SA Tour - A tale of missed opportunities for India
By IWW
January 25 2011
While in general, I see a sort of euphoria over India playing very well in South Africa, I feel it was a below-par tour of missed opportunities.
- India already had won the test match in 2006, so winning another one is par performance.
- This was the last time that legends Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and ex-legend Rahul Dravid were playing for India in South Africa - the next tour there is in 2015 - giving them the best chance to win a test series.
No practice game before the first test; failure to close the third test after having SA on the mat at 130/6; failure to win the last ODI after winning the toss by not selecting the right team (Piyush who?) shows a lack of killer instict and planning, which differentiates a Great team from a Very Good one.
Injuries to players notwithstanding, it was the inability to nail the key moments that hurt.
Positives:
1. Yusuf Pathan is established, making it harder for Dhoni to drop him
2. Kohli's clicking gives India a much-needed option in batting
3. Rohit Sharma's utter failure led to him being dropped from the World Cup squad
4. Ex-great Rahul Dravid was pushed one step closer to retirement
5. Sreesanth's & Munaf's bowling
6. Harbhajan regaining some bowling form in tests and ODIs
7. India's ODI fielding.
Negatives:
1. Lack of killer instinct
2. Dhoni's batting form and strange convictions: not playing/under-bowling Yusuf; publicly reprimanding Sreesanth
3. Sehwag proving himself a semi-FTB and Steyn's bunny
4. FTB Raina's batting form and lack of confidence just before World Cup
5. Nehra's poor bowling, limiting the World Cup options
6. Too many injuries to four key players.
India needs to set the bar much higher if they want to be called the greatest.. alas, they again failed to close this out.
All the best for World Cup 2011, here's wishing they go one better than their 2003 performance!
If you do not already have an account Click here to Register.
Pathan's and Kohli's consistency and success on Saffie pitches albeit in the shorter format, despite far less acclimatization to conditions and opposition bowlers than some others, has been impressive.
It's interesting that Dhoni's failure with bat in ODIs and Tests has not received much attention. Yuvraj has been a disappointment too, but at least he can claim a lack of familiarity with the conditions.
But overall agree with the points you've made... Dhoni has shown to be less "Bindass" and more "Political" captain than people thought he was... his batting has been really poor...
He needs a few months off to re-group mentally especially and work on his batting...but with World Cup and IPL coming up... he will be busier than ever...
Dhoni started very well and tapered off rapidly, with close to c.rap in ODI, but I feel he will be fine in WC as a bat in Indian conditions..its his captaincy that he needs to really work on and give confidence to players like Sree and Yusuf..
Indian team has been pathetic recently in ICC multi-country toruneys..so lets c what they come-up with in WC 11
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!
India - World Cup winners 2011!!!
Champions Trophy winners 2013!!!
Congrats to Indian team and all Indian fans!