3rd match - Postmortem

It was an exciting match which went down to the last minute. We had almost pulled it out before dishing out the victory to the opponent. I feel we did ‘most’ of the things correctly. But that’s how the game goes. A very few tit-bits here and there, that was what has cost the match for us. The larger picture might easily point the finger at that crucial over bowled by Rajesh, but not really that’s the only reason for the failure. Many other things could have been done correctly. We have a lot of things to be carried from this match. The first of the real good match, where we had been encountered by a real decent team which knew a few things about playing the game, who had a good bowling attack backed up by an agile and athletic fielding. We can’t expect the entire tournament to be a cake-walk just like how the first two matches turned out to be. These are the kind of teams whom we should be able to tackle and come out unscathed.

Rather than doing the blame game lets first try and look at the positives that can be carried from the match. The first striking positive aspect is the efforts of our strike bowlers. The kind of start which we got from Rajiv, Param, Bala and Koushik proves how vital it is to stick to the spread-out field and one side attack. The strategy was almost perfectly executed. Every over after the first four balls were restricted for a run or two, we immediately spread ourselves in a bid to ensure that the over does not get spoiled by a boundary of the last deliveries. The line was perfect with nothing given on their legs. The fact that we gave 48 runs in three overs (15+15+18) and only 68 from the rest 17 overs (at just 4 per over) necessitates the importance of sticking to the ploy of 6:3 field with the off-side packed and bowling outside off stump. More often than not, the strategy will work because not many people have the ability to barge down the track or try and convert an out-side off-stump ball to the leg side. Even if they are going to do it they will be doing it at a risk of playing across. That gives us a chance of a LBW, bowled or even a leading edge. It also emphasizes the significance of bowling one side and not giving anything whatsoever down the legs. ‘Very easily said than done’ you might argue, but that’s what we should try and do if we are to restrict teams from building huge score. The first two overs from Rajiv, Bala, me and the entire spell from Param, if anyone would have noticed them, there was not a single ball that was to their legs. We were helped by the fact that the umpires didn’t call a few balls as wide. Still the line was such that they had no option but to split the off-side (which not many people can successfully do unless they take the aerial route). So guys, lets stick to this strategy throughout the tournament. I feel this is the best available option. An off-spinner like Koushik can probably resort to the 5:4 with the short-mid wicket coming in place. I have tried drawing a picture of how the field should be for bowlers like Bala, Param, Me and Rajiv. Other bowlers including Koushik can remove the deep extra-cover and put him as a short-mid

One more positive aspect is definitely our ‘stand-in’ wicket keeper. He has really been doing a great job for us. If not for his agile work behind the stumps we would have really had a horrendous time in saving the byes. So remember that in case Shivaram is not present for a match we might straightaway add 10 to 15 runs to the opponent’s total.

Now, coming to the area of improvement or rather concern. Batting is definitely not upto the potential. We definitely have it in us to score 140 plus runs on a consistent basis. People like Rajiv, Bala, me or Appu can provide the stability to the innings or holding one end, but to boost the runs we still depend on the likes of Rajesh, Koushik or Shivaram. If Rajesh clicks then we can definitely look at a projected score of 160 plus, but till he strikes form we somehow have to find a way on the top who can go after the bowling. Probably we can look at Shivaram opening the innings (in the absence of Faizal) along with Appu. On the bowling department as already said Rajiv, Bala, Param and Koushik are our main strike. If all the four strike bowlers have given away only 5 per over then the fifth bowling option can be compromised for say even 30 runs in 4 overs (that would mean a total of just 110 runs in 20 overs). On the contrary if unfortunately one or two of them have a bad over each (just like the other day where Rajiv and Bala together went for 30 runs between them in two overs) then the fifth bowler becomes all the more important. So we have a lot of things to be considered and again it all depends on the combination which we are going to play for the upcoming matches.

With regard to the tournament I think all three teams which we have played so far have lost atleast a game each. That means we still have a chance of making it to the top of the table. However, one very very important thing to be made notice of is the chance that is being deprived for the likes of Ranga, Prakash, Nithya, Faizal, Krishna, Sundar and for that matter even Girish. In our attempt to pursue victory everytime and try and squeeze in the best of the resources we might end up failing to lose the ultimate objective of starting this team. At the end of the day everyone should get to participate and get to involve themselves in the action in the middle and have fun. It shouldn’t be dominated by guest players or the same 7 or 8 members doing things in the middle. Others also should be given some footage in the action. Ranga has already voiced his concern about people not being given role to do anything other than just picking the ball from deep and throwing back to the bowler/keeper. I whole-heartedly acknowledge his opinion. Hence its all the more important for the ‘confirmed 5 or 6’ members (who get to play all the games) to perform in such a manner that we have room for others also to experiment and play/enjoy the game. In case they go for runs or fail with the bat we should be able to perform that much even more so that we don’t end up losing. With the kind of situation we are in now (2:1) and one more expectedly strong team coming up in Slash Support, probably after winning that fourth match we should start looking at giving opportunities to others to perform. After-all the 6 of us alone shouldn’t be enjoying (in the name of providing solidity to the team) the efforts of all the 13 members who have contributed for the starting of Cric-cruisers…….

regards
Sri Kumar J