By Q
India went into the match today with only 3 specialist bowlers - Sharma, Balaji, and Irfan Pathan, if you can count Irfan Pathan as that.
With 20 overs to be bowled by part timers, 300 was always on the cards for Sri Lanka.
Dhoni used the part timers, all 6 of them, for 26 overs. 35 if you count Pathan Junior's. The Lankans got 320.
Over in another continent, across oceans, the West Indies needed only 2 bowlers to bowl cricket's newest millionaires out for 51.
5 years ago, on the same ground, the English needed just 1 bowler to bowl the Windies out for even lesser.
So maybe Dhoni thought that 3 would be enough.
He forgot though that this was the subcontinent, and not the Caribbean where 1 or 2 bowlers have done the job.
But then even that is not always the case in that part of the world.
There are times when teams have used as many as 11 bowlers in trying to bowl the opposition out.
Yes 11!
Even the wicket keeper took his gear off to turn his arm over for an over and a bit, and even managed a wicket.
The captain, a mere part timer, bowled as many as 43 overs, almost a quarter of the overs the team bowled.
Another part timer, who kept wicket when the original keeper bowled, turned his arm over for 21 overs.
Thats a lot of arms turning over.
When your strikers are Pollock and Ntini with Kallis and Boje for back up and a raw Zondeki, why you need another 6 including the bloody keeper is because someone scores a triple.
And it wasn't Lara.
And the best team in world required all 11.
Well they weren't the best team back then, but they were 2nd and still they needed Prince and AB to bowl. Even Gibbs and Boucher were required.
They toiled for 235 overs!
Atleast Dhoni needed his 9 for only 50.
When All 11 were Needed
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4 comments:
Q, looks like you bowled quite a few overs yrself getn this together.
In that earlier game, wasn't Harmison the best bowler in the world. And with Hoggard and Jones, that was some attack.
like the digs.
when all 11 were needed...
when all 11 are not needed Q? ;-))
U put me to task NC!
Yeah was quita an attack they had.. it won them the ashes too..
Harmy was num1 around that time..
Q
SP with the ball, they shouldn't be needed ;-)
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