***Official*** New Zealand in India 2012

[SJS]

For a man coming from a close encounter of the type Yuvraj came from one has to be happy about his batting But thats where it should stop really. Take away Yuvi's recent troubles and one would have to think He along with the skipper lost a match India should have won in a canter when Dhoni joined Yuvi at the crease.

This is where we stood at that time . . .

INDIA 120 for 3 in 13.2 overs


- Yuvraj Singh 20* (11b)
- Dhoni . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (0 b)

Last man : Kohli 70 (41b)

Needed 48 from 40 balls or 7.2 runs per over . . . a strike rate of 120.

They had scored till that time at over 9 an over so with 3 wickets in hand and these two at the crease we should have won with balls to spare.

Of the 40 balls that remained, Yuvi played 13 and scored 14 runs while the skipper scored 23 in 12. Its not as if wickets were falling all around them.

Dhoni played what has become his trade mark now, slow, painfully slow to start with and then, if he is still around, to make up towards the end. Well it works often in the 50 overs game (if he is around till the end) but there isn't much time to potter around when there were 6.4 overs left when you came in to bat.

If this is what he wanted to do, Dhoni should have come in place of Raina so that the left hander sould have come towards the end and tried some Afiridi like stunts in the end. On the other hand, if Dhoni had decided he was going to stay at one end while Yuvi did the job, the amount of strike he (Dhoni) hogged undid the intention.

Not that it may have meant a certain win but why not send Irfan towards the end in place of Rohit Sharma.

Today's papers in Mumbai dont give you a clue as if India has lost a match. Right on top in the centre of the front page is the headline

YUVRAJ RETURNS
- below which is a photograph covering a third of the width of the page of Yuvraj pulling. Below this the byline about what Yuvi did on the comeback trail with his score and balls faced
- and finally a line saying "India lost the second and final T20 against New Zealand (167) by 1 run>

On the sports page you have two headlines screaming at you. One says
NZ finish on a high . . . and the other . . .
Comeback, just short of a fairtale

and there is a picture of Yuvraj here as well four times the size of the one on the front page.

I was at a friend's place for dinner last night and T-20 is not something that I miss watching but many others were keen so the TV was on even and people were glued to it men and women alike with neither group having any idea about the game except that over the fence is better than through it (I kid of course). And when the match ended everyone went on about how narrow a loss it was and how Yuvi had taken us so close to a win . . . just like the papers this morning. . . . "Imagine Yuvi's strike rate was 131!" gushed the nephrologist amongst my friends.

I was watching the same match and what I can recall of that Indian innings is the sparkling 71 in 40 balls by Kohli at a strike rate of 170 and he was the only one who played above India's required strike rate of 140. But not a pip from my friends about his batting at the end let alone talk of how his work was undone by the latter batsmen even though Idia lost only two more wickets !

In India it is a game about individuals and which individuals is decided by the propaganda and hype that the electronic media (primarily), the rest of the media make abut them. So if an individual is not page 3 material he will never be bigger than the team . . . and hence dispensable but if you are THE superstar, it is all about you . . . win or loss is secondary.

 

[honestbharani]

Awesome post SJS.. And quite funny if you think about it. Sachin is not exactly someone whom you would call page 3 material and yet all the news about him would be the perfect example of your point.


The worst part is, the player involved may themselves be as committed as anyone to the team cause but it would just all be lost in this hype machine.

 

[burr]

YUVRAJ RETURNS
- below which is a photograph covering a third of the width of the page of Yuvraj pulling. Below this the byline about what Yuvi did on the comeback trail with his score and balls faced
- and finally a line saying "India lost the second and final T20 against New Zealand (167) by 1 run>

On the sports page you have two headlines screaming at you. One says
NZ finish on a high . . . and the other . . .
Comeback, just short of a fairtale

and there is a picture of Yuvraj here as well four times the size of the one on the front page.

I was at a friend's place for dinner last night and T-20 is not something that I miss watching but many others were keen so the TV was on even and people were glued to it men and women alike with neither group having any idea about the game except that over the fence is better than through it (I kid of course). And when the match ended everyone went on about how narrow a loss it was and how Yuvi had taken us so close to a win . . . just like the papers this morning. . . . "Imagine Yuvi's strike rate was 131!" gushed the nephrologist amongst my friends.

I was watching the same match and what I can recall of that Indian innings is the sparkling 71 in 40 balls by Kohli at a strike rate of 170 and he was the only one who played above India's required strike rate of 140. But not a pip from my friends about his batting at the end let alone talk of how his work was undone by the latter batsmen even though Idia lost only two more wickets !

In India it is a game about individuals and which individuals is decided by the propaganda and hype that the electronic media (primarily), the rest of the media make abut them. So if an individual is not page 3 material he will never be bigger than the team . . . and hence dispensable but if you are THE superstar, it is all about you . . . win or loss is secondary.

Fascinating. Thanks for that. Takes me back to the Chappell-Ganguly saga.

 

[Cruxdude]

While we do have the problem of celebrating individual success even when the team fails, I genuinely felt that this was one game which warranted that kind of a reaction. It was a match of no consequence and yes we lost a game we should have won, but the big news of the day was Yuvraj, not 100% fit yet, showing he still has it.

 

[chicane]

Yeah fans are happy for Yuvi but Dhoni getting plenty of stick for the loss.

 

[kingkallis]

It was bound to happen...as Scaly explained a few days ago - the tactic wont work every time and its just way too wrong to rely on last few overs!

 

[smash84]

For a man coming from a close encounter of the type Yuvraj came from one has to be happy about his batting But thats where it should stop really. Take away Yuvi's recent troubles and one would have to think He along with the skipper lost a match India should have won in a canter when Dhoni joined Yuvi at the crease.

This is where we stood at that time . . .

INDIA 120 for 3 in 13.2 overs


- Yuvraj Singh 20* (11b)
- Dhoni . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 (0 b)

Last man : Kohli 70 (41b)

Needed 48 from 40 balls or 7.2 runs per over . . . a strike rate of 120.

They had scored till that time at over 9 an over so with 3 wickets in hand and these two at the crease we should have won with balls to spare.

Of the 40 balls that remained, Yuvi played 13 and scored 14 runs while the skipper scored 23 in 12. Its not as if wickets were falling all around them.

Dhoni played what has become his trade mark now, slow, painfully slow to start with and then, if he is still around, to make up towards the end. Well it works often in the 50 overs game (if he is around till the end) but there isn't much time to potter around when there were 6.4 overs left when you came in to bat.

If this is what he wanted to do, Dhoni should have come in place of Raina so that the left hander sould have come towards the end and tried some Afiridi like stunts in the end. On the other hand, if Dhoni had decided he was going to stay at one end while Yuvi did the job, the amount of strike he (Dhoni) hogged undid the intention.

Not that it may have meant a certain win but why not send Irfan towards the end in place of Rohit Sharma.

Today's papers in Mumbai dont give you a clue as if India has lost a match. Right on top in the centre of the front page is the headline

YUVRAJ RETURNS
- below which is a photograph covering a third of the width of the page of Yuvraj pulling. Below this the byline about what Yuvi did on the comeback trail with his score and balls faced
- and finally a line saying "India lost the second and final T20 against New Zealand (167) by 1 run>

On the sports page you have two headlines screaming at you. One says
NZ finish on a high . . . and the other . . .
Comeback, just short of a fairtale

and there is a picture of Yuvraj here as well four times the size of the one on the front page.

I was at a friend's place for dinner last night and T-20 is not something that I miss watching but many others were keen so the TV was on even and people were glued to it men and women alike with neither group having any idea about the game except that over the fence is better than through it (I kid of course). And when the match ended everyone went on about how narrow a loss it was and how Yuvi had taken us so close to a win . . . just like the papers this morning. . . . "Imagine Yuvi's strike rate was 131!" gushed the nephrologist amongst my friends.

I was watching the same match and what I can recall of that Indian innings is the sparkling 71 in 40 balls by Kohli at a strike rate of 170 and he was the only one who played above India's required strike rate of 140. But not a pip from my friends about his batting at the end let alone talk of how his work was undone by the latter batsmen even though Idia lost only two more wickets !

In India it is a game about individuals and which individuals is decided by the propaganda and hype that the electronic media (primarily), the rest of the media make abut them. So if an individual is not page 3 material he will never be bigger than the team . . . and hence dispensable but if you are THE superstar, it is all about you . . . win or loss is secondary.

fantastic post.

Tells a complete story

 

[Days of Grace]

Back to the New Zealand perspective, Jimmeh looks to have developed a very decent slower ball. Him and Oram may be useful at the death but I think we also need Southee's yorkers at the end as well.

Timmeh has to come in for Milne. Wait until we play some meaningless T20 games at home before we player Milne again. Unless he is bowling faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssstttttttttt and roughing up some batsmen, I see no point in playing him. Offers nothing else apart from pace, IMO.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Yuvraj is a fat brat, he passed by my ex at some dinner here mentioning the room he was staying in. No class, couldn't even try picking her up conventionally

 

[straw man]

Agree Milne probably won't get a game in the T20 WC proper. I guess could be tempting to play him against Bangladesh given their non-love of pace, though Southee/Mills probably still a better option.

btw Martin Crowe wrote a good article on NZ cricket's lack of hundreds. Interesting points about how, in some ways it can help for a batsman to be selfish and greedy and go out there for the individual milestones. Certainly works for Chanderpaul, Kallis etc. Also like that he endorses Taylor's approch of batting quite aggressively in tests. Not so keen on biomechanics though

 

[Days of Grace]

I read that article, too. Very good. Also, check out Turner and Sinclair's thoughts in another article.

 

[Meridio]

I do like hearing Martin Crowe talk about batting. I agree with a lot of what he says, and the fact that NZ batsmen score fewer centuries than their overseas counterparts is an endless frustration. Have often wondered why this is, and while it may partly be attributed to NZ wickets favouring the bowlers, so the batsmen never feel 'in', it's mainly a mentality thing imo. Growing up, the attitude at club level was generally that if you've got to 50 then you've done your job, so you can relax and get out. It probably also doesn't help that in many grades kids have to retire when they get to 50 so the others can get a turn to bat. Have also often heard the 'there's little difference between a 90 and 100' argument, which is true for someone who scores 101 as opposed to 95, but there's a big difference between someone who scores 130, 150, 170 etc and someone who scores 95. Think it all results in batsmen not knowing how to score hundreds, and, like Crowe says, not really wanting to score them.

Always amusing seeing him rant about biomechanics too; have seen a few others from him in the past. Can tell that Martin would be no fan of Jamie Siddons - he's all about high backswings, fast handspeed and giving the ball a good whack.

 

[Days of Grace]

I also hate the ridiculous things some batsmen do on 99, like Vettori at the Gabba last year. Ridiculous running, all for the sake of a milestone we have deemed to be so important, as if it's the end goal, when one should be looking to bat for "infinity", as skippy put it.

 

[Manpreets258]

India have won this series and we got pujara as a new test player in this series. Ashwin done well and it was very tuff series for sachin.. India should improve his fast bowling.

 

[SteveNZ]

I also hate the ridiculous things some batsmen do on 99, like Vettori at the Gabba last year. Ridiculous running, all for the sake of a milestone we have deemed to be so important, as if it's the end goal, when one should be looking to bat for "infinity", as skippy put it.

Vettori was on 96, but I agree.

There was actually an edict in NZ cricket, brought by Bright Ideas Buchanan when he arrived here - that milestones were to become irrelevant. Completely ignoring that it's simple human nature. So now we get out for 40 instead

 

[BeeGee]

Timmeh has to come in for Milne. Wait until we play some meaningless T20 games at home before we player Milne again. Unless he is bowling faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssstttttttttt and roughing up some batsmen, I see no point in playing him. Offers nothing else apart from pace, IMO.

To me, pace is like the icing on the cake. It makes something good, even better. Milne doesn't have the cake, he just has the icing. He needs to bake the cake first.

Cake ingredients:
1 cup line and length.
2 cups ball control.
1/2 pound of movement off the seam.
A pinch of the ability to out think a batsman (to taste).

 

[Immenso]

Timmeh has to come in for Milne. Wait until we play some meaningless T20 games at home before we player Milne again. Unless he is bowling faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaasssssssssssssssssstttttttttt and roughing up some batsmen, I see no point in playing him. Offers nothing else apart from pace, IMO.

Actually, he's developed a really good slower ball. Well he had during HRV last summer.

Pace and a slower ball which is 20km slower can be pretty effective. However that needs to be balanced, in this format, by the fact that pace produces nicks and top edges that go for 4. Milne produced an edge for 4, a top edge for 4, and then knocked Mills out cold (via McCullum) with a top edge catch that was dropped and resulted in 2. It's some pretty tough margins.

It's pretty sad to wonder if Milne might be more effective if he bowled some part time spinners with his left arm.

But anyway, I still have high hopes for him, he's still only 20. In his year away between his Pakistan series as an 18 year old and last years televised domestic games - he had developed his slower ball. Therefore this shows me he works on his game. I hope this year he may show us more seam movement or swing.

But I don't care much for the shorter forms of the game. I'm interested in him as a potential test bowler. He's far from their yet, at at this stage he would need to be complimented by other bowlers who do move the ball. Looking forward to seeing him in the Plunket Shield.


.

 

[Bahnz]

I struggle with Martin Crowe as a cricket commentator, as he's capable of both superb insight, and profound stupidity (ie. his comments that Maoris don't play cricket because they don't have the attention span). As a result, it's often difficult to guess whether he really knows what he's talking about.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Agree Milne probably won't get a game in the T20 WC proper. I guess could be tempting to play him against Bangladesh given their non-love of pace, though Southee/Mills probably still a better option.

btw Martin Crowe wrote a good article on NZ cricket's lack of hundreds. Interesting points about how, in some ways it can help for a batsman to be selfish and greedy and go out there for the individual milestones. Certainly works for Chanderpaul, Kallis etc. Also like that he endorses Taylor's approch of batting quite aggressively in tests. Not so keen on biomechanics though

I don't really agree with this theory that Taylor bats better when he's aggressive, therefore should be aggressive all the time. IMO, Taylor bats aggressively when he's batting well anyway. He should keep grafting when he's out of sorts.

 

[straw man]

I don't really agree with this theory that Taylor bats better when he's aggressive, therefore should be aggressive all the time. IMO, Taylor bats aggressively when he's batting well anyway.

Chicken and egg. Egg and chicken. Rossco