CricDigs Blogs

It is heart-breaking to see what is happening to WEST INDIES cricket. If falling performance levels and talks of severe camping within the team due to regionalism were not enough, now we have a full-blown, media-exposed disaster. The unthinkable has been done by Trinidad & Tobago cricketing authorities that have gone on record, saying that they were ready to field their own cricket team if the WICB did not relent and resolved the ongoing tiff with the international team members. The second-string side is mocking test cricket with empty stadiums and interest levels no more than a neighbourhood game. It is shocking to see that the ICC is yet to formally announce its intervention to try and do something about this. I believe the Trinidadian authorities have forgotten that the West Indies cricket team is a display of lot more than players from neighbourhood islands coming together to play and are only damaging any chances of the crisis getting solved. Agreed that the situation is particularly detrimental to the players’ interest but is breaking-away really an answer?

There seems to be no solution to the financial debacle that has hit the West Indies cricket. For the uninitiated, this problem has been brewing since the World Cup was held in the island nations, a few seasons ago. Since that time, the players had been waiting for huge rewards that they had been promised after the conclusion of the cricket’s biggest showpiece.

However, that has not happened till date and I believe that the players have lost their patience with the WICB. On the other hand, the Board is severely cash-strapped, just about having made enough profits to pay for the investment that had been poured towards hosting the World Cup along with investing in the long-due cricket development programs in the island nations. I can only hope that there is some resolution towards this. I was hoping that the ICC and may be the cash-rich bodies like BCCI and the ECB could provide some sort of temporary, mutually-beneficial, financial assistance to sort out this issue.

Stranger things have happened to West Indies cricket, so it does not seem so shocking that their players have gone on to actually boycott test matches and the WICB has been forced to filed a second string of players. And consider this, it is a second string of WI players, so you wouldn’t expect much from them, right? But then look how poorly have Bangladesh applied themselves in their first innings. Most of their players looked uninterested in the match proceedings as if they are some sort of international stars whose pride has been hurt by asking to play against a second-rate side. What would you make out of the fact that a team that loses nearly every test match it plays, is letting go of an opportunity to secure a series victory on foreign soil? Bangladeshis need to wake-up and realize that this is a golden chance to get victories in a rarely-seen undemanding international side, if you can really call this ad-hoc WI side an ‘international’ one?

I would have like to used the phrase, ‘Battling it out’, but Dhoni’s batting in the ongoing one-day series against the West Indies has been so impressive that I had to make this change. Taking into consideration the fact that he is under constant pressure now and the team is not performing as well it was, just a couple of months back, the consistency in his run-making is all the more impressive. This is probably the best way for him to silence his minority of critics and all those who are jumping to conclusions after our exit from the T20 World Cup. He has batted in each innings as per the demand of the game, foregoing a bit of his natural game to make sure that the team’s needs are prioritized and for me that is the best way of leading by example. Karthick too seems to have made some sort of a mark with his role as an opener and one can only hope that this time he sustains his performance and does not go off the radar.

Although, MS Dhoni was extremely appreciate of the match-winning effort by Yuvraj Singh for his century in the first of the four one-dayers against the WI, he was quick to add that the team relaxed a bit too much towards the end of the game. In fact, he emphasized that the 20-run win margin was much tighter than suggested by the scoreline, since some of the fielders relaxed a bit too much once seven of the West Indian wickets were down. In a way, you cannot disapprove of what Mahi is trying to say. The team did become a bit too casual once it seemed that WI would fall short of the target and some of the bowling towards the end was very pedestrian. Regarding the bowling, it remains to be seen how effective will the combination of Yusuf Pathan and Jadeja bowling in the middle of the innings will prove, since they need to fill-in about 8 – 10 overs in each of these ODI matches.

Fine, India did win the first ODI against the WEST INDIES but one aspect of the game is very evident — the Indian bowling looks very suspect with Zaheer Khan not playing and RP Singh bowling well below par. I believe Ishant Sharma should be made to open the bowling to give his confidence a boost and may be, Praveen Kumar could be the first change seamer. Kumar has the ability to bowl well with the old ball and has some very handy variations, including a few slower balls.

On the other hand, the Indian batting, though it clicked in this match, looked a bit shaky with Rohit Sharma getting out casually yet again. India could use a more sustainable batting option for the number three position — someone who can grind out 20 overs at just about 70-80% strike rate to ensure that a launch pad is provided to the likes of Pathan and Dhoni down the order.

As India get ready to take on the West Indies, it would be interesting to see who are the chosen openers. For starters, Gambhir too isn’t looking in the best of touch and if he falters in the first two games, then he too might be rested for the last leg of the one-day series. On the other hand, Virender Sehewag’s spot still remains to be taken. I don’t believe that either Karthick or Rohit Sharma have consolidated themselves as the opening choice. Again, there is Murali Vijay in the team who is a specialist opener and is known in the domestic circuit for his ability to handle the short ball. This is what the Indians must be preparing themselves for - a lot of short bowling by the fast bowlers from WI and they would need players who can pull with ease at the top. Who are they? there are no overwhelming faves although Yuvi does pull it pretty decent on ocassions. May be Badrinath could be given a run at number 3 as we no longer have Suresh Raina at that spot??

Australia realized one thing yesterday – when Chris Gayle gets going you can only keep watching. Gayle’s knock was as flamboyant as his hair style. He and Fletcher almost took West Indies to a morale boosting victory. Halfway through the WI innings Rick Ponting was not even thinking about the game at hand and visualizing his strategy for the next game. He was convinced that WI is going to win. And WI won with ease and Ponting took it on his stride.

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The Bangladesh outfit is a lean and mean one. They have the potential to stun any team. Trying and playing very hard are their basic traits. And they have this huge appetite to fight for cricketing glory.

India has the bitter experience of underestimating them in the 2007 ODI World Cup. Wiser by the experience Dhoni & Co. didn’t take a single Bangladeshi player lightly. They treated all with respect, but didn’t give away anything else.

Batting first India started off well. Gambhir and Rohit Sharma maintained a very high run rate for five-six overs. Then Gambhir who had actually started the banging with a boundary in the second ball of the first over slowed down. The spin bowling of Shakib and Naeem made life difficult for our batsmen. After Rohit’s departure, Dhoni also fell in to the rut of slow scoring. The first fifty came off 33 balls and second fifty came off 77 balls. He tried to shrug off the pressure with a huge six. Shortly after that Naeem uprooted his stumps.

Thanks to the cameo role played by Yuvaraj, the run rate again rose back to nine runs per over. He hit the four sixes effortlessly and sullied the neat bowling figure of Naeem.

Bangladesh was not intimidated by the defending champion’s reputation or the score. Junaid Siddiqi tried to match Yuvraj’s 41 off 18 balls and scored 41 off 22 balls. At one time it appeared that the spirited Bangladeshi boys will run away with the game. Pragyan Ojha quelled all fears. He took a wicket in the very first ball and took another wicket in the same over.

It was Ojha who spun India’s way to victory.

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Chris Gayle is among the cleanest and the fiercest hitters of the cricket ball and this remains a fact no matter how badly his team performs, often camouflaging his explosive batting skills. The Windies have been notorious for playing badly enough in the last ten years to weather away some charisma of its star performers and Gayle has been one of them.

However, last night it was nothing of the sort when Gayle literally hand-picked and slaughtered Brett Lee & Co. as Ricky Ponting haplessly watched his team lose with nearly three overs to spare even after having scored a reasonable near 170 runs. Chris Gayle had the company of a young man, called Fletcher, who is still trying to establish himself as a batsman in the team. One would have to say Fletcher’s 50-odd runs were pretty impressive and for a change he is one young Caribbean batsman who has his feet moving to some extent.

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