Can this be the reason for India's recent performances?

The Indian team went to SA just before the World Cup 2011 and put up a decent show against one of the best teams in world cricket today. The SA show was followed by World Cup triumph.

However, India's cricket team has had an horrendous run in recent past. An average show in WI (one of the lower ranked teams in test cricket), abysmal show in England and Australia. So, what could be reason(s) for string of unceremonious defeats, nay, abject surrender?

Think about it the team, the captain, support staff and (of course) BCCI's whimsical ways have all remained same. The team has the required pedigree. If I think about it only one major change has happened after SA tour - change in coach.

Only time will tell if this is the real reason...

Poor team selection

Team selection for Zimbabwe Tri series 2010

I wrote a post Let us pray! earlier this year. The title of this post could also have been same as I am writing about a similar situation. India were scheduled to play SA in a dead rubber and selectors rested top players of Indian team just to give chance to youngsters. And guess what, India lost. Even though that was a dead rubber and now we are talking about playing in Zimbabwe, we should be ruthless while it comes to playing international matches. We should select the best team possible. Remember it is a tri-series and we would be playing against SL as well.

I have no doubt about the talent of youngsters picked for the squad. They are all good players and proven themselves in IPL and other domestic matches. They would also be hungry to showcase their talent in International arena. But cricket is a team sport and individuals can win you only few matches. I feel that making wholesale changes tot the team composition is not a good idea.

A few factors that goes against the selected squad:
1. The squad has never played together as a team.
2. The coach and other support staff will have to guide an entirely new team.
3. All players are low in experience.
4. The experience is even lower when it comes to playing matches abroad.

An excerpt from my earlier post

It is true that the replacements are worthy and talented but all of them lack experience. It is a good idea to test the reserves and give bench some chance to secure a team for future. But wholesale replacements are not good even if it is a dead rubber. We must learn from Australia of old. They also had a rotation policy but never at the expense of a game. They never got complacent and were so ruthless that many games were won even before starting. We must make winning a habit.

Let us just pray that the team is able to win a few matches.

Let us pray!

India vs. SA
3rd ODI
Season 2009-10

This post is a continuation from the last post

Headlines and the art of selling news

I also want India to win and make a clean sweep but I have certain apprehensions. The first ODI was close. India, of course, had an upper hand till 44th over or so but they became complacent and let the advantage whittle away. While batting also the batsmen gave away good starts otherwise the total could have been higher. The second ODI was put beyond SA reach by only one man - Tendulkar. Remove him from the equation and you have evenly matched teams. And introduce new and inexperienced blood, it is advantage SA.

We already have depleted team with injuries to Gambhir, Yuvraj and Zaheer - all top 10 players as per ICC ranking. On top of it the selectors have rested Sehwag & Tendulkar and have extended Harbhajan's rest. Again all three are top 10 players. Tendulkar's rest is justified but resting Sehwag and Harbhjan when team is already depleted is not a good idea. If anybody needed rest it was Dhoni. He has been playing non-stop in all form of the games and he has a tough schedule ahead.

It is true that the replacements are worthy and talented but all of them lack experience. It is a good idea to test the reserves and give bench some chance to secure a team for future. But wholesale replacements are not good even if it is a dead rubber. We must learn from Australia of old. They also had a rotation policy but never at the expense of a game. They never got complacent and were so ruthless that many games were won even before starting. We must make winning a habit.

We can still win today's game but chances have diminished. Let us pray for today's win.

Headlines and the art of selling news

India vs. SA
3rd ODI
Season 2009-10

All major previews for the 3rd ODI suggest that India has a upperhand while SA will try to avoid clean sweap. Consider the following:

India target first sweep against South Africa

India seek series sweep at Motera

SA look to avoid a clean sweep

Depleted India seek series sweep at Motera

I think the headlines are created in line with the expectations of the readers - in this case the fans of Indian cricket team. We always want our team to win and are prejudiced by what are our team's strengths rather than dispassionately reviewing the whole picture. But that is another story...

Let us pray for today's win.

Tendulkar's Double - The moments of agony

India vs. SA
2009-2010 Season
2nd ODI

Experts have written and filled many a reams to eulogize Tendulkar's double. So much praise, bordering upon adoration, has been showered on him that I do not want to add more to it.

Sachin's double has broken many records and along the way it had its side effects as well. One of the pleasant side effect was Cricinfo's servers breakdown. Here is a truthful admission from Cricinfo

Tendulkar breaks Cricinfo records

I was among the many unfortunate ones who was not able to watch Sachin's innings live on TV. So I did the next best thing by following it online on Cricinfo. And Cricinfo's server glitch left me heartbroken. I had to go through many agonizing moments when I couldn't follow the online commentary.

May I have many more 'Sach' agonizing moments.

Blessing in Disguise

South Africa in India
Season: 2009-10

Indian team is carrying long list of injuries – VVS, Sreesanth, Dravid and Yuvraj. Sreesanth, Dravid and Yuvraj have been left out while VVS may not play the first test. It is, of course, not an idle situation; the frontline players are cannot play and the opponent is supposed to be the best team in World cricket today. The competition will be all the more difficult as it could decide the number 1 spot in ICC test ranking.

Sreesanth absence will not hurt Indian team. His services, in all probability, will not be needed given that Zaheer and Ishant are bowling well. Dravid is a great player and his absence cannot be compensated. On the other hand Yuvraj has done little to prove that he values test berth and is a fair replacement for Dada.

I think the situation presents a very good opportunity to India if VVS plays. In the absence of Dravid and Yuvraj, Vijay and Badrinath are likely to play the first test. Vijay, in a short tenure, has already impressed with his solid technique and unflappable temperament. Badrinath has been on fringes of Indian team and has been knocking the doors for long.

Will Badrinath grab the opportunity and do justice to his debut? Only time will tell. If he does well and gets more chances, India can look forward to another good middle order batsman. The situation is a blessing in disguise and let us hope for the best.

I hope Indian selection panel can learn something from this situation. They rotate the players to test the bench strength. Australia could rotate players in first half of the last decade; India can do it now and they should do it well before Big 3 will retire.

Let's pray for England win in England vs. SA test series

England start their test series campaign against SA tomorrow. Let us support and pray for them to win the series handsomely for India's cause. Lest they do, South Africa can inch up towards numero uno slot in ICC test ranking.

Consider this the other two top teams, namely South Africa and Australia, are playing 7 and 10 tests respectively in next 12 months. And India is playing only 2 tests and that too against low ranked Bangladesh. Only God can help India in retaining the top ranking.

Passing thoughts

1. All three pre-tournament favourites of World cup are out of the competition. SA was on track till they lost semis but other 2, India and Australia, went out without troubling anyone.

Excerpt from my earlier post Why India is serious contender for the ICC T20 World Cup?
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The betting sites have also given best odds to India closely followed by SA and Australia. At the time of posting this articles the Ladbrokes' odds for India were 5/2 while for SA and Australia were 7/2 and 11/2 respectively.
Did anyone say odds in a T20 match change very quickly?
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2. Media was hounding Dhoni for his alleged rift with Sehwag when there wasn't even a shred of evidence supporting the rumour. In fact they are still hounding him because on the same issue.

But media is saying nothing about Dhoni and Kirsten. They are giving different reasons for their poor show in World Cup; Kirsten says fatigue was a big factor for India's pathetic performance while Dhoni thinks it is not the case. I think media has missed a trick or two here. How callous?

3. Two teams who qualified from group of death are still in the fray for World Cup while the team who was placed in the easiest group, read India, are out.

4. Would SA ever be able to shrug of Chokers tag?
Excerpt from my earlier post Analyze this
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They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
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5. Pakistan team is finally getting up from the right side of the bed. Pakistan fans would be hoping for an encore.

6. English and Australian teams can finally concentrate on real thing (read Ashes), now that the distractions (read T20 World Cup) is finally over for them.

Analyze this

Cricket is analysed on many fronts. In fact it is studied, examined, scrutinized and dissected from many angles before nothing notable is left. To a ardent fan the game is more than a religion and your man is no exception. ICC T20 World Cup has also been analyzed from many angles.

1. Who will win the Cup?
2. What 4 teams will reach semis?
3. What happened to Australia?
4. Is T20 a fun game?
5. What is the future of test matches?
6. etc.

Has anyone analyzed why a team would not win if at all they would not win? I think the title of this post should have been 'Analyze that'...

At the time of writing this post we are through with the first day's play of Super 8s. SA beat England while NZ beat Ireland.

Why India can lose?

• The dreaded F word - Yes, fatigue more mental than physical as they have been away from home and the country for so long. Zaheer has just recovered, Sehwag is out and captain is no longer cool (losing his temper too frequently).
• Bowling at death - Even after being 8 down Ireland could steal few runs.
• Not been tested in the tournament so far - Even Pakistan gave them a win on the platter in a warm up

Why SA can lose?

• The dreaded C word - They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
• Loosing their way while batting - They made 128 while batting against a depleted NZ side and today they huffed and puffed toward a small target of 113 against England.

Why NZ can lose?

• The dreaded D word - They are perennial Dark Horses. They raise the expectations of their fans by giving a good fight but ...
• Their best players are of the team are battling injuries

Why Pakistan can lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency. One their day they are world beaters and another day they are worse than a club cricket team
• 'It is a fun game'. Or so their captain thinks
• Nothing remains permanent in Pakistan cricket - Captains change, coaches change, administration change, players change and on top of everything their strategies towards the game change.

Why WI can lose?

• Have you seen them winning anything in this decade?

Why England can lose?

• Well they are the hosts, aren't they. If they can give opening day match to Netherlands on a platter, they should not have reached Super 8s. I am sure English fans could give many more reasons.

What ever may be the root cause of future potential defeats, a team that performs on the day and hold their nerve will win the match. It is T20 cricket - if Australia can go out so can everybody else...

Super 8s

After today's Group A and Group C matches, all Super 8 teams except for one have been decided. The last team to go into super 8 will be from Group B and it will either be Pakistan or Netherlands. All other 7 places have been decided

Refer to my earlier post on pre-tournament team seedings have played a significant role in deciding Super 8 group positions India is placed in the toughest group ICC T20 World Cup

First Super 8 group will have India, England, WI and SA. Second Super 8 group will have NZ, SL, Ireland and either Pakistan or Netherlands. Pakistan does not have a good chance to qualify; they will need to beat Netherlands by a huge margin to come into contention as their run-rate is abysmal. They, no doubt, have the talent to do it. But it will solely depend on which team from Pakistan plays against Netherlands? :)

Pakistan always play two different teams in a tournament. One is a world beater team who can win handsomely against the best of the best and another is just a bunch of players going through motions on playing field. If the world beater team comes to play against Netherlands, then only god can save them. Let's just wait and watch.

But one thing is for sure first group is a formidable group and second group (with or without Pakistan) will be a easy group. I think SL and NZ are already surreptitiously celebrating and looking forward to semis...

Why India is serious contender for the ICC T20 World Cup?

India team is not only the defending champions but is also considered to be favourites to win ICC T20 World Cup again. Pundits, critics, media-personnel and fans alike have put their bets on India.

The betting sites have also given best odds to India closely followed by SA and Australia. At the time of posting this articles the Ladbrokes' odds for India were 5/2 while for SA and Australia were 7/2 and 11/2 respectively. The odds would change as tournament will progress. One can check the betting meter of various online sites at

Twenty20 World Cup Win Market Betting Odds

I am not a betting man but I like to analyze the cricket happenings. Why is everyone considering India as favourites? Is it because:

1. India has a very strong team with fine balance.
2. Indians have much more experience of T20 format than rival team players (courtesy IPL).
3. All the 15 individuals in the team are proven performers - swash bucking batsmen, excellent fielders and wicket taking bowlers.
4. Most of the players are is excellent form and are coming after a successful stint in IPL2.
5. Dhoni is considered to be a fine leader with a cool head and astute thinking.

All these points definitely make India a world beating team. These points have been analyzed threadbare by media and cricket pundits; there is no point in repeating them here. SA and Australia too can run close if we just consider these points. Man for man SA and Australia too have brilliant team.

World Cup squads
India - http://www.cricinfo.com/wt202009/content/squad/402820.html
SA - http://www.cricinfo.com/wt202009/content/squad/402863.html
Australia - http://www.cricinfo.com/wt202009/content/squad/402963.html

So what is it that makes India favourites? Where is the wow factor? Why are odds what they are? I think there are more important points. These are:

1. The bench - Out of 15 individuals in the squad only 11 will play. The bench strength of India is much better that rest of the teams. Dhoni has happy problem of who to take in playing 11 and who to leave. Indian team has the strongest bench among all teams playing in the world cup. One just has to consider how India thrashed Pakistan in a warm up game when their premier bowler (Zaheer) and the regular opener (Sehwag) were injured and warming the bench.
2. Beyond the bench - Players like Karthink, Nehra, Munaf, Mishra, Balaji are not in the 15 member squad. These players performed exceptionally well in recently concluded IPL and have donned India colours before; they can walk in any other international side based on their performance. Alas! There is no space for them in Indian team. And I am not talking about the other young guns who also performed well in IPL but do not have the international exposure. Surely they will put positive pressure on the players in world cup squad.
3. Fear Factor - There are very few players in world cricket who induce fear in the mind of opposition. These players are reverved by fans and opposition alike. India have couple of them - Sehwag, Yuvraj and Dhoni. Australia also used to have few before they lost them to retirement and indiscipline (read Symmonds).
4. Pressure situations - Most Indian players are accustomed to pressure cooker like situations. Over past two years they have seen extremely adverse conditions (both in one dayers and tests) where they have come out strongly. They have won matches from extreme odds. As an old adage goes - been there, done that. Players like Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit, Pathan brothers, Zaheer, Harbhajan and Raina have won matches on their own from seemingly impossible situations. They are all big match players.

Did anyone say odds in a T20 match change very quickly?

Why Australia is the best test team in world?

Australians got a stiff competition from SA and India in 2008. Australians barely managed to overcome stiff Indian resistance in their own backyard while Indians trounced them 2-0 in India. India is a vastly improved test side from what it was 2 years ago. On the other hand SA was on the verge of dethroning Australia as number 1 test side in the world. Alas! They stumbled at the last step. Some would say that they are perennial chokers.

I think, even though SA and India have challenged Australian hegemony over last few years, Australia will remain number 1 team in times to come. In my earlier post "Why is Australia the number 1 team?" we looked at one aspect of Australian cricket - their bench strength. But more than their bench strength, it is their seriousness about about the test cricket that sways the ranking in their favour. Test cricket is considered to be the holy grail in Australia. 2008 was just an aberration for Australian cricket.

When the best players of the were playing in IPL 2009, Australian stalwarts were resting at home. They renounced playing lucrative IPL and also didn't participate in one dayers against Pakistan. Why so? Because they wanted to keep themselves fresh for Ashes. While IPL was in full flow, the voices emanating from Australian cricket suggested that the team was getting into groove for Ashes. Even today, when rest of the world is focused on ICC T20 championship (which is just round the corner), all the news coming from Australian team is about Ashes preparation.

ICC T20 championship is the most prestigious international T20 tournament in the world. Barring 1 or 2 T20 matches in a bilateral series, all the teams play international T20 matches only during ICC T20 championship. And what is the news from Australian camp about ICC T20 championship? Nothing...This says it all. Australians attach immense importance to test cricket and that is why they have been so successful in this format.

What hopes does Australia have in ICC T20 championship? Even though they are placed in group of Death, along with WI and SL, Australia has a strong T20 team. They should be able to go through to next round. Anyway, that is another story...

Why is Australia the number 1 team?

Australia has remained number 1 team for more than 15 years and barring a stray competitive series no one has been able to break their hegemony over the number 1 spot. In recent times, after they lost series to India and SA and SA displaced them from number 1 ICC ranking, there has been a talk of Australia going down as a team.

I think it is wrong to say Australia is no longer the number 1 team. 2008 was not a good year for them. They lost to India and SA but 2009 has started on a right note. They have regrouped and defeated SA and Pakistan in one day series. The team's strength can be judged from the quality of players who are not part of playing 11. Consider the current series where Australia have beaten Pakistan hands down. There is no Ponting or Hussey or Johnson, arguably the best players of the team. Clark has lead the side admirably in Ponting's absence. Moreover let us consider some other facts:

1. Some of the other extremely talented players like Warner, Hodge, Katich are playing in IPL and are doing very well.

2. Players like Gilchrist/Hayden retired last year and their places were taken by new players players

3. Lee is not playing due to injury.

Australia will remain number 1 team for a long time considering a second string team, without regulars, has defeated Pakistan comfortably.

Next post - Can India become number 1?