India vs England : Dont give up on the bowlers..Not now

And now the biggest game of the group B, the marquee game and much hyped game of the tournament which was in the news all way around since Jan end. The build up to this game was awesome. It came to the limelight when the game got shifted to Bangalore after Eden Gardens was not ready. Then a couple of days before the spectators got a police baton hit in the lineup to the tickets. And then it was the ICC displeasure over the tickets fiasco and the typical English media rambling on how failing is the world cup organization.

But what to follow was nobody’s guess. India were expected to stream roll the opposition on basis of form and history in the country and abroad.

Sehwag living dangerously to a slow start by Tendulkar to missed 3 chances in the first over — it all happened in the first few overs of the game. What followed was a superb batting display by India until 46th over when the scoreline read 3 / 305.

India looked set to go till 350 or even more. Tendulkar made record 5th World cup 100, Gambhir showed form, more importantly Yuvraj played a free flowing innings and the myth about Swann and Anderson was busted.

All till Tim Bresnan came back in the attack. What seemed like routine dismissals trying to hit the ball into the stands turned alarming when the rest of batting collapsed to 338 from 3/305. To add injury to the salt, the last run Zaheer and Munfa ran was short and in the end that was the difference between the tie and an Indian victory. Full credit to Tim Bresnan to take 5-for on a flat docile wicket.

Indians were confident of a victory when they came out to bowl because no other team had chased 338 in a world cup and in India. What transpired was shocking and something that exposed Indian bowling. Fielding of course. The bowling was bad no doubt, but English batsmen were lucky too. The balls when they were beaten, raced to 4s. When Strauss failed to pickup a Chwala googly, it ran to boundary.

What to say of the shocker UDRS decision which in the end was match turning one. What if Bell was ruled out LBW in that review when he was on 17? Would still England have come close to a win? Still a match winning almost partnership would have ensured later? None knows, but for sure one fact is clear UDRS is flawed and India have been on the recieiving end of it most times, so they are right in reluctance to use and oppose it the way they have been doing.

The bowling was ridiculously inept, the ball showed no signs of turn the way it did on that warmup game evening vs Australia. The same lad who took 4 that day was pastered yesterday.

It took a Zaheer master class to take 2 on 2 to bring India back into the game when the match looked well lost and people had started leaving.  And then the English collapse started. We were singing the songs of English being the new chokers and the fact that England dont know how to win a ODI as they are content with the Ashes.

Collingwood, Bell, Strauss, Prior and Yardy were dismissed soon and it seemed formality for an Indian victory. But Swann and Bresnan had other plans. They hit 2 sixes in that Chawla over and then Ajmal Shehzad hit Munfa for a 6 off 3rd ball. That brought Eng back to the game.

Strauss played  a untypical English ODI innings, they had forgotten to play ODIs off late but yesterday’s Strauss 100 was their best and that outclassed Tendulkar’s 120. How many days does it happen?

India got out of the jail and are still undefeated. They have 3 points and are on the top of the table. England are due to play Ireland next and then South Africa.  I’d bet England win both games and India play Holland and Ireland next. So it would be a touch and go between this 2 teams to occupy the top slot and play NZ in the QF.

India has to get its bowling attack worked up and the fielding improved. Agree with Dhoni that bowling can be improved. India has not got the worst bowling attack like it showed up on that night, yes there is a scope of improvement and easy 2 games should give the bowlers some confidence ahead of key clash with South Africa and West Indies.  Munaf Patel is certainly not the right man to bowl the last overs. But unless India doesnt play 3rd seamer in Nehra, the options available for the skipper is limited.

Harbhajan Singh needs to find that belief as a strike bowler. Zaheer was awesome in last spell, but he has to be the same through out the game. Munaf has to be completed bowling before the end overs and Chawala if he plays again, he needs to be confident.

India needs a bowler who has pace and consistency to take wickets. Sreesanth has pace, but he has a lot of flair for drama, leaking runs and antics something we dont want. Nehra is unfit and Ashwin is good to play for IPL.  Ishant Sharma has not yet come good in the ODIs, so the options for India in One days in fast bowling are very narrow and deplete. Praveen Kumar is out injured.

No point in pessimism and abusing the team. The same team has got us victories in away conditions, home conditions. And there is no reason why they cannot. They need some good games with the ball and they need wickets. They need some luck which would ensure that when they beat the batsman, the balls dont run to the boundaries or they dont get bad deals from the umpire or the UDRS.

The batting has to be on top and it is actually. Given the easy nature of games ahead, Pathan can be replaced with Raina at 7 to give him some confidence and ensure he is match fit for crucial games ahead. He is a better bowler than Pathan and of course a better fielder. Given the flexibility Indian batting lineup has below 3 or 4, Raina can be accomodated in the batting lineup at the expense of Pathan or resting some crucial player in the next 2 games.

This game has setup a good advert for the 50 over game and set up fascinating contest later this year in England in both tests and ODIs.  One of the best ODI games in recent times even though the wicket was horribly flat and useless.

Team Preview : England

The preview today is for the Ashes champions and the T20 World Chanpions England. England are the enigmatic side in the world cricket who always focus on Tests and ignore the ODIs. That was till they won the T20 trophy and since then they believe they can win the ODI world cup too.

England have been in a good form in ODIs since 2009 after losing to Australia in ODIs 1-6. Ironically they also lost to Australia with the  same margin this month after winning the Ashes in Australia after 24 years.

England in the previous world cups

England were the most consistent team in the world cups from 1975 to 1992. They made it to every semi final till then and in the final 3 times. They almost won the world cup in 1987 but fell short by 7 runs in massive Eden Gardens.. And by 24 runs in iconic MCG to Imran Khan’s cornered tigers in 1992.

Story for them post 1992 has been poor. They could not win against a single Test nation in 1996 and were hammered in the Quarters by a rampaging Sanath Jayasuriya who scored 82 off 44 balls.  In their own world cup in 1999, they exited in the first round itself after they lost to India in the leagues and Zimbabwe upset South Africa.

In 2003 they lost again in the first round but they almost made it to the 2nd round untill Andy Bichel shut the door on them with the bat and the ball in the must win game against Australia. The 2007 world cup campaign was relatively better when they reached super 8s but they lost key games and exited before the semi finals.

Run-up to the 2011

England began the run up to the 2011 campaign in solid style after losing the home series to Aus in 2009. Before that they were hammered 0-5 in Indian tour of 2008. But post Ashes 2009 till Ashes 2011 they did not lose a single ODI series home and away. During this time they won 2-1 in SA, 3-0 in BD and 2-1 home. An emotional 3-2 win against Pakistan followed and similar margin victory against Australia was also ensured by securing a 3-0 lead and then losing the final 2 games.

The injuries have played a key role too behind the 1-6 defeat in addition to the long Ashes campaign, which was their sole focus during the past 2 years. England come into the world cup carrying niggles to Broad, Collingwood, Bresnan and Shehzad.

They have lost their best ODI player in Eoin Morgan whose match winning abilities in any situation would be missed in the sub continent. He is an improvisioned player and that style works in the batsmen friendly wickets in the sub-continent.

The team:

Strauss, Prior, Trott, Collingwood, Pietersen, Bell, Bopara, Swann, Anderson, Broad, Shehzaad, Bresnan, Tredwell, Wright, Tremlett, Yardy

Opening Pair :

Strauss and Prior would be the openers in all probability. Strauss has had a good ODI run post 2009 Kiwi tour and the dramatic step down of KP from the captaincy, otherwise his ODI career seemed over in 2007.

Middle Order:

Collingwood is a doubtful starter in the final XI given his injury and lack of runs. Batting at 7 is not a correct position for him.  Bell at 3 is again a misfit. Actually he is a misfit in every form of the game. Trott at 3, KP at 4,  Bell at 5, Collingwood at 6 and Bopu at 7.

Morgan would have been the best man to do a MS Dhoni or a Cameron White or even a Abdul Razzaq at 5 or 6.

Fast bowling:

Wont be much use to play 3 fast bowlers for England, so one of them is going to be James Anderson and other could be Broad if he is fit.

Spinners would be Swann and one of Yardy and Tredwell.

Expectations:

A quarter finals should be easy way for England to reach, but there on it would depend on their attitude how they take the knock out punch.

Ashes ke Bahane

Its all set for the Ashes. Gaba awaits the action on Thanks Giving day. The closest fought Ashes would begin that day when Ponting’s hurt men would take on Strauss’s roaring soldiers.

Everywhere its being said that the roles are reversed, the Aussies are new Poms and Poms are new Aussies.  In the fact that the Aussies are yet to win a Test after they sent Afridi to retirment, they are going in Ashes test on the back of 3 back to back defeats. Some thing which none of this players have witnessed before.

As for England, they have improved a lot since the dark days of 90s and early 2000s when they were the worst team playing test cricket. Collapses, ego and paper tigers in Atherton and company made them a natural loser in every Ashes series they played. Since Vaughan took over, the tides have changed. They have won 2 Ashes series post 2004 and lost one 0-5. They drew in South Africa, lost in West Indies, India.

They have a lot of batsmen who are in good form. But its the bowlers who are in better shape than the batsmen.. The batters still have Cook, Pieterson, Trott, Collingwood who have had horrid times off late in Tests, so its the bowling attack that gives England the competitiveness that was lacking in them all this years.

Swann, Finn, Anderson and Cribber Broad make the attack for England.

Johnson, Siddel, Hilfy and Doherty form the attack for Australia. Nowhere in comparison with the great attacks that have taken the field in the past, but the guys are honest triers and work hard. Esp Hilfenhaus, he is the most improved bowler in the tests around.

I would still bet Australia to win this Ashes. 5-0 is a dream, but a 2-1 or 3-1 victory would not be ruled out.  Gabba and MCG are sureshot Australian wins, while Perth may be English win. Draws  could be the results on Adelaide and SCG. But we never know.

The next 3 months are very exciting for Test cricket, for its great Lanka taking on rejuvenated Windies and bottom rung of teams India taking on South Africa and England taking on Australia.

World Cup football updates

World Cup football is getting interesting.

In today’s games Greece beat Nigeria 2-1 and Argentina beat Korea South 4-1. That means Argentina are almost through to Super 16. And Korea South has now got an opening to beat Nigeria in the third game and expect Argentina beat Greece.

Permutations and combinations.

Who said they always happen in cricket.

Tomorrow England would play crucial game to their world cup ambitions.  They are always an overhyped team in finals. They never played a semi-final since 1990 and their star players — David Beckham, Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen play good for clubs and underperform for England. Something similar to IPL.

France play Mexico later tonight to keep alive their hopes in the finals. They have been poor starters. They failed to score a goal in 2002 finals and crashed out in first round as defending champs. In 2006 they drew first 2 games and then had to beat poor Togo to go through the second round.

By the way cricket is far better game than football. Imagine teams slugging out 1 whole day and ending up draw. Cricket has ties and they are far more thrilling and interesting than draws of football. Imagine the thrill of Sehwag, Tendulkar in full flow as compared to occasional brilliance of Kaka, Mama, Chacha, Fufa, Messi, Lampard, Klose, Ballack and Rooney.

Kevin Pieterson would be far better than the Rooneys and even Strauss is a better leader than Rio Ferdinand or Terry.  Strauss has got Ashes, Rio has got nothing.

Ok enough of it.

A good article on Strauss

http://www.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/436402.html

A very good article on how Andy Strauss turned the tide for himself.

Man of the hour

Man of the hour :

Let me tell you who is not.

No Samarweera or Bug bear…

No Mendis who was huge last year this tem.

No Younis Khan or Boom Boom womanizer.

No Fab Four group member. No Indian either.

Its somebody unfamiliar. Somebody who won the Ashes yet wasnt given the credit. Who was disgraced by every blogger all over the world.

I bet my 10 cents on his team and his team is in the semi finals.

He is Andrew Strauss.

One day he recalls a loser when he was out.

Second day he denies a real hero a runner when he needed the most.

Graeme Smith is second. Angelo Matthews is first.

I would beat the heat out of Strauss for denying Smith a runner.

Smith is a real hero. Forgot his heroics in Sydney last innings ? Out with bat in a broken hand ? Time and again he has been the lone ranger in his team’s wins and defeats.

So the man of the moment is Gream C Smith. Poorna wont like it. But she has to. Real heroes are liked by everybody.

And I noticed my blog isnt so popular in Sri Lanka. I have noticed in google that they say something about me in their local language.

What do i say ? Something which Dancing baby adores :

‘Naan oru thadava sonna nooru thadava sonna mathiri” Sri Lanka s a boring team to watch and so is their cricket in the backyard where no body cheers on boundaries but just a boring band keeps playing….

Raj and Prabhu can decode wot i wrote in the quotes above. Rajanikanth dialouge which says If i say it once, its like saying it 100 times. Lol. That I think would be my punch line of the blog.

Btw, the man of the hour is Graeme Smith for his heroics yet again.

Ump errors

If Australia lose, perhaps they would feel the pinch India felt in Sydney 2008. That would be a karmic retribution. Perhaps then Rick would understand carrying away in euphoria of possible victory is different and playing the game within spirits of the cricket is different.

Cricket is a great leveller and it doesnt consider if its India or England. Some Aussie blogs have mentioned that had Ponting taken the Strauss catch of may be Hussey then his effigies would have been burnt in India. Well may be yes, but then they should have known the anger and the pain when you are resigned to loss for not the game you play, but owing to over appealing and claiming catches when they are not…

English reaction to this catches and umpire reactions have nothing but idiotic. Something they would have learnt while watching Sydney 2008.

And not everybody is like Anil Kumble and his Indian lads who wont sulk. Not everybody takes this incidents in good taste. It would be interesting to see Ponting’s reaction on result today if they lose or even if they win……Lets see how the hunters feel when they are preyed down by their own medicine…..

Captain Imperious…

Scores yet another 100……….5th one in the season. But would he be able to inspire his team to a series and pride saving win ?

Andrew Strauss and England are the contentious bones here.

Hail West Indies

A West Indies victory in 2000s over stronger teams is a NEWS as it was an Indian victory in 1980s. And yesterday they not only achieved the improbable but also broke a jinx of 9 years of being not able to beat England anywhere. The last time they beat England was in 2000 1^st test in England as they began their way in typical then routing England fashion, but fell apart horribly in the next 4. One of the Tests was even finished in 2 days with Andy Caddick taking 4 wkts in a over. And then their woes continued in 2004 home series when we had the rise of Steve Harmison with 7/12 in Sabina Park. Its an irony that the ground where they suffered worst defeat by being bowled out for 47, they won the Test match at the same ground by dismissing England for 4 more runs. 51 to be precise.

The victory wasn’t a news amidst the IPL auction. But it is very significant for West Indian cricket. It should give them a huge boost to the upcoming Tests especially with Jerome Taylor showing the caliber. 5 for 11 are superb figures against a team which has highest paid IPL cricketers in the world. Too early to say that their revival would begin, but this should definitely begin their upward sojourn.

Gayle, Sarwan and Chandu should form the batting trio if they are to win more and consistently. May be a draw NZ series gave them a boost to perform well so much so the pre series mess and the awful proceedings in England over captain coach row.

What would KP and Freddie feel ? On moon one day and buried deep down in shame the next ? So is the game. A great leveler.

Bravo and Hail the West Indies. Good job.

Chennai Test, Day 1

As I predicted that this is the test going the Lord’s 2007 way, it came true. After Strauss was dismissed (then and now) England collapsed. 164 for 1 to 229 for 5. Big guns like KP, Colly and Bell failing putting the onus on Freddie and then on Prior to salvage the team to a respectable score.

350 should be a decent score. England were defensive. Hell they scored at a rate of 2.5 runs an over. Just like what Aussies did and see what happened to them. For India too, once the openers are gone, there comes a tendency to slow down and that where the opportunities arise and the floodgates open.

4 more mins to go for 2^nd day s play to begin @ Chepauk. Thank god, no rains till now.

Harbhajan got it right in saying England were defensive. I mean its of no use to be circumspect and cautious in the start to go to 1/164 and then end up the day @ 5/229.