I felt India lost the plot rather early when SD felt it was a 50-50 thing when he lost the toss. Actually he might have been right - because the ball turned sharply and bounced wickedly from word go.
But what surprised me was how well the Kiwis read the wicket and played three spinners, including two who probably have no experience in bowling on Indian wickets. Santner and Sodhi showed no signs of nerves and kept in there.
As always with the Kiwis, you cannot afford to relax a moment because they are always lurking and looking to take their chances. They did today, once again.
I somehow believe that this Indian line up is not very good when Kohli fails. Too much rests on him. That leaves only MSD as the other reliable guy. The rest of the line up is simply too unpredictable and most play some ordinary shots now and then and jeopardize the situation. Now that things are a bit tight they might clean up their act but clearly this game could have had a different result if the players were a little less arrogant and played the ball on merit. Like Gavaskar pointed out, you got to respect the opposition.
When its the Kiwis, even more so since they got our number 5 times in a row now, some respect is due. Good for Kane Williamson - good captaincy under pressure. Young spinners Santner and Sodhi were just too good on a pitch that suited them. Nathan McCullum bowled well and picked up a stunner of a catch.
For the Indians Bumrah continues to impress with his wonderful yorkers and slower ones. He is a difficult one to attack. Why could not they teach the yorkers to any other bowlers I cannot understand till date. This is what MSD has been wanting for many years now.
Now I only hope somehow in the Indian team management does not crib about the wicket.
But what surprised me was how well the Kiwis read the wicket and played three spinners, including two who probably have no experience in bowling on Indian wickets. Santner and Sodhi showed no signs of nerves and kept in there.
As always with the Kiwis, you cannot afford to relax a moment because they are always lurking and looking to take their chances. They did today, once again.
I somehow believe that this Indian line up is not very good when Kohli fails. Too much rests on him. That leaves only MSD as the other reliable guy. The rest of the line up is simply too unpredictable and most play some ordinary shots now and then and jeopardize the situation. Now that things are a bit tight they might clean up their act but clearly this game could have had a different result if the players were a little less arrogant and played the ball on merit. Like Gavaskar pointed out, you got to respect the opposition.
When its the Kiwis, even more so since they got our number 5 times in a row now, some respect is due. Good for Kane Williamson - good captaincy under pressure. Young spinners Santner and Sodhi were just too good on a pitch that suited them. Nathan McCullum bowled well and picked up a stunner of a catch.
For the Indians Bumrah continues to impress with his wonderful yorkers and slower ones. He is a difficult one to attack. Why could not they teach the yorkers to any other bowlers I cannot understand till date. This is what MSD has been wanting for many years now.
Now I only hope somehow in the Indian team management does not crib about the wicket.
No comments:
Post a Comment