INDIA WINS HISTORIC CB TRI-SERIES

India beat Australia 2-0 in the best of three finals to clinch the Commonwealth Bank tri-series, which is incidentally the last traditional tri-series down under. India beat Australia by 6 wickets at Sydney in the first finals. Then they followed it with another win at Brisbane beating Australia by 9 runs.

SCORECARD: India vs Australia, I Finals – CB Triseries, SCG, 2008
SCORECARD: India vs Australia, II Finals – CB Triseries, GABBA, 2008

ATLAST SACHIN ENDED UP BEING THE MATCH-WINNER
It is not that Sachin has not won matches for India, but these kind of victories are rare and Sachin’s contributions in finals are correspondingly rare. One always remembers the way he single-handedly won a tournament at Sharjah in 1998. Along with Ganguly he had been instrumental in winning a tournament in Srilanka in 1998. Apart from that nothing is in the cupboard to be shown.

SACHIN – A FAILURE WHY?

This victory is certainly a one of the greatest moment in his long career. He led from the front and scored his first one-day international century in Australia in the first finals at SCG and then followed it with a knock of 91 at Gabba. It is indeed the long-awaited performance from the Master.

YOUNG GUNS FIRE
The performances of Rohit Sharma, Ishant Sharma, Gambhir and Praveen Kumar are very refreshing and note-worthy. They have to be consistent in the future and continue their good work. Rohit Sharma always promised to be a special talent and he justified that belief. Ishant Sharma promises to be the one great fast bowler this nation is looking for very long years (Still I believe that if properly guided and supported Munaf will join him). Gambhir has certainly cemented his place. He begins to display consistency and performing well against top teams. Praveen Kumar is really the surprise package of the lot. He lends balance to the team and his batting skills need to be translated into runs in international arena.

ADELAIDE TEST ENDS IN A DRAW

The fourth and final Test match between India and Australia ended in a tame draw. And with this result Australia have won this Test series 2-1 and retained the Border-Gavaskar trophy.

SCORECARD: India vs Australia, Fourth Test, at Adelaide 2007-08

Another Gem from Sachin
Sachin Tendulkar produced another gem of a knock. This ton is his first at Adelaide, the home of Don, and probably his last (Test Ton) at Australia. The most striking feature of this knock was his dominance over the bowlers. However, match-winning innings somewhat seems to elude him. He is playing at his peak and he should continue playing till he feels it is time.

It is also refreshing to see the Indian tail-enders contributing to the team score. The way Kumble, Harbhajan and Ishant Sharma frustrated the Aussie bowlers and fielders was indeed a great sight.

Viru is Back
In hindsight, leaving out Sehwag for the first two Test matches was a big mistake. He scored his first century in the second innings of his career. It is a typical Sehwag knock. His knock helped India from the embarrassment of being knocked out easily in their second outing.

Indian Bowling
India was setback by untimely injury of RP Singh. Indian spinners were ineffective, especially Harbhajan Singh. A part-timer like Sehwag bowled better than him. Ishant Sharma continues to impress everyone. Irfan Pathan is beginning to find his bowling rhythm.

Professional Aussies
Aussies ensured that they do not loose this Test match by batting cautiously. Still they maintained a run rate of around 3 per over. In past their over-aggression had costed them dearly especially against Indians. Overhauling a huge total is not an easy thing. They don’t want to give India the chance to square this series.

Gilly Bids Adieu
Adam Gilchrist has announced retirement from Test cricket and coming one-day tri-series will be his last in one-day internationals. He is the world-record holder for most number of dismissals by a wicket keeper. He redefined the role of wicket keeper in world cricket.
Gilly bids adieu

TEAM SELECTION FOR ONE-DAYERS

Omission of Dravid & Ganguly
Axing Ganguly and Dravid may be debatable. Being a great fan of Rahul Dravid, it is disappointing to see him not in the one-day squad. I hope he will be back with a bang. The selectors seem to have given the reason that they want to change the nucleus of the team. Then their decision is welcome one and they have gone in right direction. Whether it is an appropriate time to do such changes? I don’t know. It remains to be seen.

ODI SQUAD

Worrying Factor
The Test squad is packed with too many middle-order batsmen with some makeshift openers. But one-day squad is packed with too many openers. The squad must be balanced in both the forms of cricket. I fear someone like Rohit Sharma may be forced to sit in the sidelines inorder to accommodate the extra openers in the middle-order. He should either be playing International match or domestic match, not be idle. He is an exciting talent and may be season or two away from getting into the Test squad. But he is a certainty in my one-day playing XI.

Eager to See One-Day Performance
One can’t expect much against Australia. More than one win against Australia in the group stage would be an achievement. But it would be interesting to see how this young Indian team will fare against Lankans. I would like to see atleast one batsman apart from established ones like Sachin, Yuvraj, Sehwag and Dhoni to establish himself in the playing XI; Consistency, a match-winning hundred against Australia from the likes of Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gambhir and Uthappa.

Similarly I would like Indian pace attack to be more consistent and constantly improving. The performance of Piyush Chawla will also be watched with eagerness.

INDIA HALTS AUSSIE JUGGERNAUT

India achieved one of its most important victories at WACA in Perth. India beat Australia by 72 runs in the third Test match and gave themselves a chance to square this Test series in the next match.

Positive Decision & Good Batting Effort
Kumble won a good toss and rightly elected to bat without worrying about the hype over the WACA pitch. Indian top order responded well to his decision. Sehwag and Jaffer produced India’s best opening stand in this series. But they were not able to go further. Dravid and Sachin involved in a very important partnership and put India for a big total. But after the fall of ‘The Wall’ Indian batting collapsed and bundled out for 330.

Laxman’s Valuable Innings & Irfan-Sehwag All-round Show
Laxman played a valuable innings in the second outing under these circumstances. He played remarkably with the tail. Indeed he has become a specialist in playing along with the tail. Contribution of Indian tail especially RP Singh was very crucial.

Opening contribution from Sehwag in both the innings made life easier for the following batsmen. His two wickets in second innings were also important to the victory. Irfan Pathan dismissed the openers in both the innings and had opened the floodgates for other bowlers to exploit. His strength has been his ability to use the new ball very well. He contributed with the bat in both the innings. He rightly deserves the man of the match award.

David Vs Goliath
The real heroes of this Indian victory was the young pace attack. They kept formidable Australian batting lineup at bay. To win a Test match we need 20 wickets, which is what this bunch of young Turks did. To take wickets (pace bowlers) one need to swing the ball at reasonable pace; you not need a wayward bowling at 160kph. Yes agreed, express bowlers are very handy in unhelpful pitches. Indian pace bowlers need to carry this momentum to next match. What expected of them are consistent good performances.

The pattern of India’s recent Test victories has been: good partnerships by the top order batsmen and good bowling performances backed by determination to win = team effort.

SCORECARD: India vs Australia, III Test at Perth, 2007-08

DREAM REMAINS DREAM

Australia has equalled their 16 Test matches winning streak and thus ending India’s dream of winning its first Test series down under. Australia beat India by 122 runs in second Test match at SCG to take an unbeatable lead of 2-0 in the series. This loss is attributed to the fact that most of the Indian players don’t know how to finish a job, both in batting and bowling.

Indian Bowling
RP Singh and Harbhajan bowled very well to restrict Aussie batsmen to 134 for 6 before Symmonds took over. RP Singh is improving with each Test match he is playing. In first Test at MCG he looked off color but made amends at this Test match. Ricky Ponting has become Harbhajan’s bunny in Test cricket. Australian batsmen are used to score at a rate of more than 4 runs per over. It gave them more opportunities to produce a result. They got positive results 95 % of the time barring an exception like Adelaide Test during 2003-04. Indian bowlers are taking wickets but they allow them to score more runs at brisk pace. Indian bowlers should aim to take wickets and also restrict their scoring rate. I know it is a difficult thing but they must able to do that.

Indian bowlers should not have allowed Australian tail-enders to wag and whack in the first innings. It is India’s perennial problem and it also contributed to the loss of this Test match. It demonstrates the fact that Indian bowlers don’t have good yorkers. India needs yorker specialists.

Very Very Special Innings & Very Very Stupid Innings
First Innings
Laxman once again came up with a gem of an innings. He has a great liking for an Australian bowling attack. He played positively and scoring rate of India was at brisk pace irrespective of Dravid’s struggle at the other end. One should commend Dravid for his fighting innings. He was not in best of form, not batting at his usual position, low on confidence and still able to forge an important partnership for his team with Laxman.
Second Innings
In the second innings, he undid all his good work in the first innings. After end of day 2, he made a statement that he had done his job. This kind of attitude is undesirable. One’s job is finished only at the end of the match. Remember Dravid scoring unbeaten 70 odd in the second innings to secure a famous win at Adelaide in the last tour after scoring 233 in the first innings. That should be the attitude. But most Indian players have the bad attitude of being complacent after scoring a century or taking 5-wicket haul. They think that they have done their part and rest is in other’s hand.

Masterly Innings & His Vulnerability
First Innings
Sachin produced a knock befitting a genius. After Dravid and Laxman went in quick succession, he steadied the Indian innings along with Ganguly. They also maintained a good scoring rate. Ganguly took the pressure off Sachin with his positive batting. These days Ganguly is playing more positively in Test matches compared to one-dayers. Sachin combined very well with the tail-enders. Most importantly it enabled India to go past huge Australian score.
Second Innings
I was rejoicing at the end of India’s first innings that Sachin has started playing more fruitful innings these days. But his effort in second innings suggested that Sachin still don’t know the art of finishing a job. Chasing 333 in 72 overs is very very difficult. But he could have atleast see through that India did not loose this Test match.

Yuvraj has a long way to go
Yuvraj Singh has a long way to go in establishing as a Test batsman. Peter Roebuck’s comments in THE HINDU are bitterly true to an extent. In Badrinath and Rohit Sharma India have two good young Test batsmen. Rohit Sharma needs a season or two to get into Test fold. It is high time that Badrinath gets a look in.

Wasim Jaffer should be persisted irrespective of his failures. Sehwag or Karthik, depending on their form, should be inducted in place of Yuvi for next match and open the innings. Only very poor display from Australians (not even God) and good umpiring can save India from a 4-0 whitewash.

SCORECARD: India vs Australia, II Test at Sydney, 2007-08

INDIA SURRENDERS MEEKLY TO AUSTRALIA AT MCG

Australia beat India by 337 runs to win the first Test at Melbourne. It is India’s third worst defeat in terms of runs.

Lackluster Batting
Indian batting in both the innings were pathetic. Dravid should have rotated the strike more. Caution is must, but Dravid was over-cautious. It seems that Dravid was not interested in opening the innings. India’s best ODI batsman Yuvraj (at that time and still) was not allowed to bat at No.4 (his suitable position) in 2007 world cup and India lost. India ‘s best batsman at 2003 world cup Sachin was initially asked to bat at No.4 and then reverted to his most comfortable position and India reached the finals. So it is better to bat Dravid at No.3 though he comes often in the first over, mental makeup is different for opening and No.3. That means poor Yuvi have to sit down, since India’s weak link Ganguly is in best form of his life. Karthik should open with Jaffer.

Indian batsmen were not positive except Sachin in the first innings. Lack of match practice also hampered them. Being a professional they should not give that as an excuse. To keep their chances alive in the series they have to raise their game considerably otherwise 4-0 whitewash is inevitable. Indian batsmen need to remember their effort during the last Test series here and must emulate them.

Good Bowling Effort
Indian bowlers did well to restrict rampaging Aussie batsmen below 350 in the first innings. But again showed their true colors in the second innings. Kumble led from the front and produced one of his best bowling effort in the first innings. Zaheer complemented him very well. Spinners did well overall compared to pace bowlers. Indian fielders failed to complement their bowlers by their poor effort. RP Singh has to raise his game. I don’t know whether going with only two pacers is such a wise decision. But it proved successful this time.

Indian team needs to improve in all departments of the game: batting, bowling and fielding. They have to forget this Test match as one bad experience and concentrate on second Test now.

SCORECARD: India vs Australia, I Test at Melbourne, 2007-08

PREVIEW OF INDO-AUSTRALIAN SERIES

Batting
Ganguly and Yuvraj are men in form. They should take greater responsibility. Rahul Dravid would play the role of Akash Chopra’s in 2003, to blunt the new ball. It is a pity that Dravid can’t take the role of Dravid. The greatest thing about Dravid is he finishes the job; he won’t leave the job to another one. Only Yuvraj has that ability among other batsmen. But it is not demonstrated at the Test match level. Other batsmen must finish the job if they happen to be in control.

Sachin is looking hungrier and more of his recent knocks have resulted in victories for India. It is a good sign. Very Very Special Laxman may not be at his best; still he is a match-winner for us. Wasim Jaffer would do what Sehwag did four years ago though not with same kind of aggression. Though I would ideally like Sehwag to open the innings, since he is not in any sort of form he had to sit out.

The highlight of India’s recent batting efforts is their regular partnerships without any individual brilliance. They need to carry this trend coupled with some individual brilliance. To beat Australia we need something special. Overall India’s batting look settled.

Bowling
The last two major overseas victories were set up by the bowlers. One by Sreesanth (against Proteas) and another by Zaheer Khan (against English). Unfortunately Indians are without Sreesanth and Munaf Patel due to injury and fitness concerns. RP Singh had missed the last series against Pakistan and Zaheer missed the last Test due to injuries. Ishant Sharma looked impressive in patches against Pakistan in the last Test. The only practice match also washed out with 50 odd overs only possible (that too for batsmen only). Bowling is little bit of worry for Indians now. They have to encounter rampaging Aussie batsmen. RP Singh and Zaheer must replicate their form showed in England against Aussie batsmen. The third seamer must rise to the occasion.

Fielders must complement the bowlers with their catches and ground fielding. Catching plays an important role.

The greatest thing about this team is that they are more playing like a team. It is evident from South Africa tour in 2006 onwards. I hope Indians conquers the Aussies.