Let’s Introspect! What actually went wrong for team India in the First Test?

Men in Blue’s miserable and forgettable outing in New Zealand continues…

Another week in 2014 and yet another defeat to team India. They just don’t seem to find the right combination to get back to the winning ways and register their first win in 2014. Another failure to inconsistent Murali Vijay at the top, another careless or needless shot by Virat Kohli after playing so well, and lack of ability to tighten the screws further when being dominant (Not to forget NZ were 30/3 on first day morning at one stage and went on to amass 503 in first innings). Poor fielding and drop catches did hurt team India very badly though. India’s first innings batting effort was ridiculous too and they have got themselves to blame. The way Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane failed to convert the starts they got into big ones and the way they struggled to handle the new ball was miserable. Team India just cannot always bank on the talented, promising and consistent Cheteshwar Pujara to score big centuries everytime, others should chip in with useful contributions too.

Umpires and UDRS, an hard bullet to bite

Umpires are humans too and rough decisions are bound to happen in any game but BCCI’s opposition to UDRS i.e., not making use of the available technology is a pity. They say its not fool proof and now their strong opposition to the technology seems to have backfired them. India were definitely on the receiving end with Rahane being adjudged LBW after the umpire failed to notice a big inside edge in the last over before tea and on the first delivery with the new ball. On field rough decisions are excusable but not the blunder committed by the third umpire Billy Bowden to adjudge Dhoni out. Dhoni’s wicket was a clear case of a sideline no ball by Neil Wagner and though the one field umpires referred it upstairs, the end result was it being adjudged out wrongly, the end result might have been different had Dhoni been there till the end. Aren't third umpires punishable when they commit blunders with all the technologies at place?

Does Dhoni have answers to these questions?

Whom should we blame for not giving veterans Sehwag, Yuvraj and Gambhir a long run when they were inconsistent and not in form. How long will the captain cool have faith in out of sorts Ashwin, Raina and Vijay? Why isn’t Ishwar Pandey given a chance in the playing XI? There are some more questions which Dhoni is expected to answer sooner than not.

Positives:

There were several positives for team India in the first test though they ended up on the wrong side of things.

1. The bowling effort to restrict New Zealand for 105 in the second innings.
2. Shikhar Dhawan’s century and the way himself and Kohli fought with a 126 run partnership in the second innings.
3. Dhoni and Jadeja’s counter attack when India were in dire straits at 270/6.
4. Ravindra Jadeja’s fielding through out the match.

How long will Dhoni and his team of inexperienced young men take to get back to winning ways overseas is the question that the team should definitely answer with their on field performance. Being a die hard fan of Cricket and Men in Blue has been tough in the past few months. Hope team India will retaliate and end their losing streak to get back to winning ways in the second test which starts on February 14th in Westpac stadium, Wellington. The upcoming IPL player auction on February 12th & 13th before the second test should charge the players up ;)