West indies-A tour of India!!

[Maximas]

You can safely close the chapter, for now, on Gautam Gambhir's recall to the Test/ODI side. Eleven runs in 44 balls.

Especially given he scored a century a while ago against the Aussies in the A team and wasn't recalled then, all for the better I'd say. Thanks for the low down on Barath too

 

[Kippax]

Gambhir, Sehwag fail to fire | Cricket Match Report | Wisden India

If Zaheer Khan’s middling return to competitive cricket on Wednesday dampened the enthusiasm of a vociferous crowd at Shimoga, they were more or less stunned into silence by the twin failures of Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag on the second day of India A’s four-day match against West Indies A on Thursday (October 3). Bhargav Bhatt continued the good work in the first half, collecting a career-best 7 for 113 to keep West Indies A down to 406. But India A lost big wickets in their reply, reaching 191 for 3 at stumps.

When the day began, all eyes were on the Delhi duo of Gambhir and Sehwag. Leon Johnson kept the crowd waiting, going from an overnight 36 to 91, falling with a century in touching distance.

Gambhir walked out to the middle with VA Jagadeesh, the compact Kerala opening batsman, but did not take first strike. Fidel Edwards had the new ball in hand, and bounded in from his long run-up, striving for pace, but lacking rhythm. In his first spell of four overs, Edwards raced past Zaheer’s no-ball tally, overstepping nine times.

Jagadeesh was fluent from the moment he arrived at the crease, presenting the full face of the bat and punching past the bowler when the opportunity arose. Gambhir, in contrast, appeared to be a bundle of nerves, and was stuck on 0 for the longest time, only getting off the mark off the 19th ball faced. By the time he got under way, Gambhir had already been caught behind once, off Edwards, but was spared as the bowler had overstepped.

Pace gave way to spin, and Gambhir’s attempt to release the pressure with a big shot came a cropper when the ball ballooned high into the air for Edwards to complete a good catch, running from mid-on to midwicket. Gambhir’s 44-ball stay at the crease, which lasted 10 minutes more than an hour, yielded only 11 runs.

Veerasammy Permaul, who had accounted for Gambhir, varied his pace and flight cleverly, and it was the extra bounce he extracted that beat Cheteshwar Pujara’s sweep shot, the resultant top-edge being easily held. As he walked off, Pujara was treated to the kind of experience that Rahul Dravid has endured all his life in Tests. Even before Pujara could reach the dressing-room, the crowd erupted, cheering and chanting as Sehwag crossed the boundary rope at 3.11pm.

Sehwag, who did not bother with a helmet, pulled his blue cap down over his head and walked confidently out, breaking stride briefly only to look up at the sun and give his eyes a chance to make the adjustment to the difference in light levels from the dressing-room to the middle.

The first ball from Permaul, spearing his left-arm spin in, was defended confidently. The next one kept a touch low, and Sehwag, who had gone back to defend, was beaten, but fortunately for the batsman the ball was outside the line of the stumps. The third delivery Sehwag faced skidded through, rapping the pad, eliciting an excited appeal that was easily turned down. A tuck off the hips for three got Sehwag going and when Permaul dropped short outside the off, he was punched sweetly off the back foot just behind point for a boundary. Just when it appeared as if Sehwag was setting himself up to make a case for batting at No. 4, he fell, lunging forward to Permaul to be beaten in the flight and smartly stumped.

Jagadeesh was a picture of serenity out in the middle despite the arrival and departure of Test batsmen in quick succession. The key to Jagadeesh’s success was his patience. He waited for the ball to come to him, never reached for it outside the off stump, and placed the ball rather than attempting to hit it too hard. Jagadeesh seemed oblivious to the scoreboard, focussing merely on preserving his wicket and treating each ball on merit, something that is easy to preach but difficult to practice.

Jagadeesh brought up his half-century off 98 balls, and when Abhishek Nayar was sent out to bat ahead of Mohammad Kaif, presumably in the belief that a left- and right-hand combination would put the spinners off their line, the tempo of the game changed. Nayar attacked purposefully, chipping, lofting and late-cutting at will to bring up a 28-ball half-century.

When stumps were drawn, Jagadeesh had helped himself to 79 and Nayar had sprinted to 56. India A, however, still needed 66 to avoid the follow-on, but will not be thinking too much about that given the batting still to come. West Indies A, however, were certainly the happier of the teams at the halfway mark in the game.

 

[Esperance]

Dire, was looking forward for some Sehwag fireworks.

 

[Maximas]

Sehwag needed to open, he surely doesn't think he can make it as a middle-order batsman, surely...

 

[Daemon]

Why not?

 

[Maximas]

Because his strength is imposing himself on the attack when they are fresh and he can steal the momentum immediately and set the tone. However in the middle order you need to be able to mould yourself into the player that is needed at that point in time, for whichever situation you come in to face, I don't think Sehwag has that ability, particularly not at test level.

 

[Daemon]

Because his strength is imposing himself on the attack when they are fresh and he can steal the momentum immediately and set the tone. However in the middle order you need to be able to mould yourself into the player that is needed at that point in time, for whichever situation you come in to face, I don't think Sehwag has that ability, particularly not at test level.

I think that's required from you even as an opener, especially in the second innings. And anyways, who's to say he can't shift the momentum lower down the order as well? In a position where he won't have to face the moving ball and fresh bowlers that's been his downfall for a long time now, I don't think it's an absurd idea for him to try and resurrect his international career by trying something different. He'll get to play more spin as well which I'm sure he wouldn't mind.

I definitely get the numerous advantages there are from Sehwag opening the batting when he's in top form, but after repeated failures for a while and absolutely no change in his playing style, I doubt trying to stay up the order is going to do him any good at this point.

 

[Flem274*]

Bat him at six and let him loose. Would be absolute carnage.

 

[Maximas]

correct, stumps flying everywhere

 

[smash84]

 

[Arjun]

Sehwag won't help himself by hiding in the middle-order. He may be facing spin early on, but it wouldn't be rocket science for fielding captains to bring back the quicker bowlers and set attacking fields- much like they did for Ganguly. He needs to work out on his inadequacies as an opener and get back to the top of the order, where he still has a chance. He has little to no chance in the middle-order, with stiff competition from Rohit Sharma, Tiwary, Pandey, Rahane, Jadeja, Nayar, Badrinath and so many others- folks who can field better than him, folks who can bowl a lot, folks who can play a substantial, match-changing innings- and Sehwag of today falls way back in all of the above. Already, with two early wickets down, he's come in and thrown his bat at the few deliveries- and got out early. That liberty was there when he opened- the team would be just one wicket down. Now, they're three down.

 

[CricAddict]

Sehwag won't help himself by hiding in the middle-order. He may be facing spin early on, but it wouldn't be rocket science for fielding captains to bring back the quicker bowlers and set attacking fields- much like they did for Ganguly. He needs to work out on his inadequacies as an opener and get back to the top of the order, where he still has a chance. He has little to no chance in the middle-order, with stiff competition from Rohit Sharma, Tiwary, Pandey, Rahane, Jadeja, Nayar, Badrinath and so many others- folks who can field better than him, folks who can bowl a lot, folks who can play a substantial, match-changing innings- and Sehwag of today falls way back in all of the above. Already, with two early wickets down, he's come in and thrown his bat at the few deliveries- and got out early. That liberty was there when he opened- the team would be just one wicket down. Now, they're three down.

Rohit Sharma recently in an interview said that he would love to open for India in tests as well..Though I do agree that he will be flexible to move down if that provides him a chance to play for India, I think Dhoni will prefer to open with him or Vijay with Dhawan..

With Pujara and Kohli at 3 and 4, Dhoni and Jadeja at 6 and 7, No 5 is the only batting place vacant for India now..And I think Sehwag is aiming for that place..ahead of the likes of Rahane, Yuvraj, Raina..

I think selectors won't be selecting Badrinath and Pankaj Singh any more for India team which is bad..Others like Tiwary, Pandey, Nayar are too remote chances..

 

[JontyPanesar]

Rohit Sharma recently in an interview said that he would love to open for India in tests as well..Though I do agree that he will be flexible to move down if that provides him a chance to play for India, I think Dhoni will prefer to open with him or Vijay with Dhawan..

With Pujara and Kohli at 3 and 4, Dhoni and Jadeja at 6 and 7, No 5 is the only batting place vacant for India now..And I think Sehwag is aiming for that place..ahead of the likes of Rahane, Yuvraj, Raina..

I think selectors won't be selecting Badrinath and Pankaj Singh any more for India team which is bad..Others like Tiwary, Pandey, Nayar are too remote chances..

I'm a huge Rohit fan (even during his darkest days), but I doubt he'd make it as a test opener. The biggest reason for his success opening in ODIs is that he doesn't have to face scoreboard pressure, not that his technique is watertight (though it is very good imo). Otherwise, he still likes to play his shots and can come in at 3-24 or 3-240.

Tiwary isn't a remote chance provided he gets healthy.

 

[Howe_zat]

Unbeaten ton for Brathwaite before bad light takes over. If you take out his Tests, his FC record is now 2459 runs at 43, which considering the wickets you typically get in domestic Windian cricket is quite remarkable. He's also 20, so I'd say that considering him finished is hilariously wide of the mark.

Still a terrible speller though. Sort it out

 

[Maximas]

Brathwaite has been exceptionally good this tour, and I thought he actually held his own at times at test level, he is a real prospect. He must have a decent technique, and his mental capacity and the will to score runs appears to surpass that of much of this generations batsmen, excited for him.

 

[smash84]

so you wait with bated breath for brathwaite

 

[WindieWeathers]

Brathwaite has been exceptionally good this tour, and I thought he actually held his own at times at test level, he is a real prospect. He must have a decent technique, and his mental capacity and the will to score runs appears to surpass that of much of this generations batsmen, excited for him.

Totally agree, for me he has the potential to be the next Chanderpaul!!..everything about his game has gone up ten fold over the last twelve months. Aged 18 he was thrown into the deep end at Test level but he was so calm under pressure. I remember in our last tour of India they were going at us hard with Ashwin and Ohja and men around the bat but the boy stuck it out and those kind of experiences were brilliant for one so young.

This year his stats read as followed!!..

FOUR DAY COMPETITION

vs Jamaica= 0 & 17

vs Guyana= 1 & 27

vs CCC= 90 & did not bat again

vs Winwards= 8 & 91 not out

vs Leewards= 165 & did not bat again

vs Trinidad= 15 & did not bat again

vs Winwards (semi final)= 15 & did not bat again

vs Trinidad (final)= 122 & did not bat again

NOW THE A-TEAM SERIES VS SRI-LANKA

1st test= 37 & did not bat again

2nd test= 77 & did not bat again

NOW TO THE A-TEAM SERIES VS INDIA

1st test= 92 & 34

2nd test= 88 & 104 not out

The one innings where i saw the boy turn into a man was actually the 91 not out against Winwards!!..the track was a raging turner and Barbados were bowled out for 64 in the first innings!!..Kraigg was unluckily ran out and Shillingford was causing mayhem!!..but in the second innings Kraigg came out and even though his partners were falling all around him he stuck it out brilliantly!!..it truly was like watching a young Shiv. Since then he's gone from strength to strength and i have no doubts he'll be back in the test team shortly.

 

[nsniks]

Third A game started today with Ind A winning the toss and fielding first. WI A all out for 268 with Nayar taking 4 wickets. Dont know how Nayar will fare abroad but he could be a good option in India, allowing us to have 3 seamers and 2 spinners. Was good in recently concluded Challenger trophy

 

[Daemon]

Nayar's been in some crazy good form of late.

 

[WindieWeathers]

Nayar's been in some crazy good form of late.

We made four changes to the team that played the last game!!..at first glance it doesn't appear to have been a good day for us but 9 of the 10 wickets fell to pacers!!..and with all due respect India's A-team pacers have been hit around the park in this series so i'd imagine this is a good track for the bowlers!!..we'll see tomorrow.

With India needing to win the game to draw the series i'd think they'll be looking to put up a big score...they'd need at least a lead of 150 to really put the pressure on i'd think.