Grassy bowler, what's that Mr. Boycott?

This is with reference to Anderson's five wicket-haul against the South Africans, to take this team 2 -1 in the ongoing ODI series. I read somewhere Geoffery Boycott explaining Anderson as a Grassy bowler meaning any pitch that has a bit of grass and some moisture, alike the English conditions, were suited best for James Anderson. Well, you couldn't agree more> take away these basic ingredients and Anderson turns into another routine, straight length bowler, incapable of moving the ball in any possible way. He does remind a bit of Caddick of England, who was brilliant against any type of batsmen, including the might Aussies, every time an Ashes test match was played on a typical English pitch. I recall having watched many televised commentaries by Wasim Akram who often regarded Caddick as one of the best exploiters of the swinging conditions that prevail in England but a bowler with limited means when it come down to testing your skills against the brownish, slow pitches of the sub-continent, which essentially means that Caddick was short on learnings skills that were beyond the obvious and I think, reverse swinging the ball and bowling yorkers is what Akram has been referring towards.

Hashim Amla, another quiet achiever in the Dravid mold

Hashim Amla has been an opening for SA in test and ODIs for quite some time now. However, it was only recently that I noticed his averages that were flashed on the TV screen and I was surprised to find out that he averages nearly 48 in his ODI career and his strike-rate too is pretty impressive. In the absence of a regular opener, with Gibbs not being able to sustain his form or fitness, Amla has been a great find for SA, particularly for the captain, Graeme Smith. I guess, most folks don't realize how integral he has become to the SA batting line-up, simply because his presence is without any kind of gimmick, leaving only his performance to speak on his behalf, and I guess, these days, being in this Dravid-like, saintly mold does deprive a deserving cricketer of some due attention. In my opinion, he does fill-in the solidity provided by Kallis whenever Kallis is not around due to his back that is now beginning to bother him on a sustained basis.

Rajat Bhatia keeps peforming, anyone even notices?

Most Indian cricket followers won't even know about Rajat Bhatia. He is one of the most capable, untried players from the Indian domestic scene. Further, he is best suited to fill-in the gap of the all-rounder that is still there in the Indian team. Despite not having much pace or swing in his bowling, this street-smart cricketer has been able to take bucket-full of wickets and further, his batting is a big advantage. So many times, Rajat has bailed out his side, coming down at number five, batting like a true champion > dogged, determined till the last ball is bowled. Some followers of the Delhi cricket scene often called him LMS> Last Man Standing, because despite what happens in a match Rajat Bhatia just doesn't quit and yet, his performance has gone largely unnoticed by the Indian selectors.

Where is the pace among these 'fast' bowlers?

Yes, it is good to see Zaheer and Nehra come back to the Indian squad. Finally, there is some teeth to the Indian bowling that has been under some serious hammering over the last few month. The whole nation is going ga-ga over Sreesanth's five-wicket haul. I don't want to sound too pessimistic, but it is a fact that apart from Nehra who does touch the 140 km/hr mark every now and then, none of the supposed 'fast' bowlers are actually bowling quick. Some folks might want to point-out the packed calendar for the burn-out of these bowlers but this really cannot be put forth as an excuse simply because this is a highly-competitive sport and each of these men are being paid loads of money> so how they maintain their fitness and what measures they take to withstand the international gruelling schedule is simply their headache. The team's followers only want performance being sustained by those who wear the national cap and perform up to the benchmarks that have been set for them. Praveen Kumar's name cannot be mentioned along with these guys, simply because he never promised to deliver pace along with seam> he is essentially a mover of the ball and that is exactly what he is doing at the moment though notching-up 130-135 km/hr more regularly won't hurt him either.

Aussie Bowling Riches are piling-up

The absence of a Warnie or a McGrath will always be felt, but just look at the kind of bowlers Ponting has at his disposal right now - the choice of lef-armers is seriously widespread with Bollinger, Johnson and Bracken ready to bend their backs and among the more conservative-type, line & length bowlers, Hillfenhaus is shaping-up real good and Stuart Clarke, despite his lack of pace, has the ability to come good when the going gets really tough. Add to this mix, the really fast bowlers like Brett Lee and Tait, and you have a pretty penetrative Aussie bowling attack. Yes, there are some vacancies in the spin department but Hauritz can keep-up one end really tight. I believe this pool of bowlers is good enough to win test matches on most pitches, and against every kind of opposition that is pitched against the Aussies. This makes them plenty of arsenal as they prepare for the 2011 World Cup. Further, their bowling powress should not be underestimated just because the World Cup is going to be played in the subcontinent. If you recall, some of the last few home series that India has hosted and those played in Sri Lanka, it seems that any side that has fast bowlers who can bend their backs and save about crucial runs by bowling hard into the ground, into the rib-cages of the batsmen, even in matches where 300+ is the average score are worth their weight in the team.

Looking good now, where are the replacements?

The Indian middle order looks pretty good right now with Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman still pretty capable of winning matches on their own, but just looking at the future, are there any replacements for these Big 3? I mean, Australia had a horrid year trying to recreate their batting order once some stalwarts retired and it seems that India could be headed for something similar. Apart from Badrinath and Pujara, there are no names in the domestic circuit that are supposed to combine technical batting good enough to play really fast bowlers with a huge appetite for runs and then again, Badri has not found favor with the selectors and Pujara is often regarded as a scorcher off spinners and slow bowlers and not-so-good when the quick bowlers are on.

Murali Vijay or Virat Kohli?

Gautam Gambhir has been declared unfit for the last test match between SL and India. It seems that the most probable selection would be Murali Vijay who is reputed to have a decent technique and is a full-time opener. However, it might be a wise idea to try-out Virat Kohli who has been piling on the runs in the domestic games. Yes, he did not do very well in the limited opportunities he got in the recent one-dayers, but he does look like a player who is meant to play international cricket. Just about a season back, he was asked to open in a series against the Lankans, and he adapted to the challenge. He has just scored another double century for Delhi and his current form should not be ignored. This way, the selectors would be preparing one player who could also open in the ODIs in case Sehewag, Sachin or Gambhir get injured.

Akmal brothers to decide Pakistan's fate

It seems that this series is going to be career maker for the younger of the Akmal brothers, as he and Kamran are now the last pair at the crease as they try to take their team past the line with just about 85 more runs needed. You would have to say that O'Brien's bowling has been pretty ordinary throughout the test match and with NZ having very few part-time bowlers who can keep the run-scoring under check, his inability to take wickets or keep-up one end tightly screwed for Vettori to work his stuff from the other end is becoming the weak-link as NZ try and stop Pakistan from running away with the first test match. It was nice to see Asif bowl a McGrath-like line, blowing away the NZ top-order.

The question of the Pathan brothers

It was ages ago that Irfan Pathan was opening the bowling for India, swinging every ball to such an extent that he was heralded as the next Akram. However, as things stand now, he has lost his pace, guile and the swing seems to have totally vanished. From being heralded as an all-rounder he has now been reduced to a bits-and-pieces whose performance even in the domestic circuit is nothing exemplary. It is a freefall as far as his career graph is concerned and similarly, his elder brother, Yusuf seems headed in the same direction. He was never a spinner to begin with, so his batting was supposed to be his USP but he seems like someone who is capable of delivering the goods only when the pitches are the kind wherein 350+ runs can be scored (ODIs) or for the T20 format and in that format too, he hasn't been outrightly impressive.

India Win Second Test Match vs SL 2009, Changes for 3rd Test?

India have finally managed to end their dry run over the last, few couple of months by defeating SL in the Kanpur test match. The team batted brilliantly and extracted the advantage by using the home conditions to perfection. Some real good things to come out of the test match is Sreesanth's return to form and the consistency shown by Pragyan Ojha. Seems like the same team would go ahead for the third and final test match, unless some injury issues crop-up at the last moment. The only question could be regarding the fitness of Zaheer - he is still bowling much below par, though he is getting to move the ball and keep the runs scored off his bowling, under control. Besides this, the team looks set to go unchanged and win the series 2-0.