Jesse Ryder is just confusing

Well the latest from the world of cricket we learn is that the New Zealand captain Ross Taylor insists that the injury prone New Zealand (obviously) batsman bowler player has to restrict himself from bowling (no matter what sort of deliveries) owing to an injury in his calf muscle which has off-late been successful in having Ryder warm the benches during the first and the only test against Zimbabwe at Bulwayo which will be starting in a couple of moments from now onwards. This, we understand that happened during a warm up game against the same that he encountered the injury while bowling at nets.

Injuries can happen anywhere and at anytime and last but not the least to anyone and Jesse Ryder is no exception. But, the news is that Jesse Ryder happens to battle injuries more than battling the opposition out there in the middle since late last year and to be more precise in the series against India in India. Jesse Ryder missed the one day series against India last year owing to the same calf muscle injury. Ahead of that, there were problems for Ryder with his elbow and abductor muscle. Still that should not be a problem for New Zealand and once again, injuries do not follow any routine.

But, when Jesse Ryder happens to battle injuries and that too career threatening ones, one has to have a close look at his type of play which suggests that Jesse Ryder is a medium fast bowler and bowls occasionally and not a full time bowler say like Daniel Vettori and Shane Bond. On the otherhand, he is a batsmen who gets in at number six at which time either winning the match or else losing the same would have been a certainty. It is just amazing to see such a player battling injuries and that too more frequently. Just confusing!

The batsman until now has played only 37 one dayers and 16 test matches. And now, this has become a reason of concern for the Kiwi captain Ross Taylor who wants to keep Ryder away from bowling. One has to wonder what makes Taylor worry about the absence of the bowling of Ryder when there are other bowlers who can do the job for New Zealand and with Ryder being a part-time bowler, the job gets reduced a little bit. It should not be a worry if Ryder misses the test against Zimbabwe when there are better and challenging games coming ahead.

Something fishy in the tri series

Well if the ongoing triangular series involving India, Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe is considered, there can be something fishy smelt with much unexpected results happening. The latest development in this regard is the win of Zimbabwe over Sri Lanka no matter by which margin. And the margin wa also unexpected in case someone wants to give it a thought. This is rarely possible in case of Zimbabwe who can't even think of beating Bangladesh be it at home or outside. On the other side also, Zimbabwe are seen beating India rather convincingly not once but twice in the encounters they have faced.

This can partially be assumed to be the result of the Indian selectors resting most all of their players with an intention of giving the young legs a chance and also senior players rest before the big game in the Asia cup would begin. But still there were the likes of Suresh Raina, Rohith Sharma and Zaheer Khan among the list who could have saved face for India atleast against Zimbabwe though not against Sri Lanka. But, the funny side of the tournament happened to be the fact that India managed to win a game against Sri Lanka which is comparatively stronger than Zimbabwe but lose to Zimbabwe.

Moreover, Sri Lanka lose their last encounter to Zimbabwe by eight wickets which makes people think in the other way. One thing which can justify the Sri Lankans' attitude is that since they had already made it to the finals and they would have taken this match against Zimbabwe less seriously one can suppose. The scorecard suggests that the Sri Lankans were not deprived of any of their players owing to rest with Dilshan, Kapugedra and Samaraweera still being in the squad for this to happen. It would not be a surprise in case Sri Lanka lose the finals to give Zimbabwe their maiden triangular series victory.

Though the match was inconsequential, Sri Lanka should have won it in case people's thinking should not swing towards the bad side. The finals of the tournament will no doubt be won by Sri Lanka but, if the ongoing developments are given a close look at, things are not clear whether there is any ful play involved or not. The only hope would be the fact that there would hardly be anyone who would have his bet on either of the team for the series is not a well sought after one. But, this should not and cannot be considered to be the reason to be a fair play when results go unexpected with a lot of difference inbetween.

Was the resting of players justified?

I can still remember the way India lost the second one dayer to Bangladesh in 2005 when the then captain Rahul Dravid decided to rest most of the experienced players by underestimating the Bangladeshi players and paid the price for the same by losing the match by 11 runs. In fact that was India's first ever defeat at the hands of Bangladesh. And now once again, the Indian selectors did the same mistake by resting all the players who are experienced thinking that it can bring out the best out of the youngsters. As a result of this, once again India paid the price.

India not only lost their final match against Sri Lanka but also lost two matches rather unexpectedly to Zimbabwe, the team against which a victory was assumed before hand by the Indians and failed to make it to the finals of the tri nation tournament. Until now, team India was ill fated when they used to enter the finals of a multi nation tournament and lose there. But now, they have failed to get past the league stage itself. All thanks to the selectors who not only gave the youngsters a chance but also gave Zimbabwe a chance to enter the finals of the tri nation tournament which it rarely deserves.

Despite not deserving to be there, Zimbabwe was seen in the super sixes of two world cups in 1999 and 2003. Anyways, with that being secondary, the matter of the hour is that the BCCI did nothing good by resting the seniors starting from Sachin Tendulkar to Mahendra Singh Dhoni. The team should have seen atleast a few of the experienced lads making it to the squad like yuvraj Singh, who would be making it to the playing XI after a long time snce he has battled injuries off late. So would have been the case with Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag for whom this could have been a refresher series after their absence recently.

Following the series under discussion, there is a mega event scheduled with India taking on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Asia cup which happens once in every two years since it was decided in 2008. With the BCCI resting the experienced players, there is every possibility that the Asia cup may turn a nightmare for both the players as well as the BCCI in case India lose to either if the strong teams or not to be surprised, even Bangladesh. Added to this would be the T20 world cup ghost that would continue to haunt the Indian team wherever they go until they find a breakthrough.

Is India trying to follow West Indies?

Well, all you readers are aware of the way the West Indies team last year got into the record books for the wrong reasons when they became the first team to not only have lost a test match series to Bangladesh but also were the first team to have been whitewashed by the same. And the misery just got extended further when they lost the one day series as well. All thanks to a strike carried out by the West Indies Cricket Association (WICA) regarding contract disputes. May be the strike was not seriously taken by the WICB for it was a series against Bangladesh which the West Indies were about to face.

That got extended until the ICC Champions Trophy last year in South Africa where West Indies lost all three games it played against Australia, Pakistan and India in the league stages. Now, it looks like team India is also following suite when the BCCI has rested most of the senior players including the regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a squad consisting of Suresh Raina as the captain is all set to face Zimbabwe in their first encounter. India need not fear Zimbabwe for a victory is granted unless the Indians don't make a fool out of themselves by underestimating Zimbabwe.

But, there is another team in Sri Lanka who would be facing team India for the third time in this year after they had a bilateral series late last year and then in the world T20 and now in the tri nation tournament at Zimbabwe. Oh! Yes, I had forgotten to mention the tri nation tournament involving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh held earlier this year. This would be a chance for team India to salvage their pride by winning the finals of a tri angular series which India has always been deprived of a title despite being at the top in the league stages.

However, there was no need for the BCCI to drop all the senior players namely Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Dhoni, Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir etc to name a few all simultaneously. It would not come as a surprise for anyone in case India fail to win a game against Zimbabwe. This would mean some satisfaction for the Indian team that would be heading for a tournament after their yet another dismal T20 world cup where India lost all three games in the super eights. Moreover, most of the players including Raina are new to Zimbabwe which can smell trouble.

Why is Raina being made the captain?

Well it is not a breaking news about Dhoni's praise and confidence he has in the upcoming cricketer Suresh Raina which saw Dhoni allowing Raina to captain the Chennai Superkings side in the IPL a month back. But, one has to imagine whether Dhoni's selection of the captain in his replacement is justified in case Dhoni is responsible in making Raina captain the Indian side for the tri nation tournament involving Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe? Or did the selectors show faith in Raina upon Dhoni's choice as mentioned above? In either case, there are better people than Raina who could be given the reins.

One may not agree with me if I say that Suresh Raina still needs to find a platform for himself in the team as a player before he can think of stepping into the shoes of a captain. Not because of his failures in some parts of the team but for the only reason that there are better people and more experienced people than Raina who are eligible to lead the side. Of course, the list does not include Sachin Tendulkar who has shown to be exactly opposite as a captin compared to what he was and what he is as a player.

There are batsmen like Rohith Sharma whose caliber in the Indian team as a batsman is similar to what Raina enjoys. The only difference between the both being that Raina bats left handed while Rohith Sharma bats right handed. Both of them have had equal number of ups and downs in their cricket career. Or else, there are players like Dinesh Karthik who can replace Dhoni as a keeper but would not be a fair choice as a captain instead of Dhoni. And one more fascinating thing about the squad is that the vice captain of India will be Virat Kohli.

There is no doubt that these players have the potential in them both as batsmen and as captain to take the team forward. I thought of mentioning Yuvraj Singh but found that his name misses from the squad set to tour Zimbabwe. My sincere apologies for that. Other choices as captain would be Amit Mishra and Yousuf Pathan both of whom are equally talented and experienced like Suresh Raina. No doubt that not much would be expected from Suresh Raina when his team would return from Zimbabwe. There is no doubt that India will make it to the finals and in case they lose, it would be another loss in a final and nothing more.

Priceless!

Well with both the matches that were scheduled being whitewashed, one can think of the bad scheduling by the ICC when both the games were scheduled at the same venue despite the fact that there was signs of rain prior to the match. Of course, rain has always been playing a spoilsport on most of the occasions which can decide the fate of a deserving team when the same has to face the threat of being knocked out of the tournament with hardly any fault of its. And one has to nevertheless embrace the fact that nothing can be done regarding the same.

There is a technology to bring down rains but not one to stop the same when it rains at an unexpected and unwanted spot and time. But, a decent thinking from the ICC which is responsible for scheduling the games can at most of the times help in saving the tournament from going into the wrong hands. As a result of partly the rains and more because of the governing body, one team had to end up on the losing side despite putting up a mammoth total and the other team which was playing the 2^nd match of the day had to keep its fingers crossed until they were declared winners.

A total of 191 is a winning one in most of the situations and more so when the same is scored against a weak team like the West Indies. I agree that there have been many instances where a total in excess of 200 has been successfully chased down. But, this was hardly the case in yesterday's game though it was the West Indies who were enjoying the home side advantage. Duckworth - Lewis method of judging the winners and losers may say anything. But, at the end of the day, one team has to go back cursing with hardly no fault of its. One should have gone sick by now when unanswerable questions are raised against the D-L method.

Coming to the 2^nd game of the day, the match should have been truncated in the beginning itself after rains had spoiled hopes in the first one a few hours back. One could have had a 15 over match instead of a 20 overs a side with rain always threatening to play a spoilsport. In that case, Sri Lanka wouldhave batted for 15 overs instead of 20 while Zimbabwe would have batted for 10 overs and not only 5 overs which results in a wrong calculation. With their caliber, Sri Lanka had every chance of bowling the Zimbabwean batsmen well before 10 overs. And, even if that doesn't happen, for sure there would have been a clearer match in front of us.

Chris Gayle's words come true in the Zimbabwe series

Well the world would not have forgotten the West Indies' captain - Chris Gayle's words when he was found predicting a 4-1 victory for his team ahead of the 5 match one day series that they played last month. This no doubt would have obviously made some people laugh and other ignore Gayle's words. However, Chris Gayle's words were found coming true in the 5 match one day series against Zimbabwe when his team crushed Zimbabwe by a 4-1 margin yesterday after West Indies won the fifth one dayer by 4 wickets. This was the third 4 wicket victory that the West Indies had in this tournament.

The 4-1 victory prediction that Gayle had predicted ahead of the West Indies - Australia bilateral series didn't even turn out to be 1-4 in favor of the West Indies and moreover, it would have been a 5-0 loss had the third one dayer been taken off smoothly which finally had to be abandoned. Anyways, if the series between the West Indies and Zimbabwe is considered, though it would not have been a great guess for anyone who'd have bet on the West Indies, the converse also had an equal share, taking into account their poor performance since the retirement of the bowling trio Ambrose-Walsh-Bishop a decade ago.

Added to that was the fact that West Indies lost the only T20 game earlier where they failed to even chase down 105 runs and then in the first one dayer at Guyana West Indies lost the game by 2 runs which added another unwanted feather in their cap. And though since that game the West Indies have never dared to look back, the victory was hardly enough to silence all even a little bit of critics. It was only the Kingston one dayer which the West Indies won by 141 runs that could draw some appreciation. And, when it comes to the remaining three matches, if not for the win, no other way can anyone be convinced with the performance of the West Indies team.

Being the home team and having a last laugh against a non testing team against Zimbabwe speaks for itself about the caliber the West Indies team have in them off late. Chasing a target of just above 150 or 200 should have seen them lose not more than 3 wickets or at the most 5 wickets. So should have been the overs they needed to go past the Zimbabwean total which saw them crawl upto the late 40s to reach the target. If a team like the West Indies has such a bad fate, one can think of another Zimbabwe when no one bets on the West Indies. If the cricketing world loses a test team like the WI, there would be just 6 teams playing decent cricket with Bangladesh & WI crashing out.

How long will the satisfaction last for WI?

Well one has to pity the present day's West Indies team which finds relief after winning the second one day match against Zimbabwe. One has to think whether it was Australia whom the West Indies defeated or was it really Zimbabwe? The moment a team rejoices after winning a match against some team like Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, its caliber is well know to the cricketing world. And, moreover the West indies team finds relief not before it lost the first one day international and the only T20 game that was played prior to that to the same Zimbabwean team. Also, this victory was at home for the Windies.

The same West Indies team was found to have lost or rather being whitewashed by the Bangladesh team somewhere 7 months ago which was any team's first ever test match series defeat at the hands of Bangladesh team and West Indies being the home team then added to their woes. Now, if one sees the West Indies team rejoicing after their victory against Zimbabwe it can be considered that the West Indies team and the fans would have anticipated them to lose the game and the series as well to the Zimbabweans. And, their actions are justified with the absence of some key players like Dwayne Bravo.

This was a hard fought victory for the West Indies, which at one stage saw then reeling with 85 runs on the board at the end of the 26^th over at a run rate of just over 3.0 an over. And moreover, at that stage, the West Indies team had lost 4 quick and top wickets. It would not have been possible without the experienced Chris Gayle and Deonarine who held the nerves and didn't lose more than 2 wickets after their initial debacle which saw West Indies through that game against Zimbabwe. It is now only history that West Indies boasted a batsman in Brian Lara who scored 400* in test cricket.

And, when the West Indies can boast of their victory against Zimbabwe which was a hard fought one, questions do raise about the future of the West Indies in the ongoing series against the same. Can West Indies win atleast two of the remaining three one dayers against Zimbabwe to avoid another disappointment in case they don't succeed in doing so? The target that they chased down was a mere 208 runs and that could draw in a lot of applause which was not the case when they chased down 418 runs in test cricket against Australia some 6 odd years back.

6 Ducks from the winning side

Well West Indies' loss in the recently concluded ODI series and the T20 series against Australia can well be justified for, West Indies is a far worse outfit compared to Australia who are not at their one time best. Moreover, West Indies were facing Australia in Australia where forget about winning, even a matured loss would be a great feeling for the West Indies team. But, now in the first T20 game against Zimbabwe at Port of Spain, where West Indies were expected to win for one last time, it was fascinating to see West Indies playing the T20 game as though it was a test match.

All that the West Indies team can feel comfortable about is the fact that there was a West Indian bowler in Darren Sammy who bagged 5 Zimbabwean wickets, returning with figures of 5/26 from the 4 overs allotted to him. Can anyone of us imagine even in our dreams a team ending its innings of a T20 game with not only putting up a partly score of 79 but also at a strike rate of just above 3.0 runs an over? In the recently concluded India-South Africa 2 match test series, both the teams out there had atleast one innings wherein the team had scored at a rate of above 4.0 runs an over.

It was Dwayne Smith placed at number 7 in the batting order who recorded the highest strike rate in the match at 80 runs for every 100 deliveries he faced. And the highest run getter in the match for the West Indies team happened to be Denesh Ramdin who scored 23 runs no matter how many deliveries he faced. There were only 3 batsmen from the West Indies' side who could put up individual scores above 10, with extras taking its share of 10 runs. One thing that can be noticed for the West Indies' bowling chart is that the WI captain bought in just 5 of his bowlers who bowled their quota of 4 over each.

And on the other side, the Zimbabwean side bought in 8 of their bowlers, may be which is not of much importance when it comes to winning matches. But, the idea to experiment when things are not going in favor is always a welcome move from the captain. At the end, one thing that is worth to be noted is that there were 7 batsmen from the Zimbabwean side who returned back to the pavilion the way they entered into the crease. Out of these 7 batsmen who couldn't score a run, 6 of them were out. Another interesting fact is that Benn had 4 wickets, all of whom returned without scoring. I guess that this is the 1^st such instance where ducks have made headlines.

Bangladesh touring just formally

If the ICC's tours table is given a close look at, one can see the way the minnows are sidelined. Nevermind that they can hardly draw crowds to the stadiums or provoke people to leave their jobs and watch them play on their television sets. However, if the first and the only T20 international between Bangladesh and New Zealand are considered, the series consists of just one T20 match that is followed by three one dayers and 2 test matches. Likewise, tours involving stronger teams would include 3 test matches five one day games and 2 T20 games off late.

Even if the recent past is considered, there have been series' between South Africa & England, Australia & Pakistan, India & Sri Lanka which consisted of 4 tests+5 ODIs+2 T20s, 3 tests+ 5ODIs+1T20 and 3 tests+5ODIs+2T20 games respectively. And Bangladesh were scheduled to play only 2 test matches against India on their home tour recently. Previous to that, Bangladesh played 5 one dayers against Zimbabwe, the result of which is not the million dollar question of the day whatsoever. Is it because Zimbabwe and Bangladesh stand at the same level in international that ICC plans schedules for Bangladesh in such a way?

It is an undisputed fact that Bangladesh are best suited for teams like Zimbabwe, Kenya etc who can make the Bangladeshis confident about their cricket. But, if that is the case, why did the ICC grant Bangladesh a test status when they hardly have been displaying some decent knocks even in T20 cricket. If the first and the only T20 game that was held at Hamilton yesterday is considered, as expected, Bangladesh could not win. That is not the issue here but, imagine a run rate of 4.45 in a T20 game. T20 game I suppose is the same for all teams including Bangladesh.

Bangladesh should have atleast played their full quota of 20 overs. Bangladesh are found to play better one day and test cricket compared to their test cricket. They have been able to defeat West Indies in the inaugural edition of the T20 world cup held at South Africa to enter the super eights. But in the next edition, they couldn't even pull a win against Ireland. They had to face the depleted West Indies team to register their first test series win other than the one against Zimbabwe. So was the case in their one day series' as well. This can be concluded that Bangladesh just want to keep playing cricket and win only when the opposition is weak.