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.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
Sunil Gavaskar comments
In a recent article in The Hindustan Times Mr. Gavaskar wrote
Read the complete article at When batsmen leave their teams and fans demoralised
Read more about the 'Ordinary' analysis at An 'Ordinary' Sehwag and An 'Ordinary' Bangladesh
Virender Sehwag speaks like he bats and that’s why he is so refreshing, for there are no diplomatic niceties for him. He thinks that Bangladesh are an ordinary side incapable of taking 20 India wickets.
Read the complete article at When batsmen leave their teams and fans demoralised
Read more about the 'Ordinary' analysis at An 'Ordinary' Sehwag and An 'Ordinary' Bangladesh
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Oh! Not again.
Sri Lanka planning visit by India
An excerpt.
Gimme a break!
An excerpt.
In the past five years, in fact, Sri Lanka and India have been involved in over 50 contests - nine Tests, 39 ODIs and three Twenty20s.
Gimme a break!
Friday, January 22, 2010
An ordinary Bangladesh
India in Bangladesh
1st test, 2009/10 season
It is true that Sehwag called Bangladesh an 'Ordinary' team. Was it a figure of speech? Or Was it an hyperbole? No, it was straight talking. Sehwag does not mince words while talking and he talks straight from the heart. Read my previous post on the same subject.
An 'Ordinary' Sehwag
However, Sehwag shot himself on foot, or so it seemed, when India got out at 243. Media went GaGa over it and Bangla fans went delirious. But did anyone realize that India had one poor session when they lost 6 wickets. In the morning session they were going great guns and last session too was OK. It was only after lunch that they floundered.
To further substantiate my point, I did some research on the past performances of Bangladesh. I checked test match data of last 2 years and compared it with India's. It is considered that in last 2 years Bangladesh has improved tremendously. But the data proves that there was nothing out of ordinary in Sehwag's comments.
Bangladesh scored under 200 in 11 innings out of 21 completed innings - more than 50% times. If we consider under 250 scores the percentage jumps to 80%. If we think scores of 254 and 259 are also under par than the percentage jumps to 90%.
India, on the other hand, just has 4 out 28 under 200 innings - a very low 14%. India also had 11 450+ scores in last 2 years whereas Bangladesh had none. Another interesting inference is Bangladesh lost 20 wickets more often than not - 21 out of possible 24 innings.
It is not a comparison between India and Bangladesh. India is at the top while Bangladesh is at the bottom of ICC test ranking. I collated the stats just to prove the veracity of Sehwag's statement. Bangladesh are truly 'Ordinary'.
1st test, 2009/10 season
It is true that Sehwag called Bangladesh an 'Ordinary' team. Was it a figure of speech? Or Was it an hyperbole? No, it was straight talking. Sehwag does not mince words while talking and he talks straight from the heart. Read my previous post on the same subject.
An 'Ordinary' Sehwag
However, Sehwag shot himself on foot, or so it seemed, when India got out at 243. Media went GaGa over it and Bangla fans went delirious. But did anyone realize that India had one poor session when they lost 6 wickets. In the morning session they were going great guns and last session too was OK. It was only after lunch that they floundered.
To further substantiate my point, I did some research on the past performances of Bangladesh. I checked test match data of last 2 years and compared it with India's. It is considered that in last 2 years Bangladesh has improved tremendously. But the data proves that there was nothing out of ordinary in Sehwag's comments.
Bangladesh scored under 200 in 11 innings out of 21 completed innings - more than 50% times. If we consider under 250 scores the percentage jumps to 80%. If we think scores of 254 and 259 are also under par than the percentage jumps to 90%.
India, on the other hand, just has 4 out 28 under 200 innings - a very low 14%. India also had 11 450+ scores in last 2 years whereas Bangladesh had none. Another interesting inference is Bangladesh lost 20 wickets more often than not - 21 out of possible 24 innings.
It is not a comparison between India and Bangladesh. India is at the top while Bangladesh is at the bottom of ICC test ranking. I collated the stats just to prove the veracity of Sehwag's statement. Bangladesh are truly 'Ordinary'.
Monday, January 18, 2010
An 'Ordinary' Sehwag
India in Bangladesh Test Series - 1st Test
2009/10 season
Sehwag is a misfit in Gentleman's game. He is an 'Ordinary' person with Extra'Ordinary' batting skill. He does not believe in slow nature of test cricket, makes his own rules about the batting and more often than not talks straight.
He makes (Seh)wacky comments which are sometimes misconstrued. Yesterday was an another exhibition of his Ordinary nature. He said Bangladesh is an Ordinary team which evoked surprise, shock and awe. It is true that it would have bruised, nay, shattered Bangla ego but the comment, in itself, was not out of Ordinary. It came out naturally and was a straight response to a straight question. Sehwag does not know how to polish the words. He calls a spade a spade.
Read my recent post on another Sehwag comment and forget about yesterday's press conference.
Trust Sehwag to entertain you - Always
In essence he is (Seh)wack - See the ball hit the ball.
2009/10 season
Sehwag is a misfit in Gentleman's game. He is an 'Ordinary' person with Extra'Ordinary' batting skill. He does not believe in slow nature of test cricket, makes his own rules about the batting and more often than not talks straight.
He makes (Seh)wacky comments which are sometimes misconstrued. Yesterday was an another exhibition of his Ordinary nature. He said Bangladesh is an Ordinary team which evoked surprise, shock and awe. It is true that it would have bruised, nay, shattered Bangla ego but the comment, in itself, was not out of Ordinary. It came out naturally and was a straight response to a straight question. Sehwag does not know how to polish the words. He calls a spade a spade.
Read my recent post on another Sehwag comment and forget about yesterday's press conference.
Trust Sehwag to entertain you - Always
In essence he is (Seh)wack - See the ball hit the ball.
Tendulkar and Pakistan
I wanted to share two very good articles. First one is an anlysis of Tendulkar's batting in Ist test with Bangladesh and another is an essay on current state of Pakistan cricket.
When familiarity breeds respect
Pakistan's fielding caught in a time warp
When familiarity breeds respect
Pakistan's fielding caught in a time warp
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Temprament vs. Talent
Australia vs. Pakistan 2009-10
The title of this story could also have been Australia vs. Pakistan. Pakistan always had talent in abundance and they are a team of brilliant individuals. Yes they are more like a bunch of talented individuals than a team.
The Australia, as far as memory goes, never had such a weak team. But it is still a team. They might lack talent and experience but they are can more than make it up by grit and determination to succeed. They carry a strong will and temperament to succeed.
Also read my earlier posts
http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyze-this.html
http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/12/life-mein-pyas-honi-chahiye.html
Refer to a news item http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/440513.html where Ponting also conveyed the same message
Let's pray for the talent to overcome temperament. You can call be selfish but, for a change, I will support Pakistan since I want India to remain number 1 test team.
The title of this story could also have been Australia vs. Pakistan. Pakistan always had talent in abundance and they are a team of brilliant individuals. Yes they are more like a bunch of talented individuals than a team.
The Australia, as far as memory goes, never had such a weak team. But it is still a team. They might lack talent and experience but they are can more than make it up by grit and determination to succeed. They carry a strong will and temperament to succeed.
Also read my earlier posts
http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/06/analyze-this.html
http://fifth-umpire.blogspot.com/2009/12/life-mein-pyas-honi-chahiye.html
Refer to a news item http://www.cricinfo.com/ausvpak09/content/current/story/440513.html where Ponting also conveyed the same message
"As a package, if you look at their team they've got a number of exceptional players," Ponting said. "If they stick together as a group and play well together as a team, they can be very dangerous. Our job is to make sure we don't let them gel too much and combine too well. We've just got to make sure that we've learnt our lessons from this series and we get on with playing some good cricket."
Let's pray for the talent to overcome temperament. You can call be selfish but, for a change, I will support Pakistan since I want India to remain number 1 test team.
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