India outplayed by Australia, out of the tournament
India got shown out of the champions trophy on sunday through some thorough and professional cricket played by their competition. Its never easy to compete against the world champions, but after a long time, the indian team was off to a great start with sehwag and tendulkar preserving their wickets within the first 5 overs. Sehwag seemed to have regained his touch and batted fearlessly taking on Lee, while tendulkar started very cautiously. There was a definite game plan it seemed until tendulkar was undone by a Mcgrath classic which moved away from the offstump only to take the nick back to Gilchrist. The middle order did well with everyone getting into 20's and dravid stroking another half century. The wicket looked placid and at one point excess of 260 seemed on the cards. But australia came back brilliantly and restricted India in the last 10 overs to 67 runs. Both Dhoni and Kaif managed 30 odd runs in the final slog. It was here i thought that India could have done better. In the end India were around 40-50 runs short of making a match against the No 1 cricketing team in the world. Australia had a blazing start when gilchrist and watson fired on all cylinders with almost a runrate of 6.0 in the first 16 overs by when they had compiled 116-2 and taken away the match from their opposition. Damien martyn and ponting then ensured a perfect execution of sensible batting to eventually reach the inevitable with around 26 deliveries to spare. Damien martyn was a delight to watch once again with some crisp cricketing shots and superbly timed boundaries. Although he was let off twice with some difficult chances the roaring start meant australia were never under pressure once they kept the wickets intact.
With all the hoopla over BCCI being the richest cricketing body and Asia generating loads of revenue for the game, the region seems short of cricketing talent with not a single team reaching the semifinals. We have one more shot to prove the critics wrong in the world cup before these opinions become accepted facts in the minds of the billion cricketing fans.India could have done better in the last 15 overs of their batting, but admittedly were outplayed by a better team. What are your thoughts on where India would have fared better in this game ?
4 Comments Add your own
1. ravigoenka | October 31st, 2006 at 11:56 am
I agree with Altaf… It was our batting in the last 10 overs which let us down… we were clearly short of at least 40-50 runs to defend against world champions… Another important aspect was wides given by our opening bowlers… Munaf Patel kept on bowling on the leg stump which were either wides or hit for four… Munaf should learn from experiences of Lee, McGrath and others …… he has the potential of being a good bowler.
2. kazim | November 1st, 2006 at 2:27 pm
I disagree with ravi just a little. Yes the batsmen shud have gotten 20 more runs, but wud that be enough?? Even 30 more, maybe not enough.. With the kind of bowlers we have we can only breathe well after making 325 but then why blame the batsmen. South Africa could defend 213. against Pak… we should be able to defend at least 250 or lose a fighting match. the score was 101 runs in 14 overs. We cannot be a world class team till we have bowlers who can fight for a total as low as 200. Patel has a swollen wrist, I will excuse him. He noramlly bowls well, but Pathan … he might be young ,but has been playing international cricket for 3 years .. what the hell is wrong with him, RP singh, Agarkar.. sad story.
3. jalalkazim | November 1st, 2006 at 3:19 pm
I am Totally agree with Mr. Kazim. How can we depend on BigTotals only. What is the Job of our Bowlers then in the squad? Just to come and bowl their spells? No! It is the collective responsibility of the whole team to play for a win. If Our Batters have done wrong, then bowlers shud compensate by good and tight bowling, rather than to make it worst by throwing their arms toward Third slip and fine leg directions.
We Must need a Good Bowling Coach.
4. altafr | November 4th, 2006 at 5:11 pm
agreed. In addition, all the three departments of the game have to perform and compliment each other consistently. Ability to handle pressure within all departments also counts and that means a combinaiton of experience, health, technique and strong physcolgical minds.
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