Emmanuel Adebayor continued his rich vein of form in the league, as he score twice in an emphatic 3-0 away win for the Gunners. Eduardo scored a stunning goal in between the Adebayor goals. Manchester City never looked like troubling the visitors, and Sven Goran Eriksson had very little positives to pick up from a game in which his side was clearly the second best.
The double strike took Adebayor’s goal tally of the season to 21. After a thoroughly professional display in which Arsenal displayed their trademark style of football, full of deft passes and pace, all Arsene Wenger had to do was wait and watch the Manchester United match.
Before the match, United had dominated over the spurs for six years. The red devils had scored goals in abundance against the north London club; nine in the last season. Just last Sunday, they won 3-1 at Old Trafford in the FA Cup fourth round match. But the Spurs would have nothing of history, and decided that they would more than just make up the numbers.
Throughout the entire game, it was clear, and surprising, that the home team looked the better of the two. Dimitar Berbatov opened the scoring in the 20th minute, albeit a little luckily, but there was no denying the fact that the Spurs deserved the lead. United never really came close to scoring , despite a spirited second half performance. Tottenham, in the meantime, caused loads of concern with the pace of Aaron Lennon and Steed Malbranque, coupled with the clinical touches of Berbatov and Tom Huddlestone.
Sir Alex Ferguson grew more and more desperate as time wore on, and made several tactical changes; one involving playing Rooney as a winger. But at the end of 90 minutes, the scoreline still read 1-0. It was only in the 93rd minute that Carlos Tevez grabbed an equalizer, and with it, a solitary point for United. But the draw meant that United slipped to second spot in the standings.
So, it now seems that the Spurs have done a huge favour to the Gunners, something the Blues could not replicate for the Red Devils. With a two point advantage, Arsenal will be hoping that their winning streak continues till the end of the season. Man U however, will have other plans, and they have enough quality to bounce back emphatically from defeat. The title race is on between two Champion teams, and both know that a draw at this stage is as good as defeat. Who will eventually be crowned champions? Time will tell. Sit back and enjoy the action.
The Indians have decided to choose youth over experience by leaving out Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly from the squad. Yuvraj Singh struggled in the two tests that he played, and Zaheer Khan and R P Singh are out due to injury. Also, the remainder of the team comprises of players who hardly have any experience playing in Australia, as was on show in the T20 match. Mahender Singh Dhoni has got his way as far as the team selection goes, and now it is up to the team to deliver.
What complicates the situation is that, by unceremoniously dumping the “seniors” from the squad, the inexperienced Dhoni seems to have shot himself in the foot. Whatever happens in the series, the selection panel cannot be blamed too much, as it was Dhoni’s vociferousness that got him his team. Even Anil Kumble didn’t seem too happy with what had transpired in the meeting when the team was decided. Dhoni has gone for broke; some may say he has decided to put his entire team through a test of fire.
Another factor that tilts the scales against Dhoni at the moment is that the third team in the tri series is Sri Lanka. The last time India played the same series, they were joined by Zimbabwe, which had meant that they were more or less assured of a spot in the best of three finals. This time, considering the force Australia are at home, and the force Sri Lanka have become under the astute captaincy of Jayawardene, things will not be so easy.
So in a nutshell, a road of thorns lies ahead for Dhoni. It may be asking too much from a young wicketkeeper to shoulder the responsibilities of the entire team. But considering the fact that there really is no one else in the team capable enough to do that, he might well have to go through with it. Maybe, just maybe, he might be sending out silent prayers to the Almighty, hoping that Yuvraj Singh hits a purple patch, or virtually each and every one of his decisions go fully according to plan. Things have gone according to his caprices till date anyway.
If the Indians manage to bag the series, or even put up a good enough fight, then the entire country will laud Mahender Singh Dhoni’s attitude, courage, premonition, call it what you may. But a performance along the lines of what was on view this Friday, and he would experience the “hero to zero” free-fall first hand. The bells have not yet begun to toll for the seniors in the Indian side, who will be watching the matches live from the comforts of their homes.
The rise of Serbia as a tennis power has been phenomenal. Just in the past year and a half, players like Ana Ivanovic, Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic have emerged out of the blue and taken the tennis world by storm. So meteoric has been the ascent of Djokovic , that he was repeatedly being touted as the man capable of beating Federer, more capable than Rafael Nadal even. In the Australian Open semi finals, he did exactly that. By beating Roger Federer in straight sets, he not only proved to the world that the reign of the Swiss may be coming to an end, but also emerged as the No.1 contender for the top spot. Only one man stands between him and his first Grand Slam title: an unseeded young Frenchman.
If Djokovic’s emergence has had the pundits stand up and take notice, that of Jo-Wilfred Tsonga has had them stare in disbelief. People have egged, cheered and applauded him as he has waylaid one big name after another. His energy, determination and fearlessness has seen him pack off Mikail Youzhny and Rafael Nadal in straight sets, and shockingly enter the finals of the first Grand Slam of the year.
So it all boils down to Sunday. Will the emerging giant stamp his authority on the hard courts of the Rod Laver Arena? Or will he fall to the Giant Killer who has been living a dream? Will it be the smooth and powerful Serb with his big serves? Or will it be the exuberant, indefatigable Frenchman with nothing to lose? Time will have all the answers.
In all probability, even before the series began, the Indian think tank would have decided to rest Harbhajan for the third match, and bring in a fast bowler in his place. Fate had other ideas though. The recent events in Sydney involving racism have thrown all prior planning out of the window. The Indian team has fought tooth and nail to clear Bhajji of all allegations. After staying back in Sydney, and going through a myriad of emotions for matters not directly related to cricket, will the Indian team actually go ahead with their plan of resting Harbhajan for the WACA test? What kind of message will it send out to the Australian team, and the world? That we complained, fussed, and created all the brouhaha and got a ban lifted, only to personally drop him? Unfortunately, in a country where sentimentality rules over most issues, that is not going to be the case.
It all boils down to this: The entire Sydney episode has meant that Harbhajan will play at Perth. That will mean an attack having two spinners, on a pitch where many sides field none. A third seamer is a necessity at Perth, and that opens up the door for one of the benchwarmers on this tour so far. A fit Zaheer would have been ideal for India, but now they need to field an inexperienced fast bowling lineup. Conditions at the WACA will be ideal for VRV Singh, but playing Harbhajan as well as an extra fast bowler will mean that the Indians end up with an extra-long tail. So, there’s only one choice left : Irfan Pathan.
Pathan’s inclusion in the side will help strengthen the batting just a little bit, as well as the bowling. He might as well open the batting as his performances cannot be worse than that of Jaffer at the top. This obviously implies that Sehwag or Karthik will not get a chance, as Pathan will be usurping that place.
So, with three fast bowlers and two spinners, India will head into the Perth test. There is a practice game before that, but no one expects any surprises as to what the team for the third test will be. It will be interesting to see what the Indian team does : will it go the practical way and rest Harbhajan Singh and include a pacer in his place? Or will sentimentality rule and we will end up seeing an imbalanced side waiting to be steamrolled in three and a half days? It seems the “victory” at Sydney has opened up a very serious predicament.
So, amidst all the allegations – some of which border on the ridiculous- about the umpires, let us have a closer look at the match. India pretty much dominated the first two sessions of play, having Australia on the mat at 134/6. But, Andrew Symonds combined brilliantly with the tail to post a fighting total on the scoreboard. True, he got a couple of decisions in his favour, but he made them count in a big way.
The second Innings of the match was filled with absolute quality. VVS Laxman dished out the sort of strokeplay that makes batting look ridiculously easy. His century was brilliantly backed up by one from the little master, Sachin Tendulkar. The combined efforts of these two stalwarts, along with a few half centuries, meant that India finished the second innings with a lead of about 70.
Australia showed why they are the best side in the world by some superb batting in the third innings. Centuries by Hayden and Hussey- something that seems to have been lost in all the frenzy- ensured that the Aussies were never going to lose the game. This set a precedent for a declaration, albeit a late one by the skipper.
Drama unfolded in the fourth innings of the match. All India had to do was bat out 73 overs. However, the fifth day wicket proved to be too much for the vaunted line-up. True, there were some errors of judgment by the umpires, but the inability of this side to bat out to save games in the fourth innings surfaced yet again, something that has haunted us for a long time. In the end, the Aussies won with just 7 balls remaining.
Now the Aussie juggernaught will roll on to Perth. The conditions there will suit their play, and the Indians will have to come up with the goods, or run the risk of falling by the wayside yet again. They do have a practice game coming up at Canberra, and they should take full advantage of it to test some players on the basis of form and fitness. One good news is that Rahul Dravid looks like he’s hitting form now, something that the Indians have dearly missed. Here’s hoping that we get a good, fair and hard fought game at Perth.
Test cricket is not for the faint hearted. It is also not a place where you can experiment and get away with it. Unlike One Day games, the demands for test cricket are for specialists- quality specialists. After more than five decades of playing this form of the game, India still doesn’t seem to have got the point.
This was more than evident when the Melbourne test was over in four days.
For probably the zillionth time, India experimented with their batting order. And as usual, the guinea pig was Rahul Dravid. What was the logic behind asking a player who has scored more than 9000 runs at an average of 55+ batting at number 3 to open the innings, no one will know. Just for the sake of making room for a flat track bully in a high quality middle order, India opened with their best batsman, and made a match winner at number 6 to come at number 3.
What makes the move so baffling is that all this is done in the name of “the interest of the team”. How would making your batting line up look fragile work in the team’s interest is a mystery for Sherlock Holmes. Would anyone ever imagine Ponting, Kallis, Mohammad Yousuf or Lara open a test innings? Where is the sense in keeping two openers as passengers in the squad? And if the selectors were not keen on playing Sehwag due to his lack of form, why was he picked? Everyone felt the in-form Gambhir should have been given a chance.
Yuvraj Singh is a very unlucky man. Unlucky because he should’nt be in the side, although he deserves it. Takin a tough decision like that would mean a decision in “the interest of the team”. It is about time we realized that we need to pick horses for courses, and not players on the basis of name. It’s not that we don’t have openers: our One Day side has six of them. It’s just a matter of making the right decision, and not the easy one.
Think about it: the discussions between overs used to be shown earlier. The commentators used to give valuable insights on the game, on how it needs to be played, and the various strategies that are most probably going to be played out. But who wants all this nonsense? Personally I’d prefer watching a buck toothed Shah Rukh Khan explaining the virtues of some mobile service provider, than listen to Sunil Gavaskar and David Lloyd taking about the game I love. Steve Waugh can rant all he likes about how watching a match is akin to hell, but “yeh India ka cricket hai BHIDU!!!”
Drinks breaks are air-times brilliantly utilized. Shaving razors, motorbikes, mobiles and service providers all leave me spell-bound. It’s so much more fun as compared to reviewing the highlights of the just-concluded session. Also, I really don’t think anybody in the country is least bothered as to what the two teams will do as regarding strategies. (Take a hike Ramiz Raja; nobody’s listening).
The ongoing India- Pakistan series has managed to do what I never thought will be possible – a further increase in my favourite portions of a match: the advertisements!! Thanks to the millions of rupees flowing into the broadcaster’s kitty, and the billions of people like me who enjoy it, we now have five ball overs. Yes, its true – FIVE BALL OVERS. The ICC better change the rules and say that, depending on when the broadcaster will air his (and our) beloved ads, the first or last ball of the over will be a “trial” ball. Further, if the fielding captain wants to make crucial changes to the field placements, he can take his own sweet time, as us viewers get to see even more adverts.
Being a responsible Indian, I feel I have to do my bit to ensure that our viewing pleasure is further increased. So, I have come up with a few suggestions:
- Use the time between deliveries to squeeze ads. This tactic will especially work when Shoaib Akthar is bowling. (Who wants him to shorten his run-up?)
- When the outcome of a match is decided well before the match, stop the telecast and show only advertisements in a line, repeatedly. This will ensure that the duller viewers will also be able to learn the ads by rote.
- When the batsman hits the ball in the air, use the “air time” of the ball. But just make sure that we get to see were the ball lands, even if we don’t want to see the trajectory of the ball. (An extension of this technique will be when a four is hit, or when a single is taken to long on or long off)
- Name trophies after the brands. After all, it’s them who give all the money. Who wants Border – Gavaskar trophies and Chappel – Hadlee series? They should be renamed as Fosters – Kingfisher cup, Vodafone Ashes, Kingfisher – Airtel – Hutch – Reliance – Indian Oil – Hindustan Lever – Subhiksha – Pepsi – Fair and Handsome Cup.
So there we are. Cricket, being what it is to us, and money, being what it is to them will mean that us viewers will get to enjoy the advertisements for a long time to come. New techniques will be discovered to make it a truly enriching experience. I just hope that this dream never ends and I get to watch advertisements all the time. I’m loving it!
P.S. I was kidding. I have never been more deprived
India was getting it all into place when injury struck. Sree and RP have been ruled out of the first test, and the fast bowling attack seems overly depleted with only Zaheer at the helm now. Munaf Patel has done precious little to warrant a place in the side, and whenever he has, he has gone and got himself injured time and again. Fitness is a key aspect for a quick bowler, and unless Munaf gets over the fitness issue, he is going to have a stop- go career. Ishant Sharma, Joginder Sharma and VRV Singh just don’t inspire confidence in the selectors.
An option that the selectors may contemplate is Irfan Pathan. However, he just is not the bowler he once was. Bowling line and length at 130 KPH with clever pace variations may be good for containment in the one day game, but is hardy going to be effective in a test match. And speaking of one day cricket, Harbhajan needs to learn to flight the ball and look for wickets as well, something he has not quite managed to do.
Looking at Pakistan, their problem is more self-induced than forced. Without Mohammad Asif, they lack a genuine seam bowler at the top. Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Sami have still not learnt that intimidation and sheer pace without movement is not going to get you anything in international cricket. The faster you bowl, the faster the ball will leave the bat. Brett Lee took a while to understand this and one wonders how long it will be before Sami and Akhtar realize the same. The only world class option that they have now is Umar Gul, and he looks to be the sole threat to the Indian top order.
Pakistan have had a legacy of great fast bowlers, but Sami, Akhtar and Gul do not invoke the fear that Wasim and Waqar, or Nawaz and Khan would bring. The best opton for them now is to ensure that they don’t squabble with each other, and support their spearhead: Gul. Shoaib Akhtar needs to be told in no uncertain terms that for him to be the spearhead of the bowling attack; he has to prove himself by taking wickets, and not by bowling straight balls that go for plenty.
The batting orders of both teams look well settled. Rahul Dravid’s return will bolster the Indian middle order. Yasir Hameed playing will ensure that Pakistan have a proper opening pair. The only batsman who will feel as if he has missed out will be Gautam Gambhir, but his chance will come sooner rather than later.
So the series is all set to begin. It’s a whole new ball game now. It is going to be hard rigorous cricket, and the better team will be the one with the better bowling one feels.
What seems to irk fans the most is the manner in which the games have panned out. Against reading, in the frist match of the season, United kept attacking all the way. What was missing however was that elusive goal. It’s a very rare phenomenon: goalless draws featuring Man U. Sure, Evra missed an oppprtunity begging to be taken, and Reading hardly came close to scoring, but still the match ended goalless.
Portsmouth was always going to be a tricky affair, and that was proved. 1-1 at the end, but again, it was United all the way. Save that Benjani strike, Pompei had nothing to show in front of goal. And yet, all the champs got was a draw. Now the presence of a predator-like striker was being sorely missed, somebody like Van Nistelrooy.
The manchester derby always promises to be close, but this time, United lost 1-0.Again, it was a match they dominated from the word go. Some missed chances, (Scholes, Tevez, Evra) a crossbar hit (Vidic) and a deflected goal (from Vidic) later, Man U were staring at a long season of playing catch-up to the big 3.
Now the focus turns to Spurs.Theres no Rooney, and Ronaldo will thankfully make a return. But united need a goal machine- somebody who will rarely venture out of the 6 yard box, and convert all chances that are created. Somebody who can tap in goals, the kind of ones Tevez missed last time round. Roumour has it that United are looking for short term replacements for Rooney, and rumour also has it that its goin to be Nicolas Anelka. In any case, they had better get this season off and running with 3 points againts the Spurs, or else they may just need to kiss a consecutive premiership title goodbye.