(Pic adopted from Rediff)
Recent India-Pak test matches have shown the rapid swinging of the fortunes of a team from one test to another. That is, if you consider it from the last of the four-test series in Pakistan (Sachin's debut series in 1989-'90) till now, there is this trend:
Venue --------------- Result
Sialkot ---------------- Draw
Chennai -------------- Pak Win
Delhi ----------------- Ind Win
Kolkata -------------- Pak Win
Multan --------------- Ind Win
Lahore ----------------Pak Win
Rawalpindi ------------Ind Win
Mohali ----------------Draw
Kolkata ---------------Ind Win
Bangalore -------------Pak Win
Amazing, isnt it? It is probably due to the pressure on the previously lost team to deliver.. fearing backlash from fans or whatever.. the pressure brings the best out of them.. and then, may be, complacency... Out of these ten tests, the teams have won 4 each, while 2 have ended in draws.
Hope the next match, the first test starting next week fits along the line.. :-)
PS: Another duel that is almost as good as India-Pak is, guess what, the #1 and #2 teams in the world... yes.. Australia and India. After the epic Kolkata test in 2001, beginning with the Chennai test, every test has produced a different result. Here again, of the 9 tests, 3 each to each team and 3 draws.. Had rain stayed off the last day of the Chennai test in 2004, oh man, a lot of things would have been different, but that would still have fit the current swing.
14 comments:
Good analysis. Hope India wins the series.
Toot gayee jo ungli utthi
Paanchon milee to ban gaye mutthi
Koi humse jeet na paave
Chale chalo chale chalo
:)
hopefully India plays well against Pakistan, and I hope Ganguly puts on a good performance. Ricky Ponting is just amazing, easy win for Australia.
Ram, me too sincerely wish India wins..
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Yours truly, :-) The famous lines that cheered Indian team during 2003 World Cup..
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Nitin, LOL.. we cant get rid of the monkey off our back, can we? IMHO, I am not looking forward to/expecting any useful innings from Ganguly this time.. Let the others perform and help us win..
Ricky was awesome... Twin centuries in the 100th test, helping his team win.. A true fairytale test for him.. Rain and umpiring played terrible spoilsport.. Anything could have happened... By the way Aus breezed through the target, it must serve as a nice inspiration for teams chasing at close to 3.5 per over..
Good Observation and Nice analysis.
A clean sweep by India would arrest the swing. ( Romba Peraasai thaan :-)) )
i am predicting a 1-1 result this time. Lets see..
these aussies are certainly getting on my nerves.. are they unbeatable at home??.
Barani, thanks. Clean sweep? I dont think so, especially considering the weather factor at this time of year. As most people expect, the first test would be a draw.. I would be very happy if all three tests produce results.
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Deepak, 1-1 result would let tongues wagging, comparing it with 2-1, under 'Ganguly'. I voted for a 1:0 Indian win.
About Aussies, they were staring down the barrel at the end of third day, despite generous help from the umpires. Rain on 4th day screwed up SA's chances pretty much. Moreover, Smith's declaration came purely out of desperation. He would have thought 0-1 or 0-2 is equally worse than a 1-1 result. Thats why he declared and gave Aus a chance to chase under 4 an over.. I am sure no other captain would have declared at that juncture; for them, a 0-1 result returning from Aus would have been more than acceptable, especially since the last time they returned heavily defeated 0-3.
If you look at Ganguly's declarations (at Kolkata and at Sydney), the asking rate he set was 384 in 77 overs.. that is 5 per over.. and 443 in 94 overs - nearly 5 an over. These despite the fact that Bhajji had got a hat-trick and 7 wkts in the former test and Kumble 8 wkts in the latter. Smith's act was almost foolish, considering the lack of a quality spinner in his armory. Botha is a joke of a bowler.. We saw how he performed in India last month, right? This was his debut test.. without Nicky Boje, SA had no chance of running through Aus lineup even if it was a typical Sydney pitch.. This pitch was atypical 5th day pitch. All said and done, Ponting's innings needs to be applauded.. he batted without a worry in the world..
IMHO, Billy Bowden is a highly biased umpire towards Aus.. Initially, I used to like him.. now I hate his umpiring.
Hope your wish will be fulfilled.... :-)
Still, you need to keep your fingers crossed and keep watching them, as you cannot predidct these 2 asian teams.
Ram, I sincerely hope for a positive outcome of this series..
True about us.. Hugely talented but highly unpredictable.. We can defeat Aus, but lose to Zimbabwe in the very next series.. such has been our reputation.. :-)
Inzy has already commented about Fog delays etc. I hope the series is not haunted by weather issues.!!
But my gut feeling ..pardon me.for being anti-indian...!! looks like Pak might win the series ( test + 1 day also )
enna Raju.. post edhuvum illa?.
i know..i know.. i am not fit for making this comment!
Pakistan's recent resurgance is a cause of concern for the Indian team.
I also hope (being a Dada fan) that Saurav proves his critics wrong by taking the fight to the opponent camp
Narayanan, surpringly the fog has stayed away and the game started promply early today.. hopt it stays away. I too sincerely wish that we get full cricket, without a single session being lost.
Whatever the final outcome would be, this surely would be a great contest, I guess..
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Deepak, mmm... oru kaaranam irukku... koodiya viraivil oru post pannalamnu irukken adhai pathi..
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Jayan, welcome to my blog..
Pakistan surely looks a different team, with more unity and a new-found quest to excel at its best.. I am hoping for a good cricket, with fortunes fluctuating between teams..
About Ganguly, for the team's sake, I certainly wish he gets some runs and does himself and the team a huge favor... The question now is, would he open in this test or it would be Dravid..
Cool blog, interesting information... Keep it UP » »
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