India blinded by Twenty20 vision

[Rahul Khan]

The ground conditions held up, the rains stayed away but the match itself turned out to be a damp squib. For the second game in a row India had Australia under pressure - and yet again they failed to go for the jugular. And then combusted when they were under the gun chasing a big total. India took wickets relatively early, as at Bangalore, but allowed two crucial partnerships to prosper. There was swing from Sreesanth early on on what eventually became a slow, sluggish pitch that made batting tough. When Australia batted the outfield was surprisingly fast given the rain but India's bowlers compounded the problem by offering the batsmen width. Zaheer Khan achieved early deviation but couldn't sustain it. Sreesanth got the ball to swing generously but as the surface eased up due to the climate, he heated up and sprayed it around. Still, Australia were three down for 66 and India had their number.

That's when Australia showed what champions are made of. While Matthew Hayden ticked away Andrew Symonds decided to throw his weight around as early as the 22nd over. Ramesh Powar tossed up a slower one and Symonds slammed it away over midwicket for six. That inspired Hayden to raise his fifty with a powerful sweep over midwicket for half a dozen as well. Batting is about pairs and Australia worked it just like that, adding 94 for the fourth and 108 for the fifth. Those were separated by a moment of success India failed to cash in on. Sachin Tendulkar and Powar weren't on song - Hayden hit sixes off each - and Mahendra Singh Dhoni swapped Powar for Irfan Pathan. The move paid off instantly as Pathan cleaned up Hayden with his first delivery. Australia should have been forced to rebuild again but while Pathan kept it tight from one end there was no pressure from the other. Instead, the field was spread and Brad Haddin was allowed easy singles. He picked Harbhajan Singh for runs and the bowler wasn't taken off immediately, so giving the new batsman confidence. Sreesanth returned and was predictable (or unpredictable); both Haddin and Symonds made hay off his bowling. India's off-spinning duo, unlike Australia's spinners Brad Hogg and Michael Clarke later in the day, was ordinary. Symonds and Haddin played them confidently, announcing their intent early with sixes. The run-rate never slipped below five-and-half after those two shots. The Indian innings was then held in check by disciplined pace bowling and brilliant fielding. Australia, like India, got stuck in early. Mitchell Johnson accounted for Gautam Gambhir with movement and bounce and bowled at searing pace, touching 149.7kphs on one occasion.

Australia made it to 306 because of partnerships but India didn't forge anything of note. Loose shot followed loose shot. The one silver lining was that the batsmen made Brett Lee look ordinary. But the difference in the sides was that when Lee fizzed, someone else fired. As Dhoni admitted after the match, the batsmen failed to rotate the strike, failed to "hit out without taking risks" and succumbed to the pressure. As in Bangalore, he emphasised one point. "We're starting off well. Our fast bowlers are getting wickets, even though we give some boundaries. Up until the 20th over we bowled very well... but after that we gave too many runs. Plus we're not bowling well at the death. We need to work on the middle overs, especially between the 30th and 50th overs." Therein may be the problem for India. After the success of the Twenty20, they just haven't adapted to the one-day game. That lovely bright sky kept up all day - but while the sun shone on Australia, India remained under the clouds.

© Cricinfo

[fineleg]

RK, Thumbs up for a very nice writeup :thumbs_up: Updated: Wait, I just realized its not your writeup! sorry, but still a good link, so thx, and next I'll expect you to write one yourself, Say what? :D

[Rahul Khan]

RK, Thumbs up for a very nice writeup :thumbs_up: Updated: Wait, I just realized its not your writeup! sorry, but still a good link, so thx, and next I'll expect you to write one yourself, Say what? :D

Do you agree or not, Indian batsman are going after Lee and in the meantime Johnson did the needful...where the slog hitting is needed they are not doing it and running between the wickets is the key to success in ODIs...instead they are trying through hammering without choosing the ball...say what!

[fineleg]

The thing I hated most in the Kochi ODI: #1 Gilchrist sets a trap for SRT. The short cover. And our man obliges. That is the EXACT shot for which the fielder (Psycho Symmo) was put there, and out comes an airy-fairy cover drive with the bat turning in the hand. #2 Spinners - nothing wrong in having spinners, but Powar and HS seem to be useless #3 Do NOT play 5 bowlers in our ODI 11 - always gonna be difficult for our team.

[Chandan]

The thing I hated most in the Kochi ODI: #1 Gilchrist sets a trap for SRT. The short cover. And our man obliges. That is the EXACT shot for which the fielder (Psycho Symmo) was put there, and out comes an airy-fairy cover drive with the bat turning in the hand. #2 Spinners - nothing wrong in having spinners, but Powar and HS seem to be useless #3 Do NOT play 5 bowlers in our ODI 11 - always gonna be difficult for our team.

# That was a freak catch, finey. It was just the brilliance of Symmo because of which Sachin was dismissed. And short covers are a norm these days. You see that in every ODI. # The problem with the spinners here is that the Aussies have got a hold of Powar this time. And once they start using their feet on Powar, the bowler doesn't have any idea what to do. Hence he needs to replaced. #If not 5 bowlers, who do you want to replace with whom, and how do you propose to fill the 5th bowlers' quota. Also, please explain how will it help the team!

[fineleg]

Chandan, In short, replace Ramesh Powar with Rohit Sharma. You get an extra batsman. For 5th bowler - use a combo of SRT + YS (they will go 10 overs 60-65 runs min., but thats the tradeoff) There are many other threads in this forum, where other folks have explained this 5 versus 4 bowler in greater depth as well. You may want to peruse those as well. --------------- Regarding short cover and SRT, yes many teams employ that. Aussies (and Symmo) are great fielders. SRT needs to be aware of that. He cannot play a loose shot, and expect they wont pluck the ball out of thin air. Often times, they and SAffies pull out such catches. Regarding spinners: Powar - useless (if he cannot adapt to Aussies using the feet when he gives the ball air, then he is still useless) Bhajji - you did not address abt HS...he is quite harmless too these days. Doesnt give too many runs, but not much in ways of wicket taking ability.

[Chandan]

I think the Aussies will hammer the combo of Sachin+Yuvi+ whoever for more than 90 runs without any wickets. That'll make trheir score soar to 330 and Rohit Sharma +others won't be able to get that. Regarding Aussie fielding and field placement: You can't expect anyone to score at 6+ per over and not play strokes in air at the same time. This is ODI, not test cricket. It was Sachin's and India's bad luck that the ball stuck in Symmo's hand. Just a few balls earlier a flick was in the air too, and screamed to the boundary because the diving fielder just missed it. Powar useless, I agree. He needs to be dropped, I agree. But then Rohit Sharma replacing him is not the solution. And if Bhajji couldn't even buy a wicket on track as dicy as that that of Kochi, then the future looks bleak for India, indeed. What are the other options? Chawla in injured. Who else is there?

[zubinpepsi]

The thing I hated most in the Kochi ODI: #1 Gilchrist sets a trap for SRT. The short cover. And our man obliges. That is the EXACT shot for which the fielder (Psycho Symmo) was put there, and out comes an airy-fairy cover drive with the bat turning in the hand.

It was not Gilchrist Idea. I think it was Ponting who gave the suggestion.. Ponting came with drinks when RU & SRT started hitting the bowlers. and after that symonds came into tht position.... now i fully undst when Ponting said we know fullly about the trio... what irks me the most was SRT played into their trap and gave him a nice catch.. I dont expect a guy who played so many yrs of cricket to not to sense these field placements.....

[fineleg]

Aussies analyze the top players and know their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing it is the FIRST step only. They are able to follow through because their fielders take the catches and their bowlers bowl to the field.

[bharat297]

It was not Gilchrist Idea. I think it was Ponting who gave the suggestion.. Ponting came with drinks when RU & SRT started hitting the bowlers. and after that symonds came into tht position.... now i fully undst when Ponting said we know fullly about the trio... what irks me the most was SRT played into their trap and gave him a nice catch.. I dont expect a guy who played so many yrs of cricket to not to sense these field placements.....

Its not that he didnt sense the field placings. It is just that when a short cover is put in place ... generally a batsman can back himself to hit right through them (so to speak). When you are chasing 307, you cant really blame Sachin for backing himself to hit right through the infield as the scoring rate needed to be kept up. I am a bit more irked about I am a bit more annoyed with the dismissal of Yuvraj as it was a very strange shot that was hit right to the fieldsman. But lets not ignore the real issue, the fact that we are chasing 300+ in most games nowadays

[yoda]

Its not that he didnt sense the field placings. It is just that when a short cover is put in place ... generally a batsman can back himself to hit right through them (so to speak). When you are chasing 307, you cant really blame Sachin for backing himself to hit right through the infield as the scoring rate needed to be kept up. I am a bit more irked about I am a bit more annoyed with the dismissal of Yuvraj as it was a very strange shot that was hit right to the fieldsman. But lets not ignore the real issue, the fact that we are chasing 300+ in most games nowadays

300 should be chasable. can't just throw in the towel.

[Guest dada_rocks]

They were bowling without fine leg and noone sprayed any ball on leg stump...:two_thumbs_up: Powar did fool hulk in flight and on both occasion his hulk power braved the 60 yard boundary despite getting fooled.. With ur normal 80 yard boundary it wud have been simple catch

[Rahul Khan]

Aussies analyze the top players and know their strengths and weaknesses. Knowing it is the FIRST step only. They are able to follow through because their fielders take the catches and their bowlers bowl to the field.

thats it...I have always been telling this in someway or the other... Indian team management will have to prepare sucha device to execute their analysis, thoroughly done!