Just 60 minutes into the 5th day, the Indian mindset was clear to see - bat out 90 overs for a draw. Their whole "strategy" was based on seeing whether Virender Sehwag could whittle away at the deficit all by himself. Once he got out, the batsmen gave up the ghost.
Well, congratulations India, you have gone and done the one thing I thought was not possible, make Sehwag play like any other batsman and take away his biggest asset - the ability to be the only batsman in world cricket to actually play each ball in isolation of match condition and on its merit. Eventually the pressure of being the lone gunman will affect anyone and it caused Viru to get out today. All inning he was fidgety and looking primarily to defend. This meant the bowlers could bowl to their plans with great glee with no fear of repercussions. And they did just that.
As I type this, the score is 53 for 1 in 28 overs. The information bar at the bottom of the screen on TV is flashing: India needs 287 more runs to win. I'd rather they simply said: India needs to bat another 62 overs to draw and be done with it. (Or conversely: South Africa needs 9 more wickets to win.)
For 14 days I followed the Test series willing the Indian team to win no matter what the game situation was. On the 15th and last day of the series, they have lost me. If you don't have the guts to reach for the stars then you are destined to stay with the rest of the pack on the ground.
By batting so cautiously, you have enabled a bowler of the caliber (or lack there of) of Paul Harris to operate with 4 close-in fielders. Count them, MS Dhoni, F-O-U-R. Even Harbhajan Singh, the King of Spin, the Sheikh of Shenanigans, the Master of Manipulation, the Lion from Ludhiana, did not have as many close-in fielders - not even when his bowling analysis read 4 wickets for 10 runs.
I guess you enjoy being just a little bit better than mediocre. Please don't come back asking me to root for you again. The only way you'll win me back is if you show more guts and mental fortitude than this.
By the way, after all this, I hope that you wont have to rely on Sreesanth to bat out the last 30 minutes just so you can draw the Test. If it comes down to that, all I'll say is that you deserved every bit of it.
Goodbye.
8 comments:
I am more disappointed than pissed tbh...or scratch that...I am not even that disappointed...I am ok...only because I think it is fair to give due credit to SA bowlers (Harris excluded)...Steyn wasn't spitting bullets like day 3,but he was still a threat..what if the team had collapsed trying to chase? 340 is a lot of runs to make on the last day, JQ!
The "win" was lost on Day 4 when we let them make 340, not today. You have called MSD's tactics for that and I agree with you. Plus the Kallis factor! But let's not stop rooting for our team :)
I am not too happy with MSD's defensive tactics... however, while I may disapprove, I don't really think he alone was the villain of the piece.
Indian bowlers weren't in top form on day 4, except Bhajji. Zak was ok, but fragile, Sree on his bi-polar trip and Ishant mediocre. Man to man this bowling attack looked weak on that day compared with the Saffers.
If MSD had attacked, runs also would've leaked and Ind would've been set a target of 270 or so, with more # of sessions to bat out. And I think the Steyn factor was an important one in the context of the chase.
I think both captains were defensive; however, I feel Smith was worse because he had better bowlers, home conditions and he should've declared early.
And I don't think anyone should be blamed as far as Sehwag goes, except Sehwag himself. He was completely unsure throughout the series.
I don't think the team was responsible for this; I feel the conditions made him circumspect.
I also don't see anything wrong in a team basing strategy on the ability of different players.
I liked the result because it reflected the state of the two teams-one that has all the indgridients but lacks that winning habbit (SAF) and one that may lack in certain areas but has learnt to string together wins (Ind). All in all an even contest with a scoreline to match.
M, I agree with you that the game was won/lost/drawn on Day 4. I will explain more in my reply to L's comment but MSD perplexed me with his captaincy that day.
Don't get me wrong - if you had told me before the start of the series that the scoreline would be 1-1, I'd probably have been happy enough to consider it (I'd still hold out for a 2-1 win but then I am a little greedy like that). :-)
Teams can collapse chasing 340 (and I even mentioned that) and if it was the SAffers chasing I'd have been talking about India needing 10 moments of inspiration to win the Test.. What was galling for me was the lack of intent. I woke up every morning at 2am to watch the fellows play, wrecking havoc with my sleep patterns, and then on the 15th day, when they shut shop as soon as Sehwag got out, I snapped.
I did get to sleep a little bit this morning and the score still hadn't moved too much so I wasn't too chuffed about it.
L, if I gave the impression that MSD was the sole villain, then I did not write well. As the leader of the team he is ultimately responsible for their actions so I was holding him culpable for that.
Graeme Smith is definitely more defensive than Masada. In fact, in my opinion, in Test cricket today, Masada is the best. Which is why I get frustrated when he indulges in activities that are being done by the more defensive captains around. His captaincy record of 14-3-7 is outstanding especially considering the team he has at his disposal. This Indian team is winning matches without a bowling attack that features bowlers who will run through the opposition. MSD has done a great job of marshalling his respurces.
But on Day 4 Bhajji had just taken 4 wickets for 10 runs when Kallis began batting. Yes, the field was spread before the great man even started hitting the ball. I understand the need to conserve runs when the opposition is going great guns. But at that time, the SAffers were handed a get-out-of-jail card even before they had even contemplated committing a crime. THAT got my goat.
On the final day, Paul Harris was bowling with 6-7 fielders around the bat when Laxman was batting. You and I have a similar opinion about Harris as a bowler. Is he really a 6 close-in fielder bowler?
Unfortunately, at 3:30am in the morning, as I watched RD and GG settle down with no intent, my mind immediately went back to two horrible days this very same line-up had subjected me to in the recent past - versus England in Mumbai (Flintoff's Test) and versus Pakistan in Bangalore (in a match where Sehwag scored 201 in the first inning). On both those occasions, the middle order shut down and did not even look to score runs. As soon as the captains realized that India had no intention of scoring runs, the fielders came in, a wicket or two was winked out and panic set in and we lost the match. After coming so close to winning the series (especially when I was sniffing it on Day 4) I could not bear the thought of us doing it one more time and I vented in my post and shut down because I was too afraid to watch lest it turn out to be another train wreck in slow motion.
Re: Sehwag. This Indian batting line-up features 4 guys who currently feature in the top 5 in our corresponding ODI line-up - VS, GG, SRT, and MSD. A fifth guy, RD has scored over 10,000 ODI runs. Yet, whenever we need fast runs in a Test match, the entire Indian team and their supporters only bring up Sehwag's name. What the heck?!!! SRT's last ODI inning was a double hundred. Why do we put all our eggs only in the Sehwag basket?
I honestly did not think 340 was possible in a day, except in one of those catch-lightning kind of days. But this is what I was hoping would happen.
Overs 1-10: Indian scores 25-30 runs. Runs per over 2.5
Overs 11-30: India scores an additional 70 runs. RPO 3.3
Lunch: India's score is 90-100, needs 240-250 in 4 hours, or 60 overs.
Overs 31-60, India scores 105-110 runs. RPO 3.5
At tea (or a little after because the SAffers would have slowed the over-rate), India would have been 220 or so, needing 120 to win in 30 overs at an RPO of 4 an over. GAME ON!
All of this could have been done without too many risks. Once the Indians got the scoreboard moving you, me, and the neighbor's cat all know that Smith would have spread the field to reduce the damage. Milking singles would have been easy.
Which is why I proposed that the line-up be VS, GG, VVS, SRT, and MSD, followed by RD, CP, etc.
340 is a huge amount for any day of a Test, let alone the 5th, but I would have liked to have at least seen an attempt at it.
It is a tribute to this team that I was hoping they pushed for victory. With this very same team, about 3 years ago, I would have woken up in the morning praying that they could survive the day. But over the past 3-4 years they have inspired me to dream bigger. Which is why that feeling of disappointment was so severe.
The reason that we still talk about Clive Lloyd's team and Steve Waugh's team with awe is that they went into each game to win.
Just being numero uno was not sufficient.
Contrast with MS Dhoni - he has proven he is a wimp and unable to make a play at it.
He, and Gary Kirsten, have done an admirable job making the Indian dressing room atmosphere much healthier than before and thus allowing VVS Laxman to play in some of the most sublime form of his career. For that reason alone, I would be unhappy to see MSD be ousted as captain.
But otherwise - if the Indian selectors check the records and see the number of matches in the past 15 months that one man, VVS Laxman, has either saved their skin in or taken them to series-leveling victories in, they will realize that reverse those results and India would be far from being at the top of the cricketing world by the rankings table.
A world beater seeks to master the environment and always win. Unless India learns to adopt that attitude, they will be number one only in name and just waiting to be displaced - after which nobody will even recollect that India reigned at the top for a significant stretch of time.
if I gave the impression that MSD was the sole villain...
-- My reaction was to your previous post as well.
:-)
But yes, as the captain, he shoulders most of the blame. And no doubt he was defensive.
However, I still believe he is a good captain. I think if he had the bowlers of the caliber of South Africa, he would've played differently.
On the final day, Paul Harris was bowling with 6-7 fielders ... Is he really a 6 close-in fielder bowler?
No, but that says more about Smith; it's funny, he finally got the guts to be aggressive when Ind started playing dead!
Why do we put all our eggs only in the Sehwag basket?
I don't think we do...In fact I think Ind is blessed to have different players(batsmen) for diff situations.
I think the 5th day's play was fabulous. The Indians stone-walled to perfection.
I kept thinking of Sydney 2008 when one criticism hurled at the team was that they couldn't even save the game...and this match showed they could. And how!
D, I agree with most of your sentiments, with one caveat. Steve Waugh inherited a team that was already a world-beating one so his ascension to the top was more easily facilitated as the winning mentality was already imbued in the players.
MSD has captained India 24 times and his record is 14-3-7. In the same number of matches Steve Waugh's record was 17-5-2!
(And it was an action-packed 24 Tests as it encompassed the 15 Test match win streak as well as the Test series that VVS Laxman destroyed his hopes of conquering the Final Frontier.)
Now, you also raised Clive Lloyd. His first 24 Tests produced a mediocre 4-12-7 record.His reputation was forged over the course of the next few years, so it would be harsh to downplay how good MSD has been early in his career.
The contrast between CL and MSD is that the former inherited a team in transition and took it to the top. MSD inherited a fairly stable team (batting-wise, at least) and took it to the top. In that sense, MSD has less wiggle room the rest of the way. But I don't think his unfinished work should be compared, just yet, to Lloyd's body of work.
Hopefully, now that they have ticked off another box (emerging undefeated in a series in SA) they can take the next step - winning all those series against the top ranked teams. His time is running out as SRT, RD, and VVS are in the final laps of their career.
L, the stonewalling on the 5th day was impressive, and heartening as an Indian fan, considering the many times they have faltered in such situations. THIS edition of the Indian team, under MSD, is mentally so strong. In the top 5, when a batsman of the caliber of Sehwag is the mental weak link in the second innings, it augers well for your batting line-up.
I did not doubt their ability to stonewall, hence my desire that they at least make an effort to go after the target.
Isn't it wonderful that we now have a team that makes us dream of big things on the 5th day of a Test, as opposed to hoping against hope that someone scores a century even as the ship is burning (a la Agarkar at Lords)?
D raised a very good point when he mentioned that MSD's ability to get his team-mates to play to their ability is an understated aspect of his captaincy. Note how many folks have done well under him.
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