NORTH SOUND: South Africa will hope the one-way traffic continues when they face a beleaguered West Indies on Saturday at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground in the first of their five One-day Internationals.
The Proteas' confidence had taken a beating during the recent ICC World Twenty20 staged in the Caribbean, where they exited with a whimper at the Super Eight stage, but this has been restored thanks to a pair of T20 victories over West Indies on Wednesday and Thursday.
Graeme Smith's side swept the two T20s with a 13-run victory in the first match, and a tense one-run win in the second, and they are anxious for more success.
"This ODI series is very important for us, and as we showed during the two T20s, we wanted to win, and play with our usual intensity," said Smith.
"We want to get back on the road to success again, and we have a lot of work to do, following a poor campaign in the T20 World Cup, so this is an important tour for us.
"We have a long break following this tour, and so we want to leave everything out on the field here in the Caribbean."
For West Indies, the problems have reached terminal decline, and their captain Chris Gayle felt powerless in trying to halt the slide. He has taken aim at his fellow batsmen, and questioned their mindset.
"I do not know if they are too worried about the position of the match, or their place in the team too much, or something else, but they have to free-up," he said.
"They have to go out there with a free mind, and play some good cricket."
He dismissed experience as a problem, and indicated that his teammates had to start taking responsibility for their performances.
"It's up to the individual," he said. "They have to look into themselves, and try to redeem themselves as much as possible. I cannot do it for them. I have a lot to think about as well, so it's up to them."
South Africa will be a little hamstrung with injuries to Jacques Kallis and Charl Langeveldt, but the two T20s have shown they have more than capable reserves.
Left-hander David Miller made his international debut in the second T20I, and his top score of 33 from 26 balls helped them to reach a respectable total.
"It was great for us to see a guy come into the side, and play so well under pressure," said Smith about the 20-year-old Dolphins batsman.
"It was a breath of fresh air to see him walk to the crease, and hit his sixth ball for six, and play his natural game. It's a credit to him, and he's still got a long way to go."
It's unlikely West Indies will change their squad for the first ODI because of time constraints, but the selection panel of chairman Clyde Butts, Robert Haynes and Raphick Jumadeen now face a difficult task to find a winning combination.
"It's something the selectors will have to discuss seriously, and all I can do is to wait and see what happens," said Gayle.
"These are the best guys we have in the West Indies, so if they cannot do it, we will have to take the alternative route, but we will have to wait and see what the selectors come up with and what happens later."
South Africa have won the last six ODIs between the two sides, including a 67-run triumph at the Queen's Park Stadium in Grenada during the 2007 World Cup, which was staged in the Caribbean.
West Indies' previous ODI victory over the Proteas was their six-wicket win in the semi-finals of the ICC Champions Trophy four years ago at Jaipur in India.
Scattered showers are again forecast, but this time the pitch at the VRCG will hold the centre of attraction.
During the two T20Is, it played unevenly, and so the two sides will hope that head curator Tony Merrick, the former Leeward Islands, Kent, and Warwickshire fast bowler, can roll out a far more accommodating surface.
Squads: West Indies (Still to be officially confirmed): Chris Gayle (capt), Dwayne Bravo (vice capt), Sulieman Benn, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor
South Africa (from): Graeme Smith (capt), Jacques Kallis (vice capt), Hashim Amla, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, Abraham de Villiers, Jean-Paul Duminy, David Miller, Morne Morkel, Alviro Pietersen, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Roelof van der Merwe.
Showing posts with label selection. Show all posts
Showing posts with label selection. Show all posts
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Wanted for Indian cricket: Consistency of selection and a ban on tournaments played in islands
There are far too many reasons floating around for India's exit at the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup. No one even mentioned those (IPL, post-match parties, inability to play on bouncy tracks, poor squad selection, etc.) when India beat Afghanistan and South Africa.
By no stretch of imagination were the pitches at Barbados (where India lost to West Indies & Australia) bouncy pitches! They were good all-round wickets. India lost because its batsmen couldn't cope with anything above knee height, because its bowlers had zero ability to pick up wickets and because the fielding was a total joke.
It is a different matter though that the batsmen also struggle when the ball is 'slow and low'. So they can't play anything below ankle height and anything above knee height. Steve Waugh would call that a very huge comfort zone!
As in the 2009 edition, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, bizarrely chose to come in at #5 or #6 although he was in form and among the better batsmen around. Why he continued to persist with promoting an out-of-form and clearly unfit Yuvraj ahead of him was totally beyond comprehension.
The bigger issue though is the total lack of clarity and consistency around selection.
India's selectors keep picking squads for T20 that comprise of largely the same folks who play 50-over ODIs. Given the compressed nature of the T20 game, there is always a huge emphasis on cricketers with at least 2 skills - explosive batting, brilliant fielding and run-choking / wicket-taking bowling. Persisting with chaps like Nehra, Zaheer, Yuvraj (when he is unfit), Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar was really ridiculous.
India's successes in 1983, 1985 (ok, not exactly an ICC event!), 2002 and 2007, and the route to the finals in 2000 & 2003, had significant contributions from the fielding department.
The BCCI had over a year to identify specific players who needed help with playing "bouncy" stuff. When we say 'bouncy' stuff, do remember that it is not even getting close to "chin music"!
The BCCI had at least 4 years to figure out how the tracks in the Caribbean would have played. Was it not important enough? Did it assume that the tracks would be the same as those during the 2007 World Cup or the 4 ODIs in 2009?
Considering that India hadn't played a single game at Barbados over the last 4 years, was it really a surprise that the team was unprepared for the conditions?
Since Jan 2009, 29 players have been selected in India's ODI and T20 squads. That doesn't sound like a huge number, and it may seem like there actually is consistency of selection. But try explaining to the likes of Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashok Dinda, Amit Mishra, Badrinath, Abhishek Nayar, Pragyan Ojha, Ashwin, Virat Kohli, etc. that they have been treated fairly. Notice that with the exception of Kohli, Badri and Nayar, the rest are all bowlers.
This tells us that the 'senior' batsmen in the team are unlikely to get dislodged and any potential claimant to the spot must score a 250 in a 50-over innings or 150 in a 20-over innings to be considered.
Was there clarity around who plays what sort of role? Were Gambhir and Raina expected to bat through the innings? What was the expectation from Yuvraj and Rohit? What was Dhoni's role? If Vijay or Dinesh Karthik got picked, what were they supposed to do? Was Yusuf Pathan only supposed to try to hit every ball for 6 or 4?
Maybe its time for a thorough clean-up. Maybe the players who were picked for the T20 World Cup didn't have the hunger since they'd had it easy. Maybe its time to pick those who do have the hunger.
Forcing the games to be played during day-time hours in the West Indies just to cater to the Indian TV audience turned out to be so farcical after the team's pathetic showing.
The next time around, if the partners & sponsors tried to negotiate telecast timings, the ICC should ask them to take a look at India's recent record before assuming that India would even get to the semi-finals.
More importantly and more pertinently though, the BCCI must put its foot down and insist that ICC tournaments must no longer be held in islands, based on India's past record (Australia-New Zealand: 1992; England: 1975, 1979, 1983, 1998 & 2004; Sri Lanka: 2002 and West Indies: 2007). Of the 7 tournaments, India have been finalists on just 2 occasions and the rest were all major flop shows.
By no stretch of imagination were the pitches at Barbados (where India lost to West Indies & Australia) bouncy pitches! They were good all-round wickets. India lost because its batsmen couldn't cope with anything above knee height, because its bowlers had zero ability to pick up wickets and because the fielding was a total joke.
It is a different matter though that the batsmen also struggle when the ball is 'slow and low'. So they can't play anything below ankle height and anything above knee height. Steve Waugh would call that a very huge comfort zone!
As in the 2009 edition, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, bizarrely chose to come in at #5 or #6 although he was in form and among the better batsmen around. Why he continued to persist with promoting an out-of-form and clearly unfit Yuvraj ahead of him was totally beyond comprehension.
The bigger issue though is the total lack of clarity and consistency around selection.
India's selectors keep picking squads for T20 that comprise of largely the same folks who play 50-over ODIs. Given the compressed nature of the T20 game, there is always a huge emphasis on cricketers with at least 2 skills - explosive batting, brilliant fielding and run-choking / wicket-taking bowling. Persisting with chaps like Nehra, Zaheer, Yuvraj (when he is unfit), Harbhajan and Praveen Kumar was really ridiculous.
India's successes in 1983, 1985 (ok, not exactly an ICC event!), 2002 and 2007, and the route to the finals in 2000 & 2003, had significant contributions from the fielding department.
The BCCI had over a year to identify specific players who needed help with playing "bouncy" stuff. When we say 'bouncy' stuff, do remember that it is not even getting close to "chin music"!
The BCCI had at least 4 years to figure out how the tracks in the Caribbean would have played. Was it not important enough? Did it assume that the tracks would be the same as those during the 2007 World Cup or the 4 ODIs in 2009?
Considering that India hadn't played a single game at Barbados over the last 4 years, was it really a surprise that the team was unprepared for the conditions?
Since Jan 2009, 29 players have been selected in India's ODI and T20 squads. That doesn't sound like a huge number, and it may seem like there actually is consistency of selection. But try explaining to the likes of Abhimanyu Mithun, Ashok Dinda, Amit Mishra, Badrinath, Abhishek Nayar, Pragyan Ojha, Ashwin, Virat Kohli, etc. that they have been treated fairly. Notice that with the exception of Kohli, Badri and Nayar, the rest are all bowlers.
This tells us that the 'senior' batsmen in the team are unlikely to get dislodged and any potential claimant to the spot must score a 250 in a 50-over innings or 150 in a 20-over innings to be considered.
Was there clarity around who plays what sort of role? Were Gambhir and Raina expected to bat through the innings? What was the expectation from Yuvraj and Rohit? What was Dhoni's role? If Vijay or Dinesh Karthik got picked, what were they supposed to do? Was Yusuf Pathan only supposed to try to hit every ball for 6 or 4?
Maybe its time for a thorough clean-up. Maybe the players who were picked for the T20 World Cup didn't have the hunger since they'd had it easy. Maybe its time to pick those who do have the hunger.
Forcing the games to be played during day-time hours in the West Indies just to cater to the Indian TV audience turned out to be so farcical after the team's pathetic showing.
The next time around, if the partners & sponsors tried to negotiate telecast timings, the ICC should ask them to take a look at India's recent record before assuming that India would even get to the semi-finals.
More importantly and more pertinently though, the BCCI must put its foot down and insist that ICC tournaments must no longer be held in islands, based on India's past record (Australia-New Zealand: 1992; England: 1975, 1979, 1983, 1998 & 2004; Sri Lanka: 2002 and West Indies: 2007). Of the 7 tournaments, India have been finalists on just 2 occasions and the rest were all major flop shows.
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