SRI LANKA TRI-SERIES - IND VS NZ

The first thing that came to your mind after the match was :- Mahendra Singh Dhoni needs rest! I am not suggesting he is out of form but if you overuse a machine for a long time, it is bound to give away.Sachin has been opting to rest in various series and Gambhir, Ishant,Harbhajan and Yuvraj have also been rested to a certain extent.Its time Dhoni realized he needs rest if he wants to carry on with his good work.Coming to the match,the toss was won by the NZ captain Ross Taylor and he showed no hesitation in deciding to bat first as has been the norm at Dambulla. Praveen Kumar was brilliant in his first spell,making early inroads into the NZ top order.Nehra looked a bit edgy and out of practice,regularly spraying the bowl on the leg side.Mithun started well but his lack of consistency and variations meant he failed to provide India a breakthrough.Dhoni did well to introduce Ojha into the attack after Kumar appeared to be getting a little tired.It was the perfect situation for Ojha to bowl as NZ were on the mat and looking to rebuild their innings. The best way to disorient Ojha is to attack him and that is what Taylor and Styris tried though they were veritably beaten by the flight and spin Ojha was able to generate.

NZ certainly had done their homework as they looked to attack the
fifth bowler.Once again, the quality and class of Jadeja was on view
as NZ batsmen smashed him in his very first over, forcing Dhoni to
introduce Yuvraj.Its high time the team management and selection
committee realized how futile and illogical it is to select a player
like Jadeja.Irfan Pathan is a far better option as he adds much more
to the batting depth and there is hardly any difference these days in his and Jadeja's bowling.Indian fielding standards were not
disconcerting at all! A missed stumping of Styris by Dhoni and a
dropped catch of Taylor by Raina were the highlights of the Indian
fielding effort.Raina's effort to catch the ball certainly spoke
volumes of him being a touch over-confident as he could easily have
got two hands to the ball and yet decided to go for the catch
one-handed.After quite a few play and misses, finally,NZ batsmen were able to time the ball off Ojha. Dhoni certainly missed a trick here as he removed Ojha from the attack to introduce Sehwag in the 25th over.He set a defensive field which was capitalized on by the NZ duo of Taylor and Styris as they smartly found the gaps for singles and twos.Giving Ojha another over would have done India no harm, especially as the two batsmen were looking to attack and a wicket there would have given India a big advantage.

It was outstanding captaincy by Ross Taylor to take the batting
powerplay in the 31st over.More often than not, Captains tend to save the powerplay for the last ten overs by which time they loose a couple of wickets and hence, the initiative they had.This move was an example for the likes of Ricky Ponting, ridiculously considered to be one of the best captains.Dhoni did well to hand Ojha the ball in the powerplay but it was a poor move to bring on Jadeja.Sehwag and Yuvraj had bowled far better than Jadeja and India paid for this silly move.Ojha aslo went for runs but the batsmen had to take risks on his bowling unlike of Jadeja's who offered them freebies. Finally,Nehra was introduced but his inconsistency meant NZ capitalized big time in the batting powerplay.One wonders what Yuvraj Singh was doing at backward point for major part of the innings!Yuvraj's fielding standards have dipped precipitously in the past few years and it was a mistake to have him there, clearly suggested by the number of times he fumbled.Mithun walked off the field, compounding problems for Dhoni who now had to get 6 extra overs out of his part time bowlers.Luckily for India, NZ lost its way in the last 10 overs and were restricted to under 300.Still, a score of 288 at Dambulla is a captain's delight and NZ camp would certainly have felt elated after their batting effort helped on its way by some poor fielding display by India.

Batting under lights has never been a cakewalk at Dambulla.But the
pathetic and grotesque show the Indian batsmen put up was a big
disappointment.One of the best batting talents in India, Rohit Sharma poked at a ball way outside his off stump to provide Taylor with some catching practice.Sehwag looked to be a bit edgy and was unable to deal with the bounce the NZ medium pacers were able to
generate.Karthik looked good while his brief stay at the wicket and
might consider himself unlucky to be given out LBW as the replays
clearly indicated the ball would have missed the leg stump.One does
not expect a negative move from Dhoni who has always been aggressive
and positive as a captain.To send in Raina at No.5 was a big bumble
considering the swing and extra bounce NZ bowlers were generating.
Dhoni has been the backbone of Indian batting lineup and has taken up the role of anchoring the innings since the time Dravid was not
considered good enough to play in the ODI team. With India having lost early wickets,someone was needed to stabilize the innings and Dhoni was the best option unlike Raina, who likes to play his shots, no matter what the situation demands.Raina went trying to hit a ball for a boundary and Dhoni followed as a misunderstanding ensued between him and Yuvraj.To be fair to Dhoni,it was Yuvraj's call
who sent him back and a marvelous fielding effort by Tuffey meant the game was as good as over.

Yuvraj hung around for sometime before perishing.It was a memorable
day for Jadeja, who was the top scorer for India with 20 runs! In
Jadeja's case, the quality and the time and pace at which the runs
came hardly matter.Kane Williamson, the debutant, was made to look
like a genuine off spinner as he bowled to Jadeja and the tail. Finally, the agony ended as the Indian innings folded disgracefully at 88.Its high time BCCI took some harsh steps and then,stuck to them (Unlike the case of Yuvraj who was axed only to be brought back after one series).Performance should be the main criteria for a players selection and the players should be strictly advised not
to participate at all in reality shows and not in more than a couple
of advertisements per year.Irrespective of this match,the conditions
at Dambulla certainly call for some criticism.Luck plays a far more
significant role instead of the game in deciding the eventual outcome of the match.The light conditions are way below par and ICC should look into this matter.Otherwise, the audience has little reason to watch cricket, littered by Royal Stag and MC Dowell's commercials in between the play, instead of football or tennis where the entertainment is hardly marred due to the surface and conditions under which the game is played.Its time ICC proved it is a cricket governing body and took the appropriate steps to improve the standard of cricket.