Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
The Indians were undone by some mismanagement, or as some say, lack of common sense. The fielding looked bad because it was mismanaged- for instance, the gaps were wide and at places where you need the best fielders, you had the worst. We also saw a whole lot of undermanned places, where at catching positions, there was just one fielder- such as Tendulkar at slip or Gambhir at thirdman. Most successful fielding sides have fielders in packs at certain areas, where the batsman is either strong (cutting off runs) or struggling (catching), but there was enough space for taking singles as well as hitting boundaries.
Likewise, the Indian top seven applied little pressure on the Aussie fielding. We saw the tailenders go berserk and try to hit the big ones and pinch a few, and that unsettled the bowlers and fielders greatly. That could have been done by the top six- test their agility, throwing arms and speed. That would have got the Indians a lot more runs, but the Indians were just feeding the fielders all the time, or playing defensive strokes.
Two bowlers scoring runs is good news. That should now be a pointer for selection in ODIs, alongside basic fielding. This is where the Pathans and Chawla should be in line for a comeback, on the back of a good Ranji season. It's a pity Kumar and Harbhajan went for too many, but they did what they could to win the match back for them.
Even their bowling could have been managed better- set attacking fields for Harbhajan, bowl him at the final overs, bowl Praveen through the middle-overs and finish ten at one go. Mishra is also a good batsman lower down and being a superior bowler, could make his place in the team ahead of Jadeja. Ishant, though, is a conundrum. He's a good new-ball bowler, and he's slowly recovering his pace, but he's got no power with an old ball.
We wouldn't want too big a change in the XI- Ishant stays, while Mishra may come ahead of Jadeja and the mandatory Yuvraj in for Kohli. The option of Yuvraj and Sehwag bowling should go out of the window, as they need runs from both- Sehwag was out cheaply, while Yuvraj is recovering- and both need to be back on track. On flat pitches, they need to score big. And quick.
Likewise, the Indian top seven applied little pressure on the Aussie fielding. We saw the tailenders go berserk and try to hit the big ones and pinch a few, and that unsettled the bowlers and fielders greatly. That could have been done by the top six- test their agility, throwing arms and speed. That would have got the Indians a lot more runs, but the Indians were just feeding the fielders all the time, or playing defensive strokes.
Two bowlers scoring runs is good news. That should now be a pointer for selection in ODIs, alongside basic fielding. This is where the Pathans and Chawla should be in line for a comeback, on the back of a good Ranji season. It's a pity Kumar and Harbhajan went for too many, but they did what they could to win the match back for them.
Even their bowling could have been managed better- set attacking fields for Harbhajan, bowl him at the final overs, bowl Praveen through the middle-overs and finish ten at one go. Mishra is also a good batsman lower down and being a superior bowler, could make his place in the team ahead of Jadeja. Ishant, though, is a conundrum. He's a good new-ball bowler, and he's slowly recovering his pace, but he's got no power with an old ball.
We wouldn't want too big a change in the XI- Ishant stays, while Mishra may come ahead of Jadeja and the mandatory Yuvraj in for Kohli. The option of Yuvraj and Sehwag bowling should go out of the window, as they need runs from both- Sehwag was out cheaply, while Yuvraj is recovering- and both need to be back on track. On flat pitches, they need to score big. And quick.
Indeed I do, followed his comeback well until this point. He seems to have fixed his action up nicely, the pace will come with more match time.
. Tbh though, the figures do not always show when he has been poor (poor reasoning, but allow me to elaborate). For example, this year, he has 12 wickets at 36.00 with an economy of 5.17. It would seem that either a Praveen Kumar with excellent control of swing, shows up or one who does not move the ball and whose accuracy ranges from good to poor depending on the day. The latter has been showing up far too much recently - I do hope he rediscovers some form, as he is our most talented ODI bowler, imo.
