India’s run-chase of 330 runs in the Asia Cup tie on Sunday must have stunned Pakistan and cricket pundits all over. Pakistan’s score of 329 was always a daunting total to chase notwithstanding the flat pitch and the conditions that were conducive to batting. But the batsmen made India’s highest-ever chase look ridiculously effortless. To add to that, insipid bowling by Pakistan also helped India’s cause to a great extent. Bowling which has been Pakistan’s strength proved to be their major weakness on Sunday.
India now find themselves in a position they were in few weeks ago in the latter stages of Commonwealth Bank One-Day International (ODI) series, when they had to rely on a Sri Lankan defeat
Umesh Yadav is almost certain to play his first Test series in Australia - a country where many young fast bowlers in the past have made a mark. Ishant Sharma, Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar are three Indians who impressed on their first tour Down Under. One thing to all the three bowlers was the length at which they bowled on those tours. It’s a point that the team management would have discussed at length in their strategy sessions.
It’s easy for tyro pacers from India to get carried away by the bouncy tracks of Australia and not bowl at the desired length. At the Indian team’s practice session ahead of their tour opener against CA Chairman’s XI, Umesh Yadav was giving net practice to Sachin
It was Wednesday night, when I watching the day-night semi-final match of the 1996 World Cup between India and Sri Lanka on my black-and-white television with my family. I was just nine years old then and had fallen in love with the game of cricket. I still didn’t know who Sachin Tendulkar was and why people adored him but I loved the Indian team and wanted it to win the semi-final. My father had arrived early from work just to watch the match with me and the family with much fervour.
The match looked to be in India’s grip till one point of time with India looking firm favourites as they had been throughout the tournament. But all of a sudden everything went berserk. India started to lose wickets like a
The closely-fought tied match between India and England on Sunday must have hurt India more than England. Indian cricketers must have been hurt more emotionally as they not only lost the match but also the series 2-0 in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series. While it was disappointing to see a team lose due to Duck-Worth Lewis it should also be noted that India’s casualness at times in batting, and on the field was another reason for the victory slipping from MS Dhoni’s hands.
There were few moments in the fourth ODI that could be considered crucial in the closely-fought encounter. In 26th Over, Graeme Swann took two crucial wickets of Virat Kohli and Rahul Dravid. Both the batsmen have been in good form,
There are two important men in India today who are under tremendous pressure from the media. One is Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, and the other is Indian cricket team captain MS Dhoni. Every statement they have made in the press in last one month has been scrutinized, analysed and scanned under microscope. The anti-corruption tirade and the 4-0 whitewash against England must be giving many sleepless nights to these two gentlemen.
Interestingly, Dr Manmohan Singh became Prime Minister seven years ago and Dhoni made his international debut at the same time. Their fates have been identical with a steep rise to glory earlier, and now an equally steep fall. Both Dr. Singh and Dhoni today stand in the most critical
Indian performances in the first two Test matches have been shoddy, and most of the blame has been put on Indian batting for the dismal performance. The bouncer has been Indian batting weakness for many years, and very few batsmen in Indian history have been able to grapple with the rising delivery.
England bowlers have been successful in executing the tried and tested formula against Indian batting by bombarding them with bouncers when they are new to the crease. The images of Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, and Abhinav Mukund struggling, and jumping in air to avoid the ball hitting their bodies was a sorry sight for an Indian cricket fan. These are the same batsmen who have scored fearlessly on Indian pitches.
The former England batsman Geoffrey Boycott lashed out at the Indian team’s performance at Trent Bridge by saying “India played like Bangladesh.” Indian team has been thrashed from all corners by cricket pundits and fans after the humiliating 319 runs defeat against England at Trent Bridge on Monday. Indian team’s performance in the ongoing Test series has been dismal to say the least. Moreover what has been more disheartening was to see the decline in the performance of MS Dhoni, the captain.
Dhoni has not been able to score in the Test series which is disappointing as he is a much better batsman than what we have seen in the series so far. Dhoni has managed to score only 49 runs in the series. This is the same
While Indian seamers were able to pick wickets in the ongoing Test series, spinner Harbhajan Singh’s poor performance has been under the scanner after India’s heavy defeat at Trent Bridge. Former Indian cricketers believe Harbhajan’s poor form is due to lack of craftiness,
Former Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi was quoted in Times of India as saying, "There's no point discussing his lack of flight or lack of spin or his action because we have been doing that for years"
Bedi believes Harbhajan’s main problem is that the off spinner is not thinking of ways to get a batsman out. Bedi said, "He lacks guile, and that's a great handicap for a spinner. The right areas to bowl lie not on the 22 yards but in between your
The dashing Australian batsman, Shaun Marsh is in Australian squad that will take on Sri Lanka in the One-Day Internationals (ODIs) in Sri Lanka. Marsh said he was confident of doing well in this tour. He was quoted in Sydney Morning Herald as saying, ''It's just going to be a lot of fun. I'm going to challenge myself.
''Sri Lankan series are usually very tough. It's hot and they usually doctor the wickets to their style. It's going to be a great challenge and I'm looking forward to it.''
Marsh says his experience in the Indian Premier League in April gave him lot of confidence to do well in the Indian sub continent. ''I'm feeling really confident within my body now,'' he said. ''I got through India, two months over
Australia has started their team rebuilding program with the tour to Sri Lanka. Their coach Tim Nielsen said that the team is not focussing on World Cup as they are focussed only on the current tour to Sri Lanka.
Nielsen was quoted in Indian Express as saying “Our biggest focus is to make sure we're competitive and we're getting back into the winners' circle.”
Nielsen believes giving confidence to youngsters was the primary focus of the Australian team management by exposing them to international cricket. “We want to introduce some younger players to the team. I'm sure over the next couple of years and we want to give them the opportunity to play the cricket or get the best opportunities to learn international
After the heavy loss to England on Monday, Indian team will be obviously gutted. This Indian team has been the No 1 team in Test cricket for last 20 months, and this defeat is one of the heaviest defeats during Indian team’s reign as World Champions.
Captain MS Dhoni’s biggest worry will be the fitness of his strike bowler Zaheer Khan. Zaheer was out of action due to hamstring injury, after taking two early wickets on the first day of the Test match. He did not bowl a single ball in the second innings. Now there are still doubts whether he will play in the second Test match.
Another blow for the Indian team was the injury to Gautam Gambhir. Gambhir suffered an elbow injury while fielding at short leg. Moreover, there
India’s defeat at Lord’s on Monday has raised many questions on Indian team’s shortcomings.
The main worry for the Indian team in the Lord’s Test was the bowling department. Zaheer Khan’s injury and Harbhajan Singh’s lack of form were the main reasons for India’s defeat in the series opener. This team relies too heavily on its batsmen and a few select bowlers to win matches.
Well, it can be argued that it was the same strong batting line-up that helped the Indian team to win the recently concluded World Cup in the Indian sub continent. But to win matches in Test cricket, a team needs to have a bowling line-up which is capable of taking 20 wickets. MS Dhoni’s four-bowler theory has gone well so far. But the
