Opinion: India proved bench-strength

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It's true that Australia suffered their third straight Test defeat but it is still too early to call Ponting's head. More... Thursday 14th October 2010 India proved bench-strength It's true that Australia suffered their third straight Test defeat but it is still too early to call Ponting's head. By Ayanjit Sen To start with, cricket was sandwiched in the chaos surrounding the Commonwealth Games and the court verdicts on Ayodhya. The “aam-aadmi” – India’s self-styled cricket experts - suddenly seemed to be more excited over the cobras found in the Games village and spoke more on prospects of nation overhauling their previous best show at 2006 Melbourne than talking about reverse swing that bamboozled the visitors from Down Under. The hype around the Border-Gavaskar Trophy was killed - and the two-Test match format made it snappy and abrupt, more of a pre-Ashes show for the Aussies - but it allowed the cricket, and the performance to build its own significance. The 2-0 scoreline in the series doesn’t reflect the intensity of the contest, or the historic escape of Mohali - yes, India have retained the Trophy, yes the Aussies are defeated but no, the visitors certainly aren’t disgraced. Australia arrived with doubts in their mind - not about security, certainly not for the cricketers in India but for resting couple of prime Ashes contenders and a few who didn’t join them till the 11th hour of the series. Kangaroos depart from India with a slight headache with their spin spearhead Nathan Hauritz and their deputy Michael Clarke in distress over lack of form. Having said all that, it’s the skipper who will face the maximum heat. Swords are already out as Oz media has already taken their knives out against the Aussie captain. Arguably, Ponting has been one of Australia’s most successful captains but is he their greatest captain ever? Maybe not. He is more of a 'street-fighter' and has lacked the tactical flair that some of his predecessors had. But, not giving him a chance to lead the side in the upcoming Ashes will not be the right step. Australia has lost the series to India but placing the blame entirely on Ponting is unfair. India though, besides strengthening their ranking up front also showcased formidable bench strength. For India, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara have had contrasting forays into the international scene - the latter had to plead his case repeatedly with heavy load of runs in domestic circuit for a breakthrough. Vijay has had a cruise with an out of the blue call-up two season back, and ventured into all formats successfully, though he remained a perennial back-up guy. India’s biggest gain from the series is the emergence of a bench who showed their strength with Pragyan Ojha also doing his bit when lead spinner Harbhajan Singh limped in playing his part. India showed all virtues of Test cricket, and with a sharp brain behind the wickets in MSD, India cleverly suffocated the opposition and attacked in guerrilla style. Sachin Tendulkar was at his sublime best, his appetite intact while the veterans - Rahul Dravid, Laxman, Zaheer Khan - showed they still remain the best in business. Ishant, despite his ragged form early, backed up Zaheer’s reverse and conventional swing with a spell that rocked the Australians. It’s exciting time ahead for Test match cricket. Indian seniors are leading the way, and the youngsters have shown the intent and ability to follow on their path and keep India firmly perched at the top.

[achilles]

You should work hard on your improving yourself. Empty vessels make a lot of noise, but its the quiet ones who make it big. Our Indian boys like keeping it simple and let the bat do the talking. Its admirable and the bench-strength shows that opportunities are grabbed and made big into.

[Andy]

Our benchstrength has been too good so far in test matches. Why is it so bad in ODI's? wrong players at wrong place?

[ZodiaC]

Our benchstrength has been too good so far in test matches. Why is it so bad in ODI's? wrong players at wrong place?

Wrong choices.

[putrevus]

Our benchstrength has been too good so far in test matches. Why is it so bad in ODI's? wrong players at wrong place?

if jadeja and Nohit Sharma are in team how can odi team be better.

[fineleg]

Our benchstrength has been too good so far in test matches. Why is it so bad in ODI's? wrong players at wrong place?

Selectors and team management need to stop selecting mediocre players in the name of 'allrounder' or 'stylish class'

[fineleg]

Risky singles (or ones into twos) in Test matches! I think as far as the Indian team is concerned, Murali Vijay, Gambhir and Sehwag are the main batsmen who take risky singles in Test matches. (in that order - M.Vijay the riskiest, then GG and then Viru). Totally needless. Is it that they are still in the ODI/T20 mode? Is that what is causing them to do this? Or is it at the top of the order, there is nervousness when the innings starts? - so they are over enthusiastic to rotate the strike? I ask that since all three who do this are "opening" batsmen! (Sometimes even SRT or Dravid do this - for example, SRT tried extremely risky on 199, and was sent back by Dhoni). But these 3 do it a lot more. Especially, M.Vijay and then GG tap it straight to the in-cordon fielder and run. Thats crazy even in ODI, leave alone Test cricket.

[Online]

thooo ninna

[Sir john]

laxman and dravid are lazy runners.:winky:

[fineleg]

laxman and dravid are lazy runners.:winky:

The thing is they KNOW they are slow. So, most often they wont even attempt a difficult single, here we are talking abt the risky singles. :winky:

thooo ninna

poda punnaaku!

[Gunner_Mania]

Finey - Vetti Officera?

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Opinion: India's happy headache After the Bangalore Test it is tempting to say, “I have seen the future and it works.” Murali Vijay and Cheteswar Pujara played big roles in the win. More... Monday 18th October 2010 Opinion: India's happy headache After the Bangalore Test it is tempting to say, “I have seen the future and it works.” Murali Vijay and Cheteswar Pujara played big roles in the win. By Suresh Menon The former is 26 and the latter 22, but both came into Test cricket the old fashioned way, with tons of runs in domestic and other first class matches. There was a phase during the match when the two were batting together after Pujara was sent in at one-drop. This was some serious on-the-job training for the person likely to take over from Rahul Dravid sometime in the future. Meanwhile, it is possible that neither will play India’s next Test. Both Gautam Gambhir and V V S Laxman are set to return, leaving the Indian selectors with a headache that can only be described as sweet and welcome. They have not often been in this position. Nor have they had to be in the years when the middle order was buttoned up by one of finest set of batsmen in the history of the game, and later the opening slots fell into place with the arrival of Gambhir. Both Murali and Pujara began as batsmen with a strong defence. That is old fashioned too. In no other sport can you use that phrase as a compliment. If you called Raphael Nadal old fashioned, he might sue you for it would invoke pictures of wooden racquets and trousers. But in cricket, especially after the arrival of Twenty20, the old fashioned Test player is a rare gem. You only have to think Laxman and Dravid to get the picture, and which youngster would not love the comparison? You could throw cold water on such enthusiasm by pointing out that this was probably the poorest Australian side sent out to India in recent years. The bowling was weak, the batting was over-reliant on Ricky Ponting and the fielding – and this was the most surprising of all – was ragged. Overthrows were gifted away, and it is possible that if Hauritz had walked up to the wicketkeeper at a crucial stage, Murali might have been run out; had he lobbed the ball, he would certainly have been. Instead he chose to throw down the wicket and gave away some 250 runs. One of the most expensive overthrows in the game. Suddenly, Sachin Tendulkar seems to have made everything ridiculously easy. Fifty Test match hundreds are just round the corner, as are 100 international centuries, figures that were thought impossible till the other day. Now it might even happen before the end of this year! His decision to sit out the one-dayers means he will get precious little match practice before the World Cup, but in his Second Coming he has been batting with such command and enjoyment that it might not matter. Not in the season when he scored the format’s first double century! The bowling might be a problem, though. Sreeshanth did just enough in the second innings in Bangalore to suggest he had not completely lost it, merely misplaced it temporarily. Zaheer Khan continues to be the spearhead since Harbhajan Singh is inconsistent, although the off spinner looked very good when he flighted the ball to the Australians, who, strangely enough misread the length too often for it to be a coincidence. This is an excellent time for a tour of South Africa (coming up in December), where despite our obvious batting strengths in the recent past we haven’t won a Test series. It will separate the men from the boys, and tell us where the recent successes (including Suresh Raina who began with a century on debut in Sri Lanka) stand in comparison to the stalwarts who will still be in the team.

[vaibhav_delhi]

I would honestly take Puraja over Raina in playing XI in SA if I were indian captain although I like Raina alot.