1st match - Postmortem

The first match turned out to be a good warm up game for us. We couldn’t have asked for a better practice match to get into the serious groove of the tournament. However, no serious conclusions can be derived from this match. The opponent proved to be too sub-standard for us to brag or boast about this win. Infact on the improvement list we have quite a few to be taken care of.

The first being the opening slot. Against a better bowling attack we can’t afford to start off in such a disastrous manner. We definitely need to have a re-look at the opening slot (in the absence of Appu). The fact that it was just a single partnership between Rajiv and Koushik that saved the day for us, thus emphasizes that atleast one batsman hang in there till the end to provide stability to the innings while the other goes about boosting the scoring. It is also a lesson that even at dire straits as 19 for 3, if we don’t panic and try hanging in, we can still get to a decent total, fit enough to be defended.

The middle order ‘appears’ to be strong, thanks to Rajiv’s presence, but other than him no other batsman has yet fired (in the past two games). One more lesson is in case of batting first and managing to put up a score which is beyond 7.5 runs per over, then the ideal tactic during the second innings should be to try and minimize the boundaries and choke them. Rather than having a test match or a 50/30 overs kind of attitude, where you have people in catching position and try to earn wickets, in such a short version as a 20 overs cricket, we don’t need to do anything extra other than bowling dot balls. With no power-plays, it’s highly advantageous for us in spreading the field. We have atleast 5 athletic fielders who are good enough to patrol the boundaries and dry them up. This will ensure that their run-flow is kept at check constantly.

This is not defensive cricket. This is doing ‘only the thing’ that is required rather than try that bit extra which has an element of risk in it. Just two or three continuous tight overs are enough to choke the batsmen and make them throw their wickets. Similarly just two or three bad overs are enough to spoil the day for us. It makes no difference if we are going to make them all out for 100 or let them at 100 for no loss at the end of the innings. Finally it’s the result that counts. The fact that having attacking field opens up space for the batsman to score is a risk factor for us. Any good team, with a decent hitter will take advantage of that lean patch and for us the 5th bowler being always a fill-in option, it gives all the more liberty for the opponents to go for it. Why to take that risk when we have an option of just sticking to bowling dot balls. You can call it defensive cricket. But when there is no necessity for aggressive cricket and when you know very well that aggressive tactics opens up the field, why to choose it when all you have to do is ensure that they don’t score more than 7 runs per over. You may never know, just one good over might trigger off the momentum for the opponents and remember it just requires one batsman to take the game away from us.

Throughout this entire tournament (and for all 20-20 tournaments) I would like to stick to this strategy. This doesn’t mean that I don’t have the confidence in our bowlers or fielders, but let’s not hurry up things. As we progress further in the tournament we shall try it in a phased manner and in a calculative way. Probably in the last match it turned out to be in our favour, but still I would like to go by the spread-out field. With just the singles available and only the odd boundaries, we have a lot of chance in restricting them (if it’s a defending position) or minimize their total if we are to bowl first. Even during my absence (in case I get into any project) I would still like and request you all to stick to this approach.

Batting looks strong ‘on paper’ but yet to play to its potential. Once Appu and Bala are in we will have a stronger line-up. In the Bowling department we have three front-line bowlers in Rajiv, Bala and Param. If Harish and Koushik are going to be present for all matches, then it’s fine. But incase we are not able to accommodate everyone or in case of absenteeism, then the 4th and 5th bowling has to be shared between Girish, Rajesh and myself. That 8 overs is the only lean patch wherein we have to restrict the runs to less than 48. Shivaram will mostly become our permanent keeper. So overall, we have a decent outfit, good enough to go the entire stretch of the tournament. Let’s hope for the best……………..

regards
Sri Kumar J