Century is immaterial if team does not win: Rohit

His last three international hundreds have been in losing causes and Indian batsman Rohit Sharma feels that even the best of knocks do not give a player satisfaction if the team ends up on a losing note.

Rohit smashed his way to an unbeaten 171 in the first ODI against Australia but the home team comfortably won by five wickets in Perth on Tuesday.

“It was a great knock and it is always important to start the series on a positive note. (But) it was disappointing in the end not to be on the winning side because that is what matters at the end of the day. How many runs you score doesn’t matter if your team doesn’t end up winning,” Rohit told bcci.tv on Wednesday.

“Personally, it was important that I could get the team off to a good start and then carry on the momentum from there. That is exactly what I did.”

Someone, who is now known for scoring big hundreds in the 50-over format, Rohit is happy that he is carrying on the good work after getting a start.

“We always talk about this in our team meeting that one batsman needs to carry on and bat as long and deep as possible. One set batsman batting till the end makes a huge difference. I feel I have been doing that of late. I have been getting past 100 and then trying my best to get bigger scores after the century.

“Hundred is just a milestone, but you have to look at it from the team’s perspective as well. I want to get big hundreds for the team.”

On bouncy Australian tracks, the key to success is playing with soft hands and the Mumbaikar said he has exactly been doing that.

“It is something that I have been doing of late, which is to assess the situation initially and then accelerate. With two new white balls from both ends end, it does do a little bit, especially here in Perth, there is a bit of extra bounce. As a batsman, it is important to analyse what is happening.

“You have to be wary of such factors and shot selections become very important. I had a certain gameplan in my head and I was trying to execute it. Once I got into my zone, it was important to carry on and make it big from there. I wanted to get the team to a good total,” he added.

The batsman said that the team needs to check what went wrong. “We need to see where we went wrong.”

Read More

India has to live with bad umpiring decisions: Haddin

Former Australia wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin on Wednesday said India have to live with bad decisions from the umpires until and unless they stop opposing the Decision Review System (DRS) technology.

The 38-year-old added the visitors were not in a position to complain given their refusal to adopt the DRS.

Replays and hot spot indicated Australia batsman George Bailey should have been out first ball, caught by India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni down the leg side after he was flicked on the glove, but umpire Richard Kettleborough spared him.

From there Bailey bludgeoned a century in a record-breaking stand with Steve Smith, which helped Australia chase down India’s 309 and take a 1-0 series lead in the five-match One-Day International (ODI) series on Tuesday.

Dhoni attracted raised eyebrows with his response when asked whether he believed his team was punished with 50-50 calls going against them as a result of their position on the DRS.

“I may agree with you,” Dhoni replied to the reporter following his team’s loss to Australia in the first ODI, a match in which the non-dismissal of George Bailey cost them dearly.

“India is the one that don’t want it, so they’ve got to live with these decisions,” Haddin was quoted as saying by Sky Sports Radio.

“They can scream as much as they want about whether it’s a conspiracy or that world cricket is against them, but they don’t want DRS so they are going to have to cop those sorts of decisions on the chin,” he said.

The former Test vice-captain agreed that Bailey had been fortunate.

“They’re usually hard ones to give down leg side because you’ve got hands and legs and that everywhere. But I reckon that was obvious last night that came off the glove,” he said.

Dhoni and the BCCI remain unmoved on anti-technology stance and in particular their opposition to ball tracking.

New BCCI president Shashank Manohar said last month that unless DRS became “foolproof” the Indians would continue to refuse the technology.

Read More

With eye on World T20, India-Australia renew fierce rivalry

India will look to get their combination right as they renew their fierce rivalry against a confident Australia in the first of the five-match ODI series starting in Perth on Tuesday, marking the onset of a long limited-overs schedule stretching until the World T20.

The short limited overs series, including five ODIs and three T20 internationals, Down Under will initiate the Indian team’s preparations for the marquee ICC World T20 scheduled in March-April.

The T20 games will be played after the five ODIs, and Dhoni’s boys would like to carry the momentum in the shortest format.

Warm-up matches

While India won both their warm-up games — a T20 and 50-over match each — against the second string Western Australia XI, it is certainly not the best indicator of the kind of challenge they will face from Steve Smith’s men.

India did not have a great 2015 when they came to the 50-over format as they lost back-to-back series to Bangladesh (away) and South Africa (at home).

Rue Shami’s absence

Skipper Dhoni will like to turn the tables in the New Year but will rue the fact that one of his best pace weapons, Mohammed Shami, has been ruled out due to a hamstring injury even before the first ball has been bowled.

But there are certain aspects that might also relieve Dhoni. The fact that David Warner may not be available for better part of the series and with Mitchell Starc or the now retired Mitchell Johnson not there, the Aussie bowling attack comprising Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris, Scott Boland and Jimmy Faulkner looks thin on experience.

As far as his own bowling attack is concerned, Dhoni has been fretting over the possible playing XI combinations.

Three-man pace attack

His most experienced bowler Ishant Sharma did not play any of the two warm-up games, so it’s not known whether he would be playing in the opening game.

With three pacers almost certain to play at the WACA, which is the bounciest of Australian pitches, there are high chances that left-arm pacer Barinder Sran could win his maiden India cap alongside Ishant and Umesh Yadav.

The lanky Sran looked impressive in both the practice matches with both pace and swing in his armoury. With a deceptive short ball, Sran could prove to be a handful, complementing Ishant and Umesh.

The two experienced spin-bowling all-rounders Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will make up the five-pronged bowling attack for India.

Batting line-up almost settled

The batting unit looks more or less settled with Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan in the opening slots followed by vice captain Virat Kohli at No 3. Ajinkya Rahane is expected at No 4 and one might find the Indian captain batting at No 5.

In the middle-order, the No 6 slot will see a new face.

Vacuum by Suresh Raina absence

One among Manish Pandey or Gurkeerat Singh will be playing in slot that got vacated due to Suresh Raina’s exclusion from the squad.

Manish Pandey, who made an impressive ODI debut against Zimbabwe last year, staked his claim with a 58 in the practice game, but Gurkeerat has been a consistent performer for Punjab and India A.

Dhoni always doesn’t go by scores in warm-up games so it would not be surprising if he picks Gurkeerat ahead of Manish in the end.

The other option could be seamer all-rounder Rishi Dhawan. But the pace at which he bowls, and his batting abilities on this kind of track, has not really been tested.

The year is going to be important for Dhoni, who has been named captain till the end of World T20.

The selectors wanted to send a message by putting an end to the question mark over his leadership. But the man himself knows that he has to up the ante and perform for his team.

India needs Dhoni to produce match-winning efforts, which have been few and far between in recent times. It will be interesting to see where Dhoni comes into bat. For him, a lot will depend on how his pace battery delivers.

During the World Cup last year, the trio of Umesh, Shami and Mohit bowled like well-oiled machines even though the Bengal pacer was on injections to lessen the excruciating pain on his knee.

Smith — man to watch out for

It won’t be easy to stem the flow of runs if Australia skipper Smith gets going. Warner, for whatever time he is available, would be a threat looming large on the bowlers. His sheer presence can be intimidating.

Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell can take apart any bowling on their day.

Then there is former captain George Bailey, a very competent player in this format and someone who can build an innings. James Faulkner’s prowess as a batsman is well known to the Indians and especially Ishant Sharma, who was hammered during the 2013 series.

In the larger scheme of things then, Team India couldn’t have asked for a better challenge to kick-start their preparation for the ICC event two months down the road.

Immediate concern for India

Immediate concerns are aplenty though, ranging from solving the batting order equation to finding the right balance with the bowling attack. Starting with the latter, Shami’s hamstring injury is a big blow to Indian hopes.

The pacer spent a considerable time away from the game since the 2015 ODI World Cup, but it cannot be denied that he was the spearhead of the attack in the limited-overs arena.

During their last trip here in 2014-15, he was the most improved bowler across four-plus months spent, and it showed in the manner he picked 17 wickets in the World Cup.

Stretching back to 2011-12, this is Yadav’s fourth visit to Australia, and he will be eager to showcase that experience on the field.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar had suffered at their hands too, and it will be interesting to see if he regains his place in the XI, after being called as Shami’s replacement.

Ishant is back in the ODI fold again, after missing out on the World Cup last year owing to injury. The duo will fight it out for the third pacer spot, for Sran, with his left-arm angle and extra pace, is in line for his debut.

India will surely look to play five bowlers, and in the 50-over warm-up game, all three spinners in the squad picked up two wickets each. It isn’t going to deter Dhoni’s plan of fielding R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja ahead of Axar Patel.

New-look Australia

A day ahead of the game, Australia have already named the playing eleven. 23-year-old left-arm quick Joel Paris and 26-year-old Scott Boland have been handed their ODI debuts.

Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner will make it a pace-heavy attack.

Squads

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wk), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Manish Pandey, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Barinder Sran, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Rishi Dhawan

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), Aaron Finch, David Warner, George Bailey, Glenn Maxwell, Shaun Marsh, Mitchell Marsh, James Faulkner, Matthew Wade (WK), Kane Richardson, Josh Hazlewood, Joel Paris, Scott Boland.

Read More

I’ve let the boys know about Sran: Smith

He may be an unknown entity in international cricket but Barinder Sran is not quite unfamiliar to Australian captain Steve Smith, who says the rookie pacer has impressive variations in his armoury and was discussed in the dressing room.

“I haven’t seen much of Sran’s one-day cricket back home in India, but I saw him bowling in the IPL with Rajasthan Royals and he was quite impressive. He’s a tall lad, swings the ball early and he’s got a few change-ups — I’ve let the boys know about them,” said Smith of his IPL teammate on the eve of the first of five-match ODI series starting in Perth on Tuesday.

India could opt to hand their left-arm seamer Sran a debut, while Gurkeerat Mann and Rishi Dhawan wait in the wings. Thanks to his half-century in the war-up match on Saturday, Manish Pandey looks set to bat at number five on Tuesday.

“I know some of the young guys that are going to get an opportunity through IPL — the likes of Manish Pandey, who I think has progressed really well and played some good cricket of late. And obviously the experience of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma in the top order — they are pretty crucial wickets for us, and hopefully we can get them early,” Clarke said.

Smith hoped that the pitch at the WACA will aid his seamers.

The hosts have named an all-pace attack for the first of the five-match series.

“There wasn’t much pace and bounce in it when we played against New Zealand. Hopefully, tomorrow it can have that,” said Smith on Monday, on the eve of the series.

“It looks a little bit soft at the moment, underfoot, but obviously we’re still a day out from the game. We’ll see how it looks tomorrow. Hopefully, it has more pace and bounce than in that Test.”

“It’s traditional that we can use a left-arm seamer here who can use the breeze and swing the ball. The wicket looks like it’ll be a good one. We are happy to start at the WACA and Gabba for the first two matches of the series. They have been fortresses for us in ODI cricket for a while. Obviously, the conditions are a bit different to what the Indians are used to back home and hopefully we can exploit that,” he added.

The 23-year-old left-arm pacer Joel Paris will make his debut tomorrow then, and it will be a special affair for him as the WACA is his home ground. 26-year-old Victorian Scott Boland will also be handed his first ODI cap as Australian named an all-pace attack with Josh Hazlewood, Mitchell Marsh and James Faulkner filling up the numbers.

“Joel Paris has been very impressive in the Matador Cup for the last couple of years and in the Big Bash this year.

Perth is one of the best places in the world to bowl as a fast bowler. You get good pace and carry and a little bit of swing.

It’s a great opportunity for all of them tomorrow, and particularly Joel playing in his home ground,” said the Australian skipper.

Talking about the inexperienced bowling attack in the absence of the retired Mitchell Johnson and the injured Mitchell Starc, Smith said, “We’ve got a pretty young, inexperienced bowling attack, but they’ve all been bowling well and I think it’s a really exciting time for Australian cricket to see these young guys coming through. I’m sure they are going to relish the opportunity to bowl at places like the WACA and the Gabba.”

“India have got some very good players of fast bowling. Last year the more they played in these conditions throughout the Test matches, ODIs and the World Cup, they looked like they adapted to the conditions. For us, we used Glenn Maxwell as our spinner through the World Cup and used our pace attack to good effect. Particularly at the Gabba and WACA, we can use the quicks a lot more than the spinners,” he added.

Read More