Is Team India headed in the same direction in the T20 World Cup 2010 as it had in 2009? Will all the Super 8 matches be lost? If yesterday's match - where India got literally barbecued by Australia - is any indication, India may just land in such a situation. What went wrong yesterday? First of all, let us list a few things that went right. Winning the toss (though on hindsight, opting for fielding turned out to be a wrong decision), a maiden first over, good bowling by Harbhajan Singh yielding only 15 runs in the designated 4 overs, the team giving away only 23 runs in the last 4 overs thereby restricting the Aussies to a total, way below 200 and Rohit Sharma's blistering unbeaten 79. Everything else seemed to be a disaster. The 2 pacers-2 spinners strategy proved to be all wrong. Dhoni's contention, that 'spin' is India's strength just like 'pace' is Australia's strong point cannot be justified. The strength of spin should be used when the situation demands it and not just because we have good spinners. A fast track demands pace. However the 2 pace bowlers yesterday did not help much. Our star pacer Zaheer Khan gifted 45 runs in 4 overs. So the number as well as quality were found wanting in the 'pace bowling' department. The supposedly strong Indian batting line-up was blown to smithereens by the marauding Aussies. And Dhoni's excuse that facing the 'short rising ball' has been India’s weakness for 20 years now does not convince. It was a great embarrassment to have 9 batsmen, quite a few of them batting stalwarts, score single digits. Ravindra Jadeja would want to wipe out this match from his memory. His batting score like most of his team mates was a poor 4. But more importantly, the 2 overs which he bowled yielded 38 runs with 6 back to back sixes, Shane Watson and David Warner hitting 3 each. This is after Jadeja dropped Watson on 7. The manner and the ease with which they hit sixes, may henceforth prompt the opposing team to ask for a bigger ground when Watson and Warner are batting.That the Aussies have done their homework and have come fully prepared to fill the one empty space on their trophy shelf is plain … [Read more...]
Will Pace replace Spin?
‘Spin’ seems to be the in thing in T20 today. Many IPL matches had a spinner opening the innings. In the ICC T20 World Cup matches also, spin seems to have a major role to play. Pitches in the West Indies look favourable for spin and India and Pakistan with their quality spinners may have a distinct advantage over the others. Even our own captain, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had underscored the importance of spinners in the press conference before the team's departure to the West Indies by saying that “spinners would play a crucial role on the slow pitches and would be the team's major weapon”. The matches played against Afghanistan and South Africa were at the Beausejour stadium in St. Lucia. Playing here for the Indians is like playing at home. The pitches here are slow and ideal for the spinners. In the tie against Afghanistan, spinners bowled half of the designated 20 overs. "If you have them, flaunt them", decided Dhoni in the next match against South Africa. As a result, the craft of spin was in full display. Spinners Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan and Piyush Chawla were given a free rein. They bowled 15 overs, a rare occurrence surely. India won both the matches. But now the situation is no longer the same. India has qualified for the Super 8 matches. Its first Super 8 match against Australia on May 7th. On May 9th, India will play the West Indies. The tie with Sri Lanka will be on the 11th. So what is different? These matches will be held not on the friendly St. Lucia pitch, but on the fast and bouncy pitch of Kensington Oval in Barbados also known as the "Mecca of Cricket". It is known to favour pace and seam. Spin may not bring the required result. Even 2 spinners may be one too many. It will all depend on the nature of the pitch on that day and the team's requirement of variety in the bowling attack. Will the spin quartet be replaced by a triple edged pace attack? Will the concerted effort of Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar, weave some magic and help India waltz to the semi-finals ? Will the team management unleash the new face, pacer Vinay Kumar, on an unsuspecting opposition, … [Read more...]
