As I am sitting in Sydney, in front of my TV, waiting for the Boxing Day Test to begin, I can't but miss Peter Roebuck's article in the Sydney Morning Herald. For the last 9 summers, I have read every single Peter Roebuck article and more often than not agreed with him. Here is my attempt to write an article in a similar vein.
The title would read "The late of two mis-selections". Lets start with Australia. The selection of Ricky Ponting and the omissions of Simon Katich and Usman Khwaja defy logic. Ricky Ponting is long past his due by date and should have gracefully retired. That the selectors led by Inverarity have lacked the courage to tap Ponting on his shoulder may come back to haunt the Aussies. He is a sitting duck and I for one won't be surprised if he his Ishant's bunny through this series! Usman Khwaja has shown great technique and deserved to be persisted with. If experience and form is a factor, Simon Katich (based on his average over the last 2 years) should have been an automatic selection! If Australia loses this game, Inverarity and his team have a lot to answer.
A look at the Indian bowling and one is surprised at the Indian selectors selecting a half fit Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma in the same team. Both have them have shown a penchant for falling apart during critical games. God forbid both of them break down during this critical Boxing Day test, and India will be left playing this game with no new ball bowlers. This will lead to Ponting and Hussey coming back to form! If India wanted to play both, it would have been logical for an in-form Irfan Pathan to be selected in the middle order instead of Kohli. This would reduce the pressure on the two frontline bowlers while giving a solid five man bowling attack. Irfan is not a bad middle order batsman - remember the 50 he scored as a opener in his man-of-the-match performance at the Perth Test in 2009?
If India fail to win their forst ever series in Australia against a fragile Australian team that has got out to 47 against SA and lost their first home test against NZ since 1986, Srikanth and Dhoni will need to take the blame.
According to me, the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma and the frailty of the Australian batting order will determine the course of this match and the series. Sit back and relax and wait for the first ball to be bowled!
Sai Mahesh
Sydney
The title would read "The late of two mis-selections". Lets start with Australia. The selection of Ricky Ponting and the omissions of Simon Katich and Usman Khwaja defy logic. Ricky Ponting is long past his due by date and should have gracefully retired. That the selectors led by Inverarity have lacked the courage to tap Ponting on his shoulder may come back to haunt the Aussies. He is a sitting duck and I for one won't be surprised if he his Ishant's bunny through this series! Usman Khwaja has shown great technique and deserved to be persisted with. If experience and form is a factor, Simon Katich (based on his average over the last 2 years) should have been an automatic selection! If Australia loses this game, Inverarity and his team have a lot to answer.
A look at the Indian bowling and one is surprised at the Indian selectors selecting a half fit Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma in the same team. Both have them have shown a penchant for falling apart during critical games. God forbid both of them break down during this critical Boxing Day test, and India will be left playing this game with no new ball bowlers. This will lead to Ponting and Hussey coming back to form! If India wanted to play both, it would have been logical for an in-form Irfan Pathan to be selected in the middle order instead of Kohli. This would reduce the pressure on the two frontline bowlers while giving a solid five man bowling attack. Irfan is not a bad middle order batsman - remember the 50 he scored as a opener in his man-of-the-match performance at the Perth Test in 2009?
If India fail to win their forst ever series in Australia against a fragile Australian team that has got out to 47 against SA and lost their first home test against NZ since 1986, Srikanth and Dhoni will need to take the blame.
According to me, the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma and the frailty of the Australian batting order will determine the course of this match and the series. Sit back and relax and wait for the first ball to be bowled!
Sai Mahesh
Sydney
No comments:
Post a Comment