16 August 2007

Spot on or not on?

Well Cricinfo (Siddhartha Vaidyanathan, actually)has rated Karthik above Dhoni and Tendulkar. But for the catching, even I may have marked Karthik higher. And they also seem to appreciate Jaffer more than I have. And clearly they have been swayed by the role that he played in building a foundation from where Ganguly, Sachin & co pushed on. However, I really felt that on a couple of occasions, Jaffer was guilty of giving it away when well set, playing irresponsible shots. Jaffer has a wealth of experience playing cricket, even though not at the highest level, and is well known for the tenacity with which he builds huge knocks. In my book, he did not pull his weight. In fact, I may have forgiven him easier had he perished more without getting set (like at the Oval). Anyway, getting starts is not such a huge flaw.
This is exactly the reason why both Sehwag and Gambhir are essential in the frame of things. Both Jaffer and Karthik need to be on their toes, and they need to know that despite a historic series victory, the opening spots are not theirs forever. They need to continue justifying their spots in the team - as specialist openers.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

i too have never been convinced by jaffer, though he has some good shots. there's a looseness in his technique to the ball rising and leaving outside off-stump, and the one that comes in - although i suppose you could argue that every batsman is vulnerable to the slightest movement these days. easy pitches have taken the premium out of technique.

John said...

Oh yes, he has some awesome shots!

Anonymous said...

I think the two stonewallers at the top of the order is the way forward for India.

Both players are great shotmakers, but they need to curb that instinct. If they can set up innings for the middle order, India won't go far wrong.

John said...

I disagree. An opener should be allowed from twenty to ninety minutes to assess the pitch and the bowling, depending upon the conditions. After that he has to make the most of every scoring opportunity. Even on a difficult track, stonewalling will not be a virtue in itself - when in the final analysis, every run counts.