Archive for the ‘Cricket’ Category

Day 4, Edgbaston: England throned Number One as India sink

Posted: August 13, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
Tags: , , , ,
4

Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, The CouchExpert

13 August 2011

The Englishmen are the new World Number One.

Their ruthless, convincing and highly competing display of cricket has taken them to the top of the tables with their path seemingly more convincing than the ones taken by the Indians not too long ago. James Anderson’s devastating spell to take four top order wickets was good enough to hand England the momentum, and Dhoni his first series loss as captain.

England has evolved into a unit which is greater than the sum of its parts. And most importantly, every member of the playing XI seems to have had a clear role defined for him. How well they’ve executed it! The margins of victory over these three tests, if browsed through a decade from now, will contain no evidence to showcase that the visitors came into the tour as World Number One.

Anderson's four-for put an end to any hope of a recovery from the visitors

As the Indians found themselves a beset under a swarm of criticism, during and after the course of events on the third day of the Edgbaston Test, it seemed as though it was only going to be a matter of time before England ascended the throne of Test Cricket.

Signs of optimism were scarce and scattered across minds that hoped for a repeat of Napier in 2009, where India battled through seven sessions to save the Test. Considering the visitors’ current run of form, this feat seemed more unlikely than possible.

The theory’s correctness was soon proved as Napier’s hero Gambhir departed to the first ball he faced, during the second over of the day, as he, quite literally, guided an Anderson delivery in to the hands of Swann at second slip. The optimist’s ride stumbled across a roadblock, while the red cherry in Anderson’s hand possessed movement that would have easily pierced through every point in the trajectory of a simple pendulum with relatively large amplitudes.

It makes no sense to conduct a post-mortem over the dismissals that followed, barring two – one strange, and another unfortunate. If the current economic downturn forces global corporations to attempt running their business with shoestring budgets, Dravid’s shoestring was the cause for his misery as he, for reasons unknown, walked after thinking that he nicked a James Anderson delivery to Matt Prior when in reality, it was the contact between his bat and his shoe laces. It is perplexing to try and understand what might have gone through Dravid’s mind at that time. Some things are best left unsaid.

Tendulkar, on the other hand, was caught off-guard at the non striker’s end when MS Dhoni played a shot that reflected off Swann’s hands and crashed into the stumps at the other end. His dismissal, followed by the eventual plummet to defeat pretty much summarized the Indian summer.

The Indians failed to cross Cook's individual score in either innings. Cook was awarded the Man of the Match

Having not managed to cross Man-of-the-Match Cook’s individual score as a team in either innings, Dhoni’s performance with the bat this test, inconsequential as it may seem remains the solitary positive.

This victory presents an excellent opportunity for England to throw debuts to their much awaited young prospects – something that the “English Cricket relies on Foreign Imports” community might keen to witness. At the same time, England might look to go for the kill and target a 4-0 whitewash at The Oval.

From the perspective of an Indian fan, there could still a breathtaking cynicism to this prospect, but this isn’t a case which is as unreasonable as it might have sounded a month ago. Three tests into this dreadful series, the question, surely for the Indians will revolve around how much worse it can get. Their display, thus far, has bordered disreputable incompetence. Excuses can, and surely will, fluctuate between injuries and overload, but what will remain imprinted are the results, never the reasons.

For the British fan, this is the start of a new era. Let him cherish it for as long as it lasts, and if England continue to play the way they did this series, this is bound to be a long spanning tenure at the top.

Day 3 Edgbaston: Alastair Cook’s Near Triple Ton Punishes India

Posted: August 13, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
Tags: , , ,
2

 Goutham Chakravarthi

 13 August 2011


The wonderful former deputy editor of The Wisden Cricketer, Emma John, would have described Alastair Cook’s innings something on the lines of “mulishness, obduracy, bloody-mindedness.” And a very tired Indian side would be thanking their stars that this wasn’t a timeless Test in which case you could switch on your TV sets a week later and you would still find Cook batting.

Alastair Cook displayed enormous concentration in his marathon knock

They say cussedness is a quality much admired in a Test cricketer. His strength of mind and discipline in executing his brand of batting has made him into a remarkable accumulator of runs. Rahul Dravid, a man who is renowned for grit, determination and stone walling would much appreciate the qualities he sees in Cook. Chandepaul, Steve Waugh would approve of Cook. Heck, even Geoffrey Boycott would have had a crush on him today!

India’s docile bowling never looked like getting an English wicket at any time. That they managed to reign the scoring of the English batsmen with Cook only scoring three boundaries till tea suggested that they at least bowled to their plans. There was still a bit in the wicket for the bowlers when they got it right, but Cook’s insatiable appetite for accumulating runs coupled with his determination to play long hours in turn ensured that he and England crossed many milestones in the day – the highest individual score at Edgbaston and England’s highest score in an innings in a non-timeless Test – being just two of them.

If stodge and defiance described Cook’s innings, Morgan was more fluent and ensured that he made the most of the reprieves given to him by the Indian fielders on Thursday. To the calm, determined, predictable methods of Cook at the other end, Morgan was the modern-day young batsman – unorthodox, skillful and improvising. Between the two of them and Ian Bell, one would think England will see a lot of runs being scored for them. Morgan went trying to loft Raina over Sehwag in the covers and his dismissal ensured India kept England batting for longer than they would have wanted.

Eoin Morgan made the most of his two reprieves with a hundred

India on the other hand looked surprisingly better with the ball and in the field. There was better execution of plans though they never looked like getting Cook or Morgan out. They might as well have sent a bowling machine to the middle to bowl to them and nothing would have changed. Knowing fully well that England would run them ragged, they did their best to not let England get away. Their lack of potency has been a great matter of concern for the captain. It has again only shown how much Zaheer Khan means to this team.

England have had another outstanding day. With Sehwag lasting all of two balls in two innings, it has put to rest all theories of him perhaps being the saviour at least for this Test. England have again exposed another cricketer being rushed back into top flight cricket with little match practice. May be there is a lesson in it to players as much as to administrators.

There is plenty of time in this Test and the ball still moved a bit under overcast conditions for the English quicks. With the wicket now also keeping low sporadically, and with Swann and Pietersen getting it to spin big, it is but a matter of time before time is up for India in this Test.

India will hope to put their best batting display of the tour in its second innings. They have collectively not scored 294 in any of their innings. It has been Cook’s Test so far. India will do well to make England and Cook bat again in this Test.

Day 2 Edgbaston: Alastair cooks up Ton as India’s woes persist

Posted: August 12, 2011 by thecognitivenomad in Cricket, India in England 2011
Tags: ,
2

 Chandrasekhar Jayarama Krishnan

Head of Cricket, CouchExpert

12 August 2011

It will be hard to put a smile on the face of an Indian fan these days. The tour to England, thus far, has exposed flaws that would, to an ardent fan, make even the disastrous regime of the Indian National Congress seem pardonable – a sign that usually announces the arrival of very hard times to come.

As bowling strength dried up, and fielding slipped in to recession, a series provocative enough to the visitors appeared as scary to the Indian fan as the riots that have taken over the streets of England. In order to build credibility, henceforth, with an already skeptical public, a major reform in performance is what would have to be targeted. Sadly, the reform refers more to better cricket than anything else around.

Against an attack that seemed to lack both ownership and leadership, talks over the struggling forms of the English openers were put to rest as Strauss and Cook relished the red delicacies that were thrown their way. The opening surge shed light into the mythic power of the English unit’s rapid rise to the top, ever since the advent of the Ashes triumph down under.

Dhoni had acknowledged the prevailing skepticism by building accountability in to some of his causes for failure – injuries and workload. While the former was given a nod by some, the latter was rubbished. With Sreesanth struggling against southpaws, Praveen – intelligent and hardworking – but just not quick enough to trouble the batsmen, and Ishanth not consistent enough, Dhoni couldn’t but embody that popular Indian myth that with the lack of a departmental leader, the unit is virtually clueless.

Cook just needs three more hundreds to equal English record holder Wally Hammond's 22 hundreds in Test Cricket. © AFP

It simply wasn’t one of those days an Indian fan would want to remember: the bowling appeared to be fragile, and fielding slender – one really can’t do much but shrug when the man with a record catches in Test Cricket drops two sitters at slip.

While the Indians seemed to fluctuate between the conundrums of lack of ideas and butterfingers, the English batsmen cashed in to take an insurmountable lead with the back-in-form Cook notching up his 19th ton, three away from topping the centurions chart among English batsmen. It is hard to believe that he isn’t 27 yet.

It took a no ball from Mishra, revealed later through video replays, to get Strauss out sweeping to a delivery that he ideally wouldn’t have on another day. Bell, after being dropped by Dravid at first slip, fell to Praveen Kumar, who seemed the only Indian bowler capable of taking wickets.

That Kevin Pietersen blazed past his half-century at almost run-a-ball, and at times striking at a higher rate, pretty much summed up the Indian attack’s lack of aggression, and ideas, on a day that surely has been the nadir of the series so far. The Indian woes just seemed to add up, like Amit Mishra’s no balls in test cricket.

At present, the argument against the Indian bowling is obvious: the unit is as oblivious to the environment as the current Indian government is to scams and threats. The unit is deflating at the rate at which prices are inflating in their homeland. But at least with the current Indian cricketing setup, there is a little bit of hope that soon enough, the scenario will move the grey clouds away to witness a clear blue sky.

Hope is the only energy source to which the Indian fan can cling on to.

Edgbaston, Day 1: Dominant England Ruthless In Execution

Posted: August 11, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
Tags: ,
0

 Goutham Chakravarthi

 11 August 2011


This is getting farcical. It has got to count among the most lop-sided “big” series ever. The chasm between the sides widened further with England sitting pretty already at the end of the first day. You would get to understand the difference in the performance of both sides should you pick a combined best XI based on individual performances this series. Barring Rahul Dravid, none of the Indians will warrant a place in it. Such has been England’s dominance.

Broad sent Sehwag back off his very first ball en route to a 4 wicket haul

India’s best cricket over the last decade has been built as much on their ability to bat big in tough conditions. Always the team has found players who got in getting big runs with support from the others. Over the last two months, big runs have eluded all but Dravid. Partnerships and collective performances have eluded this batting order. Batsmen who have got their eye-in have thrown it away and their approach to good tight bowling has been pedestrian.

It was not much different on Wednesday in cold Birmingham on a green surface. It looked greener than both Lord’s and Trent Bridge, but offered much less to the quicks. Skillful Broad sent Sehwag back with his first ball, but only to see Gambhir and Dravid play out the first hour with little difficulty. Runs flowed and England’s bowlers were kept at bay till Gambhir perished to a loose drive. He knew he had done the difficult bit and would be cursing himself for throwing away a good start.

Rahul Dravid has looked in a different league to all Indian batsmen this series. His application was top notch yet again and looked set for his third straight hundred in consecutive Tests when he got going with pleasing drives. On the other end, a very unsure Sachin Tendulkar made a very scratchy 1 and got out playing a poor shot. Lack of runs off his blade has hurt India badly in this series. Even he, when he has got starts this series has not been able to convert them to big scores, a bane of Laxman too this series. Once again, he got out when he looked good for plenty more.

Raina has been worked over by a very skillful bowling side that specializes in exposing technical and mental shortcomings. His inadequacies with short-pitched bowling has wrecked his footwork and dented his confidence. Anderson set him-up with the predictability of a David Dhavan movie story line. With India facing embarrassment, it was left to a skipper who finds his best when he is aggressive and an unlikely partner in Praveen Kumar to thwart the English for 14 overs to bump India’s overall tally above 200.

Credit has to be given to England’s relentless precision in executing their plans. They have rarely made it easy for the visiting batsmen. Their plans have been backed by ruthless execution. They have been remarkable as a bowling unit with each bowler making a mark sometime or the other. Not only have they not let India score 300 yet in any of the innings, they have seldom let them have it easy even for an hour. They have broken the confidence of the batting order and the scars may run deeper with long term implications for some of the Indian youngsters.

England is perhaps just another good day away from getting into an unbeatable position in this Test. Given the withdrawn body language of the Indians in the last session, expect England to come hard and break the spirit early on day 2 and dominate the rest of the day. It will take something extraordinary for India to come back into this test and England will do well not to take the foot off the pedal just yet.

Preview Edgbaston: Perspective India

Posted: August 10, 2011 by The CouchExpert in Cricket, India in England 2011
Tags:
1

 Goutham Chakravarthi

 10 August 2011


The week leading to this Test would have given the time the team needed for introspection irrespective of an average outing against Northants. Zaheer Khan’s absence will sting India more than the cold weather of Birmingham.

The riots in England will have disrupted the preparations further. Not that it has been less chaotic on the cricketing front – with the latest expose by Outlook leaving Shastri and Gavaskar to fend off more spiteful media bumpers. Injuries and fitness issues have gotten worse and their returning champion has had less than ideal preparation – worse, still, he doesn’t know if can withstand a Test match without a fully functional shoulder. And given that not much grass will come off the strip, it has got many media pundits predicting a white wash just half-way into the series.

India will hope for big runs from Tendulkar and Laxman

India likes chaos. It even thrives in chaos. Much like our traffic discipline and road habits and the enormous social pressures of day-to-day life, when survival seems impossible, there is calm in approach and over achievement in results in such situations. A mentally fragile team with bite less than a toothless man and bowling dependent on a maverick swinger from days of yore is seemingly stepping-up into a heavy weight boxing bout with both hands tied behind its back. But there is hope that it will survive the round.

Rahul Dravid, Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma have been admirable throughout the series and will long for better support from their team mates. The team will look to its proven champions again to step-up and show the way. It might not be a surprise if they opt to bat on a pitch many would argue best suited for cows.

Their batting has been a huge let down. Their opening pair has been a Russian roulette and their batsmen have changed batting positions more than an Indian politician would change parties. Rahul Dravid has been selfless, but poor preparation and inability of their other batsmen in countering the English bowling and conditions has left their honest bowling with the challenge of passing 12th standard Mathematics examination with 10th standard preparation.

Laxman and Tendulkar will be cursing not to have converted their starts. If anything, they would hope that the return of Sehwag and Gambhir at the top buys them some shield against the new ball and ensure that when the second new ball is taken, one of them is around to tackle it. India’s lower-middle order has looked as clueless against English pace and nip like the young Australian batsmen did against Ajantha Mendis on Monday on a typical sub-continental wicket. Test match cricket can be cruel on the best and greatest of men. And India will benefit if England turn-up expecting India to roll over just because it is a green top. Much of their players spent the week in Europe on a holiday. Perhaps fishing. Indian bowlers will hope they fish outside-off stump when they bat against them.

India’s batting order finally looks in order with still the no.6 spot up for grabs. Captain Dhoni has tried his best to keep his car in the race only to see the wheels come off when he has needed to accelerate. He will hope for his car’s spare parts to be fully functional and operable so that he can plot a canny strategy to pip England to the chequered flag. He will be hoping that Sehwag can give him the extra gears he so desperately needs. It is all stacked against India. If they end-up surprising all by winning, just know that they thrive in chaos!

Older Entries
Newer Entries