Second test Day 1 discussions

[The Outsider]

I watched a bit of the match - before lunch and another hour or so before close. The pitch did not come across as a completely dead dodo. There was a bit of carry and movement for the fast bowlers early on and there was consistent turn for the spinners. It's our pathetic bowling attack which is to blame. A par score at the end of the first day should have been something like 290/4. There is simply no consistency or bowling to a field concept in our bowling. Ishant is still specializing in getting teams off to flying starts. He looks to have made a half decent comeback later on, but it's too little too late. On these kind of surfaces it's imperative to get 2-3 opposition wickets before lunch, or at the very least block off their runs. Mithun is new and too much can't be expected of his limited abilities anyways. What can one say about Harbhajan and Ojha. Ojha is simply not test class. He is a pathetic wheelie bin along the lines of Ashley Giles. At least Giles was able to control the run flow at times. Batsmen just milk him around like a freaking cow. And Harbhajan? Wicketless in the series so far, and worse has not looked like picking one. Yes he was not completely fit for the first test. What about here? He is perhaps getting confused that a good strike rate in tests is a wicket every 60 deliveries and not every 60 overs. It will be tough haul for our batsmen to save the test now. Huge ask. One can only hope that Mendis and Randiv bowl as ineffectively as our spinners and we don't end up gifting wickets to their fast bowlers.

[Mr. Wicket]

I watched most of the day's play (yes, pathetic, I know) and wouldn't agree entirely with your characterization of the wicket. There was a touch of movement early in the day and perhaps a bit of moisture that allowed the ball to grip a touch, but in the afternoon session there seemed to be barely any turn or purchase for the bowlers and it looked pretty flat. In the evening the spinners started to get some turn in the rough left by the quicks well outside the left handers' off stumps, and made it even more frustrating that Amit Mishra (who would actually be able to exploit that) is sitting on the bench. The pitch and conditions are no excuse for the bowling. Ishant's direction was disgraceful - looked about as motivated and aggressive as Steve Harmison on one of his off days, with about 10 kmh less speed! Mithun was fairly bland, tried hard but he lacks both the guile, variety in his bowling arsenal and pace or trajectory to be effective. Your comments on the spinners are on the mark. Shocking that Ojha is trundling in like Giles while our most attacking spinner is sitting on the bench. Was a telling comment that straight after lunch, Dhoni allowed Sehwag to continue bowling instead of the specialists. I do have faith in our batting to do well on this surface, at least in the first innings - which will be critical to avoid following on and keep odds of a loss lower. The ball hasn't been swinging much, the bounce is very even right now and I just hope that we will not produce the same idiotic mistakes we did last time in Colombo - collapsing to straight or incoming balls from Dammika Prasad.

[The Realist]

It's the lethargy and lack of planning which really gets to me. You need early wickets in any format but if you can't do that then at least keep it tight and get the batsmen taking risks. India even lack the basics, you wonder what on earth goes on in coaching sessions. Sharma has to be the one of the stupidest cricketers I have ever seen, just runs up and bowls, gets smashed, runs up bowls and repeat. Mithun is a novice. Ojha not a test bowler - no variety or variation in bowling. And for someone in his early 20s the lack of fitness is shocking. Singh appears to get worse every test he plays. Just looks past it with no hunger or desire. Should be leading the attack but lacking in so many areas. Would not get into England's team but Swann would walk into the Indian squad. It is depressing watching India play thesedays as there is no chink of light ahead.

[Fontaine]

I agree with the solid posts above. The shocking thing was the nature of the fast bowlers line and length. There was almost no consistency and Ishant couldn't bowl two deliveries in a row in the same area either with the first or second new ball. I never expected a bowling attack with either Ishant/Mithun to run through the batting lineup on a pitch like this but I DID expect some basic, rudimentary level of skill like bowling on the offstump line with the new ball to at least put pressure on the batsmen. It's not rocket science. You land the ball on the right length that makes it different for batsmen to play forward or back and you hope for the best. These guys didn't come close to doing that. No one expect hit the deck type bowlers to seam/swing the ball greatly but Ishant couldn't even hit the deck hard at all let alone be consistent. The less said about the spin the better. Ojha is not skilled and Bhajji averages 72 in this ground. Not to mention he looked completely harmless and useless. It's like he bowls without a brain. He's got years and years of experience but it's pretty clear batsmen have figured him out. Attack him early and don't let him settle and Bhajji tucks his tail between his legs like a submissive dog.

[-007-]

The pitch is nothing different to what Indians has when SL toured last time ,It's just that India hasn't got any venom in the bowling . It is sad that when couple of bowlers get injured India has no backup plans for that

[Jersey #10]

I have failed to understand time and time again the difference between Indian and SL pitches. Most subcontinent pitches look the same.

[zen]

1. Since we usually go in with 2 pacers + 2 spinners line up, we are on the backfoot once we bowl first. The first session of the first day should be about 3 pacers bowling and going for wkts 2. We have ODI type of bowlers bowing in test. As someone rightly said we need to play a wkt taking spinner in tests. Doesn't matter if he goes for runs 3. You pick up wkts when you try to pick up wkts (so simply) and not by trying to stop the flow of runs. What pressure does the side have to score quickly on day 1? (esp when it is 1-0 up). Someone needs to sit down with the bowlers and ask them to go for wkts. think abt picking up wkts, .... 4. If you go in with 4 bowlers it should be 3 seamers and 1 spinner unless the wkt is an absolute turner. If you want to play 2 spinners on normal surfaces, you pick a bowling all-rounder

[Fontaine]

Sharma has to be the one of the stupidest cricketers I have ever seen' date=' just runs up and bowls, gets smashed, runs up bowls and repeat.[/quote'] Young bowlers always need senior bowlers and good coaching to tell them where to bowl, what to expect from the pitch, how to target batsmen. The BCCI don't have a dedicated bowling coach in the NCA. The BCCI banned players from attending the MRF. The BCCI fired Prasad and have still found no long term suitable replacement. And now with Zaheer injured there's no one there to instruct Sharma when things go wrong. But why should these things matter to the BCCI when they're far too busy counting the amount of money coming in from countless ODI/T20 matches?

[ZodiaC]

Agree with you on most of the points. Yeah, there was a bit of turn later on, and good carry through to the keeper. However the line was really awkward, and it was a blunder trying to hit the footmarks which are way way wide instead of bowling tight line. I bet bowling straight with a moderately aggressive field would've prompted Sanga to go for it, atleast in the earlier part of the innings. He obviously went for one after they bowled a tight line, even in the later part of his innings. Pacers were a joke, barring some balls here and there. Also, as I said, they should've brought in the slips a lot more closer, that would've helped to scalp an early wicket. You gotta make sure you stick to even half chances in such a wicket with a mediocre bowling attack.

[The Outsider]

There was almost no consistency and Ishant couldn't bowl two deliveries in a row in the same area either with the first or second new ball. I never expected a bowling attack with either Ishant/Mithun to run through the batting lineup on a pitch like this but I DID expect some basic, rudimentary level of skill like bowling on the offstump line with the new ball to at least put pressure on the batsmen.

This is the most troubling aspect. In the first hour, Mithun was troubling the batsmen occasionally. Yes, it was occasional but if it was backed up with common sense tight bowling at both ends a wicket would have come. One just has to look at how McGrath and Gillespie bowled on the '04 tour to India as the perfect example to bowl in such conditions. They would have intelligent field placings and keep on putting the ball according to the field ball after ball, over after over. They did not get any extravagant swing, but were consistently able to pick up wickets. Modern batsmen, even the really good ones, don't have the temperament to bat out 8-10 overs scoring nothing. They'll make a mistake in their shot selection, which is going to give you a wicket. However, if one keeps on giving the boundary ball every over, the occasions on which you have beaten the bat come to nothing.

[ZodiaC]

Another interesting point, as the commies said, is that Sharma bowls with a scrambled seam position, instead of an upright one. He needs to hit the seam consistently and the new ball for sure, will have movement. He should work on that, his pace seems pretty good now.

[Fontaine]

This is the most troubling aspect. In the first hour, Mithun was troubling the batsmen occasionally. Yes, it was occasional but if it was backed up with common sense tight bowling at both ends a wicket would have come. One just has to look at how McGrath and Gillespie bowled on the '04 tour to India as the perfect example to bowl in such conditions. They would have intelligent field placings and keep on putting the ball according to the field ball after ball, over after over. They did not get any extravagant swing, but were consistently able to pick up wickets.

Exactly. The new ball is the key and the only way to take wickets on a road like this is bowling that tight line each over and hitting that magical length. Especially with Ishant because with his height and high arm action ALL he needs to do is hit that right length and batsmen will always find that difficult. That and none of our bowlers, NOT ONE can bowl to lefties. Zaheer is the only one, the rest are clueless. Oh and Bhajji sucks by the way. I'm sure he'll pick up a five wicket haul on a completely turning track on the 4th or 5th day some time soon and live off that hollow victory for another year. This Singh is definitely no King. In fact, in this case, this singh very much bowls like a queen.

[asterix]

"Well Offcourse"...

[Gunner_Mania]

Young bowlers always need senior bowlers and good coaching to tell them where to bowl, what to expect from the pitch, how to target batsmen. And now with Zaheer injured there's no one there to instruct Sharma when things go wrong.

Eric Simmons may not be worth the paper his contract is written on, but I am sure he and the other entourage of computer analysts that travel with the team can tell Ishant what he is doing wrong. He bowled tripe on the first day at Galle but was better on the second day, so its just a case of the bowler not having anything between his ears that tells him to do consistently something that he has the ability. Doesnt matter how many bowling coaches we employ, none of them are thinking bowlers.

[Fontaine]

Eric Simmons may not be worth the paper his contract is written on, but I am sure he and the other entourage of computer analysts that travel with the team can tell Ishant what he is doing wrong. He bowled tripe on the first day at Galle but was better on the second day, so its just a case of the bowler not having anything between his ears that tells him to do consistently something that he has the ability. Doesnt matter how many bowling coaches we employ, none of them are thinking bowlers.

Yes it very easily could be Ishant isn't capable of bowling intelligently or it could be a case that there's some issue, physical or mental that's preventing him from being consistent. And no, a part time, trial bowling coach isn't going to fix that. A bowling coach needs to know everything about the bowler from his limitations, bowling action, the local conditions and a heap of other factors and be able to suggest a possible course of actions. Showing a wayward bowler tons of statistical data telling him he was inconsistent and crap is just another way of telling him he bowled rubbish. Not fixing the problem.

[Jersey #10]

We need no coach

[kabira]

Pitch is flat and will go slower and flatter so spinners will have no effect. Man we miss Kumble :)

[kabira]

our seamers have to go tomorrow and think of taking 2 wickets before lunch preferably Sanga and Jaya. We did well to restrict them today. At one point way Sanga and opener were going it seemed they will scored 360 in a day.

[Fontaine]

Only a few months after Kirsten was hired he flatly said that there's needs to be a rotational policy for fast bowlers so that they don't get injured and so that you can give young bowlers a chance to mature and learn. But two years later there's still no rotational policy in place, not enough resources dedicated to supporting young fast bowlers. Instead the BCCI has done the opposite. Packed schedules of useless T20/ODI cricket where the same bowlers are overbowled, while we don't have dedicated bowling coaches in the NCA and the MRF is banned.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

bowling on subcontinental pitches is all about discipline and our bowlers dont have it unfortunately. there was only one good length and a line you could bowl on this pitch - especially to the left hander, which was the ball landing middle and leg and going away. mithun did it with some consistency but ishant at the other end was relieving the pressure so the batsmen never found it difficult. aside from the bowling, i really didnt like dhoni's captaincy. his field settings were always reactive, not proactive, and he didnt seem to have any real plan for dismissing these guys. i still think a high scoring draw is on, since the pitch is only gonna get better for batting but its shame to see a series win slip away like this.