(contd.)Already Bhajji has been thrown out precisely for this reason.Moreover how does one correct unless one admits the need for it ? Real acid Tests awaits Ashwin ahead in the next two weeks of course. Based on his performance so far in SA it becomes very difficult to be positive. Question is can he exploit the bounce to get the spin ? Now coming to pace attack hopefully will get fillip with Zaheer leading the pack! But can it mange 20 wickets ?Lot will depend on Zaheer. If he is able to get early break throughs especially his bunny captain Graem Smith even the younger bowlers could give inspired performance. Now coming to batting, we can only hope Shikhar Dhawan and M/ Vijay give a good start. At least the pressure should be less with Gambhir not included in the tour. Rohit ? The eternal enigma ? No Yuvraj and no Rains. Virat should be back in business with his aggressive starts and doesn’t give critics chance to call him ‘flat track bully’.Pujara’s entry is the biggest plus point and is indeed expected to give some stability to the middle order batting. The batting middle order has to be Pujara,Virat, Rohit with Rohit playing the rear guard action with Dhoni, Jadeja or Rahane or Rayudu….and of course with the new discovery, all-rounder Ashwin. Going by the games played so far Captain Dhoni can only hope to avoid another overseas tour whitewash! All the best.
(contd.)On the other hand the ’Pause’ attack is getting more alarming by the day needing far greater attention because greater the ‘pause’ farther the ball seem to be landing into the stands! Quickest 100 Test wickets record gone to his head ? Otherwise how do you explain the smugness and the swagger even after the ‘trash’ he bowled in the 3 one dayers getting just one wicket? And does he realize that even when he doesn’t pause he slows down habitually just before delivery? Does Aswhwin understand the mechanics of bowling-- the transfer of all important body momentum to the ball ? Does he know that when he pauses the ball starts with ‘zero’ velocity gaining very little momentum and the batter also gets fraction of second more time to play his shot.. A bowler can delay a delivery to outsmart a ‘committed’ shot but not pause. Further, isn’t spin bowling about tight line and length ? Forget line and length, even the core characteristic of ‘spin’ seems to have gone missing completely ! Shouldn’t extra bounce be helpful for spinners ?So what characterizes his bowling ? It is not pace for sure. It is not spin also. Or are they complete trash in the name of variety ? Besides, resorting to negative round the wicket bowling appears to have become more as a rule than exception with him aimed at ‘containing’ and not going for wickets!
(contd.)On the other hand the ’Pause’ attack is getting more alarming by the day needing far greater attention because greater the ‘pause’ farther the ball seem to be landing into the stands! Quickest 100 Test wickets record gone to his head ? Otherwise how do you explain the smugness and the swagger even after the ‘trash’ he bowled in the 3 one dayers getting just one wicket? And does he realize that even when he doesn’t pause he slows down habitually just before delivery? Does Aswhwin understand the mechanics of bowling-- the transfer of all important body momentum to the ball ? Does he know that when he pauses the ball starts with ‘zero’ velocity gaining very little momentum and the batter also gets fraction of second more time to play his shot.. A bowler can delay a delivery to outsmart a ‘committed’ shot but not pause. Further, isn’t spin bowling about tight line and length ? Forget line and length, even the core characteristic of ‘spin’ seems to have gone missing completely ! Shouldn’t extra bounce be helpful for spinners ?So what characterizes his bowling ? It is not pace for sure. It is not spin also. Or are they complete trash in the name of variety ? Besides, resorting to negative round the wicket bowling appears to have become more as a rule than exception with him aimed at ‘containing’ and not going for wickets!
Why is it that article is saying the practice match wash out as a big set back ? No less a person than Dhoni himself has claimed that the biggest positive so far has been the one day series turning into a good practice stint before the Tests! We can only hope no further excuses are trotted out for a poor show in Tests too!One might still explain away one dayer failiure to ‘conditions, extra bounce, lack of match practice….and so on.But it must be admitted that main factor was the top 3 completely flopped in a batting line up with virtually non-existent middle order. India is No1 team but can it defend its title in Aus on 2015 with this batting line up ? No chance. In fact SA at no.5 looks much stronger side. Add to that the totally ineffective and inexperienced pace plus the ‘pause’ (not spin) attack, India’s one dayer woes are complete.Needless to say the Indian one dayer needs some urgent attention from the selectors on the middle order and the pace plus ‘pause’ attack. Pujara has to be part of the one day side with futher shoring up of the middle order.Pace attack ? Md Shami and B/Kumar only look to be certainty for 2015.Evidently it is work in progress with induction and trying out more youngsters.
