Has there ever been a time when all Indian eyes - and minds - have been focused on a match featuring Pakistan even though the Indian team is playing elsewhere at the same time?
In fact the match between India and West Indies in Johannesburg became relevant only briefly, when Pakistan's bowlers were triggering a sensational Australian collapse 40 kilometres away in Centurion. Pakistan did the best they could but the fact that India's fortunes were hostage to the performance of another team summed up their story.
There should, however, be no tears and no excuses. This is the third of the last four world tournaments where India have failed to clear the first meaningful hurdle and, just as in the case of South Africa, their position on the ICC rankings table will be of no consequence unless they can bring their best game to the big ones. Dinara Safina has been the No. 1 women's tennis player for a year now but does anyone think of her as the best on the circuit?
In the end, justice was done. Australia hadn't lost a match in the tournament so far and, from where they were against India the other night, they would have felt the more aggrieved by the rain. At 234 for 4 in the 43rd over, they would have been the favourites.
There are reasons not to be too harsh on this Indian team for their performance in this tournament. They came here without two of their match-winners, and lost one more before the tournament started. Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh are big players and the hole their absence left was too huge to plug.
Also, they have gone out on the back of one loss. The short and sharp nature of the tournament wasn't kind to them, and questions will perhaps be asked about a format that knocks out a big team on account of one bad game. It was unfortunate that rain denied them the opportunity to redeem themselves and placed their destiny at the hands of other teams.
And the Champions Trophy has always been that kind of tournament. Apart from 2006, when Australia won it, favourites have rarely gone the distance. Who would have put money on England and New Zealand going through to the semi-finals? All these factors must be taken in to consideration while assessing India's performance in this tournament.
None of them, though, should obscure the weaknesses, persistent for a while now but glaring in this tournament. India haven't looked good as a one-day team for some time though their recent record would suggest otherwise. The flaws were apparent in the one-day series in the West Indies, which they won, and in the recent tri-series in Sri Lanka which they won as well. Often it was their batting might that masked the shortcomings with the ball and in the field.
The numbers tell a story. In four of their last ten matches, India have conceded more than 300 runs, and were clearly on their way to another such total against Australia the other night. To be fair, not too many bowlers have come away from these Centurion pitches with their dignity intact. The home team conceded over 300 twice, as did England. And, but for crucial mistakes from their batsmen, India would have run Pakistan close.
Sometimes, though, you can bowl at your best and still go for runs. Ashish Nehra apart, the Indian bowlers served up a series of short, wayward balls. RP Singh had no control against Pakistan, and Ishant Sharma delivered two tight spells but ruined it with some shockers on either side. Against Pakistan, he was instrumental in getting Shoaib Malik going with three trashy long hops in one over.
Against Australia, who had been kept tentative and honest by a zippy Ashish Nehra and a mildly wobbling Praveen Kumar, he provided the perfect release with an over that featured two fours and a six. It also contained a wide. In the course of one over, Australia jumped from a nervous 23 for 1 after eight overs to a comfortable 39 after nine. From there on, India couldn't find a way back.
In Australia a year and a half ago, Ishant was the world's hottest fast bowler. He made Ricky Ponting look ordinary, he hustled Mathew Hayden, climbed all over Michael Clarke and, along with Praveen Kumar, was responsible for India winning the CB Series. With Zaheer Khan back and willing to lead the quick bowlers, it seemed then India were about to enter a golden period in pace bowling, because on the sidelines lurked the likes of RP Singh, Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
A year later, in the absence of Zaheer, India's ODI attack looks orphaned. It must be asked why most Indian bowlers, young and hopefully willing, have actually regressed. Ishant is the most debilitating personification of what has gone wrong with the lot. He has lost not only his pace but apparently his sense of length and line too. Since the CB series, where he took 14 wickets while conceding only 4.58 runs per over, his economy-rate is more than six runs an over and he has routinely been taken for more than seven.
Equally dispiriting has been the performance of Harbhajan Singh. He has continued to be a conundrum. On the basis of his experience and reputation, he is the leader of this Indian attack. Occasionally, like in the tri-series final against Sri Lanka, he has sparkled. On many occasions, he has been tight and adequate. Yet after so many years he has still not become the bankable match-turner that his team will expect him to be.
Against Pakistan he was outbowled not only by the impressive Saeed Ajmal and the magnificently matured Shahid Afridi but even by Yusuf Pathan. And the Australians, once putty in his hands, milked him with ease. On the basis of how he bowled against Australia, Amit Mishra can expect to be picked ahead of him.
India will be stronger when Sehwag, Yuvraj and Zaheer return but they have a fundamental problem in this form of the game for which no credible answers are available. No great one-day team has been complete without allrounders and India haven't found one since the fall of Irfan Pathan. They have tried making use of the bowling abilty of their batsmen, and tried to make do with Yusuf. But he has shown little evidence of being able to do the job at No. 7 and, while playing five bowlers is welcome, it leaves the team dangerously unbalanced, and without insurance against a batting collapse.
Being knocked out of the Champions Trophy is a setback, not a disaster, and it would not be futile if India carry back a few lessons.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
India's jigsaw lacks more than missing pieces
Cricket : IND VS AUS | India Vs Ausstralia LIVE STREAMING
Tendulkar ominous after Australia ride on North ton
October 10, 2010
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India 128 for 2 (Tendulkar 44*, Vijay 42*) trail Australia 478 (North 128, Paine 59, Harbhajan 4-148, Ojha 3-120) by 350 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
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| Related Links Analysis : Sehwag undone by well-laid plan Bulletin : India stay in touch after Ponting half-century Players/Officials: Harbhajan Singh | Marcus North | Pragyan Ojha | Tim Paine | Sachin Tendulkar | Murali Vijay Matches: India v Australia at Bangalore Series/Tournaments: Australia tour of India [Sep-Oct 2010] | |||
Marcus North sealed his immediate future with his fifth Test century but Australia still need to see off Sachin Tendulkar to feel any degree of comfort in Bangalore. The Australians must win to avoid a series defeat and North's career-best 128 ensured a strong total of 478, although by stumps Tendulkar and M Vijay were also enjoying the batting conditions.
There was a familiar feel to the match after the series opener followed a similar path in Mohali, where Australia began with 428 and India closed day two at 110 for 2; this time the hosts went to stumps at 128 for 2. There is no VVS Laxman to torment Australia this time, but Tendulkar and Vijay were frustrating enough in a 90-run partnership.
Vijay cruised to 42 and Tendulkar was on 44, along the way becoming the first man to accumulate 14,000 Test runs. He was never troubled by the offspin of Nathan Hauritz or the debutant fast man Peter George, whose first few overs featured several nervous leg-side strays. George's first over cost nine, as he learnt quickly not to offer half-volleys to Virender Sehwag.
For a brief period after tea, it looked like Sehwag would define the innings. He slashed his first ball viciously through point off Mitchell Johnson and followed with a flashy cut over third man's head for six. It was an uncomfortable return to new-ball duties for Johnson, who hadn't taken that role since December.
But Johnson had a hand in the dismissal of Sehwag, whose 30 from 28 deliveries ended when he pulled a slow bouncer from Ben Hilfenhaus straight to Johnson on the square-leg boundary. That brought out Rahul Dravid and immediately Ricky Ponting called Johnson back into the attack.
It was a wise move against Dravid, who for the third time in the series was out caught behind the wicket to a left-arm fast man. Doug Bollinger was his harasser in Mohali and this time Dravid (1) pushed at Johnson, edged with the angle and was sharply snapped up at third slip by North.
North grinned at his changed fortunes, which had begun on the previous afternoon when he made his way to 43 not out at stumps. It took him only one scoring shot on the second morning to take his tally past the 46 that was his aggregate in his previous six innings; that lean patch had led to serious questions over his place in the team.
The selectors were thrilled with North's hundred, which will ensure that he takes part in the Ashes, although he must still aim for greater consistency and fewer grand failures. When he bats as he did in Bangalore, it's hard to work out how he can produce so many low scores.
He brought up his hundred with a tight single nudged to gully, and dived into his ground at the non-striker's end with relief. He picked himself up, raised his bat and accepted the standing ovation of his team-mates, who appreciated the effort of North in becoming the side's top scorer for the third time in his 31 Test innings.
North was especially strong with his drives through cover and straight down the ground, which were generally timed to perfection. Importantly, he batted with control, choosing carefully which deliveries to leave and waiting for opportunities to score, and he even lashed out with a slog-swept six off Pragyan Ojha.
A similar shot off Harbhajan Singh ended North's stay, but by then the Australians were looking for quick runs to move the game forward. The spinners finished the tail off, though not before a few more were added by Hilfenhaus (16 not out) and Hauritz, who dropped his bat and looked more like a Commonwealth Games sprinter than a cricketer when he failed to beat a Cheteshwar Pujara direct hit.
But those runs were a mere bonus for Australia. The key contributions on the second day came from North and Tim Paine, whose 149-run stand guided Australia past 300 and then on into the more secure 400-plus zone. Paine rode his luck to reach 59; he was dropped two runs earlier when Suresh Raina spilled a straightforward chance at cover off Ojha.
He had also been reprieved after a wild slash outside off went from the toe of the bat through to MS Dhoni. Paine was halfway off the field when he was called back by the umpire Ian Gould, who was checking on a suspected no-ball. The TV official confirmed that Sreesanth had overstepped, and for the second time in the series an Australian batsman escaped after a third-umpire no-ball call.
Paine's chances ran out when he was beaten by Ojha's spin and sharply stumped by Dhoni. Ojha (3 for 120) quickly followed with Johnson lbw and it was a bright spell for India, though it took help from Harbhajan, who ended up with 4 for 148, to finish off the Australians.
By then, the visitors had managed their highest total in a Bangalore Test. But their bowlers need also to thrive if they are to deny India a series victory.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
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