Cricket: Can down-and-out New Zealand make a comeback?
Not even New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori would have thought that his team’s tour of the Indian subcontinent would turn out to be such a nightmarish affair, proving to be the worst tour of the Kiwi captain’s entire career.
Not only did the Kiwis lose a series to cricketing minnows Bangladesh, their series against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 ended in a humiliating 5-0 whitewash. New Zealand have now lost 11 ODI matches in a row, all of them on the subcontinent, where the 2011 Cricket World Cup is
to be played.
Things weren’t always this bad for New Zealand. This is a country that has produced some of the world’s best all-rounders, including Chris Cairns and Nathan Astle. The Kiwis won the ICC Champions Trophy in 2000 and reached
the final in 2009. Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe was named Man of the Tournament in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, for making the highest number of runs. Crowe was also hailed for his performance as team captain during the tournament, in which New Zealand
topped the league before losing to fourth-qualified http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the semifinal.
Former Pakistan captain Rameez Raja called Crowe the captain of the 1992 World Cup, saying that he “was an imaginative leader who maximized his team's potential and resources by thoughtful captaincy and out-of-the-box tactics
to flummox oppositions. He used the local conditions brilliantly and made the opposition think and admit to New Zealand's presence in the 1992 World Cup. His famous trick was Deepak Patel with the new ball, which turned out to be a master stroke, a move that
was tailor-made to extract advantage out of New Zealand pitches and it stunned the opposition with a bit of drama as well. The off spinner showed great control with the new ball and bowled an aggressive line to pick up wickets.”
New Zealand have also had the good fortune of being led by former captain Stephen Fleming, who served between 1997 and 2007 – a period during which New Zealand garnered 28 victories and won Test match series against India, England, the
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045.
By contrast, his successor Daniel Vettori has had a tumultuous captaincy so far.
The current New Zealand team seems painfully devoid of star performers, although James Franklin and Scott Styris did make decent contributions as compared to the rest of the team during the series in India. Franklin scored
the highest runs for New Zealand in the series with 187 runs, and made two half-centuries in all three of his unbeaten innings. He was followed by Styris at 161, which he scored with the help of one half-century. The Kiwis’ top order – comprised of Brendon
McCullum, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson and Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915 – has been a failure in India. Guptill and Taylor scored just one half-century each in the whole series. Guptill's series total of 142 and Taylor's 138 were not enough, and both of them scored just
one half-century each.
As for the bowlers, the Kiwi attack seemed toothless on most occasions. Whether bowling under floodlights or under the sun, the wayward visitors managed to take just 18 wickets in the five matches played. Out of those 18,
seven went to Andy McKay, who had played just nine ODIs before the Indian series. Daniel Vettori took just two wickets in his four matches. Batting heroes Styris and Franklin failed with the ball. The loss of Daryl Tuffey to an injury was a blow the Kiwis
couldn't sustain.
On the other hand, India’s youngsters under http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Gautam-Gambhir-c58623 were on a roll. Yusuf Pathan made a successful comeback to the Indian side with a match-winning 123 not out while Gautam Gambhir scored 329 runs at over 100 in his
five outings - the last of which was a nought. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Virat-Kohli-c95424 scored over 230 runs, which included a century as well, while Yuvraj Singh chipped in both as a batsman and a bowler when needed.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ravichandran-Ashwin-c84208 was the find of the series for India as he took 11 wickets in his first series at home. He made his debut earlier this year during the tri-series in Zimbabwe, but playing back home in this series against
New Zealand, Ashwin was a different bowler altogether. He was supported by Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Ashish-Nehra-c46293. Indian selectors should have no problem figuring out who to include in the World Cup squad in 2011.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 Cricket, meanwhile, has its work cut out for it with the World Cup just two months away. In the past six months, the Kiwis have toured all three countries hosting the World Cup – Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka – and
their performance has been dismal. Former New Zealand pace bowler (now cricket commentator) Simon Doull recently said that New Zealand Cricket needs to forget about next year's World Cup and bring in new, young players, with the aim of developing a stronger
team over the next two years.
"I believe that after the World Cup in India, we need to have a real clean out of the New Zealand side and look to the future because we have a World Cup in our country in four years time and we need to start building towards
that," said Doull on a New Zealand radio station.
It remains to be seen if the Kiwis can bounce back during their at-home series against Pakistan, which begins on December 26. The hosts must do well to regain their confidence ahead of the 2011 World Cup. If they fail to
do so, a probable first-round elimination may be what makes New Zealand selectors realize what they could have avoided.
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