Yorked!!! – By Chetan Narula.

World Cup Final: Defending Champions v/s Dark Horses

This world cup could not have had a more perfect final. The defending champions, Australia, on the cusp of history, a third straight world cup, a record in the making and a chance to get even for the defeat in the 1996 final. The dark horses, Sri Lanka, a great run to the final, the second best team in the world cup, easily the most tactical team too and of course the chance to complete a double on Australia in world cup finals. Doesn’t get better than this.

But it is not the past that matters for this match and that is what both the captains have to understand. Easier said than done, of course, but more so in the case of Ricky Ponting than Mahela Jayawardene. The Australian captain believes that it is the heavy defeats his team incurs on the opposition that gives his team the confidence they have and display on the field. Yes agreed, any win does you a world of good and adds to your momentum. But the truth is that the Aussies haven’t really been tested. The semi final against South Africa was supposed to be the tough one for them, but it didn’t happen. Of course, they deposed off the Proteas with disdain but again, what happens when this team is stretched?

They tend to meander and lose, is the answer. It has been done before and will be done again. No doubt about that, but will it be this match? It might be. Because in the super eight match against the Aussies, the Sri Lankans might have lost but they came away with smiles and of course a tactical advantage. And that is where Mahela Jayawardene has really put his hands up. The move of not playing his front line bowlers in that match might just pay off. Malinga was injured and both Vaas & Murali were rested. Vaas is a dodgy customer any given day and Malinga has well, set this world cup on fire, with his slinging deliveries. But it’s the Murali factor that matters most tomorrow. Yes it matters on any other day too for Sri Lanka to win but not more than this, has it mattered ever.

The last time Australia played Muralitharan for a whole series was well, quite a long time back. He didn’t visit them in 2004 for the tests and then after that played the VB series in 2006. Since then the two sides haven’t met for a while. Why this is going to be a factor is evident from the group stage match against India. Murali and Vaas didn’t tour India prior to the world cup and here they became literally unplayable. And consider that the Indians, their world cup debacle notwithstanding, are far better players of spin than the Aussies. Point is that Murali’s guile is unplayable if you haven’t faced him for a while.

While the fact that the Sri Lankan bowling will be bearing a totally different look from the one that played the super eight match, the batting will be the same. And that is where the Aussies probably have a head on. Their bowling led by Glenn McGrath is quite competent on any day and if it is the world cup final, you would certainly root for them. It is going to be the last match for the Pigeon and unlike Lara and Inzamam, he would certainly want to go out on a high. And what better than winning the world cup for a third straight time. The pitch at Barbados is expected to have good pace and bounce which could only mean that the Aussie pace battery will be smiling even before the match starts. And as we have seen in this tournament, the ball does move a bit in the mornings before it settles down for the day. And again, the Sri Lankan batting seems more circumspect than the Aussie line up.

The Lankan batsmen have done well throughout but they have not come out on tops as many times it would like to. Against good quality attacks of South Africa and Australia, they came up short. A repeat of that in the final and they can kiss the trophy good bye. The Aussies haven’t been tested as mentioned earlier and Hayden & co. couldn’t have faced a sterner test in the final. Given that Ponting wants to set a target most of the times than chase, both the teams’ batting will have to click. The first to blink will be the one to lose.

Key players will be the stalwarts of the respective teams. Hayden, Ponting and McGrath hold the Aussie keys but its time Gilchrist set this world cup on fire. For the Sri Lankans, Sanath Jayasuriya is up for one last hurrah and then of course there is Vaas and Murali. Throw in a bit of Clarke and Symonds plus Malinga and Sangakkara, it’s a fine concoction for the biggest cricket match in four years.

The last time a team was on the verge of winning a hat trick of world cups, Clive Lloyd’s West Indies in 1983, they were upset by the underdogs, India. Again in 1996, Australia were firm favourites to lift the cup, only to be beaten by the 66/1 underdogs, Sri Lankans. A repeat is on the cards. It’s the defending champions versus the underdogs. It’s game on.

Yorked!!! – By Chetan Narula.

When a nightmare became reality……

The television crew in Queen’s Park Oval is really cruel. As the last wickets of the day were falling, the joyful faces of the Bangladeshi team were being beamed all over the world. So were the despondent faces in the Indian dressing room. The world watched as the Bangladeshi dreams came true as also India’s biggest nightmare.

For the first time since God knows when, an Indian captain won the toss and made the right decision in a crunch match. Winning the toss and using the pitch first where the ball would surely seam and swing. And it did. Zaheer, Agarkar and Munaf turned magicians in their initial spells. Yes the very same three who had been tamed by the Bangladeshis and troubled by the Bermudans. The Sri Lankans could not put bat to ball in the first ten overs. The only proper shot that comes to mind is the one where Tharanga cover drove Zaheer in the air for four. Rest all were either mistimed or edges which didn’t find the fielders.

For the first time in the competition, the Indian bowling had come into its own. Zaheer swinging it both ways and Munaf holding a tight line. Even Agarkar found his rhythm at just the right time. Jayasuriya left early, and so did Jayawardene. But just two wickets for all the laudable efforts put in? Yes lady luck has been not with us on this tour. Maybe they need to bring their wives the next time. Lankan wives were here, seen dancing all along.

It is very rare that something goes totally right for the Indians on the field. And the fact that our highly rated spinner wasn’t upto the mark proves just that. The fact that he was playing in Kumble’s place can never be justified. Yes the Sri Lankans have been successful against him, but every match is a new match. On hind sight, if Kumble would have been bowling to the inexperienced Lankan middle order, things might have been different. Harbhajan, it seems, is content in bowling out his quota by containing the opposition, taking wickets is something he doesn’t feel the need for. What India needed from him, were 10 overs which could deliver two wickets. What if they would come at a cost of 50 runs. He gave away 53 anyways.

Coming to the fifth bowler, it sometimes is beyond belief what Rahul Dravid is thinking. Giving the ball to Ganguly, who quite frankly hasn’t bowled that much recently, was very questionable. I know he snapped up Sangakkara, but let us be frank. That was more because the Lankan keeper played a stupid shot rather than the bowler doing anything magical. For me that was a mistake. Sehwag should have come on to bowl as Harbhajan was proving to be ineffective. However it was the maestro Tendulkar brought into the attack.

The reason why Dravid has failed to impress me as a captain is because he tends to over do things. Sachin bowled his six overs beautifully and the fifth bowler’s quota was up. No need to bowl him when you have three pace bowlers who were in fine rhythm today. But to see Sachin bowl those extra two overs, while there were new batsmen at the crease, was like watching some one commit hara kiri. Two costly overs and the Sri Lankan total was over 250. Something we didn’t want, talk about psychological advantage that is. It is one thing starting your run chase with required rate of 4.9 or something and absolutely another with the asking rate being 5.1. The psychology is different.

And it was clear, what it did to the Lankan mentality. Vaas bowled off cutters to Uthappa and his genuine balls to Ganguly. Which brings us to the pathetic display of batting by the Indians. Ganguly is an opener who has clearly forgotten what opening is all about. He used 120 balls for 60 against the Bangladeshis, a 114 for 80 odd against the Bermudans and 23 here for 7 runs. He didn’t rotate the strike and it not only brought pressure on subsequent batsmen, it brought pressure on Uthappa too. The young batsman was very unlucky to be caught like that, but then as I said, lady luck wasn’t at all with us.

Ganguly departed next trying to break the shackles, he himself had binded on the team. And what a blinder Murali took. Moments like these lift the entire team, much like the catch, Dhoni had taken earlier in the day to dismiss Jayawardene. Even the Indians fielded superbly well. Coming back, Tendulkar came to the crease with a million hopes on him. Nothing new about that. Except that this is not his position. This isn’t playing from where he has become the fear of the bowlers. This is no.4, where he is under pressure. A position where Dilhara Fernando, a bowler who has played only 3 matches in the last 15 months is able to dictate terms to him. And the result was all there to see. Again lady luck was found wanting. On any other day, that edge would have missed the leg stump and gone for four. But not this day. Not this day.

Sehwag played an unusual knock. Waiting for the loose ball and biding his time. Could it be his day? Could the new Sehwag save India the blushes. But what he can do with the bat, surely Murali can do better with the ball. And then we saw a master class. Open off side, with a slip in place, bowling round the wickets and bowling just the doosras. Murali is a champion bowler and here was the moment where Jayawardene proved his mettle as a better captain. The spinner was doing the trick for Lanka something Bhajji had failed to do for the Indians. The bounce and turn the young off spinner got in his first over must have delighted both Kumble and Murali. Sadly only one used the resources.

One after another, the batsmen departed. Sehwag could not counter Murali s guile, nor could Dhoni. Yuvraj, one of the best runners in the team, chose this day to misjudge a run. Only “The Wall” showed them how to bat. How to score runs under pressure. How to stand alone in the face of adversity. And as he showed us, there were no devils in the pitch. Sadly the decision to bowl first was again undone by the pressure under which the mighty Indian batting line up wilted again.

India can still qualify if Bernuda beat Bangladesh. But that’s more like a case of if the mouse Jerry had been a cat, he would have been Tom. The losses will be huge. Almost to the tune of 1500 crores. Take for example the Pepsi “Cheer India” bands launched only two days ago. Who is going to buy them now? And for what? It is all in the hands of the merry Bermudans. Sadly praying for a miracle is something we do in every world cup. I had just hoped this time it would be different.

Last but not the least, a devastated Dravid answered Laxman Sivaramakrishnan’s questions at the presentation. His last words to the Indian captain were “Better luck next time”. 2011 seems very far off from here.

Yorked!!! – By Chetan Narula.

A lot to worry about……

If they think they have redeemed themselves with the win over Bermuda, then Dravid and company are mistaken. They may have gotten two points and some confidence going but as far as positives are concerned, that’s about it in terms of what we got out of the match. Confidence does play a major role in international cricket and it is good that the team got some before the vital clash against Sri Lanka but as we know things in Indian cricket turn around faster than tides.

Yes we scored the maximum number of runs in an innings in a world cup match. Yes Sehwag stroked to a ton and the rest also came to the party. Yes we scored the highest margin of victory in an ODI ever. But does that really matter? I mean it was against Bermuda who aren’t exactly even the best amongst the minnows. Err, we encountered better ones recently remember?

To drive home my point, we will take the above points into consideration as to why the team management may be making a mistake they got anything else out of this game. Because as far as I am concerned, India is still closer to the exit door rather than the gate to super 8.

It is very difficult to understand what is happening to Virender Sehwag’s career at this stage. Surely as far as the world cup is concerned, he has cemented his place in the side for the rest of the matches (one or more, remains to be seen). But then again he hasn’t proved any of his critics wrong with this knock. Will you bet on him to fire against Sri Lanka or other even better attacks given that the Bermudan bowlers were at best military medium? I won’t, given his tendency to relax until the donkey is on his back again.

Not that this necessarily means he will fail against the Lankans. Sehwag if you plan to, please don’t. And same goes for the others as well. The way they batted is well, like the way they ought to have batted against the Bangladeshis. Not paying much respect to the bowlers. And that is where Sourav Ganguly, in particular, is going wrong. It is one thing when the team management asks you to hold up one end and try to bat out the innings but then it is totally another thing to pay respect to the Bermudans and play 114 balls for 80 odd runs. What are you waiting for Mr. Ganguly? 50 overs to be up? Get a move on with your strike rate sir, because as happened with Bangladesh, so will happen with other teams who surely have better bowling options. They will strangle you for runs and then choke you to death. If our neighbours could do it, surely it can happen again. So Dada, please unleash the stroke maker the world knows you to be. Atleast, in the match against Sri Lankans.

Then again the middle order didn’t get the quality time it needs to play well. Sachin and Yuvraj are proving to be two important cogs in the middle-order wheel no doubt, and their performances will give much heart to the think tank. But Dhoni continues to struggle like he did last on last year’s tour and Dravid hasn’t spent much time either on the field. Another worrying point is Robin Uthappa’s dry run. Surely this will give the management to ponder a lot as to whether or not to include Dinesh Karthik in the eleven on the 23rd.

However these are the least of our worries. If we can’t get Bermuda out cheaply, and have already failed to bowl the Bangladeshis out, then let us be frank, our attack is pedestrian at best. Save for the efforts of Zaheer, this bowling performance will be giving the team management and the fans alike, sleepless nights. Agarkar can’t bowl straight, its either the legs of the batsmen or short of length giving too much room. Munaf is expensive in his second spell. And if Kumble struggles against the batsmen of Bermuda, with Harbhajan not too effective against the Bangladeshis, then we have a serious problem on our hands.

Because we do not have a bowling attack that can defend low totals or bowl out opposition cheaply. The performance in the two matches surely proves the practice matches’ results worth less. If we look at the bowling reserves, we have Sreesanth and Pathan only to look at. Sreesanth has the knack of picking up wickets but his economy rate makes Agarkar look like the world’s best bowler. Plus Pathan isn’t in the right frame of mind as of now. If they play him, will he play as an all-rounder, a bowler or a batsman? Surely nobody is there to explain it to him, as the past suggests. Also there is none to backup the spinners. They are among the best in the world, remember? If they are struggling, what chances do Powar and company have, right? That’s no justification, which means the team balance is questionable. Again Pathan’s form could have been the key. But as some one might say, the selectors’ hands were tied.

The only bowlers who seem to have done well are the part timers. In whatever bowling they have done, Sehwag and Tendulkar have impressed. But they have been brought on very late. Sehwag came on when the Bangladeshis required less than 30 runs to win, but still ended up taking two wickets. Sachin was nearly unplayable yesterday where as the Bermudans played Kumble with aplomb. This in fact questions the attitude of the team. Do they not know the run-rate factor could prove crucial? Then why not show some urgency to bowl out a not-so-decent batting line-up quickly. In the match against our neighbours, the shoulders drooped once they were past 130. I mean do they even have the right attitude to win the world cup? And what was the coach doing cooling off in the pavilion, when he should be sending out messages to get things going.

Even if India qualifies for the super 8, these latter points put a big question mark on the ability and desire to win the cup. I know the team is taking one match at a time and not get ahead of themselves at this time, when it is absolutely necessary to beat Sri Lanka. But even to do that, they need to find some answers. And they need to find them quick.