Harbhajan needs to go

For sure it wont be the case in the remainder of the series that Harbhajan Singh would be dropped, but he makes a strong case to be dropped.  It’s a long time he was dropped from the team for incompetence, but this is the right time for him to know that he cannot go on and on for long time without actually having wickets under his name.  Ditto goes for Pragyan Ojha.  He bowls with lot of “character” and guile in T20s but the same goes for a toss in the Tests and ODIs he plays.

9 wickets in 6 ODIs this year, no wicket in World T20 and 12 wickets in 4 Tests this year with 1 5-for are sorry figures that make sorrier reading.  He has had an average of 61.5 vs Bangladesh and no average against SL this Test.

ODI figures make even poor picture. 1 wicket against BD, 2 against Pak and 3 against SL.  Economy of 4.8 runs an over and 29 runs for every wicket.

It’s a very rare thing in days of MSD’s captaincy to drop Harbhajan, whereas the previous 3 captains did no favors to the man when he was not in the best of the form.  Perhaps he’s got complacent that his place in the team is for granted. Time for somebody to shed off that cobweb and clutter in his mind.

But the question is who are the replacements?  Amit Mishra  ? R Ashvin ?

Spin bowling scene is scarier than  the fast bowling concerns.

Aftermath

India’s fourth or fifth string team lost to the enthusiastic and committed Zimbabwe second time in a week. How pathetic it is. Who owns up this defeat ? Skipper Raina, coach Kirsten or selector head clown Srikanth?  It was pathetic to see that there was no intent or will to score runs from the openers. What was Murali Vijay thinking ? He is a star ? IPL is long time over kid. If you cant play against Zimbabwe, there is a little chance you could play against anybody else.  56 ball 21 in PowerPlay overs with no boundaries whatsoever. Ditto for his Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik, who by far should have been dumped in the dustbin of Marina Beach or Golden Beach in Chennai for his hyped talent, zero on delivery.

What happened to Amit Mishra who got a 5-for on his Test debut substituting for Anil Kumble and fast tracking his retirement?  Why do our spinners fail to take wickets in ODIs and T20s whereas little known spinners of lesser countries are rich in wickets. Pragyan Ojha, another big IPL name, purple cap holder of IPL-3. He ended up with one wicket. Why ? Did he forget spinning the ball ? Or did he think playing a game or 2 for India is good enough ?

Ashok Dinda, poor fiery chap from Bengal, wrote highly by Sourav was other failure. His off cutters and Yorkers were safely negotiated, half volleys were spanked to boundaries by young Zimbabwe kids.  Umesh Yadav bowled only 4 overs.  Yusuf Pathan was never in sight bowling with his fire in his eyes.  He had chance to score runs on a flat track, which he always does in IPL, he gave away the chance.  Rohit, Raina fell to sharp fielding from Zimbabwean kids.  Jadeja was selfish enough to complete a 50 and fall.

Did not he think to accelerate or at least try for it? He was contend taking singles and rotating strike in 45-50 overs when India scored just 18 runs.

This team is pathetic. If they are called future stars, then lets stop watching cricket for good. Once the greats are retired from Tests and this lesser souls take over, we would be soon languishing in the lower bottom half of the Test rankings. But wait are they even good to play for India again ?

Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay,  Yusuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja should never play for India again unless they prove hard in the domestic cricket that they belong and not just IPL.  

The flat track bullies of Chepauk, Mr Vijay forgot that he is playing ODI and not a first class game.  He plays  faster than this in 4 tests that he has played for India and he had given impression that he is gutsy enough to play for India long time in Tests. Now that impression stands dusted. Not so long ago he was thought of future # 3 in Tests, a big spot held for 14 years by Rahul Dravid.

Unfortunately this kids don’t have work ethic, their seniors have.  Easy money from IPL, fast tracked selection by ex cricketers from their zone makes them believe that they have arrived on the international scene and hence they fail to do whatever it takes to succeed on the highest level.

Just need to illustrate the case of 3 Best ODI players India ever produced.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

Success did not come to this lads instantly. Sachin took 78 games and 6 years for his first ODI 100 and thereafter no looking back. 45 hundreds more he scored in 16 years.  He had the promise, he showed it, he delivered it in his younger days. Remember the tour of 1991 to Australia, when bigger Test players (then) than him flopped, the guy scored 2 sublime 100s in Perth and Sydney.

Rahul Dravid, considered by many a misfit ODI batsman (even today) got off to a disastrous start to his ODI career in Singapore and Sharjah tournaments just after 1996 world cup, till 1999 world cup when he emerged as top run getter, his place was never fixed.

When Yuvraj Singh and Mohd Kaif along side Virender Sehwag arrived in early 2000s, Dravid was once again questioned if he belonged to the ODI arena. He remodeled his game from a # 3 to a # 5 or # 6 player as finisher and scored countless innings to win games for India. His partnerships with Yuvraj and Kaif are epitome to the fact.

Ganguly had a disastrous ODI debut in 1991 down under and for 5 years he did not play another game until one day he was selected in Test team to England post 1996 World Cup. The success story thereafter is known to everybody, how he evolved from a “quota selection” to become India’s best captain ever in the formats that matter.

Story of Virender Sehwag could be inspirational too. Dropped after disastrous ODI debut in 1999 and back in the team for Tests in 2001 and then dropped again in 2006-07 and bouncing back in 2008 Adelaide Test could be benchmark for this so called young kids of the Indian cricket team.  They ought to remember that T20s and IPL is not the only thing they need to play well in. Who remembers Swapnil Asnodkar and Kamran Khan now who shone in 2008 and 2009 editions? Do they even play first class cricket and get noticed? Nope, not at all.

Anil Kumble was mocked by Kapil Dev in 1990 England tour when he debuted. For next 2 years he did not play a Test until 1992 when he made a comeback to grab 6/59 in Wanderers Test in SA. And post 1993 he changed the story of Indian spin.

Can Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra, known for aggressive send-offs and fire in the bellies learn from the senior pro on how to take wickets and then show the aggression? Take wickets and then do whatever, all is forgiven and forgotten.

Heads would need to roll for this pathetic show.  Its not a show, the team just did not turn up. They just ran through the motions. They pretended that they are playing. The hearts were just not there, that were somewhere else.

Pitiful and shameful performance this.  That’s the least 2 cussing words I can use right now.

Mishra gets dropped

Sounds weird, Mishra took 5 or 6 wkts in the game including 4 last 2nd innings wkts and today he does not find a place in the team. Pragyan Ojha comes to play for him. Looks weird.

Was Mishra in as Sehwag was the captain and now that MS returns, the Ojha guy is in and Mishra is out ? Choice of preferences ?

Murali is playing for India now in place of Lacchu pehelwan and this time he would play at 6 hopefully or one of the openers would shift. Seems unlikely.

Actually none of the 3 spinners combined post Anil era look as strong as the man himself was when he played.  Neither in skill and neither in toughness.

India win its 3rd consecutive Test

Ishant is truly back and firm in Test attack.

Sreesanth is on his way out. What a loss. He is not wanting to improve.  Time for antics in IPL for him. Give a glare or two to Sangakara.

Mishra is good, but he is no replacement of Anil Kumble. His 5-for in Mohali seems an one – off event and since then he has struggled.

301 is a flattering score. Thanks to bat swinging,  M Rahim got a 100.  Otherwise Sehwag’s statement on their test status and quality remains same.  They are poor Test side and their batsmen know just one way to play Tests — self destruct.  Having said that, they can on this day beat Pakistan’s strongest side in Test cricket 2-1 or 3-0 in Test series.  Bet a Butt on it ?

With this win India are now undefeated for 13 Tests.  Shakib would like to have a look at this record and might want to take back his words that Aus and SA are better sides than India.  That’s a weak statement, actually a retaliatory one for Sehwag’s comments. To prove him wrong BD batsmen self destructed.  They played poor shots. Lest they improve on it, they wont be winning more tests.  They need to spend time on wickets and if they do that, they would go past Pakistan in the rankings, which at the moment are most pathetic test team in world.

India vs BD, T1D3

Mahamadullah something something loves Indian bowling attack.

50s in the league games of tri series followed by 69 in the first innings and then a brain freeze which ensured BD squandered a chance to take a lead.

Viru and Gambhir put on another decent partnership to give 2nd innings a solid start. Actually Sehwag lived upto his reputation of not going bonkers againsst weak teams. His top score against BD is 52 and 45 in this game.

Mishra then showed some heroics with Gambhir to ensure India lost no more wkts.

Tomorrow, if India would make 300 odd runs  tomorrow weather permitting, the game is set shut and over. BD is far too weak to chase anything over 340.

And Indian batsmen would not repeat the first innings mistake of a collapse.

Ojha’s debut

came in Kanpur at the expense of Amit Mishra. My question is he worthy of a Test debut. He is part of that IPL chauvinistic brand of people in India who would love T20s.  So then is his debut worthy ? I think he is just good for the short and shortest format of the game rather than the Tests.

Deccan chargers seems to be the best bet for him to be in.

Brabourne Test : Day 1

Shame that the likes of Dilshan and Angelo Mathews have kept the Indians on the bay.

Angelo Mathews making 86. WTF.

Anil Kumble is being heavily missed. Right here, right now.  Harbhajan took 4 but spent 107 runs for them.  Amit Mishra’s career seems to have been over for now, with he being dumped from the t20 and ODi team.

Glad to see Sanga and Mahela’s reputation of being flat track minnow bashers intact. And yes Samarweera too.

Need to wipe Lankans out by 390. Not over 400 by any chance.

And then another 600 to avoid chasing sizeable 4th innings score.

Bowling worries India

India’s bowling is a worry.

And their best bowler in the warm up game is not going to play the most important game of the CT. Not because he is a lowly bowler on talent, but because his captain doesnt put that trust in him.

This is South Africa and there is place for just one spinner. And that spinenr is going to be Harbhajan Singh who is fresh from a 5-for.

RP Singh had a fabulous T20 world cup in 2007. How far he goes this time is not very sure as he is not seeming to be in good form. He was clobbered for 66 runs in 8 overs by Neil Broom.

Ishant Sharma has been on and off. Praveen Kumar well I am not sure if he would be playing. Ashish Nehra seems to be the best bet to rely on right now.

Zaheer Khan seems to be missed big time in this tournament. A country where he has been tremendously successful except the match on 3/23/03 against Australia, the biggest match of his career.

Possible bowling line up looks like : Nehra, Ishant, Harbhajan and RP.

Batting more or less looks settled. Tendulkar, Gambhir to open with Dravid at 3, Yuvraj at 4, MS at 5, Raina at 6. 7th spot seems to be in a bit of doubt. I would rather give the benefit of doubt to Yusuf Pathan in the first game and then may be try Nayar in the game against dummy Bangladesh…..

If the bowlers do their job half decent, the Indians would be good to live up to their reputation as the best ODI team in last 2 years. They have now won 6 trophies on trot. No other team can boast of the same record.

Chennai Test, Day 1, 1st session

The test match got underway in Chennai albeit to scare attendance and zero chances of rain with sunny clear skies. Perhaps heavenly omens for the Test match to happen. Now that it has happened, the wicket played to its true nature off late. Batting beauty with no leeway to the bowlers. England got off to slow start, cautious. 67 runs in 27 overs, with nothing flashy or significant to write about. Bowlers rotated, but no success. Mishra brought in late, something which happens regularly with Dhoni as skipper. Even in Nagpur after the Mohali heroics, the Harayana lad was brought in late. Not much difference though, not that he is a great bowler as of now and would turn it around like Mendis. Has gone for 49 runs in 10 overs. Well that’s not pretty much like AK. AK in his prime until late last year would hold back to runs if not wkts on a flat track. But this lad needs a turner to get a wicket on. That’s why we need a leggie who doesn’t turn the ball much. May be we have been pampered and spoiled for choices after 19 years of Anil Kumble flavors and 619 wkts.

The Test match is shaping like the Lord’s Test 2007 when England got off to flying start only to lose way later in the day and before being Zaked and RP’ed on day 2. Strauss was the man then, as is now. He came from wilderness in the Lord’s and so is now. So is history going to repeat itself ?

Besides what is the use of a flat track ? Its further going to kill the game of cricket in the country. England going strong on 1/138 just half way through the day. The over rate is pretty much decent with 14.x overs per over. Better than what Ponting managed entire month of Nov and Oct or even now.

Australia’s intent and Nagpur test in delicate balance

Aussies finally managed to reduce the lead to 86 from what one time it seemed it would be 100+. Match still hangs in delicate stage and much would depend upon how Sehwag bats tomorrow 1^st session and how Krejza bowls. India would need to atleast give 3 and half sessions to Aussies to chase the target of 300+ should India bat long and fast. A possible distraction could be Saurav Ganguly’s final international innings. He could even be promoted to # 3 ahead of RD to have a go at Aussies for one last time….

Australian strategy and runs scoring today was ridiculous and little less than 100 runs in first 2 sessions spoke how much Aussies have given up a hope to win this Test and retain the BG trophy. What were they trying to do by scoring at a snail pace ? Have they lost the zeal to win ? Or may be Bret Lee ‘s absence mattered big time to them ? Even if Australian bowling is ridiculous, they have been batting decently and are expected to have a go on India tomorrow to try and dismiss them cheaply.

Dhoni tried restrictive strategies to good results. Dried the runs in 1^st session and then all out in 2^nd session. Results were instantly to see. 230/2 to 270/6. That’s what restrictive style of cricket does and Aussies have never been known to play below run rate of 3…The “new age cricket” certainly isn’t helping Australia’s case. Except Gilchrist and Jacques, this batting line up still remains the same as the one which played entire last year since the retirements of Langer, Martyn and bowler duo after Ashes 2006. But the approaches remain stark contrasted.

Tomorrow ‘s day could also be a deciding factor for RD to book a place for England Tests or be dropped and hence retire. If that happens, it would be disastrous for India and certainly not affordable right now when already 2 of the 5 greats have walked into a retirement.

Cricket watching is going to change drastically the next time India plays a test match and the results of Kumble’s retirement are already showing up with Mishra showing no signs of being hair apparent or even 40% of his form in Mohali. After the 5-for in Mohali, he s got just 4 wkts in 3 innings. Plus he cannot bat and he cannot ball. Heir apparent to Anil who could bat decently well for 25-30 runs and hangin there in crunch times.