I really don’t care about the IPL except I hope as a Tendulkar fan that Mumbai Indians win the title. And I don’t give a toss about the T20 World Cup. And any one who cares about the India-Sri Lanka tests and ODIs seriously needs medical help.
The one series I am really looking forward to among Indian contests is the Indian tour of South Africa later this year. I hope to catch every ball of it. Not much on the Indian Cricket front from me till then, I am afraid.
With the India-South Africa series ending in a draw, questions arise as to which is the best test team in the world. South Africa have the better bowling attack while India have the better batting line up. However, when we look at results, India are slightly ahead. For instance, South Africa was unable to win the recent home series against England despite dominating. I’ll put India ahead.
However, the decider will be the Indian tour to South Africa later this year. Both teams has great fighting qualities which were visible in the Kolkata test and this series. I can’t wait for that series to start.
I went to the ground with India at 160/2. I thought Sehwag batted superbly despite the chances while Sahin was a bit shaky playing and missing v Morkel and Parnell a fair few times. Kallis bowled well in his brief spell. 5 runs an over meant that South Africa was forced to do negative bowling with Harris and Morkel (bowling outside off), an idea I didn’t quite approve of but it is what Smith had to do to safeguard letting the match get away from them.
The fight back by RSA justified the decision. Both these teams have an ability to come back into the game wen you think they are down and out and it has already happened twice in this test match. This is what makes them such good teams, the best in the world right now.
Sehwag is really the best batsman in the world right now. In the last two years, his average is 60 and he is scoring at S/R of 96. Last 12 months, he averages 71 with a S/R of 101! In ten games. Incredible. (Stats provided by friend Manan Shah).
The pitch is really good. Good bounce, turn, no real wear and tear and still will produce a result. So it will last and either team can one. I came out of the ground after Tendulkar reached his 100, so didn’t see the fall of wickets. Just when you think one team has the upper hand, the other team comes right back in. What a match, all set to be a thriller.
Watching Sehwag and Tendulkar bat was a pleasure. I saw Sachin bat for the last time in a test live and he scored a century. I can die in peace now.
Hi every one!
Sportolysis is back online as you can see (All thanks to Sushubh)!. I have been blogging on Pratosphere where I will continue to blog about movies while I will keep my sports entries here.
On the upcoming India-South Africa test, India has to win the test to stake any claims on World No. 1 once the series is over. I have a feeling India will at least not lose the test because of the Eden home advantage. Just not losing is not good enough though. I will be going to Eden for the first day of the test on Sunday. Can’t wait. :)
The English Team was at cross roads in Pakistan. I had written on the same nearly 3 months ago which can be read here. I titled it facing adveristy. In the period which has followed since then, England has enountered a lot of adversity. A menacing Shoaib Akhtar in Pakistan and a series of unfortunate events leading 4 of their first XI to withdraw from the tour of India being unquestionably the biggest external adversities. The internal weaknesses they have shown shouldn’t be forgotten.
With the collapse in Pakistan and throwing away a match England should have probably drawn in India in the second test of the series in Mohali, it has probably let slip the opportunity to challenge Australia for now. From being the unquestionable number 2 side, it has gone down a step in the close battle of the number 2.
In fact, it also finds itself at a position inferior to Pakistan. Pakistan appear to have lost Shoaib Akhtar for the immediate future. However there is some time to go for Pakistan’s tour of England. If Pakistan can manage even a draw in that series, it would mean that Pakistan has set itself above the current English side.
And what about South Africa? South Africa played superbly in Australia. It is now involved in the home series versus Australia. If South Africa can manage a victory or even a draw, it can be accepted as a strong team despite Glenn McGrath not playing in the current series and despite what Chris Fogarty has to say regarding only the Ashes mattering, test cricket is about more than just The Ashes. John Stern analyses the current situation and the mouth watering prospect which lies ahead of us much more judiciously.
India may be finding bowlers (Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla) who might show some potency in times to come. However, with it playing just 2 test series in the run up to World Cup 2007 and having lost the series to Pakistan (despite it being like a 1 test series), India finds itself behind the pack in this chase. Did New Zealand not go behind a huge distance in one session in their home series versus Pakistan where Shoaib Akhtar wrecked them? It did India no favours that for them that the home series versus England was always going to be The Nothing Series. India in fact loosened their noose in the tussle they failed to win their last series in the West Indies. That they lost the home series versus Australia did them no favours. They have been chasing as a back runner since then and will have to keep persisting. They do not find themselves in the picture before the pyajama cricket – World Cup 2007 is done and dusted with.
Climbing up the ladder is difficult. It requires consistent brilliant performances. New Zealand is finding it out the hard way. It is doomed in mid table for the time being. Has England let it’s opportnity slip by two collapses, one in Pakistan and one in India? The importance is not in that England lost. England would be respectable losers after drawing their first test match in India. The importance was in the manner in which a match which should have been drawn was lost. A win in Mumbai is now needed for England to remain in the race. Very difficult but it is the only way England can stop the opportunity from slipping. No one said the battle was ever going to be easy!
Pakistan does have a small lead ahead of the rest of the pack – England, South Africa and India. South Africa has the best chance to contend with Pakistan. While all this is going on, Australia cannot work out who the right players are for their international side. A side which boasted of depth finds itself bringing back older warriors who were discarded after the Ashes war was lost. The batsmen are not showing consistency. There is no sign of a future Glenn McGrath or Shane Warne. Most importantly, Australia has set such high standards for themselves that they will themselves find it difficult to maintain these levels. Even if McGrath and Warne do manage to play for a few more years, it will be very difficult for Australia to not slip from it’s high intensity performances is now characterized with. Some would argue that the slipping has already started.
Very interesting times to be a test cricket fan.
South Africa chase 434 to win the 5 match one day series. Is this the greatest one day match of all time? I have been a strong backer of the first one dayer between India and Pakistan in 2003. A lot of people will still feel the South Africa-Australia World Cup 1999 semi-final was better than this. I would not give this game the best one day game tag because it wasn’t a contest between the bat and the ball – some thing which is essential to me when I judge the greatest games.
If a team was dismissed for 65 and another team dismissed team 1 for a total below 65, would you call it the greatest one dayer? Not really. So why even consider this conclusion here.
However, no team had even made 400 before this match, let alone chase such a score. Crap bowling from both teams? Most definitely. But it takes more than crap bowling to score 400. It takes even more to chase such such a 434. Has one day cricket taken another step forward with further insignificance of bowlers? It appears so. The bowling standards and the batting adapatability has been increasing with every year. A total of 230 was par score in the early 90s and a total of more than 250 a winning one.
I can rejoice for the moment and savour the victory regardless of the future.
The 4th LOI between RSA and Australia was superb. I watched the last 30 overs or so. Cricket was the real winner in it. Thank god RSA didn’t lose because of the rain but because of persistent Aussie tail batting. As a South African fan, feelings of deja vu and horror were very much there when the rain looked like becoming stronger. Also, I thought the umpiring was superb in tight conditions, and it was excellent cricket all the way despite not being extra ordinary. A superb contest tilting from one end to the other.
Sets up the decider perfectly for Jo’burg.
Malinga Bandara ensured Sri Lanka and not South Africa will face Australia in the best of three VB series finals. South Africa needed one win in their last three matches but lost 2 matches versus Australia and now the match to Sri Lanka.
Australia will not have McGrath. Sri Lanka have Murali, Vaas and now Bandara appears as if he can become a factor. In 1995-96 Sri Lanka gained a lot as a team in their tour to Australia. After a depressive run of recent results, the VB series here is having a similar impact.
Will has brought to focus an aspect of South African cricket I was unaware of.