A PHENOMENON CALLED GILLY
Adam Craig Gilchrist has called it a day and the cricketing fraternity will have mixed emotions running through. Fans will be deprived of some stunning stroke making, while the bowlers and the opposition captains will be a lot relieved to see Gilly’s back finally!!! Gilchrist has been a true phenomenon and he has completely changed the texture of the game. At this point of time, I felt it would be really great to pen down five of his best knocks, according to me. Gilchrist has smashed many a ball around the world but the world hasn’t still recovered from these innings of character and power.
5. South Africa v Australia, 1st Test, Johannesburg, 204*(213)
At number 5 is the sensational double hundred that Gilchrist made in Johannesburg. Gilchrist’s immediate impact in an innings was very evident from this match. Churchy, as he is fondly called adapts to the conditions very quickly, unlike many batsmen around. But yes, adaptation to the climate and conditions is just a secondary thought for Gilchrist. A knock out punch was delivered to the Proteas in their home territory by the demolisher on the second day of the test series itself. Australia finished the day comfortably at 310/5 with some gritty knocks by Hayden and Mark Waugh. The second new ball was taken and the ball was swinging around as South Africa picked itself slowly until the Western Australian entered the bull ring. Donald, Ntini, Nel, Kallis… bring ‘em on… who do you have??? Gilchrist just smashed everyone around the park. He made a really huge partnership with Damien Martyn in very little time. Gilchrist came in and went undefeated. But, the storm had hit South Africans badly. He scored the then, fastest double hundred. 200 off 212 balls is an amazing feat in any format of the game. Gilly just took the game. When Gilchrist joined Martyn in the middle, it was 293-5 in 79.1 overs. When the partnership was eventually broken by Kallis, the score board read 610-6!!!! What is more interesting is the pace at which Gilchrist and Martyn scored the runs. 317 runs came up in 63 overs at a rapid run rate of 5.1 runs per over!!!
Gilchrist paced his innings quite brilliantly. His 50 came up in 89 balls; next 50 came up in 32 balls; next 50 in 61 balls and the final 50 in 30 balls!!! With his innings, Australia demolished South Africa by a whopping innings and 360 runs!!! To add to his knock, Gilly had 3 catches and 1 stumping to his name in this match.
4. Australia v Sri Lanka, ICC World Cup Final, Barbados, 149(104)
At number of 4 is another sterling innings from Gilchrist that demolished the Lankan hopes of the 1996 WC repeat. It was never going to happen. A dull cricket world cup had a great innings in waiting to be unleashed!!! The man for the moment, Adam Gilchrist seized the opportunity when Ricky Ponting won the toss and elected to bat. Sure Mahela Jayawardene had lot of headaches during the game. With just 38 overs a side in a grand finale, Gilchrist took the attack to the opposition straight away. His impact in the final could well be described with the stat: - Hayden strung a partnership with Gilly at the top. Strung a partnership??? What was that…? Hayden was actually the silent partner J J J. Haydos-Gilly partnership made 172 runs off just 22.5 overs. Hayden contributed a mere 38(55)!!! Gilchrist was all over Sri Lanka and dashed all their hopes of even touching the coveted prize once more in their history. Gilchrist was finally dismissed after 30 overs but the score board read 224-2 in 30.3 overs!! Gilchrist pummeled the Lankan bowlers for 13 boundaries and 8 huge sixes!!! Sure the spectators got their money back with this innings… A brilliant entertainer of the game later revealed that he has used a squash ball in his gloves for better gripping and hitting J J J. You cannot keep him out of action. He came back to do what he usually does best…Wicket keeping!!! He took two important catches of Upul Tharanga and Russel Arnold along with a stumping of Lasith Malinga.
If anyone deserves three world cups it would definitely be Adam Craig Gilchrist. The spirit with which he played his innings in addition to his desire to entertain the crowds is phenomenal.
Srilanka just couldn’t come back from what could possibly be best described as another tsunami, this time in Bridgetown!!!
3. India v Australia, Border-Gavaskar Trophy, 1st Test, Mumbai, 122(112)
At number 3 is Adam Gilchrist’s first test innings in Indian soil. It couldn’t have been better than this. India were bowled out cheaply for 176 on Day 1. Gilchrist pouched 3 catches of Ramesh, Dravid and Tendulkar. Day 2 beckoned a brilliant innings from Churchy. The setting was perfect. Australia were tottering at 99-5. Slater, Langer, Ponting and the Waugh brothers were all back in the pavilion. Rahul Sanghvi and Harbhajan Singh purchased a lot of turn from the Wankhede pitch. Hayden was joined by Gilchrist in the middle. Gilchrist started pouncing on the lose deliveries from the Indians. He raced to 50 off 55 balls with 42 runs coming off boundaries (9X4; 1X6). Hayden was going strong in the other end. As he usually does, Gilchrist reached his 100 in the next 29 balls!!! By the time Gilchrist reached his 100, Hayden was still hovering in 90s!!! Gilchrist was finally done in by Harbhajan Singh when he was stumped, again out after reaching to hit the ball out of the park. Gilchrist’s innings gave the required impetus to the Australian innings and took them to another resounding victory. It was their 16th consecutive victory and Gilchrist had contributed a lot for this victory. By the time he got out, he had scored 122 off mere 112 balls with 15 fours and 4 sixes. Ganguly was bemused and so were his team mates. They had believed a lot in them to rip off a defeat for the Australians. Gilchrist showed why the Aussies were the world champions. India lost the test match by 10 wickets.
Although Gilchrist’s test average against India (29) remains well below his overall test average (48), his innings in Mumbai showed his class and showered a lot of appreciation from all fronts for his approach to the match situation.
2. Australia v England, The Ashes, 3rd Test, Perth, 102*(59)
At number 2 is a Gilchrist phenomenon that was witnessed in his home ground. Gilchrist went through a rough patch like many other greats. He failed time and again. He was even out for a duck in the first innings of this test. Pressure mounted on Gilly and he just opened up in a fashion that only he could do. England were on the receiving end and Madhusudhan Singh Panesar’s truck was crashed when he scored 24 runs off one over!!! Gilchrist went to top gear swiftly and packed four huge sixes out of the ground. Perth witnessed another 12 boundaries in his short stay. Fierce cuts and ferocious drives were the order of the day. He had he swiveled a number of pulls and hooks!!! He had stayed for around 100 minutes and the crowd witnessed a mini Twenty20 innings inside a hard fought test match. Gilchrist reached his 100 off just 57 balls. It was the second fastest in the world. Only Sir Vivian Isaac Richards was faster than this man. Gilchrist’s innings again sealed the match for Australia.
Many batsmen around the world make their comeback in some style with a lot of patience and grit. Gilchrist found a unique way to get back to form. Gilly truly lived up to the expectations of his home crowd.
1. Australia v Pakistan, 2nd Test, Hobart, 149*(163)
At number 1 is what Wasim Akram and co. watched from close quarters than anyone. Pakistan hoped of winning a test match in Australia. The hope remained a hope. Gilchrist, playing only his 2nd test match smashed everything thrown at him. A true test of character for a new comer!! When a bowling attack comprising Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shoaib Akhtar, Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood couldn’t much do against Gilly, then which bowling attack can??? The variety that they had and the form that each of the Pakistani bowler was in clearly showed in the match. With a target of 369, Australia had a mountain to climb. The task became even steeper with the fall of the top order barring Justin Langer. Australia were starring a defeat after the close of 4th day’s play. They were @ 188-5, but Gilchrist already had his eye in. Langer supported him from the other end. Gilchrist started Day 5 from where he left. Shoaib and Akram were hit really badly. At the end of the match, when Gilchrist returned back to the pavilion he made sure that Australia won the match and the series. Pakistan couldn’t come back from that hard defeat and lost the 3rd test match also. Gilchrist also pouched 4 catches in the match. But, his innings of 149 helped Waugh’s men march on to their record 16 consecutive victories.
Without Gilchrist’s contribution, Australia could well have been similar to many teams. When Gilchrist made his debut for Australia, not many teams had such a wonderful batsman-keeper. India had chip-chopped with many keepers. MSK Prasad, Nayan Mongia, Sameer Dighe, Parthiv Patel, Dinesh Karthik and MS Dhoni were all part of the Indian team when Gilly was the only keeper for Australia during the same time. England had altered their choice of keeper also. Alec Stewart, James Foster, Chris Read, Matt Prior, Geraint Jones and Paul Nixon were all a part of the England XI during the same tenure of Gilchrist’s. It was the same case with every other team in the world, except for South Africa and to an extent, New Zealand.
The deadly combination of the batsman-wicketkeeper will be missed in the future and it will be hard to beat this man, in terms of stats and the spirit with which he played his cricket.
Hail Gilly!!!
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Something special is happening against the world-beaters...
Something special is happening against the world-beaters...
People say that Twenty20 and One-day cricket are different ball games. Even cricket experts believe the same and echo that Test cricket is the real place for any cricketer in the world. I love these statements because the endurance of the players is tested in different conditions under different circumstances and against some tough teams. Wow!!!! Test cricket is not dead. The crowds for the current Border-Gavaskar series has been quite a booster for the test match supporters. What we have witnessed is some tough fight for the World champions in their own den. India has been a very good team touring down under Anil Kumble. Kumble must be given the credit for his team’s performance. What a display of character and skill….. Simply outstanding. In one of my previous posts, I had put that it is not impossible to beat, but don’t be disheartened if we lose the series because we are up against the best team in the world.
I am delighted seeing India perform like this in the Australian stronghold. I had also spoken about winning sessions quite convincingly. Yes. India has done it very well throughout the test series. Let us just analyze to see, how remarkable India had actually performed. Let us first dissect MELBOURNE….. Boxing Day test match and Australians had packed the stadium to full. 70,000 was the crowd on the first day of the test and the pressure was on India when they bowled first.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) - Australia 111/0 in 27 overs with Jaques on 57* and Hayden on 49*. Australia clearly dominates the proceedings in the first couple of hours of the test.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia 213 / 3 in 56 overs. Clarke 14* and Hayden 121*. India comes back with 3 wickets, but the session was evenly fought as Hayden took Australia past 200.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia 337 / 9 in 90 overs. India makes a tremendous comeback, courtesy Kumble with 5 wickets. India picks up 6 wickets and dominates the session.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India 31 / 2 in 21.4 overs. Australia is again all over India in this session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - 122/5 in 47.4 overs (SC Ganguly 21). Australia slowly pick up wickets and the session again belongs to them.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 32/0 in 8.0 overs (PA Jaques 10, ML Hayden 22). India have lost another session by losing the lower half quite easily.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 135/2 in 37.0 overs (PA Jaques 49, MEK Hussey 29). India make a comeback after the strong opening partnership. An evenly fought session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 248/5 in 63.0 overs (MJ Clarke 52, AC Gilchrist 1). India pick up 3 wickets in the session, but Australia stretch the lead. Another evenly fought session.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – India - 6/0 in 8.0 overs (R Dravid 3, W Jaffer 2). India pick up another 2 wickets in this session, but find an uneasy day coming up with a target of 499.
DAY 4:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 56/2 in 35.0 overs (VVS Laxman 21, SR Tendulkar 2). Australia dominate another session in the test. India find it hard to comeback.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 134/5 in 61.0 overs (SC Ganguly 36, MS Dhoni 1). India are on the verge of defeat. Australia dominate another session.
Post-Tea Session - India 161 all out. Australia win the test in the final session of 4th day.
When you win just one session in 4 days (12 sessions of play), you cannot win a test match. Australia were all over India and it showed when they had won so many small battles and won those sessions so well. India gave it away very easily without any fight in 9 sessions of play. Gone!!! Australia 1-0 up….
SYDNEY came in next for the tourists. A good batting pitch and also some poor umpiring awaited them.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) - Australia - 95/2 in 25.0 overs (RT Ponting 36, MEK Hussey 37). Evenly fought session. India pick up the openers while Ponting and Hussey stabilize, courtesy some stupid umpiring.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 214/6 in 52.0 overs (A Symonds 39, GB Hogg 48). India bowling superbly but again umpires come in way along with gritty Hogg and Symonds. Another evenly fought session goes about in Sydney.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 376/7 in 89.0 overs (A Symonds 137, B Lee 31). Australia get to great position as they dominate the session scoring 162 runs in 37 overs losing a single wicket of Hogg.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 0/0 in 3.0 overs (W Jaffer 0, R Dravid 0). India get rid off the tail, but only after conceding 87 runs. Another evenly fought session in Sydney.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 101/1 in 30.0 overs (R Dravid 18, VVS Laxman 73). India dominate the session by not losing wickets and by stringing important partnership.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - India - 216/3 in 62.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 9, SC Ganguly 21). India had a firm hand in this session, although they lost 2 wickets.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 322/5 in 88.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 52, MS Dhoni 0). India lose wickets, but score at a brisk pace. An evenly fought session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 424/7 in 113.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 106, Harbhajan Singh 41). India consolidate and dominate the session.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 13/0 in 5.0 overs (PA Jaques 8, ML Hayden 5). India on top after scoring 532 runs. India dominate another session in Sydney.
DAY 4:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 90/2 in 28.0 overs (ML Hayden 39, MEK Hussey 0). India comeback in this session after Australian openers give a strong opening partnership. Honors even.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 177/2 in 50.2 overs (ML Hayden 77, MEK Hussey 43). Australia resurrect their innings and dominate a session after 7 hard-fought sessions in which they never completely dominated.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 282/4 in 83.0 overs (MEK Hussey 87, A Symonds 14). India make a minor comeback, but Australia had another good session. Honors even as India give away 103 runs in 31 overs.
DAY 5:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 6/1 in 2.0 overs (R Dravid 4, VVS Laxman 2). India fight hard on the final day making Australians earn their runs. Jaffer is dismissed. Honors even as India prolong Ponting’s declaration.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 79/3 in 26.0 overs (R Dravid 27, SC Ganguly 18). Australia dominate as India lose important wickets and make runs at snail-pace.
Post-Tea Session - India 210 all out. India lose 7 wickets in the last 2 hours of the test, courtesy some erratic shot making, stupendous bowling and outrageous umpiring.
Although, India won 4 sessions completely, they did fight hard and did not allow Australia to dominate in 6 sessions in the test. Infact, Aussies won just 5 sessions in the match. That just shows why India should have at least drawn this game.
The tour moves on finally to what was called the bounciest track in the world. Perth hosts the 3rd test in this series. India win the toss and bat first. Sehwag comes in the line up along with Irfan Pathan.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 74/2 in 24.0 overs (R Dravid 2, SR Tendulkar 13). India on top after early speculation of India losing wickets quite easily.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 177/2 in 51.0 overs (R Dravid 52, SR Tendulkar 59). Dravid and Tendulkar take India on top after going through a full session without losing a wicket for the first time.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - 297/6 in 84.0 overs (MS Dhoni 8, IK Pathan 8). Australia crawl back after picking up 4 wickets in no time. Australia dominate the session.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 22/3 in 8.0 overs (RT Ponting 6, MJ Clarke 4). India dominate the session after scoring some valuable runs with the tail and breaking the Australian top-order.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 148/5 in 31.0 overs (A Symonds 56, AC Gilchrist 34). Australia dominate the session after losing 2 wickets.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - India - 52/1 in 11.0 overs (V Sehwag 29, IK Pathan 2). India pick up 5 wickets in Australia’s 1st innings and stretch the lead up to 170.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 158/5 in 33.0 overs (IK Pathan 45, VVS Laxman 18). Australia comeback with 4 wickets in this session. Honors Australia.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 245/8 in 65.0 overs (VVS Laxman 57, RP Singh 7). India stretch the lead to 250 as Dhoni and Laxman string an important partnership.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - 65/2 in 15.0 overs (RT Ponting 24, MEK Hussey 5). Australia face an improbable 413 and lose 2 wickets at the end of the day. India dominate another session.
India has dominated 6 sessions of the 9 played as of now and it shows how good they have comeback into the series after the Melbourne drubbing. If India can dominate 2 out of the 3 sessions tomorrow, Perth will be conquered by a touring side for the first time in 10 years and the great Aussie run will be broken. Who knows, may be they would be bundled out inside 4 days after long long time. How long has it been since Australians lost a test match, even without looking into the final day?????
Waiting for the weekend to unfold brilliantly for India. :) :) :)
P.S. India have completely dominated Australia in 11 of the 36 sessions so far, while the Aussies have managed to do it 17 times. 9 of the sessions have been evenly fought.
People say that Twenty20 and One-day cricket are different ball games. Even cricket experts believe the same and echo that Test cricket is the real place for any cricketer in the world. I love these statements because the endurance of the players is tested in different conditions under different circumstances and against some tough teams. Wow!!!! Test cricket is not dead. The crowds for the current Border-Gavaskar series has been quite a booster for the test match supporters. What we have witnessed is some tough fight for the World champions in their own den. India has been a very good team touring down under Anil Kumble. Kumble must be given the credit for his team’s performance. What a display of character and skill….. Simply outstanding. In one of my previous posts, I had put that it is not impossible to beat, but don’t be disheartened if we lose the series because we are up against the best team in the world.
I am delighted seeing India perform like this in the Australian stronghold. I had also spoken about winning sessions quite convincingly. Yes. India has done it very well throughout the test series. Let us just analyze to see, how remarkable India had actually performed. Let us first dissect MELBOURNE….. Boxing Day test match and Australians had packed the stadium to full. 70,000 was the crowd on the first day of the test and the pressure was on India when they bowled first.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) - Australia 111/0 in 27 overs with Jaques on 57* and Hayden on 49*. Australia clearly dominates the proceedings in the first couple of hours of the test.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia 213 / 3 in 56 overs. Clarke 14* and Hayden 121*. India comes back with 3 wickets, but the session was evenly fought as Hayden took Australia past 200.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia 337 / 9 in 90 overs. India makes a tremendous comeback, courtesy Kumble with 5 wickets. India picks up 6 wickets and dominates the session.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India 31 / 2 in 21.4 overs. Australia is again all over India in this session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - 122/5 in 47.4 overs (SC Ganguly 21). Australia slowly pick up wickets and the session again belongs to them.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 32/0 in 8.0 overs (PA Jaques 10, ML Hayden 22). India have lost another session by losing the lower half quite easily.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 135/2 in 37.0 overs (PA Jaques 49, MEK Hussey 29). India make a comeback after the strong opening partnership. An evenly fought session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 248/5 in 63.0 overs (MJ Clarke 52, AC Gilchrist 1). India pick up 3 wickets in the session, but Australia stretch the lead. Another evenly fought session.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – India - 6/0 in 8.0 overs (R Dravid 3, W Jaffer 2). India pick up another 2 wickets in this session, but find an uneasy day coming up with a target of 499.
DAY 4:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 56/2 in 35.0 overs (VVS Laxman 21, SR Tendulkar 2). Australia dominate another session in the test. India find it hard to comeback.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 134/5 in 61.0 overs (SC Ganguly 36, MS Dhoni 1). India are on the verge of defeat. Australia dominate another session.
Post-Tea Session - India 161 all out. Australia win the test in the final session of 4th day.
When you win just one session in 4 days (12 sessions of play), you cannot win a test match. Australia were all over India and it showed when they had won so many small battles and won those sessions so well. India gave it away very easily without any fight in 9 sessions of play. Gone!!! Australia 1-0 up….
SYDNEY came in next for the tourists. A good batting pitch and also some poor umpiring awaited them.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) - Australia - 95/2 in 25.0 overs (RT Ponting 36, MEK Hussey 37). Evenly fought session. India pick up the openers while Ponting and Hussey stabilize, courtesy some stupid umpiring.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 214/6 in 52.0 overs (A Symonds 39, GB Hogg 48). India bowling superbly but again umpires come in way along with gritty Hogg and Symonds. Another evenly fought session goes about in Sydney.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 376/7 in 89.0 overs (A Symonds 137, B Lee 31). Australia get to great position as they dominate the session scoring 162 runs in 37 overs losing a single wicket of Hogg.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 0/0 in 3.0 overs (W Jaffer 0, R Dravid 0). India get rid off the tail, but only after conceding 87 runs. Another evenly fought session in Sydney.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 101/1 in 30.0 overs (R Dravid 18, VVS Laxman 73). India dominate the session by not losing wickets and by stringing important partnership.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - India - 216/3 in 62.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 9, SC Ganguly 21). India had a firm hand in this session, although they lost 2 wickets.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 322/5 in 88.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 52, MS Dhoni 0). India lose wickets, but score at a brisk pace. An evenly fought session.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 424/7 in 113.0 overs (SR Tendulkar 106, Harbhajan Singh 41). India consolidate and dominate the session.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 13/0 in 5.0 overs (PA Jaques 8, ML Hayden 5). India on top after scoring 532 runs. India dominate another session in Sydney.
DAY 4:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 90/2 in 28.0 overs (ML Hayden 39, MEK Hussey 0). India comeback in this session after Australian openers give a strong opening partnership. Honors even.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 177/2 in 50.2 overs (ML Hayden 77, MEK Hussey 43). Australia resurrect their innings and dominate a session after 7 hard-fought sessions in which they never completely dominated.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) – Australia - 282/4 in 83.0 overs (MEK Hussey 87, A Symonds 14). India make a minor comeback, but Australia had another good session. Honors even as India give away 103 runs in 31 overs.
DAY 5:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 6/1 in 2.0 overs (R Dravid 4, VVS Laxman 2). India fight hard on the final day making Australians earn their runs. Jaffer is dismissed. Honors even as India prolong Ponting’s declaration.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 79/3 in 26.0 overs (R Dravid 27, SC Ganguly 18). Australia dominate as India lose important wickets and make runs at snail-pace.
Post-Tea Session - India 210 all out. India lose 7 wickets in the last 2 hours of the test, courtesy some erratic shot making, stupendous bowling and outrageous umpiring.
Although, India won 4 sessions completely, they did fight hard and did not allow Australia to dominate in 6 sessions in the test. Infact, Aussies won just 5 sessions in the match. That just shows why India should have at least drawn this game.
The tour moves on finally to what was called the bounciest track in the world. Perth hosts the 3rd test in this series. India win the toss and bat first. Sehwag comes in the line up along with Irfan Pathan.
DAY 1:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 74/2 in 24.0 overs (R Dravid 2, SR Tendulkar 13). India on top after early speculation of India losing wickets quite easily.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 177/2 in 51.0 overs (R Dravid 52, SR Tendulkar 59). Dravid and Tendulkar take India on top after going through a full session without losing a wicket for the first time.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - 297/6 in 84.0 overs (MS Dhoni 8, IK Pathan 8). Australia crawl back after picking up 4 wickets in no time. Australia dominate the session.
DAY 2:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – Australia - 22/3 in 8.0 overs (RT Ponting 6, MJ Clarke 4). India dominate the session after scoring some valuable runs with the tail and breaking the Australian top-order.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - Australia - 148/5 in 31.0 overs (A Symonds 56, AC Gilchrist 34). Australia dominate the session after losing 2 wickets.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - India - 52/1 in 11.0 overs (V Sehwag 29, IK Pathan 2). India pick up 5 wickets in Australia’s 1st innings and stretch the lead up to 170.
DAY 3:-
Morning Session (LUNCH) – India - 158/5 in 33.0 overs (IK Pathan 45, VVS Laxman 18). Australia comeback with 4 wickets in this session. Honors Australia.
Post-Lunch Session (TEA) - India - 245/8 in 65.0 overs (VVS Laxman 57, RP Singh 7). India stretch the lead to 250 as Dhoni and Laxman string an important partnership.
Post-Tea Session (CLOSE OF PLAY) - 65/2 in 15.0 overs (RT Ponting 24, MEK Hussey 5). Australia face an improbable 413 and lose 2 wickets at the end of the day. India dominate another session.
India has dominated 6 sessions of the 9 played as of now and it shows how good they have comeback into the series after the Melbourne drubbing. If India can dominate 2 out of the 3 sessions tomorrow, Perth will be conquered by a touring side for the first time in 10 years and the great Aussie run will be broken. Who knows, may be they would be bundled out inside 4 days after long long time. How long has it been since Australians lost a test match, even without looking into the final day?????
Waiting for the weekend to unfold brilliantly for India. :) :) :)
P.S. India have completely dominated Australia in 11 of the 36 sessions so far, while the Aussies have managed to do it 17 times. 9 of the sessions have been evenly fought.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Blunder Down Under
BLUNDER DOWN UNDER
The Sydney test will be remembered for all wrong reasons. India lost the match not just because of some stupid umpiring but also because of some inept batting displays. The Sydney test shaped up to a near perfect test match with both sides on top for sometime consistently throughout the 5 days. Kumble's face showed it all in the post match conference. The Indians were a dull faced side with a lot of anger. But, everything is history now.
India will have to face the reality now. They cant shy away from the real test now. It is the test of character at Perth and Adelaide. No Australian team has lost consecutive test matches at home since 1978. If India will have to level the series, they will have to do this improbable act of defeating Australia two times continuously in a test series. India have got some justice in between the test matches. The ICC have accepted their plea to remove Steve Bucknor for the Perth test. Harbhajan's ban is also held up for the time being. With just 3 days to go for the Perth test, India will have to pull their socks up very quickly.
It is the last time that the famous five will fight out for glory in the Australian soil. If India loses this test match, then Kumble & co. will not get another shot at Aussies in Australia. This should be the motivation for the veterans to perform even better than they have performed in the last 2 tests. Only these players have performed in the tests at Melbourne and Sydney. The youngsters have really been well below par. Jaffer has been completely out of sorts against Brett Lee with the new ball in hand. His 92 against ACT Invitational XI would have got him some confidence back, but I would back Virender Sehwag to play in the Perth test. Sehwag raced away to 113 off mere 78 balls in the practice game. Sehwag does not actually perform well in the 2nd innings in a test match. His 113 would have got some relief for Kumble's headache. Sehwag averages a phenomenal 70 in the first innings and 20 in the second innings, in his whole career till date.
Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are next in the line for proving to be the nemesis for Anil Kumble. Yuvraj's hapless batting display in the 6 innings in Australia will definitely make way for either Dinesh Karthik or Irfan Pathan. Pathan seems to be the more likely option as he can definitely open the bowling attack with RP Singh. Dhoni's case is different. Although, Dhoni has been close to perfect behind the stumps, his batting has not been attractive at all. His batting display in the 2nd innings of the Sydney test has got him more criticisms than appreciations. He will have to perform tremendously with the bat and more importantly should support the in form batsmen now. Perth will be the biggest test for Dhoni in his test career.
Gary Kirsten's presence in Perth will definitely help Kumble and the support staff to regain some confidence and the killer instinct for the Perth test match. India should bowl first, if they win the toss. Indians have the firepower to rattle the Aussies, if they find some tinge of green on the turf that promises to offer a lot of bounce for the pacemen.
A test win in Perth will be a big slap on the face of Ponting and his ego would be thrashed if India does win.
This is the perfect combination to go for the Perth test according to me.
1. Virender Sehwag
2. Rahul Dravid
3. VVS Laxman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. MS Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Anil Kumble
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. RP Singh
11. Ishant Sharma
12. Dinesh Karthik
The batting order cannot be chip-chopped in the middle of the series now. Dravid looks steady and settled now as an opener. Laxman relishes his no.3 position in Australia. Tendulkar and Ganguly are performing well. It is upto players on the top and after these stars to play well and perform well as a batting unit first. The bowling unit will be a force to reckon with. Kumble is just short of 600 wickets and Perth should be the place to get his 600th scalp.
Waiting for the Perth test to kick off !!!!
The Sydney test will be remembered for all wrong reasons. India lost the match not just because of some stupid umpiring but also because of some inept batting displays. The Sydney test shaped up to a near perfect test match with both sides on top for sometime consistently throughout the 5 days. Kumble's face showed it all in the post match conference. The Indians were a dull faced side with a lot of anger. But, everything is history now.
India will have to face the reality now. They cant shy away from the real test now. It is the test of character at Perth and Adelaide. No Australian team has lost consecutive test matches at home since 1978. If India will have to level the series, they will have to do this improbable act of defeating Australia two times continuously in a test series. India have got some justice in between the test matches. The ICC have accepted their plea to remove Steve Bucknor for the Perth test. Harbhajan's ban is also held up for the time being. With just 3 days to go for the Perth test, India will have to pull their socks up very quickly.
It is the last time that the famous five will fight out for glory in the Australian soil. If India loses this test match, then Kumble & co. will not get another shot at Aussies in Australia. This should be the motivation for the veterans to perform even better than they have performed in the last 2 tests. Only these players have performed in the tests at Melbourne and Sydney. The youngsters have really been well below par. Jaffer has been completely out of sorts against Brett Lee with the new ball in hand. His 92 against ACT Invitational XI would have got him some confidence back, but I would back Virender Sehwag to play in the Perth test. Sehwag raced away to 113 off mere 78 balls in the practice game. Sehwag does not actually perform well in the 2nd innings in a test match. His 113 would have got some relief for Kumble's headache. Sehwag averages a phenomenal 70 in the first innings and 20 in the second innings, in his whole career till date.
Yuvraj Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are next in the line for proving to be the nemesis for Anil Kumble. Yuvraj's hapless batting display in the 6 innings in Australia will definitely make way for either Dinesh Karthik or Irfan Pathan. Pathan seems to be the more likely option as he can definitely open the bowling attack with RP Singh. Dhoni's case is different. Although, Dhoni has been close to perfect behind the stumps, his batting has not been attractive at all. His batting display in the 2nd innings of the Sydney test has got him more criticisms than appreciations. He will have to perform tremendously with the bat and more importantly should support the in form batsmen now. Perth will be the biggest test for Dhoni in his test career.
Gary Kirsten's presence in Perth will definitely help Kumble and the support staff to regain some confidence and the killer instinct for the Perth test match. India should bowl first, if they win the toss. Indians have the firepower to rattle the Aussies, if they find some tinge of green on the turf that promises to offer a lot of bounce for the pacemen.
A test win in Perth will be a big slap on the face of Ponting and his ego would be thrashed if India does win.
This is the perfect combination to go for the Perth test according to me.
1. Virender Sehwag
2. Rahul Dravid
3. VVS Laxman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Sourav Ganguly
6. MS Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Anil Kumble
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. RP Singh
11. Ishant Sharma
12. Dinesh Karthik
The batting order cannot be chip-chopped in the middle of the series now. Dravid looks steady and settled now as an opener. Laxman relishes his no.3 position in Australia. Tendulkar and Ganguly are performing well. It is upto players on the top and after these stars to play well and perform well as a batting unit first. The bowling unit will be a force to reckon with. Kumble is just short of 600 wickets and Perth should be the place to get his 600th scalp.
Waiting for the Perth test to kick off !!!!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Thunder Down Under
WHO SHOULD BE DROPPED???
This is a serious question that the team think tank must answer very quickly. Virender Sehwag must be brought in the XI not because of his form but for his sheer ability to take the attack to the opposition. Now we have seen how well Dravid and Jaffer have prospered opening the innings for India. Two games and their partnership have been in single digits. Rahul Sharad Dravid is a class act. You cannot ignore him so easily and make him sit out given the fact that he lends lot of experience into the team. If Dravid is dropped it will send wrong signals in the team. Dravid is opening the innings for the best of the team and you cannot drop him because he hasn’t performed well today.
But, Dravid is due for some criticism definitely. India faltered very badly because he never rotated the strike. He held the fort so strongly for more than an hour that he did not even think to run. What more, when a wicket has already fallen!!! Dravid looks to completely shell in so that the opponents will not get him that easily. Dravid also forgot that he is playing Australia and quick singles, twos and threes are the need of the hour. Dravid should have understood the importance of the singles when he saw Jaques and Hayden snatch singles so easily by dropping it close to the turf. Having said that, neither Dravid nor Laxman is a good runner between the wickets and there is a huge risk of taking such risky singles against a field that has Symonds and Clarke guarding the offside ever so seriously.
It is very hard to imagine that a team takes its 1st single in the 17th over of the innings. Even Bangladesh would have got few boundaries against Australia. There was no point in Dravid playing such a knock. It would have meant a lot had he capitalized on what hard work he put before that. May be, he was trying to emulate Sanjay Bangar, who played so defensively to negate the swing @ England in Headingley (one of the places where the ball swings viciously). When he got out, India had 25 on the board for the loss of 2 wickets in 25 overs!!
Yuvraj Singh cannot be left out for one bad performance. He can’t be chucked out so easily. But, Yuvraj must also know that all the shuffling in the team batting that is happening around is for him to be placed in the order. If he doesn’t reciprocate well for this help from the captain, then I guess Yuvi will have to sit out, bringing Laxman and Dravid to their regular positions.
So, I feel Sehwag must be brought in place of Jaffer. Jaffer is a class opener. No doubt in it. But he doesn’t make a great partner for Dravid or the other way around as well. With so much pressure against Aussies it becomes doubly difficult for these players to attack. If Sehwag is around, there is always a chance for scoring quick runs. A quick 60-70 partnership is at least needed immediately. Look at what Gayle did to the Proteas yesterday. 66 off 49 balls and whoomph…Windies managed to reach 281-4 at the end of the day. Dravid-Sehwag combination might just work better than Jaffer-Dravid combination. I must also say that we are paying a heavy risk when we get in Sehwag, with the man under tremendous pressure as runs have dried up for him in all forms of the game. But, I feel it’s not that bad a ploy when you know that one of the openers who are currently playing will be removed so easily in the first 5-6 overs.
Also make sure that we are not chip-chopping openers for every test match. With 4 openers in the squad and many failing to grab the opportunity, I somehow feel that we will see 4 different opening partners in 4 test matches.
Now what we need from India is not one but many things –
1. Play positive cricket in the morning tomorrow and show the same hunger on the field as shown on the first day. Make sure you don’t drop your shoulders so easily and so quickly. Australians can capitalize on that when they see you dropping shoulders.
2. We should realize that many of the Aussie wickets were gifts more than anything else. I would rate Jaques and Ponting’s wicket as something unplayable. There were lot of lose shots played and don’t expect them to do it again in a span of 2 days.
3. Make sure that you bowl out Australia quickly. Ideally a score of 150-160 would be the maximum India can afford to give Australia. One of the bowlers must be at his lethal best tomorrow.
4. When India bat again, Opening is the most important key for success (either winning or saving the game). If we falter at the start, don’t be amused to see a great Indian collapse on the 4th day morning.
After all these points, one must always understand that Australians are the bosses here. They are the dictators of the game. At their own den, it becomes even tougher to test them and beat them. As I said earlier, you can’t expect them to play well below opposition’s levels consistently over a period of 5 days.
This is a serious question that the team think tank must answer very quickly. Virender Sehwag must be brought in the XI not because of his form but for his sheer ability to take the attack to the opposition. Now we have seen how well Dravid and Jaffer have prospered opening the innings for India. Two games and their partnership have been in single digits. Rahul Sharad Dravid is a class act. You cannot ignore him so easily and make him sit out given the fact that he lends lot of experience into the team. If Dravid is dropped it will send wrong signals in the team. Dravid is opening the innings for the best of the team and you cannot drop him because he hasn’t performed well today.
But, Dravid is due for some criticism definitely. India faltered very badly because he never rotated the strike. He held the fort so strongly for more than an hour that he did not even think to run. What more, when a wicket has already fallen!!! Dravid looks to completely shell in so that the opponents will not get him that easily. Dravid also forgot that he is playing Australia and quick singles, twos and threes are the need of the hour. Dravid should have understood the importance of the singles when he saw Jaques and Hayden snatch singles so easily by dropping it close to the turf. Having said that, neither Dravid nor Laxman is a good runner between the wickets and there is a huge risk of taking such risky singles against a field that has Symonds and Clarke guarding the offside ever so seriously.
It is very hard to imagine that a team takes its 1st single in the 17th over of the innings. Even Bangladesh would have got few boundaries against Australia. There was no point in Dravid playing such a knock. It would have meant a lot had he capitalized on what hard work he put before that. May be, he was trying to emulate Sanjay Bangar, who played so defensively to negate the swing @ England in Headingley (one of the places where the ball swings viciously). When he got out, India had 25 on the board for the loss of 2 wickets in 25 overs!!
Yuvraj Singh cannot be left out for one bad performance. He can’t be chucked out so easily. But, Yuvraj must also know that all the shuffling in the team batting that is happening around is for him to be placed in the order. If he doesn’t reciprocate well for this help from the captain, then I guess Yuvi will have to sit out, bringing Laxman and Dravid to their regular positions.
So, I feel Sehwag must be brought in place of Jaffer. Jaffer is a class opener. No doubt in it. But he doesn’t make a great partner for Dravid or the other way around as well. With so much pressure against Aussies it becomes doubly difficult for these players to attack. If Sehwag is around, there is always a chance for scoring quick runs. A quick 60-70 partnership is at least needed immediately. Look at what Gayle did to the Proteas yesterday. 66 off 49 balls and whoomph…Windies managed to reach 281-4 at the end of the day. Dravid-Sehwag combination might just work better than Jaffer-Dravid combination. I must also say that we are paying a heavy risk when we get in Sehwag, with the man under tremendous pressure as runs have dried up for him in all forms of the game. But, I feel it’s not that bad a ploy when you know that one of the openers who are currently playing will be removed so easily in the first 5-6 overs.
Also make sure that we are not chip-chopping openers for every test match. With 4 openers in the squad and many failing to grab the opportunity, I somehow feel that we will see 4 different opening partners in 4 test matches.
Now what we need from India is not one but many things –
1. Play positive cricket in the morning tomorrow and show the same hunger on the field as shown on the first day. Make sure you don’t drop your shoulders so easily and so quickly. Australians can capitalize on that when they see you dropping shoulders.
2. We should realize that many of the Aussie wickets were gifts more than anything else. I would rate Jaques and Ponting’s wicket as something unplayable. There were lot of lose shots played and don’t expect them to do it again in a span of 2 days.
3. Make sure that you bowl out Australia quickly. Ideally a score of 150-160 would be the maximum India can afford to give Australia. One of the bowlers must be at his lethal best tomorrow.
4. When India bat again, Opening is the most important key for success (either winning or saving the game). If we falter at the start, don’t be amused to see a great Indian collapse on the 4th day morning.
After all these points, one must always understand that Australians are the bosses here. They are the dictators of the game. At their own den, it becomes even tougher to test them and beat them. As I said earlier, you can’t expect them to play well below opposition’s levels consistently over a period of 5 days.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Final Frontier....still remains to be broken !!!!
IVS Cup finals truly lived up to its expectations with hard fought cricket being the mantra for both the teams. It was one day, I was waiting for a long time for two reasons. One, to be a part of the team to reach the final and my thirst and hunger to meet "All Stars" one day in a cricketing field. All Stars are a tremendous unit on the field and the character they displayed throughout the tournament was simply amazing and I must admit at this point of time that they were many-a-step ahead of all other teams in this tournament, but I suppose "Chak De ABN" were the next closest to the "All Stars". If it was one team I wished to play other than "Chak De ABN" it would be "All Stars" :) :) :)
I was waiting for a long time for the clock to strike 16:30 and finally it did when we went into bat after winning the toss. "All Stars" showed their skill on the field and the bat throughout the tournament and the bowling was viewed a weak link. But, I suppose they had reserved the best for the finals. First 5 overs of our innings and we lost a couple of wickets. What do you expect? A score of 35-40 in an 8-over game? We couldnt even manage the sum of the individual digits. Only 5 runs came off the bat and 4 extras helped us reach 9 in the first 5 overs. We were hit back hardly, by some really good bowling and the timely wicket of Rajneesh, one player who showed his class in this tournament with 106 runs in 6 wickets in 5 games (10 overs and 6 wickets...wowowow!!!) Great Stuff Rajneesh. But, it wasnt enough to win us the game.
Skaria was on the money and we had planned to play him safe. But I felt we were extremely cautious and over-defensive. We were in the mindset to not collapse quickly in the finals. Truly we dint collapse but, it was never sufficient against AllStars. When Sam got Rajneesh, we completely went defensive. But the last 3 overs saved the day for us as we had some score to fight for. 31 came off the last 3 and we reached 40 runs !!! The situation was so bad that I was advising Fathima (our female player) to bowl as tight as possible so that we dont lose the game in the first over itself :) :) .Highlights of the first innings were some gritty knocks from Shino, Richard and some absolutely tremendous fielding by All Stars. They had easily saved 3 boundaries which would have enriched our score tremendously.
When we went in, we had to take wickets quickly and at the same time not give away freebies. We were against the strongest batting line up in the tournament and "All Stars" according to me were against the strongest bowling line up. This was the match up that everyone wished to see. The fight was awesome with Vishal, Nikhil, and Karthik strongly facing a bowling attack that boasted the likes of Shino, Rajneesh and me :) :) :) People say I am good bowler ;) ;) ;)
As the score wasn't huge and more importantly "All Stars" played some crazy cricket in the semi finals, they made sure they will not make that mistake again. Karthik and Nikhil never looked like giving away their wickets. Shino got us the first breakthrough by castling Vishal. That brought the pair that made the highest partnership of the tournament together. We had a hard task in our hands. I tried a lot to breakthrough Karthik and Nikhil. It never happened. But there was a glimmer of hope when Karthik was out of a controversial runout. In fact, we turned that into a great possibility of winning the finals. Rajneesh bowled a splendid penultimate over to pick up a wicket giving away 4 runs.
Amit came into bowl the last 6 balls of the game. I had actually told Amit that, there is a big possibility for him to be bowling the last over of the final even before "All Stars" innings' started. I kept on reminding him every over. And that actually happened. For once, I thought of asking my captain to get Richard bowling because he has had a better match and infact has been batting well right from the quarter finals. Amit had a disappointing run from the quarter finals. 2 ducks and 2 run outs in addition to some ordinary bowling couldnt help his cause. But again, I thought Amit could well spoil All Stars party like the same way he did against "Sher-e-BT". Before he started I was asking him if he needed the fine leg, but he never replied. May be, he was tensed. May be, the pressure was too much on him.
He started his runup and all our fielders were on their toes. But much to our dismay, Amit bowled a short ball on middle and leg that Sam cleverly guided to the fine-leg boundary. Alas !!!! 1 run needed off 5 balls and "All Stars" were ecstatic. Sam punched the air and hugged Praveen as they knew they were very close to victory. The next ball that Amit bowled was of the same line and length and it went to the boundary. Amit is not the player to be blamed here. We should have had some sense and batted with some purpose in the first 5 overs when we scored a mere 5 runs. That is where we lost the game. Would you believe that 26 balls were dot balls of the first 30 (3 singles and 1 two in the first 5 overs) !!! We should have scored atleast 35 off the first 5 to give some fight against the tournament favorites.
The "All Stars" supporters just ran into the field with so much of joy and passion. It truly showed the spirit of the team. Every team from IVS-IHL that took part in the tournament was very well supported by a strong contingent from All State. It really showed, how united they are very much unlike other teams at least in the fray ( may be they had lot of work and project pressures).
Nevertheless, we had a stunning final and a grand end to the month long tournament. But, to be a part of a losing side in such a close final was heart breaking. Here, the "winner" takes it all. "All Stars" showed how to play a 8- over match. Their brutality on the field was evident in the first 2 rounds when they amassed 241 runs off 16 overs !!! They showed some sense while batting against the best possible bowling line up in this tournament. Karthik who was adjudged the Man of the Series, truly represented the spirit of AllStars on the field and a deserved winner of the Man-Of-the- Series. But, I feel it would have been even better had the trophy been shared with Rajneesh. He had a dream run in this tournament.
I was happy with my personal performance in the tournament. 5 wickets in the 10 overs I bowled in the tournament with a maiden as well :) :) But, I was visibly upset that we lost a close final against the favorites and the champions.
VC (delivery head here in IVS) gave away the medals and the trophy. When I went to collect it he said, "Dont worry that you lost the match, you won the hearts of many by showing your passion on the field." I was very happy that my efforts were recognized and also won many hearts during this hard fought tournament.
I am waiting for the same tournament to kick off again as soon as possible.
This my ALL- IVS TEAM
1. Rajneesh
2. Nikhil
3. Karthik
4. Lionel
5. Srikanta
6.Skaria
7. Shino
8. Sudheer
9. Sooraj
10. Mitesh
11. Vasanthi / Fathima.
This is just my vision of the possibly the best players in the tournament. But as it was limited to 8, I cant push in the other wonderful performers in the tournament.
Some of them showed the strength and helped their team go through to finals and win it and some of them failed as their team collapsed at some point of a crucial match.
A great tournament comes to an end and also ends the year 2007 in a memorable way.
I should see the 2008 version of this tournament soon.
I was waiting for a long time for the clock to strike 16:30 and finally it did when we went into bat after winning the toss. "All Stars" showed their skill on the field and the bat throughout the tournament and the bowling was viewed a weak link. But, I suppose they had reserved the best for the finals. First 5 overs of our innings and we lost a couple of wickets. What do you expect? A score of 35-40 in an 8-over game? We couldnt even manage the sum of the individual digits. Only 5 runs came off the bat and 4 extras helped us reach 9 in the first 5 overs. We were hit back hardly, by some really good bowling and the timely wicket of Rajneesh, one player who showed his class in this tournament with 106 runs in 6 wickets in 5 games (10 overs and 6 wickets...wowowow!!!) Great Stuff Rajneesh. But, it wasnt enough to win us the game.
Skaria was on the money and we had planned to play him safe. But I felt we were extremely cautious and over-defensive. We were in the mindset to not collapse quickly in the finals. Truly we dint collapse but, it was never sufficient against AllStars. When Sam got Rajneesh, we completely went defensive. But the last 3 overs saved the day for us as we had some score to fight for. 31 came off the last 3 and we reached 40 runs !!! The situation was so bad that I was advising Fathima (our female player) to bowl as tight as possible so that we dont lose the game in the first over itself :) :) .Highlights of the first innings were some gritty knocks from Shino, Richard and some absolutely tremendous fielding by All Stars. They had easily saved 3 boundaries which would have enriched our score tremendously.
When we went in, we had to take wickets quickly and at the same time not give away freebies. We were against the strongest batting line up in the tournament and "All Stars" according to me were against the strongest bowling line up. This was the match up that everyone wished to see. The fight was awesome with Vishal, Nikhil, and Karthik strongly facing a bowling attack that boasted the likes of Shino, Rajneesh and me :) :) :) People say I am good bowler ;) ;) ;)
As the score wasn't huge and more importantly "All Stars" played some crazy cricket in the semi finals, they made sure they will not make that mistake again. Karthik and Nikhil never looked like giving away their wickets. Shino got us the first breakthrough by castling Vishal. That brought the pair that made the highest partnership of the tournament together. We had a hard task in our hands. I tried a lot to breakthrough Karthik and Nikhil. It never happened. But there was a glimmer of hope when Karthik was out of a controversial runout. In fact, we turned that into a great possibility of winning the finals. Rajneesh bowled a splendid penultimate over to pick up a wicket giving away 4 runs.
Amit came into bowl the last 6 balls of the game. I had actually told Amit that, there is a big possibility for him to be bowling the last over of the final even before "All Stars" innings' started. I kept on reminding him every over. And that actually happened. For once, I thought of asking my captain to get Richard bowling because he has had a better match and infact has been batting well right from the quarter finals. Amit had a disappointing run from the quarter finals. 2 ducks and 2 run outs in addition to some ordinary bowling couldnt help his cause. But again, I thought Amit could well spoil All Stars party like the same way he did against "Sher-e-BT". Before he started I was asking him if he needed the fine leg, but he never replied. May be, he was tensed. May be, the pressure was too much on him.
He started his runup and all our fielders were on their toes. But much to our dismay, Amit bowled a short ball on middle and leg that Sam cleverly guided to the fine-leg boundary. Alas !!!! 1 run needed off 5 balls and "All Stars" were ecstatic. Sam punched the air and hugged Praveen as they knew they were very close to victory. The next ball that Amit bowled was of the same line and length and it went to the boundary. Amit is not the player to be blamed here. We should have had some sense and batted with some purpose in the first 5 overs when we scored a mere 5 runs. That is where we lost the game. Would you believe that 26 balls were dot balls of the first 30 (3 singles and 1 two in the first 5 overs) !!! We should have scored atleast 35 off the first 5 to give some fight against the tournament favorites.
The "All Stars" supporters just ran into the field with so much of joy and passion. It truly showed the spirit of the team. Every team from IVS-IHL that took part in the tournament was very well supported by a strong contingent from All State. It really showed, how united they are very much unlike other teams at least in the fray ( may be they had lot of work and project pressures).
Nevertheless, we had a stunning final and a grand end to the month long tournament. But, to be a part of a losing side in such a close final was heart breaking. Here, the "winner" takes it all. "All Stars" showed how to play a 8- over match. Their brutality on the field was evident in the first 2 rounds when they amassed 241 runs off 16 overs !!! They showed some sense while batting against the best possible bowling line up in this tournament. Karthik who was adjudged the Man of the Series, truly represented the spirit of AllStars on the field and a deserved winner of the Man-Of-the- Series. But, I feel it would have been even better had the trophy been shared with Rajneesh. He had a dream run in this tournament.
I was happy with my personal performance in the tournament. 5 wickets in the 10 overs I bowled in the tournament with a maiden as well :) :) But, I was visibly upset that we lost a close final against the favorites and the champions.
VC (delivery head here in IVS) gave away the medals and the trophy. When I went to collect it he said, "Dont worry that you lost the match, you won the hearts of many by showing your passion on the field." I was very happy that my efforts were recognized and also won many hearts during this hard fought tournament.
I am waiting for the same tournament to kick off again as soon as possible.
This my ALL- IVS TEAM
1. Rajneesh
2. Nikhil
3. Karthik
4. Lionel
5. Srikanta
6.Skaria
7. Shino
8. Sudheer
9. Sooraj
10. Mitesh
11. Vasanthi / Fathima.
This is just my vision of the possibly the best players in the tournament. But as it was limited to 8, I cant push in the other wonderful performers in the tournament.
Some of them showed the strength and helped their team go through to finals and win it and some of them failed as their team collapsed at some point of a crucial match.
A great tournament comes to an end and also ends the year 2007 in a memorable way.
I should see the 2008 version of this tournament soon.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Team India's tryst with destiny
Team India has embarked on another tour down under with lots of hopes to win the series. The hopes are always hopes. I am a big cricket fan and I love it even more when I see players of my own soil perform tremendously well abroad. In reality, people must understand that India has Mount Everest to cross in the next 2 months. It is simply not going to be easy as many of them predict, India to win this series.
I will reserve my comments for the final result right now.
Test matches are vividly different from the One day format and more so from the T20 format. If a team can beat Australia quite consistently, then it could be in the T20 format. The game is decided by one brilliant innings or one nerve-wracking spell of bowling. Even one mistake by Australia in a crunch moment can make them lose a game in T20. But, that is not the same case with Test matches. Test matches are a real test of a cricketer.
India’s tour down under has 4 test matches lined up this season. 4 test matches mean, effectively 20 days of full cricket. If mental and physical skills of a visiting team are tested for so long, you can expect a “truly” strong team without any kind of weakness anywhere to challenge the Australians in their own soil. I reiterate, a “truly” strong team without any kind of weakness anywhere can challenge the Australians. You still cannot declare such a team to win down under.
As far as India is concerned, they need to dominate Australia in more than 35-40 sessions in the test series. Australia is not a team to let India off the hook to dominate in such a huge number of sessions. With Indian bowling looking so inexperienced, it would be better if we play in bowler-friendly conditions rather than a batting paradise. Batting paradise means Indian bowlers are very close to their demise. India, off late have performed exceedingly well in bowler-friendly conditions because, Indian bowlers had the skills to exploit anything in the wicket. England and South Africa have been good examples for it. Even Zaheer bowled brilliantly @ Brisbane during India’s last visit. If the pitch is dry and flat, Australians will score 500+ surely. If we say that Indian batting line up is in superb touch, so is Australian batting line up. They have scored more than 500 runs in an innings 6 times in the last 7 tests. How is this for some team batting record???? :) :) :)
Effectively, Aussies make sure they bat only once in the test matches and their bowlers claim 20 wickets. When a bowling line up with such variety like Srilanka’s was tortured last month, don’t expect to many freebies from the Australians. Malinga, Vaas, Fernando, Maharoof and Muralitharan together couldn’t pick up 10 wickets in an innings against Australia. I fear, India’s conditions if they play in a supposedly dry batting friendly pitches this season. Australia will demolish India on the first 2 days of the test itself.
Having said that, India has vastly improved and they have the fire power to cause an upset especially with Sreesanth’s comeback possibly @ WACA!!!
So for all who have been crying aloud that India can win this series.... think again. It is very easy to post these lines in a few minutes. As I said, India need to be consistent throughout the 20 days of cricket which I feel will be really tough if not impossible.
Team India's tryst with destiny is in their hands now.
I will reserve my comments for the final result right now.
Test matches are vividly different from the One day format and more so from the T20 format. If a team can beat Australia quite consistently, then it could be in the T20 format. The game is decided by one brilliant innings or one nerve-wracking spell of bowling. Even one mistake by Australia in a crunch moment can make them lose a game in T20. But, that is not the same case with Test matches. Test matches are a real test of a cricketer.
India’s tour down under has 4 test matches lined up this season. 4 test matches mean, effectively 20 days of full cricket. If mental and physical skills of a visiting team are tested for so long, you can expect a “truly” strong team without any kind of weakness anywhere to challenge the Australians in their own soil. I reiterate, a “truly” strong team without any kind of weakness anywhere can challenge the Australians. You still cannot declare such a team to win down under.
As far as India is concerned, they need to dominate Australia in more than 35-40 sessions in the test series. Australia is not a team to let India off the hook to dominate in such a huge number of sessions. With Indian bowling looking so inexperienced, it would be better if we play in bowler-friendly conditions rather than a batting paradise. Batting paradise means Indian bowlers are very close to their demise. India, off late have performed exceedingly well in bowler-friendly conditions because, Indian bowlers had the skills to exploit anything in the wicket. England and South Africa have been good examples for it. Even Zaheer bowled brilliantly @ Brisbane during India’s last visit. If the pitch is dry and flat, Australians will score 500+ surely. If we say that Indian batting line up is in superb touch, so is Australian batting line up. They have scored more than 500 runs in an innings 6 times in the last 7 tests. How is this for some team batting record???? :) :) :)
Effectively, Aussies make sure they bat only once in the test matches and their bowlers claim 20 wickets. When a bowling line up with such variety like Srilanka’s was tortured last month, don’t expect to many freebies from the Australians. Malinga, Vaas, Fernando, Maharoof and Muralitharan together couldn’t pick up 10 wickets in an innings against Australia. I fear, India’s conditions if they play in a supposedly dry batting friendly pitches this season. Australia will demolish India on the first 2 days of the test itself.
Having said that, India has vastly improved and they have the fire power to cause an upset especially with Sreesanth’s comeback possibly @ WACA!!!
So for all who have been crying aloud that India can win this series.... think again. It is very easy to post these lines in a few minutes. As I said, India need to be consistent throughout the 20 days of cricket which I feel will be really tough if not impossible.
Team India's tryst with destiny is in their hands now.
IVS Cup Finals...1 day to go....
IVS Cup.... It has been an enthralling tournament as far as I am concerned. 22 teams participated and we are now to the finals!!!! The final is just hours away and it could well be a humdinger. I just cannot wait for the moment to happen.
IVS cricket tournament is part of IVS celebrations that have been realised by a group called IVentureS. IVS is a big department in Mysore and to imagine the logistics involved in managing 22 teams and their schedule means business and I congratulate the IVentureS folks who made the tournament a grand success.
Well our journey in this IVS Cup has been no less than sensational. We never knew how our opposition would be. We had to first face 'Sher-e-BT' in the first round. 8 overs a side and we needed to win as all the games were round-robin games. We batted well to score 62 runs in 8 overs under lights. I had got out for a DUCK :( :( ...and that too off the very first ball of my innings. Things looked gloomy for me when I got out. People around me had built up a reputation for me and my bowling talent. I had to make sure that I live up to that reputation and give my captain the confidence with my bowling. Happily, it did happen. I took 3 wickets in the match, helping my team win the first round. Wicket of the first ball I bowled, 2 wickets in the first over and 3 wickets overall (all bowled !!!) was a satisfying performance. 'Sher-e-BT' was thus thwarted.
We had a relatively easy game and we were through to the 2nd round where we had a weaker opposition in 'The Invincibles'. We were off to a flyer scoring 57 runs off 5 overs and guess what, I got out again for a DUCK :( :( :( ....off the very first ball also. My captain was annoyed with my batting performance. But rain interrupted and the game was halted for a week !!!!
We had to wait for more than a week for the game to resume. But, to our shock, we lost all our wickets for 8 runs and with 9 balls to spare. Invincibles smelled victory somewhere....But, it was not to happen. I couldnt get any wicket in the match but managed to keep it tight and we won the game....Yipeee... through to the QuarterFinals :) :) :)
We now had faced, two oppositions which were definitely weaker than us. In the quarter finals we expected our opponents to give us some run for the money.Instead, they were made to run for their money.Rajneesh showed the way by scoring 67 runs and we finished our innings @ 88 in 8 overs. 'Wachovia Tiger' was finally hunted and we were over the moon as we were through to the semi finals. I had picked up the crucial wicket of Gagan Mehra. A very important breakthrough, as he was their main stay in batting. My team was pumped to win this game desperately as one of the mails sent by Vivek, one of the players in the opposition, spurred us on to show who we are.
No strength in the opposition to rattle us and it never happened even in the semifinals. 'The Mavericks' started their IVS Cup campaign quite strongly but failed to show their strength in the crunch game. We lost the toss for the first time and we were bowling first. Sooraj was their star batsman, and I was elated when he got out of my first over as I changed my angle coming around the wicket. That helped because, Sooraj nicked the ball through to the keeper. A very happy moment as I piled on the pressure by bowling a maiden ( quite a rarity in 8 over game). Mavericks lost their way and got out for 21. Rajneesh was among the wickets with 3 scalps. We did stutter while chasing,but never lost our way through. Shino's boundary made sure we were through to the finals of one of the coveted soft ball tournaments I have played.
Most of the team members (Ajish, Vijay, Amit and I) were a part of the ABN CUP winning team. The final is against the 1st seeds, All Stars. All Stars have been the favorites to win this cup and they will be the favourites. They were totally scared by 'Dark Horses' in the semifinals. Skaria saved them and helped them reach the finals.
This was touted to be the match of the tournament, even before the schedule was fixed. More so because, the teams represent two of the biggest accounts in IVS @ Mysore. So, tomorrow will be a big day for both the teams and the winner will take it all. All Stars are a very strong team and my thirst for a strong opposition is here. Here is where people's strengths and weaknesses will be exposed. The crowd is expected to be pour in large numbers. All said and done, the weather could play spoilsport as it has been drizzling all through the day today. The match could well meet the expectations of many or could even become a damp squib. The spirits in the team is quite high and everyone in the team is raring to go for the finals. The tournament has been going on and on for over a month now. The final will be played @ the football ground @ 1630 hrs IST.
Hope I come good with the bat as well :) :) :) 5 wickets and still counting :) :) :)
More updates on the final soon.
Chak De ABN !!!
IVS cricket tournament is part of IVS celebrations that have been realised by a group called IVentureS. IVS is a big department in Mysore and to imagine the logistics involved in managing 22 teams and their schedule means business and I congratulate the IVentureS folks who made the tournament a grand success.
Well our journey in this IVS Cup has been no less than sensational. We never knew how our opposition would be. We had to first face 'Sher-e-BT' in the first round. 8 overs a side and we needed to win as all the games were round-robin games. We batted well to score 62 runs in 8 overs under lights. I had got out for a DUCK :( :( ...and that too off the very first ball of my innings. Things looked gloomy for me when I got out. People around me had built up a reputation for me and my bowling talent. I had to make sure that I live up to that reputation and give my captain the confidence with my bowling. Happily, it did happen. I took 3 wickets in the match, helping my team win the first round. Wicket of the first ball I bowled, 2 wickets in the first over and 3 wickets overall (all bowled !!!) was a satisfying performance. 'Sher-e-BT' was thus thwarted.
We had a relatively easy game and we were through to the 2nd round where we had a weaker opposition in 'The Invincibles'. We were off to a flyer scoring 57 runs off 5 overs and guess what, I got out again for a DUCK :( :( :( ....off the very first ball also. My captain was annoyed with my batting performance. But rain interrupted and the game was halted for a week !!!!
We had to wait for more than a week for the game to resume. But, to our shock, we lost all our wickets for 8 runs and with 9 balls to spare. Invincibles smelled victory somewhere....But, it was not to happen. I couldnt get any wicket in the match but managed to keep it tight and we won the game....Yipeee... through to the QuarterFinals :) :) :)
We now had faced, two oppositions which were definitely weaker than us. In the quarter finals we expected our opponents to give us some run for the money.Instead, they were made to run for their money.Rajneesh showed the way by scoring 67 runs and we finished our innings @ 88 in 8 overs. 'Wachovia Tiger' was finally hunted and we were over the moon as we were through to the semi finals. I had picked up the crucial wicket of Gagan Mehra. A very important breakthrough, as he was their main stay in batting. My team was pumped to win this game desperately as one of the mails sent by Vivek, one of the players in the opposition, spurred us on to show who we are.
No strength in the opposition to rattle us and it never happened even in the semifinals. 'The Mavericks' started their IVS Cup campaign quite strongly but failed to show their strength in the crunch game. We lost the toss for the first time and we were bowling first. Sooraj was their star batsman, and I was elated when he got out of my first over as I changed my angle coming around the wicket. That helped because, Sooraj nicked the ball through to the keeper. A very happy moment as I piled on the pressure by bowling a maiden ( quite a rarity in 8 over game). Mavericks lost their way and got out for 21. Rajneesh was among the wickets with 3 scalps. We did stutter while chasing,but never lost our way through. Shino's boundary made sure we were through to the finals of one of the coveted soft ball tournaments I have played.
Most of the team members (Ajish, Vijay, Amit and I) were a part of the ABN CUP winning team. The final is against the 1st seeds, All Stars. All Stars have been the favorites to win this cup and they will be the favourites. They were totally scared by 'Dark Horses' in the semifinals. Skaria saved them and helped them reach the finals.
This was touted to be the match of the tournament, even before the schedule was fixed. More so because, the teams represent two of the biggest accounts in IVS @ Mysore. So, tomorrow will be a big day for both the teams and the winner will take it all. All Stars are a very strong team and my thirst for a strong opposition is here. Here is where people's strengths and weaknesses will be exposed. The crowd is expected to be pour in large numbers. All said and done, the weather could play spoilsport as it has been drizzling all through the day today. The match could well meet the expectations of many or could even become a damp squib. The spirits in the team is quite high and everyone in the team is raring to go for the finals. The tournament has been going on and on for over a month now. The final will be played @ the football ground @ 1630 hrs IST.
Hope I come good with the bat as well :) :) :) 5 wickets and still counting :) :) :)
More updates on the final soon.
Chak De ABN !!!
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