fineleg Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Not to criticize one innings - but ... just wondering what the thinking or attitude of younger generation players is. I do think N. Ojha has some reasonably decent batting skills. But this was a GREAT opportunity, I am sure he was waiting for a call to Indian team, and it came in the form of MSD retirement plus Saha unavailable. Pujara batting very well, and N. Ojha himself batting reasonably ok, needed to hang in there and a 50 or 70 was his for the taking. Plays a T20/ODI shot and gets out? Why squander? A 50 or 70 and he would have made a reasonable impression with selectors. A 100 or 140 and he will be putting serious pressure on selectors. And he had Pujara steady at the other side , a nice chance where even Amit Mishra used the opportunity to bat. Again not criticizing N.Ojha. Its just one innings, and he can get more chances. But was a nice opportunity.
tweaker Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 He wasted his chance after waiting for such a long period.He could have scored a century on debut,
G_B_ Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 good chance he looks back at that shot and says...this is where my international career ended... brain fart
fineleg Posted August 29, 2015 Author Posted August 29, 2015 Even KL Rahul had brainfart first Test (but he had tougher conditions in Aus against Johnson and pacers), so we can ignore this innings of N. Ojha. Not a blunder, its ok, But he had a great chance. If he had grabbed it with a 70 or a century, wow, but the HUNGER could have been shown more sincerely. Just from the short view of his batting - how would ICF-ers assess batting (only batting, not keeping) of N. Ojha versus Saha? Who is the better batsman? (not asking conclusively based on just this innings, but how he looked while batting?) PS: And these great opportunity brainfarts - even KL Rahul, Saha himself, now N. Ojha - seems to be a generational thingy, not sure.
G_B_ Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Even KL Rahul had brainfart first Test (but he had tougher conditions in Aus against Johnson and pacers)' date=' so we can ignore this innings of N. Ojha. Not a blunder, its ok, But he had a [b']great chance. rahul 23 this guy 31....
fineleg Posted August 29, 2015 Author Posted August 29, 2015 rahul 23 this guy 31.... Ok, that does make it imperative that he showed more maturity, yes. Oh well , its his career, his chance.
rkt.india Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 It happens. Remember Rahane's debut. Not the first time someone got out like that. He is naturally an atacking player.
vvvslaxman Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Yes.. that was an uncalled for shot. Will cut some slack for this one innings. Although it is not as moronic as what KL Rahul did in his first test, still he let the opportunity go by. It got something to do with his confidence against spinners. He never gave respect to any spinners in any format he played. Considering he is a substitute he needed to show restraint.
Vijy Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 Saha is the better keeper-batsman although he too has not lived up to expectations.
nevada Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 All part of the "aggressive mindset". Nothing wrong with being aggressive but aerial shots are not the only form of aggression.
Vijy Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 All part of the "aggressive mindset". Nothing wrong with being aggressive but aerial shots are not the only form of aggression. Yes, I'd say that Pujara's innings post-lunch (2nd and 3rd sessions) was one with positive intent and mindset, even if it didn't feature the kind of ooh-ahh T20 shots.
G_B_ Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 There is no point comparing him to Rahane. That was a different India with the likes of Sachin yet to retire. I think during Windies tour when Sachin retired Rahane was dropped and Rohit played. Rahane got his chance once Sachin retired and he grabbed it. As i said young players potentially have other chances. Che despite being dropped was always going to get a chance sooner or later. I google his profile and found he is 32 not even 31. Its not just the shot he got out to. I mentioned this in the match thread as well. Two of his shots for 4 were high risk shots in the air. Out of 21 runs he made 12 came from 3 boundaries. So basically he scored a total of 9 runs in 50 balls. Where are the singles? 49.6 Prasad to Ojha, FOUR, that was uppish, he was pushing at a fuller delivery wide of off stump with quite hard hands, but the ball runs away square of gully 51.1 Prasad to Ojha, FOUR, thats well done! It was a shorter delivery and he got across to it nicely and punched it behind point. Well timed, good bottom hand strength 54.4 Herath to Ojha, FOUR, mid-off is up, and he hits it over that man. Ojha is excellent against spin. Stays leg side of the ball and frees his arms. Picked up the overpitched delivery and punished it. Good batting Now initially i dont blame him. 119/5 he needed to block things out. The problem was he did the hard part and threw it away. Its was a big ground and you really need to connect to clear the boundaries. Just because you play spin well does not mean you should be over confident. The over he got out in India had scored 5 runs and even he had scored runs. You look at Ojha's career and he basically made a debut in 2010 in LOI and since then he has been nowhere near the team. Now that can be put down to MSD being there. But even on that tour he failed to make an impact. Unless Saha picks up a long term injury (which is possible) or this guy really turns up in the second innings (again which is possible), i feel Indian test team is going to be Saha + Lokesh in the squad as back up. Cricket is s cruel game. If he got a peach of a delivery then i wont blame him. He has only himself to blame the way he got out after being set. Things could not have been any more perfect for him. Pujara at the other end solid, Prasad the main bowler of SL off the field. Spinners bowling with no real intent. Mathews had push the field back (ironically which got him out). He himself was well set a the crease. Just push the ball into the gaps and that should have been the end of that.
G_B_ Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 All part of the "aggressive mindset". Nothing wrong with being aggressive but aerial shots are not the only form of aggression. exactly if you look at Che v the spinners, he used his feet a lot. The difference is he drilled the ball on the ground into the gaps. So much so that in the end Mathews pushed the fielders back on the boundary which became an easy source of runs for him. Potentially shots in the air can work when the field is close in and you want to spread the field. But once the field is spread you need to pick the gaps...
G_B_ Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 I will also say this right now India need to start looking for a new youngish keeper. Neither Saha (despite these knocks) nor Ojha fill me with confidence. Both these people are in their 30s. Max they will last 3-4 years. We need somebody who is a solid keeper behind the stumps and at the same time can average 30 plus in most conditions.
Gollum Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 I will also say this right now India need to start looking for a new youngish keeper. Neither Saha (despite these knocks) nor Ojha fill me with confidence. Both these people are in their 30s. Max they will last 3-4 years. We need somebody who is a solid keeper behind the stumps and at the same time can average 30 plus in most conditions. What about Rahul as our WK bat? I don't think he is good enough to play as a specialist batsman yet plus him as keeper coming at say no 6/7(to face 2nd new ball ) will add tremendous flexibility to our side.
adi B Posted August 29, 2015 Posted August 29, 2015 I will also say this right now India need to start looking for a new youngish keeper. Neither Saha (despite these knocks) nor Ojha fill me with confidence. Both these people are in their 30s. Max they will last 3-4 years. We need somebody who is a solid keeper behind the stumps and at the same time can average 30 plus in most conditions. True, saha or ojha might do decent for the next 2-3 years but then you need a young keeper fir the future,India needs to groom a couple of young keepers from the domestic teams and monitor their development closely
jf1gp_1 Posted August 30, 2015 Posted August 30, 2015 lets see how he keeps before discussing his batting skills
fineleg Posted August 30, 2015 Author Posted August 30, 2015 KL rahul is young and if he is smart (dunno), he will focus on improving his keeping skills, will be great if KLR morphs into a test keeper who can bat at #6 or 7 for second new ball and spinners situations. Age is on KLR's side.
tweaker Posted August 30, 2015 Posted August 30, 2015 True' date=' saha or ojha might do decent for the next 2-3 years but then you need a young keeper fir the future,India needs to groom a couple of young keepers from the domestic teams and monitor their development closely[/quote'] Ankush Bains can be the keeper after this brief spell of Saha & Ojha.He has already played for India A against SA A
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