Down The Wicket » india

Nothing is left, nothing was there

DownTheWicket — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 20:09:58 +0000

Yes I’am talking about Adelaide Test between Australia and India. There is nothing left for India to do rather than planning for T20s now. It’s a bit of stupidity when your captain can’t set proper fields, your bowlers can’t bowl consistently, all your batsman are blind and you don’t have a new strategy. This is indeed one of the worst India’s Australian tour for Indians where most of the players have performed exceptionally worse.

It seems that India is dependent on few players which includes Zaheer Khan for bowling department and Sachin Tendulkar for batting department. After being criticized for his never-coming 100th 100, Sachin Tendulkar still remains the top scorer from Indian batting side. He is still on the crease but this time it’ll be better if he can add some runs to the team.

What is Important, Tendulkar’s Ton or Team’s Ton?

DownTheWicket — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:51:32 +0000

Finally we can celebrate that India successfully scored over 100 in last test match. If you’re thinking that there is a mistake in the last statement then you should know that there might be mistake in your perception. From last 10 matches all we cared about was Sachin Tendulkar’s 100th International 100. Do we really need to care? I think it’s a complete waste of time to cheer for someone’s personal milestone rather than team’s performance. Please give some space for Sachin, he will score his 100th ton whenever the right time will come. At the moment, all he has got with him is pressure from all over the world.

Instead of this personal milestone, what we really need to care is India’s overall performance. If Sachin is scoring 70s or 80s and getting out without scoring a ton, it’s fine but if your team is not able to score more than 200 in a test match in 1st innings or not able to restrict the opponent under 1st innings trial or target and losing with a big figure of runs and an innings then it should be a point of concern.

Looking at the Australian side, all they have with them is confidence and support. What India needs is Confidence and support from the country. That’s enough.

(Image Source: Mid-Day.com)

India’s weak batting opening, a Concern?

DownTheWicket — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:54:35 +0000

After a huge defeat in the first test match against Australia, India seems to have lost control on the initial innings of the game in the 2nd Test at Sydney. Indian batting line-up falls again with the score 191 for All out.

There is no doubt on Australian bowling line-up or the consistency from Ben Hilfenhaus but it seems that India is not able to get a good start. Opening innings with their all time favorites Gambhir and Sehwag doesn’t seems to be working at all. While Sehwag is not able to pick the start to a big score, Gambhir is unable to get a start of his innings. He also seems to be facing difficulties while facing Pace bowlers.

If India have to save their batting, they must do something with the opening pair, if Gambhir is not working then Rahul Dravid can also be a good option.

Young overconfident Indian squad for Zimbabwe tour

DownTheWicket — Mon, 17 May 2010 09:22:17 +0000

Were you expecting improvements in Indian team in terms of team selection after a dreadful performance in the World T20 2010? If yes then you might have to wait for a few more months since the Indian selection committee still trust the young guns. There is no Sachin, Dhoni, Sehwag, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Yuvraj in the team for the Zimbabwe tri-series. The team will be led by the young Suresh Raina who performed nicely in the ICC T20 World Cup 2010.

There are good selections like Naman Ojha, Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra in this new team but there are some selections which need to be reviewed.

Murali Vijay

He is well known for his overconfidence, wrong selection of shots and a dreadful batting performance in the T20 World Cup 2010. Whenever people expected a decent innings from him, he just ruined their expectations. Does he deserve a another chance?

Yusuf Pathan

His full name is Yusuf ‘Money’ Pathan. Yusuf has got too many chances in the International team but he has never proved his selection to be useful for the team. The Selection committee expected him to perform well in the World T20 after an excellent innings in the IPL but he was not able to stand in the crease for even 10 minutes. Also, he must have realized till now the difference between the T20s and the ODIs.

Ravindra Jadeja

Drop catches, inconsistency, lack of skills and lack of experience. Ravindra Jadeja may be handy for the T20s but he doesn’t suit for the ODI team. He first has to improve his basics rather than competing against the International teams.

It seems that the Indian selectors are overconfident on their youngsters but they should keep in mind that there is also a another team in the series who have defeated them recently. This team may tackle the Zimbabwe players but it may be difficult for them to fight against Sri Lanka have who recently qualified to the Semi-finals of the World T20 after defeating India brilliantly.

Take a look at the Indian squad and then you can easily judge the intelligence of the Indian selectors:

Suresh Raina (c)

Dinesh Karthik (wk)

Virat Kohli (vc)

Rohit Sharma

Murali Vijay

Naman Ojha (wk)

Vinay Kumar

Umesh Yadav

Ashok Dinda

Pankaj Singh

Amit Mishra

R Ashwin

Pragyan Ojha

Yusuf Pathan

Ravindra Jadeja

End of another speed gun, Shane Bond!

DownTheWicket — Sat, 15 May 2010 11:18:55 +0000

The one and only speed gun who represented New Zealand cricket over the past few years with his excellent bowling skills has announced his retirement. Yes, he is none other than New Zealand’s “Best fast bowler” Shane Edward Bond. This young guy has not played too many matches in his career but still he has pinned his named along with world’s leading pacers like Australian’s Brett Lee and Pakistan’s Shoaib Akhtar. Shane Bond is compared to legendary New Zealand fast bowler ‘Sir Richard Hadlee’ and is considered to be the best fast bowler New Zealand have got after him.

Shane already announced his retirement from Test cricket in December 2009 while just after coming back from ICC Twenty20 World Cup 2010; he announced his retirement from all forms of cricket. Shane’s fans were expecting him to play in IPL but it seems he is not interested in playing cricket any more since. This 35 year old rocket has taken this decision because of his fitness.

Shane Bond is well known for his impressive bowling average in test and ODI cricket. Shane has taken 87 wickets in just 20 test matches with an impressive average of 22.09 and 147 wickets in 82 ODI matches with an average of 20.88. He has not even played 100 ODI matches and has proved himself to be one of the best fast bowlers. Shane Bond was also the most costly player in Indian Premier League when Kolkata Knight Riders bought him for US$750,000.

Shane has been struggling with many injuries and many surgeries. Fitness is a key point for a fast bowler to stay alive in cricket rather than the age. Shane Bond also faced International restrictions from New Zealand Cricket Board due to his involvement in Indian Cricket League which brought a huge break in his short career.

What I think is, New Zealand has definitely lost their “Best bowler” but they should thank this man who has made New Zealand proud of something. Shane Bond feels proud to represent New Zealand in T20 World Cup in his last match. It may not be possible for New Zealand to replace Shane currently but there are also some young talents like Ian Butler who can help to fill this gap in the future.

Sachin Tendulkar “The God” creates History again

DownTheWicket — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:25:26 +0000

Yes every cricket fan knows that who is Sachin and what he is. What I think is that Sachin himself is a history. Sachin has done something in real which others can only dream. “Sachin Tendulkar has scored a 200* in ODI against South Africa in Gwalior on Feb 24 2010″ – This line will always be recalled by every cricket fan. Sachin’s 200 not only broken Saeed Anwar’s and Charles Coventry’s 194 runs record but also helped India to cross the 400 mark.

How can he be so great? Everyone should give him a big salute? He has not only slapped on the faces of his critics but has proven once again that “age doesn’t matters at all, what matters in PASSION”!

As Sachin got all the attention, we shouldn’t miss Dinesh Kartik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni who gave good support to Sachin on the other side. They too deserve some compliments.

The end of Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium?

DownTheWicket — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:48:25 +0000

After the 5th ODI between India and Sri Lanka was abandoned, the future of Feroz Shah kotla stadium is leaning towards the end of the stadium. The match was abandoned as the pitch was called “dangerous” by the Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakara.

ICC has said that the fate of the stadium will be decided within a month. Along with this, the BCCI has also declared that Delhi won’t be hosting any matches of the ICC World Cup 2011.

It’s really a shame for the Indian Cricket as one of the oldest cricket grounds is losing its international recognition.