Dhoni helps India’s quest for top ranking
Roar Guru
By Alan Nicolea, 30 Oct 2009 Alan Nicolea is a Roar Guru
- Tagged:
- Australian Cricket, Cricket, Mahendra Singhi Dhoni, ODIs
The century from Indian captain Mahendra Singhi Dhoni in India’s 99 run victory over Australia in the second one dayer in Nagpur, is undoubtedly the highlight of what has been a very enthralling start to the seven match series between two of cricket’s most intense rivals.
Dhoni scored 124 runs off just 107 deliveries to guide India to their highest ever One Day total against the Australians.
Sent in to bat by Australian captain Ricky Ponting, India tore the tourists’ attack to shreds, posting 354 runs much to the delight of the Nagpur faithful.
The signs looked ominous early on for Australia, even though legendary batsman Sachin Tendulkar was dismissed for just four runs.
Whilst Tendulkar’s presence once again failed to trouble the Australian bowlers, opening partner Virender Sehwag found his rhythm early on, giving his side a rousing start with a fiery 40 off 31 deliveries.
Despite the loss of an early wicket, Sehwag had already given notice of his intentions, slamming Ben Hilfenhaus for a couple of boundaries in his first over with the new ball.
Sehwag continued to plunder runs and had smashed four more boundaries and a six when he mistimed an attempted drive off Mitchell Johnson’s bowling which went straight to Hilfenhaus at mid-off.
Despite a quick fire 23 from returning batsman Yuvraj Singh, Australia looked headed for another reasonable run chase, after leaving India precariously placed at three for 91.
Indeed, the pressure looked to be getting to India, especially after new batsman MS Dhoni got hit at the back of the head one ball into his innings, thanks to a wicked bouncer from Peter Siddle.
With the help of inform batsman Gautam Gambhir however, Dhoni managed to settle just in time for his assault on the Australian bowlers.
The pair started to destabilise Australia’s bowling attack, with Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Hauritz all starting to bowl with an inaccurate line and length.
Although Gambhir was eventually run out on 76 thanks to clinical fielding by Hauritz, Dhoni made sure he would repay the form shown by his former batting partner, reaching a half century despite only scoring three boundaries in the process.
After Suresh Raina joined Dhoni at the crease, the two accelerated nicely at the death.
Dhoni reached his fifth one-day century with a straight six off Shane Watson and then smacked the bowler for another off the next delivery as India sped past the 300-run mark.
Raina raised his half-century off just 42 deliveries and, while Johnson returned to remove both Dhoni and Raina in the final over of the innings, the damage had already been done by India.
Despite some positive performances from Michael Hussey, Cameron White and Nathan Hauritz with the bat, Australia found themselves constantly on the back foot and where dismissed for 255.
With this victory, India have levelled the series at one match a piece and keep alive their hopes of achieving the required 5-2 series win that would propel the side to the top of the One Day rankings.
After a lacklustre opening performance which was covered somewhat by the batting cameo from Harbajhan Singh, India have hit top gear, and it will be interesting to see if Australia can match their opponents for the rest of the series.
Key figures Dhoni, Sehwag and Gambhir are all batting brilliantly for an Indian team that really does have the flair to dominate One Day Cricket for years to come.
Whilst consistency remains an issue for the side, India’s next match against Australia will show whether or not they are truly capable of wrestling One Day supremacy away from their current opponents.
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talha said | October 30th 2009 @ 1:35am | Report comment
because there is no lee thats why he make century against Australia
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 1:53am | Report comment
Did you actually watch the game or just read the match summary on Cricinfo? Comments like this:
“The pair started to destabilise Australia’s bowling attack, with Johnson, Hilfenhaus, Siddle and Hauritz all starting to bowl with an inaccurate line and length.” would lead me to believe that you didn’t see the middle overs in particular.
Yes the Indians scored and looked comfortable but it wasn’t due to poor bowling, the line and length was fine, they just didn’t take any wickets and a score of 350+ is always going to be likely when someone like Dhoni has that much time at the crease and the bowlers aren’t attacking.
“Whilst consistency remains an issue for the side, India’s next match against Australia will show whether or not they are truly capable of wrestling One Day supremacy away from their current opponents.” – Disagree.
Matches on Indian soil are always skewed in their favour as all the pitches are designed for them, at least in Aus you get a mixture and invariably at a WC you are playing at neutral venues, look at Aus – India results in that case and I bet you’ll see Australia is ahead.
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 5:29am | Report comment
Freud you are mouthing stereotype comments that are ill informed . “Matches on Indian soil are always skewed..” The pitch at Nagpur was even,had good carry and was consistent. A lot more consistent than the MCG and the SCG. I am the first to criticise India when it is warranted but in this case your presumption is off beam. That Australia were outplayed and outhought is not in question. Dhoni and Gambhir built a partnership where over 50% of the runs came from singles and twos. It was clinical batting and the Aussie bowlers were poor…Were you watching a different game.
Rather than question if Alan watched the game I would suggest you take your blinkers off and give credit where it is due. Read my comments on Kersi’s article.
You are blotting your copybook with intemperate comments like in this post.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:03am | Report comment
Vinay, I’ll give you Australia were outplayed but it easy to outplay a team when the pitch suits your team down to a tee, face that fact.
Australia, SAF and NZ are the only countries that don’t genuinely doctor their wickets. That’s not to say they are all great for visiting teams but at least there is somewhat an array of what different grounds offer.
In India there isn’t a quicker wicket, there is no wicket with bounce and this has nothing to do with the conditions, curators nowadays can give you whatever you want, India want to play spin as it is their best weapon and that’s why they will spit out turning tracks at every venue they play.
Yes, Hauritz was non-threatening and the quicks offered nothing but the pitch gave them nothing to work with. That India’s quicks did the job I think (not taking anything away from them as they have a genuinely talented bunch at the moment) was more to do with Australia feeling so pressured by the total. Once they’d lost 3 the contest was over, Aus needed Ponting to stand up and too often that is the case, he isn’t the Steve Waugh type captain that will dig in and hold his wicket at all costs, he can’t be like that as still, after 15 years of international cricket he walks across the stumps at the start of the innings.
Australia’s bowlers weren’t poor, they simply weren’t aggressive enough and Ponting’s field lacked imagination, he went into to defense mode when Dhoni came in even though Australia were doing ok and he never got out of it. You’re not going to pick up wickets with men on the boundary in the middle overs, especially on such a batsman’s paradise.
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment
Freud,your assertion of India doctoring pitches is as i say a stereotype reaction. I can accept this may have been the case five years ago but I know for a fact that Les Burdett has overseen the total pitch preparation scenario. The Pitch at nagpur was referred to by a South African,Robin Jackman, as true and of even and consistent bounce with good carry. This wicket had more carry and bounce than MCG or SCG…so lets stop this unedifying bleating about doctored pitches.
The bowlers were ineffective and I for the life of me cannot see how you say the length and line was good. 350 runs says its was not. It had nothing to do with Ponting’s captaincy.There was life in the wicket as Siddle demonstrated by pinging Dhoni on the helmet…or did you not see that? End of story ..Australia bowled badly.
drewster said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:34am | Report comment
You can analize it, bend it, twist it, draw what you like from it, When all is said and done and you get beat by 99 runs the fact of the matter is WE GOT THUMPED!!.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:39am | Report comment
Drewster, I hope you’re not an Australian selector because if that is their attitude then we’re screwed.
The Roar is here so we can analyze and say where it went wrong.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:38am | Report comment
Vinay, did you watch or also read the summary on Cricinfo?
The line and length were fine for the most part, the Indian batsmen played very well and the bowlers had ZERO assistance, Australia scared themselves into losing because the total was too big for them to chase.
Hauritz kept it relatively tight but never looked a threat and the quicks were always going to get clobbered on that pitch once the batsmen were set and Ponting had no Plan B, Watson in particular looked like even if there was a Plan B he couldn’t apply it, he is a good bowler but too one-dimensional.
How can you not criticise his captaincy when he lets a game run away like that?
It wasn’t the bowlers fault that they got smacked for more than 100 in the last 10, part of it yes but there wasn’t 60 or even 30 loose balls, it was down to the pitch offering nothing and Ponting not trying anything. What Aus needed was a wicket and if that meant risking Dhoni getting to 75 10 balls sooner then so be it but at 200-3 it was obvious that Aus needed to do something, anything and what did Ponting do? Nothing, wickets in the last over didn’t help, he shouldn’t have let India cruise after the third wicket fell and to say anything else would be nonsense.
One ball that hits a player on the head doesn’t tell the story of the pitch and the sheer weight of runs cannot be solely attributed to bad bowling when the captaincy was so shoddy.
Chop said | October 30th 2009 @ 8:47am | Report comment
The Australian bowlers were TERRIBLE I’ll say it again TERRIBLE. The bowled to much on leg side to both left and right hand batsman, half volleys and long hops.
The only decent Australian bowler was Peter Siddle.
The Australian Batsman were given to much of a task because of the TERRIBLE bowling display, unfortunately it was like a train wreck and I watched every ball of the Australian Bowling effort (I am a sucker for punishment, but it was good to watch) they just didn’t have good fields or bowl good lines.
Loosing Lee and Hopes (underrated if you ask me) was also a big blow.
Why Ponting persists with Watson at the death is beyond me, his mix of half volleys and full tosses has not helped in the last 10 overs of either game so far.
FIsher Price said | October 30th 2009 @ 10:57am | Report comment
Watson is not a good bowler.
Alan Nicolea said | October 30th 2009 @ 9:18am | Report comment
Freud
You say that India have a massive advantage only at home but please tell me where the last one day series was played between the sides? India beat Australia in the last Commonwealth Bank series HERE IN Australia 2-0 in the finals playing on Australian pitches. India can play anywhere and the likes of Gambhir, Dhoni and Sehwag are all quite adapt to playing on different types of surfaces buddy. And no, i didn’t get my info from Cricinfo. I watched the game and thoroughly enjoy matches between these two teams because of the rivalry that has built up since the infamous Sydney Test.
davido said | October 31st 2009 @ 5:37pm | Report comment
India have a terrible record on neutral grounds. They are next to useless outside of the sub-continent. Take away pitch rigging and Indian umpires and they would be hard pressed to win a game at home.
vinay verma said | October 31st 2009 @ 6:28pm | Report comment
Davido…the perception you have on Indian pitches,players and umpires had validity a decade ago. You are aware that I am one of the most trenchant critics of the BCCI but as far as pitches go they have relaid most of the major venues. In fact les Burdett has been working with Daljit Singh( Chief Curator in India) for the last few years and the quality of the first wo,and especially Nagpur pitch, was as good as you will get anywhere in the world..right down to the drainage around the square and the periphery. So I cannot accept your statement.
On umpires ever since Venkat,who was one of the best in the world, the standard has improved . However some of the decisions could have been better. Indian umpires in both the games because Benson was ill. However India won one and Oz won one. Let us see how the series develops.
India’s record away from India has not been great but they are getting better..winning in NZ and Oz in the CB series.
I believe they will compete better overseas in the coming years.
davido said | October 31st 2009 @ 7:59pm | Report comment
Well said. And I qualify my comments to just those two matches.
I agree India are the next dominant team in world cricket.
And I am sure in the future they will not have any problems overseas. To my mind they just need to keep winning and and to develop an unshakeable confidence.
The big question is this. Is Gambhir as good as Tendulkar? I know it is a big call, but he must be close.
Freud of Football said | October 31st 2009 @ 8:24pm | Report comment
“However some of the decisions could have been better. Indian umpires in both the games because Benson was ill. However India won one and Oz won one. Let us see how the series develops.” – So due to the logic that both teams won one game each, poor umpiring should be accepted as it “was evened out” so to speak?
I would only say that I have seen worse umpiring.
Again Vinay you have entirely missed the point regarding pitches. So what if Les Burdett has been in India helping them with ground preperation and what does drainage have to do with a pitch that crumbles?
The fact of the matter is, pitches (the bit that matter for the game, forget the outfield) in India are still far more favourable to the home side, at all venues than those in Australia and Davido is right, India have performed poorly away from home.
That they beat Aus in the Commonwealth bank trophy 2-0 doesn’t tell us a great deal, the first match was at the SCG (as close to an Indian pitch as you’ll get in Aus) and in the second Aus couldn’t chase down a meagre 258 at the Gabba.
Just look at the last WC’s and you will have your answer.
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 1:36pm | Report comment
Freud..you are becoming tedious. Your remark “..to say anything else is nonsense” paints you as a child who cant get his way. Your tone is supercilious and whilst Alan is too much of a gentleman I find your comments opinionated,to say the least.
I am willing to have a rational discussion with you but your irrational ” the quicks were always going to be clobbered when the batsmen were set” beggars belief. Why did the bowlers let the batsmen get set…because they bowled badly…I think you may be the only one that relied on Cricinfo; and even then you got it wrong!
You do not do justice to your monicker and there I was thinking you were original and refreshing.I will give you the benefit of the doubt and just put it down to you having a bad day. I can be gracious even when someone is being disagreeable.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 4:19pm | Report comment
Of course my comments are opinionated, they are my opinion.
“the quicks were always going to be clobbered when the batsmen were set” – How can that “beggar belief”? You claimed that the track was so friendly to the batsmen, was it not obvious with the score at 200-3 after around 30 overs that as soon as Hauritz was off the party was going to start? The rule of thumb is to double the score after 30 overs if you have wickets in hand which India did.
The outfield was lightning fast and it didn’t matter a great deal what the quicks did, if the batsmen got a hold of it it was gone. That there was no life in the pitch and Siddle hitting Dhoni (didn’t see the ball myself) doesn’t mean the pitch had life and you may think it irrelevant but I believe it was certainly a factor. In ODI’s especially the bowlers need something to work with, as we saw, Dhoni took a few overs, set himself and looked comfortable until his demise.
Ponting shouldn’t have sent India in – I’m not going to list the 100 adages about batting first – and once the third wicket fell he had to apply pressure, instead he let the game go by not attacking and putting all his fielders on the boundary. The ball only had to be 10 metres either side of the deep fielders and it was gone, how many boundaries do you think they actually saved?
I’d hazard a guess that long on/long off saved a few but in general it was pointless having them out there, especially when Australia needed wickets.
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
I’m glad you accept you are opinionated…the Definition of opinionated is SOMEONE WHO HOLDS STUBBORNLY,AND OTEN UNREASONABLY, TO ONES OWN OPINIONS.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 6:20pm | Report comment
Vinay, my opinions are strong yes but hardly unreasonable.
I have argued my points and you have disregarded them each time.
India were excellent. The pitch offered nothing to the bowlers. The bowling was fine, it was the captaincy which lacked in backing it up with attacking fields. The decision to send India in was obviously wrong. Australia crumbled under the pressure of the huge score.
How are any of those points unreasonable?
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 9:54pm | Report comment
The bowling was not fine…at best it was desultory…to set attacking fields to such haphazard and random bowling would have been madness and bad captaincy. Watson in particular was woeful.Everything else followed from the bad bowling. The bad bowling was not a result of the Captaincy. You cant set a field for bad bowling. I am not disregarding your arguments I am merely discounting them as having no basis in fact.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 11:15pm | Report comment
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
If Ponting had of set a field with the aim of getting a wicket, maybe the bowling would have been better? Whose responsibility is the “plan”? It’s the captain’s, if his bowler isn’t performing he has a team of 11 players, pick another but don’t say the bowling was rubbish when the bowler had no “aim”.
So yes the “bad” bowling (I’ve seen a LOT worse) is a direct result of the captaincy, as a bowler bowling to field with players dotted around the boundary, what is your aim? Where do you bowl? Bowlers are there to take wickets first and foremost and be stingy second so with the fields Ponting set how are you trying to take a wicket?
These are international cricketers, I can’t believe that an Australian ODI bowling attack is so weak that they can’t possibly take a wicket if their captain gives them something to work with. Put 2 close catchers in, bring mid on and mid off up and let the batsmen hit over the top, Australia were never going to restrict India to less than 310-320, give up the extra 20 runs and get a wicket!
Alan Nicolea said | October 30th 2009 @ 2:28pm | Report comment
Vinay
On another topic, geez Gambhir always seems to find his best form against the Australians. Any reason for this. He is one of my favourite players to watch. It was about time that Dhoni had a big innings against Australia and let’s hope for Cricket’s sake that it was not a one off. Of course if you support Aus, you would beg to differ.
vinay verma said | October 30th 2009 @ 3:26pm | Report comment
Alan..Gambhir’s first Test was against australia in 2004( was also Hauritz’s debut) in Mumbai. He failed in both innings and was in and out of the side and thought of more as a one day player. He has a strike rate in the 80′s in ODI’s. He also had a temper 5 years ago. He is now 28 and has channelled his aggression into his batting and scored over a 1000 runs in Tests in 2008. He is averaging in the mid 50′s in Tests and has a high score of 206 against Australia. He is a tough cookie and loves a fight…elbow into Watson a case in point. He is not committing himself forward too early and is well balanced to play either off the back or front foot. Along with Strauss and Katich he is the best of the current openers. I am not mentioning Sehwag because he is from another planet. He has two tripples to his name and has hit 65 sixes in 68 Tests…Gilchrist hit 100 in 96 Tests.
Gambhir is a perfect foil for sehwag and together they are yet to produce their best. Gambhir is 28 and Sehwag 30 so they have a few years ahead and should make for exciting Test and ODI’s. Its just that Australia and India are playing each other more often and have signed a MOU to play even more in the coming years. Dhoni is still striking in the 90′s and I rate him the best Captain in World Cricket. The pressure of Captaining India are like no other. Dhoni is yet to lose a Test as Captain.He has a big examination in December against Sangakkara,another very good Captain. I believe we some very good Captains around and Smith is also up there. Ponting has been harshly criticised and in my view does not deserve a lot of it. He is much like Border in his early years when Steve Waugh and Dean Jones,McDermott were all just coming through. I am convinced that Siddle,Hilfenhaus and Johnson will develop into very good bowlers.
Freud of Football said | October 30th 2009 @ 6:25pm | Report comment
Vinay, your analysis of Dhoni is spot on. A fantastic player who is totally underrated in Australia, not by the players though I’m sure.
For mine, Graeme Smith is probably the best captain in the world right now. He is more capable than Dhoni of turning in a match-turning innings and remember he is only 28, had the captaincy thrust opun on him at a very young age a long with the pressure of opening the batting and of course the background issues of player quota’s etc (I’m sure Dhoni has just as many off-field problems with the bickering amongst the Indian domestic teams).
Vettori is also excellent, look at what he has managed with such a meagre squad. That is down to his captaincy moreso than any individual brilliance.