The Cricket Chat Thread !!

[M.J.Sadiq]

Where was the fight, Martyn asks Australian team

Baffled by the Australian cricket team's meek surrender in the first two Tests against India,former batsman Damien Martyn questioned the selection of a few "bits and pieces" players in the squad.

"I was more disappointed probably by our second innings the wicket was hard to bat on, yes, it's doing a bit more and turning more," said Martyn.

"But to be bowled out in a session it's just disappointing in the sense that, where was the fight? I'm not saying we need to make 400 or whatever, but just in our shots election and running between wickets.

"Batting in India, or batting on any wicket, the harder the wicket is, the longer you bat it becomes easier because you're used to the conditions, you're used to the ball coming on," he said, speaking on an online panel, The Cricket Club.

Martyn also criticised the team selection for the four-match Test series. "What is Steve Smith there for anyway? We have a squad here of players who do bits and pieces. Nothing personal against them. Yes, they might be great one-day players and Twenty20 players, but in that line-up the (Glenn) Maxwells and all these guys, what's their main thing?

"That's what I want to know. Is Maxwell going to be our main off-spinner in England? Because if he's not, then don't worry about him, get (Nathan) Lyon back in," Martyn said. India started the four-match Test series with an eight-wicket win, before decimating the visitors by an innings and 135 runs to take a 2-0 lead. Martyn was the player of the series in Australia's historic 2-1 win in India in 2004, scoring two centuries and topping the runs tally with 444 at an average of 55.

 

[M.J.Sadiq]

Down but not out, Aussies land in city

Trailing India 2-0 in the four Test match series, the Australian team landed in Chandigarh looking to win the Test here at the PCA Stadium to be played from March 14 to 18.

Significantly, Test cricket is making a comeback to the PCA Stadium after a gap of more than two years. It was in October 2010 when India had beaten Australia by one wicket. VVS Laxman in the company of tailenders Ishant Sharma and Pragyan Ojha had scripted a fabulous win for India.

After practising even on the last day at the turning pitch in Hyderabad, where they lost by an innings and 135 runs, to familiarise themselves with spinning tracks, the Australian team reached a city hotel here at 3 pm. However, conspicuous by his absence was skipper Michael Clarke who, according to officials, is in Delhi for some charity work and will join the team later.

The mood was sombre as the team marched into the hotel, with opener David Warner leading the pack. Vice- captain Shane Watson who has failed to fire in the series was the one to get all the spotlight in Clarke's absence. After being beaten comprehensively by India in both the Test matches in Chennai and Hyderabad, the Australian team will look to recharge their batteries and try to get back to winning ways.

However, cricket will hardly be on their mind as they try to get a break from monotony. First of all, they will not start practising until March 10. In the meantime, they will play golf, take rest, go shopping and, if the security permits, take a round of the city.

The Indian team sans Virender Sehwag is expected to land in Chandigarh on March 11. While Australia will try to make a comeback into the series, India will look to seal the series with another victory.

Down but not out, Aussies land in city - Indian Express

 

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In-form Ashwin vindicates Dhoni's decision
Last updated on: March 8, 2013 11:51 IST

R Ashwin is in line for another player of the series award, says Bikash Mohapatra. After the first two Tests against Australia, has already a tally of 18 wickets, four more than he finished with against England.

Ahead of the opening Test against Australia, the Team India think-tank – spearheaded by captain MS Dhoni – took a decision, one that involved dropping Pragyan Ojha and going with an additional off-spinner (Harbhajan Singh).

It was a ruthless decision no doubt, Ojha having been India's best bowler (with 20 wickets) against England.

Besides, the replacement did not ooze much confidence either, Harbhajan having played just one Test in the last 18 months - and failing to impress in that – and having had a forgettable domestic season.

For that matter, even the lead spinner, R Ashwin, had struggled against the English onslaught. In fact, failing to impress against Alastair Cook's team was disappointing considering the fact that the bowler was the player of the series in Team India's previous two assignments on home soil – against the West Indies and New Zealand.

 

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Harbhajan is a shadow of his former self
Last updated on: March 8, 2013 11:51 IST

Dhoni's logic was simple, though. With Australia having plenty of left-handers in their side, he felt having two off-spinners – and the ball going away from the batsmen – would do the trick.

Now that two Tests are over, the strategy hasn't exactly worked, despite Team India winning both the matches comfortably.

Harbhajan is a shadow of his former self, failing to impress in either of the two matches. Getting a couple of tail-enders out does little to your confidence anyway.

Besides, with Ravindra Jadeja making a considerable impact with his left-arm spin, Dhoni, for sure, would be tempted to rethink his strategy, and consider having Ojha back in the coming matches.

 

[Red]

Ashwin getting back his mojo
Last updated on: March 8, 2013 11:51 IST

What has worked well for Dhoni and Team India, though, is Ashwin getting back his mojo.

The offie, playing his first Test on home ground (Chennai), finished with a match haul of 12 for 193, including career-best figures of seven for 103 in the first innings.

It was the 26-year-old's second 12-wicket match-haul. He'd had figures of 12 for 85 against New Zealand last August in Hyderabad, where he returned with aplomb in the second Test, picking five wickets – the eighth five-wicket haul in his fledgling career – as Australia were beaten with five sessions left.

After two Tests, Ashwin has a tally of 18 wickets, four more than he had altogether in the series against England. No wonder Dhoni, having been vindicated, is happy with his charge.

'Yes, he has bowled really well,' said India's captain, adding, 'Overall, I'm very happy with his performance.'

 

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'It was important for him to come back'
Last updated on: March 8, 2013 11:51 IST

Dhoni proceeded to defend Ashwin's performance against England.

'It's just that in that period he was not able to pitch the deliveries at the right areas,' he explained, adding, 'he has always been very consistent with his length, and this was the period when he was not very consistent.

'It was important for him to come back and I'm glad that in this series, he has bowled a very good length and has been very consistent as compared to the last series.'

The bowler himself did not rue the fact that he missed out against England.

'I know everyone has an opinion but I don't think I had a bad series against England. I did all that I'm doing now. It's just that I didn't get wickets then,' he explained.

 

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'He's someone who has got a lot of variations'
Last updated on: March 8, 2013 11:51 IST

His impressive tally of wickets apart, it is Ashwin's success against the left-handers that has ensured rich dividends for Team India, despite Harbhajan failing to impress.

For those into statistics, seven of Ashwin's 12 victims in Chennai were left-handers, while in Hyderabad there was only one right-handed batsman (Glenn Maxwell) among his six scalps.

In his Test career thus far, Ashwin averages an impressive 22.00 against left-handers, while the numbers drop to 38.00 against right-handers.

Dhoni attributed Ashwin's success against the Australians to his variations. 'We all need to respect the fact that he's someone who has got a lot of variations.

"He knows he can bowl those variations and that's his strength,' said Dhoni.

With Australia's batsmen having failed to find a method to counter Ashwin thus far, the off-spinner will definitely bolster his tally in the upcoming matches and might just be a contender for the player of the series again.

 

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Why Pujara will not go the Kambli way
Last updated on: March 7, 2013 16:41 IST

Just by the numbers alone, Cheteshwar Pujara's feats in Test cricket match the ascent of two flamboyant batsmen who shone briefly, before fading into oblivion.

Haresh Pandya, who knows 'Chintu' Pujara well, explains why the Saurashtra batsman will not end up like Lawrence Rowe and Vinod Kambli.

The mercurial Lawrence Rowe and the flamboyant Vinod Kambli appeared on the Test firmament with a bang.

The West Indian hit 214 and 100 not out in his first Test against New Zealand at Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, in February 1972. After a moderate series against Australia, the Jamaican devastated the Englishmen in the Caribbean and scored 120, 302 and 125 in his 8th, 9th and 10th Tests.

It was the high noon of Rowe's prowess and the world was at his feet.

But Rowe looked a shadow of himself away from the West Indies, particularly after the eye problem that afflicted him from the tour of India in 1974-1975, though he scored an audacious 107 against Australia with his team in trouble and Jeff Thomson, Dennis Lillee and Gary Gilmour firing on all cylinders at Brisbane in November 1975.

Rowe, who essayed a couple of stirring centuries in Kerry Packer's highly competitive, cutting age World Series Cricket against those Australian and other feared fast bowlers, did not have a regular place in the West Indies side and figured in only 30 Tests.

His genius was such he should have played 100 Tests.

 

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With back-to-back double tons, Kambli triggered great expectations
Last updated on: March 7, 2013 16:41 IST

Vinod Kambli even outshone his school-mate Sachin Tendulkar for a while.

The southpaw scored 224 against England at Mumbai in February 1993 in what was only his third Test.

Then in his next Test, Kambli hit another double hundred -- a sparkling 227 -- against Zimbabwe in Delhi the following month.

With back-to-back double centuries, he triggered great expectations and was hailed as the hottest property in Indian cricket.

Alas! Kambli began to take things for granted.

While he enjoyed life to the fullest off the field, fast bowlers exploited his weakness against short, rising deliveries. He just could not recapture that early magic and the rest of his career is a tragic anti-climax.

He made as many as nine comebacks, but could not become a regular member of the the Indian team.

But what a batsman!

 

[M.J.Sadiq]

The Sehwag-Gambhir opening pair and a dream that went bust

This is how it ends, not with a blazing boundary but with a press release. Virender Sehwag’s axing from the Indian team is the final severing of the opening pair that was instrumental in taking India to the top of the Test tree.

Not so long ago, Gautam Gambhir and Sehwag were the best openers in the world. Their career numbers together are still very good – 4412 runs at an average of 52.52 from 87 innings. But that hides their decline over the last three years. Since 7 March 2010, they have averaged 42.47 together from 37 innings. Go back just two years, and that number drops to 35.87 from 24 innings.

In comparison, between 2005 and 2010, they averaged 63.02 together at a run-rate of 4.94 over 43 innings. That average and strike-rate gave India’s vaunted middle order – the so-called Big Four – a big advantage. By the time the likes of Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar came in to bat, the bowlers had most likely been subjected to a hiding.

Great teams over the years have shared many similarities – one of them being a domnating opening combination. Think Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliff, Gordon Grennidge and Desmond Haynes or Justin Langer and Matthew Hayden. A strong opening pair not only sets the platform for the rest of the batsmen, but can force opposing bowlers and captains on the defensive, thus stealing an early psychological advantage.

This is something Gambir and Sehwag’ did exceptionally well. From November 2006 to December 2010, Gambhir averaged 57.70 with 8 hundreds from 43 innings over 23 Tests. That stretch also included 10 half-centuries, meaning Gambhir went past 50 practically once every other innings (every 2.39 innings). Over the same period, Sehwag averaged 58.80, with 10 hundreds and 14 fifties from 35 Tests.

Sehwag’s ability to score quickly and brutally was balanced by Gambhir’s determination and resolve and their left-right combination made it harder for bowlers, forcing them to constantly adjust their lines and lengths. It was a case of opposing teams having to pick their poison – if Sehwag didn’t blast you out of the game, then Gambhir would grind you down.

Their success together allowed India to dominate at home and hold their own away. So it is no surprise that their slide has coincided with the downturn in India’s fortunes. Gambhir’s struggles came at a time when he should have been in his prime (having developed the unfortunate tendency of poking outside his offstump) while Sehwag’s decline has been abrupt, though less inexplicable given his age and reliance on hand-eye coordination.

The timing of their departures from the Test team also raises the question of where do they go from here. Sehwag has already said he plans to make a comeback, but there is no domestic cricket left to allow either of them to stake a claim for South Africa later this year. The only remaining platform is the IPL, which is as useful a guide as a local horse racing card is to the Indian Derby.

At 34, Sehwag doesn’t have many more years left either, and with the BCCI opting for a youth policy, he may not get another opportunity. At 31, Gambhir does have more time, but a lot will depend on how Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, now set to make his debut in Mohali, perform.

If they fail, Sehwag or Gambhir could well find themselves back in favour. But if they don’t, then this will be most likely be the end of the Gambhir-Sehwag era. That it would end was inevitable, of course, but in their case it would have come too soon.