Mumbai’s loopholes exposed!!

The day when India was playing its second ODI against South Africa, the so called hub of Indian cricket, Mumbai was biting dust against the rookies of Jharkhand at the Wankhede. All of us saw the same happen to the Indian team. 

Right from the day one of the match Jharkhand left no stone unturned to get into the skin of Mumbai. Though the top order of the guests didn’t do a great job, it was all thanks to Saurabh Tiwary who remained unbeaten making a double century. But apart from that from the batting line up, there was no one who did enough to make a comprehensive score. The bowling department was led by the fastest bowler of India, Varun Aroon. Ripping apart the top order of the hosts, Varun bowled nasty bouncers coupled with edgy and quick spells which made it difficult for the batsmen to stay on the crease. Even the Pathan of Mumbai cricket, Wasim Jaffer, could not hold on to the pressure and made an immediately departed to the pavilion in both the innings. The specialist opener of Mumbai, Sushant Marathe failed to impress in both the innings. Jharkand might have remained on the bottom of the table but at the same time it managed to expose a lot of loopholes of the Ranji Champions, 2013. 

From this match one could clearly see that Mumbai missed the services of Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane. The bowling department was led by the skipper Abhishekh Nayar, Vishal Dabholkar and Javed Khan.  The batting department lacked luster, the decision of picking up Marathe in placed of Kaustabh Pawar proved to the biggest gamble. The visitors looked much more active on the field as compared to the hosts. 

The match ended up with a draw but left a lot of homework and immense of thinking for Mumbai to do before their match against Orissa.

Why India lost the first ODI against SA

Well well! The ghost of England and Australia has returned and after making merry in the sub continent, the Indian team was once again thrashed by 141 runs. Though there are quite a few reasons for the same. Here are a few I could jot down.

1.      Over dependence on Mhd Shami: Now here is the rooky bowler all set to prove his worth on the fast and nasty pitches of SA. Shami tried his level best to rip apart the batting line of the hosts and he managed to claim three wickets but the other bowlers like Mohit Sharma and Bhuvneshwar Kumar were hit all across the ground. Neither of the two looked in control for getting rid of the nasty batting line up of the proteans. The bowlers were all over the place. here comes the role of the captain before the match. Why was Umesh Yadav made to warm the bench, he could have come handy considering the conditions of South Africa.

2.      Absence of an experienced opener: Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan steeped on to the field as openers and goofed up big time. India clearly missed the services of Gambhir.

3.      Rohit Sharma’s Runout: This gyan comes to me from one of the very eminent coaches of Delhi. “Whenever an opener of any side gets run out 90% of the time the side loses.” This very much got proven yesterday when Rohit Sharma got out.

4.      Dhoni’s batting order: Dhoni comes at Number six and chips in after the situation goes out of control. Leading the side, he needs to promote himself up the order. Even the veterans of cricket have asked him to do so.

5.      Failure of the stalwarts: After the opening pair struggled to score runs, the big names like Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina easily made their way to the pavilion. Though Dhoni tried saving the ship but the damage was done.

The curious case of Suresh Raina

One of the most eligible bachelor of the India team and the so called buddy of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina’s running skills got exposed last night at the first ODI against SA.  Though its not just about his running skills that I am talking about its also about the scorecard highlighted on the TV sets while he was on his way back to the pavilion.

With an average of about 35 and 3 centuries in the ODIs Raina is termed as the backbone of the middle order. With statistics like these do you really think that he even deserves to be in the team? Raina has been playing for the team since 2005. When Greg Chappell was asked to handle the reins of the Indian team as a coach, Chappell was extremely impressed by his batting and the fielding skills. He went on to be the blue eyed boy of the coach. Off the 116 ODIs, in the last 7 years, the blue eyed boy of the skipper has hit only 29 fifties, though we also consider the position he comes on. Also does he have an average of 91.38, but all that is on the Indian pitches.  On the foreign pitches he looks like a dodo who fails to even face the bowlers (he he did well for CSK at the Champions League). How long will the blue eyed boy of the skipper continue to be the first choice of the selectors? Will he always remain in the squad just because he happens to the favourite of someone or the other?