I will come back with my thoughts on the epochal-in-many-ways Mohali Test between India and Australia. In the meantime, a friend asked me to lay out my thoughts regarding Ishant and Srinath - how similar or different are they and the like. I am reproducing below my thoughts on that subject:
Statistically speaking - I have no clue how those two compare although I would say these are still early days for Ishant in order to compare with somebody like Srinath who had represented his national team for many many seasons!
But bowling wise - I think they are different bowlers although they have similar looking actions. I think Srinath used mainly his runup and action at the crease for his pace. However, he never really did use his follow through effectively. You could see it in the way how he would immediately come up after delivering the ball. On the other hand, Ishant has a rather measured run in to the stumps, a balanced action but a wonderful follow through. Sometimes he even overdoes it - resulting in his frequent spills after delivery.
I am not an expert in terms of injury management but I think this could cause some issues to Ishant if not properly managed.
Bowling wise - Srinath, when he first burst onto the scene was a faster bowler than Ishant, I think. And he pretty much stayed around the 140s till the time he retired. Ishant is plenty fast. But other than speed, he has also picked up knacks. He is a far more rounded paceman than Srinath was - even 5 years into his international career. It is also a sign of the times though - in terms of the technology and input available to cricketers and support staff. In Srinath's days, he did not even get decent access to physios to help tone up his body for its rigours.
Ishant can actually roll his fingers across the seam to take the ball away from the right hander. This is something that Srinath picked up quite towards the end of his career. This is what makes a tall open chested right hander all the more dangerous. It is undeniably a large part of Harmison's strength, for example. And then, Srinath, right through his career was very apprehensive about bowling the slower ball. That was mainly because Srinath tended to have a very tight grip on the ball and nestled the ball well into his palm. Something which is reflected in his consistently short of length bowling. Ishant on the other hand is rather more easy going with his grip and so can easily resort to rolling his fingers over and getting the slower ball right. Then again, the frequency of limited overs cricket is a lot more now and a slower ball is not a nice thing to have. It is mandatory!
I personally feel, that if Ishant is injury free, he can go on to become a lot better than Srinath. In fact, he could challenge Kapil Dev's record in time. He has the age and he has the skill. What is certainly not lacking is patience and determination. Even though he is just 19 years of age, his maturity is very impressive. It is very rare that he bangs the ball in after a batsman hits him for a boundary. For a bowler of his pace, that is actually a nice characteristic! And when he bowls the short ball, it is really a surprise - exactly what the batsman does not like. And his natural angle means that batsmen who are swaying away are actually in the way (pun intended). But then, the batsman is not spoilt for choices here. If he does indeed choose the option of ducking down, he has to make that decision a split second earlier and has to take his eyes off the ball. All in all, Ishant has got several things going for him. Not the least of which are fellow fast bowlers who are effective as also the opportunity to play on moderately bouncy wickets even in India!
I watched a magic moment which I wanted to share with you folks. The day was dull and dreary, the sun was beating down and the Aussie pair of Hussey and Haddin seemed to have been cemented to the crease. There were singles for almost every ball that they touched with the bat and there were misfields galore from Ganguly and Zaheer which were painful to watch. The total was slowly but surely swelling almost beyond the 350 mark and the spinners could not make any sort of impression. (I will come back with my thoughts on this aspect at the end)
Kumble had turned for some inspiration to the dynamic duo of Harbhajan and Ishant. Harbhajan was tight but not penetrative. The batsmen were not thrashing him but neither were they having a problem defending or milking him. But it was a different matter with Ishant. They were alert, nervous and diffident when facing him. Backlifts shortened, feet moved faster but did not necessarily get into the correct position and strokes were hurried. That the pitch had vagaries in bounce (well, the ball stayed low) did not help.
After bowling in the high 130s almost through all of yesterday and today (till then), Ishant pounded in and bowled the slow off cutter. The way he does it, the ball lands fuller than most and he actually imparts some spin through his index finger. The result is that the ball lands closer than almost all of his normal deliveries. This gets the batsmen to smack their lips, widen their eyes and launch into a drive. Only one problem - their bat got to the drive before the ball got to the seemingly agreed upon rendezvous. The bat comes to a painful halt and a sickening plop sound results when the ball makes contact. Haddin watches as the ball lobs almost higher than the tall Laxman at short cover. But the tall graceful Hyderabadi stretches and pouches the catch easily. Laxman always has the knack of making it look easy, but that catch was tricky indeed - given that Laxman was at full stretch and the ball was not going too fast. Sometimes these slow balls are tricky because the fielder too gets there beforehand. Not so this time.
Celebrations allround - the biggest cheers of course were for Ishant who not only had the vision to bowl this ball but he also had the skills to get the execution spot on. But spare a thought also for the persevering captain Kumble who had the sense to have a short cover and to also find a good, smart catcher for that position, Laxman - who completed a job well begun.
I am not sure how significant a ball this is in terms of this match, but this was a beautiful piece of cricket action. I would like to call to the attention of the readers a similar sort of bowling exhibition from Ishant in the Irani Trophy match where he picked up Dhoni (is it a coincidence that he got two wicket keepers in similar fashion?). And that too was very much against the run of the play.
Kudos too to Venkatesh Prasad on inculcating the confidence required for such bowling.
I almost forgot to add that piece about the wickets. Bangalore, I believe, has a pitch specialist from New Zealand on call. Lets think about this. What has this external help done as far as helping us in producing better cricket as also giving us a home advantage. Nothing. By infusing soil from New Zealand or wherever it is they are outsourced from, we are only diluting the inherent nature of the wickets here - which is dryness, some brittleness and lots of spin. Now, why would anyone in the right mind do it?
Just like expatriates outside who know not whether they belong to their native country or to the country they are living in, such pitches with help from external experts cannot seem to decide whether they have to behave in typical Indian fashion or to assist bounce and seam. Consequently they end up somewhere in the middle - resulting in stale cricket.
It is time that this madness is put an end to.
Morne Morkel is replaced with Dale Steyn. And his first ball is delicately sliced all along the ground between point and 3rd man for yet another boundary. Brilliant batting sustained. To bat brilliantly is one thing. But to sustain it for such long periods is simply a mark of a complete package of supreme skill, tenacious temperament, voracious desire and ocean-deep concentration.
Go, Sehwag, go!
----------------------------- ---------------------------
Sehwag in the 290s dances down again to hapless Harris and launches the ball into orbit. That is a towering six which takes him to 297. He gets beaten attempting a cut the next ball - too close for comfort and then takes a single very intelligently. He is now on 298 and has the strike the next over.
Get ready Gentlemen and Ladies to congratulate this mammoth innings from a batsman at the peak of his powers!
----------------------------- ---------------------------
Sehwag's favourite whipping boy Ntini is brought on. Greame Smith does seem to have it in against Ntini
Sehwag slams a straight drive which looks to be going to the boundary but the mid on and mid off are straighter and that is restricted to a mere single. 299.
Dravid gets a wide one which he misses. But Boucher cannot collect cleanly and a bye is scampered through. Remember that we are talking about a batsman on 299.
Sehwag on strike - a fulltoss on his pads and is helped thorugh for another single.
There, ladies and gentlmen is the fastest 300 in the history of the game and the best knock that Chennai has seen.
And folks - there is a dearth of adjectives now to describe this effort from Virender Sehwag. Monumental, let me say and leave it at that.
Add Comments
Read More