The Art of (almost)Snatching Defeat from the Jaws of Victory !!
The 2nd ODI between India and South Africa yet again showcased Team India's ability to falter under pressure and complicate matters. After a 142 run opening partnership, who would have thought India to win the match in the last over, after inducing a fear of defeat in to every Indian's mind ? Thanks to Karthik's sensible batting and Yuvraj's brilliant luck, India cruised to victory.
Earlier, the Indian bowlers were erratic and wonderful in patches. Romesh Powar needs to think twice (or thrice) before spraying balls all over the pitch, esp. outside off stump. Chawla needs to mature, and it will be cruel to assess him now. He just needs to know to use his googly as a surprise delivery. The pacemen, must adjust quickly to the conditions and control their movement.
Coming to batting, Tendulkar was a treat to watch, (except the last over he faced) and his shots were punishing and hurting the bowler's ego. Yet, its surprising to see how a score of 90s makes him nervous. He tends to become overcautious and ends up gifting his wicket.
Sourav Ganguly, save a brilliant sixer, was very very ordinary. In fact, when Sachin is scoring rapidly at the other end, he should have rotated strike regularly and maintain a decent runrate. Instead, his poor strike rate was not helping India to wrap things up easily.
Rahul Dravid's dismissal was untimely and triggered the mini collapse. On tends to wonder if he is showing too much aggression during the early stages of his innings.
M.S.Dhoni is still to recover from flu it seems. He never read the line of that Ntini delivery.
Anyway, with the finals coming up, hope the Indians regroup and reassess. Good luck guys !!
Earlier, the Indian bowlers were erratic and wonderful in patches. Romesh Powar needs to think twice (or thrice) before spraying balls all over the pitch, esp. outside off stump. Chawla needs to mature, and it will be cruel to assess him now. He just needs to know to use his googly as a surprise delivery. The pacemen, must adjust quickly to the conditions and control their movement.
Coming to batting, Tendulkar was a treat to watch, (except the last over he faced) and his shots were punishing and hurting the bowler's ego. Yet, its surprising to see how a score of 90s makes him nervous. He tends to become overcautious and ends up gifting his wicket.
Sourav Ganguly, save a brilliant sixer, was very very ordinary. In fact, when Sachin is scoring rapidly at the other end, he should have rotated strike regularly and maintain a decent runrate. Instead, his poor strike rate was not helping India to wrap things up easily.
Rahul Dravid's dismissal was untimely and triggered the mini collapse. On tends to wonder if he is showing too much aggression during the early stages of his innings.
M.S.Dhoni is still to recover from flu it seems. He never read the line of that Ntini delivery.
Anyway, with the finals coming up, hope the Indians regroup and reassess. Good luck guys !!
Comments
From 114/7 to winning the match!!