India tour of Zimbabwe - June 2016

[abhi_jacko]

What a tease by Sran ..

Does everything you shouldn't do in the last over of a game: gives a six, four, no ball, wide and then denies a win at the end. Took the game to the last ball when it could have been over by over 19.2 - Very Dhoni-esque

 

[zwarrior]

That was one horrible last over. Anyway well played Zimbabwe. It hurts to come so close and loose the game.
Hope all the youngsters learnt a thing or two from this tour. It was a good opportunity for them and few players were good.[DOUBLEPOST=1466606833][/DOUBLEPOST]Axar Patel has been very good. He has improved a lot. I just wish jaddu could bat like him.

 

[Aalay]

I think it was just Saran's inexperience in pressure situation that was on the show. Also a bit of unknown factor with Maruma who was playing his first match in this T20 series. All the bowlers knew what Chigumbura could do so they did not bowl anywhere near his preferred areas and went short to him. For Maruma, they didn't know much so they just bowled length to him and he smashed them. Saran will improve however with more experience like this but he was very impressive for me throughout this tour. Also hope Dhoni is okay, it looked a bit nasty that eye injury.

 

[Ahmad94]

For a side that has the best domestic T20 competition, India has been so poor in the T20 series. Ignoring the second game, their batting has been well below par.

 

[Aalay]

For a side that has the best domestic T20 competition, India has been so poor in the T20 series. Ignoring the second game, their batting has been well below par.

How about you say Zimbabwe improved as the games went on? I think MS just mentioned in the presentation ceremony that Zimbabwe played much better cricket in T20's and therefore India got more out T20 series than they did from ODI series. Also don't forget that apart from Manish Pandey, no batsman from this squad is likely to be a regular in India's preferred 11. Some of the players are very close likes of Kedar Jadhav and Mandeep Singh and they showed their skills in various matches whenever they got chance throughout the tour. However, KL Rahul was nowhere near Limited overs squad before this series and now he has pushed his name up through his performances. You also have to remember that most of these players are playing in Zimbabwe for the first time and I don't know if you were following the series or not but it gets very cold in Zimbabwe this time around. That is one of the main challenge for players from subcontinent. Also there weren't any flat wickets, they were all bowler friendly wickets. I think they dealt well with that and were still able to play well.

The one thing that we do miss however, is a big hitter and we haven't been able to find one for a quite some time now. Someone who can come out and smash the ball from the very first ball. Raina is someone who can do that but he has struggled lately. Deepak Hooda is another player who is quite strong and can perform that role but he had a terrible IPL and was highly incosistent. They tried Negi and Hardik Pandya but both had absolute shocker of an IPL. They clearly don't want to go back to Yusuf Pathan and the only one who came close to fulfil that role this IPL was Krunal Pandya however, it is a bit early to throw him in the mix. So until we find someone who can perform that role for India, we are going to struggle at the back end of the game. Dhoni can do this job easily but his form has been very patchy for last 1 and a half year now. He is still very fit but is reluctant to hit even though he has enough power.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

I am really happy to see Zimbabwe fight in T20's. I am also happy Dhoni acknowledged that Zimbabwe gave good fight in T20's and was a good learning curve for our team. With that said I still think Dhoni is past his prime form and has to vacant the T20 spot for someone else. We dont need an exceptional keeper in T20's. Although in ODI's he dint get enough chances to prove his batting in T20 he got 2 and both of them were not good.

 

[Ahmad94]

How about you say Zimbabwe improved as the games went on? I think MS just mentioned in the presentation ceremony that Zimbabwe played much better cricket in T20's and therefore India got more out T20 series than they did from ODI series. Also don't forget that apart from Manish Pandey, no batsman from this squad is likely to be a regular in India's preferred 11. Some of the players are very close likes of Kedar Jadhav and Mandeep Singh and they showed their skills in various matches whenever they got chance throughout the tour. However, KL Rahul was nowhere near Limited overs squad before this series and now he has pushed his name up through his performances. You also have to remember that most of these players are playing in Zimbabwe for the first time and I don't know if you were following the series or not but it gets very cold in Zimbabwe this time around. That is one of the main challenge for players from subcontinent. Also there weren't any flat wickets, they were all bowler friendly wickets. I think they dealt well with that and were still able to play well.

The one thing that we do miss however, is a big hitter and we haven't been able to find one for a quite some time now. Someone who can come out and smash the ball from the very first ball. Raina is someone who can do that but he has struggled lately. Deepak Hooda is another player who is quite strong and can perform that role but he had a terrible IPL and was highly incosistent. They tried Negi and Hardik Pandya but both had absolute shocker of an IPL. They clearly don't want to go back to Yusuf Pathan and the only one who came close to fulfil that role this IPL was Krunal Pandya however, it is a bit early to throw him in the mix. So until we find someone who can perform that role for India, we are going to struggle at the back end of the game. Dhoni can do this job easily but his form has been very patchy for last 1 and a half year now. He is still very fit but is reluctant to hit even though he has enough power.

Are you kidding? Leaving out Elton Chimgubra's innings in the first T20, Zimbabwe played as they were expected to. I will say there bowling was a little better than usual but India should have dominated like in the ODI's. And what rubbish about the lack of experience; Bumrah, Pandey, Dhoni, Kedar, Rayadu, Axar Patel, Kulkarni all have bags of experience (if not at international but as India A side touring the world). My point being that Zimbabwe should have never had a chance in T20 series with players that play around 5 T20I a year relative to these quality Indian players.

Also, I strongly second your finisher opinion. Though, just don't understand why Pathan is being neglected when he has clearly changed and improved his game compared to hit-and-miss players like H.Pandya, Negi etc. Even Jadeja lacks in the batting department in the full strength Indian side.

 

[Aalay]

Are you kidding? Leaving out Elton Chimgubra's innings in the first T20, Zimbabwe played as they were expected to. I will say there bowling was a little better than usual but India should have dominated like in the ODI's. And what rubbish about the lack of experience; Bumrah, Pandey, Dhoni, Kedar, Rayadu, Axar Patel, Kulkarni all have bags of experience (if not at international but as India A side touring the world). My point being that Zimbabwe should have never had a chance in T20 series with players that play around 5 T20I a year relative to these quality Indian players.

Also, I strongly second your finisher opinion. Though, just don't understand why Pathan is being neglected when he has clearly changed and improved his game compared to hit-and-miss players like H.Pandya, Negi etc. Even Jadeja lacks in the batting department in the full strength Indian side.

Not kidding at all. Their bowling was much better than what I saw in ODI's. They are a better T20 side than they are in ODI's. There is no pressure on them in T20's to bat for 50 overs, it is basically hit or miss which fits their current mentality perfectly. They also have players who are more suited to T20's than ODI's. Also there is a difference between A tours and national side. Again, if you heard MS during various stages of this tour, he heavily emphasized that all these guys have travelled with A tour in the past but it is all different when you are representing your national team. The pressure that comes with it is totally different than some A tours which is why India always sends their second 11 to these tours because they want these guys to get an exposure at International level which they can't get from A tours. They play IPL but at the end of the day, IPL is a domestic tournament. And if you look at India, they don't play many T20I, they just play IPL matches where all the players playing for different franchise. India as a T20 team plays the least amount of T20I out of all the 8 major teams. I would love to see any second string side from current top 8 teams apart from India who can travel to Zimbabwe and give them the thrashing that we did in ODI's.

On Yusuf Pathan, I think it's just that he can be a liability in the field which doesn't fit very well with current Indian team. He still has his problem with short balls. Consistency was an issue for him but he has done reasonably well in last 2 IPL seasons so I don't exactly know the reason why he is not being picked. As I have said numerous times before, Hardik is an X-factor that team India needs. He is very raw is not an international standard right now but with some experience, he can be the all-rounder that India is looking for. So it is definitely worth investing in him. Jadeja's batting has never been up to the mark. He rarely performs with the bat at International cricket and that is really uprising for a person who has three triple centuries to his name in Ranji trophy. I have never rated Negi too much so I am not going to talk much about him.

 

[Aravind.]

Also, I strongly second your finisher opinion. Though, just don't understand why Pathan is being neglected when he has clearly changed and improved his game compared to hit-and-miss players like H.Pandya.

I 100% agree with you. Yusuf has scored close to 400 runs in both last 2 IPL's.
Condition is not a problem for him, he has scored ton's against South Africa in their back yard on a green track, when ever body failed he smashed Steyn & Morkel when they were on peak of their powers.
At least he should be considered for T20's. India definitely need him in T20's.