STOP THE BOUNDARIES

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The former Aussie leg spinner, Shane Warne, has said that the English bowlers should try not to let the Indian batsmen score too many boundaries. Warne would soon be in India to join the commentary team of ESPN.

When he was asked what should be the strategy of the English bowlers in the ongoing series, Warne said, “One thing you should keep in mind while bowling to the Indian batsmen is that they depend on the boundaries too much. They don’t like to score their runs by running. They like to hit boundaries and if they don’t manage to hit boundaries regularly, they get frustrated and start playing rash shots which increase the chances of them getting out. So, you should try to bowl at a steady line and length and shouldn’t let them hit too many boundaries.”

“The second important thing about bowling on Indian pitches is that you need to be patient. There were times when you struggle to get batsmen out. But, you shouldn’t get impatient and should keep bowling in good areas. If you tend to try too many things, there is a good possibility that you would be smashed.”

“As far as the spinners are concerned, I think they should concentrate bowling on their stock deliveries. I saw Ashwin bowling in the last test series in Australia and I got the feeling that he was trying too many variations. He was bowling 2, 3 carrom balls every over and ended up getting predictable. He should correct that against England. He should bowl his off spinners more often.”

When asked which team has got a better spin attack, Warne said, “I think both the teams have got decent spinners. Swann obviously is a great spinner and he can create problems for batsmen on any kind of pitch. India also has a couple of classy spinners. So, it would be a good contest.”

DHONI BACKS SINGH

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The captain of the Indian cricket team, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has said that Yuvraj Singh is a very important part of the Indian T20 team and his role becomes even more important when India plays with seven batsmen and four bowlers. Before India’s super eight match against Pakistan on Sunday, many experts were saying that Yuvraj doesn’t deserve a place in the XI and he should be left out of the team. But, Yuvraj’s performance against Pakistan was brilliant. He bowled beautifully and dismissed two key Pakistani batsmen. He also looked agile in the field. He was placed at his favourite point position by Dhoni. He dived on a quite a few occasions and saved some runs for his team in the field.

In the post match press conference, Dhoni said, “If we play with only four bowlers, Yuvraj’s presence in the team is necessary. We have other part time bowlers as well, but, neither of them takes the ball away from the right handers. Yuvraj adds a bit of variety to our bowling line up. He is not a big spinner of the ball, but, he has got a very good arm ball. He had bowled well against Afghanistan and he did that again today. He put us on the driving sheet with those two wickets.”

Dhoni also hailed Virat Kohli who played a match winning knock of 78 runs. Dhoni said, “Virat batted really well. We lost an early wicket and we needed a partnership at that time. Virat and Viru rotated the strike and made sure that the scoreboard kept ticking. That was sensible batting by both of them.”

“Virat is one of those players who rarely throw his wicket away. He knows the value of his wicket and he doesn’t play rash shots too often.”

India will take on South Africa in its third super 8 match on Tuesday at R Premadasa Stadium.

COOK CALLS FOR MORE

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The captain of the England Cricket team, Alistair Cook, has said that the wicket at Trent Bridge was a sporting track and the English batsmen should have scored more runs on that wicket. The England team lost the fifth one day match against South Africa by 7 wickets and lost the opportunity to win the series. The England team got all out on just 182 runs in that match and South Africa chased down the target quite comfortably.

In the post match presentation ceremony, Cook said that 182 was certainly not a par score. The batsmen should have waited for the loose deliveries to play aggressive shots. But, they chose the wrong deliveries to attack and they paid the price for that. It was a golden opportunity for the team to win the fourth consecutive ODI series, but, the team played poor cricket and South Africa deserved to win the match. On being asked about Hashim Amla who batted brilliantly throughout the series, Cook said that Amla is a brilliant stroke player. He is equally capable both off the front foot and the back foot. He is one of the best batsmen going around at the moment and if he continues playing like this, he can become one of the greats of the game.

The South African skipper, AB De Villiers, looked quite happy with the performance of his team. De Villiers said that the players performed a bit inconsistently in the series, but, today, it was a clinical effort by the guys. There are a few positives to take out from the series. Dean Elgar showed good temperament and he is a player for the future. Robin Peterson is going from strength to strength and he is a much improved spinner now. As per De Villiers, it was a decent series for the team. 2-2 is not a bad result if you are playing overseas.