they still need to figure out a way to utilize the powerplays when Virender Sehwag falls early, like it happened in Nagpur. India clearly lost out on a few runs because of his dismissal, which made a huge difference in the end. And though Virat Kohli did a good job coming up the order, Sunil Gavaskar’s suggestion that MS Dhoni should come up at number three in such situations must be implemented. This is only in hindsight, but it’s a point to ponder upon that had Dhoni come in earlier India could have notched up a bigger total, which could have made a significant difference.

Sadly for the Indians, this strategy cannot be implemented in the next two games as the Indian captain has been banned for the team’s slow-over rate. It goes without saying that Dhoni’s services as batsman, keeper as well as skipper will be missed dearly. However, there is no point in losing sleep over it. The Indians must instead focus on how to get their act right at Cuttack. For a start, Dinesh Karthik is not a bad replacement for Dhoni as keeper batsman. He has been in such situations before and has more often than not done a commendable job. India would be hoping Karthik delivers in the next two games as well.

In Dhoni’s absence, Sehwag will take over the mantle of captaincy. India will be hoping that the additional pressure doesn’t affect his batsmanship. The one positive for India might be the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh, which should definitely shore up the batting order in Dhoni’s absence. However, they have bigger worries to sort out, none more than their bowling in the first half of their innings and their so oft mentioned atrocious fielding efforts. While Zaheer Khan’s lapses in the field weren’t entirely responsible for India’s loss at Nagpur, they were symptomatic of the team’s performance in the field, which has been ragged from the time Lanka arrived in India.

The visitors themselves have a few problems of their own. After Muttiah Muralitharan and Dilhara Fernando, their Man Friday Angelo Mathews will now miss the remainder of the series following the injury he picked up during his match-winning knock at Nagpur. Their middle-order too needs to bat with a lot more responsibility so that the efforts of the top three – Tharanga, Dilshan and Sangakkara – don’t go in vain. All in all, yet another closely fought contest in the offing.

There was little going against India in the fourth ODI at Mohali. They won the toss, got the better of the bowling conditions, restricted Australia to an easily achievable target and even put up an unexpected sparking performance in the field. Yet, they ended up on the losing side. It can only be put down to a complacent effort by their batsmen on a pitch where the ball was coming on to the bat very nicely till the very end. All India needed was a reasonable score from one of their top order batsmen and decent contributions from a couple of the others and they would have cantered home rather easily. Not only have the home side squandered a rare opportunity to go 3-1 up against Australia, they have also given the ‘wounded’ Aussies a new lease of life in the tournament. And we all know how dangerous they can get once they smell blood.

The entire Indian batting line-up needs to be held responsible for the defeat, may be with the exception of Virender Sehwag, who, it seems, has been given the license (or may be he has taken it himself) of going after every delivery. While it has been absolutely entertaining to watch him taking on the bowlers, how the Indians would wish he can carry on a bit longer. It’s not all that difficult for the man. Asking him to change his natural style would only backfire on India; if only he can be slightly judicious in his shot selection in the remainder of the series, Australia’s woes would be compounded to magnanimous proportions. As it is they are struggling to put together a fit XI. The Indians cannot get a better opportunity to put it across the Aussies, something they have failed to do in a long time at home against the world champions.

Sri Lanka recently sent out the message to the veteran Sanath Jayasuriya that his spot in the ODI team is not guaranteed anymore, unless he performs with some degree of consistency. It may be too early, but the same principle must also apply to Sachin Tendulkar. He hasn’t crossed 50 in any of the four ODIs and the poor decision he got at Mohali cannot be considered as an excuse. The Indian team management must ask itself and Sachin the tough put pertinent question – will he still be around when the 2011 World Cup comes. One is not querying Sachin’s commitment, but it has been often proved in recent times that his splitting the Gambhir-Sehwag combo has harmed the team’s chances.

Virat Kohli and Ravindra Jadeja are still young, yet they need to learn sooner rather than later. What is disappointing is that they aren’t really making a concerted effort to dig themselves in when the team needs. Kohli played an expansive stroke before getting set, whereas Jadeja ran himself out needlessly. Suresh Raina has been on the international circuit for a couple of seasons now and he, more than the other youngsters, needs to put his hand up and lead the brigade of the young guns. When he made his comeback last year, he stroked some sparking centuries. Even though against minnows, the tons made one believe that he was ready to climb up the ladder. That though is yet to happen and, like Rohit Sharma, Raina too will face exclusion unless he performs soon.

A lot to improve upon for India as they head into the next game. The hosts would have reclaimed the top spot had they beat the Aussies at Mohali. But considering their disappointing performance, it is clear that they are not yet ready to take over the numero uno slot.

An insipid batting performance by India saw Australia defeat them by 24 runs in the day-night game at Mohali, and in the process levelling the series 2-2. Chasing a modest 251 set by the Aussies, India got off to a stupendous start thanks to Virender Sehwag and his flashing blade. However, once he fell for 30 from 19 balls, the Indians kept losing their wickets at regular intervals, some rather senselessly, and in the end fell way short. This was after a good bowling performance saw the Indians restrict Australia to 250 on a great batting surface.

India began their chase in whirlwind fashion, with Sehwag smashing the first ball of the innings from a struggling Mitchell Johnson through the off-side boundary. And he never looked back after that, cracking six more fours in his 19-ball cameo. But just when he was looking good, he failed to clear the in-field off a Doug Bollinger delivery and gave Australia an opening. With Gautam Gambhir out with a neck injury, youngster Virat Kohli was promoted to number three. Unfortunately for him and the team, he couldn’t make use of the great opportunity, nibbling at one way outside the off-stump and becoming Bollinger’s second victim.

At the other end, a steady Sachin Tendulkar was trying to resurrect the innings. Somewhere down the line though he seemed to have lost focus with the entire hullabaloo over him approaching the 17,000-run landmark. Sachin ended up playing across the line to off-spinner Nathan Hauritz and was adjudged lbw for 40, a dubious decision and one that cost India dearly. The home side could never recover from 94/3. Last match’s heroes MS Dhoni and Yuvraj also failed to do an encore. Yuvraj was caught short of his crease by a direct hit from Ricky Ponting, while Dhoni was somewhat unlucky to be caught down the leg side for 26. Bollinger, though, was not complaining. His third scalp meant India were all but out of the game.

Suresh Raina disappointed yet again and Ravindra Jadeja failed to make use of a good chance to impress the team management. Even though the lower order put up some fight in the form of breezy cameos from Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar, the irreparable damage had already been done.

The Indian batting performance was in stark contrast to their crafty bowling performance earlier in the day. After winning the toss and electing to bowl first, once again due to the dew factor, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar kept things extremely tight. Nehra was soon rewarded with the scalp of Shaun Marsh, who was trapped lbw for 5. Shane Watson, in the company of skipper Ponting, steadied the innings. The Indian bowlers, however, ensured that the duo did not run away with the game. And so when Watson was caught behind off Harbhajan one short of his 50, the game was back on even keel.

For a change, India were sensational in the field, effecting four run-outs. Ponting (52) was sent back by a direct hit by Jadeja from the deep, whereas Nehra got rid of top scorer Cameron White (62), fielding one on his following through and throwing down the stumps at the bowler’s end, with the non-striker out of his crease.

Sadly for India, on a day when they pulled off the unexpected, they failed to do what was expected.

If cricket matches were played only on paper, India would win hands down at Nagpur. Australia will be depleted by the absence of Brett Lee and James Hopes, taken out of the equation by injuries, whereas India would be bolstered with Yuvraj Singh, in all probability, returning to action. However, that’s not how things work out on the cricket field. So even though India would consider themselves lucky to be taking on a depleted Aussie XI, they will still have to go out and perform to level the series at Nagpur. Moreover, the Indians have to pull their socks up in each and every department.

There are likely to be some definite changes in the home team. If Yuvraj comes in, it will be a straightforward decision to be bench one of the young guns – Virat Kohli or Ravindra Jadeja. There is a faint possibility that both might sit out if India decide to go in with the extra spinner in Amit Mishra, with Yuvraj as the part-time option. Apart from that, there shouldn’t be any modifications in the batting department. However, that doesn’t mean all’s well. The top and middle order needs to get its act together. They can be excused for the Vadodara failure considering it was the first game of the series, but cannot afford to repeat their mistakes at Nagpur.

Virender Sehwag looked ominous during his brief stay on Sunday and would be itching for a big score. Among the others, Sachin Tendulkar would be keen to find the middle of the bat after an unusually below-par performance whereas MS Dhoni must be keen to lead from the front. Opener Gautam Gambhir was the only one who lent some solidity to the Indian chase at Vadodara and the rest, including the ‘sometimes flattering, sometimes deceiving’ Suresh Raina, can learn a lesson from his batsmanship. Gambhir, himself, has to continue with his good work.

Bowling wise as well, Dhoni and co have plenty to ponder upon. After the pasting he took at Vadodara, Praveen Kumar’s confidence might well have taken a beating, his fighting knock with the willow notwithstanding. And so, it is a risk the Indians would not like to take in a crucial game. Munaf Patel will most likely be his replacement, but whether he will prove to be a suitable alternative remains to be seen. Ishant Sharma has found some rhythm no doubt, but needs to maintain the consistency over a period of time for him to be blindly trusted by the team management. Finally, the time has come for Harbhajan Singh to sit down with the team think-tank and discuss what role he has to play in the one-day side. Of late, he has been neither been totally attacking nor completely defensive in his tactics, but has been stuck somewhere in between, barring a few games, in which he managed to make an impression. That leaves India with only comeback man Ashish Nehra as the form bowler, a far from ideal situation.

For Australia, expect Ben Hilfenhaus and Shaun Marsh to get an opportunity in place of Lee and Hopes. That apart, they don’t have too many worries. All their batsmen got runs and bowlers crucial wickets. If anything, some improvement is needed in the death overs bowling as well as in the field. Also, they stumbled during the batting powerplay, but the same applies to India as well.

As it often happens in this part of the world, day-night games are affected heavily by dew. Hence, the team batting first will have to post a huge score if they want to beat the wet conditions in the field. One only hopes that the final result is decided on the basis on which team played better cricket and not external factors.