Form is temporary, class is permanent
Posted on Sep 04, 2007 at 17:57 | Updated Sep 04, 2007 at 18:25
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New Delhi: It is after a long-long time that India’s four most experienced batsmen – Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh - are heading averages by miles, going into the business end of an ODI series.
The present week, with two matches still to go, will be critical and how far these fabulous four can go on will determine the fate of the Indian team.
That they have class was never in doubt, but the continuation of the form the all four are in right now, will go a long way to determine if India win the series or not. Of the 10 50s hit by the visitors in the NatWest series so far, nine have come from the bat of these four players. That alone shows the kind of impact these fabulous four are having on this series.
| Top Indian batsmen in the series | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Innings | Runs | Avg | 50s |
| Rahul Dravid | 5 (1 not out) | 219 | 54.7 | 2 |
| Sachin Tendulkar | 5 | 250 | 50.0 | 3 |
| Yuvraj Singh | 5 | 237 | 47.4 | 2 |
| Ganguly | 5 | 181 | 36.2 | 2 |
Dravid has been remarkable in the NatWest battle so far, scoring at nearly run-a-ball, closely followed by Yuvraj who also has a strike-rate of 90.
Tendulkar, with India’s fortunes so heavily dependent on his form, has been relatively cautious despite the advantage of powerplay for most part of his innings.
However, the strike-rate of 81 is quite businesslike and, helped with field restrictions, India’s most experienced bat has preferred to score runs in boundaries. Thirty-nine fours and a six means 162 of Tendulkar’s 250 runs (65 per cent) have come in boundaries alone.
Ganguly is the only one who has failed to breach 200-run mark from his five innings, but with Tendulkar in cracking form, he has played the support cast quite admirably. It is certainly not a coincidence that the two hundred run stands between Tendulkar and Ganguly have resulted in two of India’s wins.
These two stands gave perfect platform for the middle order to race to 300+ scores, which can be formidable on any ground. Needless to say, when the duo prospers, India flourish.
However, despite a competent show so far, the problem will be Indian bowling, especially two-specialist pacers theory.
England made a tactical blunder of bowling first at Headingley and allowing Indian bowlers to breath freely in defending a 300+ score. It was not just the line and length, but the pressure of run-rate too, which fetched Ganguly wickets.
But if India persist with four specialist bowlers with two spinners, it will be interesting to see how the battle unfolds if England bat first, with no pressure to chase.
Though both the spinners have done wonderfully well claiming eleven wickets between them, India will be better advised to have a third specialist pacer for a competent show in 20 power-play overs.
After all, Gangulys of the world are not expected to deliver everyday with the ball, especially in the first 20 overs. The tactics which may have won one battle may not always win the war.
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Total Comments: 6
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Posted By shweta
Still people are mourning over the world cup debacle. Please come out of that. try to be little positive in
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Posted By Balaji Baji Rao
Hey Pal Sekar :
Sing a song that \"lifts\" India. Why worship Ganguly,
Sachin, Dravid, so on and on. It
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Posted By IndianCricketLoverfromUSA
Ya ya ya you have been a great team player. Its only Ganguly who lacks all the qualities.
Lets ask either
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Posted By RAKESH
Averages give us no salace because the fact is that we have played poor cricket and are down to a
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Posted By Ganesh
This is one of the most bogus article I ever read. What use is it if you are out of
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