India need to learn winning without their stars

The nightmarish tour has ended and irrespective of whatever good we have done, we haven’t been able to win a single game. I don’t remember when was it last when India received this kind of drubbing in an entire series, maybe in the 50′s we did, but then we weren’t the number one team and a good result then expected from us was a draw.

Overall we saw a mixed performance from the team. We did play poorly in the Tests but I am not really very much disappointed with the One-Day performances. Test cricket is my concern here, and honestly we didn’t have a team to go 4-0 down. The youngsters coming in have struggled in this format and even after being in the twilight of their careers; the team’s reliance completely rests on the likes of Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman. I believe it’s time we should look ahead to build our Test team for future, even if it means us costing a few series.

The bowling has been a weak area and with Zaheer Khan out, the bowling has lacked consistency and unless you possess an attack capable of consistently picking up 20 wickets in Tests, you can’t be a great side irrespective of the rankings. Even in the limited over versions, it was the bowling, which let us down often. We have our next few matches in India and the bowling will fall in place with spinners having the final say. We saw Jadeja and Ashwin bowl well in Oval where there was some assistance for the spinners. Though spin bowling is our strength we can’t always depend on them especially on a tour like this. That is why it was necessary for someone like Varun Aaron, who has bowled all his life in placid tracks to get at least one game in the tour and be exposed to these conditions. On the other hand, the English were quite happy to try their bench and the likes of Samit Patel, Steve Finn and Jonny Bairstow, didn’t disappoint.

I have always felt that despite of being so successful Dhoni has been a very defensive captain, maintaining a safety first approach. When the team is doing well it doesn’t matter but when the results are not on your side, things begin to look ugly. Injuries added to Dhoni’s woes but at the same time we should learn to win without the start. The Australians have begun to do well in foreign conditions without their stars.

All said and done, it was the English team who weren’t the favorites to start with, but they believed in themselves and played better and won it deservingly. Coming to the positives, I am impressed with how the batting came up in the ODIs and with the likes of Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Gambhir, Zaheer and Harbhajan coming back, we have got the resources and there isn’t much to worry in this format. Parthiv, though inconsistent looked very positive, so did Rahane give a couple of good starts, Jadeja did well in his comeback, Ashwin bowled well in patches, Raina was brutal, Kohli struck a brilliant hundred and Dhoni found his lethal batting form and deservingly won the player of the series.

But to me the players for the tour were Rahul Dravid and Praveen Kumar. Praveen in his first tour of England shouldered the entire bowling responsibility and took a lot of load. Indians owe him a lot in the bowling department. Praveen’s maturity with the ball didn’t give one the impression that he had just made his Test debut a few days back in West Indies. While we bid Dravid, a goodbye from the limited overs format, we would all like to thank him for all that he has given to the game. In the Tests, he was brilliant and even in his last ODI innings, he proved that he is still amongst the best. Dravid hadn’t been a regular ODI player since 2007 and the biggest positive to many of the young players in this Indian ODI outfit was the opportunity to share the dressing room with one of the greatest of the game and this sort of exposure will certainly benefit them immensely.

Natwest 2011: India should win it for Dravid

So finally we head towards the last game of the much hyped and the lengthy India’s tour of England. The tour has been tiring and distressing for the Indians to say the least and most players would just want to finish this and head home for a respite and for few others awaits the hectic Champions League.

The fourth ODI at Lords was a good match with both teams having a chance to pull it off. M S Dhoni and Suresh Raina played blinders and they did justice to their reputation. It’s unfortunate that the match didn’t reach its natural conclusion. When the game got called off, I think Indians had the upper hand and had they won it, the last match would have been of importance, as England would have played for a series win while India trying to draw level. With rain playing spoilsport and with India now loosing the ODI series as well, the only thing that remains to play for at Cardiff is pride and of course Rahul Dravid.

The great cricketer, who before the England tour had thought that he had already played his last ODI in 2009, finally plays his last ODI. Dravid’s illustrious career, which started in Singapore post 1996 World Cup, comes to its conclusion in Wales. Many did doubt his ability in the shorter version of the game, but he didn’t just prove his detractors wrong but he also proved his value in the shortest format – ìT20 as well. Dravid’s record in ODI will put him amongst the greatest, but that’s not what his cricket was all about. Besides skills, he is someone who has been a thorough team man, the one who has given more than 100%, one who has been a great ambassador of the game. He will be remembered for both -on how well he played the game and how he played the game, and it’s up to this young Indian team to get over the mediocrity of the tour, raise their game and give Dravid the perfect and deserving farewell from this format.

I have been written this before and now too, though I hope India finishes this upsetting tour with at least one win, I also believe that with nothing to loose now, Dhoni should try out the ones in the bench. I would like to see the young fast bowler Varun Aaron and the Bengal skipper Manoj Tiwary in action at Cardiff.

Natwest 2011: India should try out their bench

This English side has made winning a habit. It’s rather a good habit to have and it’s even sweeter for them as this is something, which they haven’t enjoyed much in the One-Day format. England under their new ODI captain beat the World Cup runners up Sri Lanka earlier this season, and now they are looking good to gobble up the depleted World Champions. This is what wins does to a team, you play more as an unit, back each other, believe in your abilities which finally contributes to the team’s success.

On the contrary, it seems M S Dhoni has lost control of his team and the desperation is making few of the Indian players stand for their individual self ahead of the unit. I am not disappointed with the loss, but what hurt me was the attitude of some of the players. I have always rated Munaf Patel very highly, and I am not just upset with the way he bowled, but also the way he reacted in couple of occasions. Giving one example, towards the end when Jadeja fended a bowl in the boundary, Munaf reacted strongly as he felt that the effort could have been better. This was something uncalled for as Jadeja did a good job stopping the ball. Considering Munaf’s own agility on field, I don’t understand what he was reacting for. The team morale is down and these things don’t help.

Coming to the positives, the Indians did well to get to 234 after the disastrous start. Dhoni getting more overs to bat did make a difference, and that’s why I feel that he should bat up the order and I am also happy to see the way Ravichandran Ashwin and the other spinners bowled.

Irrespective of the results in the remaining games, this tour for India will remain a disaster and now it’s high time we should look ahead to try out the players who haven’t been tried. Varun Aaron is certainly one of them. Ravindra Jadeja has made a very strong comeback but I am not sure how much the track at Lords will provide assistance to his bowling but his style does add a variety to the otherwise predictable Indian bowling attack.

With other fit players coming in to the team soon, I feel the bench has to make the best use of the opportunity given to them. Not always a not so established player gets a chance to play in a high profile series in England. I hope to see Manoj Tiwary getting a few chances. He is a positive batsman and an outstanding fielder. His comeback match was a 23 over affair and he played his part and was sitting out in the next game. Luck hasn’t really been on his side, but whatever chances he gets now, he needs to make full use of it with exceptional outings.

Two matches remain and focus is the key for the Indians. The result now doesn’t matter and they need to play as a team, believe in themselves, and be captains of their own soul. Not to forget, few of them have won a World Cup for their nation.

CWC2011: Murali should get a grand farewell

Two South Asian giants meet on Saturday in Colombo and I am expecting it to be a good battle. South Africa easily overcame the West Indies and, as I write this, Australia are demolishing New Zealand. The closest match so far has, surprisingly been the Anglo-Dutch battle! I hope that this contest will not disappoint. There has been much negative news coming out of Pakistani cricket of late and I won’t dwell on that. What has been good to see is that despite all the turmoil, they have still been able to put up fighting performances.

They lost two series against England and South Africa 3-2, but then went on to win in New Zealand, which was their first ODI series victory in two years. They beat Kenya convincingly in their first match of this tournament and they possess a young and exciting batch of players. The Sri Lankans have a good all-round team. In the batting department they rely heavily on Kumar Sangakarra, Mahela Jayawardene and Tillakaratne Dilshan. The Lankans also have one of the strongest bowling attacks in the World Cup with, Thisara Perera being the most impressive. Lasith Malinga is also firing, and will be crucial with his attacking bowling at the start and his consistent death bowling. The only surprise is Muttiah Muralitharan, whose form has been poor of late, wherein he averages 44 in his recent matches, nearly double as that over his career.

However, this will be his last World Cup and a champion like him would surely end with a bang rather than a whimper and I would love to see that, too.

Bangla debacle was shocking

No one can say that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 has not delivered a few surprises already. Nothing less can be said of the match in Dhaka on Friday, which really was a shock to the senses. A lot had been expected of Bangladesh and even the Castrol Predictor gave them a slender advantage over the Windies. They were playing at home and in the last 12 months or so their performances have improved as more of their players started to shine.

In comparison, the West Indies seemed to be on a downward move. The team’s performances¬†of late have been quite lackluster and no one, other than Kieron Pollard, has really captured the imagination. Not taking away anything from the West Indian bowlers, Bangladesh, in my opinion, did not seem to take their opponents all that seriously. They played rashly from the outset and suffered the consequence: a humiliating defeat.

In today’s match, India will face the Irish. A lot of runs have been scored in Bangalore in the two matches. India and England tied after two colossal innings and Ireland did the near-impossible and scored 329 to complete the highest run chase at a World Cup to beat England.