Can Team India again become T20 Champions?

One of the biggest cricketing event of 2014 is about to start and It's the T20 World Cup. Team India the 1st T20 champions are also ready for this event but the big question is that can they do well? As the recent results have been horrible for Team India. They lost in SA in December 2013 then in NZ in 2014 and the latest one being the Asia Cup. For sure Team India is feeling the heat. Indian Cricket Fans are also very sad seeing their team lose again & again.

Team India celebrating after winning the T20 World Cup in 2007

Team India should now forget the defeats and start afresh. Lets rewind the time and go back in 2007. 2007 is the year in which we saw Team India crash out of the 50 over world cup and then come back hard with a fresh young team to win the T20 world cup. This year also we have a Team which is young and inexperienced. Now the things players need to show is the hunger to perform and immense passion as they are representing the country in an event like World Cup

We have the players who can do it & they just need to believe in themselves. MS Dhoni's captaincy will play a vital role. Its very important for him to be pro-active and aggressive as he used to be in 2007. Openers Dhawan and Rohit need to give Team India good starts. They are free flow stroke players and T20 format is ideal for them as they can express themselves with the strokes they like to play. Kohli the man in form will hold the key for India in each game. We have to accept that he gives us the same assurance as Sachin used to give during his peak days. Yuvraj is also back and i am pretty sure he would be very eager to show that he still belongs to the international level. Other thing about Yuvraj is that no matter how bad his form may be but when he hits the ball it stays a hit. 

Team India's bowling is not that good as compared to the other teams but time has come for our bowlers to show the world that they can deliver under pressure. A team cannot become champions without good bowling performances. If Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohd. Shami can give us the initial breakthroughs then our spinners will surely tighten the screws in the middle part of an innings.

Hoping to see a performance where Team India give their best and more importantly fight till the very end. Wishing them All the Best for the T20 World Cup 2014 in Bangladesh

Are the days of MS Dhoni - The Test Captain over?

First and foremost before i start this post i would like to say that MS Dhoni has given us 2 World Cups, Asia Cup and a Champions Trophy. All these are limited over tournaments. No doubt that when it comes to the limited over format specially one day cricket he plans well, leads well and motivates well.

Now coming to Test Cricket and his captaincy in the toughest format of cricket. Lets go back in time, when MS Dhoni became the Indian Test Captain. During his initial days as a captain we did well in NZ in 2009 and also in SA in 2010. The main reason being Sachin Tendulkar , Rahul Dravid , VVS Laxman , Gautam Gambhir & Virender Sehwag being in their prime form and performance of them being outstanding. Then we went to Australia and England in 2011. Our openers failed to deliver and our senior batsmen didn't contribute sometimes. Everyone thought that due to the bad performance of our seniors we lost. Seniors retired after that debacle & sooner our openers were also dropped. Dhoni's captaincy was also very bad in these two tours of 2011 but it was not discussed in detail.

Now coming to 2013 and the present time. MS Dhoni wanted a young team and he got it. Team India were now ready to tour SA and NZ.  This was the time for him to showcase his leadership skills and guide this young team to victory reason being he had already toured these two nations but what happened was exactly opposite. He failed to motivate the youngsters , his on field calls left everyone stunned , he didn't select the team according to the conditions and when the team needed the captain to come forward  he didn't respond and always remained out of ideas. This didn't happen once or twice but several times.

Clearly It's quite evident that the captain doesn't want to prove himself in Test Cricket and looks disinterested to play the purest form of cricket. Lets just take the instance of 1st Test of India vs NewZealand , Jadeja and Dhoni were batting and India required around 130 more runs to win with a session and a day left. What happened is Jadeja and Dhoni started playing T20 style cricket thinking they will get close to victory but in test cricket there is need of application and patience which Dhoni being the captain should have told to Jadeja. Now may be Dhoni wanted to finish the match quickly and not wait for the 5th day or he was not confident enough in defending the ball. If Dhoni thinks he can get away by doing things like this then he is wrong. Even we saw in Test Matches played in India for example when England toured India in 2012 they applied constant pressure on India. What we saw is that the pressure always got the better of Dhoni

Now what lies in the future for Indian Cricket. Time has come to give a new young player captaincy of Team India in Tests. Indian Cricket fans are fed up with the series of losses overseas.BCCI and selectors should know the importance of Test Cricket as it reflects how much good a team is. Test Cricket tests everything and currently all the other teams like Australia, England and South Africa are doing well at the Test Level. Its now time for a change and its urgent before India tours England in June this year.

Rohit Sharma - Mr. Consistent

Rohit Sharma is a player who has got an abundance of talent and also has every cricketing stroke in his armoury. No doubt that when he starts playing in full flow it is a joy to watch him bat. Since he made his debut in 2007 , the expectations have been very high from him. Many Cricket Experts have been saying that he has got the talent but may be due to lack of temperament or determination he is still not able to show good results at the International Level.

Recently, The Team Management and MS Dhoni decided to give Rohit Sharma a chance to open with Shikhar Dhawan in Champions Trophy. He got this chance because he scored runs when he opened in the 4th ODI of India vs England Series held in January 2013. Rohit Sharma grabbed this opportunity with both hands and showed that he can play well as an opener.

Champions Trophy was held in England where fast bowlers get a lot of assistance but Rohit Sharma showed that he is ready to face the new ball and also continue playing his natural game as an opener. He gave India good starts on most occasions during the Champions Trophy.

In the recently concluded Tri Series , Rohit Sharma has done exceptionally well and scored 217 runs in the Tri Series. The oppositions were Sri Lanka and West Indies and both had a very good bowling attack. It was great to see him apply himself on the wicket according to the situation and the conditions. He also got some blows on his body because the ball misbehaved sometimes from the pitch but he did not get disturbed by it and continued his batting in a smooth manner which was great to see. Yes, he did not score centuries but as an opener if he is scoring half centuries and giving Team India a good start that's a brilliant sign.

Rohit Sharma has shown that he is ready to take the responsibility for opening the batting for Team India and is fully determined to do well. The good form which he has displayed recently has proved that he is not only talented but he is now Mr. Consistent.

Team India - Champion of the Champions 2013

Champion of the Champions Team India
 

ICC Champions Trophy is such type of tournament where one mistake can take the team out of the tournament. India not only became the champions by winning the final match but they also did not lose any single match from the start till the end of the tournament. They defeated 6 different world class teams if we count the warm up matches also. They bowled, batted and fielded brilliantly.
Most players who were part of the 2011 World Cup winning team were not there. The team was full of youngsters & they didnot have any experience of playing in any major ICC tournament but they showed what it means to play for India where expectations of millions are attached. More often than not these youngsters were able to absorb the pressure and come out victorious. The way they celebrated after the victory showed that how much this victory meant to them.

Shikhar and Rohit were for the first time opening the batting together and they didn't dissapoint us. They complimented each other really well. They took the responsibility on their own shoulders and they made sure that our middle order batsmen don't have to do that much work. Virat Kohli also showed his class batting when it came to the most important matches that is the semi finals and the finals. Ravindra Jadeja not only bowled well but he showed that he is a batting all rounder. Whenever he got the opportunity with the bat he did well. He also executed the big strokes when it mattered the most which was not seen when Ravindra Jadeja played the 2009 t20 world cup in England.

Our fielding was absolutely magnificent this time. There are exceptions such as Ishant Sharma and R. Ashwin who run a bit slow on the field but their catching is good. Our fast bowlers Bhuvaneshwar & Umesh always got us the intial breakthroughs which is very important to apply pressure on the opposition. Ishant also bowled well in the middle overs but he was expensive sometimes but no one can forget the two back to back wickets he took in the finals. In the spinning department, Jadeja always bowled really well. His accuracy was immaculate.

India won the Champions Trophy convincingly. This victory became more sweeter because India won in foreign conditions. This team looks great for the 2015 World Cup in Australia which is two years away. All the players currently in the side may not play the 2015 World Cup but I think most of them will definitely play. It has to be said that these youngsters have showed tremendous passion and they did great hardwork which turned this inexperienced team into a champion team.

Shikhar Dhawan - The Stylish & Fearless Opening Batsman of India

Shikhar Dhawan

Team India has found a New Opener who is ready to give his best at the International Level and is infact performing really well for Team India and his name is Shikhar Dhawan. In 2012, India lost many matches in One Day Cricket & Test Cricket. In most of the matches that India lost our openers Sehwag & Gambhir didn't play well. Indian Fans have always seen some very good opening pairs open for Team India be it Sachin - Sourav or Sachin - Sehwag or Sehwag - Gambhir. The Regular Failures of Sehwag & Gambhir brought disappointment on the faces of Indian Cricket fans.

India vs Australia, 3rd Test Match on 16th March 2013, Shikhar made his debut in Test Cricket and What a power packed knock he played. He played shots without any fear and once he got settled he didn't stop. He played the cut shot very well, pulled the ball with ease & played the cover drive on the up. What was good to see that he didn't play any pre determined strokes. He played with a simple logic of see the ball and hit the ball. Specially the cover drive came naturally to him. He timed his strokes pretty well. He scored 187 from 174 balls ( 33 Fours & 2 Sixes ). He showed a glimpse of his magnificent talent and announced his arrival at the International Test Level and Indian fans were very happy to see an aggressive opener open for Team India in Test Cricket.

Champions Trophy is going on and Shikhar Dhawan is opening the batting for India in One Day Cricket also and he has scored 2 centuries so far in the tournament. He hit a brilliant century vs South Africa when India batted first and then scored another century in the next match vs West Indies when India were chasing a good Total. So, It shows that he absorbs the pressure really well in big matches and can play well in foreign conditions.

Shikhar Dhawan made his debut in One Day Cricket in 2010 vs Australia but he got to play only 1 match and he didn't do well in that match, After that he went on to the tour of West Indies in June 2011 as an Opener. He did score a 50 in the 1st ODI match of that series but he didn't get regular opportunities after that because Sehwag and Gambhir had their places fixed in the opening slot. Now going back to 2004, Shikhar played the U-19 World Cup and became the Man of the Tournament for scoring 505 runs from 7 innings which is still a record in the Under 19 World Cup. His many team mates from the Under 19 Team like Suresh Raina , Robin Uthappa , RP Singh & Dinesh Karthik got into the Indian team but Shikhar didn't get his chance. He was disappointed but he kept performing at the Domestic Level and in many Ranji Seasons he scored piles of Runs. In 2012-13, Ranji Season he again scored lots of runs and Selectors were forced to select him for the Test Series vs Australia and we were able to see him play for India again.

We can clearly see the maturity and the patience in the way he plans his innings. He is now aged 27 and has already seen lots of up's and down's in his career. Whenever he comes in to bat he wants to play a big innings even when it is an ODI match. He is an Opener and if he gives the team a good start he makes the work of the middle order batsmen quite easier.

Shikhar Dhawan also has a style statement. He keeps a moustache and twirls it after he finishes a good innings. His style statement equally matches with his game play. In hindi, it can be said that he plays like a DABANG. The confidence on his face is always there which gives a lot of assurance to the Indian Cricket fans that he will do well with the bat.

All the Best to Shikhar Dhawan for the upcoming matches. He should now be given enough opportunities to prove himself even if he doesn't perform well in some matches. He is a fascinating talent and has shown that he can play well in any condition. He played his strokes in the same manner in England as he played it in India. He doesn't have any problem with the short ball or with the pace which is very good to see. In the coming years, hopefully we will see many more brilliant knocks from Shikhar Dhawan in One Day Cricket and in Test Cricket.

India vs Australia Test Series 2013 - PREVIEW

The much awaited Test Series of 2013 for Indian Cricket Fans is about to start. It cannot get any bigger and better than India playing against Australia in India. Whenever these 2 teams have clashed we have seen some fascinating Test Matches. Matches have been very closely fought and Players from both sides have been very eager to win.

If we go in the Past we saw some great innings from VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid in the Test Matches they played vs Australia on Indian Pitches and Australian Pitches But now we have a New Team India which is trying to play well in Test Cricket without them. As we recently saw in Test Matches vs England the Indian Team struggled with their batting department and batsmen were not able to build up big partnerships.

Team India has already been selected for the Australian Series and Gautam Gambhir has been dropped as he was not able to convert his starts into big innings in the Test Series vs England.So,In the 1st Test match starting from February 22 we will see a new opening combination. Who are the openers going to be - Sehwag & Dhawan or Sehwag & Vijay or Vijay & Dhawan ? If i had to select i would be selecting Sehwag and Dhawan to open the Innings for India. Middle Order looks good with Pujara coming at No.3 and after that Kohli , Sachin and Dhoni.Sachin has also done well in the Irani Trophy which will give him a lot of confidence. I think Jadeja would be in the team as an allrounder .

Spinners didnot do well in the Test Series vs England. Ashwin and Ojha looked under pressure when the England batsmen started building up partnerships. Harbhajan Singh has been picked in the Team for the 1st two test matches vs Australia and i think he should play in both the test matches because of his past performances vs Australia and as he is making a come back he will be trying to give his best to the team. Harbhajan has also got experience which he will use to get a Batsmen Out who is settle on the crease and playing well.

In the Pace attack , Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been picked which is a very good decision by the selectors. He swings the ball well and can bowl long spells as we saw in the ODI series vs England.Ishant Sharma should try to be more consistent with his line and length throughout the test match. He sometimes gets wayward which becomes a worry for the Indian Team. Dinda has also been picked but i think 1st choice will be to play Bhuvneshwar and Ishant.

Not to forget that during every India vs Australia Series there has been some sledging. I think this time also we may get to see something like that because both teams are raring to go. Indian Team has recently not won that many Test Matches and they also lost 4-0 vs Australia in Australia. So, Indian Team will be looking to win each and every match.On the other hand, Australia also has not done well in Test matches they have played in India after 2004. They don't have Ponting and Hussey in the team but they have been doing well in the Test matches they have played recently.

So, Action is about to start in few days and i think each and every day of every Test Match is going to be very competitive and intresting. I hope Team India does well and we win the Series.

Why did India lose a test series at home after 8 years?

The test series between India vs England started on 15th November and ended on 17th December. So, after a very intense battle between two teams for 1 month & 2days , England won the 4 match Test Series 2-1. Indian fans were very dissapointed after seeing the outcome of this series as it was said to be the 'Revenge Series' because India lost 4-0 to England in 2011.



Things got very intense in the Nagpur Test

Many Questions have been raised about the Indian Team , Captain and Coach. Some people have also been saying that BCCI and Selectors are not taking right steps and are not looking forward to make India a good Test Team.I will try to answer some questions which are being raised after India have a lost a Test Series at home after 8 years.

Q 1. Did the Captain's decision making cost India the Test Series?

Ans: MS Dhoni asked for spinning tracks even after winning the 1st match at Ahmedabad because he had the confidence that English batsmen will struggle against the spin and Indian batsmen will play spin well but Indian batsmen failed twice in a row at Mumbai and Kolkata. In the last Test Match at Nagpur Captain himself  had to take the burden of taking India to a safe postion and Kohli also helped him by staying at the crease & scoring a brilliant century. So, If we only blame the captain for the loss , it would be very harsh on him. MS Dhoni also played 3 spinners on two occasions which was also criticised by many. 1st occasion was the Mumbai Test where the ball was spinning but our spinners failed to take wickets. No doubt , Cook and Pietersen played well but what happened to our spinners. Ojha and Ashwin donot have that much experience of playing Test Matches at International Level but Harbhajan Singh also didnot take wickets of top order batsmen of England Team when it was needed the most. So, it can be said that Captain Dhoni had made plans but it could not be executed well.

Q 2. Why did the Indian Openers didnot bat well and rest of the batting line up also failed under pressure?

Ans: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have been opening the batting at test level for a very long time for India but it has to be said that India losing test series abroad and at home has been largely due to their failure of not making a good opening partnership. It is high time that selectors should look for another good opening pair for India and i think Rahane will be the best Option to try with Sehwag. Gautam Gambhir in this series scored some scores of 40 and 60 but never went on to make a big score which was really very dissapointing and i think after getting settled on the crease he sometimes looked a bit over confident and a bit impatient also. Sehwag's inconsistency with the bat is a major worry for the Indian Team.

If we see the performance of the batting in the middle order which was also not good. Sachin Tendulkar scored a good knock of 76 Runs in the 3rd Test Match but in all the other innings he failed. People have again started raising questions about his retirement but i am sure that sachin will analyse his own perfomance in this series and will take appropriate decision on whether he wants to continue playing or not.

Pujara scored a double hundred in the 1st test match but didnot play well in the next 3 Test Matches. Kohli didnot score well in the 1st 3 Test Matches but he played an unbelieveable knock in the Nagpur Test as he played sensibly on a slow pitch and took his time to score runs which helped him to get to his 2nd Test Century. Pujara and Kohli are very good young talent and they should be given more opportunities because they will improve with experience.

Yuvraj Singh was not able to play spin well under pressure and i think it is because his defence is not that good . So, when good quality spinners are bowling and Yuvraj wants to stay on the crease , he is not successful as he is not able to defend for a long time.

MS Dhoni played a great knock of 99 Runs in the 4th Test and showed us his other side of the game where he didnot go for the big strokes and played for consolidating at the crease. He didnot do that well with the bat in the 1st 3 Test Matches.

So if we summarise the batting of the middle order in this series. The main worry is that they didnot perform well together in an innings. If 1 batsman played well , the others failed which clearly showed us that why Indians were not able to make big partnership which is very important to win a test match.

Q 3. What is Coach Duncan Fletcher doing?

Ans- Indian Team Coach has also come under criticism because after he has been given the post of the coach , India's performance has declined and the main worry is Indian Team is losing many test matches. I think Coach is not doing his job in a good manner . He should be making some alternate game plans when team is not doing well and when we see the body language of Team India we see the aggression missing which we saw in the 2011 world cup and before that and it was due to coach gary kirsten as he motivated the team well. So , Time has come to change the coach. He is clearly not doing his work for which he has been assigned by the BCCI.

 There are also many other questions that people are asking but i have just tried to answer some main topics. After losing this test series , i am sure the BCCI , Selectors and the players will take test matches seriously. Players will know that it is not that easy to win a test match against a good quality side even if you are playing at Home.

So, I am very Sure that MS Dhoni and his team will bounce back in the test series vs Australia in February. They are also playing T20's and ODI's vs England and Pakistan in the coming days. We know that performance of Team India is very good when it comes to ODI's and T20's .If India wins the majority of those matches then i am sure they will take that confidence in the test series vs Australia.