FIRST T-20 - IND VS ZIM

So, India wins the first of the T-20 matches against Zimbabwe, much to the relief of their many fans across the globe. The Indian selectors took their resolve to amaze further by selecting an even more imbalanced squad having 4 frontline spinners to choose from.There were days when fielding 7 batsmen was the winning formula for India. Things certainly have changed, atleast for this tournament, as India decided to go in with 3 spinners, 1 bowling all rounder and 2 medium pacers, meaning only 5 batsmen, including the keeper could make it to the playing 11.

Coming to the first innings, the most refreshing bit was to see Indian quicks try to bowl yorkers at the fag end.Other than this, the googly bowled by Chawla to get the ominous looking Chibhabha deserves a special mention.I may sound a bit harsh but there was hardly anything else praise worthy. Zimbabwean batsmen played a more significant role than Indian bowlers in their downfall! Zimbabwe lost regular wickets, batsmen like Taylor and Taibu resulting in their own doom and letting their team down. The best performance by an Indian bowler (P.Ojha) in T-20 in terms of economy rate against a Zimbabwe side, certainly not the best in their history, is nothing to be too happy about.It would have been interesting to see how Indian spinners dealt with the rip-roaring Zim batsmen had they not lost wickets to some silly shots.Seeing both the Indian new ball bowlers put a lot of effort into every delievery was nice but one is not encouraged when we look at the number of Indian fast bowlers (Munaf,RP,Sreesanth etc) who burst on the international scene with a bang and then faded away.Ashok Dinda overstepped a couple of times, the follow up deliveries being far below standard. Ashwin really needs to add a few more variations in his armory and has a long way to go in perfecting his doosra.Vinay Kumar does not seem to know about the word variation! A good example was in the over when he was taken apart by Chimbhabha.Its good if u can bowl at a good length consistently but you certainly need to vary it a bit in the T-20 format to keep the batsmen guessing. Giving Yusuf the bowl in the sixteenth over was not the greatest of moves by a captain, though Zim was not in a position to capitalise by then. Indian fielding was as usual, the highlights being a couple of missed run out chances and a misfield by Ashwin near the boundary.

Indian players, sans Sachin, Dravid and Dhoni, seem to have perfected the art of making a game out of nothing.Naman Ojha looks utterly under prepared for international cricket. He seems to be vlnerable to the incoming delivery, which might have something to do with his stance.Murali Vijay was fooled by an excellent slower bowl by Mpofu.Shots like those played by Raina and Yusuf look stunning when they come off but make you look like a clown if you get out. Suresh Raina seems to just play his shots, no matter what the situation demands. Considering the fact India had lost quick wickets and fielded only five batsmen, a bit more discreet shot selection was required from him.A couple of his shots came off but he played one too many. Stats would indicate that Yusuf played a blinder of an innings at a staggering strike rate of 154.16! But the truth is he does not know any other way to play!! At 48 for 4 and the next batsmen to follow being Chawla, India needed a solid partnership. Wonder what would have happened if he too fell prey to a mishit like Raina.. Kohli needs to work on his patience levels. He seems to get agitated every now and then when the boundaries dry up and hence, is inapt at anchoring the innings presently.The result might have been different had Zimbabwe been more aggressive in the field and their batsmen not let their team down. Anyways, a victory by any Indian cricket team has far more consequences than that by any other cricket team. It covers the boards baffling selections, the low standard of Indian domestic cricket,the shameful defeat of this very team in the ODI series, the perennial fielding problems and the scarcity of genuine fast bowlers in India! :P