We had one wall – Rahul Dravid. Cracks had appeared in this wall as Rahul Dravid, the Mr. Dependable, lost form inexplicably. You can expect a Saurav Ganguly or a Sehwag to lose form, but Dravid! Well, he has regained his form and contributed a solid 83 and 60+ runs when it mattered most. More importantly, he fended off 220 balls to score 62 runs, 8 balls more than Laxman faced to score 124. This is not to undermine Laxman’s superb innings. Dravid came at a time when staying at the crease took precedence over scoring runs. He would have continued had it not been for the stupid decision followed by the mantra, “when in doubt, give the Indian batsmen out”. With his stick-to-itiveness Rahul Dravid is enough to make any bowler cry.
Add to that a Gautam Gambhir. This aggressive batsman showed rare character by dropping anchor in the second innings and facing 436 balls. Facing that many balls requires a batsman to stay at the crease for nearly 11 hours, which means one and half cricketing days. That’s awesome, given the situation we were in.
The third wall that the New Zealand bowlers bumped in to was Laxman. With a total score of 200 runs he stood rock solid in the way of a NZ victory. Denying them any chance with his wristy stroke play he plodded on till the end. Sachin is one batsman who can be a wall, a canon, and a gun. His 49 runs in the first innings was scored rapidly and the 64 runs in the second innings was a guarded innings fitting the occasion. Yuvi also showed that he too can be a wall and posed strong hurdles for NZ bowlers. His 54 not out, that smacked responsibility is better than a century.
But the sixth wall is what fended off all attacks from the NZ bowlers. He didn’t even play in the match. Yes, he is none other than M S Dhoni. That incredible man has inculcated such strong sense of self belief in our cricket players that losing is an aberration, a draw is a victory, and winning is normal for us.
What a Test Match! And would you believe that people are going ga-ga over a game which did not really have a result? Now how many sports around the world can brag about that?
It was an amazing test match, that had everything except the excitement that is generated when a batting side needs 4 runs off the final ball. But then, you have ODIs and T20s for that! This match had everything else: Veteran batsmen chipping in when it mattered the most; Youngsters showing what fielding means, even in the context of a test match; Bowlers showing the patience and stamina required in test cricket; One youngster graduating from an ODI specialist to a Test Match player with a double hundred; And last, but not the least, another youngster showing the world what vintage test match batting is all about. And this final fact becomes even more pronounced given the fact that it was a player from the younger generation who showed it. Test Cricket is not dying… not anytime soon!
The grit and determination showed by the Indian batsmen in the second innings helped in exorcizing a lot of ghosts from the past. Barbados, Chennai, and a host of other test matches come to mind, when the average Indian fan has faced nothing but heartache looking at India’s batting in the second innings. Happily, this Team India has more often than not proved, consistently, that they are not like their predecessors. The latest revolution in Indian Test Cricket started with the test series win in England, but the real feat was achieved in Chennai last December against England when they chased down 387 in the fourth inning. And yesterday’s match added the icing on the cake as far as India’s rise in Test cricket is concerned.
In some ways, yesterday’s drawn test match was a bigger achievement than the victory in Chennai last December. There, the team had a target to achieve, and there was only one way to go about that target. The fact that India managed to execute the plan and achieve that target is commendable. But in the just concluded test match, there was far too much time to bat out in the middle. There was no set target of winning the game. It is so easy to get bogged down with that and lose interest and motivation. Not many teams have survived a test match, trying to bat out the 4th and the 5th days with only their last 9 wickets remaining. It was truly an amazing achievement, and the fact that it happened outside India made it that much sweeter!
Hats off to the Indian team for pulling off the improbable.. and in terms of the Indian teams of the past - unthinkable. This drawn test will go a long way in building this team’s character. I really cannot wait for the 3rd test to begin!
I am not writing this because the West Indies are leading the one-day series against England 2 to 1 and also won the test series against them. I truly feel that after a long time, the national team has finally got its hand on a set of bowlers that can constantly put up serious questions to the batsmen of opposing teams. Edwards had been the young bowler who could bowl with a lot of pace but couldn’t deliver when-it-mattered for quite some time. However, slowly he is progressing into developing into the team’s leading bowler. People expected a lot from him when he first came into the team, not realizing that he had literally no senior bowler to ease him into this role. He struggled with questions about his own ability and fitness but has now come back, stronger, mentally and physically and his young shoulders look good enough to carry the bowling attack for some years.
Another man like him who is slowly realizing that there is no option but to take up the cradle of responsibility themselves is Jerome Taylor. When he first saw him, Sir Sobers said that this man would surely crack the 350-test wicket bracket with ease. Yes, Taylor does have that sort of a talent but it is his fitness that continues to bog down his presence in the team. The new additions to this combo include Darren Powell and Lionel Baker. What puts all these men in good standing is the ability to bowl at 85 miles per hour mark consistently without showing signs of tiring out. Collymore wasn’t doing much with his slowish pace and had to be left out. Instead, the team is now sticking to these four men, who have the mettle to bowl against daunting batsmen and consistently bowl with some degree of venom — something that just evaporated from the team for more than a decade.
Their support line too isn’t that bad with the likes of Bravo and Sammy who are capable to filling-in with long and steady spells and bat as well. I agree that the names mentioned here aren’t exactly setting the world stage on fire but collectively they have the firepower to humble some very good teams.
Just five minutes back, Gautam Gambhir danced down the wicket to lift Vettori over the on-side mid-field area to bring up his century. This is not his first one, but in fact the fifth three-digit big score in this format of the game for him. Although, he has been scoring consistently for more than a season for India and his batting pedigree remains unquestioned, I would say that it is this century with which he has stamped his presence in the dressing room. Gambhir started making his mark under Dhoni, partnering Sehewag and has given many blitzing starts to the Indian innings. However, I feel that for quite some time, he did remain under Sehewag’s shadow, as the diminutive opener who had as much talent but just wasn’t delivering enough. Then came another transformation, where he had a string of 50+ scores in the T20s, one-dayers and test matches. His century against Australia was truly amazing but what was still missing was that one special knock with which he could proclaim that he was truly the next man to join the big league of batting superstars of the Indian team.
Well, today he has just done that — played a truly outstanding innings, which he constructed in a manner that just doesn’t come naturally to him. He has managed to concentrate for an entire day, batting slowly and digging himself at the crease. He partnered Dravid to ensure that the Kiwi bowling was grinded and Vettori’s frustration was very evident. Even now, the commentators are saying that Gambhir’s arms are badly cramping-up but he continues to be the postcard-perfect picture of absolute determination, not ready to give the bowlers any in-roads into the Indian middle order. If India do manage to save this test match — it has to be attributed to his century.
India has just started following-on in the second test match against New Zealand. While looking at their batting on the second day this doesn’t come as a real surprise but what is amazing is that this match is one of the few occasions where their man-in-charge, Dhoni, wasn’t present. And just look how the entire unit has just fallen apart. Everything including the captaincy, the fielding, one-dimensional unimaginative bowling and the listless batting performance. This has happened despite the presence of senior pros like Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman in the team. How this happened is a bit baffling. When Sehewag was calling all the wrong shots on the filed, couldn’t the coach and the senior players have intervened?
The pitch is easy to bat on, but not really a 600+ runs sort of a patch. The Indians have been over-confident and this was exemplified by the fact that now reports have started coming saying that the entire squad didn’t have a single net session in the 24 hours preceding the match!! They are trying to compete with South Africa and Australia as the new world champion of the game. However, if this is the way they are going to about doing things then I am really not sure for how long would they be called world championship material.
The most embarrassing aspect for them should be the way all the senior members have just folded-up in the first innings. Tendulkar was very submissive, Dravid played a horrible shot, Bhajji bowled hideously and Sehewag sent a very wrong signal being the emergency skipper by getting out in the way he did. They are trailing by more than 300 runs which is more than a substantial volume of runs. The only way to redemption — bat so long, so good that the Kiwis lose every feasible hope of evening challenging them from here on. Will they be able to do it? Tomorrow we will come to know.
India finds itself in a rather unfamiliar territory, given their superb recent performances as Day Two of the second test match with the Kiwis ended. First of all, the Indians pretty much gave up the initiative or it can be said that the Kiwis stole it by scoring in excess of 600 runs. One would have to say that the captaincy by Sehewag particularly in the form of the strange field settings on such a small ground had quite a bit to contribute to India’s submissive position. His field ensured that there wasn’t any dearth of singles for the New Zealand batsmen and at times it appeared as if he was putting in fielders knowing that the bowlers were going to err.
Regarding the bowling, Harbhajan has done a complete U-turn on his earlier performance on this tour. He seemed utterly pedestrian and frustrated. Agreed, the pitch was a bit dead and not the most conducive ones to turn the ball, but he could have at least tried to stem the flow of runs. However, he chose to keep firing the ball short and was cut mercilessly off the backfoot throughout the day. It was obvious that getting out of this situation wasn’t going to be easy. So when the Indians stepped out on the field during the end of the day’s play, I was hoping that they would conserve wickets to ensure that they have the maximum chance of batting for the next two days.
But then Sehewag plays the way he does and he did bat in a blitz, launching himself into the bowlers but this time he did get carried away and ended-up losing his wicket. More than his, it was the Gambhir dismissal that was disappointing. Watching Sehewag having lost his wicket, he could have done better to tighten-up and endure the last few overs. As it now stands, we have lost three wickets for less than 80 runs and gaining a draw from this point onwards appears a like positive thing to think about.
As I type this, Jesse Ryder has once again managed to score big against India. He continues to be the only Kiwi batsman who is scoring consistently against the visitors and has got some sort of a stranglehold on the Indian bowlers. It is amazing to see how Harbhajan Singh, after his match-winning performance in the first test match, seems to be submissive against Ryder. He just isn’t floating the ball up to Ryder and keeps getting nicked around for singles, so easily. Ryder could soon be joining the leagues of batsmen like Saeed Anwar, Chanderpaul and Aravinda De Silva. Not because he is in the same class as these guys but for the simple reason that all these batsmen could score at will against the Indians and never missed out on an opportunity to make the Indian bowlers look so pedestrian. Ryder is going into the same mode having scored in all forms against us, including the T20 games, one-dayers and now he has got two consecutive test centuries at a time when the Kiwi batting was reeling at 25/3.
Another thing that looked out-of-place was our man Munaf Patel. Agreed, he can bowl a pretty good line and can get a few quick wickets, particularly if the pitch is offering a bit. However, his fielding is just abysmal — I mean, the man just can’t bend down!! That is how it has to be put, it is not about being athletic or sliding like Mr. Jonty Rhodes, but a cricketer should be able to bend and pick the ball up and he continuously struggles to do that and he is supposed to be a fast bowler. My father played club cricket for a long, long time and every time he sees Munaf on TV, he has just one thing to say, ‘Kismat’ — for the uninitiated that means ‘luck’ and Munaf surely is riding his. He continues to play for the country every now and then and his fitness and on-field persona continues to go downhill with every match.
Watch live action of 2nd Test Match between India vs New Zealand Live Streaming Cricket Online with ball by ball live Cricket score Updates. The 2nd Test match will be played at Napier - Mar 26-30, 2009.
Well, to be precise, I should be saying that the England team has been clueless throughout their Caribbean tour but let us give them a bit of appreciation where they deserve — test cricket, though not in the very recent past. The team has always struggled in the shorter versions of the game, be it the 50 over format or the more recent 20-20 version. The reasons are pretty obvious — their batsmen just can’t seem to adapt to the idea of hitting big when the pressure is really on. Apart from Flintoff and Pietersen, they don’t have too many match-winners in the ODIs. Strauss isn’t tailor-made for big hitting and Owais Shah seems to be playing with some perplexing uncertainty. Yes, Collingwood could be a handful on occasions but he alone can’t deliver every time. The England team just about scraped through (only God and Dyson himself knows what went wrong) due to a mathematical miscalculation! Their bowlers have been unable to bowl the variety that is needed in one-day bowling and keep on bowling the length that would do well back home. Just look at Bravo, he is perhaps among the best middle-over ODI bowlers today.
West Indies on the other hand are slowly building a squad of all-rounders (not the typical world-class ones) as they realize that their batting continues to be susceptible to unbelievable failures. In come the likes of Pollard and Darren Sammy, who can contribute with the ball and bat. They are being complemented by Gayle and Bravo while Chanderpaul and Sarwan are ensuring that there aren’t any more batting collapses. I guess, leaving out Benn is confusing some folks at least it is strange to me. He bowls with a simple but awkward-looking sort of action and could have been very effective to limit the flow of runs in the middle overs, but then with England, there isn’t much flowing usually, is there? The series is at a 1-1 situation now but I am voting for the Calypso flavour to overwhelm.
That is what the talk is at the moment. There is not question that security of players and people should be the #1 priority in scheduling/running this event. Having said that, hosting IPL season-II outside of India would mean robbing the Indian Cricket fans….
It is the Indian Cricket fans and their passion for Cricket is what makes IPL different than any other T20 tournaments (and the money as well ). Playing these matches in different time-zones would totally destroy the late-evening fun the Indian fans had last year (be it at the venue or on television)…
But then if the security aspect is not addressed immediately, it looks almost certain that IPL would become IPL-PEW (Played Else Where)…
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). Playing these matches in different time-zones would totally destroy the late-evening fun the Indian fans had last year (be it at the venue or on television)…