India on the verge of conceding the edge to Sri Lanka..
Indian players would be subjected to a humiliation of different kind after succumbing to B team of Australia recently.
If the ongoing display of cricket at Motera is any indication of events to come India may well be handed over its first loss to Sri Lanka at home. There could be much more than just the loss. It could well turn out to be an innings defeat if Sri Lanka decide to amass 300 run lead before calling in for declaring their first innings of the first Test at Ahmedabad.
Mahela Jayawardene in the company of Prasanna Jayawardene has ensured one that ri Lanka can not loose from here. The duo with double hundred partnership for the sixth wicket would want to consolidate their teams propects of winning.
What India can do is to restrict the flow of runs to minimum in the first session of the fourth day and if possible contain the Lankan’s without achieving a margin in excess of 300 runs which could only delay the inevitable.
India if they have to play for five sessions and manage a draw would have reaffirmed the faith of people like Abhaya Sharma to back them up in Test cricket. Needless to say that India has been playing far too much cricket and its showing its negative impact already.
India has not used the services of Virender Sehwag with the ball despite the fact that he has provided breakthrough on many occasions in past. If Harbhajan and Mishra have failed collectively to buy wickets Viru may not be necessarily a success story yet is there any harm in throwing the ball to him and expect a miracle to happen. If I were Dhoni I would have done so long long back much before asking Yuvi or Sachin to try their arm.
I had almost decided to not write on Test cricket but this is an odd occasion when I want to tell my teammates to perform collectively and somehow mange to save the first test. Not just to deny the Lankans a well deserved first win in the country but also to define the mood of the game in future contests of the series. The team that draws first blood might just as well go on to not just win the Test series but also turn the tables on more fierce fight for honours in ODI and a couple of T20 Internationals, only the 19th and 20th that India is going to play.
Dhoni Bhaiya if you wish that team and country supports you well please do something to ensure that Lankans do not take an unassailable or albeit a winning lead of 300 plus runs with more than five sessions to get 10 more Indian wickets.
Indian batsman would be put to a difficult task at their hand as they would probably be first trying to avert an innings defeat and slowly create a situation where Lankans either do not get to bat or have an unachievable target when they come to bat for second time.
That would mean that India decides as to who among its batsman would go on to preserve their wickets and who would go for scoring at brisk rate to have substantial runs that seem to be necessary.
If I were Kumar I would have declared my first innings closed at 591 for 5, the overnight score just to expect a couple of early wickets in the early hours of the game and then make sure that India do not get to a total that is not achievable in whatever time remains in the second innings. I know Kumar and Lankans would not dare to do that. They would rather have 300 plus runs on the board and understandably believe that India is not able to bat for five sessions to save the tests. The psychological advantage that comes with the 300 runs is too big to be lured into an early declaration.
I would expect Virender Sehwag to not contain himself when he comes to bat. I would also not want Yuvraj Singh to restrict his shot playing. The two would be my best chances of putting some decent score if Sri Lanka has to come to bat second time. Dravid, Gambhir have to play the stay at the wicket with Sachin and Dhoni doing the dual role of keeping the wickets intact and also scoring some valuable runs. Do not just play to while away the time. Some of you have to score some runs as well and tha is really important. I only wish that wicket does not start to turn as is expected on the fourth and final days of a test match. India is depending too heavily on factors other than performance to save the first test match.
- Abhaya Sharma
Indian players would be subjected to a humiliation of different kind after succumbing to B team of Australia recently.
If the ongoing display of cricket at Motera is any indication of events to come India may well be handed over its first loss to Sri Lanka at home. There could be much more than just the loss. It could well turn out to be an innings defeat if Sri Lanka decide to amass 300 run lead before calling in for declaring their first innings of the first Test at Ahmedabad.
Mahela Jayawardene in the company of Prasanna Jayawardene has ensured one that ri Lanka can not loose from here. The duo with double hundred partnership for the sixth wicket would want to consolidate their teams propects of winning.
What India can do is to restrict the flow of runs to minimum in the first session of the fourth day and if possible contain the Lankan’s without achieving a margin in excess of 300 runs which could only delay the inevitable.
India if they have to play for five sessions and manage a draw would have reaffirmed the faith of people like Abhaya Sharma to back them up in Test cricket. Needless to say that India has been playing far too much cricket and its showing its negative impact already.
India has not used the services of Virender Sehwag with the ball despite the fact that he has provided breakthrough on many occasions in past. If Harbhajan and Mishra have failed collectively to buy wickets Viru may not be necessarily a success story yet is there any harm in throwing the ball to him and expect a miracle to happen. If I were Dhoni I would have done so long long back much before asking Yuvi or Sachin to try their arm.
I had almost decided to not write on Test cricket but this is an odd occasion when I want to tell my teammates to perform collectively and somehow mange to save the first test. Not just to deny the Lankans a well deserved first win in the country but also to define the mood of the game in future contests of the series. The team that draws first blood might just as well go on to not just win the Test series but also turn the tables on more fierce fight for honours in ODI and a couple of T20 Internationals, only the 19th and 20th that India is going to play.
Dhoni Bhaiya if you wish that team and country supports you well please do something to ensure that Lankans do not take an unassailable or albeit a winning lead of 300 plus runs with more than five sessions to get 10 more Indian wickets.
Indian batsman would be put to a difficult task at their hand as they would probably be first trying to avert an innings defeat and slowly create a situation where Lankans either do not get to bat or have an unachievable target when they come to bat for second time.
That would mean that India decides as to who among its batsman would go on to preserve their wickets and who would go for scoring at brisk rate to have substantial runs that seem to be necessary.
If I were Kumar I would have declared my first innings closed at 591 for 5, the overnight score just to expect a couple of early wickets in the early hours of the game and then make sure that India do not get to a total that is not achievable in whatever time remains in the second innings. I know Kumar and Lankans would not dare to do that. They would rather have 300 plus runs on the board and understandably believe that India is not able to bat for five sessions to save the tests. The psychological advantage that comes with the 300 runs is too big to be lured into an early declaration.
I would expect Virender Sehwag to not contain himself when he comes to bat. I would also not want Yuvraj Singh to restrict his shot playing. The two would be my best chances of putting some decent score if Sri Lanka has to come to bat second time. Dravid, Gambhir have to play the stay at the wicket with Sachin and Dhoni doing the dual role of keeping the wickets intact and also scoring some valuable runs. Do not just play to while away the time. Some of you have to score some runs as well and tha is really important. I only wish that wicket does not start to turn as is expected on the fourth and final days of a test match. India is depending too heavily on factors other than performance to save the first test match.
- Abhaya Sharma
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