# To Ashish Nehra for not losing his head.
# Shoaib Malik for a calm 100+.
# Moyo for
# To Gambhir for being able to concentrate despite all the affection he seemed to elicit from the Pak bowlers... until he forgot to dive.
# To Raina for showing us that "evil Dhoni is an idiot" and that he should've sent you in earlier.
# To RD for:
making the final score somewhat bearable.
# To the Pak spinners for showing up Bhajji.
# To Yunis Khan for ensuring that his words didn't come back to bite him.
# To all the Pak fans at the Centurion.
46 Maidens bowled!!:
Gautam! Why didn't he dive? Why didn't he dive? Doesn't he ever watch football? That looked like the lamest attempt to get back to his crease ever.
Anon,
Welcome.
Even I don't watch football, but I knew he had to dive.
Yeah, lamest attempt ever.
If only old man Dravid hadn't sold him up the river. And of course irony struck in the form of the crazy Harbhajan who seemed to be on a mission to ensure India lost the game. But of course he's not going to be dropped, who cares if much superior bowlers like Mishra, Ojha and Chawla wait in the wings?
Mahek,
I've offended RD fans too many times to know that I need to shut up.
OK, WTH...
Yeah he sold him down the river.
But, in all Gambhirness, GG still could've dived.
He just seemed so angry with the world.
Is Chawla alive?
Oh OK.
Poor Mishra. I hope he gets a game against the Aussies. And you know what, why not use 2 spinners??
(I am stealing Manjrekar's idea).
After the shambolic bowling performance, can't quibble too much with the result.
I'm glad I watched only half of the Ind batting before heading out and enjoying my Sat evening.
I did though watch the Gambhir run out and my eyes belied me. WTF was he thinking ( or rather NOT thinking!). No dive/stretch, no sign of an attempt to get back.
Guess he was relying on Younus missing the stumps and how daft a thinking is that !
Ok Dravid thought there might be a signal, but it wasn't like being sold down a river.
From match reports, it looks like Bhajji sold Dravid down the river/ocean !!
I guess Ind is playing Aus at Centurion, and one of RP/Ishant would be dropped for Amit Sharma. In fairness, both Ishant/RP should be dropped because both were bowling utter dross !
Any hope for Monday ? Sure Aus aren't the team they once were and can be beaten. Even if you beat Aus, and then WI, it would come down to NRR, should Aus then beat Pak.
Whew things aren't looking good at all for the blokes in blue !
And I am glad I did not watch some of the Indian bowling TG!!
You know what, despite the shambolic bowling, I think the score of 300 was doable. IF GG stayed for at least 5 more overs, and if Raina had come in earlier.
Actually, the only hope I have is for Monday. It's strange, I know.
I have a feeling the Men in Blue will struggle against the Windies.
Leela
If, and at this moment, it is a big IF,India get's past Aus on Monday, then beating WI is a given.
Worst case scenario then is for Aus to beat Pak, and coming down to NRR. That is where at this moment Pak holds the aces and it would need them to get walloped by Aus to bring that down.
Agreed, 303 was gettable considering Umar Gul ( btw is he the same bloke from the T20 WC) was doing India favours each over and Younus was starting to feel the pinch. Didn't think GG would ease his tension ! :)
But MSD and YP decided to go AWOL. Can't always expect SRT to get the runs. So will/can excuse his odd failure.
While there is hope ( till end of Monday !) can still dream on going to semis.
My predo of an Aus - Ind final is looking ( after just one game) decidely weak !!! Ah the joys of CT.
Oh btw, been noticing that on and off your blog turns private ! Any reason for doing that ? Is it to prevent the Jap messages or something worse ?
TG,
I dunno, to me, the Windies bowling looks threatening. Especially for the Indians.
:-(
Yeah Umar Gul is the same guy from the T20 WC.
And GG's batting was brilliant.
MSD needs to fix himself pronto-in batting, and in his captaincy.
And Yusuf (sadly!) should be let go. I like Abhishek Nayar, but unfortunately he cannot bowl.
And we need all the pt spinners we can get.
Yeah.. those stupid Japanese mesgs. Some IDIOT.
This is what being an Indian fan does to you ! :) Always pessimistic, thanks to the blokes in Blue !
Switch over to supporting Aus. No matter how dire the situation is - you'll never find yourself doubting them. And this is no matter how bad Aus are ! :) :)
To the tournament itself, Ind will easily beat WI - if there is a need to beat them. If it's a dead game, who cares anyway !
Btw since you want to block or get rid of the Jap msg, why don't you make the blog private and invite folks to view/comment on it. Guess it would solve the problem ?
TG,
I've survived the 90s (when India pretty much always failed), I'll live thru this.
:-)
Not pessimistic, more realistic I guess. The Windies are bowling well. So...
Yeah, I probably should try that. I hate moderating comments.
Leela
My patience or lack of it, with the India team ran out at the end of the 91/92 Aus tour . The 92 WC was when I switched to Aus - didn't like any other team to support. I followed a logic then - you guys beat the daylights out of India, so you must be doing something right :)
Not too much of an argument to switch allegiance, but 17 yrs down the line - not too shabby a ride of having supported them. Made me into an eternal optimist during the ride, which even now is hard to put down :)
So Gambhir doesn't put in a dive which would have been in vain but no one talks about Dravid's calling. Even Sambit Bal chose to ignore Dravid's pathetic running between the wickets. I guess in India you're allowed to get away with it when you have more than 10,000 runs under your belt. You're also allowed to consistently bowl badly, not take wickets, argue with fellow players, and strut around like you're king of the world.
yes you need to have some special talent to be bhajji...
he definitely turned the game on its head by his sheer bowling talent...
I would remove the strike-out for Dravid and put it in a *. Can't forgive him for playing like this. I mean what was he thinking... Putting all the pressure to score big quick runs to the lesser batsmen who were new to the crease.
Gautam was betrayed. That's why he didn't dive.
Now that's dramatic isn't it?
Mahek,
Even Sambit Bal chose to ignore Dravid's pathetic running between the wickets.
To be honest, no publication/paper/website ever criticizes Dravid; it's as if, because he is so dour and somewhat articulate, he is above reproach.
SP,
Yeah Bhajji was infuriating y'day.
Scorpi,
His running between the wickets was atrocious. He seemed confused. And I still cannot forgive his SR on a good pitch.
He was a great batsmen, but clearly past his prime.
I've still not reconciled to his selction in the ODI team. Oh well...
And now South Africa are out. Kudos to England for playing good cricket though. Not too happy about Strauss's double standards.
Mahek,
Yeah it was wierd what Strauss did.
I wonder what was going on in his head.
Leela
I'm here to defend Dravid (after panning him in my post!) If you feel my bias towards him shows in this comment then you must pardon me...(and my typos...it's almost 3 am here)
a) I don't think Gambhir was sold out by Dravid. They both started for the run. And once NO was the call, it was ridiculous how Gambhir didn't dive to get back to his crease. A little misunderstanding i can grant. But there is no excuse for this sloppiness. And that is why Gambhir was out, not becuase of the call.
b) When Raina got out, the reqd runs were 100 in 16 ovs. pretty gettable no? And Dravid's SR actually got better after that..not ideal, I know. But gievn the situation it wasnt that bad. Someone had to stand firm at one end, isnt it? The only people capable of doing that in the current line up(acc to me) are Sachin, Gauti (to an extent), Rahul and Mahi...with everyone else back in the pavillion, who was left to do that? Kohli lost it in a rush of adrenaline, Mahi tried to be too cute and went out lbw, and yunus, well, did his tu chal, main aaya bit. Somebody had to stay put no?
And Scorpi, putting pressure on the young ones to do all the quick scoring? You are being a little harsh...isn't that what their USP is? The young guns who know the art of quick scoring and the oldies should make way for them? Then why this reaction when they failed to do that?
Megha,
3:00 am!!! RD is lucky to have fans like you.
:-)
a) I feel the GG run out was the mistake of both RD and GG. RD, for being so flaky (even before the run out there had been a misunderstanding & he had backed out on a run), and GG for not diving.
b)The running continued to be flaky even when he was partenering Kohli. He had misunderstandings with Bhajji too.
(Though, I agree Bhajji sold RD down the river!!)
c) The problem I have with Dravid is not that he doesn't hit sixes or fours, but that he does not rotate the strike.
This puts pressure on the others.
And remember this was the Centurion pitch, one that was quite good for batting, yet his SR was bad.
d) The other issue is that he seems disconnected with the team. For instance, in recent times we have seen Sachin shepherd the youngsters, while RD is unable to do so.
e) I agree that MSD made a few mistakes in the batting order that might have affected the scoring, but RD always seemed to find a fielder; he just could not take singles even.
RD is not solely responsible for the loss, true.
Anyone who's played some cricket knows the batsman at the striker's end calls when the ball is in front of the wicket while it's the non-striker's call when the ball goes behind the wicket. The call was from Dravid, hence he should've gone on to complete the run. Gambhir was only responding to the call. He should've never had to turn and make his ground in the first place. The dive wasn't going to save him anyway.
Dravid was never the man to bat at number 3 in highscoring games. His best performances have come at number 5 where he comes in with the field spread and there are singles on offer. Picking him was a sign of weakness, as is the tactic of playing Harbhajan ahead of Mishra or Ojha. We were doing well when our bowlers were taking wickets, now that they're not we're back to being an average side.
Sigh
Ok..with a deadline at work looming large, this is what I am doing instead (oh Dravid..what have u driven me too!)
So I calculated who got how much strike when Dravid was batting at the other end -
Gambhir - played 35 balls out of 58 for his 44 runs
Kohli - played 24 out of 46 for his 16
Dhoni - played 8 out of 14 for his 3
Raina - played 41 out of 67 for his 46
I did not bother with Yusuf and Bhajji. That's no use.
Oh, and overall, Dravid played 103 balls out of the 228 when he was on.
I think we can conclude that if a batsman was playing well, he did get a lot of the strike. Dravid did not hog the strike then...
Leela,
RD is lucky to have fans like you.
Is he reading? :)
c) as noted above.
d) Ah, that is an interesting point. If so, then surely this has to be a two-way street? The youngsters go upto Sachin and ask for advice (as we note in our Thank You Sachin series at Bored.) Are the youngsters, and most importantly Dhoni, happy with Dravid back in the side? If they are, then give it another series or so before Dravid seems more connected with the team :) He is coming back after a 2 year gap.
Mahek,
If you think the dive wasnt going to save Gambhir anyway then I think we were watching different matches...
You've got to be honest, and this is not a character assassination (or a batsmanship assassination even) of Rahul Dravid - merely a judgement on how he batted on the day.
When chasing a 300+ score, none of your batsmen, not even your sheet anchor, can afford to bat at a strike-rate in the mid seventies. Eighty is a bare minimum.
Especially seeing how almost every other batsmen had no trouble batting at 90 or higher.
Maybe you should also look at Dravid's strike rate in those partnerships, more specifically the number of dot balls. Being unable to turn the strike over is about the number of dot balls against your name, it's not about how many balls your partner gets to face. For example, Gambhir could've had the strike the first ball of an over and only dealt in dots, twos, fours or sixes. It's not just about one game, it's about his whole career. He's a lot better at rotating the strike at number 5 and there's a very logical explanation for it. His average and strike rate at 5 is better than it is at 3. It's not rocket science.
Sharath,
Yup, not character-assasination, merely an assesment. Especially, considering that CI decided to keep quiet about it.
Megha,
His SR on a good batting pitch was unpardonable, whichever way you slice it.
was directed here from Megha's blog
i still believe Dravid was the only batsman who wasn't responsible for him getting out!He hadnt finished his innings yet! bhajji did! :(
Gambhir could have dived..
Raina was getting restless and i can go on and on.
If it was such a good batting pitch why did the other batsman get out to such reckless shots!?
rather than blaming dravid for all this wrt his strike rate why not point the finger on all the other batsman who failed!
anyhow when the other batsman were going at a strike rate of 100+ what is the need of dravid going at 80 or even 90?
remember the target was still very easily achievable with 104 runs required from 17 overs that with 6 wickets in hand!(at that point of time dravid had a strike rate of 66.7)
Aditya,
Welcome to the blog.
(Thanks Megha.)
If it was such a good batting pitch why did the other batsman get out to such reckless shots!?
Because Dravid wasn't playing any!
rather than blaming dravid for all this wrt his strike rate why not point the finger on all the other batsman who failed!
Because most people already do that (blame other batsmen).
What's the harm in questioning Dravid.
anyhow when the other batsman were going at a strike rate of 100+ what is the need of dravid going at 80 or even 90?
If a "great" batsmen like him cannot score at 90 on such a pitch... then what's the point.
He has this habit of clogging one side.
"Because most people already do that (blame other batsmen).
What's the harm in questioning Dravid"
He had done what he could have.I believe atleast he should not be blamed, the others deserve even more !
"If a "great" batsmen like him cannot score at 90 on such a pitch... then what's the point"
Remember the target was still very easily achievable with 104 runs required from 17 overs that with 6 wickets in hand!(at that point of time dravid had a strike rate of 66.7)
"He has this habit of clogging one side and Because Dravid wasn't playing any!"
He used to.He is a much better player now.After IPL 2 at least.
He has been assigned such a role now! If they wanted another player playing some reckless shots they would have picked Rohit Sharma or anyone else from the young brigade instead of him!
Silly me, I thought batting was about scoring as many runs as quickly as possible without getting out. Maybe Dravid and his fans think differently.
Aditya,
I have nothing else to add to what Mahek said.
Aditya,
First of all, I don't think any one of us here doubts Dravid's abilities as a batsman, either in tests or one-dayers. Or in Twenty20, as a matter of fact, after IPL2.
But the fact remains that in this match, he didn't score as quickly as he needed to. Yes, he was the sheet anchor, and yes, as you say, that is his role. But when the team is chasing 300, your sheet anchor bats at 85-90 and lets the others bat at 110-115, rather than bat at 70-75 and expect others to bat at 120-125.
That extra ten run requirement per hundred balls on other batsmen, I'd imagine, brought about at least some of those reckless shots you referred to.
As a general assessment of Dravid's batting, the accusation that he clogs up an end is probably unfair, but as an assessment of how he did on that day - and he is entitled to off-days like any other batsman - I'd say it's reasonably on the dot.
What the eff is up with Dravid and the second season of IPL??? People talk about his performance as if he was one of the best batsmen on show. Please check his records, he blew hot and cold in that tournament.
And you don't need to play recklessly to score faster than 75 runs per 100 balls. Graeme Smith played a brilliant innings the other day and he took hardly any risks. Yeah he was given a lifeline by Owais Shah but that innings was more or less faultless.
We're not playing Match ka Mujrim here, the idea is not to crucify Dravid. But if he's been brought in to provide solidity then he bloody well do it, and it doesn't come from just being at the crease. When you score slowly it's your partner who has to take the attack to the opposition. The least you can do is turn the strike over to him on a regular basis. Calling for a run and backing out would help too.
Sharath,
As a general assessment of Dravid's batting, the accusation that he clogs up an end is probably unfair,
Have you seen him bat lately? And you still feel that way?
See he was good once upon a time, but has lost his touch in recent times. And I am not sure what's the harm in accepting that.
Move him down to 5 and he'll be fine again. There are too many fielders in the circle when he bats at 3. Coming in after the 15th over would take care of that problem and Dravid would have more gaps to exploit in the infield.
At number 3:
Innings 103
Runs 3872
Average 39.91
Strike Rate 69.32
At number 4:
Innings 102
Runs 3301
Average 36.27
Strike Rate 70.91
At number 5:
Innings 69
Runs 2459
Average 43.91
Strike Rate 73.60
So he averages 4 more runs per innings AND 4 more runs per 100 balls when he bats at number 5 as opposed to number 3. So why not have Dhoni or Raina bat at 3 and let Dravid finish off innings?
Why not have Dhoni at #3? I say, yes please. But he must promise that he will come at #3 on all occasions - not only when the score is 100/1 in 15 overs.
I say, drop Dravid, and have the young guns, and keep winning in the sub continent and fall flat in the ICC tournaments. What? The next WC is in sub-continent? Oh yeah, then what have we to worry? Uthappa can open, Dhoni can happily come in at #3 in all matches, Rohit Sharma can book for bed and breakfast at #6, Yousuf Pathan can biff away at #7.
Just drop Dravid. He is the root cause for India's failures recently. Infact, even when he wasnt playing, the mere thought of him caused Dhoni's team to keel over in the T20 WC. I say, just order a supari on him - then maybe India will start doing well.
It seems we have a funny boy amongst us :)
@Soldier
Stop being sexist.
Anon,
Welcome.
RD is not the root cause of our problems. But he is one of the problems.
And regdg your thoughts about the youngsters being flat-track bullies... I will respond in a post.
:-)
just order a supari on him -
Relax!
Sorry, I guess we also have a funny lady in our midst.
@Soldier
Now you're being plain rude. Are you saying Anon is both a funny boy and a funny lady?
No I'm saying you're the funny lady :)
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