After seeing West Indies getting bulldozed by Pakistan, little people expected of India – Australia match to be an even contest. Australians knew how to play big matches and their 3 world cup victories was more of a pressure factor for Indians. But then, think tank in the form of Gary Kirsten, Dhoni and senior players saw more deeply into the current Australian team and brought out their weakness (No Match winner in form of Spinner) and closed the doors for their dream. Indian Batting is undoubtedly the strength and be it setting or chasing the target, 7 batsmen formula is working wonders for India. One thing, Australian team expected from Dhoni is his uncanny moves. They have faced the stick earlier, in form of Piyush Chawla surprisingly playing only in the finals of 2008 tour. Today, he did nothing exceptional but to cover one of his main bowler leaking runs. Munaf was rightly under bowled and Sachin was made to roll his arms. Kohli was given an over too, which completed fifth bowler slot in the form of 7 overs from Munaf, 2 from Sachin and 1 from Kohli. Yuvraj bowled his quota with such a confidence from Dhoni, that he actually is one of the leading wicket takers in this world cup so far.
Ashwin has got great heart to bowl with the new ball and he has provided the breakthrough in both the matches that he has played. Zaheer would be more than happy to bowl alongside Ashwin as pressure is applied from both ends. Hats off to Harbhajan for bowling with such control throughout the tournament so far, it would be unfair to judge the best bowler only by the number of wickets that he picks in the tournament. No team is daring to take their chances on Harbhajan. Fielding improved leaps and bounds in the match as we saved close to 20 odd runs and for a change, Raina would have felt happy to be leading the fielding unit for the entire set of 50 overs. Ashwin, Kohli and Yuvraj were other live wires in the field.
Australians batted wonderfully well and the way in which Ponting paced his innings, especially when he is not in form, speaks volumes about the character the man possesses. Their batting order was under pressure except for Ponting and the openers. Ponting analyzed the wicket well and brought in David Hussey, who contributed well with the bat in last few overs. Ponting’s hundred was defining moment in history of cricket, as it came when the entire world is against a guy and his team mates had to make a statement that they back their captain. 261 was what Aussies afforded to set India as target. At the end of the first innings, both captains were not fully happy. Dhoni would have preferred to chase less than 250 and Ponting would have preferred India to chase more than 280.
Sachin and Sehwag started the chase mixing caution with aggression. Sehwag was not allowed to play his natural game and it kills him when he is restricted. He was doing a fine job of it, until Watson made him mistimed a pull shot. Gambhir’s role was to play second fiddle to Sachin and once Sachin got out, he took the lead to guide Kohli. Kohli committed suicide when directed the full toss from his bat to Clarke’s hands. Yuvraj is playing with a purpose and he seems to be so determined to win the cup for our team. Aussies could not stop him today, even when Gambhir tried to break Yuvi's concentration with pathetic running between the wickets off three consecutive deliveries. He only lost his own wicket in the bargain. Dhoni tried to calm the nerves of Yuvi, as the required run rate climbed beyond 6 for the first time in run chase. When he got out, many people’s minds went for Yusuf Pathan, even though he is not part of the playing eleven.
Raina joined Yuvi, when we had to score 74 runs from 72 balls. Yuvraj eased Raina’s nerves by scoring 3 boundaries and bringing the required run rate back to below 6. It was heartening to see Raina tackling Bouncers really well, as he kept knocking them for singles. The knack was to get to the other end playing those bouncers, rather than winning an ego battle. 40th Over bowled by Lee turned the match in our favor, as 14 runs were scored and three stunning boundaries, one from Raina and couple from the bat off Yuvi. Tait’s wide ball boundary worsened the scenario for Aussies. The telling blow was Raina hitting Lee for a six over long on in the first ball of the third power play. It was a genuine strategy by us to take the 3rd power play in last 5 overs. Raina welcomed the move suggested by Gary Kirsten in grand style.
Couple of factors won the match for us hands down:
· Yuvraj’s Calmness during the run chase
· Partnerships – 44 for 1st wicket, 50 for 2nd wicket, 49 for 3rd wicket, 25 for 4th wicket, 19 for 5th wicket and last but not at all the least 74* for 6th wicket.
India Pakistan Semi Finals is even bigger and Yuvraj is playing these entire special match winning knocks for a secret person. My guess is Sachin Tendulkar. He is gonna let it out at the end of the tournament.
Go India Go,
Regards,
Prashy.
Ashwin has got great heart to bowl with the new ball and he has provided the breakthrough in both the matches that he has played. Zaheer would be more than happy to bowl alongside Ashwin as pressure is applied from both ends. Hats off to Harbhajan for bowling with such control throughout the tournament so far, it would be unfair to judge the best bowler only by the number of wickets that he picks in the tournament. No team is daring to take their chances on Harbhajan. Fielding improved leaps and bounds in the match as we saved close to 20 odd runs and for a change, Raina would have felt happy to be leading the fielding unit for the entire set of 50 overs. Ashwin, Kohli and Yuvraj were other live wires in the field.
Australians batted wonderfully well and the way in which Ponting paced his innings, especially when he is not in form, speaks volumes about the character the man possesses. Their batting order was under pressure except for Ponting and the openers. Ponting analyzed the wicket well and brought in David Hussey, who contributed well with the bat in last few overs. Ponting’s hundred was defining moment in history of cricket, as it came when the entire world is against a guy and his team mates had to make a statement that they back their captain. 261 was what Aussies afforded to set India as target. At the end of the first innings, both captains were not fully happy. Dhoni would have preferred to chase less than 250 and Ponting would have preferred India to chase more than 280.
Sachin and Sehwag started the chase mixing caution with aggression. Sehwag was not allowed to play his natural game and it kills him when he is restricted. He was doing a fine job of it, until Watson made him mistimed a pull shot. Gambhir’s role was to play second fiddle to Sachin and once Sachin got out, he took the lead to guide Kohli. Kohli committed suicide when directed the full toss from his bat to Clarke’s hands. Yuvraj is playing with a purpose and he seems to be so determined to win the cup for our team. Aussies could not stop him today, even when Gambhir tried to break Yuvi's concentration with pathetic running between the wickets off three consecutive deliveries. He only lost his own wicket in the bargain. Dhoni tried to calm the nerves of Yuvi, as the required run rate climbed beyond 6 for the first time in run chase. When he got out, many people’s minds went for Yusuf Pathan, even though he is not part of the playing eleven.
Raina joined Yuvi, when we had to score 74 runs from 72 balls. Yuvraj eased Raina’s nerves by scoring 3 boundaries and bringing the required run rate back to below 6. It was heartening to see Raina tackling Bouncers really well, as he kept knocking them for singles. The knack was to get to the other end playing those bouncers, rather than winning an ego battle. 40th Over bowled by Lee turned the match in our favor, as 14 runs were scored and three stunning boundaries, one from Raina and couple from the bat off Yuvi. Tait’s wide ball boundary worsened the scenario for Aussies. The telling blow was Raina hitting Lee for a six over long on in the first ball of the third power play. It was a genuine strategy by us to take the 3rd power play in last 5 overs. Raina welcomed the move suggested by Gary Kirsten in grand style.
Couple of factors won the match for us hands down:
· Yuvraj’s Calmness during the run chase
· Partnerships – 44 for 1st wicket, 50 for 2nd wicket, 49 for 3rd wicket, 25 for 4th wicket, 19 for 5th wicket and last but not at all the least 74* for 6th wicket.
India Pakistan Semi Finals is even bigger and Yuvraj is playing these entire special match winning knocks for a secret person. My guess is Sachin Tendulkar. He is gonna let it out at the end of the tournament.
Go India Go,
Regards,
Prashy.
Beautifully crafted comments.My bet for pakistan match is Schewag remember his resolve when tournament started...to play long innings and he will ease other players'energy to be stored for finals!!Its due from him.And no comment about possible replacement for Munaaf.Perhaps absent of any "muscle"players in pakistan and the nature of pacy friendly pitch at Mohali may deterr the team management not to tinker with the team composition!
ReplyDelete@Narayanan - Could not agree with you more. There is a sudden assurance that we have better mental stability to take the pressure against Pakistan. Gary Kirsten, Dhoni, Sachin, Gambhir, Sehwag, Zaheer, Yuvraj are all having calming influence on the other players.
ReplyDeleteThats a good point about the reason for sticking to the same team. I would like to see Munaf sharing the new ball with Zaheer, just to create last minute panic in Pakistan dressing room, as currently their preparation is all about tackling Ashwin with the new ball.
it was really a stunning show by us,, i was expecting u to tell the strokes of sachin in his 50 n the start he gave. am waiting for ur post on msd. i think its now time for sree santh to replace munaf, a senior lik sachin should be around his tail to calm him down n spk to him on every bit he does, i feel sree with his 140+km out swingers can do wonders wit zak who is at his zenith.
ReplyDelete@Prashy: Nice Article.
ReplyDeleteWell Scripted Victory no issues on that and if we get going with this attitude cup is not far away. More on Semi finals just elect to bat score 250-275 runs bowl sit back and enjoy.Have a great weekend first of all. Next tourney is on Wednesday
The key factor is maturity, India was thoroughly tested by a team which has done this before but did not have the team member to stress and test (missing McGrath, Gillespie and Warne). My bet Pakistan does not know about the pressure yet, when they are chasing 300 and they are 4 wickets down, let us see how the middle order plays.
ReplyDeleteGary's master stroke is instilling confidence in Raina, that's what good coach should do and I hope Greg Chappel pick this tidbit.
Great article Prashanth - Start revealing more and more from a cricketer point of view subtle nuances that can be seen.
@Swami - Gary Kirsten also mentioned to the indian players, not to mess with the thought of When to pick the 3rd power play and leave it to the last 5 overs of either innings. It created wonders for the mindset of players.
ReplyDeleteAussies miss Mcgrath and Warne, no doubt. But then that raises a question - Is Ponting a blessed captain or a captain who tries hard not to miss legends ? After their exit, Ponting has lost Ashes twice, Lost a World cup, India conquered Australia in australian soil, South Africa ruled in Australia, India was not conquered by Ponting in return. The failures are more than the success he has seen, both as a captain and as a player.Hence Ian Chappel is strong in his suggestions that Ponting be removed from captaincy.
Greg Chappel can learn the tidbit still and apply as he is one of the selector in Australia. But God knows, he might face axe, as Aussies exit from world cup early. Jokes aside, Greg Chappal is found in wrong side of the tunnel many a times.
A captain a.k.a the leader role is often measured by victory. How often do we talk about the smart strategies of captain when their team lose?
ReplyDeletePonting was definitely gifted captain but he was also smart because to win consistently is the most difficult thing. That's what separate Michael Jordan, Tiger Woods, Roger Federrer and so on.
Ponting lost the battle in India due to the weakness of their side to play spin and the resilience in VVS, and RD set the tone and you always had Sachin factor :)
Any way game on...
After a long time, a wonderful movie with 22 brilliant artists delivering breathtaking performance. I especially loved the scene where Mr. Umar Gul went on feeding Mr.Shewag on his leg stump. And also the scene where Mr.Gul was asked to bowl over number 49 after he was repeatedly butchered. The scenes where Pak batsmen got out to deliveries which a kid of 5 could play in his sleep, were so realistic. I look forward to the release of another blockbuster on Saturday. Let's watch Malinga feed Yuvi with over-pitched deliveries. And Murali walking out dejectedly with woeful bowling figures. It's going to be real fun folks.
ReplyDelete@Swamy - I agree. Indian conditions is something which is tough to conquer. Especially when South Africans and England beat them in their home, I had that little doubt. Ponting's bad form with the bat also was a major factor for all the losses once Hayden, Mcgrath, Warne, Langer quit. His consistent run and strategies were never questionable though.
ReplyDelete