CricDigs Blogs

You can say that Dhoni is arguably the biggest “thing” happened to Indian Cricket after Sachin Tendulkar. Though they represent totally different styles (including hair) of personalities, they both have moved the Indian fans big time…

Dhoni came with a bang with his skyrocketing shots and huge sixes, and over the past year+ has established himself as a successful captain for India in all forms of Cricket (including T20, ODIs and a Test win against SA). He also got a million dollar contract for himself while leading the Chennai Super Kings in IPL.

Now during his journey has he changed as a player/person? He is still as confident as he used to, still enjoys while playing the game, still shows ability to take decisions and seem to handle to stress pretty well.

What has changed then? One thing that I noticed while watching his interview after India’s Test win against SA in Kanpur was the fact that he took credit for all the changes he made and went on to say that his “eight changes provided eight wickets”. So what is the big deal about this comment you will say. Well in previous similar situations (in CB series in Australia e.g.) he would answer this type of question by saying that it is the players who perform when put in a situation by a captain. So the credit goes to the players. Small change this might be, but many a times it is this type of small change in attitude that can bring on BIG changes in the future. Interesting to see how the Dhoni era progresses…..

To my eyes, this pitch looks like a minefield. India currently has a lead of 23 runs which realistically is all they would be able to put together. I can not imagine SS and IS sticking around too long to make any substantial difference. South Africa should not have much difficulty wiping that deficit without losing too many wickets (if any).

So, the most probable scenario is that SA will put up a sizable second innings total setting India a big enough total to chase. Looking at the present condition of the pitch and the South African attacks’ power, it would be very difficult for India to bat 4th and that too while chasing a large enough total.

So the most probable scenario is South Africa winning this test and the series very comfortably. The only scenario that I can see for India to pull off a victory here is to repeat their performance at Johannesburg in 2006. India would need to bowl out SA very very cheaply. Any total of 200+ to chase on this pitch in the 4th innings would be extremely difficult. Then again stranger things have happened

Go India!!

I am sure most of you would agree that Dravid probably is the most technically correct batsman India has produced in recent times (I am not considering Gavaskar & earlier). What has happened to him? Ever since touring West Indies in 2006 and especially during India’s tour of England under his captaincy and Australia under Kumble, Dravid is getting more and more into his defensive shell and at times potentially messing up team goals. His knock of 12 in 98 balls in the 3rd Test against England when India was on the top is an impossible thing to understand or explain. One can disagree with his decision of not enforcing the follow-on but can understand it, but playing that slowly (12 from 98 balls is ultra-slow by any standards) at such a strong position is not only impossible to agree with but impossible to understand.

That was not an isolated incident. His ultra-defensive approach and lack of interest in doing any sort of effort to make runs or at least rotate the strike, is fast becoming annoying to watch. Even in the current test against SA, when Sehwag was batting with such an attacking way, Dravid “did” all he could to take the momentum away from India and presented it to SA.

Now that he has 2 more landmarks under his belt, one for exceeding 10,000 runs in Tests and second by scoring 25 Test Centuries, where will he go from here?

Though I might be coming across as someone who dislikes Dravid, I really hope that this great Indian batsman does not finish his extremely successful test career at such a low note.

Any comments on the ongoing cricket test match between India & SouthAfrica ? I’m mighty pleased that i din’t actually buy tickets to watch this match live @ chepauk. The first thing that i seem to hate about this test match is the lifeless, ruthless pitch that has been set. It looks like even my grand dad would score a double hundred on this track. There’s hardly anything for the bowlers, and least should i mention about the burning hot climate here at Chennai. Yeah i do agree 20 wickets have fallen in 3.5 days. But would anyone object if i rather say, it was the batsman who lost their wickets out of exhaustion rather than the bowlers claiming it

Oflate there’s been too much for the batsman’s on offer. Bowlers are not taken into account whatsoever. Should the ICC rise to the occassion, and make sure pitches are prepared in such a manner that there’s something in for the bowlers aswell. I feel sorry for each and every bowler who were asked to bowl on this DEAD FLAT BATTING TRACK. One helluva boring test match, and im surprised to see people smiling and dancing on the isles.

Pitches in India have always been this way. There’s hardly anything in there for the bowlers. Well this to me doesnt looks a best practise to nurture budding bowlers. Its time the Indian cricket board have a serious look at this aspect of the game and do the needful to ensure quality pitches in place. Quality pitches not only makes the contest fascinating, but also gives a fair chance to both of the teams to compete. I am not sure how many of you guys out here would agree to me, Well to me i do feel this is not how Cricket should be played

What is common among these players? As per what they do on the field, pretty much nothing. Zaheer is a full-time bowler, Ganguly a batsman, Pathan an all-rounder (or at least bowler who can bat a fair bit), Sehwag, a dasher of a batsman.

Then what ties them together? Well, I believe they represent a change in Indian Cricket selection process. This group is an example of players who were dropped due their poor or very-poor performances and then bounced back into the team and performed well.

- Zaheer was totally ineffective and was always struggling with injuries at some point and then was dropped. He has come back ever so strongly, helping India with excellent performances (SA, England, WI).

- No matter how much we criticize Greg Chappell for going after Ganguly and India’s debacle in WC’07, even Ganguly has admitted that being dropped from the side (for being totally out of form for a long long time) helped him focus on the game more and come back strongly.

- Pathan is the same story. After arriving on the international stage and doing so well in the India’s last tour down-under (2003), he lost his game in 2006 and was dropped (how did he lose his game is one of those mysteries in Cricket). As we all know now, he has come back so strongly having his swing back and batting beautifully as well.

Now about Sehwag, it might be a bit premature to say that he has “come-back”, but from his attitude at the crease and body language it looks quite promising. He contributed significantly in India’s famous win in Perth, both with bat and ball.

Well, Zaheer is injured right now and done for the current series (which is how Pathan got his playing time in the first place ), but the other 3 have a great opportunity to play well and help India level the series. That will absolutely be the best moment in Indian Cricket history!!

So is the formula for keeping players on their toes and get them to perform well is to “drop-fightback-select-perform”?

Its been an action packed week, and there has been no shortage of any high intensity news. Ponting and team have for once realised that Winning matches isn’t always a pleasure. I wonder what might have happened if India had managed to draw this test match. I am pretty sure, things would not have been so worse for Aussies if the match had ended in a draw. Anyways its done and over and lets focus on the third test that kick starts in less than a weeks time.

Its gonna be a typical Perth pitch, and Australlians would love to shut their critics with a thumping victory and Indian’s would love to beat the Aussies. This pitch is for sure gonna have good bounce and both the teams have well equipped bowlers to do the trick with the new ball. Ofcourse Zaheer is a big loss to India, but nothing could be done about that. I personall feel, team India should make some dynamic changes and try out how luck favours them. My playing XI for the third test is,

1) Virendher Sehwag
2) Wasim Jaffer (Good knock in the Canberra practise match)
3) Rahul Dravid (his favorite batting position)
4) Sachin Tendulkar
5) Saurav Ganguly
6) Laxman
7) Dhoni (in form or out of form, always a better player than Karthick)
8) Pathan
9) Kumble
10) RP Singh
11) Ishanth Sharma (no options open)

Cos’ its the Perth pitch, three fast bowlers are mandatory. RP & Pathan form the backbone, and i certainly have no clue but have no choice either but to pick up Ishanth. Well if Bhajji is given the go ahead to play on, then i think Bhajji can replace Ishanth. Ishanth maybe a fast bowler, but he showed absolutely no signs of picking a wicket. Anyways its a debatable decision. Ganguly ofcourse can bowl some seamers and assist the bowling balance.

Yuvaraj doesn’t finds a place in my XI, cos’ he’s terribly out of sorts and lets not risk it anymore gambling with him. The advantage of taking Sehwag is not just to play attacking cricket, but also to allow Rahul to bat at his premiere batting spot. This gives more balance to the team, and Irfan is no less a batsman. This looks the team that can probably challenge the Aussies. Ishanth Sharma is still not in my XI, but i may have no choice but to pick him

What do you guys feel about my XI for the third test ? What changes do you think should be made ? Do we have a chance of winning ? Well i certainly feel, there’s absolutely no chance India can win, but still i will give India a 10% chance to win this match. Good luck

Traditionally it has been said that the Indian Cricket Team is a poor traveler. Is that true anymore? In the last 5 years alone, Indians have drawn (and almost won) a Test series in Australia (which no other team has done in recent past), pushed South Africa in their home to eventually lose the series 2-1, Won a Test and ODI Series in Pakistan, Won a Test Series in the Caribbeans, Won a Test Series in England. Isn’t that an impressive record?

At home on the other hand, India only managed to draw a Test series against a lowly English team, drew a Test series against Pakistan and lost the ODI one. Also, one of the stats that was mentioned after India’s win yesterday after chasing 203 runs was that this was only the second time India has successfully chase a total in excess of 200 at home. I was personally very surprised.

If we look at India’s performance at World Cups, the only time they have either reached the final or won it was when they were playing away from home. Even the T20 WC was won while playing away. The best WC performance in the sub-continent has been a semi-final loss to Sri Lanka.

So, I would venture to say that the Indian team in fact is a very good traveler as well as very good host (for the visiting team).

What do you all think?

All matches are scheduled to start at 9:30 am local time which is 4:00 am GMT

1st Test - March 26 - 30 - Chennai

2nd Test - April 03 - April 07 - Ahmedabad

3rd Test - April 11 - April 15 - Kanpur

Enjoy!

Words are not enough to describe this man, but people like me still keep writing In addition to all the other accolades, Sachin also must be the player who has been written off most number of times by his critics (who are those people ) and has proven them wrong every single time.

Despite playing for all these many years (decades?) he still comes out to bat and field with the same level of enthuse as any new comer and keep amazing all the cricketing fan around the world. It was really awesome listening to all the Channel 9 commentators describing his elegance and class and seeing all the standing ovations Sachin got when he walked out to bat (even before scoring a single run). So much admiration and support. It is quite unbelievable and beyond.

Despite all these changes made to the Indian ODI team with those young players and energy, no one can even think of replacing him. It is not because he has some sort of pull or uses his clout, but because he fits in that scheme as well. As he had said after the WC loss and at times when there was a lot of talk about getting all the young players, that he would like the selection to be objective and based on form and performance only. If you follow that logic then he is still India’s best batsman by a long margin. VVS could be considered a close rival in that regards for Tests, but VVS generally performs that good only against Australia in Australia (go figure that).

So though I can keep writing pages and pages about why I worship Sachin ( I really do), I will stop for now with a quick note that Sachin just completed 16000 runs in ODIs with an average of 44+ and strike rate of 85+, with 41 Centuries and double the number of 50s. These numbers are totally unreal for any player to put together……

If Cricket Is My Religion Then Sachin Is My Ultimate God!!

Hogg had scalped the priced wicket of Tendulkar in one of the recently concluded ODI series that took place between India & Australia in Hyderabad. At the end of it all, Hogg had taken a photograph of that dismissal and had requested Sachin Tendulkar to sign it. Sachin signed it, and left a note to Hogg saying “This will never happen again, Hoggy”.

Well one should be surprised if Hoggy says he’s got butterflies all over his stomach after that incident. Quite differently, he says he is all set to take up this challenge. Isn’t the match perfectly set now ?..Hogg will give it his best shot to prove the master wrong, and Sachin would do all it takes to defend his wicket against the inspiring Hoggy. Its gonna be a contest that is really gonna be worth watching . Good luck Sachin and Good luck Hoggy. Do you guys think Sachin can live upto the challenge ? I believe Hoggy might prove Sachin wrong