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***Official*** IndianOil Cup in Sri Lanka
- Thread starter adharcric
- Start date
Brave ... and foolish
Sri Lankan view by Charlie Austin
July 30, 2005
Sanath Jayasuriya plays through the pain
Sanath Jayasuriya's insistence on batting in the first game of this Indian Oil Cup after dislocating his shoulder in the afternoon, despite being told by his Australian surgeon that he may aggravate tendon damage in his shoulder joint, was a massive gamble. In fact, it was foolish in the extreme, risking his fitness for months to come. But that just made it all the more gripping and heroic. Here was man, doped to the eyeballs with painkillers, his shoulder strapped like a war victim, determined to play his part in winning the game, even if the personal consequences are severe. Who says the players have lost the stomach for one-day cricket?
There would have been no point at all in Jayasuriya batting if he had failed and when he walked to the crease to sensed he would either realise first ball he was attempting the impossible or see Sri Lanka home. When you gamble so much you place a higher price on your wicket. Jayasuriya struggled at the outset, unable to cut and pull because of the sharp pain, but after about 20 minutes the painkillers hit the spot. When he stroked a cover-drive to the fence, one of six boundaries, we realised that he had beaten the pain barrier.
Unfortunately, it could be a decision that he lives to regret. This is the second time in his career that he has dislocated the same shoulder, the last time coming in September 2002 in Morocco. His Australian surgeon, Dr David Young, by good fortune in the ground as a spectator having come to the island for one of his frequent tsunami relief, is worried about damage to his rotator cuff. Jayasuriya will be urgently sent for an MRI scan on Sunday and Young hopes that he will not discover a full thickness tear. It appears that the worse case scenario is surgery and a four-month layoff. His appearance again in this tournament is unlikely.
In morning, Muttiah Muralitharan did enough to hog the bowling headlines, exploding his doosra around dangerously in the middle overs and at the death, but the crucial dirty work was done upfront, by Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Lokuhettige, men so inexperienced and unknown that even Sri Lanka's cricket-mad fans might mistake them for bouncers if they were seen loitering outside a Colombo nightclub.
The loss of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa during the space of a week appeared a hammer blow beforehand, exposing Sri Lanka's modest fast-bowling resources to a depleted by still powerful and explosive Indian top order. The prospect of Virender Sehwag finding his eye and mauling the greenhorns was real and worrying. But Lokuhettige, bowling into a very stiff wind, and Maharoof excelled, bowling accurately and moving the ball sufficiently to send back both Mahendra Dhoni and Sehwag, the two dangermen. Both Lokuhettige and Maharoof also played vital hands with the bat, showing maturity beyond their years.
So Sri Lanka's win may have come with a heavy price tag, but it will have brought them great cheer. The youngsters, the keys to World Cup success, showed off great potential. Solid building blocks have been unearthed
Sri Lankan view by Charlie Austin
July 30, 2005
Sanath Jayasuriya plays through the pain
Sanath Jayasuriya's insistence on batting in the first game of this Indian Oil Cup after dislocating his shoulder in the afternoon, despite being told by his Australian surgeon that he may aggravate tendon damage in his shoulder joint, was a massive gamble. In fact, it was foolish in the extreme, risking his fitness for months to come. But that just made it all the more gripping and heroic. Here was man, doped to the eyeballs with painkillers, his shoulder strapped like a war victim, determined to play his part in winning the game, even if the personal consequences are severe. Who says the players have lost the stomach for one-day cricket?
There would have been no point at all in Jayasuriya batting if he had failed and when he walked to the crease to sensed he would either realise first ball he was attempting the impossible or see Sri Lanka home. When you gamble so much you place a higher price on your wicket. Jayasuriya struggled at the outset, unable to cut and pull because of the sharp pain, but after about 20 minutes the painkillers hit the spot. When he stroked a cover-drive to the fence, one of six boundaries, we realised that he had beaten the pain barrier.
Unfortunately, it could be a decision that he lives to regret. This is the second time in his career that he has dislocated the same shoulder, the last time coming in September 2002 in Morocco. His Australian surgeon, Dr David Young, by good fortune in the ground as a spectator having come to the island for one of his frequent tsunami relief, is worried about damage to his rotator cuff. Jayasuriya will be urgently sent for an MRI scan on Sunday and Young hopes that he will not discover a full thickness tear. It appears that the worse case scenario is surgery and a four-month layoff. His appearance again in this tournament is unlikely.
In morning, Muttiah Muralitharan did enough to hog the bowling headlines, exploding his doosra around dangerously in the middle overs and at the death, but the crucial dirty work was done upfront, by Farveez Maharoof and Dilhara Lokuhettige, men so inexperienced and unknown that even Sri Lanka's cricket-mad fans might mistake them for bouncers if they were seen loitering outside a Colombo nightclub.
The loss of Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Zoysa during the space of a week appeared a hammer blow beforehand, exposing Sri Lanka's modest fast-bowling resources to a depleted by still powerful and explosive Indian top order. The prospect of Virender Sehwag finding his eye and mauling the greenhorns was real and worrying. But Lokuhettige, bowling into a very stiff wind, and Maharoof excelled, bowling accurately and moving the ball sufficiently to send back both Mahendra Dhoni and Sehwag, the two dangermen. Both Lokuhettige and Maharoof also played vital hands with the bat, showing maturity beyond their years.
So Sri Lanka's win may have come with a heavy price tag, but it will have brought them great cheer. The youngsters, the keys to World Cup success, showed off great potential. Solid building blocks have been unearthed
Arjun
Cricketer Of The Year
Indian view- So many batsmen, so few runs
The Indians fell short yet again, and already a few say that they need an eighth frontline batsman. The truth is, however, that despite so many batsmen, so few runs were scored. What does that tell you? It does not matter how many batsmen play, but if they don't get enough runs on the board, they have not done their job. And one look at the xscorecard as well as videos will tell you why- not enough singles were taken.
Sehwag has not overcome his moving-ball jitters, as anyone who can move the ball a little can trap him. This is the same opening batsman who scored a triple century, so suggestions of going down the order should go down the drain. The real problem is that he's not taking enough singles, nor has he been bowling enough overs, as on a spinner-friendly pitch, where the ball gripped the surface, he was an easy target for the batsmen to take singles. Sanath, who came back from injury, played an intelligent, meaningful innings and even non-batsmen got sizeable, meaningful scores which equal the sum total of three Indian batsmen. The same could also be said of Harbhajan, Zaheer and Irfan. Reason? They ran more singles.
Dhoni is not an opener. Period. Not convinced? Look at the last series he played, where he batted at three- he never got a decent start, save two matches, where he came into his own in the middle-overs. For all his faults, VVS Laxman is serious about running singles, but not Dhoni- he just relies on his freakish technique to get a four or six off every ball, without looking for singles, despite being a faster runner than Laxman. He said that he would have to tone himelf down to help Sehwag, but he is helping nobody that way, since that's not his natural game.
Yuvraj has been batting the wrong way for far too long. He is not in the side for bnits and pieces of innings. He is in the team for big scores, and he won't get too many by attempting sixes and fours off nearly every ball. The team has Irfan Pathan for the same, as well as the benched JP Yadav. For a starting lineup regular, his attempt at a hook was shocking- he could have saved himself by taking an extra single on or after the ball. Ditto Mohammed Kaif. The only batsmen who did anything right were Rahul Dravid and Venugopal Rao- if at least three other specialists batted the way they did, they could have got farther ahead.
The batsmen have a lot to learn from their non-specialist teammates, who were clearly dealing with the bowling a lot better. Not too many big shots were hit, and they hung around a little longer and ran a lot harder. Those partnerships saved the team and got them past 200- you don't need an extra batsman when that happens. Just get the basic things right.
On a pitch that helped the spinners, the opening bowlers Zaheer and Irfan bowled well, taking four wickets for not too many. Nehra gave away few runs, but didn't get any wickets, so this is a decent combination. The problem is not the trio of left-arm seamers. It is that bits-and-pieces bowling combination, which was shown up as a liability on the bowling side. The batsmen milked Sehwag for singles all around, and there was the spank ball bowled once in a while. On the same pitch, Harbhajan was bowling well and had the Lankans in knots. It is shocking to see Anil Kumble benched, when he could have done a lot better than an unreliable roulette attack component. But whom could he have replaced? Nehra? Bhajji? One of those batting non-performers, that's who!
However, this was not that bad amatch for the Indians- there may be more positives in this single match than all of the previous ODI series they played. Dravid's captaincy was a big plus point- he was aggressive, yet thought out of the box, which has been typical of his captaincy- one can expect him to win more ODI series in one year than they ever did in the last five years under Ganguly, given that style. Moreover, he has proven his critics wrong once again by getting a score of over 50 as captain, which opens up a new alternative for a faded formula. Venugopal batted well, though a few extra singles could help. Raina may have missed out, but he should get a full run this series, just like his co-fresher; they are fantastic fielders, but their bowling is irrelevant. Irfan's got a few things right with the new ball, while Zaheer's return to his new-ball role has helped too.
While an Indian news channel started its own 'blame game' show for viewers and Bishan Bedi to pick a scapegoat, this is a good selection, with a good captain and a few good combinations. All they need to do is get some simple things right and they can make up for five years of disappointment in just a few series. Selection issues are not too many- they have to pick Kumble for a batsman and maybe the bodybuilder from Bhopal, JP Yadav, for Nehra. They can try out an over order rather than a serial order for their batting- play batsmen depending on the stage of the innings- have Kaif at three when the ball is new, and Yuvraj when it's old. Maybe open the innings with a non-specialist dasher to shield the batsmen. And of course, attack with the bowlers to take wickets. They cannot afford to take the West Indians lightly, since their bowling attack has real pace and heir batting side has the effective Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell, but nothing less than a comprehensive victory will do. And they can do it.
The Indians fell short yet again, and already a few say that they need an eighth frontline batsman. The truth is, however, that despite so many batsmen, so few runs were scored. What does that tell you? It does not matter how many batsmen play, but if they don't get enough runs on the board, they have not done their job. And one look at the xscorecard as well as videos will tell you why- not enough singles were taken.
Sehwag has not overcome his moving-ball jitters, as anyone who can move the ball a little can trap him. This is the same opening batsman who scored a triple century, so suggestions of going down the order should go down the drain. The real problem is that he's not taking enough singles, nor has he been bowling enough overs, as on a spinner-friendly pitch, where the ball gripped the surface, he was an easy target for the batsmen to take singles. Sanath, who came back from injury, played an intelligent, meaningful innings and even non-batsmen got sizeable, meaningful scores which equal the sum total of three Indian batsmen. The same could also be said of Harbhajan, Zaheer and Irfan. Reason? They ran more singles.
Dhoni is not an opener. Period. Not convinced? Look at the last series he played, where he batted at three- he never got a decent start, save two matches, where he came into his own in the middle-overs. For all his faults, VVS Laxman is serious about running singles, but not Dhoni- he just relies on his freakish technique to get a four or six off every ball, without looking for singles, despite being a faster runner than Laxman. He said that he would have to tone himelf down to help Sehwag, but he is helping nobody that way, since that's not his natural game.
Yuvraj has been batting the wrong way for far too long. He is not in the side for bnits and pieces of innings. He is in the team for big scores, and he won't get too many by attempting sixes and fours off nearly every ball. The team has Irfan Pathan for the same, as well as the benched JP Yadav. For a starting lineup regular, his attempt at a hook was shocking- he could have saved himself by taking an extra single on or after the ball. Ditto Mohammed Kaif. The only batsmen who did anything right were Rahul Dravid and Venugopal Rao- if at least three other specialists batted the way they did, they could have got farther ahead.
The batsmen have a lot to learn from their non-specialist teammates, who were clearly dealing with the bowling a lot better. Not too many big shots were hit, and they hung around a little longer and ran a lot harder. Those partnerships saved the team and got them past 200- you don't need an extra batsman when that happens. Just get the basic things right.
On a pitch that helped the spinners, the opening bowlers Zaheer and Irfan bowled well, taking four wickets for not too many. Nehra gave away few runs, but didn't get any wickets, so this is a decent combination. The problem is not the trio of left-arm seamers. It is that bits-and-pieces bowling combination, which was shown up as a liability on the bowling side. The batsmen milked Sehwag for singles all around, and there was the spank ball bowled once in a while. On the same pitch, Harbhajan was bowling well and had the Lankans in knots. It is shocking to see Anil Kumble benched, when he could have done a lot better than an unreliable roulette attack component. But whom could he have replaced? Nehra? Bhajji? One of those batting non-performers, that's who!
However, this was not that bad amatch for the Indians- there may be more positives in this single match than all of the previous ODI series they played. Dravid's captaincy was a big plus point- he was aggressive, yet thought out of the box, which has been typical of his captaincy- one can expect him to win more ODI series in one year than they ever did in the last five years under Ganguly, given that style. Moreover, he has proven his critics wrong once again by getting a score of over 50 as captain, which opens up a new alternative for a faded formula. Venugopal batted well, though a few extra singles could help. Raina may have missed out, but he should get a full run this series, just like his co-fresher; they are fantastic fielders, but their bowling is irrelevant. Irfan's got a few things right with the new ball, while Zaheer's return to his new-ball role has helped too.
While an Indian news channel started its own 'blame game' show for viewers and Bishan Bedi to pick a scapegoat, this is a good selection, with a good captain and a few good combinations. All they need to do is get some simple things right and they can make up for five years of disappointment in just a few series. Selection issues are not too many- they have to pick Kumble for a batsman and maybe the bodybuilder from Bhopal, JP Yadav, for Nehra. They can try out an over order rather than a serial order for their batting- play batsmen depending on the stage of the innings- have Kaif at three when the ball is new, and Yuvraj when it's old. Maybe open the innings with a non-specialist dasher to shield the batsmen. And of course, attack with the bowlers to take wickets. They cannot afford to take the West Indians lightly, since their bowling attack has real pace and heir batting side has the effective Chanderpaul and Ricardo Powell, but nothing less than a comprehensive victory will do. And they can do it.
I expected a lot more of Rao. I thought he was going to be a player with real class and team spirit but he's fallen short big time. I know I sound overly critical because he's the second highest score with 38, but numbers dont always indicate the quality of a player, that 38 came off 74 deliveries with plenty of cheap runs. And watching his innings, I dont know if it was a selfish desire for the limelight or plain lack of skill and proper technique that caused him to stay at the crease and allow sri lanka two maiden overs in the last ten. When Pathan was looking in extremely good touch and getting quick runs for india, rao at the other end seemed to be more interested in keeping strike and getting to his half-century. And the pitch nor the situation can be blamed for his annoyingly sluggish innings because Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh ended up getting 40 from the last four. Not to mention he had fortune on his side, to say the very very least. I know that from looking at a mere scorecard, Venu looks like a hero but IMO that's not the case at all.tooextracool said:
Suresh Raina had no excuse for his failure even though he was unfortunate to have his debut innings ruined by a perfectly bowled doosra from Murali. But he's got an upbeat and positive attitude and that crucial run-out of Atapattu exhibited his athletic brilliance. I think this 18 year old gave his best in the field today and deserves another chance. It all depends whether Dravid and Chappel give more priority to potential or meaningless numbers. And sadly, I think I already know the answer.
I was only focussing on Rao so you must think I'm blaming him for the defeat. Believe me I know Yuvraj was the worst thing out there today, by far. I'm just someone who wants to see deserving players on the squad. Kaif wasnt so great either, even though he looked in better touch than both. This was their chance and they all blew it big time.Arjun said:
tooextracool
International Coach
im not really sure what you watched, but it seems that you werent watching closely enough. ok so venugopals inning wasnt spectacular, thats besides the point. its his debut ODI and he at least showed that he had a good enough technique to survive, and if it werent for his 38, india would have fallen a lot shorter than 205. obviously his technique is more suited for the longer form of the game, but at least he looked like he could bat, which is not what i can say about some of the other players.shoot_me said:
Dravid must be one of the unluckiest cricketers out there, he played a gritty innings, did absolutely everything right when it came to bowling changes and field positions, and still wound up on the losing side. I just read this article and it was talkin about how Ganguly rides on the success of his teammates while Dravid lead by example. Ganguly, with a clear lack of intelligence and patience, is just plain lucky. When Ganguly sends Dhoni up the order, the kid gets a century but when Dravid sends him up, Dhoni grabs 2! Anyway, today's match proved that Dravid deserves captaincy fair and square. He was aggressive all through out Sri Lanka's innings and got the best out of his bowlers and fielders. But what can you say, the man is leading nothing but a bunch of wimpy batsmen and he cant do anything when they fail. Due to his aggressive captaincy, India made life a little tough for the Sri Lanka in the second innings. THANK THE GOOD LORD FOR DRAVID!!!!!!!
The pitch at Dambulla is a difficult one to score off and requires long patient innings like Dravid's !! SL batsmen did only slightly better than India if you look at the score card . Most got starts and made scores of 10-20s only apart from Jayasuriya. And because they all made contributions SL came away victorious on this occasion.
SL will need to try Tharanga as opener as Jayasuriya likely to miss the rest of this series according to Cricinfo report quoting his Orthopod Dr.David Young.
The most puzzling thing for me is why Lakshmipathy Balaji was held back for this game by India, when they must have known that this pitch favours Seamers more and he probably would have been a better wicket taking option compared to Nehra !
SL will need to try Tharanga as opener as Jayasuriya likely to miss the rest of this series according to Cricinfo report quoting his Orthopod Dr.David Young.
The most puzzling thing for me is why Lakshmipathy Balaji was held back for this game by India, when they must have known that this pitch favours Seamers more and he probably would have been a better wicket taking option compared to Nehra !
honestbharani
Whatever it takes!!!
To be fair, I think Sourav has been amongst the best captains for India, ever. He isn't all that sound tactically, but with wiser heads like Wright, Dravid and Sachin around him, that was not a problem. He lead with a lot of verve and brought the whole team together and has a pretty good eye when picking youngsters, so I think you are being really harsh on him.shoot_me said:
But with that said, I think the time has come for India to look beyond Sourav. He is starting to become a liability as a player. My gut feeling is that he will come back to form in ODIs but I am not sure about him in tests... Dravid has already shown that he is a very good captain (atleast strategically) and I think the time is now right to go with him as the captain full time.
dinu23
International Debutant
yeah, arnold made it. but couldn't make much of an impact. hope he gets another chancechipmonk said:India win the toss and choose to bat. Sri lankan bowling looks quite inexperiences without Vass and all.
Hey Dinu where the FK are you ???? Your man Arnold is in the team
Well let's hope he does something in this game !
Hey Dinu are you at the match?
I couldn't go to the match. it was too far for me. anyways I was stuck with my uni project