Exceptional series win is an understatement for the way SA came back from difficult situation in both the test matches and turned it around to win the series. Smith and team made history in Australia winning the series for the first time in Australia and Australia has lost a home series after 17 long years.
South Africa's preparation for the series showed that they are going to fight till the last in every game and they have proved that to perfection. One should really feel happy for SA coach for his professional approach to make sure that the team had all that needs to win the mighty Aussies in Australia. He hired Fletcher (under whom the England beat Aussies in 2005) as an consultant and worked with him before the tour, he also took expert advice from Indian Coach Gary Kirsten on how Team India prepared and executed against the Aussies this summer. I would say it was a special moment for South Africa Cricket and hit the last nail on the coffins of the Aussies number one spot.
South Africa did many things right in the series and the whole of 2008, 3 of their top batsmen have crossed the 1000 runs in the calender year and their strike bowler in Steyn (74 wickets in 2008) has been exceptionally good this year and has struck when ever they needed wickets. The real find of the series is J.P.Duminy. The 24 year old has just played like an experienced campaigner under difficult situation and proved that he is here to stay for a long long time with the SA team. His half century in the fourth innings in WACA showed that he can play under pressure and the 160+ in the first innings when SA was 190+ for 7 and behind some 200 runs played a gem of an innings to turn things for SA. Steyn's all round show fetched him the Man of the Match but i thought the trophy should be shared. Maybe the big one "Man of Series" is reserved for this youngster. I don't think i should write about Smith, he has played the major role in every SA surge to top. The innings he played in the wearing pitch in the 4th innings to beat the England was incredible and the powerful strikes in Perth led from the front and should say a role model for a person to lead from the front. It was a brilliant team effort and each and every member of the team contributing for the victory.
South Africa was accused of poor performance in the ODI's against the England after they won the test series and the British media wrote that it was a one of series win. I am sure the same media will hail praise and take back their words and start writing off Australia as they will be touring for the Ashes next summer. I was very sure that the ODI series loss for SA was just because of the hangover they had after winning the test series and they have proved that now.
On the lighter side, i am not sure if South Africans are so jubilant as Indian fans are :) :) All the News Channels had the SA victory covered and also highlighted the downfall of the Mighty Australians. It was kind of a sweet revenge for the Indian fans to see the Aussies come down cropping.
For the Australians nothing seems to be going their way, giving away 400+ in the 4th innings and letting the advantage from 200 + ahead with the tail in the middle to settle for 60 + behind shows that the Aussies just lack everything, bowling,confidence and the fighting spirit which was long associated with the Mighty Aussies. Ricky Ponting and Johnson are the 2 players who will go to Sydney with some confidence with personnel success but Ricky must be feeling very bad to lose a test series at home.
Australian media will make sure that at least few heads roll out from the team. All the senior players are under pressure with the poor show and i think Hayden will be forced to retire at Sydney and strong message for other players but you cannot turn around the bowling department overnight. So Aussies will have to go through this period of transition and should be looking for young talent to come back as a strong team.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Smith,DeVillers does Sehwag,Sachin for South Africa
History repeats in the space of seven days !!! South Africa successfully chase 414 in the fourth innings against Australia in WACA, after India's chase of 384 in the fourth innings in Chennai few days back.
Smith played a repeat of what Sehwag did in the 4th evening for South Africa with an aggressive knock and did bit better than Sehwag to reach his century in pursuit of 414. DeVillers knock was a repeat of what sachin did in cheenai with a watchful and well paced century and reached the target in company with the debutant Duminy. Duminy to an extend played the role Yuvraj played in chennai. On looking at both the run chase, the South African victory was more assured with absolutely no big moments in the course of the run chase even though both India and SA won the match by 6 wickets. Smith and SA is proving to get to the top slot with such fabulous victory and Australia was no match to the SA with hapless bowling performance.
Australia is shot of confidence and needs some big scores from captain Ponting and Hayden and most importantly their spear head in bowling BrettLee. Brett Lee is just out of sorts and has not been able to pick wickets and also proves to be too costly and looks very ordinary without the company of giants McGrath and Warne. Johnson is bowling his best but with very little support in the other end its not easy to tame the SA.
South Africa performance is not just a one off game but it should be attributed for their professional preparation and execution of the plan. South Africa took the help from all the past coach and cricketers who successfully beat the Aussies like Fletcher former England coach when England won the Ashes in 2005 and also took the help from Gary Kirsten as India under him won the home series against Aussies.
Over all South Africa was well prepared for the tough series and most importantly believed in the unit that they can win in Australia. Australia is just short of confidence and aggression which is always associated with the Aussies and without that its not going to be easy.
Smith played a repeat of what Sehwag did in the 4th evening for South Africa with an aggressive knock and did bit better than Sehwag to reach his century in pursuit of 414. DeVillers knock was a repeat of what sachin did in cheenai with a watchful and well paced century and reached the target in company with the debutant Duminy. Duminy to an extend played the role Yuvraj played in chennai. On looking at both the run chase, the South African victory was more assured with absolutely no big moments in the course of the run chase even though both India and SA won the match by 6 wickets. Smith and SA is proving to get to the top slot with such fabulous victory and Australia was no match to the SA with hapless bowling performance.
Australia is shot of confidence and needs some big scores from captain Ponting and Hayden and most importantly their spear head in bowling BrettLee. Brett Lee is just out of sorts and has not been able to pick wickets and also proves to be too costly and looks very ordinary without the company of giants McGrath and Warne. Johnson is bowling his best but with very little support in the other end its not easy to tame the SA.
South Africa performance is not just a one off game but it should be attributed for their professional preparation and execution of the plan. South Africa took the help from all the past coach and cricketers who successfully beat the Aussies like Fletcher former England coach when England won the Ashes in 2005 and also took the help from Gary Kirsten as India under him won the home series against Aussies.
Over all South Africa was well prepared for the tough series and most importantly believed in the unit that they can win in Australia. Australia is just short of confidence and aggression which is always associated with the Aussies and without that its not going to be easy.
Monday, December 15, 2008
Dream Run Continues !!!!!!
Team India continues the dream run with a spectacular victory by 6 wickets in Chennai against the fighting England. Till the last session of the fourth day, england dominated the match in all department but Sehwag changed all that in a blistering knock which changed the course game.
Media is running out of adjectives for Sachin, they have used it all Splendid Sachin,Magical Sachin,SuperStart Sachin,Fighter Sachin etc etc, Hope at least not the critics stop doubting his super natural batting skills and stop writing that he is not a finisher.
Overall this was the perfect test match with all the ingredients of excitement,boredom and clinical finish to the test. England performed exceptionally well given the backdrop of the Mumbai Blast and the uncertainty of the tour. I would have expected the adjudicators to have given the Man Of Match to Strauss. Hundred in each innings is no mean effort and that too in a wicket which was hard to predict the bounce from the third day. England has lot of good performances to go with some confidence, Strauss,Colingwood,Cook and Prior had made decent scores and Swann has been brilliant in his debut with some controlled bowling from Flintoff, they can only improve their performance in Mohali.
For India the only worry now is the form of the Wall (read crumbling), as all of know that he is a class player and one good innings will give him great confidence and should be back in his own soon. I dont think i have to write on the kind of form all the other batsmen are in, Sehwag in his best form,Gambhir full of confidence,Laxman in good nick,Youraj back in form,Dhoni useful contribution and regular cameo from harbajan and off course Sachin. One cannot say the same on the bowling front, Harbhajan was not as good as Swann even though the wicket helped spinners, Mishra needs lot of support from the captain and should be bowling more overs. Zaheer and Ishant has been exceptional even in these dead wickets and showed they can take wickets when it is needed most. Ishant must be worried with too many no balls but i am sure he will overcome with workouts in nets.
India has done well when ever the Sehwag has scored runs and hope he continues to do that in mohali. No doubt that India goes upbeat to Mohali and hope to finish the series 2-0. I am sure England will expect the Mohali wicket to help the fast bowlers, which is their bowling strength, England will also hope their top batsmen Pietersen,Bell and Flintoff come good with the bat to put up a fight.
Media is running out of adjectives for Sachin, they have used it all Splendid Sachin,Magical Sachin,SuperStart Sachin,Fighter Sachin etc etc, Hope at least not the critics stop doubting his super natural batting skills and stop writing that he is not a finisher.
Overall this was the perfect test match with all the ingredients of excitement,boredom and clinical finish to the test. England performed exceptionally well given the backdrop of the Mumbai Blast and the uncertainty of the tour. I would have expected the adjudicators to have given the Man Of Match to Strauss. Hundred in each innings is no mean effort and that too in a wicket which was hard to predict the bounce from the third day. England has lot of good performances to go with some confidence, Strauss,Colingwood,Cook and Prior had made decent scores and Swann has been brilliant in his debut with some controlled bowling from Flintoff, they can only improve their performance in Mohali.
For India the only worry now is the form of the Wall (read crumbling), as all of know that he is a class player and one good innings will give him great confidence and should be back in his own soon. I dont think i have to write on the kind of form all the other batsmen are in, Sehwag in his best form,Gambhir full of confidence,Laxman in good nick,Youraj back in form,Dhoni useful contribution and regular cameo from harbajan and off course Sachin. One cannot say the same on the bowling front, Harbhajan was not as good as Swann even though the wicket helped spinners, Mishra needs lot of support from the captain and should be bowling more overs. Zaheer and Ishant has been exceptional even in these dead wickets and showed they can take wickets when it is needed most. Ishant must be worried with too many no balls but i am sure he will overcome with workouts in nets.
India has done well when ever the Sehwag has scored runs and hope he continues to do that in mohali. No doubt that India goes upbeat to Mohali and hope to finish the series 2-0. I am sure England will expect the Mohali wicket to help the fast bowlers, which is their bowling strength, England will also hope their top batsmen Pietersen,Bell and Flintoff come good with the bat to put up a fight.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Indian Team for Test Series.
As expected cheeka once again proved that he will try his best to push players from TamilNadu. At least now Badrinath should not let srikkanth down, I am sure he will not find a place in the playing XI but for some one ruled out of injury in the last movement. Rohit Sharma and Virath Kohli must be feeling bad for not being part of the team even after performing well against the Aussies. I feel badri is still in the team just b'cas srikkanth beleives that he is good and will come good but i am not sure how long he can take his case in the selection meetings.
Good that Yuvi is getting a change yet again the Indian Team and most likely to play in Ganguly place in the playing XI. Even an ordinary cricket fan knows that Yuvi is a confidence player and if he his given a long run and selectors convey that he is the player for the future. He might not be technically equipped to play good fast bowling in bouncy tracks but if he is confident he can come over that prove successful.
I have a feeling that the series if happens, will be of academic interest alone and nothing more than that. Given the back drop of the Mumbai terror attack, this series will be played under threat and the element of fear in the back of the minds will not let the players to give their best. I also feel that Team India might play soft to thank the ECB for coming to the country to play this series.
As so many observers all over the world have pointed out that we should not given in for terror and cancel sport but as Boycott has mentioned its true that we should not given in for terror but in reality who is going to come for rescue if the stadium is attacked or the English players taken as hostage.
Its tough times for the biggest democracy of the world, I wish and pray that there is no more terror attacks and the country is peaceful.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha
Good that Yuvi is getting a change yet again the Indian Team and most likely to play in Ganguly place in the playing XI. Even an ordinary cricket fan knows that Yuvi is a confidence player and if he his given a long run and selectors convey that he is the player for the future. He might not be technically equipped to play good fast bowling in bouncy tracks but if he is confident he can come over that prove successful.
I have a feeling that the series if happens, will be of academic interest alone and nothing more than that. Given the back drop of the Mumbai terror attack, this series will be played under threat and the element of fear in the back of the minds will not let the players to give their best. I also feel that Team India might play soft to thank the ECB for coming to the country to play this series.
As so many observers all over the world have pointed out that we should not given in for terror and cancel sport but as Boycott has mentioned its true that we should not given in for terror but in reality who is going to come for rescue if the stadium is attacked or the English players taken as hostage.
Its tough times for the biggest democracy of the world, I wish and pray that there is no more terror attacks and the country is peaceful.
India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Munaf Patel, M Vijay, Yuvraj Singh, Pragyan Ojha
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