T20 at its very best: SL V/s ind 1st T20
As I close the television set in frustration, I can watch the Srilankans celebrating their victory, in the 1st T20 at Nagpur. Irrespective of the result, we surely had a wonderful game of cricket, infact I believe it was among the best T20 matches played by India, the best was surely the 2007 World T20 finals at Johannesburg. Those of you who have been lucky enough to watch the action live on television would have seen how the game managed to put on perfect T20 excitement.
All cricketers gave their 100 percents, the fielder hitting the stumps on more than one occasion, the bowler coming back to the stumps as quick as he can to collect the ball and the batsman diving to save his vital wicket. Though the wicket gave a bit of extra joy to the batsman, the game lost its excitement only in the last few overs.
Some standout performances included those of Kumar Sangakara, Gautam Gambhir, Ishant Sharma, Angelo Mathews, Kapugedara and this time for his bowling, Sanath Jayasuria.
Kumar Sangakara displayed if what class is he made of. His spectacular innings of 78 runs saw 2 sixes and some splendid strokes. His fifty coming of only 21 balls.
And the batting star for India was its latest wall- Gautam Gambhir, whose fifty came even faster-19 balls.His half century was studded with 11 boundaries and those too on consistent basis.
Mathews proved his value for the team once again, while the old man did it again, but this time for his bowling and he snatched the match of India's hands.
At the end of the day, Srilanaka were a better team, infact India was the worse team, dropping catches and losing quick wickets. The butter-fingered fielders dropped many catches and committed many misfields. At a time when Gambhir seemed to be unstoppable, he himself made a mistake and had to part away with his wicket. After his wicket, India completely made a mess of it. I was shocked to see the wickets fall at such a healthy rate. Bowling wasn't a big problem, it was just too good batting by the Srilankans.
I am eagerly waiting for the next T20 and hope India will bounce back in that match.
God, Save Sri Lanka from this Aggressive Assault!
And the one who assaulted them had this to say in the post-day chat:
I just wanted to hit the bad balls.
Lmao! So did the Sri Lankan bowlers bowled only bad deliveries throughout the day? What in your opinion is a good ball Mr.Sehwag? :brow
Once SL was bowled out for near about 400 runs, they must have felt some security within their minds. They might have not thought of Sehwag showing them nightmares in broad daylight.
He is very close to achieve a feat where noone has stepped up yet - 3 triple hundreds. And what more, a chance to break Lara's record individual score. I won't go much into the details of his whammy-jammy innings for it might jinx him again. Oh did I say Jammy? How could I forget him ? For the first time India's run rate didn't go below 5 per over even when he came and batted for at least 130 balls. Is he trying to prove that he can play the ODIs?
One must applaud Vijay's effort as well. He made sure that Gambhir can have a memorable wedding party of his sister.
Yet again, like the last game, this match depends totally on how SL will bat tomorrow(they should, if Viru is there till at least the morning session.)
For now, let's just hail the blaster(yet not the master)!
Whaddup with Gauti?
I did forget to mention Gautam Gambhir in the previous post. He is perhaps the most wanted by the villan - Complacent. LOL! I could not have thought of any name for this villan. Suggest me one if you know anything better than this. Someone's comparing him with Sunil Gavaskar, someone is awarding him checks of big amounts and few precious trophies, someone thinks he will lead India in the future. When I had a debate with my friends on this future captain of India, all they said was "Abbe pehle future tak usse team mein toh rehne de"(At least let him be in the playing XI in future). They were right on spot with this answer. He still faces a stiff competition from players like JP Duminy, deVilliers for world glory. There are many more that I can't remember.
In my opinion he is yet to face the real test on fast pitches like the ones in West Indies, South Africa. I didn't mention Australia above for the reason being that he did pretty well there last year.
Like any other young promising batsman in India, he has been a lion in his backyard. He looks technically perfect to be honest. The only problem that lags him behind is there aren't going to be many tests his country will play. And well...he is missing the next test too due to his sister's wedding. Seriously, a bad time for the wedding season to come in India. This also showcases his weaknesses. His biggest being the lack of ability to clear big grounds. But as there is this commonly known phrase says -
When there is a will, there is a way...He is best known to bisect the gaps easily courtesy some good timing. He cannot loose these skills overnight. All he can loose is his form and fitness thanks to Lalit Modi and Co. for their business league, better known as IPL. It will be interesting to see how he carries himself in the future.
An all Indian day!
Finally after a long time we have experienced a solid opening partnership by Gauti-Viru. In ODIs one might blame Sachin for blocking the next Ganguly-Sachin like opening partners. But hey, even he is doing his job well.
Never mind, back to the present game. After already witnessing two great tons, I do hope as an Indian supporter to see Dravid and Tendulkar cementing their positions on-field and score a ton tomorrow. But who knows, the pitch might just get better for the bowlers later. In fact if you see, even in the last game played at Kanpur where both Gambhir and Sehwag featured in an opening partnership was against South Africa in 2004 where they took the toll to 218 runs.
That game resulted in a draw. Let's hope it doesn't happen this time around. I won't say the pitch will continue to be a batting paradise for whole 5 days like the one in Ahmedabad. I just think the Sri Lankans weren't up to the mark, especially Mendis. It could have been much better for them...really better had Mahela not dropped Sehwag when he wasn't even off the mark. Sehwag really did punish all the bowlers after that cautious little period early during the morning session.
India look good enough to take the team total to at least 600 runs if they don't collapse. Tomorrow's first hour could be an important one especially for Dravid if he wants to capitalize his innings and score about 150 runs. The Indians have a strong line-up to come. But on a day even the line-up loaded with the likes of Laxman, Yuvraj and Dhoni can falter. And as I said before, if the pitch starts cracking up...expect Murali and Mendis to take revenge. In fact only these two, all the bowlers could come very handy.
Some Shocking Decisions
I turned my Television on at around 8:30 AM waiting for toss only to here the changes made in the lineups of both the teams.
First up was India - Sreesanth comes in for Ishant, Ojha for Mishra. The former one in my opinion was totally atrocious. How can Dhoni and Co. loose confidence in him. Did Dhoni forgot how he used to show confidence in players like Yuvraj(during his early reign as captain) who were once going through bad form? Ishant has to be considered a bit unlucky. If you see, he did well in the first two games against Australia during the ODI series. Yet when he got a little expensive figures to show in the 3rd ODI, he was dropped for the rest of the series. And yet again, Dhoni expected him to bring in some wickets for the team on a dead flat batting track.
Mishra's exclusion was no less than atrocious too. Again, Dhoni seems to have lost confidence in a young talented spinner bringing in another young turner. I anyways won't say much about it...after all it is Ojha's birthday today!
Then came the Sri Lankan captain. At once I thought Sangakkara might have made a good decision to bring back Mendis for injured Damika Prasad. But later, when he was taken apart by all the Indian batsmen, Sanga might himself be ruing this decision. Well...he has at least shown some faith in Mendis.
By the tomorrow is my 15th birthday. And so as a birthday gift, I do hope to see the Indians end this match as well as the whole series on a winning note.
Pakistan Beat India
Not at all a good news for Indian fans.You all must have watched the match between the two arch rivals and have witnessed India's mistakes in such an important game. But one can't ignore the fact that this wasn't a full strength Indian side and surely missed world class players like Yuvraj, Sehwag and Zaheer Khan. I will highlight some of the things that went against India.
Firstly, Dhoni decided to have his par-timers bowl when India were going good and Yousuf and Malik were new to the crease. Had he continued with the pacers or even introduced Harbhajan Singh, India could have avoided the record partnership.
Bowlers bowled short on a track which seemed to be favouring the batsmen. India leaked away too many runs in the region behind square. They got the first tirthy overs right, not giving too many runs, but in the last twenty overs India conceded over 160 runs with a run rate over 8.
Gautam Gambhir made up for the early loss of Sachin Tendulkar and played a magnificent ininngs
before he got himself run out, this probably cost India the match, because he seemed to be simply unstoppable.
Middle order batsmen weren't able to maintain the run rate fell victims to Boom-Boom Afridi. Afridi's double blow consisting of Kohli's and Dhoni's wickets.
Suresh Raina being ruled out unjustly as the umpire did not notice the big inside edge. He lost his wicket just after striking two huge sixes. He along with Dravid planned a good recovery, but finally failed.
It has now become a knockout tournament for India, as Dhoni said. India must improve their feilding standards and the lines and lengths of the bowlers before the crucial game against Australia. I wish the Indian team ALL THE BEST!!!!!!!
Dravid for ODIs?
Don't believe me, better do so. Rahul Dravid, one of the best technical players in the world and my favourite cricketer is among the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy this year in September. I was totally shocked when I saw the news flash on the television, but it is completely understood why he is being considered for the One-dayers. Indian batsmen like Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma and many more have struggled to face the short delivery well. Dravid's inclusion, I believe will surely give a new atmosphere to the Indian dressing room and will surely add pressure on youngsters to perform well in order to secure a place in the playing XI. Though we've seen Dravid play some long innings with strike rates around 30, but Dravid's performance in the IPL and the Test series against NewZealand have proved that he still has the ability to strike the ball at a good rate. I feel Dravid if selected will surely hold up to the expectations I have from him. Till then let's wish him luck for his one-dayer comeback.
Gambhir: India's Second Wall
Sehwag feels so, and probably the experts of the game do the same. But I don't agree. We all know that Gambhir played a wonderful innings of about 11 hours in Napier, but I feel that it is too early to give him the status of the second wall. Rahul Dravid has played several match-winning knocks and match-saving knocks, and that is why he is called the 'Wall'. But on the other hand, Gambhir has played only one or two such knocks(97 against England and 137 against NewZealand), so how can you call him the second wall?
I also made comparison between Dravid and Gambhir and found that Dravid features twice in the longest innings by an Indian chart, while Gambhir is at a lower position in comparison to Dravid.
Maybe Gambhir will prove me wrong, and stick to his status of the 'Wall'. But for that he needs more such opportunities, which this current Indian team is unwilling to give.
After reading this perhaps you would agree with me, till then let's wish Gambhir luck for the Indian Premier League 2.
New Zealand vs India, 2nd Test : Incredible, Imemnsly Dedicated Indian Batsmen saves India
Bravo!! What a courageous performance from the Indian batsmen, especially Gautam Gambhir. Toiling for more than 11 hours under the hot sun is never easy. This makes me remind of Gautam's own surname(Gambhir) which in Hindi means serious, which he remained throughout his innings of 137. It's one of the most spectacular comebacks I have ever seen or heard of. Seriously, not many would have expected a draw once the bails were dislodged by the umpires to call it stumps on Day 3. And again, India has proved the majority wrong. That majority who would have put their money on Kiwis must be thinking how in this world did New Zealand manage to loose their best chance to level the series?
Jesse Ryder's efforts were in vain and nearly drained. After all he himself expressed his disappointment over this draw.
As an Indian what's good to see is first this draw; second the top and middle order is back in form; India can't loose the series now; Dhoni would probably be back for the final game.
Anyways, here are the analysis of the three departments in this game:
1. Batting - India: Very much neutral given the slump in the first innings and the strong comeback in the second innings. And as I have said, the middle order is fired up now that Yuvraj Singh is looking back in form. Sehwag was the only concern in this game, but I know leading India is not easy, and so he did have some pressure on him to anchor both the innings.
New Zealand: They still have some issues that are urgently needed to be rectified. The top still hasn't settled down. However, it was their middle order that not only helped them bounce from 23/3 to post a mammoth total of 619 runs but also has been a reason to cheer about. Ryder looks solid and to break at. Ross Taylor looked classy throughout his 151. Now even the captain himself is looking dangerous.
2. Bowling - India: Once the catches were dropped the New Zealand batsmen offered no resistance whatsoever. Ruthlessly they hammered the Indian bowlers to all parts of the ground. The Indian think-tank would surely be wondering how they can stop Ryder. Precisely speaking, I thought that it was only Zak and Ishant who looked good but the third seamer again seems to be troubling India. In my opinion India should try swapping Munaf with Balaji or maybe go in with a spinner which would mean Amit Mishra getting to play his first game. Whatever it really is, the sloppy fielding has definitely let the bowlers down.
New Zealand: First a superb bowling performance which ended the first three days of the game in their pockets. And the next two were disastrous. Again, sloppy fielding even from New Zealand helped India get away with a draw. Chris Martin was clearly the star of the attack and has probably justified his selection. Franklin looked dangerous, Vettori was at his usual best. O'Brien was speedy. So should I say Jeetan Patel was spinny? Ahoy!!! True indeed. But then what went wrong all of them in the second innings? Was it the solid defense of the batsmen or the disastrous catching?
3. Fielding - India: Extremely disappointing. A bunch of butter-fingers truly.
New Zealand: Their's wasn't to good as well. They dropped many sitters. The worst one was on the final day when Ian O'Brien dropped Gambhir. Though it wouldn't have hurt the Kiwis too much but the catch was simply a sitter which even I would have held on 9 out of 10 times.
Both the teams do have a lot to think. It seems that India will not give the Black Caps any hope and chance of drawing the series. If India let their golden series win after 40 years go down it would be a shame. While New Zealand have nothing to loose from here on, India won't like to go down in the final test match to as well as their golden series win after 40 years slip away.
I am really looking forward for the third match that will begin on 3rd April.
