Board President's XI v Australians at Chandigarh - Sep 25-27, 2010 - Match Thread

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BP XI vs Aus : After bowlers, batsmen too put up a flop show Shashank Manohar has every right to be embarrassed. A team bearing his name, the Board President’s XI, allowed the Australians to score 505, making the pitch appear placid, and promptly slumped to 53 for five. They eventually limped to 143 for six, but the damage had been done. More... After bowlers, batsmen too put up a flop show Ashish.Magotra Posted On Sunday, September 26, 2010 As Cheteshwar Pujara walked in to bat, the press box sparked to life. In the lead-up to the match, much of the talk had been centered on the Saurashtra batsman who had pushed Yuvraj Singh out of the Test team. The selectors had argued that this was payback for the tons of runs that he had scored in the domestic circuit. Even the batsman himself knew that a good knock against the Australians would put all arguments to rest at least for the time being. But that ‘good knock’ never materialized. And on a pitch that Board President’s XI skipper Gautam Gambhir had described as good for batting, Pujara departed after scoring 9 runs off 28 balls in 42 minutes. He got a good working out by the Aussies with plenty of short deliveries dished out but his fate was sealed the moment Mitchell Johnson decided to put in some extra effort. The ball, bowled from wide of the crease, came off the pitch quicker and Pujara’s bat came down too late. The bails flew a good 20 metres or so and by the time they hit the ground, Pujara was already on his way back. Not alone His fate was shared by the BP XI top-order as the Australian bowlers showed that there was life in the pitch that the Indian bowlers had made look so placid. At close of play on day two, BP XI was an embarrassing 143 for 6 – their top order having departed without so much as a squeak. Piyush Chawla’s unbeaten 64 was the only saving grace. Gautam Gambhir lasted eight balls, hit one sweetly timed four and then tamely edged an awkward delivery that reared of a good length from Ben Hilfenhaus to the keeper Tim Paine. A couple of balls later, Ajinkya Rahane went in much the same manner – only difference being that he was caught by Shane Watson at first slip instead. Shikhar Dhawan followed next and when Saurabh Tiwary joined his seniors in the dressing room, the procession had almost become a rout. BP XI were tottering at 53 for 5. Ojha shines Earlier in the day, the selectors had some reason to smile. S Sreesanth looked to have shaken the rust a bit. His line shifted closer to the bat and he managed to get the ball to leave the batsmen nicely. But it was Pragyan Ojha who dismissed Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke in one over who stood out. He stemmed the flow of runs and extracted quite a bit of turn from the wicket. His final figures of 33.3-9-67-3 will have certainly given the team management something to think about. By implication, Amit Mishra would be the team’s second spinner when the first Test starts. However, Ojha’s controlled performance asked all the right questions of the Aussies. And if the Indians have to look at any gain from this game, Ojha’s bowling it was. I asked myself whether I was really in the Test squad: Sree It is rare to see Sreesanth shy away from a confrontation. But on day one of the Board President’s XI’s match against the Australians, that is what he was actually doing. The knee injury had left him feeling unsure of himself and that showed in his bowling. He consistently kept the ball wide of the batsmen and sprayed it down the leg-side more than just a couple of times. It got so bad that the doubts started to foster once again. “Yesterday when I went back, I was really, really worried. I asked myself whether I was really in the Test squad. I would like to forget yesterday if possible. But then today morning maybe I got off the right side of the bed,” said Sreesanth. “Yesterday, I was struggling a bit. I was rusty. The mind was there but not the body. I was really struggling to get it right. I could get one or two outswingers but not consistent at all. Today I managed to find a good rhythm. In the team meeting, I was told to attack the stumps and that’s what I did.” The fact that someone needed to tell Sreesanth to attack that stumps clearly shows how tough it was for him in the middle. Yesterday, though, he managed to get it right towards the close of play and even though the Aussies’ attempts to rattle him didn’t get much out of him. “I hardly speak now. After the county days, the old talking sreesanth is gone now. I think it’s about performance now. Much more friendlier but effective approach. If I can hit the right areas then I shouldn’t be talking. I should be taking wickets and that’s what I hope to be doing.”

[Chandan]

So BP XI's inning finally came to an end on 177 and curiously enough, it was Ponting who came out to open with Watson in the second inning instead of Katich. Maybe, he wanted to get good batting practice! But Unadkat didn't let his plan materialize and dismissed him for just 9 runs. But once again the two seamers are belted ruthlessly by Watson and Clarke. They must be off target again, not learning anything from their first inning failure!!

[SachDan]

India- Australia series. Cricinfo live chat http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/content/current/story/478570.html

[saneindian]

A certain Rahul Dravid who was doing very well in domestic cricket had similar failures against the West Indians playing for BP 11 in 1994. Questions were raised on his ability to play genuine pace. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/59/59670.html Next year, playing for the same BP 11 vs the Kiwis, Dravid scored 145* and never looked back. http://cricketarchive.com/Archive/Scorecards/61/61159.html Lets not write off Pujara after one failure.

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Hilfenhaus leads Aussie charge BEN Hilfenhaus' five wickets helped Australia fire out the Indian Board President's XI for 177 on the final day of the tour match in Chandigarh. More...

[Chalks]

Massively dislike this coming series. BCCI :yousuck:.

[Sachinism]

Watto gets tons in both innings :nervous:

[Sachinism]

Good partnership by Rahane and Pujara 75 off 17 overs

[Sachinism]

106/0 in 23

[putrevus]

Yeah' date=' let's hope it was just the sheer superiority of quality of bowling being faced for the first time that caught him out and that he improves in time. The alternative, of our most hyped young batsman turning out to be a typical Indian flat track bully hopefully doesn't materialize...:(([/quote'] Dont just pass judgements on any young kid after one innings, remember what Sehwag said after his first knock in ODI against Akthar, he said he just could not see the ball, at that Akthar's pace he just did not have any chance he worked on his game and rest is history.

[saneindian]

Looks like the first innings was a minor abberation. Sanity has returned to the proceedings now. 130/0, in 28 overs, Rahane 88* (94), Pujara 37* (76)

[Gunner_Mania]

Just more ammunition to the persistent rumour that we should play our second innings first:P

[Sir john]

end of match.

[Sachinism]

Rahane ends up with a ton, striking at >100 :congrats:

[Sachinism]

Oh damn just realised Dhawan had retired hurt in the 2nd innings. Was wondering why Pujara was opening. Anyone know what happened?

[Gunner_Mania]

CI says there were Min 2 more overs remaining today. Chintu would have scored a half century. I smell a conspiracy :hitler:

[Sooda]

Not bad from Rahane, opening the innings too. The Aus bowlers werent taking their foot off the gas were they?? Imrpoved show from Chawla too apparently. The Aus middle order dosent seem to be in stonking form which is good news.

[The Dark Horse]

:two_thumbs_up:Rahane

[Guest Gunner]

Y'all need to chill, unless there is bad weather we will beat the aussies 2-0. They would be lucky to hold on to a draw.

[Sachinism]