Thoughts on India-NZ 2nd ODI @ Kotla

[sandeep]

Can't remember the last time I was OK with an India Loss.  In a way it's better for our team long-term so that known issues are highlighted and addressed.  

 

• A win against a weak-ish NZ team would have papered our the many problems we have with our ODI XI.  Better a close loss/win than another one-sided win, not just in the game but in the series.
• Our ODI batting has become over-reliant on Kohil and today's game put this in the spotlight again. As others have pointed out already, our Openers need to do better with strike rotation.  Mr. 264 seems to think its ok to score 5 runs in 24 balls, because he can 'go turbo mode' later and make it up.  Not good enough.  And its not just the openers .  In general our ODI batting needs to step up its game.  Bitter truth is that England, Australia, South Africa are playing cutting edge ODI cricket where they aim for 350 and put pressure on the bowling from ball one, even if they lose a wicket or 2.  India by contrast is playing early 2000s style ODI cricket where top order batsmen try to "get set" and sacrifice innings momentum and run-rate for the logic that if 1 or 2 of the top bats get 'in', they will make it up later.  Invariably, this leads to a low 300s total that is not going to be enough against top sides. We need to do much better with innings run-rate from the start and then work to preserve it through the innings instead of trying to save wickets.  Our batting approach is just too damn negative at the moment.  We have too much ability with the bat to be playing with such a conservative Phatttoo  strategy.   Hate to give chum to the Dhoni-bashing sharks, but he's got to own up to this one - it has his fingerprints all over it.  

 

• Speaking of Dhoni, he is in the midst of a transformation from a ATG #6 bat to a serviceable #5 bat, and that's OK - he's still a useful ODI contributor.  But all too often, his batting plans are built as if his hitting & finishing abilities have not declined.  Yesterday's innings is just another example where he went over-cautious in the middle, thinking he could catch up later, got out and as a result made the task harder for others around him.  You can arguably say that with the low-ish total, his approach wasn't all wrong, and that if he stayed there, the runs would have come.  But given his decline, he needs to do better with SR and care about the innnings momentum.  

 

• Rahane's slowish batting led to a shot selection error and he should rightly be under pressure.  Its moot whether the catch was clean or not.  An India batsman should do better than that - either roll your wrists to keep the ball down, or hit the ball in the gap - no excuse for hitting that airy fairy high risk pull in the line of the deep fielder.  He has wasted 2 golden opportunities at the top of the order, on home tracks, to make his case.  I believed in his ability and quality and thought he could be a good ODI opener for us.  This is because unlike say Shikhar Dhawan, he can hit good deliveries for 4 without taking too much risk.  Optimists can think he can out-grow his tendency to throw away starts, but he's fast proving other-wise.

 

• Axar Patel's execution error exposes his limitations as a batsman - At the fall of Dhoni's wicket, you should know that the priority is not to lose another one, since only the tail is left.  Bad judgement, Bad execution.  Sure it was a full-toss.  But again, if you are going to hit the ball in the air, direct it in the gap, or keep it down.  Wild swings are for tailenders, not for those with 'all-rounder' pretensions.  

 

• Mishraji.  What can I say. A guy with years and years of experience just gives his wicket away like a 16 year old.  What does he think he is? Afridi?  His was the worst mistake in my eyes - in terms of judgement.

 

Positives

 

• Hardik Pandya.  Should be kicking himself for that Adrenalin fueled pre-determined swat that he played to get out.  But the details are better than the scorecard.  Not many may have noticed his first scoring shot to get off the mark, but it was something that has made me hopeful about his batting.  A decent cover-drive played on the rise, that threaded the gap between cover and wide mid-off, all along the carpet for 4, timed nicely.  You could even call it classy, and you wouldn't be gushing. This shows that the kid has some batting ability - its not all tonk and slog.  Kid has fast hands, which allows him to get away with his high-ish backlift.  Flashed decent temperament as well, coming close to finishing a win.  Having said that, after hitting Boult for that boundary that brought it down to 11 runs off 9 balls, he has no excuse for throwing it away.  I am not prepared to cut him the 'newbie' slack.  You are in India colors, you are in the team for your batting, not just your bowling; Get the job done.  One can see his thought process - he had hit one boundary, and backed himself against the bowler.  But absolutely wrong-headed to dance down the wicket in pre-determined fashion.  Hope he learns the right lessons from this and continues to develop his game.  No wickets for him with the new ball, and went at 5 RPO which is par/slightly above par based on the scoring, but can't say much since didn't watch him bowl.  On the negative side, bad news for him is that @Maniac has gotten on his bandwagon and promoted him to his 'IT' factor bucket where he's in suspect company.  

 

• Kedar Jadhav.  Showed us all something in this game.  Batted with intent and kept the innings momentum going - the only guy apart from Hardik to do this well.  Can hit average spinners, can play OK against decent pace.  Although a slowish home track against a 2nd rung ODI team is not really that much of an indicator.  His game looks like it will struggle against better pacers on quicker/bouncier tracks.  

 

• Umesh Yadav.  Quietly stacked another quality ODI performance as a bowler.  I have bitterly referred to him as spraygun in the past, showing genuine signs of leaving that behind.  Add to that, kept his head and gave Pandya quality support with the bat - almost won the game for us.

 

All in all, an affordable loss from the series perspective.  If anything, it will make the rest of the games a bit more competitive, giving the Kiwis a chance to win it - not that they wouldn't give their 100% regardless.  Inspite of the losses they have faced, Kiwis have shown the way in how a quality team continues to fight and give it their best - something that our team doesn't do at all times.  Here's hoping that we will get a high scoring game or 2 in the remainder of the series - Indian batting desperately needs to be put through its paces.

[gattaca]

For me middle order is still weak. Mannish pandey is still not consistent and jhadav is not that great as well. Then we have rahane he has to go. 

[sandeep]

5 minutes ago, gattaca said:

For me middle order is still weak. Mannish pandey is still not consistent and jhadav is not that great as well. Then we have rahane he has to go. 

Pandey is quality - he got runout.  Jadhav is bench player as of now - think of him as a Rayudu upgrade.  Rahane is the 3rd opener/Reserve MO bat.  Hopefully KL Rahul jumps ahead of him on the pecking order and that should help things a bit.  IMO, we don't have a talent problem in batting - its the batting strategy and execution that's flawed.  

 

On a separate note, Funny how fanboys were clamoring for Shreyas Iyer as if he needed to debut yesterday, but have already moved to pant-gasming over the new flavor of the month - Risbabh Pant.  

[Bigg Brother]

Indian ODI team's strategy is rotten and there is lots of non sense going on in ODI team since last 2 years barring CWC where India put a decent show.

Dhoni should bat at 5 in 2016,at 4 in 2017,at 3 in 2018 and should open i 2019 wc..If that doesnt work out,Dhoni should leave captaincy.He can still continue as player after that if he wants.

[MCcricket]

We need a new captain and outlook our odi team has been dismal last three years under Dhoni

 

KL Rahul keeper

Rohit

Virat

Pandey

Jadhav

Hooda

Pandya

Ashwin

K Yadav

Bumrah

Shami

Reserves Umesh, pant, Sarfaraz, Chahal

 

 

[tweaker]

Good analysis @sandeep

[Vilander]

Nice to see Kane Williamson do well - NZ to win. Good team no worries there, India will bounce back and its just an ODI.

[maniac]

Thoughts on Kotla ODI

 

Tricky pitch negated nicely early on

 

But the momentum should have been built up gradually to finish the target

 

Unfortunately the chase never went into next gear.

 

Jadhav is inspiring in so many ways....Has a lack of natural flair and ability but stuck to his strengths and played around his weakness ,the life lessons for someone who are just not naturally gifted but still become or want to be successful.... bullying the slower bowlers worked perfectly but his batting pattern for anyone that bowls over 130K seems to be dab or block...needs a 3rd go to shot.

 

Dhoni messed it up.....the question Dhoni needs to ask himself is...is he a power hitter? Is he a finisher or is he a lower order consolidator who will block all day for the main batsmen to do their job?....had Dhoni showed this 10% of hanging in there ability in overseas tests,his test record as a captain would have looked less dismal....In swinging conditions he will charge down the crease to Anderson but in LOI's in home conditions he will block Santner and Devichic..really  slow momentum early on is acceptable but sucking the momentum later on is criminal.

 

No matter how good Axar might be in domestics.....in internationals he looks like a tailender and  how the hell is he a spinner? Misraji proves his main drawback....lack of a thinking brain.

 

Pandya and Umesh showed the fight...surprisingly Umesh looks as much of an allrounder as Pandya who himself was very impressive...given the fact that he is a rookie...it is only the way up from here......Almost won the game.....They showed great match awareness till about the last 2 overs.

 

Bumrah is your old school No X1 Bunny.

 

New Zealand are not pushovers in LOI's and at least on paper in fact they look a stronger team...Guptill,Williamson,Taylor....Hitters like Ronchi,Anderson...opening bowlers Boult/Southee....Santner..... this is their strongest squad.

 

Edited October 21, 2016 by maniac

[sandeep]

^  5 (24) with field restrictions, new ball coming on the bat, is because it was a tricky pitch?   Is your name Ritika by any chance? Or do you want it to be?  

[maniac]

7 minutes ago, sandeep said:

^  5 (24) with field restrictions, new ball coming on the bat, is because it was a tricky pitch?   Is your name Ritika by any chance? Or do you want it to be?  

Ok not up to the usual high standards but Southee and Boult with the new ball = Devichic,Santner in the middle overs?

 

Southee bowling at 135 clicks with the new ball swinging the ball both ways=Southee bowling in the middle overs in the 130's on a subcontinent track?

[philcric]

Our batting strategy/execution is a little behind the modern ODI game.

 

One of Dhoni's weaknesses as a captain is his rigidity, takes far too much time to change up things or think ahead. His template to win an ODI game is exactly the same as what it was 5 years ago. I feel it is somewhat limiting the team's mindset about their own abilities. Has been captaining for almost a decade now. Time for someone else to do the job, need fresh ideas, new strategies, energy that a new leader brings and probably one or two new players.

 

Without the responsibility of being a captain, I have no doubt he'd play better and more freely as a batsman.

 

[maniac]

1 minute ago, philcric said:

Our batting strategy/execution is a little behind the modern ODI game.

 

One of Dhoni's weaknesses as a captain is his rigidity, takes far too much time to change up things or think ahead. His template to win an ODI game is exactly the same as what it was 5 years ago. I feel it is somewhat limiting the team's mindset about their own abilities. Has been captaining for almost a decade now. Time for someone else to do the job, need fresh ideas, new strategies, energy that a new leader brings and probably one or two new players.

 

Without the responsibility of being a captain, I have no doubt he'd play better and more freely as a batsman.

 

Without being the captain...he will not have the guaranteed spot that he is so enjoying right now...at least in T20I's...There is Saha and Ojha on one hand and on the other hand there is Samson and Pant or the retrograde step of Uthappa and Karthik at least for T20's.

 

For now by that I mean at this particular time and date...he may be a shoo in in ODI's but even there the countdown clock has started.

 

T20 he should have been thrown out a long time back.

[Ankit_sharma03]

Few more points i would like to add, Regd certain players

 

Manish Pandey- His running btw the wkts have been a issue as this isnt the 1st time. A lot of times in Zimb also Dhoni was irritated with him on field for doing that poorly. Its not that he runs slow but communication, running line and judgment of run is very essential to. It may sound really small but one run out can prove really costly as it did yesterday. Dhoni again was furious at him. We already have one Inzamam of running in top order who has ran out our best batsman few times so we cant afford one more . Pandey has to quickly work on this problem. 

 

Mishra - Leg spinners are asset for everyone and we have him a fatttu leg spinner. Two instances i would like to point out

• 2nd odi- when taylor was struggling and dhoni asked "slip lega" and he refused. Now a leg spinner refusing to take a slip against a struggling batsman shows his defensive mindset. 
• 2nd odi - I know u aint a batsman, but isnt a lot of work being put in ur batting in test matches so tail can contribute so what sought of shot was that and with so much of Exp. 
• 1st odi- Mishra was bowling to southee, Dhoni told him before "nikal ke marega" guess wat our best leg spinner did - gifted him a full toss.

Mishra is complete waste of time. Whats worst he is yet to bowl in 2nd innings with dew and i feel he ll get a solid phenty......

 

Axar- When we failed to make jadeja a batsman then why are we investing in a b-grade version of his. Jadeja is young and not going anywere so why need a poor carbon copy of him. If he cant hit a full toss out of park in a small stadium well then god bless u in long ground of Australia. His bowling has been figured out by opposition after few good games. His batting hasnt improved and we have jadeja so why him. 

[tweaker]

Dhoni should come at no 4 ,so he fill be followed by Pandey ,Jadhav & Pandya.

They will play around him .Dhoni will rotate the strike & this stroke players will strike a boundary or 2 in middle.

 

By this way Dhoni has chance to consolidate in the middle overs.

[MCcricket]

Sheldon Jackson seems to have a very impressive domestic odi record ave 86 and S/R about 107 the best among peers, also a very good Ranji stats and he also looked like a organised player, wonder why he is not talked about for India as he has tons of experience n is fit too

[tweaker]

1 hour ago, MCcricket said:

Sheldon Jackson seems to have a very impressive domestic odi record ave 86 and S/R about 107 the best among peers, also a very good Ranji stats and he also looked like a organised player, wonder why he is not talked about for India as he has tons of experience n is fit too

He is also a wicket keeper

[Ankit_sharma03]

6 hours ago, MCcricket said:

Sheldon Jackson seems to have a very impressive domestic odi record ave 86 and S/R about 107 the best among peers, also a very good Ranji stats and he also looked like a organised player, wonder why he is not talked about for India as he has tons of experience n is fit too

 

4 hours ago, tweaker said:

He is also a wicket keeper

Cause he is damn good player of spin bowling but struggles against pace bowling specially in overseas. 

Edited October 22, 2016 by Ankit_sharma03

[MCcricket]

How many times and how many games has he played outside to form an opinion like that ?

[Ankit_sharma03]

20 minutes ago, MCcricket said:

How many times and how many games has he played outside to form an opinion like that ?

In India i have seen him struggle, overseas would be worst. There is a reason other people are ahead of him in radar