Comments on: India versus England – gripping, yet flawed

By: Raghuveer

Raghuveer — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:31:57 +0000

While it may seem pragmatic to drop gambhir for the sake of achieving the elusive team balance, gambhir has been unceasingly been better than his counterparts while we have chased targets. But one could argue that he does not merit a place in the team merely to cover the possibility of mounting a chase (under lights). In that case, dhoni should move up the order (possibly at No.3) considering that Kohli is a tad inexperienced. I am very apprehensive about our chances in the semis with such a bowling attack (the less said better) and a batting line up (barring Tendukar) that might unravel in a chase.

By: Suhrith

Suhrith — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:22:37 +0000

Anirudh and Shounak,

Thanks a lot. I know where both of you are coming from. In all likelihood, as you say, Anirudh, India will probably replace Chawla with Ashwin and that will be the only change they make. But I think in subcontinental pitches, Dhoni (I am not always a big fan of his batting) can be both steady when needed and can play the game-changing knocks. So in that sense, he tends to fulfill two roles. So you would have the steady in Tendulkar, Kohli and Dhoni and I think that may well be enough in these pitches.

And I agree with you, Shounak, on Dhoni’s captaincy. His performance on Sunday left much to be desired. The field placement, the bowling changes were all mediocre and uninspiring.

By: Shounak

Shounak — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:13:42 +0000

Great Article Suhrith.

I strongly believe playing a spinner in the penultimate over was a disaster by Dhoni, especially when none of spinners were in top form. The Team’s body language showed over confidence once the mammoth total was put on board. I think this time we were hit by complacency. Let’s not forget, we were already shown the trailer of the disastrous bowling attack in our match against Bangladesh.

Now regarding the team composition, I suggest, drop Pathan and bring in another extra bowler in the side. In Indian sub continent we dont need such a deep batting order. Pathan will hardly get a chance to show his prowess with the bat, if this is the way the tournament is going to go. Further, as a bowler, I dont think he can contribute that much. So, we better stick with quality in the batting and continue with the likes of Gambhir and Kohli, who have been consistently delivering now.

And yes, Dhoni should be a little more proactive as a Captain. We want to see the passion in him. May be he can take a few lessons from (I dare say) Shahid Afridi about how to lead a side…

By: Anirudh Krishnan

Anirudh Krishnan — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 12:54:19 +0000

Suhrith, great article. Very thought provoking. But I disagree on 2 issues:
1) I don’t think playing a 5th bowler will make much of a difference considering that Yuvraj and Pathan had the same economy rate as the other bowlers in the team and much better economy rates than the reserves have had in the recent past (Nehra went at 6 plus in helpful South African conditions and Sreesanth went for 53 in 5 overs in his previous match). I think the key is to bring Ashwin in instead of Chawla and open the bowling with Ashwin. Munaf does quite a good job when he is not bowling in the power plays.
2) If at all some batsman has to be dropped it cannot be Gambhir. I think the Indians have too many game changers already whose forte is not their consistency (Sehwag, Yuvraj, Pathan and now even Dhoni). I think India needs 3 stable batsmen atleast and currently these three are Sachin, Kohli and Gambhir. If at all, India can do away with Pathan or Yuvraj (if we do play a 5th bowler their bowling becomes less important).

By: Suhrith

Suhrith — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 09:49:53 +0000

Biswa, I agree with you on the complacency aspect. India probably never thought England can chase 338 and they thought turning up and bowling irrespective of any planning would be sufficient. You’re right, this could well act as a wake up call of sorts, and I hope it does. I think what the team lacks – and has lacked for a good 20 years now – is a genuine all-rounder (someone who is quality with both bat and ball and preferably, someone who can bowl medium pace). That would have filled two positions an we wouldn’t have been having this debate on whether to play the extra bowler or the extra batsman. Anyway, I suppose India would have to make do with what it has and irrespective of the team composition, it must show far greater application and verve to win this Cup.

By: Biswa

Biswa — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 06:54:32 +0000

I get your point, but I won’t change too much with the current team. Remember, this is the same team and the same combination which has done very well over the past few seasons. I never agreed with the Chawla selection, u just can’t pick somebody because he bowls leg spin when the others in your team bowl off spin. Selection should be on quality, not on kind of bowling you do and which arm u use to bowl.

Anyway adding an extra bowler won’t help much, as the problem is not specialist bowler but a quality bowler and lets face it, we dont have quality bowlers. The only two quality bowlers in the team are Zaheer and Harbhajan. I know u dont agree on Bhajji but he has bowled well lately. It is difficult to bowl on flat indian pitches. Look at what happenned to swann.

What the team lacked was spark on the field and some unimaginative captaincy from Dhoni. Dhoni allowed the game to roll on, he wasn’t proactive enough and hoped for English batsmen to make mistakes, never forced them to come out of their comfort zone with attacking field setting. I think the moment India scored 338, they thought they had won the game, which led to the lacklustre bowling and fielding performance. The same team will fight hard if they are defending 230.

As far as changes in the team goes, I will pick Ashwin instead of Chawla, and maybe open the bowling with him. One can’t change too much at this point……. so stick to your strength and hope for the best. Keep scoring 300 plus and hope ur bowling defends it . I strongly feel that the England game was a blessing in disguise and the team will be sharp, intense and focussed in future matches.

PS: Gambhir is the captain of my super selector team, so i wont drop him

By: Suhrith

Suhrith — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:43:06 +0000

I agree with you on Harbhajan. Ideally he should be removed from the Eleven. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. Do you?

By: aandthirtyeights

aandthirtyeights — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 04:59:01 +0000

Harbhajan must go. India can’t have ten overs from a frontline bowler who doesn’t get wickets. Gavin Larsen was the last bowler who bowled regularly like that, but his economy rate was nearer to 3 than 4.5. I’d pick Chawla and Ashwin.

And I agree with you, drop Gambhir and play another bowler – Nehra.

By: Suhrith

Suhrith — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:43:40 +0000

Thanks a lot Arghya. Entirely agree with you on both Zaheer’s bowling and his hairdo. Nehra, I think is still struggling with a sore back, but he should hopefully be fit for the next game. He can be expensive, but he’s certainly a wicket-taking bowler.

But having said that, I am not quite so optimistic about India making the semifinals. I think it will need all the luck right from the quarter-finals. If it doesn’t top the group, then it will face one of Australia, Sri Lanka or Pakistan, not easy games.

By: Arghya

Arghya — Mon, 28 Feb 2011 14:26:31 +0000

Great article Suhrith. Took the words out of my mouth. Barring Strauss and Sachin’s batting, it was a terrible game and no one should shy away from calling it that because of the result. Cricket, or at least certain forms of it are not all about the runs but how one gets them and how one is prevented from getting them and this game was terrible in both these respects on the whole.

Having said that, yes, Chawla’s inconsistency yesterday was shocking but expected. Ashwin definitely should get an in; as should Nehra. And Zaheer Khan needs to understand that he bowls well when he sledges less. That over apart, I thought he was absolutely shocking yesterday- unimaginative and certainly not the spearhead he’s set himself up to be. And his glaring at batsmen while being hit, as he most famously did in his disastrous first over in the 2003 final, must stop. Someone should tell him it makes him look stupid. As does his current hairdo.

Though I still fancy India in the semi-finals; and then a little bit of luck and who knows?