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Of Risks and Odds in Test Cricket
Single Page
(Page 2 of 3)
The South Africans have showed a greater ability to graft and bide their time. For most of their first innings in the Leeds Test, they were scoring at less than three runs per over. The runs flowed only after South Africa had put the first innings beyond doubt.
What makes Test Cricket such an intriguing spectacle is that different players have different basic tendencies—some are more aggressive than others, some favor certain wickets more than others, some favor certain types of bowling more than others. These individual tendencies of a batsman do play a role in how he assesses risk.
The "natural game" which everybody keeps touting is almost always only half the story. Often a player going off the boil and experiencing a lean run, is basically assessing the risk wrongly, or is not assessing it very well (on account of form, technical problems etc.).
In this light, it will be interesting to watch India play Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka in the coming weeks. The presence of Ajantha Mendis makes for an interesting battle, especially if Mendis shows himself capable of handling the rigors of Test Cricket.
That the first Test is to be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club, where the wicket has traditionally offered some assistance to the medium-fast men makes it even more interesting. Will the Indian batsmen choose to go after Mendis, match situation permitting, if the wicket doesn't assist spin bowling too much?
Or will they choose to use the easier (likely to be) wicket to have a good look at him in view of the tougher battles to come? Will Sri Lanka field Mendis at all if the wicket is likely to be a particularly true one?
With Vaas and Kulasekara likely to open the Sri Lankan bowling, it looks as though they lack depth in the pace department, given the injury to Farveez Maharoof. India hold a slight edge in the pace stakes with Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma leading their new ball attack.
Much like the current England v South Africa series, the Sri Lanka v India Series will be won by the side which is able to play according to the match situation better. Between two evenly matched sides, it is always the more professional side, which makes fewer unforced errors, which wins.
Recent history suggests that Sri Lanka are extremely good at playing solid professional cricket, even if they may not be able to match the outrageous brilliance of a Sehwag. India's recent Test Match success has been due to the fact that they have played solid percentage cricket quite well. Their fortunes in Sri Lanka will depend on whether they are able to continue that trend.
Bowlers also deal with odds in Test Cricket, but in a different way as compared to batsmen, because bowlers "make the play" in a sense. A batsman can only play the ball based on the line and length that the bowler delivers. The essence of good line and length is to find one where the batsman finds it difficult to get into good position to play the ball.
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