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ICC World Cup 2011: Why wait? Take the power-play and sustain the momentum

The batting power-play—is it a boon or a bane?

Teams have benefited and teams have suffered in this crucial period of the innings.

There are two schools of thought as to when the batting power-play should be taken.

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English press: Reactions from the other side

“The tables have turned from four years ago when we were in disarray and our selections were poor. Now it is the Australians’ turn to take some pain and grief, because they have got some big question marks about a few of their players and whether they should be picked for the third Test in Perth.

Remember, they gave us plenty of stick four years ago, so don’t shed any tears for them.”

Geoffrey Boycott in The Telegraph

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Indian cricket: Same old story of batting collapse against Black Caps

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The second innings collapse of the famed Indian batting line-up in the first Test against a weak New Zealand side supports my theory that Indians are notoriously poor starters. The first Test against the Australians in the recent home series too could have easily gone the other way but a fantabulous fight-back by a bravura Laxman snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

India finished at 82-6 at the end of the fourth day at Motera. Chris Martin’s five wicket haul was the highlight of the day. Sehwag was run out.

With Harbhajan and Laxman —the last of the recognised batsmen at the crease — it will be only be about survival on the final day.

India piled up 487 in its first innings essay powered by Sehwag’s bellicose 173 and Dravid’s sedate 104. New Zealand replied strongly with 459 ; debutant Kane Williamson registered his maiden century and talented Jesse Ryder hit a ton as well.

Can India save the match? Will Laxman ride to the rescue once more?

The fifth day will be engrossing.

Full marks to the Black Caps. Few gave them a semblance of a chance following their 4-0 whitewash at the hands of the Bangladeshis.

Pride and over-confidence lulled the No.1 team into a false sense of security. The New Zealanders’ ego had been hurt. No way would they roll over, not even for an Indian side boasting a rampant Sehwag and a resurgent Tendulkar.

Wins have to be earned!

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Sunil Gavaskar: A Contradiction In Terms, From Calypso King To IPL Flop

Gavaskar , The Original Little Master

I have always been a huge fan of Sunil “Sunny” Gavaskar, the cricketer — the original Little Master.

When the rest of the world cowered under the barrage of bouncers and intimidating pace bowling unleashed by the marauding, rampaging Windies side of the late 70’s , 80’s and early 90’s, one man stood firm amidst the ruins.

That man was Sunil Manohar Gavaskar; thirteen of his 34 hundreds were against the mighty West Indians.

Another eight were belted against the Australians.

Whenever India played a series against the West Indians, we knew that as long as Gavaskar occupied the crease we were safe.

When the ace batter succumbed, the Indian team surrendered weakly as well.

At a time when India were making the transition from being mostly a spin bowling side to a pace bowling attack (thanks to another all-time great, Kapil Dev), we depended on the batsmen to save Test matches.

Bowlers win matches, batsmen save them.

This was a time in Indian cricket when a draw was always a noteworthy achievement; Indian sides rarely had the bowling strength to bowl out a team twice.

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