Review of Indian tour to New Zealand - I

[King]

Team Rating : Overall performance rating : 4/5 India had a satisfying tour considering they had not won a test series for nearly 41 years and an ODI series for a very long time. Although Twenty20 losses and the drawn last test match took a bit of sheen out of the achievement India did exceedingly well. It was expected of India to win the test series and was expected to be tested by New Zealand in the ODI series, New Zealand were no challenge for India in the ODI series and they did not do too badly in the test series despite having been overshadowed. Two Twenty20 losses were forgotten soon but the defending champions will not be too happy losing out on both the Twenty20 contests what with the Twenty 20 world cup coming up shortly. Overall batting rating : 5/5 Barring a couple of batsmen (Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma) Indian batting lived up to its expectations. The seniors and juniors alike did a wonderful job and not only did they fight back at times when in a precarious situation but also dominated the attack when required. Although the batting was dominated by the senior pros Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Laxman and Sehwag (in ODIs) the likes of Gambhir and Raina held their own. Overall bowling rating : 3/5 Two seasoned campaigners Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh did exceedingly well through out the tour. They both led from the front and used their experience to the hilt. The bowling in the one dayers was not as exciting but that could be said about every bowler that bowled during the ODIs given the flat tracks the games were played out on. Ishant Sharma was disappointing both in ODIs and tests so was Munaf. Praveen Kumar struggled in ODIs but under-used Yousuf Pathan contributed with the ball when in need. Overall India could do with a more consistent performance. Overall fielding and catching rating : 2/5 There were many memorable batting and bowling performances. There are not too many lasting good memories of fielding or catching that will last in Indian cricket fans mind. Sure there was a terrific catch from Tendulkar albeit a bit controversial and the catch Rahul Dravid took to claim the record for most catches in test cricket will last long in fans’ mind but the drop catches, misfields and lethargic attitude shown by the Indian fieldsmen will be long remembered. Again the seniors led the catching brigade with the upcoming youngsters showing lack of interest and skill in fielding and catching. If India has to move forward they need to chip in with fielding and catching effort. Usually India set a good catching standard but this tour will definitely not be remembered for catching and fielding efforts. In fact there are not many stops either that will stick in the mind of Indian cricket fans. For a couple of years the fielding in ODIs had lifted but it has gone down a notch in the last couple of series’ If there is an area that needs immediate attention, it probably would be fielding and catching. Players rating: Gautham Gambhir ( 4/5 ) :

Gambhir initially struggled to get going. Gambhir had a single fifty with the highest score of 63* by the time Twenty20 and ODI series came to an end. Gambhir was not regarded as highly as he should be given his bad run in the ODIs and Twenty20s. Gambhir struggled to time the ball and push the strike rate in the shorter formats. Gambhir’s scores in the ODIs were 30(36 balls), 15(27 balls), 63*(67 balls) and 5(16 balls). His two outing in Twenty20s fetched the scores of 6(7 balls) and 10(13 balls). If anyone suggested he was going to be the mainstay for India in the batting department in test series he would probably was going to be named a lunatic. Gambhir made a fantastic comeback in test cricket and never had to look back during the tour. Gambhir scored runs in every test match and contributed to India’s victory handsomely in the test series. His scores of 72 & 30* in the first test, 16 and 137 in the second test, 23 and 167 in the third test earned him the honour of being the scorer of most runs in the test series. Not only did he score runs but also helped India draw a test match in Napier for staying out at the crease for 643 minutes and faced 436 balls (nearly 73 overs) for his 137 runs. Gambhir came of age in the test series and here’s hoping he will continue in the same vein in future. Gambhir proved he can play according to the situation of the game and doesn’t mind sacrificing flamboyance for the sake of the team. Gambhir caught and fielded well barring couple of times which are excusable given the amount of cricket he has played over the last few days. Virender Sehwag (3/5) :

Everyone knows the ability and the carefree attitude with which Sehwag plays his cricket. There have been a few in the past that play cricket like him. Sir Vivian Richards, Chris Cairns, Kapil Dev, Gary Sobers, Ian Botham, Kris Srikkanth spring to mind but none would have gone on an overseas tour and blasted three sixes of as many balls in the very first game. Tim Southee never recovered from that onslaught and struggled to bowl to Indian batsmen through out the tour. Such is the effect of Sehwag. Sehwag showed a lot of promise at the start of the tour and continued his onslaught from Twenty20s to ODI series. Sehwag scored 299 runs at an average of 74.75 with a strike rate of 150.25 in the ODI series and was a prime contributor for the ODI series win. Sehwag hit 37 fours and 11 sixes in the ODI series. That is by far the most number of 4s and 6s scored in the ODI series during the tour. Sehwag got starts in Twenty20s as well and notched up 50 runs at an average of 25 with a strike rate of 238. By far he was the best player from both the sides in the ODI series. More was expected from Sehwag in the test series and although he got enough starts he just couldn’t go on to make a big hundred. Despite that he ensured India got off to a decent start if not a great start. Sehwag refused to change his style of batting and copped fair bit of criticism in the 2nd innings of the 2nd test when the need of the hour was to play retrospective cricket rather than aggressive cricket. Sehwag cannot be blamed for this as most of his test runs have come when he has played flamboyant cricket. It would be great if he can develop a skill that will allow him to bat for days like his younger partner Gambhir but it would be too much to ask for when everyone in the cricket circle knows he is the most feared batsmen of the current era given his aggressive style of batting. Not with standing the scores he caused enough grief to the NZ opening bowlers by flaying them around. Sehwag scored 140 runs off 5 innings in test series at an average of 28 and his highest score in the test series was 48. Rest of the players reviews to follow in the furture articles...

[Gambit]

Terrific writeup ravi! Veeru really disappointed in the tests. If you notice, on a tour/in a series, he almost always does well in one format and fails in the other. In OZ, he was good in tests but pathetic in ODIs. Here it was the opposite. Only against England was he great in both.

[graphic23]

Really good stuff Ravi! :-)

[Dhondy]

It's been a month and half, but I still haven't got over Dhoni's bizarre decision making in the final Test. A mammoth first innings lead, NZ ready for the taking, bad weather forecast on the final day, well into the rainy season in NZ, and he decided to grind on on day 4, with the lead well past 500. It's a decision that will go down in the annals of the game as the most defensive, gutless, gormless of moves, a decision so bereft of ambition that it debased not just the team, but every cricket watcher that was unfortunate to be following the game. India has done it before of course- snatched a draw from the embrace of victory to protect a slender series lead. The Oval, Bangalore, Mohali...Dravid, Kumble, Dhoni...different skippers, same story. It killed my interest in Indian cricket like nothing else could.

[Dhondy]

I remember opinions were split down the middle when Dhoni pulled the damp squib out of his mouldy hat. Two months on, have you forgiven & forgotten?

[Laaloo]

No. I really though Dhoni was a more aggressive captain; an improvement over the previous spineless captains w used to have who were accustomed to winning 1-0 series, whether it was in west indies, or against england in england or against padosis at home. Dhoni just continued the trend. But then again, where "purists" on this site wanted a draw from day 3 and were happy with a 1-0 scoreline, then why blame dhoni?

[Dhondy]

I first smelt something funny when Gambhir gave an interview after his ton that India were determined to win the series even if it meant not being able to win the match. It instantly summed up all that was wrong with the thinking of Indians charged with making decisions. It conveyed two things- first that Dhoni reached decision by consensus despite possessing a brilliant street smart intuitive streak, and second that India, from a position of almost unassailable strength, felt they could lose the match. Therefore, they elected to keep what they had. It didn't matter to them that no team had ever chased 530, which was the target at the end of D3 to win a match. It didn't matter either that heavy rain was forecast on D5. At the beginning of the tour, Dhoni had avowed that he wasn't burdened by history- that this was a new team, yet at the end of the tour, he fell victim to that historical burden- India's aweful record in NZ and overseas in general, and the need to take home something....anything, when a much greater prize lay within his grasp.

[Mamu]

I first smelt something funny when Gambhir gave an interview after his ton that India were determined to win the series even if it meant not being able to win the match. It instantly summed up all that was wrong with the thinking of Indians charged with making decisions. It conveyed two things- first that Dhoni reached decision by consensus despite possessing a brilliant street smart intuitive streak, and second that India, from a position of almost unassailable strength, felt they could lose the match. Therefore, they elected to keep what they had. It didn't matter to them that no team had ever chased 530, which was the target at the end of D3 to win a match. It didn't matter either that heavy rain was forecast on D5. At the beginning of the tour, Dhoni had avowed that he wasn't burdened by history- that this was a new team, yet at the end of the tour, he fell victim to that historical burden- India's aweful record in NZ and overseas in general, and the need to take home something....anything, when a much greater prize lay within his grasp.

You are forgetting it was because of Rain India did not win the last test. India I am sure had done a lot of calculations going into days 4 and 5, but rain did not figure in those calculations.

[Fontaine]

It didn't matter to them that no team had ever chased 530, which was the target at the end of D3 to win a match. It didn't matter either that heavy rain was forecast on D5. At the beginning of the tour, Dhoni had avowed that he wasn't burdened by history- that this was a new team, yet at the end of the tour, he fell victim to that historical burden- India's aweful record in NZ and overseas in general, and the need to take home something....anything, when a much greater prize lay within his grasp.

Don't let the facts get in the way. Dhoni clearly and repeatedly mentioned both in the post match presentation and press conference that taking into the weather forecast for Day 5 the team/staff/coaches expected at least 110 overs. The rain, in the end didn't allow more than 90 odd. http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2843469

"It is bit disappointing not to win this Test. You can't really bank on the weather. With two days of play, we knew it may rain, but at that point of time, it was not certain." Dhoni said. "With the amount of wind that goes around, there was a very good chance that the clouds would have been blown away also. We were quite comfortable batting; if we had got 110-120 overs, we thought we would get them out." He said he expected a minimum of 110 overs to bowl out New Zealand.

And the fact is if the team hadn't dropped three/four chances then New Zealand would have been bowled out even with all the rain breaks, delays and missing most of the fifth day. However, go ahead and blame Dhoni for not being able to correctly and accurately predict the weather, how often his fielders will drop catches, etc, etc,

[graphic23]

More than (what seems now to be a) late declaration, I was disappointed with the way things meandered along in the 3rd session of the 4th day. They weren't letting Taylor get any runs but at the same time, were not attacking him either. Let him get a hundred unnecessarily (not taking anything away from his knock - it was a good one).

[Shehezaada]

Don't let the facts get in the way. Dhoni clearly and repeatedly mentioned both in the post match presentation and press conference that taking into the weather forecast for Day 5 the team/staff/coaches expected at least 110 overs. The rain, in the end didn't allow more than 90 odd. http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=2843469 And the fact is if the team hadn't dropped three/four chances then New Zealand would have been bowled out even with all the rain breaks, delays and missing most of the fifth day. However, go ahead and blame Dhoni for not being able to correctly and accurately predict the weather, how often his fielders will drop catches, etc, etc,

That's not the point. You have to do everything you possibly can to win each and every test match. There was a threat of rain, so you budget for it on the safe side. You give yourself the max amount of time to win the test match, JUST incase the rain comes early. With a lead of 180 runs and another 300 overs to go, could we not have gone out, 3.5 runs an over for 90 overs for an overal lead of 495. No one is gonna chase that down. Particularly a team fighting to draw the series, they are gonna go for the win. Which is where you take the wickets when they play expansive strokes. What was the need of setting a mammoth target of 617. It'll just enable them to shut shop and play the day out, particularly if they know rain is coming. Call it bad tactics, lack of aggressive killer instinct, or whatever. It wasn't smart. I thought as a team we did real well in NZ, winning the test and ODI series. But, we could have won 2-0, instead of hanging on for a 1-0 win.

[Fontaine]

That's not the point. You have to do . . . .

Actually that IS the point. Dhondy was saying that it didn't matter that there was rain forecast for Day 5. All I was stating were the facts, backed up by Dhoni's statements of how HE DID take into account the weather. I don't have any problems with the rest of your post which ofcourse is correct.

[Dhondy]

Don't let the facts get in the way. Dhoni clearly and repeatedly mentioned both in the post match presentation and press conference that taking into the weather forecast for Day 5 the team/staff/coaches expected at least 110 overs. The rain, in the end didn't allow more than 90 odd. And the fact is if the team hadn't dropped three/four chances then New Zealand would have been bowled out even with all the rain breaks, delays and missing most of the fifth day. However, go ahead and blame Dhoni for not being able to correctly and accurately predict the weather, how often his fielders will drop catches, etc, etc,

I despair. Anyway, I'll play along, because I feel strongly about this. Please consider: 1. At the end of D3, india led by 531 runs. Assuming that Dhoni had indeed made allowance for 110 overs, with the rest lost to rain, NZ would have needed to score 4.83 per over to reach the target. This on a ground, where the highest winning score in the 4th innings was 277, scored @ 3.7. The highest 4th innings score in any cause, win, lose or draw was 311, scored @ 3.09. The fastest 4th inngs scoring rate for scores above 100 was 3.62. Yet, he chose to bat on on D4 for 18 more overs and set an impossible target of 617, a decision that came back to haunt him, when NZ held on by the skin of their teeth, eight down on D5, with only 38 overs possible. Keep in mind that in the entire h/o Test cricket, nobody has scored more than 417 to win a match. 2. NZ batted for 94.3 overs. Dhoni budgeted 110. With a spinner operating from one end, that's an hour's play. Are you seriously telling me that Dhoni's win-loss-draw calculations were based on an hour's play? From a position of overwhelming strength, with the opposition on the mat, with fickle weather closing in, whoin his right mind would cut his margin so bloody fine? There's only one answer. Dhoni wasn't thinking about winning at all. His only concern making an Indian loss a mathematical impossibility. If a win thus became a mere probability from an absolute certainty, so be it. 3. Dhoni didn't factor dropped catches? Which captain, given a choice from the catbird seat, to coin a term first used by James Thurber, would be naive enough to base his calculations on the premise that all catches will be taken? Does that ever happen in Test cricket? Laughable excuses. Don't think Dhoni was fooling anybody apart from Fontaine perhaps.

[Shehezaada]

Actually that IS the point. Dhondy was saying that it didn't matter that there was rain forecast for Day 5. All I was stating were the facts, backed up by Dhoni's statements of how HE DID take into account the weather. I don't have any problems with the rest of your post which ofcourse is correct.

He did take into account the weather Fontaine...but I don't think he did it too accurately. I think you have to go worst case scenario when dealing with things like rain, stuff that's not in your control. He should have assumed that the entire day would have been washed out, or something a lot more drastic and then made changes to the team's gameplan. If he had done that, we could have won 2-0. I think what Dhoni did was not think ahead and was a mistake, but not a HUGE one. Knowing the thinking cricketer he is, I'm sure he'll take it into his stride and learn from it.

[Fontaine]

I despair. Anyway, I'll play along, because I feel strongly about this. Please consider: 1. At the end of D3, india led by 531 runs. Assuming that Dhoni had indeed made allowance for 110 overs, with the rest lost to rain, NZ would have needed to score 4.83 per over to reach the target. This on a ground, where the highest winning score in the 4th innings was 277, scored @ 3.7. The highest 4th innings score in any cause, win, lose or draw was 311, scored @ 3.09. The fastest 4th inngs scoring rate for scores above 100 was 3.62. Yet, he chose to bat on on D4 for 18 more overs and set an impossible target of 617, a decision that came back to haunt him, when NZ held on by the skin of their teeth, eight down on D5, with only 38 overs possible. Keep in mind that in the entire h/o Test cricket, nobody has scored more than 417 to win a match. 2. NZ batted for 94.3 overs. Dhoni budgeted 110. With a spinner operating from one end, that's an hour's play. Are you seriously telling me that Dhoni's win-loss-draw calculations were based on an hour's play? From a position of overwhelming strength, with the opposition on the mat, with fickle weather closing in, whoin his right mind would cut his margin so bloody fine? There's only one answer. Dhoni wasn't thinking about winning at all. His only concern making an Indian loss a mathematical impossibility. If a win thus became a mere probability from an absolute certainty, so be it. 3. Dhoni didn't factor dropped catches? Which captain, given a choice from the catbird seat, to coin a term first used by James Thurber, would be naive enough to base his calculations on the premise that all catches will be taken? Does that ever happen in Test cricket?

I don't have a problem with anything you've said here EXCEPT for your original statement where you said:

It didn't matter to them that no team had ever chased 530, which was the target at the end of D3 to win a match. It didn't matter either that heavy rain was forecast on D5.

How many times do I have to point that out? I haven't defended his decision but somehow you think I'm supporting his declaration. What garbage. It's clear from what Dhoni said that IT DID MATTER. His calcualtions were primarily based on the rain on D5 so for you to say that "it didn't matter . . . . " is just nonsense. That's all I'm saying and if you can't understand this simple point then forget it. PS Who's talking about just one hour's extra play? Dhoni budgeted for a minimum of 110 overs but again you read into things the way you want to hear them.

[Shehezaada]

I don't have a problem with anything you've said here EXCEPT for your original statement where you said: How many times do I have to point that out? I haven't defended his decision but somehow you think I'm supporting his declaration. What garbage. It's clear from what Dhoni said that IT DID MATTER. His calcualtions were primarily based on the rain on D5 so for you to say that "it didn't matter . . . . " is just nonsense. That's all I'm saying and if you can't understand this simple point then forget it. PS Who's talking about just one hour's extra play? Dhoni budgeted for a minimum of 110 overs but again you read into things the way you want to hear them.

in any case without threat of rain without anything, we should have bowled them out within 95 overs. I think as the victory became certain we lost our intensity.

[Fontaine]

in any case without threat of rain without anything' date=' we should have bowled them out within 95 overs. I think as the victory became certain we lost our intensity.[/quote'] In any case? Now it's in any case? First you accuse Dhoni by saying it didn't matter about the weather now you say they should have bowled them out. Talk about revisionist history. When you accuse a captain of being so negligent that he ignored the imminent weather forecast you're essentially calling him a bum, a crappy captain. You might as well call him Chris Gayle. Thankfully you're assertion wasn't factual.

[Lord]

In any case? Now it's in any case? First you accuse Dhoni by saying it didn't matter about the weather now you say they should have bowled them out. Talk about revisionist history. When you accuse a captain of being so negligent that he ignored the imminent weather forecast you're essentially calling him a bum, a crappy captain. You might as well call him Chris Gayle. Thankfully you're assertion wasn't factual.

but the point is he budgeted for 110 overs,he could easily have atleast 20 more overs,no?

[Fontaine]

but the point is he budgeted for 110 overs' date='he could easily have atleast 20 more overs,no?[/quote'] Yes ofcourse, that's why Dhoni said MINIMUM of 110 overs. He was counting on a lot more and better fielding. Personally I just believe if you drop 6 catches over two innings then you don't deserve to win and that's what happened.

[Shehezaada]

In any case? Now it's in any case? First you accuse Dhoni by saying it didn't matter about the weather now you say they should have bowled them out. Talk about revisionist history. When you accuse a captain of being so negligent that he ignored the imminent weather forecast you're essentially calling him a bum, a crappy captain. You might as well call him Chris Gayle. Thankfully you're assertion wasn't factual.

Fontaine I think you misunderstood my second point here. It's not Dhoni's fault we lost, it's a collective team failure. Dhoni takes the blame for being too defensive, and the team takes the blame for dropping catches. I'm not disagreeing with you when you say that Dhoni did budget for rain. And I'm not blaming Dhoni squarely for not winning, it's the team's fault. Winning and losing are games are for teams. The success or disappointment never go to JUST the captain.