Monthly Archives: August 2014

England set to win next 3 ODIs?

28 Thursday Aug 2014

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The ODI series started very much the way the test series began, with India looking strong and competitive. England should still feel like they have a chance considering their performance against India in the Test series and Virat Kohli still being out of form even in the format he thrives in.

It’s a shame that India are able to get more in one 50 over match than they are able to get in two innings during a test match. In the fifth test, India could only muster 242, scoring 62 runs less than they did in the ODI. They have some very skillful players with the likes of Cheteshwar Pujara, Rohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar but their attitude and mindset towards Test match cricket must change if they hope to become a competitive side.

Suresh Raina, the man who was brought out at number 11 during the warm-up game came in at number five to score his first century outside Asia, and his first since Jan 2010. Raina was left out of the Asia Cup in March so he had a lot to prove, especially outside India. His place in the ICC 2015 World Cup is still not secure though, he will have to continue to prove himself over the next few series’.

However, India were expected to do well in the one day format. A real thriller was going on in the capital of Zimbabwe, Harare. South Africa and Australia were battling it out in their first head-to-head of the Tri-series.

Australia batted first and led by Aaron Finch who scored a century, posted a decent total of 327 with Phillip Hughes and Captain George Bailey also scoring half centuries. South Africa’s bowling was relatively poor and lacking in control, Wayne Parnell in particular appeared to be out of sorts ending up with an economy rating on 9.42.

However as always, AB de Villiers was the star of the show scoring 136. Alongside childhood friend Faf du Plessis, who scored his maiden ODI hundred, the two put on a partnership of 206. Once again, as he has done so often for South Africa, de Villiers displayed real strength and grit to see the match through even though he suffered severe cramp and needed on-field treatment. Benching Nathan Lyon might have been the deciding factor in the match, with figures of 2-45, South African spinner Imran Tahir was the most economical of the game.

Of the last five ODI losses Australia have faced, including yesterday’s game, four of them have been 300+ scores. It seems Australia have a lot of work to do on their bowling.

Middlesex vs. Indians: The warm-up game.

23 Saturday Aug 2014

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It was a beautiful day at Lords on Friday 22nd August and after a traumatic Test match series, India would have been looking forward to playing some one day cricket. A warm up match against Middlesex was just what they needed to rebuild their confidence. India decided to play their whole 17 man squad to give everyone some practice.

India were only able to muster 230 runs and were all out under 45 overs. A surprisingly poor total considering India had jam packed their XI with batters. The first few wickets fell rather quickly with Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and Ajinkya Rahane scoring under 15 each. It seemed they were in a rush to get some runs and ended up being caught out at third man, mid-off and mid-on.

Virat Kohli, the man who’d had an awful test series came in alongside Ambati Rayudu and both went on to score 71 and 72 respectively. Kohli seemed to have some problems he’d had in the Test series with Steven Finn’s bowling, he followed the ball without much intent like he had done against Jimmy Anderson. However after surviving Finn’s spell, Kohli found his groove and played some beautiful drives down the ground and from then on, seemed to be back to his usual self. Unfortunately, Kohli got out to spinner Ravi Patel after having settled in.

In total, six of the Indian batsmen got out to spinners in this game. India’s reputation for playing spin had gotten them into trouble before, they lost a number of wickets in the Test series against spinner Moeen Ali due to poor shots.

It also seems extremely unfair that if Kohli performs very well with the bat in the ODIs as he is expected to, his spot in the Test team is likely to remain unquestioned when there are other batsman who have as good a chance as Kohli of guiding India to a Test series win.

Rayudu retired on 72 when India were 211-5 which was a very odd number to retire on and it sparked a collapse in the batting with India ending up 211-8 within one over. Ollie Rayner took the three successive wickets which included two ‘caught and bowled’ to halt the Indian innings. It was clear all the batsmen were being given a chance to prove themselves as MS Dhoni himself did not even bat but as the top order batsmen had, the lower order batsmen got out to soft dismissals. Suresh Raina was brought in at no.11 in an attempt to play out the last 5 overs however Raina appeared almost angry about being brought in at no.11. He played a few loose shots and ended up running down the pitch missing the ball and getting stumped.

Though India bowled out Middlesex for 135, it didn’t seem as though the batsmen were testing the bowlers at all. Two of the first three wickets fell to strangles down the leg side and a fair few others fell to poor shots rather than great bowling. Middlesex have only won 3 of their 8 domestic ODIs this year and some of the team playing were not first choice players. Ryan Higgins and James Harris top scored with 20 each and even though India won fairly convincingly, it might not be very telling of how the ODI series may go.

Is it still 2011?

21 Thursday Aug 2014

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Though the face of Indian cricket has changed since 2011, it appears not much else has.

What should have been a fantastic series with India’s ‘new to Test match’ team and England coming in from a slump with Alastair Cook under tremendous pressure regarding his captaincy and tactics especially after the series against Sri Lanka, turned out to be nothing more than a replay of the 2011 whitewash.

The series started well, both teams appeared evenly matched with the first test ending in a draw and India taking the second by 95 runs.

However from then on it was England’s series. Cook found form and England took complete control of the next three Tests. India lost the final Test by an innings and 244 runs, their third biggest margin ever. Joe Root and Gary Ballance scored more than 500 runs each, a feat last achieved by England in 2011 against India where Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen pummeled India.

Shikhar Dhawan and Gautam Gambhir scored a combined total of 147 in 10 innings and India’s star ‘chaser’ Virat Kohli averaged a measly 13.40, the third lowest average for a top four Indian Batsman. Kohli’s reputation was the only thing that kept him in the team for all five tests. It was very clear from the beginning he was out of nick and yet his presence appeared unquestioned. Bringing players like Rohit Sharma and Naman Ojha – who played superbly in Australia – to sit on the sidelines whilst India’s ‘wonderboy’ is caught behind by either the keeper or slips seven out of ten times seems completely unfair. Kohli needs to earn his place, especially in the Test team.

However the most perplexing outcome of the series was India’s number 3 batsman who averaged only 22.20 runs, the lowest of any Indian no.3 batsman. Bearing in mind this man had been primed for Test match cricket and kept out of some one day cricket. He had been aptly described as ‘The Wall 2.0’ yet Cheteshwar Pujara was often dismissed softly after a solid start.

Bar Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ishant Sharma’s performance in the first two tests, India’s bowling appeared to be no threat to then England batsmen. Unfortunately for Pankaj Singh – whose figures did not justly reflect his performance – it is unlikely he will be picked again anytime soon after he gained his new title of ‘most expensive debutant without a wicket.’ England on the other hand performed phenomenally well with the ball with Jimmy Anderson picking up 25 (Just as Stuart Broad had done in 2011). However some of the wickets, especially those taken by England’s new spinner Moeen Ali, were from poor batting.

Has the IPL and India’s record for the most number of ODI’s played in a single year by any team ruined India’s chances at ever becoming a top Test match cricket team? do India need to lose some ODIs to finally realise they are in real trouble?