Sportsnob – Critics Corner

In the end, it was the perfect send off for one of India’s best ever test captains and it came at Nagpur, the city that bore witness to one of the lowest points of his captaincy. What really amazed me most about the Indian performance was the sheer professionalism exhibited by all eleven players. The atmosphere was obviously emotionally charged due to the impending retirement of Saurav Ganguly and the presence of recently retired Anil Kumble but barring a a couple of dropped chances, the Indian team was thoroughly focused in getting the job done. 

With this victory India has seriously cemented its position as the number two test team in the world (the series loss in Sri Lanka notwithstanding) and stands a good chance of taking over the top spot in the next couple of years. Whether the team will achieve even half the consistency of the Australian team of the past decade remains to be seen but all the signs point to a decade of Indian dominance. 

The Slow over rate controversy:

Obviously, one of the major talking points of this test match will be Ponting’s complete bungling up of the over rates. Here is a test captain with over 30 test match victories, 2 World Cups and numerous series triumphs under his belt and yet over the course of the series, he simply couldn’t ensure a health over rate. With India absolutely tottering at 166 for 6 going into tea on the fourth day, most Indian fans including myself were fearing the worst. What we got following tea was an absolute joke. In an attempt to catch up with the over rates, Ponting bowled part timers including Hussey and Clarke meaning that Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh could add 100 runs with out any problems.

What exactly was Ponting worried about? A fine? Big deal! A two test match ban? Considering their next opposition are New Zealand at home- I don’t think that would have worried anyone too much. And why didn’t he even consider bowling Watson at one end to try and mop off the tail? The result of that 1 hour of madness meant that Australia were left to chase 382 where it could have so easily been 282. The Australian media has absolutely slammed Ponting for his actions- and it remains to be seen what action James Sutherland takes against his captain.

It was not the best of test series for the Punter (barring Bangalore) and having the likes of Siddle and White instead of McGrath and Warne didn’t help him either. Add to that, his most lethal pace bowler Brett Lee had to spend more time fighting the demons in his head and his tummy to be effective.  It is going to be interesting to see how New Zealand and especially South Africa shape up against the Australians.  

Still the team to beat: 

Despite the 2-0 series defeat, the spate of retirements, the controversies with Symonds & Clarke and a misunderstood captain, Australia is still the team to beat. India is probably the only team that can challenge them at the moment- home & away but the rest barring Sri Lanka do not inspire much confidence. The South Africans and English always flatter to deceive against the Aussies (barring a test here and there).  

As for India, it seems to me that the English will prove to be a very tough challenge for India. One, the Indian team will definitely have a new face in the middle order (and I am hoping its Badrinath) and second, the Indians need to be motivated enough to see off the English resistance. Remember the way we lost to South Africa after a tough series in Australia last time out. And in Pietersen and Dhoni- the series will just see the clash of the two most exciting cricketing captains in world cricket today.    

This entry was posted on Monday, November 10th, 2008 at 12:29 pm and is filed under Cricket. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.