Sri Lanka's fingers on India's throat

Is this test match between Sri Lanka and India a boring one? Not at all. What we are witnessing is that quintessential test match tactic: strangling your opposition (or cooking them over a slow fire, take your pick of the appropriately purple expression). Sri Lanka are now 165 runs ahead with two days to play. They have the world's best offspinner in their side, and a captain desperate to get his country's first win in India. And they also know how to pull off a win like this. They did it against England in 1998 after all.

In that Oval test, England made 445 batting first (and took 158 overs to do it). Sri Lanka replied with 591 (and took 156 overs about it). Late on the fourth day, England resumed and got stuck. They took 129 overs to make 181 and succumbed by ten wickets late on the fifth day. Murali took sixteen wickets in the match, including nine in the second innings (Stewart was run out). England made two big mistakes: they didn't make enough in the first innings (445 was about 100 short of safety) and in the second innings they were far too cautious. India have already committed the first of these errors (and they have already conceded a bigger lead than England did).

There the similarities should stop. India should, and will, play Murali better. They will not be as cautious as England were (admittedly, that's not saying much). But facing a lead of 250 on the fourth day of a test is never a comfortable experience. It won't be for the Indian team.

This match has been cooked up nicely. It could still turn into a draw, but it will take some battling. Sri Lanka's decision to leave out Mendis could look worse by the time the game is over.

A familiar sight

A winter's late afternoon. Indian bowlers, wheeling away, over after over. Touring batsmen, grinding away. The field, spread out. Lazy throws back to the wicketkeeper. I think I'll go back to bed.

India versus Sri Lanka (late 2nd day)

From the comments section of the last post (written in anticipation of the 2nd day's play):

The Indian score as it stands now, could easily turn into a 430 all out

And Sri Lanka have done well so far at 236-3 as play heads into the last half-hour.

This is always a tricky little session of play and the key for the bowling side is to prevent it being a routine playing out of time. The fact that the spinners are on should prevent that from happening, though honestly the fields for neither bowler look particularly aggressive (come to think of it, Harbhajan going round the wicket doesn't strike me as an attacking move). But credit where it's due: Sarmaweera and Jayawardene could have had something to do with the way things are playing out right now.

Time for the morning coffee.

The Wall: Solid, yet not immobile

Rahul Dravid's 177* yesterday will surely rank as one of his best, from an external and internal perspective both. Its not often that a side can finish the day at 385-6 after being 32-4 at one stage. Three batsmen made it possible but Dravid's innings was the most significant. Even more important was the fact that the fightback was not centered around mere wicket preservation; runs were scored too. Dravid and Dhoni scored centuries at a strike rate of 70, which means four runs an over (4.2 if you want to be precise). (I missed most of the day's play but am able to catch up now with the stored replay and highlights; thanks be to the wonders of streaming broadband video). I'd wondered whether Dravid was finished in all forms of cricket; on the evidence of this innings, he most emphatically is not.

When you can have days like this, test cricket will do well. Interestingly, while the morning crowd was not gigantic in numbers, it was loud enough to frame the action appropriately. Watching cricketers in white playing with classical test cricket fields was a reassuring sight, and a good reminder of why I prefer this form of cricket the most: it just looks and feels better, dammit!

A big day

November 15th: six years cigarette-free, 20 years of SRT in test cricket, my dad's birthday. A pretty big day, don't you think?

Serendip to the rescue

Sri Lanka's tour of India is off to a very soggy start. Two days play washed out and it's not clear there will be any play on the third. Thus, the Lankan lads are looking at going into the first test, which starts on the 16th, without any match practice. Two factors combine to make this not into a terribly big deal: tour matches don't seem to have the importance they used to (not in the kind of international calendar we have these days) and the Sri Lankan team is visiting from, well, Sri Lanka, and not England (conditions won't be so terribly unfamiliar to them). They will back their spinners to cause discomfort to the Indians (despite Mendis' decipherment, I'd be very surprised if he is not played with due respect), and they have the bats to exploit the conditions.

Yet, despite this fit with local circumstances, which has also existed in tours previously, Sri Lanka have not won a test in India. This is a rather strange business. The problem, of course, is that they are playing India in the same conditions, which fact suddenly dispels some of the strangeness of this particular achievement. But it does add a little spice to the proceedings, already enlivened by Sangakkara's channeling of the 'final frontier' in his pre-tour interviews.

For their part, the home side is up to it's usual tricks of over-inflated squads with curious selections (Sreesanth, really?) and dubious scheduling decisions (I'd much prefer if tests were only allocated to the big five of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Kolkata and Chennai). Now that Dhoni has lost some of his aura (despite this year's loss of aura in one-day internationals, it will, willy-nilly, infect perceptions of him in test cricket as well), his moves might be watched just a little more closely.

I, for one, am intrigued. My personal battle with the timezones lies ahead.

Recording fielder's statistics

A new post on the need to record fielder's statistics, and how to go about it, is up at Different Strokes.

Giving up and hoping

Yes, its true. I checked out for a while. I've tried on a couple of occasions this year to get excited about T20 cricket. It didn't work in the IPL; it worked in the WC; and it hasn't worked in the Champions League. I think I'm going to give up on club cricket. I'm too much of an old fart clearly. I consider myself a pretty flexible person but I don't think this format will work for me. I've given it a decent shot; time to call curtains.

That said, I'll probably pay some attention to the T&T team in the Champions League, just because it's nice to see a West Indies team do well, and just because Daren Ganga did make a big deal about representing the Windies in this tourney.

That done, the India-Australia ODI series awaits and while I think the seven-match series is typical overkill, I will still catch parts of it. I will be in a much more favorable timezone for part of the series (as I will be traveling in Taiwan for a week) so that should help a little bit.

Unfortunately, I find myself afflicted by a sneaky feeling of hollowness: when the team gathered to play on the world's stage this year, it fell down. I suspect only a test win against the Proteas next year will help. Fingers crossed.

Champions League optimism

Right. Delhi vs. Victoria today, and I'm keen to see how things turn out. The club version of the game as played in the IPL failed to make a fan out of me. I suspect I will be more enthused by the version that features some international edge to it, insofar as I can make some sort of facile nation vs. nation encounter out of it. Delhi vs. Victoria is a particularly clearcut example of that, and it helps that Gambhir and Sehwag are opening. India openers but Delhi boys first.

Go Delhi.

Not masters of their own destiny

Right, so Pakistan have put on a shambolic batting performance against Australia. You'd have to pick the Aussies to go through at this rate. Which means I'll be able to get some work done today. Small mercies.

A downward slide

Things aren't looking good in this India-Australia game. For one thing, India have wasted the good start they got off to; Ishant Sharma has failed to adequately maintain pressure on the Aussie bats; Ricky Ponting is looking set for a big score. To make things worse, it is almost certain that rain will interfere with this game, and the gathering clouds look to be packing the kind of moisture that could easily wipe out an entire game.

Pakistan for the Champions Trophy

Based on what I've seen of the bowling attacks thus far in this Champions Trophy, I'd say Pakistan is the favorite to win. Their indiscipline in bowling wides and no-balls could still sink them, but the variety and skill on display is outstanding.

PS: If there is a weak link in their attack, it is Rana Naved, who has a tendency to pitch far too short at time.

Bravo Andrew Strauss

Bully for Andrew Strauss for injecting some much-needed common sense into the runner's situation in international cricket: no runners when you get a cramp. Strauss draws the absolutely correct distinction between injuries suffered as a result of the particular sporting activity, and something which is a symptom of muscle exhaustion (yes, I'm aware that some injuries are a result of muscle exhaustion as well). For too long, we've been subjected to the ridiculous sight of batsmen essentially saying, "I'd like some assistance please, because I happen to be tired." If you can't continue functioning then it behooves you to leave the field and get medical assistance. Runners for injuries suffered during a game; for everything else, you get a sympathetic look.

A familiar situation

Watching India's incompetent performance on Saturday, and realizing that the Australia game was now a knockout affair, triggered a sneaking feeling: does India always start major tournaments poorly? It seemed to me that the Indian team has a talent for ending up in must-win (or dependent on run-rate) situations very quickly. I wasn't sure, so I went and checked just the World Cups.

The record looks something like this:

• 2007 World Cup - lost to Bangladesh (eventually knocked out in pool round)
  
• 2003 World Cup - beat the Netherlands; lost to Australia in the next, still needed to scramble against Namibia as a result; went on to final
  
• 1999 World Cup - lost to South Africa (eventually knocked out by Australia in second stage)
  
• 1996 World Cup - Beat Kenya, then beat the West Indies (eventually knocked out in semi-finals)
  
• 1992 World Cup - Lost to England, did not qualify for semis
  
• 1987 World Cup - Lost to Australia, knocked out in semis
  
• 1983 World Cup - beat the West Indies, won the cup
  
• 1979 World Cup - lost to West Indies, knocked out in pool round
  
• 1975 World Cup - lost to England, knocked out in pool round
  

Not a pretty sight. In nine world cups, India have only won their opening game three times. Two of those wins have come against minnows, and in one of those occasions, they still painted themselves into a corner by losing the next game. The one time India began their campaign with a win against a major team, they won the cup.

I know this is neither here or there but it was an interesting exercise nevertheless and told me I wasn't completely deranged in thinking the situation India find themselves in today was a familiar one (at least for fans!).

A nice little pressure cooker coming up

Woah. This match between Sri Lanka and England has been surprising in more ways than one. I woke up (yup, I slept in, isn't an academic schedule great?) to find out that Sri Lanka had lost their top-order for very little. Then, we were treated to a very impressive fightback led by Kandamby and Matthews (both of whom, I must say, are rapidly growing in stature, and have become increasingly impressive for their maturity). And just to top things off, Andrew Strauss decides to recall Matthews in a situation where quite honestly, I think he swung to one end of the Aristotelean spectrum of generosity (Onions was clearly not deliberately obstructing Matthews). Had Matthews stuck around, I dare say Strauss would have found the dressing room a pretty uncomfortable place.

Sri Lanka will not put up a huge total (they've been helped by some not very good English bowling) but I think England will not find the chase easy. This could be the game we've been waiting for.

The Windies make me want to go back to work

One of the most depressing things about current international cricket is the state of the West Indies side. They are a basket case, and the first five overs of their Champions Trophy game against Pakistan confirms it. Three wickets down, and its going to need a miracle from here to make a contest of it. Pakistan have a strong bowling attack; the shots played today would have resulted in wickets even if they had been bowling at half-strength.

Yesterday, I couldn't watch much of the South Africa-SL game because of a bad broadband connection at work. Today, I have the time and a good connection (at home), but this is on display. I think I'll tune out, and do some work instead. Never thought the day would come, but here it is.

Dhoni the canny (sorry, I meant Dravid)

This is how reputations get made. We have Nasser talking up Dhoni as a captain on Sky, talking about how well Dhoni has used the bowling powerplay in the past, because "there was one match, I think Goa, when England were going well, and Dhoni just held the powerplay back, and it was so hot, and their batsmen got tired, and then when the bowling powerplay was finally taken, they were too exhausted to take advantage."

Yeah. The tactics sound very canny. Except that the captain of India in the game Nasser was talking was Rahul Dravid (it was in Kochi, not Goa, but that is a minor error). In the match in question, the fourth one-day international of the 2006 ODI series, England seemed to have got off to a flyer, but then slowed, and finally lost their way, especially when the bowling powerplay claimed the wickets of Flintoff and Pietersen.

MSD, thou art blessed.

Viru holds forth

Virender Sehwag has been providing some entertainment over at Cricinfo in the course of his interview (by Nagraj Gollapudi). There are tons of nuggets scattered throughout the piece; here is a short, sweet one:

Did Greg Chappell give you any sort of valuable tips?

No.

Read the whole piece; I've linked to part II above. You can find the link for the first part on the same page.