Pakistan had an excellent opportunity to dent Australia's batting confidence in the first test matched but as it turns out, their bowlers just weren't up to the mark when it come to bowling, actually, wicket-taking deliveries. Most of the bowling was just too short. It seemed that the Pakistani bowlers got too excited by the lure of bowling on a bouncy track and kept on pitching it
so short that the ball just didn't make the kind of impact most experts were believing it would make. Nearly every bowler seemed obsessed with trying to bounce out the Aussie batsmen, ignoring the fact that these batsmen are more equipped than most to play the short ball and bouncers don't work if you keep bowling them with mundane regularity. I believe the real ace with the Pakistanis lies in their ability to swing the new and the old ball and that is what they should be concentrating upon rather than trying to further their speed-guns or trying to hit the helmets of the batsmen. Rauf hasn't played much cricket but he does look like a good, line & length type bowling if he can just pitch the ball, a bit further up. Even Ajmal was guilt of not floating the ball - something that has given him bucketful of wickets. The fact that even Nathan Hauritz got stuck into the Pak bowling underlines the fact that the bowlers weren't threatening. Pakistan can still bail themselves out, they do have the firepower, it just needs to get on the right radar.
Is Tendulkar using a lighter bat?
This may seem too trivial to point out right now, but this question had been raised by some journalists at Kirsten, the Indian coach, and it seems that the answer to the question is a big, Yes. The thing is that Tendulkar had been plagued by many back and shoulder injuries in the last two-to-three years and many experts believed that his extremely thick bat, given his size and height limitation combined with the amount of cricket he was playing was a major reason for this. However, Tendulkar always refuted such theories and the runs kept coming-off his heavyweight bat carrying the MRF signature. It was during 2009 that Tendu had a change of sponsors and MRF exited and may be this was the reason that prompted Tendu to change his bat. He is now batting with an Adidas bat and it seems that this piece of lumber is much lighter than what he was using before. The results are evident in the way he is approaching the short-pitched ball, overcoming it with tender footwork and just dabbing upon it rather than playing those cracking, lifted off-drives. In fact, he seems to be getting more comfortable with merely pushing at the ball in vacant spots on the field and taking twos and threes, not that his boundary-scoring ability has suffered in any way, but his entire body language is more fluent than before, particularly the way he is playing delicate late-cuts around the third-man region. I feel that if he could replace those century-old pads of his, more weight would be lifted off his body, adding to his overall durability...now that such questions are bound to arise. I know, this sounds a bit too intrusive and talking about things that may seem insignificant but then cricket is 50% Tendulkar to me so obsessing over him is beyond my control.
India’s ODI Reality Check — Struggling Against Under-Strength Teams, worthy of being numero uno?
The Indian team’s ODI performance hasn’t been the greatest in recent months and despite that the team is in reckoning to win the numero uno ranking profile, courtesy of the present point-based ICC calculation system and India’s decent performances during the first half of 2009. It should be highlighted that this recent dip in performance is deeply disturbing considering that India have been facing under-strength teams. First Australia and now SL are here without many of their star players being left due to form-based issues or due to injuries. Further, these are home series and ideally, India should be winning the series quite comfortably. However, that is not the case.
They struggled a lot against the limited bowling resources of Australia and their own bowling attack has been repeatedly put to the sword by a Sri Lankan batting line-up wherein only the top four batsman can be considered regular members and potential match-winners and among that too, Mahela Jayewardene is desperately out-of-form. So what does this say about Dhoni’s men? They are vying hard for the top ranking status but where are the ODI performances to back the claim? If the bowling cannot hold its own in a home series with nearly a full-bench with most of the regular bowlers bowling, what does this indicate for the future? Secondly, the Indian batsmen are doing pretty good but usually when they are setting-up targets. They failed miserably when trying to chase reasonable targets and it seems that if the captain, Dhoni, doesn’t fire in the middle-order, it does seem to collapse against sustained short-pitched bowling.
They struggled a lot against the limited bowling resources of Australia and their own bowling attack has been repeatedly put to the sword by a Sri Lankan batting line-up wherein only the top four batsman can be considered regular members and potential match-winners and among that too, Mahela Jayewardene is desperately out-of-form. So what does this say about Dhoni’s men? They are vying hard for the top ranking status but where are the ODI performances to back the claim? If the bowling cannot hold its own in a home series with nearly a full-bench with most of the regular bowlers bowling, what does this indicate for the future? Secondly, the Indian batsmen are doing pretty good but usually when they are setting-up targets. They failed miserably when trying to chase reasonable targets and it seems that if the captain, Dhoni, doesn’t fire in the middle-order, it does seem to collapse against sustained short-pitched bowling.
Referral System does undermine the on-field umpire
I still cannot make-out the use of having on-field umpires when the players can just make signal to send up a decision for review. Yes, this initiative does mean that the ICC is trying hard to make the game more progressive and transparent but what it does not do is make the game simpler, in any way. Let us be clear about one thing, with so many computer-generated images that are flashed on our TVs, it was just a matter of time that the same technology was used in making actual decisions. But then, if we are using technological inputs for making decisions, then why not go the full-circle way and make the on-field umpires merely a component of the entire decision making, communication process. The present system makes mockery of the decision making ability of the umpire who is already under a lot of scrutiny with every appeal being showcased a thousand times on the huge screens installed at the grounds and the crowds seem to get very vocal and very upset if they realize that a mistake has been made. The ICC needs to be clear about what it wants to establish in a clear-cut manner - on-field or off-field umpiring and then stick with it rather than trying to blend two formats and make the entire process more confusing and controversial. What needs to be understood that the two, on-field umpires are placed at the core of the entire action on the field. If a system makes them mere referral mediums, then it compromises their air of authority and with so much being said about the antics of some international players, this would indirectly impact the ability of the umpires to regulate the behavior of players,
Pakistan may have the answers to the Aussie Challenge
The first test match between Australia and Pakistan is upon us and to me, it seems that Pakistan does have the resources to beat Australia in the Aussie backyard. For starters, their bowling line-up is the most penetrative, even more than that of South Africa and marginally better balanced that Australia’s bowling resources. Pakistan bowling has benefited from the return of some former players who had wandered away into the ICL and those who have made decent comebacks. With Mohammed Sami being added to the mix of Mohammed Asif, Umar Gul and Sohail Tanveer, along with the every-improving Mohammed Aamer, Pakistan’s arsenal is varied and penetrative if you consider that Saeed Ajmal is a very decent off-spinner. It should be noted that Australia would be missing the services of an injured Ponting and Michael Clarke too may not play all the matches. These are unarguably two of their best spin counterattacking batsmen and without them, the side would have to come to terms with the guile of Ajmal. The big concern lies with Pakistan's unreliable batting line-up that is known to crumble at the slightest hint of sustained, short-pitched bowling. None of their openers has overseas credibility and with Younis Khan unavailable due to some strange personal issues, the middle-order is very vulnerable to collapsing within 70-80 overs. With Peter Siddle and Bollinger in top bowling form, it would be difficult for the sub-continental batsmen to keep the balls out of their rib-cages and none of them are decent pullers of the short ball.
To some extent, the fact that Pakistan are coming off from a decent tour of New Zealand should help them get quickly familiarized with the kind of bowling that awaits them but then, the Kiwi bowling attack doesn’t match the Aussie bench in terms of pure aggression and horse-power. Still if one chooses to be optimistic, Pakistan's bowling alone can win them the series, provided internal issues are sidelined and cricket becomes the only focus for the team… otherwise, we are all too familiar with how crazy things can go with this team but yes, their uncertainty may well become their biggest weapon.
To some extent, the fact that Pakistan are coming off from a decent tour of New Zealand should help them get quickly familiarized with the kind of bowling that awaits them but then, the Kiwi bowling attack doesn’t match the Aussie bench in terms of pure aggression and horse-power. Still if one chooses to be optimistic, Pakistan's bowling alone can win them the series, provided internal issues are sidelined and cricket becomes the only focus for the team… otherwise, we are all too familiar with how crazy things can go with this team but yes, their uncertainty may well become their biggest weapon.
Two, very interesting test-match finishes: 5-day games are back!
It has taken a sustained show of good test matches on our TVs over the last month or so, to ensure that viewer interest in the longer format of the game has been rekindled, to a certain extent. The third test match between WI and Australia has had a very familiar ending with the Aussies being able to beat the islanders very comfortably along with displaying their typical over-the-top, 'backyard' gestures that we have all gotten used to by now.
However, it was heartening to see the last pair, numbers 10 & 11 bat so spiritedly from the West Indies camp. This is something you don’t get to see too often and lower-order batsmen from the Windies are regarded as easy rollovers. On the other hand, the South Africa versus England test match was probably the most engaging piece of cricket being broadcasted last week. The fact that the match made it to the last ball of the match is ample testament to the fact that when played on the right kind of surfaces there are many takers for test matches even in this T20-obsessed cricketing generation. Further, there are more potentially interesting test match games coming-up with the impending Pakistan tour of Australia 2010 and the second test match between South Africa – England. I personally believe that the contest in South Africa if fairly even between the two sides and every match will produce results. The two teams are so similar-looking that it is hard to choose a favourite at this time.
However, it was heartening to see the last pair, numbers 10 & 11 bat so spiritedly from the West Indies camp. This is something you don’t get to see too often and lower-order batsmen from the Windies are regarded as easy rollovers. On the other hand, the South Africa versus England test match was probably the most engaging piece of cricket being broadcasted last week. The fact that the match made it to the last ball of the match is ample testament to the fact that when played on the right kind of surfaces there are many takers for test matches even in this T20-obsessed cricketing generation. Further, there are more potentially interesting test match games coming-up with the impending Pakistan tour of Australia 2010 and the second test match between South Africa – England. I personally believe that the contest in South Africa if fairly even between the two sides and every match will produce results. The two teams are so similar-looking that it is hard to choose a favourite at this time.
Swann: Purposeful Without Hogging Limelight
He was regarded as an off-spinner who never really did spin the ball but to silence all this critics, Graeme Swann of England has risen to be a very effective ‘spin’ bowler. Some analysts might comment that the word ‘slow’ should be used instead of ‘spin’ but considering the negligible amount of any worthwhile spin that is extracted by spinners in contemporary cricket, such differentiation is uncalled for. Swann is a different type of bowler, using more drift in the air than spin off the pitch. This makes him very different from the likes of Mendis or Harbhajan Singh who are essentially finger spinners. Muralitharan’s name should not be used here because he is in a category of his own.
However, if all the other spinners are compared at the moment, Swann seems to be the most quiet and unassuming of the achievers with little being said about him in the media and little or no on-field antics — a quiet, consistent performer. Swann has already totalled more than 52 wickets in just 13 test matches. You would need to remember that he has done so without playing on sub-continental wickets. He has always come in when the side wanted to contain runs rather than get wickets and surprisingly, Swann has managed to do both with little fuss. I would personally rank Swann a bit ahead of Bhajji, simply because he has been taking wickets consistently and his bowling is improving with nearly every outing. His immediate competitor seems to be Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan who is a more traditional off-spinner, keeping it slower in the air, and giving the ball a chance to rip-off the surface of the pitch. Further, Swann has the amazing ability to bowl decently with newish balls too. His arm-ball and the drifter that turns into a low-yorker like delivery haven’t been decoded by many batsmen and his recent fiver against the South Africa is testament to his growing stature.
However, if all the other spinners are compared at the moment, Swann seems to be the most quiet and unassuming of the achievers with little being said about him in the media and little or no on-field antics — a quiet, consistent performer. Swann has already totalled more than 52 wickets in just 13 test matches. You would need to remember that he has done so without playing on sub-continental wickets. He has always come in when the side wanted to contain runs rather than get wickets and surprisingly, Swann has managed to do both with little fuss. I would personally rank Swann a bit ahead of Bhajji, simply because he has been taking wickets consistently and his bowling is improving with nearly every outing. His immediate competitor seems to be Saeed Ajmal of Pakistan who is a more traditional off-spinner, keeping it slower in the air, and giving the ball a chance to rip-off the surface of the pitch. Further, Swann has the amazing ability to bowl decently with newish balls too. His arm-ball and the drifter that turns into a low-yorker like delivery haven’t been decoded by many batsmen and his recent fiver against the South Africa is testament to his growing stature.
England-South Africa Test: Quality 'Test-match Bowling' on Display
The first test match between South Africa and England is underway and it would be fair to comment that it is turning out to be almost, an ‘ideal’ test match. I say that because it has nearly all the contents of a result-oriented, engaging test match. For starters, both of the teams have struggled to reach 400 in their respective first innings. Just like Geoffrey Boycott, I support the idea that best test matches are those wherein scoring in the region of 350-400 needs some serious application. Secondly, the bowling standards from both the sides have been impressive. Bowlers from both camps have combined penetrations and patience by bowling long, disciplined spells. Every batsman has had to invest a lot of time in reaching 30 runs or so, before feeling comfortable at the crease.
Now that the second innings of South Africa is underway, it would be even more interesting to see how many runs they can put-up on the board, considering that they have lost nearly half their side for just about 50 runs! Yes, that does create the impression that there is evil in the pitch but that is not the case. It is simple, sustained, pressure bowling by the English bowlers, who have created a remarkably young and effective bowling unit, presently being led by Swann. The South Africa seem susceptible against most types of spin bowling and they haven’t been able to digest what Swann has been dishing out to them. The contest is about to get even more engrossing once the final innings of England gets underway and Paul Harris and Ntini are pressed into action on a pitch that is steadily offering some exploitable uncertain bounce to bowlers who are patient enough to hold their off-stump line. It does seem strange that batsmen from both sides cannot comprehend straightish spin bowlers but that is making the battle more result-oriented. For a change, you find premium being put on boundaries and batsmen are ready to take a hit or two on their helmets.
Now that the second innings of South Africa is underway, it would be even more interesting to see how many runs they can put-up on the board, considering that they have lost nearly half their side for just about 50 runs! Yes, that does create the impression that there is evil in the pitch but that is not the case. It is simple, sustained, pressure bowling by the English bowlers, who have created a remarkably young and effective bowling unit, presently being led by Swann. The South Africa seem susceptible against most types of spin bowling and they haven’t been able to digest what Swann has been dishing out to them. The contest is about to get even more engrossing once the final innings of England gets underway and Paul Harris and Ntini are pressed into action on a pitch that is steadily offering some exploitable uncertain bounce to bowlers who are patient enough to hold their off-stump line. It does seem strange that batsmen from both sides cannot comprehend straightish spin bowlers but that is making the battle more result-oriented. For a change, you find premium being put on boundaries and batsmen are ready to take a hit or two on their helmets.
Making things ugly… definitely, an Aussie thing
This may sound a bit biased to some but the fact remains that the ugliest of on-field cricketing confrontations have involved Aussies over the last decade. They call it ‘ruthless aggression’, Down Under but it seems more like staged, stereotype acts of verbal abuse that are now getting ridiculously, repetitive… and I say this in reference to the latest to victim to the Australia’s cricketing abusing tradition — Suleiman Benn, the West Indian spinner, in the ongoing test match between the two nations.
Mitchell Johnson had absolutely no reason to get so physical with Benn over something so trivial as accidental contact between the two. Johnson’s actions seemed to be directed at up-keeping the Australian habit of being ‘sour losers’. However, this time they hadn’t even lost. It is just that during the second test of the series, for the first time in a long time, the WI had put up some sort of a resistance. It is obvious that this mere semblance of some resistance among the opposition team members and the fiery innings played by Chris Gayle during the WI reply in the ongoing test match rattled the Australians. This time Brad Haddin too joined in the confrontation with Benn, though there was absolutely no need for his opinion, since the controversial proceedings had little to do with him…but then, it wouldn’t have been a typically Aussie thing to do, i.e. stepping-in in and getting physical without any reasoning whatsoever. When your captain, Mr. Ponting himself, is looked upon as someone dishonest enough to claim ‘grounded’ catches (remember the test match against the Indians last year and Ponting’s sullen face when he was asked about the same during a post-match conference?), you cannot expect anything better from the men that he commands.
Mitchell Johnson had absolutely no reason to get so physical with Benn over something so trivial as accidental contact between the two. Johnson’s actions seemed to be directed at up-keeping the Australian habit of being ‘sour losers’. However, this time they hadn’t even lost. It is just that during the second test of the series, for the first time in a long time, the WI had put up some sort of a resistance. It is obvious that this mere semblance of some resistance among the opposition team members and the fiery innings played by Chris Gayle during the WI reply in the ongoing test match rattled the Australians. This time Brad Haddin too joined in the confrontation with Benn, though there was absolutely no need for his opinion, since the controversial proceedings had little to do with him…but then, it wouldn’t have been a typically Aussie thing to do, i.e. stepping-in in and getting physical without any reasoning whatsoever. When your captain, Mr. Ponting himself, is looked upon as someone dishonest enough to claim ‘grounded’ catches (remember the test match against the Indians last year and Ponting’s sullen face when he was asked about the same during a post-match conference?), you cannot expect anything better from the men that he commands.
Unfair Criticism: England Aren’t Bowling That Badly
The first test match between England and South Africa is currently underway and it seems that many commentators and cricket analysts have been complaining about the lack of penetration in the England bowling line-up. I would just like to say that the English bowling isn't all that bad as it is made out to be — it is just that the deck on which they are bowling is too flat to be considered a typical South African wicket. This has been happening to South Africa pitches over the last three years in particular, wherein they are turning into batting paradises alike sub-continental wickets.
Stuart Board and Anderson didn’t bowl badly at all and Swann too was consistent with his line, outside the off-stump. It is just that there was nothing off the square and even the expected moisture in the air had deserted the Englishmen. Further, with a resolute Kallis standing firm in the middle, whatever little that the pitch had to offer, seems nullified. Don’t be surprised if the English batting reply is as good as that of the Proteas.Most cricket analysts have been harping on the fact that the England attack has a ‘sameness’ about it but it should be understood that bowlers like Graham Onions and Anderson are typical English bowlers and the likes of Harmison were a blip in the regular supply of bowlers coming from the UK over the past decade. Yes, Flintoff’s aggression is missing but you would need to comprehend that how much of uncertain bounce, Freddie could have extracted from this very, placid track?
Stuart Board and Anderson didn’t bowl badly at all and Swann too was consistent with his line, outside the off-stump. It is just that there was nothing off the square and even the expected moisture in the air had deserted the Englishmen. Further, with a resolute Kallis standing firm in the middle, whatever little that the pitch had to offer, seems nullified. Don’t be surprised if the English batting reply is as good as that of the Proteas.Most cricket analysts have been harping on the fact that the England attack has a ‘sameness’ about it but it should be understood that bowlers like Graham Onions and Anderson are typical English bowlers and the likes of Harmison were a blip in the regular supply of bowlers coming from the UK over the past decade. Yes, Flintoff’s aggression is missing but you would need to comprehend that how much of uncertain bounce, Freddie could have extracted from this very, placid track?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)