shailendra
April 1st, 2005, 03:15 AM
Some of you must already be thinking about it and then there are all these calls for Ganguly to step down and how Team India just are backboneless!!!...
Well, who knows what is wrong with how we play....but in surfing some articles from prominent cricketers about this last and final test between India and Pakistan I came across this post by Javed Miandad (yes that infamous one) I didn't used to credit him for much in the ways of thinking...(specially his 'janwar' like attitude on the pitch)...but miracles will never cease! Read what he had to say about the Indian batting collapse...AND IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE; Anyways enjoy reading it and let me know what you think... (about that main issue behind the whole article bolded at the bottom; how true do you think it really is?)
Quote-Unquote Javed Miandad:
Just two sessions to go, nine wickets in hand and a bowling attack they had unfailingly milked for over 400 runs in each innings of the series. Then what went wrong?
India's problem was in the mind. A batsman of Sachin Tendulkar's class suddenly decided to treat each ball as if it was a matter of life and death. Whereas he could have provided direction to the lower order batsmen consisting of bowlers, a rookie wicketkeeper and two fellow senior batsmen struggling for form, he cast a spell of fear in their heart.
No wonder the Indians collapsed. They forgot the age-old maxim of cricket: You can play for draw for 20 overs, but doing so for 90 overs is out of question!!! That's the surest way to disaster. Indians must be kicking themselves in the back.
Suddenly, every Pakistan bowler looked a match-winner. Even somebody like Shahid Afridi was a demon personified. Kudos are coming the way of Mohammad Sami but what can a bowler do wrong if you don't take him on and he is secure in the knowledge that he is not going for runs?
If Indians indeed were looking for a draw the last thing they needed was for bowlers to find line and length and hem them with eight close-in fielders. The way to go about it was to bat normally, hit balls which deserved to be hit and scatter the fielders. Anil Kumble did it so admirably and taught his seniors a thing or two about batting.
I admire the Australian team for the way they play no matter what the situation is they just go out and play aggressively. They lost to India in Mumbai last year on a vicious turner but did they change their style of play?
No. They lost but never batted under pressure.
I remember even on a minefield of a pitch, Sunil Gavaskar on-driving against the spin with aplomb. He did so because he read the ball in the bowler's hand. Somebody like Sourav Ganguly today is choosing his movement only after a ball is pitched. Even Rahul Dravid batted against his grain in this Test.
Indians deserve their fans' ire but not in the second innings alone. I thought they were equally terrible in the first innings. But for Virender Sehwag, who else batted well?
The 'white' countries, let's give them credit, play cricket as it should be played. Just a game and an exhibition of skills and your mental resoluteness.
More than celebrating a team's win or wallowing in the sorrow of a loss, the lesson from this series is that the teams from the sub-continent are still not able to absorb pressure!
Well, who knows what is wrong with how we play....but in surfing some articles from prominent cricketers about this last and final test between India and Pakistan I came across this post by Javed Miandad (yes that infamous one) I didn't used to credit him for much in the ways of thinking...(specially his 'janwar' like attitude on the pitch)...but miracles will never cease! Read what he had to say about the Indian batting collapse...AND IT MAKES A LOT OF SENSE; Anyways enjoy reading it and let me know what you think... (about that main issue behind the whole article bolded at the bottom; how true do you think it really is?)
Quote-Unquote Javed Miandad:
Just two sessions to go, nine wickets in hand and a bowling attack they had unfailingly milked for over 400 runs in each innings of the series. Then what went wrong?
India's problem was in the mind. A batsman of Sachin Tendulkar's class suddenly decided to treat each ball as if it was a matter of life and death. Whereas he could have provided direction to the lower order batsmen consisting of bowlers, a rookie wicketkeeper and two fellow senior batsmen struggling for form, he cast a spell of fear in their heart.
No wonder the Indians collapsed. They forgot the age-old maxim of cricket: You can play for draw for 20 overs, but doing so for 90 overs is out of question!!! That's the surest way to disaster. Indians must be kicking themselves in the back.
Suddenly, every Pakistan bowler looked a match-winner. Even somebody like Shahid Afridi was a demon personified. Kudos are coming the way of Mohammad Sami but what can a bowler do wrong if you don't take him on and he is secure in the knowledge that he is not going for runs?
If Indians indeed were looking for a draw the last thing they needed was for bowlers to find line and length and hem them with eight close-in fielders. The way to go about it was to bat normally, hit balls which deserved to be hit and scatter the fielders. Anil Kumble did it so admirably and taught his seniors a thing or two about batting.
I admire the Australian team for the way they play no matter what the situation is they just go out and play aggressively. They lost to India in Mumbai last year on a vicious turner but did they change their style of play?
No. They lost but never batted under pressure.
I remember even on a minefield of a pitch, Sunil Gavaskar on-driving against the spin with aplomb. He did so because he read the ball in the bowler's hand. Somebody like Sourav Ganguly today is choosing his movement only after a ball is pitched. Even Rahul Dravid batted against his grain in this Test.
Indians deserve their fans' ire but not in the second innings alone. I thought they were equally terrible in the first innings. But for Virender Sehwag, who else batted well?
The 'white' countries, let's give them credit, play cricket as it should be played. Just a game and an exhibition of skills and your mental resoluteness.
More than celebrating a team's win or wallowing in the sorrow of a loss, the lesson from this series is that the teams from the sub-continent are still not able to absorb pressure!