Lord once again hurt India

 

While I am writing this post, the epic test match is in anti-climax stage and climax is more or less certain unless some drama happens before that, in anti-climax.

The first test match of 4 test match series between India and England got underway  on 21st July and four days are over with home team enjoying the distinct advantage while visitors are struggling hard to save the test match. This epic test match saw brilliant display of batting from Matt Prior, Kevin Pietersen and Rahul Dravid, as both  Dravid and Pietersen got brilliant hundreds on a testing surface, brilliant bowling spells from Praveen Kumar, Stuart Broad and Ishant Sharma. Misery of  great Tendulkar continued at this ground as he failed to cross the thirties on this very venue one more time and century on this ground is still far away from him.

If we talk about England I think they batted in tough conditions and also bowled in batting friendly conditions, while Indians got the best batting conditions to bat and best bawling conditions to bowl but failed to take advantage of that and England turned the tide in their favour by battling it out in tough conditions. But Indians were unlucky to lose its premier fast bowler Zaheer Khan on the first day due to injury and other 3 bowlers failed to make any impact on Day 1. Dropped catches of Trott and Pietersen also aggravated the wounds of Indian bowlers and it is pity that, captain who dropped those chances. So far in this match captain Dhoni dropped four crucial catches and India paid dearly for that.

Tactics of Indian captain in the field were also far from the reality so far. When Ishant was bowling well on Day 4, he didn’t continue him after lunch and that’s where match slipped from the hands of India. Mistake even became more visible when Ishant returned with new spell and immediately picked up the wicket of Eoin Morgan which clearly showed that, had Ishant bowled just after lunch India must have got into the comfortable position and could have thought of winning the match but Dhoni failed to take advantage of the moment.

Moreover, in first innings Dhoni batted for 102 balls and scored just 27 runs and didn’t force the issue, as if he was out there to save the test match in first innings of the game. Had Dhoni played his natural game, Indian would have reached closer to the English score in first innings but Dhoni kept playing defensively and finally got out to he new ball. Dhoni used these defensive techniques in his batting many times but he failed often while playing defensively. He has to understand that, he is not technically sound as Rahul Dravid, so he has play his natural game and score runs which will help Indian team in winning more test matches. We all saw when wickets were falling Matt Prior played his natural game and got his team out of the trouble by scoring brilliant hundred. Dhoni has to learn that. Also there is saying offence is the best form of defence.

In the past few matches, Dhoni’s wicket-keeping standard has gone down considerably and he is out of form in batting as well. We all know, how capable Dhoni is, with the bat but only when he play his natural game. I think time has come, when Dhoni have to think about his batting and have to accept the fact that he is not a technically sound batsmen and have to play his natural game under any circumstances and I can vouch, if he will play his natural game he will certainly score more runs in his test career and if he try to kill his natural instincts then I am afraid he will not survive much in the highest format of the game for too long.

So India is on doorstep of defeat at Lords and tough times ahead for Dhoni and his team which is also struggling with disease and injuries to its premier players.

Super Sunday lived upto the expectations of cricket lovers

England won cliffhanger against Proteas.

There was lot of talk about England's loss to Ireland prior to this match and cricket pundits written-off England completely and announce that England will go home this time without reaching even quarter-finals. These words also got the support from the England's batting against Proteas at Chennai where Proteas bowled out England for only 171 after English  captain Strauss won the toss and elected to bat on a rank turner against the side which was heavily loaded with spinners. Writing was on the wall for England when Smith and Amla given solid start to the Proteas innings and at one stage Proteas were 63 for 0 but in came transformation and suddenly game started changing and given some belief to the Englishmen of winning this game when they cleaned skipper Smith. Englishmen capitalize on this big breakthrough and soon picked up wickets of Amla and Kallis who were playing well till that time and victory was just looking very near for the Proteas. 

Once Amla and Kallis got out middle-order of Proteas collapsed badly and from 124 for 3  Proteas reached 124 for 6 in a space of  few overs and once again Proteas firmly confirmed their chokers tag. Steyn and Wan Vyk tried hard to get Proteas out of the difficult situation but English bowlers and fielders were too good in the field, kept the pressure, picked up wickets when it mattered the most and had a last laugh after the match. Pitch was turning left-right-center and Englishmen utilized the conditions better than the Africans and pull off the cliffhanger and left Proteas in a disarray. A contest which started in a dull manner gripped the spectators in the second-half and provided thrilling entertainment to the cricket lovers. England won it by 6 runs in the 49th over. Who says one-day cricket is boring? It was a match which you want to watch again and again if you are true cricket lover. 

England have to work hard on their batting skills. They have to find out ways and means to play on turning tracks and against the spinners if they want to advance further in the tournament and have to learn quickly because they will get the similar pitches and conditions everywhere in the sub-continent. Kevin Pietersen is out of the World Cup and this is big blow to the English side and they have to find out suitable replacement. If Eoin Morgan is fit then they have to include him in the squad.

For Proteas, result from this match is unexpected and they were favourites to win this contest but once again they choked under pressure and lost it from the position of strength. Lot of work ahead for the Smith and Co.   Form of Jacques Kallis with the bat is big worry for them and Kallis have to come good in the next match which is against India if Proteas wants to make a mark in the tournament. Before this match they looked unbeatable but match against England changed it all for them and its good that they lost the match so early in the tournament. Now they can analyse their mistakes and will sort out all the problems. I think this match was big eye-opener for them. The are the most balanced side in this World Cup and expected to go through the later stages of the tournament but they have to come out of the mental problem of choking under pressure which is associated with them since their re-entry in the International Cricket.

India tame Ireland

Big hype, lot of drama, superb performance by minnows and under-pressure Indian batting was the ingredients of this match but in the end India won it without much hiccups. This match lived upto its hype and Irish team spread lot of jitters in the Indian batting line-up after getting out for 207. Irish team bowled well and fielded well and provided tough fight to the Indians on a pitch which was having something in it for the bowlers. Irish supporters once again got something to cheer about.

Dhoni won the toss and against all expectations, he decided to field first, a decision which was forced after Irish batting performance against England. Irish team lost its 2 wicket quite early and Zaheer Khan once again became nemesis of top-order batsmen as he picked 2 quick wickets up-front. But captain Porterfield and Niall O'Brien stopped the wickets fall and build record partnership  for the 3rd wicket and provided solidity to the Irish innings but once Niall O'Brien got out wickets fell at regular intervals and finally Irish team got all-out for just 207 runs a score which looked like piece of cake for the so-called best batting line-up in the world. Irish hero of the last match, Kevin O' Brien failed to do any damage in this match and go out cheaply. Yuvraj Singh ended with career best bowling figures of 5-31 which is a record in World Cup for any left-arm spinner. The problem Team India to sort out is the collapse of top-order in slightly testing conditions which was evident in this match.

Indian innings started with a disaster as Sehwag and Gambhir got out cheaply and given some hopes tot Irish team. Irish team bowled well and reduced Team India to 100-4 which included big wicket of 'CRICKET GOD' Sachin Tendulkar and created lot of excitement in the match. Here on captain Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh started playing sensibly and stopped the further damage by building good partnership. This partnership steadied the Indian innings but once again this match witnessed the twist when Dhoni got out and India still needed 41 runs to win from 10 overs. Irish created some panic in Indian camp with the wicket of Dhoni but in came Pathan who massacred the Dockrell by hitting him all over the park and made the run chase easy for Team India. Pathan made 30 valuable runs and Yuvraj Singh ended with brilliant half-century  and sealed the Indian victory quite easily after all the drama. I think Dhoni have to think about Piyush Chawla after this match as he failed to deliver on a pitch which suited the spinners. This was second consecutive match where Chawla given more than 8 runs an over and failed to pick-up single wicket on a pitch which provided 5 wickets to the non-regular left-arm spin bowler like Yuvraj Singh.

Team India must be feeling like out of jail after this match and I must appreciate the Irish team's performance, they fought hard and spread the jitters in the Indian camp I feel ICC must make Ireland regular cricketing nation allow them to play atleast  ODIs and T20s after their performance in this World Cup. This will definitely help in the growth of Irish cricket. Irish team can improve a lot if they get to play International cricket regularly against the big teams.

So Super-Sunday of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 lived upto the expectations of cricket lovers and provided lot of entertainment and excitement.

Englishmen take on Indians on Sunday. Preview: India V/s England

After series of losses against Australia down-under and surviving near scare of loss from Netherlands in their first match, English team is raring to do well against India in their first high-profile match of the World Cup in Bengaluru on Sunday. All they injury hit bowlers are fit and ready to go after the Indian batting. England has already declared their strategy of bouncing the Indian batsmen and their bowlers are capable of doing that but the pitch of Chinnaswamy Stadium will allow them to do so is a big suspense. 

In warm-up match between India and Australia, Chinnaswamy pitch turned a lot and created lot of problems for the Aussie batsmen and remember English batsmen are not known for playing the spin well. So interesting to see what kind of combination Englishmen will try in the match against India on Sunday. English team is missing Eoin Morgan very much because he is the one player who keeps the scoreboard rolling and very dangerous batsmen in later half of the innings. But Englishmen have some very capable batsmen in Pietersen, Tortt, Strauss and Bell who can win matches for the. Matt Prior is the very capable batsmen I really failed to understand why England opened with Pietersen. I believe England must open with Matt Prior because he can keep the scoreboard rolling and even he gets out cheaply there is no harm. We all saw how Pietersen struggled against Netherlands while opening the batting so its better that Pietersen bats down the order. Trott is the big hope for England in middle-order. He is most reliable batsmen and play the very important role of anchor. 

If we talk about English bowling, Broad, Anderson and Bresnan makes good combination and will be supported by off-spinner Greame Swann. but I believe England must take chance with 2nd spinner in Bengaluru match and that will be surprise for the Indian team. Collingwood and Trott can play supporting bowler role very well so England have enough in their armoury as far as bowling is concerned. Only thing they require is little application from all the players and I feel if they play as a unit they can very well advance to the semis.

Indian team is full of confidence at the moment after their win over Bangladesh in opening match of the World Cup. Shewag , Kohli and Gambhir had good time in that match and looking good to score lot of runs in coming matches. But Sachin's failure in his last 3 ODIs is a bit of concern for Team India. Fomm of Yuvraj SIngh with the bat is also big worry. I think India have the team which suits to the sub-continent conditions but at times they falters at the key moments. India have variety in their bowling as well and they have lot of spinning option which is big advantage for Team India and MS Dhoni.  I think India have to play sensibly against England and have to post huge total like they did against Bangladesh, if they want to win this encounter and gain some pyschological advantage for the coming matches. 

India must play 2 spinners because English batsmen certainly struggle against the spin in Bengaluru. I believe trio of Harbhajan Sing, Piyush Chawla and Yuvraj Singh will do wonders if they get the same track on which they played against Australia in the warm-up game and restricted Aussies under 180. India's biggest problem is the fitness of its fast bowlers. Both Nehra and Zaheer are struggling with injuries and have to be fully fit ahead of the all important game against India. India will have the advantage of playing at home and crowd will be cheering them to do well.

Cracker of the contest is waiting for the cricket lovers on Sunday and cricket lovers across the country hoping to see close and exciting contest between these two teams.

Team England: Analysis and Odds for ICC World Cup’11

England (Group B)

Group Rivals :-	South Africa, India, West indies, Bangladesh, Ireland and Netherlands
Coach :-	Andy Flower
Captain :-	Andrew Strauss
Best Performance in WC :-	Finalist in 1979, 1987, 1992
Highest Score in WC :-	334-4 (60 Overs) v/s India in WC’75
Lowest Score in WC :-	93 All Out 36.2 Overs) v/s Australia in WC’75
Best Individual Score :-	137, D.Amiss v/s India in WC’75
Best Bowling :-	5-39 VJ Marks v/s Sri Lanka in WC’83
Matches Won/Lost/Tied/NR	36-22-0-1
The Odds :-	14-5
ICC ODI Ranking :-	No.5

MAN TO WATCH Jonathon TROTT Jonathon Trott is the man for England in this  edition of the World Cup. He was highest scorer from from England in recently concluded ODI series against Australia. Off-late he is tremendous form and consistently performing well in all formats of the game. He scored two brilliant centuries against Australia in recently concluded ODI series. He is the most talented and reliable player  in English line-up. He is averaging over 53 in ODIs which is commendable achievement in shorter version. His heroics however shadowed because of his team mates like Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Strauss but he is highly rated by cricket experts. His role in this World Cup would be of anchor around whom entire English batting revolves. He is batting on key position of No.3 for England. He will be responsible for holding one end and help England to post big totals or chase down any totals posted by opposition teams. He is also medium pace bowler and bowls regularly and  has the ability to break partnerships.  England is depending highly on this man to help them in winning their first World Cup. Career-best performance: Batting: 137 v/s Australia at  Sydney  in 2011 Bowling: 31-2  v/s Australia at Adelaide in 2011

Three time finalist in World Cup but failed to win even once tell the complete story of English cricket. It is big irony country which gave birth to the game of cricket failed thrice to win the elite trophy even after reaching finals. I believe they are even big chokers then South Africa. Howver there are chances are also equally good in this edition of the World Cup if they will play at their full potential. They will be under-pressure going into World Cup because of their humiliating defeat against Australia in recently concluded ODI series where they lost the series 1-6 to Australia. But they can take the solace from their Ashes victory and get inspired to do well. Apart from performance they are having high casualty list which can harm their chances of winning World Cup. 7 players out of the World Cup squad of 15 are injured. Casualty list includes James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Tim Bresnan, Paul Collingwood, Greame Swann, Ajmal Shahjad and Eoin Morgan. Eoin Morgan is already replace by Ravi Bopara and I believe Morgan will be missed badly by England because of his role as finisher in the side. England is hoping that all its injured players will be fit in time. If all these players don’t recover from their injuries then England will be in real trouble and this rob their chance of winning World Cup.  England have big chance of winning this World Cup provided they find eleven fit players. Remember, they are T20 World Cup champions and this clearly suggest their potential of winning the World Cup.

Key Players for England  Andrew Strauss, Jonathon Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Greame Swann and James Anderson.