Batting first, JECC were all out for 167 and Indians chased it in 36 overs.
Had to
dig deep to find motivation to write this report. Was deeply disappointed with
the result. We are losing to teams we should be beating. Take a look at
Middlesex scorecard for their game on the Sunday gone by, it tells a story.
This Indians team we lost to is not in the same league as the one we lost to
last season. That was a much stronger and better unit. We lost to teams which
were not at their best and that hurts.
Batting:
Dilip
won the toss and we opted to bat first, a decision I may have forced a bit on
the captain. Not sure what others felt. Dilip and I opened the innings as Dilip
wanted Dhanu to get some confidence into his batting. We had a reasonable
start, and were looking ok to build when Dilip got an unplayable ball from
Manoj. That swung in and then cut out to take the bail out. It was too good for
any batsmen. Ananth replaced Dilip coming at his customary # 3 slot. When a man
is in form and batting well, cricket becomes easy and child’s play.
The first
ball Ananth faced was cover driven for a six, a majestic shot to announce I am
here to play. He built his innings beautifully hardly ever looked troubled.
Batting at other end was not as easy as he was making it look. I figured out
that my best option was to play a support role and give him strike. We ran well
and rotated the strike. Ananth was looking a Million bucks and heading towards
a very big score. He cut, drove and defended so well that bowlers were just
about giving up. Meantime I got out to a ball which kept low, Sid got out to a
full length delivery and sort of yorked himself. Dhanu went in after Sid and
was determined to play himself in. He defended stoutly while Ananth continued
in his good vein.
A
cricketing point we can learn from Indians, when the going is not good as a
bowling unit, the best you can do is be disciplined and wait for a turning
point. During this phase they kept a tight line, yes they gave some wides but
always followed the wides with good line and length deliveries. Ananth got out
to an IPL streamer of a catch. Manoj plucked the ball out of thin air, like we
see on ESNP baseball games, steal a home run and make it into a catch. Cricket
matches turn with such efforts. We were heading towards 200 and suddenly lost
our key batsman. Chinmay replaced Ananth. Dhanu and Chin began to rebuild
slowly and steadily, Indian bowling was extremely disciplined and kept lot of
pressure on the batsmen. NO EASY RUNS and NO PRESSURE RELEASE.
Dhanu lost his
patience and went for a big cover drive and was caught at deep cover. Indians
were gunning for Dhanu as they bore his big scoring ability in an earlier game.
Moment Dhanu was gone a new spring came into the Indians shoes. Karthik, Kapil
bowled very well, simple line and length and no experiments. Pavan came in
replacing Dhanu and left soon. Chinmay was losing partners, he lost Srini in
the blink of an eye. Bhaskar our most dependable player of the season walked
in. But by then Indians were smelling blood. Chinmay and Bhaskar added about 20
runs, after which Chinmay got out stumped to a beautifully flighted ball.
Thereafter no one could give company to Bhaskar and we performed the cardinal
sin of not playing the allotted 40 overs, falling short by 4.4 overs.
Bowling:
167
was defendable given Indians were not having key players in the X1. Venky
bowled a brilliant opening spell. Like Ananth, Venky is playing his best
cricket and looking like taking a wicket every ball. The batsmen are unable to
fathom his swing and more importantly his pace variation. The big difference
between Venky of old and now is the variation in pace. Earlier he was a one
dimensional bowler. Now he is varying his pace and his first 3 to 4 overs are
devastating. Sid playing his first game of the season was just not switched on.
It can happen to a bowler who relies so much on swing. Dhanu replaced Sid and
between Venky and Dhanu they were strangling the opponents. Venky caused so
much havoc that batsmen were making errors in calling their singles. One such
bad call ended in a run out which was as clear as day light for all except the
leg umpire who was adamant that the sun rises from the west. End of the day he
is the ultimate god on a cricket field.
Two balls later I dropped a catch at
second slip after getting both my hands. No excuses such drops bring the morale
down. Next over things got worse,
Karthik their key batsman was put down by Srini. Dropping these catches were
very unfair on Venky and literally pulled the air out of his sail. Dhanu kept
the pressure up and by 10th over Indians were 21 for none. But from
thereon we let the game slip and slip so badly that we never ever got back in
the game. By the 15th over Indians were 60 for one or two. Five
overs cost us 40 runs and totally deflate our journey. Dilip tried every bowler
including himself to no avail. Ananth bowled very well, but the rest of our
bowlers were far too undisciplined and dint learn the lesson of how Indians
bowled during their tough phase. Bowler after bowler gave wides and followed by
boundary balls.
Towards the end Srini came into bowl and we may have found the
missing link in our bowling armory. Srini was brilliant with leg spin, the
release was as good as it can get for a leg spinner. If this is want Srini is
capable of doing we have found a big match winner. Leg spin is tough to play
and tough to control. As with Karthik of Indians, if a leg spinner can hit a
line and length and be consistent, it’s a huge bowling weapon for a captain.
End of the day we lost a game, we were capable of winning.
Comments
/ Suggestions: It’s all good to write a report to please each other or say good
things. If I am a genuine team man, wishing well for Eagles I must point out
areas of improvement. I expect us all to take these views in a positive light.
A team of X1 cannot have X1 match winners. The match winners are those on whom
the team stands, like the pillars of a building. Our match winners are Ananth,
Dhanu, with the bat. I say this because to best of my knowledge these are the
only two who have big scores from amongst us. Venky with ball, Sid with ball
and bat, Chinmay with Ball and bat. Dilip with Ball and bat, Dhanu with ball as
well. These match winners have additional responsibility. Does not mean others
have no role, rest of us have supporting roles to the key roles match winners
play.
Since we don’t have more than two genuine batsmen who can consistently
score 50 plus innings, the all-rounder’s have a key role to play. They need to
chip in with their batting, but more importantly be disciplined with their
bowling. Take a look at the wides in yesterday’s game. Much as I would like to
lay the fault on dropped catches, fact is 30 wides in a score of 167 is just
too many. It just eases the pressure. There are only 2 reasons for these wides;
one you are trying to bowl faster than needed or swing more than required and
the other is you have tired out. Venky is a good example of tiring out. In the
game against Middlesex, pure tiresomeness resulted in Venky’s last over of the
spell going for as many wides and runs. Chinmay was too tired as I saw in his
later half of the spell yesterday. Sid was not wanting to slow down and
continued to bowl at same pace. These 3 bowlers are so critical for our season,
we will have huge problems if this trend is not arrested immediately. Last year
we started winning after we recognized and fixed this problem. I plead with all
the bowlers, please put in more thought.
Venky has set a great example of
controlled aggression. He is bowling at his peak and needs support. You guys
are capable of bowling teams within 150 if only you control your emotions and
aggression. If Srini can bowl as well as he did, I can guarantee immediate
success. Let’s be determined to be at our best from next game onwards. We are
not playing to our potential and letting weaker team beat us. I agree catching
was not good, we can all put in effort and improve. The batting also can do
much better. We need more from the openers me included. Ananth is doing a great
job, Sid I would suggest you play more aggressively and freely, you need to do
what Dhanu is doing and Dhanu should do more of what you are doing, reverse
your approach while batting. I have feeling Sid you are batting well within
yourself and not letting go. Please try this; come half hour early
and have someone throw down and hit the ball as hard as you can. Request a
fielder or 2 to stand deep and ask them to help you out. I am willing to do
this. I want you to hit the leather out of the ball in the throw downs. This
momentum will flow in the game. You are a critical batting component and can
add to Dhanu / Ananth list. Chinmay you are batting beautifully don’t change a
thing; your bowling can take a leaf out of Venky. Use your slower ones lot
more, you have a tremendous one up your sleeve. Bhaskar is doing a tremendous
job and doing everything expected out of him. As of now Venky, Bhaskar, Ananth
are performing all one can ask of them. Rest of us can certainly contribute lot
more.
Murali
was great seeing you again. Took the trouble of flying down from Atlanta, did
his best in the field. He has not been bowling since last season and it showed.
A terrific performer for us last year and many earlier years too. Wish he was
still with us in NJ. Am hoping Naga
comes back soon, he will add stability and solve keeping problems, we are badly
missing Vijay / Naga.
Team, let’s
pull up and show a more determined performance next week. I cannot see such
good and talented cricketers like you not performing to your capabilities. I
want the Eagles of last year, flying high.
RS
No comments:
Post a Comment