India finally managed to offload the Kiwi monkey off their backs at Nagpur. Over a decade without a home test win against the No. 8 ranked test team is not something any No. 1 team would like to boast of. So when they won, they did that with considerable style and some help from the Umpires.
What are the Positives from this series ?
Mahendra Singh Dhoni said a lot of things. He was happy about Dravid, Sehwag, Ishant, Bhajji and so many things. He found there was a need to show some more character in the field and wanted the fielding to improve. But is that all ?
When you win, all your follies will be glossed. Let us not get carried away. I prefer to look at what are we lacking when Team India embark upon a journey to the land where Gandhi became Gandhi !
Sehwag: Come rain, shine or swine flu, Sehwag is Sehwag and he will continue Sehwagging. Leave him alone to do that. Let us not complicate the matter.
Gambhir: He tried some wagging of his own type and fell flat. A gestational period without a Test Fifty must have taught him to tighten his technique and his vocabulary. He will still have some work to do on the short stuff.
Dravid: New Zealand are easy meat in spite of Martin and Vettori. Dale Steyn is something else. I doubt if RD still has all the answers to the late swinging quicker ones. I hope he will prove me wrong.
Sachin: Doesn't boast of a great record in South Africa. Perhaps his last chance to set it right. Can he in the process get his 100 No. 50 ? Wait and watch !
Laxman: He will have lot more batting to do than he did in the recent past. The Saffers might be struggling to bowl out Pakistan right now. But they will be different in home conditions. And Steyn when fully loaded has more ammunition than entire bowling armies of most of the other teams.
Raina: Unless he learns to leave the short ball alone or duck properly, he will score many more ducks and will have to swap places with Bhajji as Specialist Off-spinner.
Dhoni: Dhoni finally has started taking the toll on Captaincy or vice versa. The much needed break should load him again. He is much better a batsman than his records say. India will require the Captain to fire more often than not.
Bhajji: The Born again Batting All-rounder will do well to remember Irfan Pathan was a better batsman and actually was dropped after scoring a Century in a tour match during India's last visit to South Africa. In spite of the wickets today, he still is far away from his best. Has he lost his Nip ?
Zaheer: Fitness problems and Zaheer have been co-passengers ever since he burst upon the scene by bowling out Steve Waugh. If anyone can manage to help India beat Saffers in Saffer-land, only Zaheer Can !
Ishant: Looking better and better since the Laxman - Ishant Houdini act. If he manages to keep it going, that will be a great news for India.
Ojha: A restrictive bowler at best may not get to play any tests in South Africa. Sreesanth will be the second bowler and Bhajji will probably play through the series thanks to his batting exploits.
Sreesanth: We have to remember it was he who won India the first ever test on South African soil. He will be a handful if things work out well for him.
Vijay: Ideally he should walk into the team ahead of Raina on account of his technique. But with Raina's popularity with Dhoni and his wicket taking acts, he is the Bhajji's opposite version and will be tough to be replaced before the third test.
Pujara: His time will come sooner than later. As of now, he will have to hold on to all those catches at the short-leg.
Yadav and Unadkat: will be traveling without much to do unless Zaheer fails to recover or any other Pacer gets injured. Let us hope Sree-Is-hant manage to hold well.
Saha: Is a Reservation candidate. I wouldn't like to comment on him because on form and on talent, he doesn't deserve a place in the first 28 of Indian Team.
Let us hope Team India manage to break another barrier and come out winners from the Springbok Land !
S-Pun Doctor
Ojha should be the main spinner in SA but it won't happen.
ReplyDeleteSaffer bowlers just love to bowl to defensive batsmen like Trott and even Dravid as they are masters at bowling back of a length and bowling wide of off-stump but they don't like to bowl to players like Punter as he is a attacking batsmen. The best bet India have at no.3 is Lax as he is a stroke-maker but again it won't happen. Just look at Dravid's record in SA as it is perhaps worse than even SRT.
I think Pujara has a slightly better technique than Vijay as Vijay plays from the crease. Pujara is also a middle order batsman.
The key is S'wag and if he fails like in 06/07 India are in trouble as Saffers just love to bowl to defensive batsmen. If Zaheer isn't fit India don't need to go to Safferland.
GB,
ReplyDeleteAgreed. But Dhoni will not risk dropping Dravid. I hope he will stand up for a last Hurrah !
GB, you are right about SA's desire to bowl at defensive batsmen. But I don't agree that Laxman would be our answer at No. 3. Laxman was a good batsman at No. 3, but now he has played so much of cricket at No. 5 and No. 6 that I really don't want India to take him off that spot.
ReplyDeletePujara as No. 3 would be my option. One may argue that he is too young / inexperienced / raw. But come to think of it, he is very promising and with him at 3, Laxman is allowed to lend some solidity to the lower middle order.
Govind, I disagree with your views about Dhoni's batting. I had done a blog some months back where I had pointed out that most (or I think it might even have been all, can't quite remember properly) of Dhoni's centuries and even the bigger half-centuries have come when India have had a lead or been in a stronger position. He can absorb pressure well in LOIs, but he is still not good enough at the Test level. As they say, its a different ball game altogether.
And yes, Ojha would be my choice as well for the lone spinner. Harbhajan is really frustrating the fan in me now with his darts!
Finally, if I were to pick a key player who could be instrumental if India are to win it in the Rainbow Nation, it would be Sreesanth. He has the ability to bowl peaches when in good rhythm, and nothing but peaches are going to dislodge Amla, Kallis and a little less so, De Villiers. With Graeme Smith's fingers injured (yet again), Zaheer is feeling a bit disappointed!
Shridhar,
ReplyDeleteI agree with your view of having an attacking bat at No. 3. I would prefer Vijay ahead of Pujara because Vijay has played some Cricket in SA and done reasonably well even though it was T-20. His ability to leave alone the short ones is much better than Gambhir, Raina and even Sehwag.
Dravid is already frustrating me, one of his huge supporters for long. The problem is he actually brings the proceedings to a grinding halt even when the bowling is ordinary. This affects the other batsmen and may even get them out. We definitely need someone who can score at above 55 - 60% strike rate and not RD's 25 - 40%.
And Laxman is not the right choice. Coming to Dhoni, I said he is a better batsman than his records show. This fellow can bat absolutely straight and he is not all that troubled by the short stuff as Gambhir and Raina are at present. His stats don't do justice to his talent. Don't forget he and Bhajji lifted India from the rut against Aussies in 2007-08 series.
Raina with his current tendency to play stupid shots every 20 balls, deserves to be replaced by Pujara
If You, Me and Hum were to be part of the selection process, the team would be like this...
Sehwag
Gambhir
Vijay
Sachin
Pujara
Laxman
Dhoni
Zaheer
Ishant
Sreesanth
Ojha
I prefer to use Viru and Sachin as 5th bowlers and even Pujara. RD for me has retired. Both his 100s in this series were laborious and self serving.