A win at last!

India started cautiously, with seven runs being scored of the first five overs. Then Tendulkar opened up (2-4-4-4-0-4 in the sixth over) and India never looked back. His 59 ball 71 and Ganguly’s 79 ball 59 was responsible for setting up India’s victory. I had earlier written that the only way India were going to win a match is if they bat first and score high. That is exactly what happened here and in the both wins India have had so far, the 1st wicket didn’t fall until the 20th over and the score close to 120.

Yuvraj (72 of 57 balls) and Gambhir (51 of 66) then helped push the score to 324. This large total coupled with some rain and a slightly better bowling performance ensured an Indian victory. As is customary these days, India dropped the obligatory three catches and in spite of a very good performance from Collingwood, the total was too big to chase down thanks to Messers. Duckworth and Lewis.

With this win, India have managed to keep the series alive. But for how long?  We will soon find out when the ODI series resumes on Wednesday at The Oval. It is highly likely that India may continue with a four bowler combination that they went with in this match.

-Mahesh-

Resurgence of Ganguly

Ganguly playing in his 300th ODI was named Man of the Match for the 31st time in his ODI career. After finding himself in the outer after the Zimbabwe tour in 2005, he has had one of the best seasons of his career so far,  scoring 956 runs in 20 innings. Sure, he has not had a century in a while, but he has more than compensated for it with consistency. Since his comeback he has averaged 53+ and has scored 10 half centuries to boot – in fact he has been the most successful player for India this year. Have a look at these stats:

	Mat	Inn	Total	Avg	100s	50s
Ganguly	21	20	956	53.11	0	10
Tendulkar	19	18	764	47.75	1	8
Dravid	23	20	768	51.20	0	8
Yuvraj	22	20	777	48.56	0	5
Dhoni	23	20	657	46.92	1	3
Gambhir	11	11	417	46.33	1	4
Uthappa	9	8	242	30.25	0	3
Karthik	19	15	287	28.70	0	2

 

He has also been involved in 9 century partnerships in those 20 innings this year: 4 with Sachin Tendulkar, 2 with Gambhir, 1 each with Dravid, Yuvraj and Sehwag.

Of course, his ground fielding is still a handicap and he his strike rate is not what it used to be, but there is no denying his resurgence. He needs just one more wicket to complete the triple of 10,000 runs, 100 wickets and 100 catches, which would be a remarkable achievement.

(Must read: Ganguly’s CricInfo interview)

-Mahesh-

I told you so…

I had earlier written that India was going to lose the one-day series. India took another step to confirm what I already knew by losing the fourth one day from a very good position.

England have looked the stronger team in the competition so far and have exposed all of India’s weaknesses. The die hard Indian fan will say that India can still take the next three games to win the series. But we have to be practical here: the most likely result for this series is England 5, India 2.

To try and make a series out of this, India will have to try a few different things:

• Promote Dhoni to No.3 or maybe even open the batting with him
• Bring Powar in to bowl his overs early: Maybe even in the first “powar”play
• With Zaheer being doubtful, bring in Uthappa and maybe even Rohit Sharma for Karthik. We would then have to go with just 4 bowlers. Rohit, Yuvraj, Ganguly and Sachin will have to fill in the fifth bowler slot.

It is time India stopped being conservative and tried something new. It is better to go down fighting than to surrender meek…

-Mahesh-

3rd ODI review and my team for 4th ODI

The review is a bit late in the coming and it is really not a review. It is more of whinge. The reason for being late has nothing to do with being dumbstruck by India’s performance, but the way India played I could be easily be excused for being just that 🙂

After watching the 3rd ODI, the only thing that struck me was that there was no way India was going to win this 7 match series. I know I may get flamed for saying this, but I repeat – India is not going to win this series.

So, what are my reasons for saying that?

• We still depend on our batting to carry us through – particularly Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid. And if they fail, we need the younger generation to step up. This is just not happening.
• Fielding is still pretty woeful. Dravid has a tough time hiding the Munafs and Sauravs in the field and even the others aren’t exactly setting the field on fire.
• Apart from the slow bowlers – Powar and Chawla, and to a certain extent RP Singh, nobody has been impressive. Zaheer has been OK, but has not looked threatening. Agarkar and Munaf are proving more of a liability than anything else. I wouldn’t be surprised if India go back to their old formula of 2 fast bowlers (Zaheer and RP) and the 2 spinners, with part time bowlers filling in the 5th bowler slot for the 4th ODI.
• As Mohan pointed out, India have had a long tour and have lost the intensity that they had in the test series. It is very hard to infuse a fresh bout of energy now.

India may still win a couple of games, but I don’t see them taking the series. I’ll happily eat my words if they do.

Now for the team. I have a feeling India will give Uthappa a game. Although I believe that Uthappa has to open the batting with Ganguly, the team management will not break the opening pair of Tendulkar and Ganguly. So, if Uthappa does play, he will come in at No. 3. This will be followed by Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Karthik. If the bowlers are picked on merit, Powar, Chawla, Singh and Khan will make up the bowling attack.

So here is my team:

Tendulkar, Ganguly, Uthappa, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Karthik, Chawla, Powar, Singh, Khan

The only change to this would be Agarkar coming in for Uthappa if Dravid prefers a 5 man bowling attack.

Is this team capable of beating England? Probably not. But if we bat first and put up a big score, we stand some chance.

-Mahesh-

2nd England India ODI Highlights

-Mahesh-

2nd ODI – Analysis

India put on a much better display at Bristol to even the series 1-1. Here is my analysis of the game. 

Team selection: India picked 5 full time bowlers and that pretty much sealed the game for India. On a small ground the margin for error is very little and with some of the full time bowlers like Agarkar and Munaf struggling, it is not difficult to imagine how England could have ripped into a part time bowler. Picking two spinners also did the trick for India.

Batting: To put up a good score, you need to have a good start, solid consolidation in the middle overs and a good finish. India have often been guilty of not doing one (or more) of these things right. In this game, there was no such problems. Tendulkar and Ganguly gave another great start to the innings. They paced their innings very well and here is their progression: 39 in the first 10 overs of power play(RR 3.5), 30 in the next 5 (RR 6.0) and 44 runs in the last power play (RR 8.8). By not losing any wickets till the 20th over, they were able to accelerate well. The partnerships between Tendulkar/Yuvraj and then Yuvraj/Dravid ensured that the middle overs were played well.Dravid almost single handedly made sure that they finished well (India scored 93 runs in the last 10 overs in spite of some good bowling from Flintoff at the death) . I wonder why Dravid doesn’t play the kind of innings that he played in this game more often. Tendulkar could consider himself a bit unlucky at not getting to his 42nd hundred. He now has 13 scores in the 90s!

Although India didn’t have any run outs, India still need to improve their running between the wickets. There were at least a couple of occasions when Ganguly tried very hard to run himself out, but failed 🙂

Bowling: India bowled well in the middle overs thanks to Chawla and Powar. Chawla was a revelation and his wickets of Bell, Pietersen and Collingwood were crucial in ensuring an Indian victory. Powar was the most economical of bowlers conceding just 43 runs in his 10 overs and bagging the wicket of Freddie Flintoff. Munaf was expensive, but he took three wickets (two in consecutive balls) and made the breakthrough that India needed. He has to watch out for the no-balls (one of which resulted in a catch) and wides (one that went via second slip for a four). In fact India gave away 28 extras – this is an area that they need to work on for the next game. Agarkar was again expensive – he needs to pick his game up in the other games – he certainly seems like the weak link in this bowling line up.

Fielding: Ganguly dropped four catches followed by Dhoni and Powar with one each. [Edit] India dropped four catches with Ganguly dropping two while Dhoni and Powar dropped one each – India should just consider themselves lucky for getting away with it. I know that like any other team, India do train hard at catching – they just need to continue to work on it. 

As the England team showed, they bat deep and India shouldn’t let their guard down  like they did towards the end of the game allowing them to get close to the target.

-Mahesh-

Three interesting Pieterson incidents

Rewind to the Test series and we remember how Pieterson was given out caught behind by Simon Taufel. As Pieterson walked back and almost reached the boundary line, looking back, his compatriots in the balcony urged him to stay and go back. Television replays had shown that the ball hit the ground before going into Dhoni’s gloves. Pieterson stayed and was recalled by Taufel.

Fast forward to yesterday’s game at Bristol. Pieterson chased down a ball to the boundary and almost saved a certain boundary. But as he picked up the ball, his hand clearly brushed the ropes. Pietorson just got up and threw the ball back to the keeper as if nothing had happened. Of course this time it was not the reserve Indian players in the balcony, but the third umpire who alerted the on field umpire and the boundary was declared. TV commentator Gavaskar thrives on these situations. He immediately was up in arms saying “If a fielder claims a catch that may have hit the ground he is labelled a cheat! What about a fielder who knows it is a four but would rather let technology do its job!”

And finally the Pieterson dismissal yesterday. Chawla got him with a flighed leg break that hardly turned. Pieterson playing for the turn, was beated in the flight and bowled through the gate. Pieterson could not believe it and as he walked back mouthed the words “He bowled me?” to Bell. Pieterson kept looking back at the field as he reached the boundary line but unfortunately there were no English players signalling him from the balcony!

— Sanjay

Team for 2nd ODI

The second ODI between England and India starts on Friday at the County Ground, Bristol on Friday. England will be on a high after their convincing win in the first one dayer and will be hoping to continue their success.

India have played two games in this ground and have won both of them. This ground has been particularly favourable to one Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, who scored centuries on both occasions. I am sure the Indian fans will be looking for a repeat performance from him hoping that this would be century No. 42 for him.

I would like to see a century from him too, but it would  be better to see a combined team effort with every player pulling his weight. Saurav Ganguly has scored well since his comeback and a quick knock from him during the early power plays will give India a good start. Gambhir has to give way for Uthappa in this match. Even if Gambhir plays, I hope he does not come in at No. 3. A more conventional Dravid or Yuvraj would be a better choice. If we need to mix it up a little bit, then we could even send Dhoni in at No. 3. Apart from shuffling the batting order, these are the other changes India should consider:

• Uthappa for Gambhir: This has to happen in my opinion. I wouldn’t even mind Uthappa opening the batting with Ganguly, while Tendulkar comes in at No. 3
• Powar for Chawla: There is not much to pick from either Chawla or Powar. Chawla is probably a better batsman and fielder than Powar, but Powar is probably a better one day bowler.
• Munaf for one of the fast bowlers:  Considering that there are 7 One Day games to be played, the fast bowlers will have to be rotated at some stage. Why not now? Maybe Agarkar could sit out.
• Munaf or Powar for Gambhir: Playing Munaf or Powar for Gambhir would mean we go with 5 bowlers and although I’ve not been a huge fan of this in the past, it is certainly an option. The Bristol wicket is also supposed to be a bit slow , and if this is indeed the case then Powar gets the nod. 

So, here are a couple of team combinations :

Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Karthik, Chawla, Powar, Zaheer, Agarkar, Munaf

or

Uthappa, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni, Karthik, Powar, Zaheer, RP Singh, Munaf

 -Mahesh-

England vs India — 1st ODI: Six areas for improvement…

It has been a long summer for the Indian team. They have been on the road for a while, playing ODIs against Ireland and South Africa, an ODI against Pakistan (rained out), a few tour games, three Tests against England and an ODI against Scotland. The work load would have to catch up on the players at some point in time. And on todays’ evidence at the Rose Bowl in Southapton in the first day-night ODI against England, it has!

But the good news is that India has an opportunity to work on a few areas. There are specifically six areas that India must work on to be competitive in the remaining 6 games of the series. These are, in no particular order:

• batting
• bowling
• running between wickets
• ground fielding,
• catching, and
• team balance

I am saying this only partly tongue-in-cheek! The real India wasn’t on the park today. Some may say that the real India hasn’t been on the park for quite a while now in ODIs! And that would perhaps be a fair cop for a team that has spluttered through the last few months. But there certainly were signs of recovery when India played South Africa in Ireland. So, I’d be willing to write this loss off as “early days yet” in the recovery process. And I said exactly this to a friend of mine who SMSd me during the latter part of the game saying, “Looks like normal programming has resumed”!

There are no silver bullets here really. The team just has to buckle down and start to play good cricket. They are capable of it.

In some respects, just as the Lords’ ‘excape’ was a fright for the team, I think this loss will be a good spur for the team. It is a seven-match series after all.

There will be some criticism of Rahul Dravid’s decision to bowl first on winning the toss. I am not sure what impact that decision would have had. Had the bowlers bowled well and to a plan, I am certain his decision would have been lauded as a brilliant one!

More importantly, however, I just do not believe that India has the right balance in its team though and that has to be the starting point. A Freddie Flintoff is a tremendous positive in terms of team-balance. Yes, India does not have an in-form allrounder to thrust into the team at the moment. So it must hope and pray that Gautam Gambhir is just keeping the seat warm for an in-form Irfan Pathan! In the absence of an Irfan Pathan or a Joginder Sharma or a Dinesh Mongia or a Praveen Kumar in the team, India may have to bite the bullet and go with 5 bowlers! It has to be an option that the team considers. Even if the team does not do that, I don’t believe this Gautam Gambhir experiment should continue.

— Mohan

Let the (ODI) games begin…

The India England test series finished on the 13th of August and although there was some disappointment that India didn’t win 2-0, we still won. Now the focus shifts to the ODI tournament and both teams bring in some fresh blood. It is a new game and a new contest.

But of late the England One Day team has not performed well. If the ICC rankings are anything to go by, England are ranked 8th. They even lost the recent ODI series to West Indies 1-2. This does not mean the English are a push over. In spite of India holding the edge over the English in terms of ranking (India is ranked 5) and recent results (India have only lost once to England in the last 8 games), the series may still be closely fought. India are still trying to get its One Day groove back after the World cup debacle and although England are rebuilding, they have a distinct advantage playing at home and will also be trying to make up for the test series loss. Freddie Flintoff’s return should also boost their confidence.

For the Indians, Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar would certainly like to score a century or two in the ODI series – something they missed out on in the test series. It is highly likely that Sachin will open the batting with Saurav. One drop could be a toss up between Gambhir and Uthappa (my preference). Yuvraj, Dravid, Dhoni and Karthik will occupy the next batting slots (not necessarily in that order). Piyush Chawla and Zaheer Khan are sure to make the cut. Munaf was a bit off against the England Lions the other day and may make way for Agarkar and RP Singh. RR Powar may not get a chance as it is highly unlikely that India will play just 2 fast bowlers.

CricInfo had this as the likely XI for the 1st ODI:

India (likely) 1 Sachin Tendulkar, 2 Sourav Ganguly, 3 Gautam Gambhir, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Rahul Dravid (capt), 6 Dinesh Karthik, 7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), 8 Piyush Chawla, 9 Ajit Agarkar, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 RP Singh

It certainly looks like the team that will take the field today.

-Mahesh-