INDIA A vs WEST INDIES A - TEST REVIEW

From an India’s perspective the result and the performances of their players were under par but at the end of the day the objective of these games is put the players through a thorough test. The ‘A’ tours are part of a learning phase and failure will only make them better players.  One hopes the batsmen can eradicate their mistakes and work on their games.  I’m sure some of the players have now realised that international conditions are tough and they need to keep improving.

Conditions and Pitches

The pitches were quite similar to what the Indian team had experienced last year against the West Indies and also similar to the ones in the latest test series in West Indies against Australia.

The pitches were not conducive to stroke play and it was extremely difficult to score runs at times. Pitches could be described as ‘new ball wickets’ (only assisted the fast bowlers when the ball was new). The Indian batsmen failed miserably at combating the early bursts from the West Indian quick men. 

Once the ball got old it was a common sight to have short mid wickets, short covers and the ring field to stump to stump bowling. There was unpredictable bounce and tall bowlers like Johnson were able to extract steep bounce making it difficult for Indian batsmen. The pitch was the 2^nd test was extremely dry and there was uneven bounce from as early as day 2. It was a tough pitch and any score of 50 was equal to a 100.  It was not a series for batsmen, only a solitary hundred from either side.

Positives for India (Batting)

Cheteshwar Pujara – Not playing a lot of games in the IPL meant Pujara was refreshed and eager to prove himself.  Pujara scored 252 runs at Avg of 50.4 with three 50’s including matching winning 98 not out in the first test to guide India to the total of 220. Batting at number 4 the latest Pujara came into bat was in the 13^th over and highest score he came in to bat at was only 32. It showed he had the technique to combat the new ball and in the 2^nd test was also willing to counter attack the West Indian bowlers. Importantly he was able to play the horizontal bat shots and was rarely troubled by the short ball in the series. 

Wridiman Saha: Statistics won’t show it but Saha had a reasonable tour in batting department. Overall he was third highest runs scorer with 158 runs at 26.6, it included two 50’s and he managed to get a start in 4 out of his 6 innings.  Top order failures meant he had to resurrect the Indian batting each time he went out to bat. Although troubled by the short ball at times, Saha never flinched and played some gritty innings.  Apart from 1 dropped catch and a difficult missed stumping he kept wickets extremely well on wickets with unpredictable bounce.

Notable Mention: Manoj Tiwary batting at number 5 and 6, Tiwary scored 184 runs at 30.14. There are not great statistics but still 2^nd to Pujara. Started to find his feet as the series went on but one has to question his technique against pace bowling. Tiwary was LBW or bowled in 4/6 dismissals playing across the line and 5/6 were against fast bowlers.

Negatives (Batting)

One of the sole reasons for India’s pathetic batting displays in Australia and England last year were the lack of opening partnerships. It was the similar scenario in the A tour.

Mukund – Looked out of sorts from the 1^st test.  Not only were his mere 46 runs well below par but the concern for the selectors is the mannerism in which he got himself out.  Mukund was caught behind the wicket or a victim of playing a full length delivery across the line.  It was a clear that Mukund struggled with the steep bounce and pace of West Indies opening bowlers. 

Rahane:  Batted at number 3 to accommodate Dhawan in the team, but had no impact. Unlike Mukund, Rahane was undone by deliveries that either shot along the ground or bounce vigorously. Rahane looked good at times and gave the feeling a big score was around the corner but it never came. India must persist with him in foreign conditions as he looks the best back foot player. Unfortunately going back on some of these pitches was committing suicide.

Rohit: Started the series with the most fluent innings on either side. Rohit’s 96 in the first test was fluent, gritty and pure class. As so often the case Rohit was undone by himself rather than good bowling.  Some of his dismissals were playing too early at balls and playing at wide deliveries. Rohit needs that extra luck to be able to shine or he needs to work harder when runs don’t come easily.    

Positives for India (Bowling)

There was so much focus on the batting in this series that the bowling performances went under the radar.  The conditions favoured slow bowlers so all the bowlers including the part timers chipped in but as it often the case with India no real stand out’s in the bowling expect one.

Shami Ahmed: Not many had heard of him and his domestic record is not eye catching either but this tour he was the shining light. Ahmed was the only bowler to play in all 3 matches and picked up 13 wickets at 19.19. Not overly quick but bowled some beautiful outswinger to dismiss the West Indies openers in each innings.  Impressive part was he seemed to have plan to each batsmen and was able to execute it once the ball got old.  Once the ball was old he was accurate and managed to bowl stump to stump to get LBW’s and bowled.  Ahmed also showed he had a really good bouncer and was able to get some wickets from it. There will be some keen eyes on him for Bengal this year.

Notable Mention: Akshay Darekar, Maharashtra left arm spinner bowled beautifully in the 2^nd inning of the 2^nd test on a wicket that aided spin and bounce. Darekar ended up with 6/67 best figures for Indian bowler on tour.  Darekar was not as effective on a wicket that was as non conducive to spinners in 3^rd test.  Modern day left arm spinner he relied heavily on accuracy rather than flight.  

Negatives

Rahul Sharma: Played in the first two matches on wickets that were helpful to spinners but struggled to turn the ball. Rahul is accuracy but given the wicket that turned and that did have unpredictable bounce he failed to make an impact. Rahul has been looked upon in similar bowler to Kumble but he really struggled to get any bite from the surfaces.  Rahul was out bowled by his name sake Rohit Sharma.

Puzzling ?

It was interesting to see Pujara persisted at number 4 rather than 3. In the last test match Rohit was elevated but Pujara remained at 4.  Robin Bist was given a middle order slot instead of opening in his single game.

What was the point of taking 4 openers on the tour?

The real star of this series though was from the West Indies. Derlon Johnson, left arm fast standing at 6ft 6 was outstanding. Johnson picked up 17 wickets at 16.8.  Johnson can be considered ‘fast’, he gets steep bounce and can move the ball both ways.  Johnson should be in line to be chosen for the West Indies in next couple of series.

My Chat with India's finest domestic batsmen - Amol Muzumdar

Amol Muzumdar has played domestic cricket for nearly 20 years. He was the record holder for the most runs in the Ranji trophy up until 6 months ago. (Wasim Jaffer broke Amol’s record last year). Many experts still believe he is one of the finest batsmen never to play for India.  Amol was kind enough to have a nice dinner and share few of his thoughts on the modern game.

Modern Day Fitness Regime

The young bowlers are breaking down because there simply not bowling enough. They spend so much time in the gym working on all sorts of muscles but the only way you develop the correct muscles is by bowling. Also in the past a slight niggle would go under the radar but with the amount of support staff and fitness tests it hard to go under the radar.

The person that has played the most cricket in the last 5 years is MS Dhoni. I can assure you he is rarely in the gym and he is India’s fittest player. What does that say about the modern day training methods?

It is important to have balance and the best example is Dravid. Rahul only works on the muscles he needs for running between wickets and his forearms or wrists required for batting.  That should be the key element to modern day fitness.

Indian struggle on Bouncy wickets

When I started off as a youngster we played a fair bit on matting wickets growing up. It helped us improve our back foot play but nowadays in Mumbai there aren’t too many matting wickets. Best example is Wasim Jaffer, he is probably the best back foot player I have seen in India and that is because Wasim grew up on matting wickets for Anjuman Islam (school in Mumbai).

Although these days there are Emerging and Under 19 tours overseas but the young players do not get enough exposure at a younger age with a bounce.

One other reason is the wickets in India just are not conducive enough to bounce apart from couple of them.

Domestic pitches in India

Absolute no doubt the wicket at Wankhede is the best in India. It has always provided equal opportunity for bowlers and batsmen.  It is often the case the domestic pitches go under the radar but the one at Wankhede and perhaps Mohali have always been taken care of and hence have been great wickets over the last 20 years.

It is good the administrators are giving attention to pitches but it can be difficult to change a nature of wicket due to adverse conditions we get across India.

Due to different pitches we get in India I also believe an Indian domestic player is more complete player than any other domestic batsmen in say England, South Africa or Australia.

Rohit Sharma

Rohit is a phenomenal talent and I think in the next year he will show it to the world. If you observe a lot of his dismissals they are due to him playing early at the ball, that shows he picks up the ball so early and sometimes it takes time to adjust.  The other positive thing is he always looks to hit straight. The last ball he smashed for six in the Deccan chargers (Deccan Charges vs Mumbai Indians) match if you observer closely he plays the shot with a straight bat – when  in a situation with 1 ball 6 to get most cricketers would go across the line but Rohit did not – he went with his natural shot. Class player always has time and Rohit seems to have ample of time.

Competitive cricket in Holland (During the off season Amol plays cricket in Holland for 4months)

There are 8 clubs and each club is allowed 3 international players. There are players from South Africa, England, Australia – so it is competitive. It also gives exposures to the cricketers in Holland and there is plenty of talent coming through.  There are 4 turf wickets and 4 synthetic wickets. The synthetic wickets the ball doesn’t move off the seam but there is good bounce. The Holland cricket association last year sent there emerging players to New Zealand for a development camp for 4 months. It shows the administrators are keen to develop the sport.

Famous Cricket Story you have heard.

When I was doing my Level 2 coaching in England I had to privilege to chat with former West Indian Garfield Sobers.  While teaching kids the leg glance and when one kid couldn’t get it right he said to me I wish Collie Smith could show them the leg glance. Then he told me about the talent of Collie Smith, he said I had seen Collie play some remarkable shots and one of them was the behind back leg glance. Once the ball had pitched on leg or middle, Collie would get inside the line of the ball and then instead bringing the bat in from of his body he would let go off the top hand and then hit then hit the ball behind his back with towards square leg. Collie could execute it perfectly just about every time in the nets.  

Best spinner in India

Murali Kartik has been the best spinner for a while but in the last 6months it seems that age has caught up to him. Fingers on a finger spinner eventually get tired and spinners aren’t able get the revolutions on the ball. In India we primary get finer spinners so seniors like Harbhajan and Kartik have past their prime with the amount of bowling they have done.  In terms of modern day spinner Ashwin fits the bill well because he suits the modern playing conditions. In modern condition I mean he is best at saving runs which leads to getting wickets.

IPL 5 the Success Story

It was the year that many believed would dictate the future of the IPL. A week has past and all the statistics have revealed the IPL 5 was perhaps the most successful out of all the past five seasons. So what makes IPL appealing to an average Indian over and over again? Apart from the action on the field and the cliché “Talent meets opportunity”, it is the lifestyle of an average Indian that contributes significantly towards a successful IPL.

It is often said India is influenced by the three C’s – Cricket, Cinema and Corruption.  If we leave the last C (corruption) aside for now, the other two C’s (cricket and cinema) are two biggest forms of entertainment for an average person in India. It is impossible at times to engage in a conversation with people of all ages in India, without touching on the topics of Cricket and Cinema. After all it is not their fault, in a country of billion people these two sources of entertainment have been an integral part of people’s culture for decades. Since the IT revolution in early 2000, Indian public is slowly getting exposure to other sports and various recreational activities in the western world. Unfortunately, associating with a new sport or other recreational activities often means facing some unique constraint. Instead of indulging in an activity that is not easily accessible, people tend to stick with the magic formula of cinema (television) and cricket.

It is also expectations of family that force many to follow the conventional path instead of rebellious one. Conventional path in Indian culture is to obsessed about cricket and cinema. Even though a person may be disinterested in both, cricket and cinema will always provide unity amongst strangers so it  wise to know about both.

This is in contrast to the public of the western world. Most people in Australia, South Africa, New Zealand or England spend their spare time perusing their hobbies or participating in other recreational activities. It is not that Indian public don’t have hobbies but more often than not they face some restrictions compelling them away.

For example any average person can play golf in Australia. In India, to be able to play golf you either need to be a member of a private golf club or pay a ridiculous amount of money to have a social game. It seems to amaze how a city like Mumbai does not have a public golf course. Why would any kid be encouraged to play new sport when the facilities are made inaccessible due to the culture of India. Even a popular sport like soccer is yet to develop due to the lack of facilities. People may argue all sorts of facilities are now available in cities. But the issue is they are rarely accessible to an average person.  An indoor soccer court more often that not is designated to a private club only, hence a public person is not able to access it. The main issue is the private club only utilize them once a week and are unwilling to rent them to the public. The point being apart from cricket and cinema to take up any other activity remains a challenge for an average person and and impossible to peruse unless your from a rich family or a political background.

Apart from sport, a leisurely walk after work for instance has become a nightmare due to congestion, pollution and the commute involved to find a recreational park. Such restrains force people to follow the conventional paths of watching television (Cricket) from the comfort of their air conditioning living rooms.

Although many people in metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore are now earning significant wages by Indian standards their work hours have increased substantially thus limiting their time for any social activities. Those in the rural areas do not have the facilities and are yet to be exposed to other recreational activities. For such people their best way to relax after a day off work is to turn to their common past times, cricket and television.  Since IPL is perfect combination of cricket and television, no wonder it appeals to an average Indian person.

Furthermore, IPL is on at prime time and can be viewed while interacting with family, friends, neighbour or any cricket lover passing by on the street, rarely are you going to find anyone even remotely disinterested.

The combination of India culture, the scheduling and the lifestyle of people will ensure the IPL remains a success in at least the short term future.  Like most people say “why would I watch anything else when the IPL is on TV”.