The Basics, get the basics right, stupid!

[Dhondy]

Isn't it ironical that under the coaching regime of an all time great batsman, the bowlers have adhered to the basics of line and length, and have prospered, while the batsmen have completely ignored theirs? Is it so difficult to keep to the basics of batsmanship? Leave the ones that you cannot safely play, get the bowler to bowl to your strengths, don't give it away when you are well set. Just three, look...just three! And yet, Sehwag felt to a first ball hoik, Jaffer fought hard to settle down and then gave it away, Sachin played an extraordinary shot when he looked set for a lot more, Dhoni got a rip-roaring start and threw it all away in a moment of madness. Why, oh why do they keep getting it wrong? Play in your comfort zone, take your time, and never, ever give it away when you are well set. Simple. Why then do they keep behaving like they live by another set of rules?

[observer1]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid! What about Ganguly? I remain convinced he forgot to put on his contacts.

[Dhondy]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid! Wouldn't blame him. Got a brute of a ball in his weak area.

[Guest BossBhai]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid! -- Removed on request of the user --

[Anakin]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid! IKP for batting coach :wtg: :hmph:

[observer1]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid!

Wouldn't blame him. Got a brute of a ball in his weak area.

The kind of ball that Dhoni took on the chest, Laxman on the arm, Sreesanth on the hand?

[Lurker]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid!

Simple. Why then do they keep behaving like they live by another set of rules?

As long as we are doing the rants here is one which came up during today's on-phone conversation with my Dad. Dad - Sab team mein chor hain. Tendulkar saab ne 6o kuch banaya pahli baar this year and every news media is gushing about it. Me - Yeah but that was the highest. I mean sure he should have scored more but kind of hard to argue when one is the highest scorer in the innings. Dad - Lekin this is our fault only. Abhi Asian Games se kitne log silver, bronze etc. lekar aaye..Noone there to receive them, half of their names not known even. Heck our most successful sports, Hockey, came out with no-medals! A game that we were the best for so long a time and one that is our National Sports. But we did not care, noone does, the MP's raised issues about Chappell in Parliament who even bothered about the National Game? Rant complete. Coming to the question about basics, I would agree with you Dhondy that yes more attention should be given to basics. To be honest failures of Sehwag and Jaffers dont fudge me. I mean do we truly expect to be any better? Jaffer just doesnt have the goods while Sehwag, great player as he has been for India, is not exactly a basics person. Same with Dhoni. It is the likes of SRT, Dravid and VVS that disappoint...to an extent Ganguly even. In Dravid's case he got a bad call, VVS is good but still a shade below great, Ganguly got brute of a ball but SRT is one who should bear the brunt of not sticking to the basics. You simply do not throw away wicket after getting starts, getting some luck as well, only to hit the kind of shot he did...yep he disappointed us all with his dismissal..even though he top-scored. xxx

[gs]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid!

What about Ganguly? I remain convinced he forgot to put on his contacts.

:lmao:

[Dhondy]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid! Why shouldn't Sehwag & Dhoni not be subject to the same basics, Lurker? Take Dhoni. after the start he got, it was well within his ability to wait for deliveries in his zone and take full toll. 34 would have led to 50, the Saffies would have panicked, send the fielders to patrol the boundary, and singles could have been milked at will. But oh no, he had to live up to the hype generated by the newspaper columns. As did Sehwag. As did Sachin, I believe. He was trying to tell the world, "look, I am still a genius. I can score my runs in any way I like." Obviously not.

[Lurker]

Re: The Basics, get the basics right, stupid!

Why shouldn't Sehwag & Dhoni not be subject to the same basics, Lurker?

Dhondy, You can subject them to the same basics but it would not work. Just like it has not worked to ask Agarkar for 987654 times to not bowl 2 great deliveries followed by 2 cr@ppy ones. Men are different, more so on pschycological level, and you perhaps would know it better than anyone of us here. I would say players like Dhoni and Sehwag should always be allowed to play their natural game. Some times it works and other times it does not(in case of Sehwag it has not worked for a while now). But it is kind of hard to tell them to stick to basics since they never had them. Just look at the bat of Dhoni and you can see he has no regards to basics. He generates his power from high backlift and his bat(and his body). His basics as compared to someone like VVS who relies on soft touch and delicate wrists would be different. This is on physical level, on mental level its the same story. You can not ask Dhoni to bat like VVS. This is where Sachin has peeved most of us. He is the one, along with VVS and Dravid, who have the basics to survive for long time and make sure India scores good. Thats what they do best and thats where they failed yesterday. Sorry I dont rate two half-centuries very highly if they leave India trailing by a good margin. xxxx