By Javagal Srinath
This morning I woke to see an interesting piece of news circulating on Dhoni. The news read “Javagal Srinath blames Dhoni’s media handling for the T 20 exit”. Generally one would want to know from where did this quote came from. Before even looking for who was responsible for such frivolous reporting, I knew I wouldn’t get the name of the reporter or even that one news agency from where this news has originated. All I could manage to get was “agency report”. Such news will never have proper coordinates for obvious credibility reasons. This is another classical example of “coward reporting” taking advantage of the situation. At the back drop of the India’s T20 exit, any news that too an ex- cricketer ridiculing skipper Dhoni gains momentum. This is an old practice and will remain to be an integral part of news journalism. So be it. I am not trying to serve a rejoinder through my columns, but only remind people that yellow journalism has value too.
At the press conference, Dhoni was humble and straight forward. He was honest and spoke not only about the Indian batsmen’s inability to cope short pitch but also his own form which wasn’t the best. He also went further to say sorry for the defeat. Somehow I felt Seeking apology for defeats is not a good practice. I understand if the team is doing badly for awhile, such lines may sound good but when the team is at the top, odd defeat is part of the game.
Back to the analysis, Gary Kirsten has lots on his plate all of a sudden. The short pitch problem has struck the Indian batting again. I felt the short pitch was only useful in the test matches and had lost its effectiveness in the short format of the game. To my disbelief, the same short pitch has come back to haunt the Indian batsmen that too in the shortest format of the game. The effectiveness of the short pitch balls is a combination of the wicket and the capability of a bowler.
The English coaches and the bowlers must have taken the cues from Fidel Edwards bowling in previous game. They very soon realised that short pitch aimed at the Indian batsmen not only created dot balls but also opened up the possibility of taking wickets. They bowled more than 3 short balls in an over playing well within the rules of the game. Indian batsmen predominantly good on the front foot, were found wanting when pushed on the back foot. I was quite amazed to see the diagram where more than 45% of the balls were pitched short in length. Suresh Raina problem with short pitch is just like any other batsmen who cannot play spin with ease. The challenge for Suresh Raina is to sort out the short pitch issues without losing his core front foot batting strengths.
Finally, it was quite evident that short pitched ball was the one which led to the defeat and not Dhoni’s love hate relationship with the press.
HAWKEYE COMMUNICATIONS