More »
 |
| click on link to enlarge |
Showing posts with label Duncan Fletcher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Duncan Fletcher. Show all posts
Indian cricketers to attend training camp before solitary T20 match vs. South Africa.
Taking no chances before India’s do-or-die match against South Africa, coach Duncan Fletcher cracked the whip, demanding an emergency Training Camp in Leh, Ladakh as early as 27th March.
Fletcher’s lips moved, but we couldn’t hear what he was saying. At which point, a lip reader was called in. “We want the players to acclimatize to Leh’s high altitude and not rush into their training right away - we arrive in Leh on 27th, train on 28th and leave a full day early for Joburg on the 29th for the one-off T20 match on the 30th…” the lip-reader translated most skillfully as Fletcher’s jaw dropped further.
 |
| Fletcher: Read my lips |
Leh (11562 ft) is at twice the altitude of Joburg (5751 ft). Fletcher who has lost more games than he’s coached believes training in Leh will doubly prepare the Indians for the arduously short tour of South Africa.
It’s learnt the BCCI wants to win this pointless T20 match at all costs, and will send a full-strength team (sans Sachin and Sehwag) India: MS Dhoni (C), Virat Kohli (Vice-Captain), Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Praveen Kumar, Vinay Kumar, Rahul Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, Ashok Dinda.
Meanwhile South African could field up to three debutants with only Kallis and Tsotosbe from the test side in New Zealand being included. South Africa: Johan Botha (C), Farhaan Behardien, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Colin Ingram, Richard Levi, Albie Morkel, Justin Ontong, Wayne Parnell, Rusty Theron, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Morne van Wyk, Dane Vilas.
A Board spokesperson believes this T20 game will be excellent preparation for the IPL which begins on either April 4th or 5th, in the same breath he also rued the absence of warm-up matches in South Africa.
What has happened to this Indian Cricket Team?
Its been 4 hours since the close of play and I can't sleep. After just 6 of the allotted 24 playing days for this series, it looks like we've conceded it. I can't for the life of me comprehend the manner of this abject capitulation. Is this the same team that fought back every tour for the last four years to at least share honors if not win outright? That embodied the spirit of never giving up, determinedly standing their ground and never giving an inch and that has a world cup to show for it?
Dravid has been dismissed three times this series almost falling over his tentative front foot, Laxman doesn't look like he knows how to bat overseas anymore, Sehwag swishes like he always does but its more like 75% effort swish, Gambhir can't buy a run but keeps selling his wicket to the first low bid, the tail is cut away before its had a chance to wag, Sachin looks imperious and in the form of his life... in short its like the team of the 90s all over again, except a phase when Sachin gets the worst of luck.
The bowlers, poor guys - two of whom are not anywhere near 100% fit, are bowling their hearts out but the kinds of fields being set for them and the complete lack of support from the batsmen means they're drawing unnecessary flak. The last overseas tour we struggled to pass 300, this tour from three efforts we've managed to get past 200 once. While the opposition has managed to pass 300 twice (and looking like getting 600 at least in this match) and their tailenders have looked more comfortable than 3 of our top 6.
But its worse than that. This team doesn't look like it wants to play unless things are going their way. That seems to mean the bowlers get overcast conditions and reduce the opposition to less than a hundred for 6, or that they're playing in the comfort of their subcontinental stronghold. And boy do they win then. But the minute things start to go against them, like Harbhajan whose attitude seems to have infected the entire team, they go into a shell, get defensive, the shoulders droop and they just give up, surrender without a fight. Not to take anything away from their opponents who've bowled sharp and executed plans splendidly, but ultimately have been assisted by unfocussed, cluttered and often thoughtless batting.
A lot can and has been said about the players, but you've got to wonder what the hell the coach's role is. How can he sit back and watch defensive, mind-boggling field set day after day, squandering the advantage tour after tour, getting into to a good position, losing it, and then not giving a fuck about trying to get it back? Exactly what has Fletcher achieved with this Indian team? Has Gary's departure had such a negative impact? Have we just lost the hunger to compete after having accomplished the long cherished dream of winning the world cup again? More than one English player felt Fletcher's presence gave us a strong edge against their side, we have a lovely 0-4 result to show for his presence there, and we're staring at potentially 0-6, even 0-8 if things don't change soon, results from our recent overseas tests.
When Tim Bresnan said it, I thought he was just being the usual arrogant English muppet talking trash while benefiting from home advantage. I didn't believe. I couldn't, this team had often looked battered but then they batted and batted and forced their way back into a series. Now they don't appear remotely interested. The enthusiasm with which they bowled their part-timers for the sole purpose of exiting the field as early as possible today (an on-time finish, no extra half hour, when was the last time that happened?) seems to reflect their mood since departing for England. Perhaps Bresnan was quite right, if you don't want to play, go home. Saves us the worry of waking early/staying up late and then just being pissed the rest of the day for ruining our schedules hoping you'd at least try and make some small part of it worthwhile.
Dravid has been dismissed three times this series almost falling over his tentative front foot, Laxman doesn't look like he knows how to bat overseas anymore, Sehwag swishes like he always does but its more like 75% effort swish, Gambhir can't buy a run but keeps selling his wicket to the first low bid, the tail is cut away before its had a chance to wag, Sachin looks imperious and in the form of his life... in short its like the team of the 90s all over again, except a phase when Sachin gets the worst of luck.
The bowlers, poor guys - two of whom are not anywhere near 100% fit, are bowling their hearts out but the kinds of fields being set for them and the complete lack of support from the batsmen means they're drawing unnecessary flak. The last overseas tour we struggled to pass 300, this tour from three efforts we've managed to get past 200 once. While the opposition has managed to pass 300 twice (and looking like getting 600 at least in this match) and their tailenders have looked more comfortable than 3 of our top 6.
But its worse than that. This team doesn't look like it wants to play unless things are going their way. That seems to mean the bowlers get overcast conditions and reduce the opposition to less than a hundred for 6, or that they're playing in the comfort of their subcontinental stronghold. And boy do they win then. But the minute things start to go against them, like Harbhajan whose attitude seems to have infected the entire team, they go into a shell, get defensive, the shoulders droop and they just give up, surrender without a fight. Not to take anything away from their opponents who've bowled sharp and executed plans splendidly, but ultimately have been assisted by unfocussed, cluttered and often thoughtless batting.
A lot can and has been said about the players, but you've got to wonder what the hell the coach's role is. How can he sit back and watch defensive, mind-boggling field set day after day, squandering the advantage tour after tour, getting into to a good position, losing it, and then not giving a fuck about trying to get it back? Exactly what has Fletcher achieved with this Indian team? Has Gary's departure had such a negative impact? Have we just lost the hunger to compete after having accomplished the long cherished dream of winning the world cup again? More than one English player felt Fletcher's presence gave us a strong edge against their side, we have a lovely 0-4 result to show for his presence there, and we're staring at potentially 0-6, even 0-8 if things don't change soon, results from our recent overseas tests.
When Tim Bresnan said it, I thought he was just being the usual arrogant English muppet talking trash while benefiting from home advantage. I didn't believe. I couldn't, this team had often looked battered but then they batted and batted and forced their way back into a series. Now they don't appear remotely interested. The enthusiasm with which they bowled their part-timers for the sole purpose of exiting the field as early as possible today (an on-time finish, no extra half hour, when was the last time that happened?) seems to reflect their mood since departing for England. Perhaps Bresnan was quite right, if you don't want to play, go home. Saves us the worry of waking early/staying up late and then just being pissed the rest of the day for ruining our schedules hoping you'd at least try and make some small part of it worthwhile.
Imprints of a coach
Imprint (verb) im’print - Establish or impress firmly in the mind
If we were to go by etymology, then yes they did. This is in relation to Venkatesh Prasad and Rabindra Ramnarain Singh and the demons.
Let’s get a bit practical. If etymology drove our life, the driver would be Greg Chappell. For, he did establish or impress firmly in the mind of an Indian fan !!
My view is that a coach who leaves an imprint is a bad coach… The case point is Buchanan, he left his imprint not once but twice. Once in Australia and again in Kolkota . One seems a deceptively successful example if you leave the “Maa Ki” tour aside and the other the obvious. The other is Duncan Fletcher, luckily there came a cushion called Peter Moores and a cue called KP.
Greg Chappell is folklore in India, we definitely know what imprint means.
Believe me I don’t belong to the Shane Warne school of thought. I come from a family of teachers, I broke the line for the first time in 4 generations (in recent memory). There needs to be a teacher, but I belong to the contemporary school of teaching. Yes, the teacher needs to be someone the ward could relate to and reason with… Someone who course corrects, the man in charge of the rudder.
I, for one liked those days when Bishen Bedi was the manager (a coach was called so those days) of the Indian cricket team. Surprisingly he spoke less (or there were less many TV channels) but he did a very good job. Those who speak about Robin doing a change “imprint” on the fielding would have to remember and see the batting records of Bedi and his "imprint" in that department when he was the manager.
If only coaches had a magic wand, Mahrajkumar of Vijayanagaram would have eclipsed The Don. And Lalu Prasad would have hired the best of brains.
For us Indians bad is the culmination of good and vice versa. We don’t believe in the concept of a full stop unless it is an obituary. Otherwise it is always a comma.
Mark of a man - Some more stats
As NC rightly pointed out in one of his comments, Ramps is getting very good coverage for himself at 40. Thanks to BCC!.
Well now, we have 3 issues to address
1) Can or Can’t England produce a guy who would average mid to high 40s?
It is a million dollar question, I am not sure if I would want to take-up the challenge of answering the question. I would recommend we keep this as a separate discussion. With the thumping win over West Indies (another wooden spoon team) in the first test, I am not sure if this is the right time to start that discussion. For, this positive (one test) might pull some wool over our discerning eyes. So let’s wait for the series to get midway at least.
2) How can they continue to play a batsman who averages 27 for over 50 tests?
The batsman in question is Ramps. Let’s look at some numbers again. A couple of mosaics, easy to read.
Some takeouts
a) Ramps got to play for England in 9 installments. 4 poor, sub 20 outings, 3 in 20s and 2 hovering 40s outings.
b) The longest run was 15 matches at 26 which included a decent Ashes campaign in Australia at 32.
c) Both instances when he averaged 40, he got dropped immediately. While this would make one think that the others might have fared better than this 40, it is not the case.
So how do we explain the selectors dropping a player who averaged 40?
3) Talent pool: I would differ slightly, with the view most of us have. In thinking England has a small talent pool. Let us do one small exercise, take the current T20 team of India and England. Tell me how many players from U-19 levels have gotten in to the teams?
The answer is...
The probability of finding a U-19 player is more in the case of the sub-continental teams & New Zealand, than in Australia, England & West Indies (WI's case is completely different, let's leave them alone for the moment). The reason is simple these countries have a larger talent base to select their players from because their domestic leagues are far more organized than what we have.
I would say Tesco is definitely a thing of the past as far as the current England set-up is concerned.
Why?
There is no Duncan Fletcher.
He won Ashes alright, but he was the Buchanan of England for a great part of his coaching career.
I would say Tesco is definitely a thing of the past as far as the current England set-up is concerned.
Why?
There is no Duncan Fletcher.
He won Ashes alright, but he was the Buchanan of England for a great part of his coaching career.
May be you missed the Mark(s)
Do read all and score full Mark(s)...
* There is a minor glitch in cricinfo, while their cumulative for Ramps shows 2350 runs at 27.32, when you go matchwise it throws what I have shown here. But that variance is only minor and it would go in Ramp’s favour.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
