India goes through a Sri Lankan nightmare
Posted on Aug 11, 2008 by Scorpicity |It’s been a long time since India truly went through a Sri Lankan nightmare. The last time around was when the likes of Jayasuriya in his peak form was carting the Indian bowlers into retirement and the crafty Aravinda milked them dry out of anything that flowed through their nipples. Surely Venkatesh Prasad would fully endorse this view.
This time around, Sri Lankan quite easily beat India leaving them with a rather unique trauma of succumbing to spin. Well played Sri Lanka… Mendis or not, there were more positives from the performances of the overall team that quite significantly made them the better of the two teams.
India with its fabulous and highly experienced batting and bowling line-up got kayoed by this team which one can see has just two experienced hands in the batting with Kumar and Jayawardene and two in the bowling with Vaas and Murali. The story is about all their new in-experienced team members that contributed their part at various times to snatch victory for them and also very clearly reflected the failure of the experienced Indian bowling attack to cut through them. The batting may have failed due to the sheer genius attacking duo of Murali and Mendis. But what explains India’s bowling attack that was relatively poo-poed by an inexperienced batting line-up? The word ‘unimaginative’ sums up their performances.
Harbhajan told the media yesterday that it was the exceptional performance from Mendis that did India in and if it was not for him, it would have been a different story. I really wish he keeps his trap shut and learn from Mendis and not talk in a pompous glorification of past quality performances. Not quite long ago, Harbhajan was like Mendis… always attacking the stump with the maximum probability in favour of taking a wicket. Now he is a redundant, mouthing no-brainer with a complete lack of imagination in his bowling, where he is stuck with two idiotic lines of angling the ball outside off-stump or firing it up their pads. Contrary to what Harbhajan and a lot of people feel, India was also terribly let down by their bowling and fielding. Mendis was not just the only difference. How do you explain so many wickets falling to the newbie bowler Prasad, who bowled pretty ordinarily? Was there anything exceptional in his bowling? How can Harbhajan explain how their tail enders piled on this many runs in the end, when the Indian bowlers were in operation? So please cut all the garbage talk of Mendis being the sole difference in the results. Sri lanka was still better than India in “all” departments whether Mendis or not.
As for Mendis, the million dollar question is what if people figure out his release in the near future. Seriously how much of a difference is that going to contribute to? Shane Warne, Murali, Harbhajan and Kumble’s actions are totally figured out and yet they have picked so many wickets so far in their careers. The point is that Mendis will continue to do fabulously well, as long as he continues to bowl in this line and length he showed in this series… always at you, at the stump maximizing his probability of taking a wicket. Irrespective of how you figure out an action, it will always be tough to play him.
The golden question for me is how the rest of the world face up to him in tests and how he handles the pressure of his fame.
As for the famed Indian batting attack, my forks and spoons are not out for them and will wait for the Australian series, if ever the selection policy is to remain as it is today. However I was deeply disappointed with Dravid in this series for the fact that 8 months down the line, he is still succumbing to that incoming delivery either getting bowled or trapped before and shows that the big crack in the wall has not been worked on. For sure he knew he was cornered with very failure, because his second innings had some purpose and grit and it looked like he made a conscious decision to get out of this rut which has stuck on to him for this long. No… not just because he scored some runs but for the manner in which he scored that looked heartening for otherwise yet an another bleak and highly disappointing series for Dravid.
The joke of this series was perhaps on the thought that Mendis was part of the Kolkatta Knight Riders in the IPL. Now I would like to see Sharukh Khan’s dancing gig now!
by Ottayan, on August 11 2008 @ 6:55 pm
We were out played in every department of the game.
by Naked Cricket, on August 11 2008 @ 8:01 pm
on the 3rd day india needed to scrap instead they were crap. they could’ve pushed Lanka much more, but they looked like players from 11 different zones - doubt any one player was in the zone throughout - even Sehwag and Gambhir, who were in the form of their lives, didn’t want to extend themselves. gambhir for one, looks like he only wants to bat with viru uncle. and for me, he is still a 50s man, no diff from an akash chopra.
by Soulberry, on August 12 2008 @ 12:37 am
India never plans for Lanka…lanka always plan in great detail and over time to down big mythological bro, India, at every opportunity they can create. Sometimes the do not succeed but often this mismatch of temperament comes off spectacularly.
by Commonfan, on August 12 2008 @ 7:40 am
Scorpi you know who’s laughing more than SRK - its Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Karthik and Parthiv have had a miserable time and no one is going to be talking about replacing Dhoni for some time.
And the others also save for Viru and Gambhir look like idiots now. They had boasted before the series that test criket is a different ball game and they will figure out Mendis. Atleast they had the sense to shut up after the failure. Harbhajan obviously doesnt know when to kep quiet. As for differences, the difference was that all eleven players were making meaningful contributions for one side and not for the other.
How does the team leave him free after the match is over. I thought by now they would have been putting him in a straitjacket and plastering his mouth with Fevicol as soon as the last ball was bowled.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 9:47 am
Otts… while there was so much talk about Australia being the final frontier for the fab 4, the fact of the matter is they have never conquered Sri Lanka at home since turning truly professional and never will have a chance now.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 9:48 am
NC a golden question… will gambhir remain as a fifties man… the positives though he has started well… may need some time.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 9:49 am
Soulberry… a very good point… Look at the way, they planned the fielding positions and bowling for each player specifically… the Indians were too overconfident before the series no doubt.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 9:52 am
Avnish… the best part is Kumble following with more garbage. He went on record stating that Mendis was no mystery… strange considering somebody piled up over 25 wickets against them. And extremely strange considering Kumble in spite of being a spinner cannot at all read most of the other spinners in the world when batting.
by Naked Cricket, on August 12 2008 @ 11:22 am
scorpi - Kumble had a miserable series, his woeful form effected his overall persona on the field. Didn’t look like he believed, and with Jumbo that’s a big deal - even when asking for referrals absolutely no authority. For instance, a Warnapura lbw early in the piece y’day - if i was 3rd ump, just looking at him, i’d say not out. Of course, he never asked.
He’s aged dramatically on this tour, as has Dravid - and to think that they both added a few years in the IPL.
As for his batting, this series has ensured the Srinathisation of Kumble.
by Straight Point, on August 12 2008 @ 1:16 pm
i don’t know or not sure why MSD should be labeled as smart here for avoiding tests…
will his failures in ODIs wont be scrutinized…i think he will attract more if he fails coz then we all would be sitting on head saying thats why you missed tests…if only he will be under more pressure to perform…while had he failed in tests he could have said everybody failed why me? think over it…
coming to medis…i think your is the best remark i have come across scorpy…that even if you pick his action you still have to play well to score…like you said about murli and warne and if i may add macgrath…we all knew whats coming of him and still he took wickets coz he consistently and relentlessly attacked batsmen and made them surrender their wickets…
mendis is same…more than his varieties his ability to attack stump all time makes batmen feel that they are never really in…you miss i hit…kinda thing…
i am glad that series ended this way…coz had we managed to draw (or god forbid won) this series all the issues with fab four and kumble would have been swept under the carpet…
now its not so its time to stop for a breath…and take stock of things with cool minds…
the next series selection is going to be under new selection regime…and i am interested already with what vision they will take over….
by Wasim, on August 12 2008 @ 1:55 pm
Does Mendis turns the ball as much as Warne and Murali?
I guess not! So he won’t be that effective if his grip is followed.
by Soulberry, on August 12 2008 @ 3:38 pm
Does Mendis turns the ball as much as Warne and Murali?
I guess not! So he won’t be that effective if his grip is followed.
That’s true Wasim bhai. But it is often difficult to make out his action from the front as compared to from behind. Of course the clear leg-spin is simpler.
The degree of movement he achieves either way from te same looking flick, is enough to miss the bat’s edge and yet remain straight enough to thud into an LBW.
His most dangerous ball is this which can move either way…also the one where he is able to vary pace and drift by changing the angle of flick to alittle more vertical…the ball then hangs just that bit extra in the air to induce a batting error. When he makes the flick more horizontal, he is able to get a little extra speed and movement either way.
I’ll definitely try and make it to a Kotla net session if he comes with KKRs to Delhi next season…just to observe more closely.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:41 pm
NC.. its been quite some time since I saw Kumble as useless as this in tests… for once he failed totally after so many dog years of winning matches almost single handedly… So we could pass this off for Kumble as one of the bad days as a bowler… the law of averages do catch up with them.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:43 pm
SP… am extremely keen to know about the next selection regime and their policies… will they be bold or will they plan a farewell after the Australian series.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:45 pm
But I really hope no drastic steps collectively are taken just because of this series loss.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:49 pm
Wasim… I don’t quite agree because neither does Kumble… nor did a saqlain? In fact this trait is the one which makes him really dangerous… through slight or rather significant enough deviations right on the stump. And remember, he does get about one or two deliveries in an over to viscously turn big! And funny thing is when you look at the slow motion cam of those deliveries that turn big, there is no prominent seam opposition… it still looks scrambled like his other deliveries… tough. It’s all up to him to reach bigger heights from hence forth.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:50 pm
Soulberry exactly.. he actually has a significant deviation in his spin… at least much bigger than Kumble’s.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 4:52 pm
And the other thing is while the world concentrates on Mendis, they will forget Murali who will sneak through like in this series.
by Wasim, on August 12 2008 @ 9:00 pm
SB,
He has only three distinct grips which can be easily picked up from the front, I am only continuing to defend my point because I also used to bowl that carom ball finger spin, and I have played many bowlers in Pakistan who used to bowl the same delivery infact some of them had the ability to turn the carom ball either way its very hard to play and be successful against a bowler like him if you try to read him off the pitch if you pick him wrong you do not have time to adjust like we saw many Indian batsmen struggling to adjust their strokes against him ,the most visible sign when he is bowling that ball is that his pinky, ring and middle finger will be raised, he has a conventional grip for the off spin, his doosra is also conventional bowled from the back of the hand.
Ofcourse he will continue to take wickets but he will be less effective.I do not agree that he turns the ball as much as Warne or Murali,and Kumble is a differrent bowler altogether he bowls faster and relies on accuracy and slight movement.
by scorpicity, on August 12 2008 @ 9:43 pm
Hmmm Wasim… his style is an almost carbon copy of the old kumble… though I must say he extracts better deviation than Kumble. One thing I know for sure about this set of Indian batsmen is that they don’t read off the pitch otherwise they wouldn’t have survived or got this tag of being the best players of spin in the world. In contrast, the ODI team with a.la.a dhoni basically read off the pitch and hence their track record suggest how vulnerable they are to quality spin bowling.
by Naked Cricket, on August 15 2008 @ 12:48 am
scorpi - write to me at bcciwrites@gmail.com and we’ll talk about bcci
by Wasim, on August 17 2008 @ 11:43 am
Scorpi
Sorry for replying late, I was on a brief vacation, I think Mendis is an unconventional bowler and all the teams will struggle against him,I would not blame the Indian youngsters as the seniors also faltered and so did the Pakistan team in Asia cup, and the reason he has been troubling everybody is only because of his several variations his doosra and off spin are bowled in the same manner as any other off spinner his carom ball is the one which is mystery for most of the batsmen and causes added uncertainty sometimes it remains straight and sometimes it spins away from the RHB, his run up, delivery stride,release of the ball and his grip they are all different when he bowls this ball, he runs like a medium pacer to get momentum as he cannot control the speed and flight of the ball with just a flick of finger so he has to run a bit faster,if a batsman reads these changes he will handle him with much ease rather than guessing him off the pitch, one wrong judgment and the batsman will be in trouble, in order to marginalize him to a normal off spinner the batsmen will just have to read and predict his carom ball.
He will still take wickets but won’t be as lethal as he is right now. Unpredictability is the biggest weapon of a spin bowler.
If he had the ability to turn the ball either way with the same action only then the batsmen would have been left with only one choice to read him off the pitch, his carom ball either remains straight or moves away he cannot bowl off spin with the same action. I am sure he will try to master it in future, I have seen finger spin bowlers who can spin both ways with same action and they are completely unpredictable, lets pray Mendis fails to master Off spin with the carom ball.
by scorpicity, on August 18 2008 @ 9:42 am
Wasim… how was your holiday? Hope you had some good times. Let’s see how things pan out… I actually hope this guy goes on to become a great spinner. The ODIs start today… fingers crossed to see how the younger ones take him on.
by scorpicity, on August 18 2008 @ 9:43 am
NC… have you become a full time bcci consultant LOL? Will note it down… cheers