Cricket Tournaments

Following Ireland’s historic win against England, it was almost a given that Indians wouldn’t be in for a cakewalk on Sunday. And even as the Irish men went down, they made sure that they kept their pride in tact courtesy of an excellent fighting effort with the ball. In spite of the fact that India were chasing an extremely small total, the Ireland bowlers kept India in check throughout the chase. And it was only towards the end of the innings, thanks to some massive hits by Yusuf Pathan and a sedate knock by Yuvraj Singh, that India managed to breathe easily. Irrespective of the result, both teams came out with plenty of positives and would go into the future games high on confidence.

From the Indian perspective, the biggest plus was undoubtedly the all-round performance of Yuvraj. It was he who brought India back into the game with both bat and ball. Following the early loss of wickets courtesy a magnificent opening spell by speedster Zaheer Khan, Ireland had made a solid comeback via a fruitful and sensible alliance between skipper William Porterfield and the experienced Niall O’Brien. The two seemed to be cruising and building solid platform for the Irish innings, until a brilliant piece of fielding brought an end to the dangerous partnership. From there onwards, it was all Yuvraj.

The part-time left-arm spinner’s deliveries often look innocuous. But, there are times when he gets it right and could be extremely frustrating for the opponent. On Sunday, not only did he maintain a tight leash on the Ireland batsmen, but also undid them with some smart bowling on a pitch that had some help to offer. Ireland aren’t known to be great players of spin. Still they wouldn’t have seen Yuvraj as their major threat. But, as things panned out, he ended up plucking out half of their side. The Irish batsmen just had no answer how to deal with his spinning deliveries. They often ended up playing the wrong way and fell prey to Yuvraj’s guile one after the other. Okay, it was only Ireland, but this performance should egg Yuvraj on to greater things with the ball in the future. His captain MS Dhoni has always maintained that the lad from Punjab is a vital cog in the bowling machinery even if he wasn’t performing with the willow. And, on Sunday, Dhoni stood vindicated.

Buoyed by his bowling effort, Yuvraj came up with the goods while having the bat in hand too. Even as the other experienced guys like Sachin Tendulkar and Dhoni led the job half done, Yuvraj stayed till the very end and saw the team through. It was a mature effort that saw his hit only three fours in his 75-ball unbeaten stay at the crease, also a tribute to Ireland’s plucky effort. This knock should do a world of good for his confidence and India would be desperately hoping that he can now replicate this effort against the bigger teams.

While Yuvraj was undoubtedly the architect of India’s victory on Sunday, there were a couple of other noteworthy contributions that cannot be underestimated. Firstly, it was Zaheer Khan’s opening spell with the ball that gave India the much sought after early breakthroughs, something which they had struggled to get in the initial two games. The Indian left-arm pacer bowled two beauties to see the back of Paul Stirling and Ed Joyce. With the ball moving, the duo were totally at ill-ease against Zaheer and were easy meat for India’s numero uno bowler. The other heartening aspect was the big-hitting of Yusuf Pathan. He hadn’t had much to in the tournament so far apart from dropping catches, which doesn’t say much. But, on Sunday, it was his belligerent cameo that helped India sail through somewhat troubled waters. Even if it was against Ireland it was a crucial effort which will give Pathan some assurance going into the bigger tests.

The fact that Ireland managed to push India so hard reiterates that they still aren’t at their best and a lot of areas still need sorting out. First and foremost, Piyush Chawla’s place in the XI should be put under the scanner considering yet another unimpressive effort. Apart from the warm up game against Australia, he hasn’t looked threatening at all. Even against a team like Ireland, which has a reputation of not playing wrist spinners well, Chawla lacked penetration. And it is about time R. Ashwin gets his deserved chance, putting the theory of not playing two off-spinners together on the back burner for a while. One strong rationale behind this is that even the other part-time off spinner in the side, Pathan, has been least impressive. Against Ireland, Yuvraj bailed India out. But, everyday can’t be a Sunday. And hence the need to test Ashwin early in the tournament is essential. Though Dhoni has maintained that nothing much can be done about the fielding, the Indians at least need to hold their catches. If they keep dropping catches, a time will soon come when they will have to pay dearly for it.

Despite the loss, Ireland only won more hearts. This is one team that no cricket lover can hate for they give every game their hundred per cent. Even after losing two early wickets, Porterfield and Niall O’Brien batted with the poise of veterans as Ireland went about rebuilding their innings. It was a credible partnership that laid a solid platform for the team. The manner in which they handled the spin of Harbhajan Singh and Chawla was highly commendable. And if not for Yuvraj and Zaheer, might well have been facing a much tougher task.

Even with the ball in hand Ireland kept fighting. Former captain Trent Johnston did exceptionally well to get rid of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir with some intelligent bowling. The other bowlers and fielders also chipped in to frustrate India. In the end, India managed to stave off the challenge, but Ireland undoubtedly won over a few more fans.

Ricky Ponting

It was advantage no one as the first day of the opening Test between India and Australia came to an end at Mohali. Both teams had their chances to gain the ascendancy however could not capitalize on their good starts, allowing the opposition to claw back into the game. First, India got the early breakthrough, but were well below par in the field, dropping crucial catches.

Suresh Raina, who was not only electric in the field but also effected the run-out of Ricky Ponting at a vital stage, was the sole exception. The home sides fielding woes allowed Australia to get away, and they looked set to march on to a sizeable first innings total. It did not help that Ishant Sharma, bowled numerous no balls, one of which was a wicket-taking delivery before leaving the field with a knee injury. It was only proficient late burst by Zaheer Khan, who scalped three of the five wickets to fall, that ensured India ended the day on a high.

Australia, on the other hand, would be disappointed at having lost a golden opportunity to begin the series on a high. They may have lost Simon Katich early, but the in-form Shane Watson, in the company of skipper Ponting, had set the perfect platform for the visiting team. Aided by some insipid bowling by the Indians in the morning and afternoon session, the duo made merry. Indians looked down in the dumps when Raina produced an athletic bit of fielding to catch the Australian captain short of his crease. It wasn’t a spectacular effort by Raina’s standards, but stood out on a day when the dropping catches had become the norm. It also sent a strong signal into the opposition camp that there is one man they can’t take lightly on the field, else they would have to pay dearly.

Ponting left the scene fuming and although Zaheer’s needling was far from obligatory, the reactions from both men went on to show how much the dismissal meant to their respective sides. And, as if to prove a point, Australia stuttered towards the close of play from thereon while Indians bowlers tightened their grip and also claimed three more crucial scalps. All this while Watson held one end up rather cautiously as he registered his third century on Indian soil in consecutive innings, following up on his two tons in the practice game.

While Watson played a rather mature hand, keeping himself in check throughout, unlike the flashy batsman he is known to be, it also signified Australia’s quagmire. Not only Watson, but the entire Aussie middle-order adopted this unexpected approach following Ponting’s dismissal. The only difference was that while the opener was successful, the rest got trapped and succumbed to the pressure created by the Indian bowlers in the latter half of the day, unable to execute what was planned.

One of the reasons for Australia’s defensive approach might have been the lack of confidence in the latter batsmen. While Michael Hussey is still very good, his consistency has dropped lately. This aspect was evident at Mohali. Even as he tried his best to fight through, he eventually couldn’t last long enough to make a substantial contribution. And even though Marcus North got a century in the game the other day at Chandigarh, his consistency at the Test level doesn’t make him reliable as yet. It did not help Australia that their vice-captain and someone who has done fantastically well against India in the past, Michael Clarke, also had to endure a rare failure.

As the day drew to a close with runs drying down and a couple wickets going down, the faces of a seething Ponting and an upbeat Zaheer sprung back to mind. If a picture had to tell the story of the day, that was it. The task in front of both teams is rather straightforward in a sense. The Aussies need to keep fighting, albeit with a little bit of positive intent. Remember Watson is still out there and the Australian tail is renowned for producing fortune-changing partnerships. For India, their aim should be to wrap up the Australian innings as soon as possible, more so since they have lost the services of Ishant Sharma. If the batting side keeps them on the field for long, the other three main bowlers will have to shoulder extra burden, which isn’t the ideal situation. Additionally, the bowling needs better support from the other fielders, and not just Raina, who was undoubtedly the star of the day.

India’s uncomplicated win against Bangladesh wasn’t surprising in any sense. However, it must have been a relief nonetheless following the recent disappointments in Zimbabwe and also the fact that Bangladesh have troubled the Indians quite a lot in recent times.

Even on Wednesday, the Indians began as if they were the underdogs and it was some senseless batting from the Bangladesh batsmen as well as a better bowling performance towards the second half of the innings that allowed India to get back into the game. Once that happened, there were literally unstoppable. Then too, there was some scope for improvement as India closed out the game.

The bowling performance at the start was especially appalling. Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar sprayed the ball all over the place and had no answer to the early onslaught by the Bangladesh openers. In a sense it was understandable since the former was returning from a break, while the latter hadn’t had the best time in Zimbabwe.

Still, the Indians cannot afford to be lax against the stronger Asian opponents. And so, it was good to see the duo coming back well in the second spell and regaining some respectability in their bowling. It is of utmost importance for them to carry on the good work into Saturday’s crucial encounter against Pakistan.

The Indians put up a much better show with the willow in hand, though one has to say they could have avoided a couple of hiccups. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma fell in quick succession, which put India in a spot of bother.

Chasing a mediocre total they would have preferred to canter home. And while they did manage to get through with a bonus point eventually, it was only because the Bangladesh batsmen had kicked themselves in the foot earlier in the day.

Shifting to the positives, there were a decent number of them for India to cheer about. As aforementioned, the bowlers came back very well after the initial outburst by the Bangladeshis.

Even here, there was a surprise package. It was batting wizard Virender Sehwag, returning from injury, who spun a web around the Bangladesh lower order. Tossing the ball and inviting the batsmen to go for the strokes, Sehwag was successful in defeating four batsmen in the air as he ended with career-best figures. While the return wasn’t surprising as he also boasts of a five-for in Test cricket, it was a proper test for Sehwag’s shoulder, and he seemed to pass fit.

When the Indians went into bat, there weren’t under too much pressure. But it still need one decent partnership to see them through. And while Sehwag couldn’t match his heroics with the ball, Delhi mate Gautam Gambhir ensured he left his stamp on the game. After the initially edginess, self-confessedly the T20 effect, Gambhir settled down nicely to lead India’s victory charge.

Despite the meagre total, it wasn’t the easiest pitch of bat on as the game progressed and, as witnessed in the opening game, the lights weren’t the best either. Under the circumstances, the southpaw’s knock was a highly valuable one. He paced his innings according to the needs of the situation, and was thus instrumental in India getting home.

In the form of skipper MS Dhoni, Gambhir once again found a steady influence. And even after he was dismissed, the Indian captain kept steady head and earned India the crucial bonus point.

This victory notwithstanding, things will be on even keel when India take on Pakistan over the weekend after what seems like ages, following the political conflict in the latter nation. For now though, they would be pleased just to have overcome Bangladesh, who were influential in embarrassingly knocking India out of the 2007 World Cup.

A 2-0 scoreline suggests a one-sided contest, but believe me the India-Bangladesh Test series was far from one. In both the Tests, the host nation had India in trouble, but struggled to take full advantage of it and ended up conceding the series rather meekly in the end.

India, on the other hand, did impress in bits and phases. However, overall their performance against the lowly-placed Bangladeshis left a lot to be desired, the final result not withstanding. Still, a series win is a series win and India can take in a number positives as they head into the next challenge – a tough home series against South Africa.

The biggest plus for the visitors from this series was the rhythm-rediscovery of Ishant Sharma. The lanky paced, who seemed to be losing his efficiency in recent times, was nearer to his best against Bangladesh. Okay, so it wasn’t the stiffest opposition and thus one cannot read a lot into it.

But, at least this series will give Ishant the much-needed confident boost. He picked up wickets at regular intervals, and more importantly, was successful in maintaining a proper line and keeping the runs down even when he was not getting wickets.

Though not as important, this series meant a lot to Zaheer Khan too. He hadn’t been at his best in the recent series’ since making a comeback. And, as he himself admitted, he is still to rediscover his best.

Yet, the match-winning spell on what turned out to be the final day at Mirpur was something he desperately needed. The seven-wicket haul in the second innings will be etched in the left-arm seamer’s memory for a while, considering India were struggling to break through at one stage.

Deservedly, he ended up picking up the Man of the Match as well as the Man of the Series awards.

If Ishant and Zaheer were hot, there were some equally disappointing performances among the bowlers as well. Sreesanth, who announced his comeback to Test cricket with a five-wicket haul just recently, looked totally lost.

He sprayed the ball all over to be taken for plenty of runs. To add to the frustration, he bowled plenty of no-balls and to make things worse, ended up pulling a hamstring. Harbhajan Singh remained a disappointment in the one Test he played while both Amit Mishra nor Pragyan Ojha proved potent in the one outing they got, but weren’t eye-catchy in any sense.

But for the failure in the first innings at Chittagong, the batting lived up to the expectations. Gautam Gambhir continued to pile on the runs, though he missed out on a sixth consecutive Test hundred. His opening partner Virender Sehwag did not seem interested in playing the long innings against a weak opposition, but made sure he gave the side a good platform in Gambhir’s company.

All the experienced hands – Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman and Dhoni – made substantial contributions when needed, Yuvraj Singh remaining the sole disappointment.

All in all, some good practice for India ahead of the South Africa series.

The decade has changed, but India’s fortunes in finals haven’t. They slid to yet another defeat as Sri Lanka becalmed a familiar opposition in the game that mattered.

Mahela Jayawardene, recalled midway through the series, guided Lanka’s tough chase of 246 with a mature, unbeaten 71. There were useful contributions from Kumar Sangakkara and Tillakaratne Dilshan as well which ensured that India’s mighty fight back with the bat courtesy Suresh Raina’s magnificent century went in vain.

Batting first, the Indians slumped to 60 for 5 in no time before Raina’s rearguard action, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja, ensured the team ended with a respectable score. But, in the end, it was Jayawardene’s effort that mattered the most.

Coming into bat following the quick dismissals of Dilshan and Sangakkara, the former Lankan skipper anchored the innings to perfection to take Lanka home in the penultimate over.

Playing risk-free cricket, he began hesitantly, pushing and prodded at most deliveries. But, once he settled down, he brought out some of his classy strokes as well.

It was Jayawardene at his methodical best, just what the doctor ordered for Sri Lanka. He found an able ally in Thilan Samaraweera, with whom he added 48 crucial runs after the loss of two quick wickets.

The team found itself in a spot of bother after Samaraweera’s dismissal, bowled by Jadeja’s arm ball, was followed by Thilina Kandamby’s, who was accounted for by Harbhajan Singh. But, nothing affected Jayawardene on this day.

He had his share of deserved luck too when Harbhajan put him down at point, just after he had crossed his half-century. Suraj Randiv fell with another 18 runs still required.

But S. Sreesanth, who disappointed big time, released all the pressure by allowing Jayawardene to hit him for three boundaries to various parts of the ground and that was the series.

Earlier, Sri Lanka laid a solid platform for the win despite losing Upul Tharanga in the first over. Tharanga slashed at one way outside off-stump from Ashish Nehra.

But the unfit left-arm seamer couldn’t take much further part in the final and the in-from Dilshan and Sangakkara took full advantage of it. Neither Zaheer Khan nor Sreesanth could stop the flow of runs as Lanka progressed smoothly to 93 for one.

It needed the golden arm of Yurvaj Singh to break the partnership. Dilshan tried to cut glide one behind the wickets and ended up edging the ball into MS Dhoni’s gloves, one short of another 50 against India.

Buoyed by the breakthrough, Harbhajan snared Sangakkara for 55 with a rising delivery that spun away from the left-hander and induced the edge. Some tense moments followed, but Jayawardene and Samaraweera went about the rebuilding task without much fuss.

At the start of the game, bowling was the big worry for India. But on the big day, the batters ditched the side. India lost their first five wickets for a mere 60 runs, 42 of them coming from Virender Sehwag’s bat as Nuwan Kulasekara and Chanaka Welegedara shared the spoils.

Raina came in and played a splendid knock, but in hindsight, the damage caused by then proved to be irreparable.

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.

Sanity was restored to cricket at Nagpur as the scores returned to the usual 300-bracket from the extraordinary 400 plus totals achieved at Rajkot. But, there was no shortage of drama here too as the match once again went down to the wire. Yet again, it seemed Sri Lanka would throw it away after being in a commanding position for most part of the chase. However, an unimpressive bowling effort and some slack fielding in the closing stages combined to let Lanka off the hook in the end. For the visitors, Angelo Mathews (37*) played a brisk cameo, batting with a runner towards the fag end of the innings, to ensure the Lankans did not repeat the mistakes made in the first game.

Earlier, it was Tillakaratne Dilshan who once again set up the chase of 302 perfectly for Sri Lanka, notching up his second blistering ton in as many games and fifth overall. Like in the first game, he got excellent support from his opening partner Upul Tharanga. The duo batted as if they were continuing from where they finished at Rajkot. All the bowlers were taken to the cleaners from the very start of the innings. Zaheer Khan was pulverized, as were Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar. Most of Dilshan’s big strokes came hitting on the up, either straight down on the ground or over mid-on and mid-off. It was a typical Dilshan effort which saw the Lankans race past fifty in the 7th over. At the other end, Tharanga played his part well, finding the boundaries every time width was offered to him as the duo registered their second century partnership in consecutive matches.

With the Lankan openers going great guns, MS Dhoni had to turn to Harbhajan Singh as early as the 8th over. But Dilshan took a liking to him as well, playing mind games with him. At times he trudged down the ground to the spinner and on other occasions, he stayed back and nudged or cut the bowler for boundaries behind square. Eventually though, it was Harbhajan who got the breakthrough, beating Tharanga in the flight and having him caught in the slips. Dilshan then helped India’s cause by running out his captain Kumar Sangakkara for 21.

The match continued to ebb and flow from there on with Nehra cleaning up Dilshan for a magnificent 123 with a perfectly-directed yorker. At the other end, Zaheer delivered three big strikes in his final spell to keep India in the hunt. Ironically, his erroneous fielding lapses in the penultimate over settled the matter in favour of the visitors.

Batting first after winning the toss, India rode on a lucky century from skipper Dhoni – he was let off on more than one occasion – and half-centuries from Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina to post 301 for 7. This after Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir fell cheaply and Sachin Tendulkar failed to convert a good start. The recall of Ajantha Mendis benefited Lanka while debutant spinner Suraj Randiv was more than impressive, picking up three crucial scalps. India still ended up with a fighting total. But the kind of form Dilshan is in, no total can be termed match-winning. He missed out on the man of the match award by a whisker at Rajkot, but at Nagpur there were no two choices.