2nd Day's Play - JW's notes
* We are a bowler short - only 3 for Zaheer is in no form, neither being able to contain, nor take wickets. Harbhajan came back strongly in the latter half, but Kumble was erratic. Pathan needs more support at the other end.
* We didn't have a proper plan to counter Gilchrist. But it must be said both Clarke & he played brilliantly, and sometimes you can't do anything about that. +ve was that we wrapped up the tail which is known to wag.
* Chopra, Dravid fell to bad misjudgments. Ganguly & VVS fell to really good balls, not much they could do. Yuvraj & Sehwag leave me fuming. Sehwag played a similar uppish stroke over midwicket a few overs before he got out. Yuvraj once again fishes, and he's been gone that way in all forms of cricket.
* Our attack-prone batsmen need to learn from Gilchrist's tactics while batting - play yourself in early. currently our best defensive batsmen are Rahul & Sachin, so the loss of Sachin is hurting us in that aspect. I though the captain played well.
* McGrath was disciplined as ever, and sadly none of our batsmen had the main weapon to counter him - sheer mental strength to see him off. Esp. given that Gillespie was not doing well, and we were able to play Warne well (who apart from his magic ball wasn't that threatening). Kasprowicz is one of the danger men.
* Next day's plan: Pathan & Patel will put a price on their wickets, so we'll see how far they get. Will the aussies enforce a follow-on? Probably not since there's so much time left in the match. This will mean their batting order will reshuffle, can't see Gilly coming in at 7! Will have to try and work him out early. The aussies have been trying to get us to play shots early at the opp end to McGrath, but Gilly has been cautious - so we may not be able to do that to him. We need a bowler to bowl a tight defensive spell.
* Inspite of what people say, some of our batsmen are getting there - VVS & Rahul will fight back soon. Ganguly has to stay at 4 (a decent move on the 2nd day as he is in better form and had to assert his leadership), but should we try Yuvi as the opener this time as we always threatened? Think of 2001 (for whatever it's worth).
* Try not to think of the S-word & the R-word!
* We didn't have a proper plan to counter Gilchrist. But it must be said both Clarke & he played brilliantly, and sometimes you can't do anything about that. +ve was that we wrapped up the tail which is known to wag.
* Chopra, Dravid fell to bad misjudgments. Ganguly & VVS fell to really good balls, not much they could do. Yuvraj & Sehwag leave me fuming. Sehwag played a similar uppish stroke over midwicket a few overs before he got out. Yuvraj once again fishes, and he's been gone that way in all forms of cricket.
* Our attack-prone batsmen need to learn from Gilchrist's tactics while batting - play yourself in early. currently our best defensive batsmen are Rahul & Sachin, so the loss of Sachin is hurting us in that aspect. I though the captain played well.
* McGrath was disciplined as ever, and sadly none of our batsmen had the main weapon to counter him - sheer mental strength to see him off. Esp. given that Gillespie was not doing well, and we were able to play Warne well (who apart from his magic ball wasn't that threatening). Kasprowicz is one of the danger men.
* Next day's plan: Pathan & Patel will put a price on their wickets, so we'll see how far they get. Will the aussies enforce a follow-on? Probably not since there's so much time left in the match. This will mean their batting order will reshuffle, can't see Gilly coming in at 7! Will have to try and work him out early. The aussies have been trying to get us to play shots early at the opp end to McGrath, but Gilly has been cautious - so we may not be able to do that to him. We need a bowler to bowl a tight defensive spell.
* Inspite of what people say, some of our batsmen are getting there - VVS & Rahul will fight back soon. Ganguly has to stay at 4 (a decent move on the 2nd day as he is in better form and had to assert his leadership), but should we try Yuvi as the opener this time as we always threatened? Think of 2001 (for whatever it's worth).
* Try not to think of the S-word & the R-word!
posted by J Ramanand at 9:45 PM
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