Batting order blues

While work kept me held up until late into the night, I checked yesterday's double header (BRC vs CSK and MIvs RR) on cricinfo time to time and can speak only in broad terms.

That the BRCs made a meal of a simple chase should obscure the main issue which is - no point in fixing what is not broke.

You have a team running hot with five wins on the trot. The men in yellow are the most feared batting unit in the fray. In this mix, you have a batsman, who got 29(27),45(34)and 59(41)* in three outings at no 4, the last being an MOM effort. This has come after of being shunted 1,6,7,8 in the other matches. So what does Captain Marvel do. He pushes himself ahead of Badri at no 4, goes in at 6th over and makes 18(20), gets out. And wait...pushes an out of touch Oram in next and Badri at No 6. Perfect. Instead of one confused batsman you have three. Once Hayden fell, it was game, set and match. Way to go Skipper. One might argue that it is harsh criticism on MSD, but when you are praised universally for moves such as the Suresh Raina over against Yuvraj n co (Raina himself being mentioned only as an afterthought) it is fair that you should be panned for dumb moves. Simply put, CSK lost an opportunity to secure two points against a middling team and get into the last four.

Sachin too, made batting order changes with predictable results. Against the Rajasthan Royals,came Jayasuriya at 4. What worked for Mumbai is class of Messrs S & J at the top, consistency of Duminy in the middle (Rahane coming good now is a bonus) and the muscle of Bravo and Nayar to round off. Backed by a well balanced attack.

CSK - road roller Hayden backed by strong Indian core Raina, Badri, Dhoni, followed by the all rounders.When you improve/muck around/tamper/'innovate' with your strength, its a recipe for disaster.

Second- While it is good to see new talent come good, what gives greater pleasure is seeing the likes of Kumble, Dravid and Sachin showing their class every now and again and teams who underestimate them eat humble pie year after year.