CricDigs Blogs

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.