Jump to content

Lords test 2011 : Predictions and discussion

anotherhawkeye

By anotherhawkeye
in Cricket Talk

Recommended Posts

akshayxyz Newbie

akshayxyz

Posted
Posted

easier to say - but the reason we are staring at defeat is that (i guess) our batsmen were batting with the mindset of 'saving the match'. They should have thought like - let me score a 20-30-50-100 here - w/o thinking about - "40 overs to save the match...". From here on also, the match can be saved only if Raina and Bhajji (and others) play with the mindset of setting personal targets for runs - avoiding getting in the shell.

Link to comment
Sachinism Newbie

Sachinism

Posted
Posted

What could go wrong, went wrong - Dhoni So, who is to blame for India's defeat? Could you blame MS Dhoni for putting England in to bat? Could you blame India's senior batsmen for playing shots that, to the distant eye, seemed unnecessary? Could you blame Harbhajan Singh for yet again failing to have an impact on a match? Could you blame the under-preparedness of the India players, most of whom were struggling to come to terms with conditions right form the practice match in Somerset? Dhoni himself blamed the misfortune of losing Zaheer Khan, his strike bowler, to a hamstring injury on the first afternoon. He blamed the absence of a third bowler who could assist Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar. He blamed a surface that did not assist turn on the first two days and relegated his lead spinner Harbhajan to playing the role of a sandbag for Kevin Pietersen in the first innings. He blamed the circumstances that forced the batting order to be completely reshuffled in the second innings. "Most of the things that could have gone wrong in the game went wrong. It was tough for both the bowlers and the batsmen," Dhoni said with a resigned look at the media conference. The biggest turning point of the Test came on the first afternoon when Zaheer stopped mid-stride and then trailed off into the dressing room with a hamstring injury. It was a bad setback for Zaheer, who was starting to dominate the England batsmen. He had even got rid of the England openers Andrew Strauss and Alastair Cook. In Zaheer's absence, England marched away confidently and Pietersen rode roughshod over an Indian bowling attack comprising two fast bowlers who were playing their maiden Test in England, and a spinner who had been rendered impotent by the conditions. "It became quite tough for us after losing Zaheer Khan on the first day," Dhoni said. "It was very difficult to bowl with three bowlers. The pitch did not take too much turn on the first two days and we did not have too many options. So it was quite difficult in terms of resources." Both Praveen and Ishant toiled hard in Zaheer's absence, and improved as the game went on. Praveen recovered from first-morning-Lord's nerves to bounce back with controlled swing and bag a maiden five-for in the first innings, and then Ishant injected a renewed sense of purpose into India with an energetic spell of seam bowling in the first session on the penultimate day. But unlike England, India missed out on a third seamer, which Dhoni said made all the difference. "We just needed that one extra bowler and things could've been different but it is something that you can't really do anything about as injuries happen." Harbhajan, who is India's most-experienced bowler, wore a deflated look for most of the Test and his match figures of 56-4-218-1 only raised questions about his position as lead spinner. But Dhoni was not bothered. "I saw a lot of improvement [in Harbhajan]. He bowled a lot slower in this game. It was slightly tough on him especially when Pietersen got set and started going after the spinner. There was no turn to deceive the batsman. But I was really impressed with the pace at which Harbhajan bowled. As the series progresses, it will be really interesting to see him bowl at some of the venues which are known to assist spin." With their bowling in a shambles, India's chances of escaping the first Test with a draw hinged exclusively on their vaunted batting order. No batsman, barring Rahul Dravid, lasted long enough in the first innings. On the last morning, India were 378 runs adrift of the huge target set by England. In the absence of Virender Sehwag, a victory was unimaginable. A draw, though, was possible, especially in conditions that were tough but not unplayable. Yet the highest partnership in the second innings was 75 runs, between Dravid and VVS Laxman for the second wicket, closely followed by the 60-run alliance between Dhoni and Suresh Raina for the sixth wicket. While England had three 100-plus stands in the match, India had none. Dhoni defended his batsmen, pointing to the fact that an injury to Gautam Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar suffering from an illness had forced a reshuffle in the batting order. "Yes, we could have done with one more partnership from the top batsmen. But it was tough because most of our batsmen were batting in different slots from their original number. Rahul opened, Sachin batted at a different number, Gautam batted at a different number. That also added pressure." Another thing Dhoni said the India batsmen struggled to come to terms with was the inconsistent bounce. "As the Test match progressed, what we saw was variable bounce which meant we couldn't really leave deliveries on length, saying it was a three-quarter length delivery and it would go over the stumps. So more often than not we were forced to play deliveries and we chased them." Comparing the Lord's track to what he encountered on India's tour in 2007, when he helped save the first Test for India with an unbeaten half-century, Dhoni claimed the bounce was more even four years ago. "This time there were many occasions when the ball did not comfortably travel to the keeper so the variable bounce did have an impact." http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-india-2011/content/current/story/524756.html Not many people have talked about the batting order being messed around with, but its a huge thing, we always talk about how players can't fit into the team because of the composition and they won't be able to play their spot as its secured by someone else. Now in the second innings we have to totally change that, its makes a big difference. Usually we have VVS coming down the order, who is good at sheparding the tail, but had to bat up the order. Dravid was forced to open. And all the other things Dhoni mentioned. It may sound like excuses, but to ignore how much of an impact these things had would just be being dishonest with yourself

Link to comment
King Newbie

King

Posted
Posted

Batting has been dismal, plenty has been said about bowling but Praveen Kumar, Ishant and Zak (when available) did a fair job. Harbhajan was the weak link but given the conditions Bhajji was not going to be lethal in any case. Batting has shown signs of what it used to be in the 90s, one or two batsmen doing bulk of scoring. Certainly not a good thing. Still this is a long series, India will come back with the bat as well I'm sure. The Dhonis, Tendulkars and Gambhirs need to fire as well in one of the inning if not both. Not too concerned aboout Dravid and Laxman, they have been playing good cricket of late and were part of the test squad in West Indies. India desperately need Sehwag :pray:

Link to comment
punjabiplaya Newbie

punjabiplaya

Posted
Posted
If your star bowler is unfit and has a belly you cant really blame bad luck' date=' its inevitable[/quote'] harsh....dont like what your saying serani...but unfortunately you have a valid point! why isnt zaheer in tip top condition,why isnt he setting a good example to the rest of the bowlers in the team?we had england struggling,if he was fit and got injured fair enough,but cos hes in his comfort zone like most of the indian team...he was being selfish, turned up not 100% fit,so the rest of the team suffered,and the team lost!!! steve waughs book out of my comfort zone is brilliant,he pushed himself and became the best,some of our players need a good kick up the backside,they need to take a good hard look at themselves(and tummys to as serani says)and see if they are really giving 100%! they need to remember how hungry they were when they first came into the indian team,they need to see how passionate us fans are,we love our team india,we demand profesionalism, we dont like losing,but if you did your best and were prepared and was beaten by the better team on the day,they hey thats cricket,but when players are overweight unfit,or not here because they played in the ipl because of money then we fans will ask questions and i feel we have thats right!!!!:agree:
Link to comment
Roshanrocks Newbie

Roshanrocks

Posted
Posted
Harbhajan, who is India's most-experienced bowler, wore a deflated look for most of the Test and his match figures of 56-4-218-1 only raised questions about his position as lead spinner. But Dhoni was not bothered.
thats it... Harbhajan is never going to be dropped.... we can only pray he regains his form and confidence
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...