Story of Ind-SL 1st test...So Far
My first post after a long time!
It couldn't have gone any worse for the Indian team. They really seem to be out of colors ever since the IPL. Oh well...in a way ever since I wrote my last post. They seem to be lacking the self-confidence and form that they carried with them coming into the year 2009.
The 3rd day was totally dominated by the Lankans thanks to some over-defensive tactics by MSD. This is one kind of a situation where Aussie captain, Ricky Ponting found himself when his team came to India for a four match test series last year. All strange tactics, flat fielding and bowling resulted in zero-pressure on the Lankan batsmen. But you can't really steal the credit from their batsmen as well. They seemed to have batted India out of this game totally. The current lead is around 165 runs. Expect the lead to increase to at least 250 runs, and then the SL bowlers would have enough time to test the so-called experience batting order of Indians.
What really annoyed me was the fact that the singles kept coming on quite easily. I wouldn't have set such a field even in shorter formats of the game. MSD seems to be lacking his out-of-the-box thinking. Or if you would like...his stars are not shining, therefore his gambles not paying off well. But why blame him alone? Some non-sensical and lousy bowling also resulted in Jayawardene duo getting away. Mishra just kept bowling from around the wicket, outside the leg to both the batsmen expecting the ball to turn miles(which of course even Warnie would have been able to do). Bhajji still seamed to be confused and a bit insecure. And part time bowling of Yuvi was at its worse. Either he bowled short, or bowled non-turning half volleys with 5-6 fielders outside the 30 yard circle. Ishant and Zaheer too looked decent enough.
Indian Batting in the 1st Innings -
The first half or so of the game sent shockwaves throughout the dressing room. Right after the 6th ODI against Australia played earlier this November, this was another top-order collapse. I remember Viru once said how fatherhood has made him more responsible even in his game. It seemed true for quite a while. Sehwag injured...he came back and with him came back the showdows of his gameplay during his early days when he used to get out trying to hit every ball out of the park. As one senior batsman, one does not expect this out of him. And the collapse continued to follow...Sigh. But again, the SL have stolen the credit for utilizing the early conditions well, especially Welegedara. Yuvraj,Dhoni and Dravid played extremely well to help India reach a total which looked completely out of India's reach.
What Can really Happen Now?
For India, it's near to nothing. They failed to attack Lankans the way a top team is expected to do. As an Indian supporter, I do hope to see India coming back well and at least saving their skin by drawing the game.
On the other hand, Sri Lanka have got an excellent chance to register their first win on Indian soil. Tomorrow's day is going to be very interesting and important one!
Crick-O condemns attacks on Sri Lankan players
It's a very shameful act by those cowardly terrorists. This attack is only destroying Pakistan's image in international world. The SL team bus was on it's way to Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore when all this happened. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara, received minor injuries.The other 3 were Ajantha Mendis, Samaraweera and Paravitarana. According to cricinfo Samaraweera and Paravitarana were most seriously hurt. Pakistan is also to host Champions Trophy later this year which now seems impossible to happen. For the full coverage on this attack you can go here - Lahore terror attack cricket at Cricinfo
The tour has obviously been called off.
I pay heed to all the cricketers(and hope for their speedy recovery),other victims and their families.
You can also express your sorrow over here by posting in the comments section.
God !!! I still believe India isn't that consistent.
Obviously the standard has increased and somewhat it good enough as of now. But I must say, India could have done better today. They can't take a dead rubber lightly. The fielding was sloppy, the bowlers were whacked all over the ground by the Lankans which seemed pretty similar to the whacking they(Sri Lanka) got in the previous two ODIs. The batting wasn't up to the mark either. Should I blame everything to the toss ? Maybe I should. After all, the team who has won the toss has always won throughout the series. And as achettup replied to my comment in his post, it might have been very much true if Mahela had won all the 4 tosses in the previous games.
Though the best reason for this loss in my opinion is Dhoni's over-experimenting with the line-up. I would have wanted Zaheer and Sachin back in the playing XI if I also wanted Jadeja and Balaji as it would added some experience to the team. Jadeja did fairly well on his debut. He made a patient knock(although a quick fury of runs were needed) of 60 runs in 77 balls. Though he wasn't as impressive as a bowler as one might expect him to be. Balaji couldn't do much, since the Srilankans for on fire. So goes for the other bowlers as well.
Well anyway, now the series is over and India has done extremely well. While on the other hand Australia's downfall continues though it was a bit of relieve for them as they won the 3rd ODI against NZ. While the race for No.1 spot is still open. Before writing this post I also learnt that the team on the No.1 spot as on April 1 2009, will be awarded US $175,000 while the team in second spot will get US $75,000 by the ICC.
