From: sidi@casbah.acns.nwu.edu (Sadiq Yusuf)
Subject: Azhar, #3, etc (was Re: Indian Team for the next ODI
Organization: Northwestern University, Evanston Illinois.
Date: Sun, 13 Dec 1992 01:56:46 GMT

	Well, this may be a bit late, but the weeks been horrid and the
server has been down and KSRs emails have been the only source of news and
lots of other stuff I wont burden you with at the moment :-)

In article <1992Dec9.233705.5239@walter.bellcore.com> shamim@bellcore.com
(Shamim Naqvi) writes:

>Well, much is being written about the Indian team's composition and
>who should be dropped. Perhaps we can analyse what is wrong with the
>team. I have not had the luxury of seeing India in the two ODIs it has
>played in RSA so all this is pure speculation. 
>
	Ditto. But that never stops me from offering my views :-)

>India's problem in batting is a lack of roles: players do not seem to
>have specific roles assigned to them. The game plan seems to be "let's
B>get 45 for 1 in the first 15 overs, then get as many as we can as fast
>as we can." Most of the time Azhar and Tendulkar get out attempting a
>big drive on the off side, or a cut, or a run out. Between 15 and 30
>overs, IT IS A GAME OF SINGLES. No big strokes, no big drives, no high
>back lifts, just nudges for singles, glances for ones and twos, deft placements
>for singles. Run th eball down to 3rd leg, pat it to the on and take a
>single. Pretend you are emulating Miandad. 
>
>From what I can make out, nobody has this role in the middle order. It
>is either big strokes or blocking. If India can change its batting
>strategy for the middle 15 overs, and assign one or two people this
>role, it will pay dividends. 
>
>Who can play this role. Azhar can and should. He is India's best bat,
>most experienced, and the skipper.

	Ta Da !! Exactly what I've been saying for about 5 years !! Our
problem is that we don't plan things out well enough , there is no fixed
gameplan. 
	Frankly, I've been an Azhar fan for years, and have long been
screaming for him to bat at #3 in the ODI's - Iam not about to change now.
I don't think that's the biggest problem we have - I think Azhar is perfect
for the role. ( Note that this move has failed only a couple of times - far
too small a sample size to make any lasting judgements ! After all, in the
WC when Azhar batted at #3, the move was a resounding success - he was our
top bat in the WC, just marginally better than SRT if memory serves ).  
	SAN has expressed it perfectly - 45 in 15 overs ( tho I'd prefer it
a little faster - maybe another 5-7 runs or so ), and then at least at 4.5
to 5.0 an over for the next 15 - made only with singles and two's. And
_that_ is precisely why I feel Azhar ought to bat at #3, and have done so
for years ! Azhar is perfect for ODI's in that sense - he comes in and
DOESN'T slog straight away - places for singles and two's in the gaps and
generally does exactly what is neccessary at that stage. He's always been
great at #3 for that reason - the few times he'd played there before the
WC. ( England the tour previous to last, Sarjah when he and Gavaskar had
that 150 odd partnership after losing Srikkant in the first over, Bombay
against SL when he got a 108 n.o. off 99 balls at #3 - which I had the
privilage to watch :-) ) { You know what's coming - another tangent :-)
Anybody notice that Azhar almost always is brilliant when he comes in at #3
after a wicket has fallen in like the first or second over ?? The Sarjah
game I mentioned. Also in England when Srikkant was out off the first ball of
the inning and Gavaskar and Azhar won the match with almost 170 unbeaten
together. Against SA in the WC, when Manjrekar opened and Srikkant went
first ball - and Azhar got 83 or so off 79 balls and was out in the last
over of the reduced inning. And in that Shastri's-Audi-Tournament :-), in
the first game v/s Pakistan, he was #5 but was out there in the first 5
overs as Imran tore thru the top 3 - Gavaskar and Azhar put on over a
hundred and Azhar ended not out in the high 80's. All these were instances
when he did little other than work the ball around early, and finally
picked up the rate when needed - generally holding the inning together.Oh,
and almost forgot, the Australia game in the WC last year - Srikkant gone
in the 2nd (?) over and Azhar got a terrific 90 . But Iam trying to wipe
that game from the memory banks :-)  }
	I think one of the misconceptions engendered about Azhar is that he
doesnt require time to get into the groove - that he can strike from the
word go  in ODI's. It's partly due to the fact that his strike rate looks
pretty impressive in many cases - I particularly remember a game in England
on the last tour  when he had 55 not out off about 45 balls. But even in
that game, he was slightly under a run-a-ball for most of the inning - it
was only when he was set ( had gotten about 30 ) that he struck about 4
boundaries that shot his average thru the roof. 

	Now, in the first two ODI's in SA, our opening was fine in the
sense that we had about  40 or so in the first 15 overs. But we fell down
after that. Jadeja seems to be having the same problem as Shastri - he
hasnt really accelerated and we have failed to pick up the 4-5 an over for
the next 10-15 overs. (tho I bet Jadeja is running between wickets far
better than Shastri did :-) ). At least in the 2nd ODI, it doesn't seem
to have been primarily Azhars fault - the openers put on 69 in _23_ overs-ie,he
didn't come in until 23 overs were gone !! At that stage, a new bat in and
trying to settle with Jadeja not accelerating at the other end, even 4 runs
an over are unlikely for the next couple of overs at least. And when you
have 70 odd off 25, the strategy of exclusively singles and twos for the
next 5 overs (upto 30) goes out the window - it is simply not enough and
you have to have at least a couple of big blows in addition to those 3-4
singles. Another wicket, and SRT is in with all the expectations he has to
face ( heck, he's the major drawing card ! Even Malcolm Sainsbury said he
went to the game just to see him :-) ), and try to accelerate right away
with no luxury of an over or two to settle. And then Manjrekar , who isn't
very well suited to play the slogger anyway. The pressure on and quick runs
needed, the big shots attempted instead of the percentage ones because the
percentage ones are no longer sufficient ( because the percentage ones
weren't played earlier in the innings :-) ) - a recipe
for disaster. Once in a while, of course, someone will come up with a
marvellously unique knock and pull the fat out of the fire - but that's
rare and the philosophy  doesn't make for consistent success in the OD game.  


> Actually, I have been disappointed
>by the turn his batting has taken in the last few years. He has become
>too aggressive. He really has to settle down and build an innings. The
>only other person who comes to mind is Manjrekar but his confidence is
>low for the OD game. 
>
>My 0.02 cents worth to this thread. 
>

	Azhar _has_ turned into more of a strokeplayer over the last few
years . However, I think he's more of a natural strokeplayer and is
reverting to his origins rather than playing an unnatural game. I think
thats because he feels he's going to be more successful playing the way
he's comfortable - he feels he's had more success then. And it has been the
case to some extent - he had that purple patch in NZ and England. ( Even
now, in the last 12 tests, he's gotten 4 centuries - a strikerate that most
test players would give their right arms for ! ) He had a bad patch for
most of the OZ tour, but recovered his form towards the end - got that
century and was terrific in the WC. So far in this series, he's played 3
test innings and not done very much - but he did take India from 38/4 to
120 odd with Amre in the first test while making 36 before being run out
(suicidal , by all accounts ). But I do agree that he has become too
aggressive in the sense that he's not going to have the Gavaskar or Miandad
tyupe consistency. That works both ways - as a India and Azhar fan I'd love
to see him get centuries with greater regularity , but he's _sooo_
beautiful to watch this way when he gets going :-) I guess it's the
Vishy-Gavaskar argument all over again :-) And it's a bit like my other
favourite, Gower. The most elegant bat around - lovely to watch, an artist
at work. But at any moment he could be gone . Adds spice to being a fan, I
can tell you ! A million mini heart-attacks, lots of stress. But, as a PGW
character once said, they say it's good for you. Stimulates the adrenal
glands, you know :-) :-) 
 
 
>	--SAN


			Sadiq [ a ramblin' wreck ] Yusuf