Australia below their best ..India plumbing new depths
February 17th 2008 13:45
The presentation ceremony lent viewers a look into the captains' minds today. The Indian skipper moaned and groaned about his batsmen and about how he was disappointed with their performance. He still refused to blame Yuvraj while heaping blame on Rohit Sharma for not being alert enough to get a single for his captain (and rightly so). In a nutshell he was defensive. The Australian captain could afford to be noncommittal about it all because there were no questions about his batting. In this whole series, Ponting does not seem to be able to be able to notch up even double figure scores consistently. But his team is pulling through. They are good scrappers, exceedingly good scrappers and that is what was needed in this game. He did not seem to be making too much of this win or of Harbhajan's batting capabilities! On the win here, he mentioned how Australia were well below their best and were still managing to edge their nose ahead in front of the competition. And he did not miss the opportunity to take a dig at the admittedly hare-brained selection theory employed by the Indians. To quote him 'India's batting was lighter by a batsman and this meant a longer tail with Harbhajan coming in at 8'. Obviously the Australian captain does not think highly of Harbhajan's batting at all inspite of his useful contributions during the Test series.
The Indian captain has other worries than Harbhajan's batting reputation though. He has team selection problems. He has batting order problems. He has team balance problems. And now he has fitness problems with his frequent cramping. Yes it is concerning to see Dhoni pulling up short more than once in this ODI series. Has the heavy workload and the long and arduous Test series taken its toll? Is he 100% fit when he takes the field every time? Well, the physio and the trainer are resigning after this tour. Can we ask them these questions and other fitness related questions of them as soon as possible? Among those questions, a question about Yuvraj would occupy pride of place. When is Yuvraj going to be back to his best with his running and his fielding? Because it was there for anybody to see that he is not at his best - either while running or while fielding.
Back to Game 7 of the Commonwealth Bank Series. First - the team selection conundrum. Sehwag was not there on the team sheet. In India the word 'dropped' has much significance. So, all we know is that he was not in action. There was some news about a bruise he sustained during practice but it is not immediately apparent as to whether that was significant enough to put him out of action. But what was absolutely disappointing and totally devoid of cricket logic was in replacing Sehwag with another fast bowler in Munaf. What did that decision tell you? That we went in with Sehwag in all of the other 4 games that we played in this series without even needing him? That we do not need another batsman in that lineup but we could do better with four fast medium bowlers? Was the pitch such a screamer that it demanded four fast bowlers? Even if it was would we not have been better served by having extra batsman to counter the threat that the opposition fast bowlers could prove to be and by going in with three attacking options of our own? Questions, questions. No answers in sight. There are even more questions though. Why is Suresh Raina not being looked at as a realistic option? Does he not have the confidence of the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni? If not, why is that so? And why do we have Praveen Kumar if we are not going to give him a chance and see what he brings to the table? As far as Piyush Chawla, it is clear that he would get his chance only if Harbhajan is completely off colour. Right now, Harbhajan is not at his best but is pulling through to respectability - just like Australia, even if their captain does not want to acknowledge his batting skills!
These team selection fiascos are nothing new. It is only that Dhoni came across as a breath of fresh air. But then maybe air does not stay fresh all the time. Maybe even as fresh a breath of air as Dhoni can get stale in association with the Indian team. The answer is - I dont know. But it is time that the Indian captain acknowledged and understood that ODI cricket is a lot different from T20 games. And the personnel required for both these versions could be different - even though they are both limited over games. Even more than the personnel, the attitude and approach of the players (especially the batsmen) needs to be different as well.
As far as game specifics are concerned, Australia won the toss and chose to bat on a sunny day and a fresh looking pitch. Amidst all-round expectations of a high scoring game, the players contrived to deceive all the experts and produce another low scoring but nevertheless entertaining contest. The contest tailed off at the end, yes. But for 3/4ths of the game, things were riveting. Hayden and Gilchrist began in customary fashion. Gilchrist, who looked like repeating the fairytale script act once more here at the Adelaide Oval, reeled off a couple of exquisite and typically timed shots through the offside before being troubled and finally dislodged by Ishant. The tall lad is coming through wonderfully here. He has had a tough Test series followed by a hectic set of ODI games. But he has been consistently impressive and more importantly going from strength to strength. Some people wither when too many stares are directed at them. Not so, Ishant. He seems to flower under all the attention. However he was not backed up adequately by his fellow opening bowler - Sreesanth. The Kerala express has been having a well-under-the-weather ODI series and that form has continued on to this game as well. He seems to be a bit down on pace as well. Where he used to clock mid to high 140s typically, he is now bowling in the high 130s and early 140s. And that signature outswing is also not as regular as before. Perhaps it has something to do with him having to face up against two left handed openers in Hayden and Gilchrist.
But today was Irfan's day. He achieved consistent movement at a good pace and had 4 wickets in all - Hayden, Clarke and Hussey among them. Munaf Patel too bowled adequately for match returns of 31 for 1 off 9 overs. And allied with Harbhajan's by-now familiar-reading 40 for 1 off 10 overs, India's bowling unit combined with powerful results. Australia was, at one point 112 for 6. From there, letting them get on to 203 and letting Hogg score 32 priceless runs was a bit of a disappointment. For Australia, I have mentioned before how it is that they consistently find that one person who is the saviour. In the last match it was Hussey. Today it was Clarke. For all of Australia's fight and gumption to get to 203, it was apparent for everybody to see that this Australian batting unit is not the one that we have become used to seeing. The mind only boggles to think how different a unit it would be after the exit of Gilchrist - especially since there does not seem to be a potential opening batsman to partner Hayden out there. And when we think about the fact that Hayden himself is nearing the end of his career, things are looking bleak for Australia. They have fought out of such situations before and they have found Men Friday galore. Can they do it again? The reason why things are looking bleaker than they actually is because of the consistently poor returns at the crease by their skipper.
While Clarke needs to be toasted for his sterling performance, it has to be said that Dhoni did not manage his bowling resources in the best manner possible. The 4 overs for 22 runs from Yuvraj was, one felt, superfluous. And when it turned out that this led to India under-utilizing its main pace bowlers to the tune of the same 4 overs, the move with Yuvraj strikes one as rash and negligent, even. But Dhoni is a young captain and he is allowed his learning curve. To be fair to him, even in his fledgling captaincy period, he has not really had too many such situations happening. And this under-utilization will never be spoken of if India had won - as they should have. But we did not - due to another batting debacle.
Yes, the batting was a debacle. And that is a kind description actually. It was a mind-numbing experience to see India's elite willow-wielders not only making heavy weather of racking up a total which required scoring at 4 runs per over but completely botching it up with inept shows of temperament and ill adviced shot-making. I dont know about others but all this left Gavaskar phaji fuming and breathing fire and what not. Last heard, Gavaskar was muttering something about the Indian batsmen not able to get out of T20 mode. Well, this is the T20 team - more or less, is it not?
Gambhir opened with Tendulkar - which is something I like to see. I truly believe that having Sehwag and Tendulkar both higher up the order left the middle a little bit too exposed - especially considering Yuvraj's tentativeness. I would ideally have liked Tendulkar and Gambhir open with Sehwag coming in at No. 4. But Sehwag was not in this game. Gambhir set off with a flurry of shots. Sometimes when he walked down the wicket for audacious shots against Bracken, you could be excused for thinking that you were watching a T20 match. Tendulkar, at the other end, was not finding things exactly a cup of hot tea. It was more like him being in a soup. Bracken consistently troubled the master batsman and even managed to extract the edge which went gently parting the air between Gilchrist and Hayden with no disturbance whatsoever. For a change, it was somebody other than Johnson who was the suffering party. But this is one more area where Australia are showing their decline. Yes, people might be shocked at that word. But the numerous overthrows, indiscretions in the field and missed chances cannot go unnoticed. This is not the Australia of yore - not by a long way. Not with the bat, not with the ball and neither on the field. That they are still at the top of the points table goes to show how much of a distance the older team had put between themselves and the other world teams. But that distance is dwindling - and fast. The worry for world cricket should be the fact that it is not as if the other countries are notching their games higher to come match Australia. It is Australia who are falling down to come to the same level as the others. They are not there yet - still some way to go, I am afraid you Indians, Pakistanis, New Zealanders and Britons. But the signs are there.
Well, after that missed chance, Tendulkar still could not quite get a handle of Bracken's swing and got hit on the pads by an incoming delivery. He was late on the shot and had missed the ball completely. And even though that worthy Hawkeye shows as if the ball was going above the stumps, umpire Peter Parker would have fancied that he got it right. Tendulkar did not think so, but it has to be said that it looked out big time on live television. It was always going to be interesting to see who walked in at No. 3. But Pathan's contenance never evoked so much disappointment as when he walked down those steps to take guard at the crease today. Agreed that my match reports are not hallowed material (especially since they are not easily digestible material even here at IWD
- www.indianwatchdogs.com) but it does look like India did not learn its lesson from the last victory against Australia. Pathan's induction at No. 3 almost put paid to India's hopes with Tendulkar nicking a ball through to the keeper but umpire Koertzen erred - again - and the Little Master sped through to 44 and ensured an Indian victory along with Rohit Sharma and Dhoni. Today, Pathan looked pretty good while he lasted but at the end of the day he used up 30 deliveries to score 14 runs. Whichever way you look at it, the move does not strike one as being especially brainy. Far the opposite, really. Pathan is not being sent out to smash the ball and unsettle the bowlers. So, if he is being asked to construct an innings up at No.3 does it mean that we do not have a specialist batsman capable of walking at No. 3 and weathering the storm while still constructing the innings? We already know that the Indian team management does not have much respect for the opening position in Test matches when they sent Pathan in at that position. Now it is evident that they believe that the No. 3 position in ODIs also is a non-specialist position. God save India if such is the thinking involved. Even if it is not, it does not make a whit of sense as to why we see Pathan walk in at No. 3 when there are 3 specialist batsmen and one in-form wicketkeeper batsman who also happens to be the captain.Pathan went - caught at gully off Hopes and in walked Rohit Sharma. The lad has shots and it even appeared that he had the mind when he played a tough and mature innings against Lanka in that rain shortened game. But obviously there is room for improvement. The shot that led to his dismissal today can only be described as airy and immensely ambitious. He drove with feet nowhere near at a Hopes delivery far from the stumps. He got a nick through only to see Gilchrist snaffle it easily. A very shot stay of 3 balls for 1 run by the youngster. Despite today's shot selection, he is talented and needs to be persisted with - there is no doubt about that. He was followed by Yuvraj Singh - the man under fire. How quickly he has moved on from being the man on fire to the man under fire! That is the power of the media for you, right there. To his credit, he stuck to his job and attempted to spend some serious time at the crease. But in the meanwhile Gambhir - who was burning up with the need to score runs at a fast clip - cut a short ball from Johnson hard, but Ponting, at point, took a lovely reflex catch to see him out.
Dhoni came out and India now had the captain and the vice captain out there. This was the only period where India looked like a quality batting team. They looked like a batting team which knew how to take what the bowlers threw at them and used the fielding loopholes and get the ball to thread through to those places. The singles were run, the doubles were stolen and we got to see enough fielding gaffes from Australia that would have sent Steve Waugh into a rage had he been still playing. Ponting too was very very displeased but at the end of the day, they won. So, these things dont come out in the open. But Australia is better at learning from victories than India. I am sure they would come back a better fielding team in the coming matches - but as with so many things in Australia, it is not the fielding errors in itself, it is a lot of other smaller things that we have come to take for granted in the past. That is no longer the case. Infer of that what you will.
Back to the Indian batting, Yuvraj seemed to have struck himself into form with one monster hit - a pull off a short Hogg delivery. He followed it up with a peach of a cover drive off Johnson and things seem to have come back for this elegant left hander. It was also evident that this left handed striker of the ball is not very comfortable dabbing down balls and defending his wicket. What makes Yuvraj are those flowing drives, those arcing pulls and that towering backlift screaming down to meet the ball at that exact and most opportune moment (not for the bowler!), banishing it from his presence. But no, things did not turn out all rosy for Yuvraj. He was fed one more short ball by Hogg and his eyes lit up. He went back to pull that right out of the ground once again but ended up slicing it thickly for Clark at long on to complete a good tumbling catch. The difference with this short delivery was that it was faster than the earlier one and also had a lower trajectory. Consequently, it bounced low and came faster at the batsman. That was good thinking from Hogg. But more heart-ache for Yuvraj.
Dhoni now had Uthappa as his final partner before Harbhajan and the tail. Although, if you listen to Ponting, he would include Harbhajan too as part of the tail. A word though, has to be mentioned about Dhoni's adaptation of his batting skills. From being a belter of a batsman, he has become a manipulator of balls and nudger and pusher into gaps. Allied with his ferocious running between the wickets, he maximizes his skills as a batsman. For once it is nice to see an Indian player scrap and scrap hard. India need such a captain as him now. If only he can get his fixation with T20 squads and approach out of the way...
While running one of those frenetic doubles with Yuvraj, he seemed to have pulled up short with an injury. That particular double though was converted into a triple with Yuvraj speeding and Dhoni almost limping. But what it meant though was Dhoni had to bat on with Rohit Sharma as runner. At the end of the day, though, the choice of runner turned out to be wrong with Rohit Sharma not being able to make a relatively easy run off a push to mid off. Hayden at mid off completed the job with a neat collection and accurate throw. And with that went any realistic hopes of India getting on top of Australia. And it did turn out that way. Inspite of a couple of lusty blows from Uthappa and a gorgeous straight hit by Harbhajan, India spun yet another of its ancient tales of capitulation. India lost all its wickets at 153 - 50 short of the Australian target in 41.2 overs. Mitchell Johnson, Bracken and Hopes did a neat job for Australia with Johnson being the most impressive of the lot. Hogg spun some variations and picked up 2 wickets but he did not look too convincing at all.
At the moment, the focus is all too much on running between the wickets and about fielding. If we take this as an attempt to match Australia at its own game, we are not being too successful. We can take a page out of the Australian book too and respect specialist talent for what it is worth. People like Hayden and Hussey and Damien Martyn and Langer in the past are/were not multi-faceted players. What they did though, they did pretty darn well. Another thing to be learnt from the world leaders of the game is the way to manage young and old players in the same squad and about that delicate thing called team balance that can be achieved with such a potent combination. After all if we want to copy from the Australians, lets do it right. But in the deepest parts of my heart, I still feel that we can create our own game, our own way, so to speak. We do not have to go and copy the Australians. After all, the cultures are different, the climates are different and the people themselves are different. So, why should we think that a similar approach with work for both Australia and India? Mind you, this is not a problem that is faced just by India. Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh and West Indies too are suffering from the same syndrome.
India ushering in youth is not the problem. Far from it. That is the way forward, the future. But see, there is a present and we have to cross that to get into the future. And that is why a solid rotation policy with the right mix of seniors and juniors will go a long way towards ensuring good returns today and identifying and preparing youngsters for the grind tomorrow.
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