First Post

Recent few weeks have been a dream come true if you are a cricket fan- the top 2 test teams fighting it out against each other, and then interestingly enough, the same 2 teams fighting it out for the ODI ranks as well.

It all ends today with the 5^th ODI. Sadly the quality of cricket hasn’t been as great as we expected with dropped catches, some poor batting from SA and pretty average run-rates. With AB de Villiers not firing as usual, South Africa have really missed Kallis, the batsman. Elgar, Duminy and de Plessis were always going to be lightweights but they haven’t fluttered enough. England on the other hand have been steady. Just like against Australia they haven’t been tested enough except for the 2^nd ODI, and their shortened and KP-less batting line-up is yet to be consistently tested.

South Africa have been below par, and with a proud guy like AB at the helm, and some ODI places up for grabs, I would expect a better showing from them today. I predict a 2-2 series draw, with England staying at the top of ODI rankings, quite appropriately. Sad to admit, I know!

Meanwhile, Pakistan begin their 3 match T20 campaign against Australia. Their over reliant on Ajmal cost them them the ODI series. It wasn’t as if the other bowlers weren’t good enough, which you can never say for the likes of Afridi, Hafeez, Rehman and Junaid (truly world class, isn’t it?), but it was more of a case where Australia didn’t have to chase too much and they needn’t really attack the others. That’s where Misbah messed it up by letting Australia milk runs against the spinners- the challenge for Australia would have been to try and score with more aggressive fields, something they were never asked to do.

However the T20s would require a more aggressive approach, unless Pakistan bat first and botch it up like they did managed to do in the ODIs. So, Pakistan need a decent score if batting first. Expect Pakistan to win this one.

Now the main one: India v/s New Zealand. I thought India were very impressive, as they should have been in their home conditions. And I don’t really agree with what most pundits feel that India weren’t convincing enough. India were lethal in Hyderabad where the conditions suited them to the hilt and their bowling in particular was as dangerous as it ever has been. You couldn’t expect the same as soon as we landed in Bangalore. The conditions weren’t suited to us, and if anything, it was more in favor of New Zealand with hardly any spin, and lots of seam movement.

Umesh Yadav was pretty disappointing. I said a few months ago that he isn’t a Test cricketer yet, and he needs to tour with India A to improve his consistency. Against England and Australia, he is going to be a liability if he doesn’t maintain his lengths. Yes, he will bowl the odd wicket taking delivery like he did to McCullum, but on Indian pitches he is still a work-in-progress. He needs more first class matches, or even a county stint should do him good.

Add to that, a new look batting line-up and a struggling opening combination. Moreover, Tendulkar didn’t get runs in a home series after a long long time. If you look at everything, it was an impressive performance. One can’t expect the issues of England and Australia tours to disappear suddenly. If that was so, then there was no point in Dravid and Laxman retiring. So let’s keep that in context.

The tough tours are still coming up, and let us be practical in our assessment then. With the changing landscape of Indian cricket, it would be too optimistic to expect a 4-0 drubbing of England. But let us keep our fingers crossed for a strong performance like I think this team did.