India take whitewash rather reluctantly

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The New Zealanders had their moments during their tour of India. I think they fared much better than what had looked likely after their drubbing in Bangladesh not very long ago. The Indians should have won all three Test matches but they chose to be content with a 1-0 win as they had done on numerous occasions while taking on unfancied rivals in the past.

The New Zealanders consider themselves better suited for the limited overs games than the Test matches. Yet they were successful to have drawn two of the three Test matches with the top ranked side of the world and they were whitewashed by the hosts in the ODI series when they virtually fielded their ‘A’ team.

India did win all the five One-day Internationals, that followed the Test series, but the New Zealanders were allowed the kind of liberty that the mighty teams of the past like the West Indies or Australia didn’t allow when they were ruling the world.

Isn’t it a pity that the Indians have remained so reluctant to go for a clean sweep even when they had their opponents at their mercy? Isn’t it a big surprise that it’s only their second 5-0 win in a ODI series?

The last time India triumphed 5-0 was not a whitewash either. It was meant to be a seven-match series between India and England but it had to be halted abruptly due to the attacks in Mumbai. Although the Englishmen had been totally outplayed by the hosts there were many people who sensed India might not have gone for a 7-0 scoreline for the same reasons that had prevented them from doing it earlier.

So it’s actually India’s first 5-0 win in a five-match series. They have achieved it in the absence of some of their prolific performers who were rested for various reasons. This provided the fringe players an opportunity to have a go at a struggling side and most of them came out with flying colours.

Ironically India, with full strength, had lost a ODI to New Zealand by 200 runs during the triangular series in Sri Lanka only a few months ago. The manner in which India’s less experienced guys forced the Black Caps into submission throughout the five-match series only leaves more question marks about that fateful game.

The Indians could have won the ODI series even more convincingly but for the traditional inconsistency of the prolific players. The failures of Gautam Gambhir and Virat Kohli in the last two games was totally against the run of play. If they are not competent enough to negotiate the all spin attack of New Zealand with the new ball, I am afraid, they don’t deserve to be playing for their national team.

That has been the problem of the Indian team over the years. Despite being in possession of a large pool of talented players they have been reluctant to sustain the momentum. The reasons remain unexplained, beyond comprehension to say the least.

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Will India opt for going ahead for a whitewash?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

That’s a billion Rupee question now. Having beaten the New Zealanders comprehensively in the first three games of the five-match ODI to take an unassialble 3-0 lead, the Indians are in total command of the sitiuation to complete a whitewash. But will they do it? Or will they succumb to the external factors?

The Indian cricket team over the years has had the habit of ‘accomodating’ their unfancied opponents by losing an odd game or two against the run of play when it comes to the One-day Internationals whereas in the Tests they appeared to have ‘obliged’ the underdogs by keeping it to a draw.

The latest example was the three-Test series against the Black Caps that preceded the ongoing ODI series. India’s full strength side stunned everyone by settling with a draw in the first two Tests. When they finally tightened the noose in the third and final Test the margin that separated the two sides said all with the game lasting just over three days.

Now the ball is in the court of the Indians again. They have lived upto the billing by winning the first three ODIs with big enough margins to just confirm that there is no competition at well between the two sides on these kind of surfaces.

The momentum is with India. They can easily win the remaining two ODIs, weather permitting. Daniel Vettori and his boys are at the mercy of the hosts. The expertise of the vastly experienced Duncan Fletcher cannot be of much help to them at this stage. They shall be happy losing those two games by less embarassing margin than the last couple of ones.

What about the Indian plans? Nobody knows. Will they go for the kill? The World Cup is round the corner and they cannot afford to be complacent. But there have been numerous instances when such interests appeared to have been compromised. Will history repeat itself?

Gautam Gambhir and his boys are on a high but will they be allowed to play without an advice they are not able to refuse?

Gambhir has done the job perfectly so far, in the absence of the rested Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The caretaker captain was delighted to have restricted New Zealand to 224 in their 50 overs after putting them into bat in the third ODI at Vadodara.

"When there is dew in Baroda it does a bit in the morning; it's red soil. It was a good toss to win but it was a great effort from our bowlers to restrict them to 225-odd. Zaheer Khan is the best left-arm fast bowler in the world now. Ravichandran Ashwin has a lot of variety and can bowl well during Power Plays and the slog overs. If he keeps doing that he will be a big asset to the team. Munaf Patel bowled great at first change. It's tough to get figures of 1 for 28 in 10 overs on a subcontinent wicket. Yusuf Pathan contributed with the ball, as well," the skipper complimented.

"It's good to have competitions for various places. If the selectors have a headache in this aspect, it's a very good sign for Indian cricket," he said.

He did not favour too much experiment with the side for the last two ODIs despite the series being won. "We should try and put our best team on the park as it is an international game and we are playing a quality side," Gambhir reckoned.

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India haunted once more by tail-enders

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

It was far from convincing performance from the new look Indian outfit as they displayed the same chronic weaknesses that had haunted their illustrious predecessors while overcoming an uncerain and shaky New Zealand side in the first of the five One-day Internationals at the Nehru Stadium in the Eastern town of Guwahati on November 28.

Any side batting first having scored 169 for two at the end of 32 overs would have been expected to score in the excess of 300 in 50 overs. And if you have an inexperienced bowling attack like the Black Claps, sans their premier bowler and skipper Daniel Vettori, playing in the sub-continent even the possibilities of 350 could not have been ruled out.

But as we have seen over the years in far too many matches the Indians make heavy weather of the death overs when the other teams take it as an opportunity of scoring thick and fast even if they had wobbled in the earlier part of the innings.

Not the Indians. More often than not they collapse in the phase of the innings meant for collecting quick runs. The same happened yet again. The platform was set for a real big score but they squandered the golden opportunity by getting bowled out with one over remaining.

I tell u even Bangladesh would have scored many more than 278 in 50 overs against this New Zealand side if they had brought up the 200 of their innings in the 38th over. If you have the likes of the well-set Virat Kohli and Suresh Raina out in the middle and the master blaster Yusuf Pathan padded up to get in next there are only remote possibilities of the total not crossing 300 if not 330.

The young Indians, led by Gautam Gambhir, proved that they have inherited many if not all the chronic weaknesses of the past. I think that of all the teams playing ODIs only India have this capacity of throwing away after such fabulous starts.

Only they could have lost six wickets for 26 runs when they were in complete command of the situation as their unfancied rivals, having being whitewashed by Bangladesh earlier this season, had run short of all ideas.

Kohli scored his first ODI century batting first, his fourth overall and second in a row after that superlative one against Australia. Openers Murali Vijay and Gambhir had done well to negotiate weather the storm as they prevented the repeat of India’s sensational collapse batting first at the same venue last season.

Gambhir had only 278 runs to play with that was at least 30 to 40 runs short what he should have had in the bank. Yet with the kind of bowling resoorces India had there was not much cause for him to worry even while defending the eventual total.

Despite the horrible catchng, that has remained the hallmark of India all along, their bowlers put in the extra effort to make amends and the game remained well and truly in their control until another familiar fightback by the tail-enders.

New Zealand were dead and burried when they lost their eighth wicket at 169 with more than 100 needed in less than 15 overs. The 67-run stand ninth-wicket stand between Kyle Mills and Nathan McCullum reminded many of the similar acts by the tail-enders against India.

Although it was a matter of only two wickets the match became wide open as 41 runs were needed in five overs even though they had to be bowled by experienced pace trio of Ashish Nehra, Shanitkumaran Sreesanth and Munaf Patel. In the end it needed a couple of deliveries from Sreesanth to wrap up the issue.

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Dhoni’s confession merits probe

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

"I think we played to 60% of our potential, whatever the reasons were. We have the potential to play much better."

This is the confession the Indian skipper, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, made during the media briefing at Nagpur after the conclusion of the third and final Test against New Zealand on the afternoon of November 23.

Obviously he didn’t elaborate for how could he have that authority where the Board is all powerful and the cricketers cannot be expected to cross limits.

I think this is just the tip of iceberg. He must have been under enormous because he was the leader of the top ranked Test team of the world which couldn’t beat one of the lowest ranked sides in two successive games.

There was no comparison between the two sides and as I have emphasized in my write-ups on this particular series India should have won all the three matches comprehensively. There was no way Daniel Vettori’s young and inexperienced outfit could have come to terms with the most potent and balanced Indian team of all time.

It was really childish of Dhoni to have blamed the pitches of Ahmedabad and Hyderabad. The fact of the matter appeared that his team didn’t have the desire to win those two matches. They could have easily wrapped up the issue in the same manner as they did at Nagpur.

It’s much better that he has admitted now that his team didn’t play to its potential in the earlier two Tests. It’s closer to reality. He could not have said further. It’s for the others to find out the reasons why Team India was not allowed to give its best.

Who’re the people responsible for the poor show of the Indians in two successive Test matches? Doesn’t it amount to playing around with the emotions of the people who follow the game so enthusiastically in anticipation of glories?

Can the Indian cricketers choose not to play to their potential on their own? A cricket board which ousted a man as powerful as Lalit Modi cannot be expected to be taken for a ride by the players.

I don’t think the International Cricket Council (ICC) would have the courage to take up this matter although the matter could fall in the purview of its Anti-Corruption Unit if taken seriously.

But how can the ICC be expected to move when their commercial interests are linked to each and every cricket board. They can only protect the boards because they are their constituent bodies.

I have a feeling that Dhoni’s confession merits proble. Some agency or authority, not under the influence of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), could take up the matter and find out who are the people behind this.

The affairs of the Indian Premier League (IPL) had come on the front pages of the eminent newspapers. I think this matter is much more grave in nature because the national team is involved. I hope someone looks into it for cleaning the sport.

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Tendulkar’s yet another super failure

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

There’s indeed something special about a man named Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. When he’s good he’s better than the best. Conversely when he’s not good he fares worse than the worst.

When he’s on song he appears to be the greatest-ever batsman but when he’s not in a mood to be among the runs he looks uglier than the traditional tail-enders who used to be there just for fun.

He has proved it on innumerable occasions that he’s second to none when it comes to taking on the greatest of bowlers. But the same man remains vulnerable to the friendliest of bowlers who are themselves scared of having a go at him.

Isn’t it strange that he’s equal to the task more often than not while coming to task with the champion bowlers and yet behaves like a novice when confronting the lesser mortals? This has been his story for a very long time now.

Statistically he’s the best batsman to be produced by his country. But how many matches has he won for India during an international career having crossed two decades now. He has scored in heaps but his performance in helping his team has not been as phenomenal.

Primarily because of his records, that are unlikely to be broken in the foreseeable future, he’s compared to the likes of the incomparable Don Bradman. I wonder if the Australian genius had so many failures as Tendulkar and that too against inconsequential bowling attacks.

Tendulkar has had this chronic problem of failing against the weaker opponents that do raise many questions just like he’s often found wanting when India need him to fire. The matter gets closed because of the human factor.

He’s no doubt a human being and it’s indeed next to impossible to score consistently over a long period of time. But what fails to satisfy many people is the bitter reality of his repeated failures against weak opponents with the just concluded home series against New Zealand being the latest example.

The form in which Tendulkar was in for the past many months, having blasted centuries after centuries at his sweet will it had seemed very likely that he would complete his half-century of centuries in the very first outing against the Black Caps, possessing a toothless bowling attack.

He was expected to do it in the first Test at Ahmedabad. Centuries by Virender Sehwag and Rahul Dravid had demoralized the New Zealanders on the opening day and the stage was set for Tendulkar to accomplish the feat without any fuss the following day.

The big crowd having gathered there in anticipation of the historic moment was disappointed when he got himself out against the run of play on the second morning. He got the opportunity to make up but he let it go again in the second innings. Then it was the turn of the holiday crowd at Hyderabad to watch in dismay yet another Tendulkar failure in the second Test.

Came the third and final Test and Tendulkar was in complete control before throwing it away once more. The whole series went by and he couldn’t score even a single century despite being in what people though was the form of his lifetime.

Tendulkar continued his love with the debutants. After having gifted his wicket to Ujesh Ranchod, Ruwan Kalpage, Mark Ealham, Neil Johnson, Jacob Oram, Monty Panesar, Cameron White, Peter Siddle and Peter George he let Andy Mc Kay celebrate at Nagpur.

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India finally in top gear at Nagpur to control damage

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Not surprisingly India performed the damage control act by winning the third and final Test against New Zealand at Nagpur after having given below par performance in the previous two Tests to keep the series alive.

There was always an element of ‘shock’ as well as ‘suspicion’ over the fate of the previous two Tests in which the hosts had looked like obliging the Black Caps with draws.

Obviously the New Zealanders were not the only ones ‘obliged’ with the unlikely result of the first couple of Test matches at Ahmedabad and Hyderabad where the hosts were reluctant to emerge victorious.

As we saw over three days and a bit at Nagpur the Black Caps had neither the firepower nor the resources to come to terms with the mighty Indian side, that has been flying high for the past couple of years.

India had to play below par or under-perform in those games to let New Zealand, fresh from a bashing in Bangladesh, come close because there was a huge gulf between the two teams and a draw was as good as a massive win for the visitors.

New Zealand would not have dreamt of drawing the first two Tests in India but courtesy some rather familiar ‘unseen’ factors the unlikeliest of results were witnessed in those games.

India didn’t seem to have the plan to repeat Ahmedabad and Hyderabad at Nagpur and the entire world saw what has happened there. Even the absence of their champion fast bowler, Zaheer Khan, didn’t make a difference.

India could have lost quite a few ranking points even at being top of the ladder if they let New Zealand draw at Nagpur too. I think this could have been the most likely factor that prompted the hosts to play the game the way they should have played in the last two Tests as well.

India won the third Test by a margin of an innings and 198 runs. They could have easily registered innings victories in the last two Tests as well, had they desired so.

The inexperienced New Zealand side was at their mercy from day one of the series. There could not have been a better opportunity to whitewash the Black Caps who had come to India with no hopes of challenging the home side.

As someone had remarked at the start of the series it was to be a mismatch. It should have been that way throughout the series but the Indians, not unexpectedly, chose to do things that looked ‘strange’ to the masses only.

Those having followed and covered India’s matches over the years did know that there would be some drama during the New Zealand which the home side was not going to be interested in winning as convincingly as was being anticipated.

Not many experts would disagree that India could have blasted New Zealand inside three days in each of the three Tests. That would not have only enthralled the spectators but also helped in preparing for the upcoming tougher assignments with greater confidence. They would have certainly been in a better frame of mind having done it three times rather than once.

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Do Indian cricket authorities care for glory, rankings etc?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The International Cricket Council (ICC) had introduced the rankings in order to keep the interest alive in dead rubber games. It was also considered a measure to prevent match fixing as there seemed greater chance for such matches to be ‘fixed.’ Also the ranking points served as incentives for the fancied teams while taking on lesser mortals.

But all such incentives and precautionary measures aimed at controlling the evil prove meaningless if money becomes the sole criterion and things like the national interest and glories for country are pushed to a side.

Look at the latest example. The Indians are the top ranked side in Test cricket, a position they have thoroughly deserved after performing consistently against the other high flying nations. They are blessed with the most potent side in world cricket at the moment and they have come good against the toughest of rivals.

But India have had a big problem throughout the last couple of decades. They have not been at their best while taking on those sides found wanting elsewhere. They have a history of coming up with below par performances against teams like New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Bangladesh and Kenya.

People thought that they would do away with this old habit while taking on New Zealand in the current Test and ODI series with the ranking points at stake and India aiming to consolidate at the top of the tree.

Such thoughts have remained mere thoughts and the Indians have continued to show complete disrespect for their position. More than anything they are playing with the emotions of their own people. It remains to be seen for how long the cricket enthusiasts in India will tolerate this exercise.

It has been reported that India would be losing ranking points irrespective of the result of third and final Test at Nagpur starting on November 20. They can control damage by winning the game in which case they will lose only one point. A draw will cost them four points while a defeat, which can never be ruled out when they are in such generous mood, will deprive them of six points.

Batting has been India’s forte in the recent past and their batsmen have plundered the most lethal of bowling attacks rather ruthlessly on all types of pitches. Will you believe it that all their premier batsmen, with the sole exception of Virender Sehwag, are struggling at home against the friendliest of bowling attacks?

Wasn’t it a pity that the cricket fans of Ahmedabad and Hyderabad were denied the pleasure of watching Sachin Tendulkar at his best? Who would believe that the New Zealand bowlers would tie him down this much before scalping him cheaply against the heaviest of odds not once but three times in a row?

It’s very difficult to say if Tendulkar would indeed be allowed to reach the much-awaited 50th Test century at Nagpur or the plan is to defer it further. We will know it over the next few days.

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How many more presents for New Zealanders in India?

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The New Zealanders be been feeling delighted to be in India at the moment. They must be feeling over the moon with their exploits because they could not even have thought in their distant dreams of coming up with this kind of performance.

What was being branded as a mismatch before the start of the series, not surprisingly, has become quite a contest now and the fate hinges entirely on the outcome of the third and final Test. Cricket we all know is a funny game but not everyone knows how far the Indians could do in enlivening proceedings out of a dead game.

This is certainly not for the first time. The Indians have had this tendency of obliging the underdogs, more so in their own den. No wonder the teams like New Zealand and Zimbabwe are the major beneficiaries when India are the overwhelming favourites in a home series in particular.

I think it’s just a matter of the history repeating itself here. At least I won’t be surprised if New Zealand go on to clinch the Test series and then also claim the series of five One-day Internationals that follows. In fact it looks quite likely now that the New Zealanders would be allowed to compete in each and every game of the tour.

The Indians have done it so many times against New Zealand previously, having let them dominate and win from position of nowhere.

The Indians, fresh from a resounding 2-0 win over Australia in the Test series, were being expected to blank the Black Caps, who had been whitewashed at the hands of Bangladesh in the ODI series just a few weeks ago.

But look at the Indians how they have controlled the series against New Zealand, a totally disjointed and depressed side at the start of the tour. It needed quite an effort and sacrifice on part of the hosts to let the New Zealanders come at par with them.

What happened in the first Test at Ahmedabad was nothing short of disgrace to cricket. India had to work extremely hard to get bowled out for less than 500 in the first innings after having got to 300 for the loss of just one wicket. The likes of Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina had to fail in order to ensure a smaller total than anticipated.

The Indian bowlers had to work even harder to facilitate the inexperienced New Zealand batsmen post a much higher total than their capabilities. Then we witnessed the sight of the mighty Indian batting order to collapse to 15 for 5 against a bowler who never looked threatening or devastating.

In the second Test at Hyderabad the hosts were found to be even more generous than the first game. The New Zealand opener, Tim McIntosh, having bagged a pair in the first Test came very close to scoring a century in each innings while the flashy wicketkeeper, Brendom McCullum, was gifted with his maiden double century.

What next India? Should we see the remaining New Zealanders returning their career best performance in the third and final Test or will we get a break for a change.

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Steve Davis should be retired from ICC elite panel

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Contrary to what some people might think, for some strange reasons, the Indian cricketers remain more consistently at the receiving end than their contemporaries when it comes to the ICC rulings, be it a match referee or an umpire.

What umpires Mark Benson and Steve Bucknor had done in the Sydney Test between Australia and India in 2008 to bring the game to disrepute was something unprecedented and unheard of.

What match referee Mike Denness had done in the South Africa-India series in 2001 jeopardized the future of the game as the two countries were forced to engage into an ‘unofficial’ Test match after so much of controversies.

In both the above incidents the team to be victimized was common. Not surprisingly the Indians were hard done by the ICC officials on both occasions.

Smaller or minor injustices do keep occurring once in a while and nearly every team gets affected but when it comes to something major or monumental we have the Indians to face the music.

Something similar happened on the fifth and final day of the first Test between India and New Zealand in Ahmedabad on November 8 when the Australia umpire, Steve Davis, committed ‘blunders’ on successive deliveries to create history of sorts.

I am not sure if the idea was to oblige the New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori, or it was meant to hurt the Indian duo of VVS Laxman and Zaheer Khan, Davis really made a mess of it on both occasions and it must leave a question mark about his future as an ICC umpire.

If Davis is unable to locate or hear those big inside edges then I am afraid he should not be standing in even a club match because it’s against the rules of the game to declare a batsman leg-before wicket if he hits the ball first.

What Davis was trying to do? Was he attempting to bring the match back to life as Laxman and Harbhajan Singh were in the process of saving it for India? By ruling Laxman and Zaheer out on successive deliveries, when neither of them could have been out, he certainly opened up the contest.

A minimum of 40 overs were still to be bowled with India 254 ahead when Davis made those two horrible decisions on successive deliveries of the 90th over of the innings by which time none of the New Zealand bowlers was threatening enough.

Davis provided the breakthrough to New Zealand and denied a thoroughly deserved century to Laxman. It was a big inside edge and the batsman was well and truly shocked. Zaheer couldn’t believe his luck either as the Australian umpire showed his power by another wrong call.

Harbhajan, who was at the non-striker’s end when Davis was on fire, also had a few words with the beneficiary, Vettori, who only smiled back.

Harbhajan was on the verge of completing his first Test hundred when Davis was striking those telling blows and he showed his distrust for the umpire by opting to clear the field instead of becoming his third victim of the day.

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