India defends T20 crown-Analysis

With India reaching England where the men in blue look to defend the title of T20 champions on English conditions. Starting from the first match against the New Zealand, then against the Pakistanis ,we could well say that the Indians are well on the way to defend the title this time around. But think as it happened to Manchester United last week the law of averages will catch up with Team India.

Lets look at the Indian lineup, On paper India looks like a world beater.But as we know cricket is not played on paper but between the 22 yards. It has explosive opening pair in Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag. Both have done well in all forms of the game. And especially both can be devastating on their day. Although gambhir has become a touch conservative but more effective than he ever was. For Sehwag he is the belligerent himself. I think this is the first time since the Ganguly Sachin duo that India is going into the tournament with a steady opening pair. Then comes the middle order with Suresh Raina the natural choice and him being in the most dangerous of the lot.Moreover his bowling exploits in this year’s IPL has made him all the more potent. India surely missed him in the last year’s T20 cup. Then comes the batting God that is Yuvraj Singh.God because on his day he can make hitting seem simple one of the cleanest striker that the game has seen since Gilly. Then comes our Captain Cool MS Dhoni with his uncanny knack of playing crucial knocks at the end and finishing the game with surgical precision. His captaincy has been the most talked about aspect about his game. A canny operator with him at the helm one can feel that India is never out of the game. He has a certain degree of Australianness to his game , is innovative and thinks on his feet which is the most important thing in T20 rather than letting things shape up he shapes things up for the opposition. Then comes the most dangerous finisher in this year’s IPL Rohit Sharma and he like Raina has found his bowling boots on this time and with his much talked back lift could give a real whack to the leather. The middle order ends with Yusuf Pathan as the big hitter taking hitting to another level but should be promoted to No.3 if not too many wickets have fell and less overs are remaining.

In the bowling department we have Zaheer Khan leading the attack not sure about his fitness, but if he plays he can be very steady in his attack.And moreover he absouletly loves England ,here is where he reinvented himself as the bowler that he is today.Then we have Ishant Sharma who is young but I think he enjoys the bouncy wickets more than the swinging English conditions where he would have to pitch it up. I think Irfan Pathan would have been a better choice due to his clean hitting but that’s upto Dhoni to decide whom he takes the gamble with. Then we have two spinners Harbhajan and Ojha vying for the single spot but I think the spot would go to Harbhajan with his new found technique in T20 and of course his habit of hitting the balls in the strangest areas in the field.

So unless India presses the self destruct mode I don’t think it will that much of a problem in retaining the trophy. However the law of averages might show its ugly head again. And one more thing please don’t give the silly excuse of burn-out in International stage ,these guys are professionals and not some 19 year olds to talk about their fitness.Moreover its their only job and I don’t think anybody can say tirdness is a factor in your job.

PARADIGM SHIFT -IPL

Shifting of the IPL could be one big factor which could decide the winner of this years cricket bonanza. Starting from the 18^th the IPL has been shifted to South Africa which had successfully held the T20 world cup. The new venues could create problems for the teams heavily dependent on local talent. For example Rajasthan Royals could this time find it quite difficult to retain their championship crown. A quick look at their team and we could see the obvious. Lots of huge heavers and agricultural stroke players, but except a few like Smith and Watson we don’t find any quality striking prowess in their ranks. You have Yousuf Pathan the find of last year’s IPL. But how successful would he be on pitches are not entirely bating friendly. As we found out in the T20 in Africa. The score of 160 is said to be a competitive score over here. Instead of in India in which 160 is hardly competitive. The pitches here are bouncy with swing taking place in Durban which is closer to sea. In the nights it becomes impossible to score on. How the local Indian players who re fed on flat tracks over here in India, only time will tell.

The team to look out in this edition are Chennai with Dhoni at the helm and quality players like Hussey, A Morkel,Ntini,Hayden,Oram,it seems that Dhoni is all set to take home the country gold. Apart from these players the others to look for are David Warner,Owais Shah, Flintoff,Peitersen,Tyron Henderson and others alike. However its been strange that not many teams have concentrated on their bowling department. I think they are happier to do away with their bits and pieces bowlers who can stop the flow of runs and give them their bonus wickets. Shaun tait has been a fresh entry.Players like Johan botha ,Brett jeeves etc have not been considered seriously. Of course the change in the venue comes as a big surprise to everyone, but you got to have the right balance.

The other important matter to look into is that the Indian Board is going to lose a lot in the stadium rights and revenue.However the major chunk of their revenues comes from Television rights and sponsorships,but still its loss for them and India.The younger brigade would find it tough to adjust to the African conditions of pace and bounce although we are sure that the organizers would do enough to ensure flate decks.However even if the decks are juicy and responsive it is an excellent opportunity for the selectors to pick good quality stroke players who can adjust to the home and away conditions as well.Another thing is that over here in India lots of our bowling talent gets murdered even before it has a chance to get into the international arena.However it is a great opportunity for our local bowlers who might find ti helpful to bowl on such responsive condtions.

Whatever might be the case we are sure to enjoy it as many people are actually looking forward to it.With success of the first edition ,this time with the entry of English players into the setup things are certainly looking rosy ahead.

The 2nd Test IND VS NZ

The 4^th day of the India versus NewZealand series saw for the first time in years India’s fighting spirit abroad. Usually the Indians aren’t like this .While not in the sub continent even against lower rung bowling attacks India wilts under pressure.Not so in this case India’s dogged performance lead by the old warhorse Dravid, showed that the famed Indian batting lineup still has the fight in it to claw back in the situation. Not only Dravid the manner in which Gambhir controlled his natural instincts for the team showcased how well the team is right now jelling with each other. At one point of time Gambhir hadn’t scored a run in more than six overs on the trot still he had the temperament to stay cool and not give his wicket away till the end of the day. His concentration levels were really very high. With him coming last evening and staying unbeaten till today evening showed that he has evolved as batsman .That too when the tails of Kiwis were up and running. With both Martin and O’Brien firing on all cylinders he had the patience to stay there and fight it out. Quite unlike his captain who in the end of the day gifted his wicket away to Patel with an expansive shot. However people might argue that it’s the way Sehwag plays .But I like to add that there is little more maturity required over there as he was the captain of the Indian cricket green top and really testing Indians on the turf they are more unfamiliar with, instead of providing with dead flat tracks which is like fodder to canon.

However we might be happy with what the team has achieved so far but there is one problem that we have sought out very fast. And that is we are too dependent on our old war horses. If we look at the series apart from Gambhir no one has played any crucial knock or played a long innings. WE are very good when we know that we can attack but while it comes to scrapping our way out we tend to falter.Yuvraj,Sehwag ,Dhoni can be very good for a flashy fifty but that is not Test Cricket. The essence of test cricket is the ability to pace our innings according to situation demands. That is why Australia is so very good at Test Cricket. If we see they have players like Clarke,Hussey,Katich who can pace their innings beautifully to win their games.

Our gennext has a lot to learn from our senior pros when it comes to Test cricket. The time is short because it will feel a sudden void when all of your defence mechanism has run out. And you have warriors without a back up support. Either all will kill or get killed that is where we are headed.team.

Although we still have a day in hand and anything can happen on the last day wearing wicket .But at least our wheels did not fall off at the finish line, This would be great moral wicket if we can pull off a draw in the last day, The kiwi captain would have to do a lot of rethinking for the last game. Given the situation he is in for the last game I think the ground staff would have to help him out here by providing him with a

KIWI SHUT INDIAN TIGER ROAR

The Indians had come to NZ with the hope of burying their past demons. Sadly Indians could not keep up with their champion image and displayed a brilliant example of how to play cricket invidually.Clearly Vettori had given a brilliant opportunity for the Indians to draw first blood in this NZ tour by sending the Indians to bat first .The reason I am saying this is because the grounds were small and with big hitters in the Indian batting lineup I was expecting a score of about 200.Moreover the kiwis had to bat under the lights and in the windy conditions which was a definite plus point to the Indians while defending the score.

However as a tradition India never starts a tour on a happy note.Same was the case the Indians came to the field as they had already won the match.True they got off to a flying start with Sehwag clearing the MCG inner circle(NZ boundary) four times before trying a Nadal like smash through midwicket only failing this time.Credits to the young O Brien for having a big heart.Then it was Yuvraj,I think its time somebody told him that he cannot sweep a part time spinner leave alone a Vettori.After which Rohit as usual came with lot of flair pushing a ball to six and then again trying to clear the ropes and scooping it in the air.Yusuf was batting like in the nets that is with gay abandon.With already hitting three sixes he again tried to flat bat the ball out of the ground only this time N McCullum was smart this time giving it huge air time and landing it almost out of the playing area.Pathan tried to heave it from outside over long-on ,only to find Oram at long-on doing a Voges.The only positive was even after 96/6 India had Raina a man who has truly come of age and score a brilliant 61 unbeaten to lead India to 162.

With the Kiwis needing 163 Ishant struck first taking out Jesse Ryder and a near shout for Guptill.He was equally supported by Zak on the other end with a brilliant spell of controlled aggressive fast bowling.But only the score was too small for the small grounds and McCullum showing immense maturity to guide NZ to victory alongwith comeback man Oram.Although Indians were outplayed in this game I do like to stress a point here that India is going to get back.Mark my words kiwis Sehwag and Yuvraj are going to hammer the kiwi bowling next T20. NZ doesn’t have enough teeth in their bowling attack to really stop Indians ,it was Indians who gave away the match instead of the other way around.

One more thing I would like to comment on is the ridiculously small grounds.The ICC should maintain some standards which every country should follow .I think the optimum ground size should be 90m radius in which I think spinners can really bowl without sending in rockets at the batsmen legs.Anyhow lets wait and watch as Indians make a mockery of the kiwi bowling next T20.