Captain let down the team

Captain Dhoni has let the team down with his poor captaincy.  By opting to bat first we were threatened by medium fast bowling of experienced English bowlers.  The move diminished our chances of putting up even a moderate score in the first innings.  Thanks to Ashwin we could cross 150 runs mark and brought some respectability to the score. Dhoni's bowling changes were also were questionable.  Again, Ashwin should haven been used when there was shine in the ball to get extra nip and to get rid of left handed batsmen quickly. Dhoni's flamboyant batting is good for shortest form of cricket. His decision to go for helicopter shots work in our pitches. He does not have the technique to combat genuine pace and clever spin bowling.The less said about his keeping,the better.  His reluctance to dive for the ball also sees many edges go begging.  He do not want to get injured in any way and stick to his role as captain.  Our slip fielders are really slip fielders. They let everything slip through their fingers.  The catch dropped by Jadeja when a Cook was batting at 15 cost us the third test and now the test series is slipping out of our grasp.  Coming back to Dhoni,it would be ideal if he plays only 20-20 and retires from test cricket and one day cricket.Dinesh Kartik could be the keeper in tests and Saha in one dayers.  We cannot also depend on over rated cricketers like Virat Kohli, Dhawan, Jadeja, Rohit etc.How long can we tolerate the statement that form is temporary but class is permanent? Who cares about class and their ICC ratings when one does not score runs. To think of Kohli as a future captain is frightening. We have a captain who makes wrong decisions. To bat first on a cloudy day on a green top was a recipe for disaster. To categorise Jadeja as an all rounder is a joke. He does not merit a place in the team. Pankaj Singh bowls military medium and does not have the pace to trouble batsmen. Varun was not given a chance for the first three tests even though the England players did not have a clue to the bouncers and fiery spell of Ishant.  The faith of the captain on Dhawan,Kohli, Rohit and Jadeja is simply favouritism. None of the four have the technique to play seam and swing. Kohli is basically  backfoot player and even a mild swing is enough to take the edge as his tentative forward push is not enough to negotiate swing.  Moreover,he does not gave a clue as to where his off stump is and the way he shouldered arm to expose his off stump shows his inherent weakness. Shikhar Dhawan plays all types of cricket in his so called offensive style. This could be great if you play in sub continent pitches where the ball does not do much. Pujara has looked good in patches but all at sea against seam and swing bowling. India should also play with English cricket balls than the Kookabura ball. Dhoni has been found wanting as a wicket keeper.The selectors should have persisted with Dinesh Karthik and he is ignored for no valid reasons.   Rahane should be at number 3 with Pujara at 4. Pragyan Ojha should be in the team and it is time to discard Jadeja. Ashwin seems a better bat and should bat higher and give Lion's share of bowling to get rid of southpaw as the so called medium-pacers struggle to adjust to the line and sparay the new ball.  Left handers develop good partnerships against India and that ultimately put paid our hopes. Thus the captain let the team down.

C.K. Subramaniam A-8-1-5 Millennium Towers flat 5 Sector 9 Sanpada Navi Mumbai Mob 9820359436

MAULED AT MANCHESTER
WAKE UP TIME FOR TEAM INDIA

By underestimating an English professional side, Team India was mauled
at Manchester. At Southampton we lost all the 13 sessions of the test
match, but in the 4th test we lost the game in the first hour only. We
played pathetic cricket to finish the game within 3 days and that too
in rain spoiled match.  As usual Dhoni blamed his batsmen for the poor
show, but his decision to bat first back fired in the end. After
winning the Lord's test we failed to play as a team and the absence of
Ishant Sharma played into our minds. Complacency put paid our hopes
and now we are one test down with one to go.  Team India played like
an one day side and could not last even 50 overs in both the innings
of the match.  Moeen Ali made the ball to talk and the mauling was
complete and the team doomed to dust.  The redeeming factor of the
Indian innings was the confidence displayed by R. Ashwin as a batsman.
He sounded his confidence as an all rounder and he can form nucleus of
future Indian Team. From 21st July to 9th August, the team nosedived
lost confidence and surrendered meekly.  India out batted, out paced
and now outs pinned also in overseas conditions. It is indeed a wake
up time for Team India.

Team India's pathetic show with the bat continued and the main culprit
was the key player Virat Kohli.  He could not stand up to the test of
fiery fast bowlers of England and at times failed against spin as
well.  Kohli did not score a single run off Anderson in three of the
six innings he faced him. Overall, Anderson has dismissed Kohli five
times and only conceded 30 runs from ten innings.  How long we can
depend on such a scratchy player and made him to occupy the key spot
and fail repeatedly.  The batting line up need drastic changes from
top to number seven. All round capabilities of Ashwin should be
explored and he should be promoted in batting like Joe Root to see how
he perform consistently at the highest level. Thus we make mess of a
situation and from a position of strength we lose out without a
semblance of fight.  If Dhoni is to be continued as skipper he must be
made to toil for his place in the side as he misses easy chances
behind the stumps and play like a tail ender in front of the wicket.
We need a stable bat at number four and depth in batting to face the
second new ball with some confidence. Infuse young blood to the
batting line up and experiment bowling combination to achieve desired
results.

India's tour of England shows that Indian team just lack the will to
stay longer and that put us in a fix even to last long enough for 3
days. Now the question arises, whether Team India is good enough to
play five day test matches.  We were scared for genuinely fast wickets
on pacy tracks but never saw a team capitulate so easily against spin
from a good start of 53 for one to 66 for 6, thereby handed the Leeds
test on a platter to England and surrendered meekly.  The team think
lost out in the race to select a balanced side and exposed passengers
in the side after winning the second Test.  After winning the test the
onus ought to have been to press home the advantage and make the
English side to pay for their lapse in Lord;s test.  Instead we were
found wanting.  We lost the third test by 266 runs and the fourth by
an innings and 54 runs and now on the way to losing the series.  It is
our own making as the team selection was not up to the mark.  We do
not have a quality left-arm spinner like P. Ojha (Like R. Herath) to
pin the batsmen and get some useful wickets.  Team selectors even
waited to long to include Ashwin and when selected also used him
occasionally as a change bowler and not the mainstay of our attack.
Aaron was also made to wait for a long time and others were given a go
before bringing him.  Leeds debacle gave us a chance to change the
composition of the side and do some drastic changes to clear off our
overseas blues once for all.  Team India in tatters for the time
being. It is indeed wake up time for Dhoni and Company.