Butt and Inzamam secure win
India's loss to arch rivals Pakistan at the Eden Gardens on Saturday was quite unexpected, especially after the batsmen had done a wonderful job in posting a huge total on the board. Yurvaj Singh's return to form was very welcome indeed and VVS Laxman played some amazing shots in the course of his stylish innings.Shahid Afridi bowled very well indeed and brough Pakistan back into the game when Sehwag was looking very dangerous. Although it is in Sehwag's nature to go after almost every bowler I can't help but wonder whether it would serve India's cause better if Sehwag planned his batting a bit more wisely. Afridi is one bowler who fires his stuff into the batsman and it would be a better option to use his pace and place the ball rather than trying to slog sweep him. If Sehwag had been dismissed against Shoaib Malik playing a similar shot then I'd have said that it was a risk worth taking as he definitely had a better chance in succeeding with it than off Afridi.
There are some games when one just has to accept that the oppostion played better, and this was one of them. Pakistan's chase was very well controlled with Salman Butt playing a very mature innings ,of course with captain Inzamam setting an example by putting a price on his wicket. For a youngster in just his 6th match, to play the way Butt did, in front of a capacity Eden Gardens crowd screaming themselves hoarse was indeed very special.He did not let his nerves get to him and appeared composed during his stay at the crease. Once Pakistan reached the last 10 overs with 7 wickets in hand it was always going to be their game as they just had to play sensibly from there on to win, which they certainly did.
One incident in the match I remember very clearly is the 37th over Irfan Pathan bowled to Inzamam. He beat Inzamam with an outswinger and 2 balls later followed it with a short one which hit Inzi on his stomach.This rattled Inzimam who swished at the next one only to get beaten by the bounce.The last ball of the over was a very cleverly disguised slower one which Inzi completely misread and couldn't put bat to ball. Irfan Pathan smile at the end of this over said it all.It was Irfan at his best ,beaming at his own magic,where he made one of the best batsmen in the world look very amateur indeed. Although Inzi had the last laugh,with Pakistan winning, Patahn was one bowler who could leave the ground with his head high.
India now have the South Africans to contend with in the 2 test series at home. South Africa are a rebuilding unit, and for all that their coach and captain may say,it takes more than 'love and care' to beat India in India:) My prediction would be a 2-0 win to India with plenty of runs for our batsmen.More on this in the next post.
Karthik
posted by Karthik at Monday, November 15, 2004
2 Comments:
Predicting a 2-0 shouldn't be all that farfetched a thought. Only three men: Pollock, Kallis and Rudolph have survived from the team that last played India in SA (Centurion, I suppose). The rest have no clue about playing against India (leave aside in India!). To top it all, Kumble and Harbhajan, in the last series against Aussies collected 48 wickets.
If Kumble and Harbajan (and maybe even Murali Karthik) are all fit, I think we should be able to get 2-0. If Romesh Powar and the rest of BP XI was able to almost knock them out for under 200, I think our test match bowlers should not have a tough time.
The problem currently though, is the batting. Who will open with Sehwag? In fact, why is Sehwag a certainty, and the question changes to who are our openers? Will Laxman be dropped?
A lot of questions and not too many answers, at least not the types that I like.
Let's hope there is something to cheer about at the end of the series.
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