India A tour of zimbabwe and kenya

[andruid]

So India 'A' declare on 409/8 leaving Kenya with effectively one and a half days of batting to try stave off defeat

 

[Manee]

Is this match being televised anywhere?

 

[Chemosit]

Interesting to see Varaiya so expensive. He is normally the guy who dries up the runs - this time it looks like Kamande played that role.
A positive to see Collins Obuya bowling again, though he still has a long way to get back to his best.

Kenya currently 90/3 - at least the openers made some runs, even if they should have gone on once they made starts. Looking at the speed they were scoring, you would not think they were batting to try and stave off defeat. Experience certainly a factor there.

Obanda makes a pair - a shame, he needed to build confidence from this tour, not lose it.

Still, at least today is so far a better day than yesterday...

 

[Chemosit]

Is this match being televised anywhere?

I don't think so, but i believe there are plans to televise the OD series. Nimbus have the rights as far as I know.

 

[brockley]

Kenya is a better one day side than 4 day side,gee kenya didn't even make the interoninental final this year,so what you expect.

 

[Chemosit]

Kenya is a better one day side than 4 day side,gee kenya didn't even make the interoninental final this year,so what you expect.

A better effort than 97 in the first innings.

Not too upset with the bowling effort though - Odoyo was absent (injured) and Otieno also injured himself, so they were not at full strength.

maybe the selectors should look at bringing in Ramesh Mepani as an all rounder if Odoyo is still injured for the next match.

 

[andruid]

Is this match being televised anywhere?

There is live commentary on cricinfo

Collins Obuya and Tanmay Mishra take Kenya to 99/3.

True the First innings batting was a bit of a shambles, with the personel they have available 97 all out is simply not good enough. Props to Elijah Otieno his economical bowling (pity he didn't get a wicket) and also to Bhudia who did rather well with the new ball on the first day. Either way the batmen have simple made life very difficult for themselves and it will take something of a minor miracle just to avoid defeat.

 

[Manee]

There is live commentary on cricinfo

I know, I was just wondering how fast the bowlers are bowling, if they are bowling well or the Kenyans are batting bad, things like that.

 

[Chemosit]

Kenya in real trouble now - Tikolo bowled and they are 160/6.

I'm told Tikolo was off the field for most of the morning and only batted as a last resort.
Decent effort from Collins Obuya for his half century. Little hope of avoiding an innings defeat now I would say though.

 

[andruid]

175/7 now Bhudia has decided to hit out.
he's got 14 off 8 deliveries

 

[Chemosit]

I have just had one of the weekend results come through.
Ramesh Mepani has hit a half century in every match so far this season and yet has not been given a call up.
Kenya could really have used someone in that form for this game!

 

[Arjun]

One more mismatch- India 408 for eight declared. Kenya at 191 for eight. The Indian reserves don't know what will hit them when their Lankan counterparts return. Chawla, though, continues to take wickets.

 

[Chemosit]

One more mismatch- India 408 for eight declared. Kenya at 191 for eight. The Indian reserves don't know what will hit them when their Lankan counterparts return. Chawla, though, continues to take wickets.

I think you will find Kenya also much more competitive in the One Day games. The way many batsmen played yesterday showed they were not used to batting simply to occupy the crease - they were still trying to score at over a run a ball, despite the likelihood of an innings defeat.

 

[Arjun]

Match is over, if you call it one. Performances here mean nothing, as the heroes here will get crunched once they face the Lankans. There are, however, other issues.

Irfan's form is getting to be a major concern, but nothing is being done about it by the BCCI. He was genuinely talented when he started off, and to cast him aside this way, was absolutely foolish. He's having problems, but nobody is looking for solutions. The BCCI's (and more so the selectors') tendency to maintain status quo shows a lack of vision.

Uthappa is bench strength, but no more. He doesn't have it in him yet to be a frontliner in the national team. At least, playing for India A, he can stay at the top of the order regularly, allowing himself to get settled. Once he finishes three series with an average over 40 (or even 50, since he's good enough for that), we may see him in the India uniform once more.

Pankaj Singh's all-round form is good, but there are more talented, and more productive all-rounder prospects to choose. He's still nowhere close to Irfan Pathan or even veterans like Yadav and Bangar, and has no chance of an India call-up.

Chawla continues to be in the wickets, and also scores vital runs at eight or nine. He should be an automatic pick in the ODI team. Pragyan Ojha's also been pinching more than a few wickets in each match, but it's no big deal.

Bring on the Lankans!

 

[Manee]

-What do you propose the BCCI should do to help Pathan?

-Is Pankaj Singh quick? There was a picture of him sending someones off stump cartwheeling against Kenya.

-Why is everyone so skeptical of their chances against Sri Lanka A, India A could not have done more impressively against Kenya and Zimbabwe.

 

[andruid]

Well I've been keeping an eye on the Lankans tour in the UK and just recently they held a team of Indians including the likes of Dravid and Karthik to a draw in a 3 day match, on top of that they have been quite competitive if not dominant against the county sides they have played against


Back to Kenya. As far as the first game goes the batsmen really dissapointed themselves by getting out as cheaply as they did. None of them stayed at the crease long enough to put together even a semblance of a decent partnership and this put alot of pressure on the bowlers and eventually the gave themselves too much work to do. Hopefully next time they will do better.

 

[Arjun]

-What do you propose the BCCI should do to help Pathan?

-Is Pankaj Singh quick? There was a picture of him sending someones off stump cartwheeling against Kenya.

-Why is everyone so skeptical of their chances against Sri Lanka A, India A could not have done more impressively against Kenya and Zimbabwe.

There's a lot they can do-

• Keep Irfan in the team regularly, just as they've persisted with Agarkar. The replacements are not much good either, and the team isn't as good without him.
• If not, send him to England, or at least make him a regular in the A team.
• Appoint some experts to work on him (and other seamers).

Dilip Vengsarkar wrote him off totally, and that was just not right. Right now, he's left to fend for himself in what is a series not worth playing. He can stay in touch with Zaheer, who made a significant comeback since he was dropped in 2005-06, and proved Chappell wrong.

Pankaj Singh isn't outright quick. We've seen enough medium-pacers in India who've sent the stumps cartwheeling at their pace. Even at high 120's or 130's, they can get that effect. I've noted the speedgun readings, and he wasn't well above 130, just crossing the mark occasionally.

There's a massive gap between the Test teams and the rest of the cricketing world. Sri Lanka A has been performing well in England and gave the Indians (main) a tough three days. The team is composed of players who are close to making the national team, and are far from a write-off.

 

[Prince EWS]

Keep Irfan in the team regularly, just as they've persisted with Agarkar. The replacements are not much good either, and the team isn't as good without him.

So you keep someone in the team, despite the fact that they are playing like absolute rubbish? It makes no sense at all to me really - if he's not performing up to standard, he shouldn't be selected. Even aside from that, how on earth would continually being smashed around the ground actually help him? It'd just destroy his confidence further really. The best option was exactly what they have done IMO - dropping him back to domestic cricket and given him ample opportunity to improve his cricket by selecting him in A teams at the like. That's what is happening. If he's good enough, he'll be back. If he's not, he won't.

 

[Arjun]

So you keep someone in the team, despite the fact that they are playing like absolute rubbish? It makes no sense at all to me really - if he's not performing up to standard, he shouldn't be selected. Even aside from that, how on earth would continually being smashed around the ground actually help him? It'd just destroy his confidence further really. The best option was exactly what they have done IMO - dropping him back to domestic cricket and given him ample opportunity to improve his cricket by selecting him in A teams at the like. That's what is happening. If he's good enough, he'll be back. If he's not, he won't.

Sending him to places like Zimbabwe and Kenya does not help one bit. Zaheer, in comparision, played in the English county season, and even Tier II teams are better competition than what he's facing now.

It's not like Irfan's the only seamer bowling rubbish. Sreesanth's been off-colour, RP Singh has been a mere support act, Agarkar's been slightly-better-than-average, only to let the team down at key moments. Moreover, his batting offers a big advantage over the rest. He was picked ahead of seam-bowling all-rounders like Bangar and JP Yadav for a reason back then, which is why he he shouldn't be cast aside the way he is now. There's a difference between dropping him until he returns to form, and casting him aside without much of a concern.

 

[Prince EWS]

Sending him to places like Zimbabwe and Kenya does not help one bit

Neither does not sending him, though. I hardly see why it was a bad move.

Zaheer, in comparision, played in the English county season, and even Tier II teams are better competition than what he's facing now.

That isn't something that arranged by the BCCI though - a county would have to offer Pathan a contract and he'd have to take it. I don't see how it's relevant.

It's not like Irfan's the only seamer bowling rubbish. Sreesanth's been off-colour, RP Singh has been a mere support act, Agarkar's been slightly-better-than-average, only to let the team down at key moments.

And Irfan Pathan has still managed to be horrendously worse than the lot of them. His bowling prior to his dropping was disgraceful - he was lucky not to be dropped even earlier.

Moreover, his batting offers a big advantage over the rest.

.. which is why he wasn't dropped even earlier. He was selected as an allrounder eventually, but his bowling was that bad at the time that it wasn't even good enough for that role. Furthermore, he could have ended up stuck in that role, never aspiring to improve him bowling back to the standard it was previously - his dropping sent him the message that he simply wasn't bowling well enough to make the team, which was an entirely true fact.

He was picked ahead of seam-bowling all-rounders like Bangar and JP Yadav for a reason back then

And he was dropped for a reason as well.

There's a difference between dropping him until he returns to form, and casting him aside without much of a concern.

Firstly, there's a difference between form and decline. You don't find yourself in bad form for years at a time - something has obviously gone wrong with his bowling - something that cannot simply be put down the confines of form. He needed to go back to domestic cricket and fix that up - so he's done that.

Secondly, what makes you think it is the latter and not the former? He has been kept around A tours to let him know he's still in reckoning if he finds his feet again and he's been named in preliminary squads. I'm sure he'll be recalled if he performs consistently in domestic cricket (in fact, he'll probably get recalled too soon if he puts two or three performances together at the right time) - he just hasn't done that yet. His performances against dire opposition lately are perfect testament to the fact that he simply isn't bowling well enough at the moment to justify selection in the team at this time.