Wednesday, August 20, 2008

More luck than pluck

It was astounding to hear Dhoni after the toss - that he really wanted to bat first but couldn't with makeshift openers filling in for the injured Sehwag and Gambhir. This despite playing on the same Dambulla pitch where they got bowled out for 146 two days back. Wonder if he still feels he should've batted first after bowling out Lanka for 142 and levelling the series? The fact is that if he had done the right thing in the first ODI in terms of the toss and team selection, India would've been 2-0 up.
Anyway, kudos to Dhoni for holding things together at the end and squeaking through to a victory. The replacement of Ojha with Praveen Kumar was also a good thing even if it was obvious, and likewise about bowling Zaheer Khan seven overs on the trot. It was also great to see Badrinath grabbing the half an opportunity he got to prove his worth. But many holes remain.
Predictably, Pathan failed as an opener. Even though Kohli got important runs, the way he got out reminded me of the IPL where he displayed this tendency to give it away even on the few occasions when he does get going. Yes, he's a youngster, he did lead India to an under-19 world cup, and we should give him a long rope - but not at the expense of more deserving players who are not in the team.
The lack of penetration in the Indian bowling was again evident when we could not finish off the Lankans even after getting their six main batsmen out cheaply. We missed a bowler with pace like Ishant. And, at Galle, we'll rue the fact that India does not select a wicket-taking bowler like Amit Mishra.

5 comments:

straight point said...
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straight point said...

The lack of penetration in the Indian bowling was again evident...

it has more to do with pathan and bhajji...on the pitch where there was bit of seam and swing he kept on bowling short...he has forgotten that he is basically a swing bowler and dont have pace to bowl short which will not trouble even tailenders...

perhaps he was looking to improve his bowling figures...same with bhaji who seem adamant on bowling middle to leg bowl and nothing else...

when you (both pathan and bhajji) cant bowl to 7 & 8 batsmen the way you are supposed to bowl then when and to whom you will...?

now if gg is fit in next match who will make way for him...pathan or rohit?

Unknown said...

rohit is too good a player to drop after a couple of failures. i think the choice should be between pathan and yuvi as gambhir's partner, considering that both of them are left-arm bowlers of similar pace these days :)

Trideep said...

The performance of the Indian spinners (or lack of it) has been evident since the test series. It has just continued from there.. today it was Zaheer's effort.

Anonymous said...

yes, itz amazing MSD wanted to bat again after the flopshow in the first ODI. what could he possibly be thinking? Beats me. well, its good that they somehow crawled towards a victory - so should we thank Gambhir for spraining his neck and forcing MSD to take the right decision after winning the toss? Perhaps on a batting track, someone should tell Zaheer and Praveen Kumar to develop stiff backs so MSD can decide to bat first....and this guy is our 'best captain!'