Ambushed at the WACA

Lee- chucking again?
By Raul - 1 Feb 2004
February 2 2004

Indian batsmen go down at the WACA in an ODI that was closely fought for a while. Excessive caution from the leading Indian batsmen and runs from the tail make it an atypical match for this tour.

APPROACH: In general, the Indian batting had the wrong approach to the WACA. No one has made big runs at WACA with a defensive approach. Instead of a preponderance of forward defensive pushes, they would have been well-served with a Slater-esque (or even Srikkanth-esque) attitude to batting. Perhaps the only batters who seemed to have the right idea were Yuvraj Singh and Irfan Pathan, who unfortunately was sent back by a great running catch by the much-maligned Bichel.

So let's start at the top.

Sachin Tendulkar has to stop his current nonsensical approach to batting. His current strategy makes it appear as if he's afraid to play off-side strokes (and we all know the sublime cover-drives and off-drives he can unleash). When he got out yesterday to Lee, he was completely squared on, bat face closed and obviously (unless you are VVS Laxman), you will get out caught in the slips. No one doubts Sachin's class and ability, but if you are predetermined in your approach, sooner rather than later, bowlers will sort you out.

[Incidentally, and this is my opinion, CA selectors royally screwed up in the case of Brett Lee. He is under so much pressure that he is resorting to his old bad habits. Almost ALL the deliveries (about 15 or so balls) that were clocked above 155 by him were very clear chucks, most glaring of which was the 156.7 kmph delivery. Doesn't mean a thing, since he wasn't called, but for someone like me -- a purist -- watching the game in a mini theater (via a laptop/projector set-up) it was rather galling to see the bend in his arm. But we all know he will NEVER be called, so learn to deal with it, you Indian fans.]

Sehwag was the biggest culprit in the top order. He was set, he was enjoying the bounce and also had the right idea. Unfortunately, he had a major brain freeze and chose to upper cut what was a relatively slower ball from Australia's premier bowler, the Mullet Man. If he had been around for another 10 overs, we would have won this match. On such a pitch, getting out in the low single digits is acceptable. But getting out at 32 (34) or 47 (50-odd) is a criminal offense, liable to be punished with a sharp kick up the backside.

VVS, as usual, played far too away from his body, but that's the way he always plays. If he had got his eye in, the Perth spectators would have been in for a treat. Sadly, he got out to a regulation chuck from Lee which would have been best handled off the back foot, instead of the forward defensive push, (or even better, left alone) and gave the worst keeper currently in international cricket a simple chance. A couple of balls earlier, he had done the same thing, but the ball was pitched up and the shot was on (at least in VVS' book of batting, co-authored by God himself).

Dravid came out and seemed to be a different animal from what we have seen of him so far on this tour (is the lozenge playing tricks with his preparation?) His defense was impeccable but the paucity of scoring strokes eventually got to him and he got out like a Damien Martyn would have. Big time deja vu from the days when he didn't keep and ate up so many balls in ODI cricket.

Ganguly's sessions with Harvey, etc has messed up his brain. He now has THREE movements -- slightly forward, then back and across and then a mini-step to where he was to begin with, negating the whole concept of feet movement. He would be better served with a still head and no foot movement until the ball leaves the bowler's hand. Lee got a snorter to hit his helmet, and as soon as that happened, I knew Dada wouldn't last more than five overs. True enough. He still doesn't close his bat face, and he was almost caught at point off a genuine shot before he got out. I still can't understand/fathom how he scored that 140-odd at the Gabba.

Yuvraj Singh looked the most comfortable (is it a good thing if I say he looked like a local batter out there at the WACA, "the fastest pitch on earth"?). He had the right idea -- ATTACK -- and his dismissal (or more precisely, the manner of it) was the only disappointing part of his lovely knock. The cover drive off Lee, the hoick over mid wicket, all were very well executed and I would say his technique has clearly improved over the last few months and also add that he is more than deserving of a chance in the real deal, Tests.

Rohan Gavaskar looked out of his depth and league, and Lee just bulldozed him out of his misery. Can't fathom why Badani didn't play ahead of Rohan, at least on this pitch which needs a very solid batting approach and an attacking strategy. Is he our next dinesh, who keeps out more deserving players for reasons only our wise men can discern?

Aggy. Need I say more? Was fun when he was there, but Yuvi has to take the blame for running him out. Katich had a long way to cover and the second run was definitely on.

Pathan made a very strong case for promotion. His technique is very good -- in fact, it's not too different from Abdur Razzaq's straight hitting style. Maybe wright/Dada/Rahul have to think in terms of promoting him as a pinch hitter or coming in ahead of Dravid when the top order collapses, since he is a good judge of the sharp single and can be a very good foil to someone like Yuvi, who totally lost his rhythm when Aggy got in. Greig was spouting some BS about how he is like Akram, but Akram's batting technique is definitely no patch on Pathan's tighter version.

Kartik is a game trier. Full marks for attitude and commitment. He has bad technique, but his eye is very good, allowing him to compensate for that.

Balaji showed why he is the best number 11 we have had in a long time. Later on, some fans from Oz (who stayed back to watch gilly's lucky inning) on campus told me that Balaji is now coming much closer to the stumps and has a natural outswinger much like Kapil Paaji in his heyday. My reaction? "WOW!! Dada has some terrible selection headaches coming up, when Khan and Salvi are fully fit and Munaf makes his much-hyped debut."

That's all from the UPenn/crazyhorse newsroom, except for a little comment that had VVS taken that catch and Gilly been gone for zero, we may have won this one.