Home Sweet Home?

[sohum]

Home Sweet Home?

[size=109:3ltcfkce][b:3ltcfkce]Home Sweet Home?[/b:3ltcfkce][/size:3ltcfkce]
[i:3ltcfkce]by sohum[/i:3ltcfkce]

In an earlier article[/url:3ltcfkce], I had completely written off the West Indies team, and expected the Indians to, more or less, cakewalk their way through this tour. I am pretty sure none of the Indian players read my website, but it seems that they, too, have employed this lackadaisical attitude. Or perhaps it is just that we fans of Indian cricket have over-estimated the talent of our team, having watched them perform in the Indian Subcontinent for the last few months and series.

I am not the first to give credit where it is due, so it is difficult for me to admit that the West Indies have, for the most part, matched and exceeded the Indian team in most conditions. To both teams' credit, the scoreline could stand 3-0 or 2-1 in either team's favour. All the matches, so far, have been decided in the last over of the game, with 1-3 balls remaining to go. To digress for a sentence, would you rather watch this series or the 400+ runfest at The Wanderers a few months back?

It would do to take a look at the performance of the main players in each team, and the effect they have had on the results. Let us look at the Indian team, first.

[b:3ltcfkce]India[/b:3ltcfkce]

[i:3ltcfkce]Batting[/i:3ltcfkce]
Our opening partnership is giving us more than just a little worry. While Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag did the job in the first game, after that its been either one or both of them failing. The opening partnership is, in my humble opinion, the most important factor in the innings for the batting side, because it sets the pace of the innings. India have been unable to cope with the guile of Ian Bradshaw, which is ironic, because he is set in the same mould as our very own Irfan Pathan. One hopes, however, that Dravid's failure in Game 3 was just the law of averages kicking in, and that Sehwag has not just pulled a rabbit out of the hat when his head was on the kitchen board.

Our middle order has also got significant reason to worry. It is usually a case that our middle order batsmen get starts and then throw them away. What is worrying is that our middle order batsmen have got very few starts, this series, and when they have, it has been scratchy. And, of course, thrown away. Mohammad Kaif may have 2 half-centuries under the belt, but they came in situations when India needed to press on, rather than consolidate and Kaif played the perfect role of consolidation. Suresh Raina and MS Dhoni have been inconsistent and impatient. The Irfan Pathan experiment has failed twice. Yuvraj has lacked the finishing ability he had earlier, and is also out with a minor injury. The warning bells are ringing.

[i:3ltcfkce]Bowling[/i:3ltcfkce]
Our young pace battery, save for Agarkar, has been unable to keep the runs down, which means that the batsmen are not pressured into playing bad shots. Ajit Agarkar, on the other hand, has been phenomenal. He is accurate, he is swinging the new and the old ball, and he is causing the batsmen trouble. His effort is being duly wasted by his partners, who are spraying the ball everywhere but in the corridor of uncertainty, and are being smacked left, right and center for boundaries. One-day bowling is about restricting runs more than it is about taking wickets, and our pacemen have not been able to find the balance.

Spin bowling has also, surprisingly, been problematic. Harbhajan Singh has been at his economical best, but he has not been so fortunate with the wickets. Ramesh Powar has played two games and come up pretty expensive in both. Perhaps the grounds in the Carribbean are smaller, but the ease with which many West Indian batsmen have heaved our spinners out of the ground is a bit troubling. Yuvraj bowled a tight spell in the 2nd ODI but Sehwag has not been able to get into a settled rhythm, being carted for over 11 an over in the 3 overs he has so far bowled in the series. This is in stark contrast to the West Indies slower bowlers, who have been putting considerable pressure, forcing the batsmen into their shell and into making mistakes. Chris Gayle has managed to bowl his full spell in all the three games, gone at under 4 an over, and picked up vital wickets.

[b:3ltcfkce]West Indies[/b:3ltcfkce]

[i:3ltcfkce]Batting[/i:3ltcfkce]
Although the West Indies batting has looked strong, I believe it is just three batsmen who have done the job, so far. Chris Gayle is always an iffy player, and he may have ran his luck out in Game 1, for the most part. Runako Morton doesn't look like he knows what side of the bat to hold, and the only reason I can see him still in the team is because there is no better replacement for him, and the Windies want to preserve a winning combination. Brian Lara has been scratchy, gotten a few starts and thrown them away. Indians will hope that he remains like that for the entire tour!

Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul have been splendid. Sarwan, in particular, has looked at ease at the crease. He has been able to attack the bowlers and score runs almost at will. He has presented ample opportunities to get run out, but the Indian fielders seem to restrict their direct hits to the net sessions. Chanderpaul has always been consistent and a thorn in India's flesh, and he has continued to be so, in this series. His ability to play according to the situation has hurt India a fair bit, thus far.

[i:3ltcfkce]Bowling[/i:3ltcfkce]
Ian Bradshaw and Marlon Samuels are the two highlights, for me, so far in the West Indies bowling line-up. Fidel Edwards seems to be stuck on "sweet-chin-music" mode without much success and Jerome Taylor's newness to the scene is well felt. Bradshaw, though, has been accurate and always at the batsmen. He makes up for his pace with his guile, variations and sheer accuracy. He has even got The Wall, Dravid, out a couple of times with great deliveries. The Indian coaching team will need to come up with a way to get in his face and negate his economical bowling, if they are to win this series.

Marlon Samuels and Chris Gayle have been phenomenal in restricting the runs. In game 3, India were 174/3 when Sehwag fell, in 28.4 overs. In the next 20 overs, India managed to add 81 runs to their total. Gayle and Samuels were the only bowlers to bowl their whole spell, and though they picked up just one wicket between them, they restricted the runs and destroyed the momentum of the Indian team. By restricting one side, the pressure caused the batsmen to play baseless shots at the other end.

[b:3ltcfkce]Conclusion[/b:3ltcfkce]
And thus ends my analysis. With West Indies up 2-1 in this series, they have their noses just forward. India will need to play to their hyped up potential to win this series. This means they need to go to the drawing boards and figure out a way to deal with Bradshaw and Samuels, while batting, and Sarwan and Chanderpaul while bowling. Restricting runs should be a top priority, which means the bowlers need to get their accuracy right. And even if they do all that, Lara is way overdue for a big innings.

 

[pal]

Home Sweet Home?

Our batting has been horrendous this series, if we lose the series, it will be due to their complete ineptitude to put up a good innings.

 

[indiancricketer]

Home Sweet Home?

yup, thats true...not only batting its alittle with the bowling to...not that good bowling in the last match...if india was capable to getting them out for 199(which is good bowling) that means they can do it again