Its always nice to finish a weekend on a high, and nothing satisfies me more than seeing my country win, well....albeit against the West Indies. Indeed it shrugs off my initial disappointment of not able to tame the Lankans, but professional as they were yesterday, they got their job done pretty professionally.
Here is the story - although I reckon it was a job well done, somewhere down the line I am confused between "well done" and "conviction". Yesterday's win was a much needed one for the Indians who always have what I term as "Season starting blues". I can only see them getting better and more confident as this tournament progresses into break points. As I saw it yesterday, there were two pitches at the Rangiri Stadium. One - when Dravid was on the crease and the other when all the other batsmen were. It was indeed one of those occasions where I got to see the rare sight (pretty much these days) of the Windies pace battery charged up and at the batsman, but as I said before, only Dravid with his high-class technique came through with hardly any sweating. Kaif showed promise at the top, but somehow doesn't fit my bill as far as the opening slot is concerned. Suresh Raina - well mate, fortune favours the brave ? Yeah, ask him bout that !! All in all, an "above-average" batting performance to say the least, but with the damage already done by some excellent bowling, chasing 178 wasn't much of an Everest to climb.
A word of mention about the bowling - looked pretty much in sync yesterday. Zak and Irfan got the ball rolling and the others pretty much followed. Maybe the fifth bowler could hold up for serious improvement, but all in all, it was a disciplined cum orchestrated effort (each bowler pretty much bowled for each other).
Dropped catches...a.k.a BLOOPERS was the order of the day for both Sehwag and the West Indians. When I diagnosed each of their problems, Sehwag's one looked to be impardonable - for his footwork was appalling for a fielder in the 2nd slip. But, as far as the West Indians are concerned, it was their best fielders who put down sitters. So much so for Ian Bishop and Tony Cozier raving about their catching in the Tests....Now, as far as I see it, this could be due to the floodlights in Dambulla, as Ian Chappell mentioned - they were of pretty inferior quality and badly placed. Chanders also pretty much conceded the lack of training under lights for the young Caribs as the cause of the butterfingers. Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Smith and Ricardo Powell indeed have a point to prove as they take the field on Tuesday against the Lankans. As for Virender Sehwag, a kick in his backside could be the ideal medicine for his catching woes.
How many times have I seen this before ?? Indians (or certainly People of Indian Origin) having a big say against men of their same breed. Well folks, there were two Indians on debut who have in someway made some name for themselves. Narsingh Deonarine (pronounced in India as Narsingha Devnarayan) and Denesh Ramdin (pronounced in India as Dinesh Ramadin) showed their grit and determination in the middle as the batsmen around them succumbed to some quality Indian bowling. I look at Deonarine as someone in the Katich mould - attack when required and defend otherwise. If I had any criticism of Deonarine, it was perhaps the time he took for those 41 runs and threw it away when it was imperative for him to stay on, if Windies were to get anywhere close to 200. Ramdin also comes across as a cool customer (Ive seen him captain West Indies Under-19 in the World Cup at Bangladesh and he played a stellar knock of 72 against England in the Semis). His footwork as a wicketkeeper is perfect and a good gloveman was what West Indian cricket demanded post-Jacobs. With Ravindranath Rampaul and Ryan Ramdass waiting in the wings, it won't be long before the West Indies actually turn into the West "Indians". My second book, which I hopefully should be writing before the world cup will be on the contribution of these players of Indian origin in West Indies cricket and the titling is going on the lines of "Currybeans" or "Where East meets West"....
I will be back with my review of the 3rd ODI on Wednesday and hopefully with good catching, the Windies can force an upset against a much fancied Sri Lanka...
Here is the story - although I reckon it was a job well done, somewhere down the line I am confused between "well done" and "conviction". Yesterday's win was a much needed one for the Indians who always have what I term as "Season starting blues". I can only see them getting better and more confident as this tournament progresses into break points. As I saw it yesterday, there were two pitches at the Rangiri Stadium. One - when Dravid was on the crease and the other when all the other batsmen were. It was indeed one of those occasions where I got to see the rare sight (pretty much these days) of the Windies pace battery charged up and at the batsman, but as I said before, only Dravid with his high-class technique came through with hardly any sweating. Kaif showed promise at the top, but somehow doesn't fit my bill as far as the opening slot is concerned. Suresh Raina - well mate, fortune favours the brave ? Yeah, ask him bout that !! All in all, an "above-average" batting performance to say the least, but with the damage already done by some excellent bowling, chasing 178 wasn't much of an Everest to climb.
A word of mention about the bowling - looked pretty much in sync yesterday. Zak and Irfan got the ball rolling and the others pretty much followed. Maybe the fifth bowler could hold up for serious improvement, but all in all, it was a disciplined cum orchestrated effort (each bowler pretty much bowled for each other).
Dropped catches...a.k.a BLOOPERS was the order of the day for both Sehwag and the West Indians. When I diagnosed each of their problems, Sehwag's one looked to be impardonable - for his footwork was appalling for a fielder in the 2nd slip. But, as far as the West Indians are concerned, it was their best fielders who put down sitters. So much so for Ian Bishop and Tony Cozier raving about their catching in the Tests....Now, as far as I see it, this could be due to the floodlights in Dambulla, as Ian Chappell mentioned - they were of pretty inferior quality and badly placed. Chanders also pretty much conceded the lack of training under lights for the young Caribs as the cause of the butterfingers. Denesh Ramdin, Dwayne Smith and Ricardo Powell indeed have a point to prove as they take the field on Tuesday against the Lankans. As for Virender Sehwag, a kick in his backside could be the ideal medicine for his catching woes.
How many times have I seen this before ?? Indians (or certainly People of Indian Origin) having a big say against men of their same breed. Well folks, there were two Indians on debut who have in someway made some name for themselves. Narsingh Deonarine (pronounced in India as Narsingha Devnarayan) and Denesh Ramdin (pronounced in India as Dinesh Ramadin) showed their grit and determination in the middle as the batsmen around them succumbed to some quality Indian bowling. I look at Deonarine as someone in the Katich mould - attack when required and defend otherwise. If I had any criticism of Deonarine, it was perhaps the time he took for those 41 runs and threw it away when it was imperative for him to stay on, if Windies were to get anywhere close to 200. Ramdin also comes across as a cool customer (Ive seen him captain West Indies Under-19 in the World Cup at Bangladesh and he played a stellar knock of 72 against England in the Semis). His footwork as a wicketkeeper is perfect and a good gloveman was what West Indian cricket demanded post-Jacobs. With Ravindranath Rampaul and Ryan Ramdass waiting in the wings, it won't be long before the West Indies actually turn into the West "Indians". My second book, which I hopefully should be writing before the world cup will be on the contribution of these players of Indian origin in West Indies cricket and the titling is going on the lines of "Currybeans" or "Where East meets West"....
I will be back with my review of the 3rd ODI on Wednesday and hopefully with good catching, the Windies can force an upset against a much fancied Sri Lanka...
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