Bishoo

I have been impressed with Divendra Bishoo. He looks like the real deal. Not many statisticians would say that after he had just bowled 45 overs 1 maiden 1/154, but I'm looking at this as a legspinner rather than as statistician.

There are two things that a leg spin bowler does for a team: 1. They create chances. 2. They tire out the batsmen.

Here's what Bishoo did to those ends.

1. He created at least 13 chances. While there were no dropped catches off his bowling, there were 13 times that I noticed him genuinely beat the batsman. For example he got Dravid to edge one just in front of slip. He got Laxman to play the wrong line and the ball just slipped past the outside edge on two occasions. Dhoni played a leading edge that fell just short of a fielder. Normally about 1 in 3 or 4 chances results in a wicket. He is doing the right things to get wickets. (also remember that the Indian batsmen are probably the best against spin in the world).

2. He was turning the ball sharply at times, varying his flight, speed and particularly spinning it both ways. The result of this is that the batsmen are not able to settle. 3 balls pitching in the same spot would get to the batsman at different times and at different places. While this didn't work well in this test, it will in all likelihood work against lesser players.

For these reasons I am impressed with Divendra Bishoo.

You should totally read

Warner-Dravid-Sehwag

Wes has done some good work here. :)

As an aside, I really hope that we don't hear a bunch of stuff about Peter Roebuck that is going to tarnish my thoughts about him. He was truly one of the great cricket writers, and his excellent analysis will be sorely missed. (even if I often didn't agree with him)

Possibility of an upset? Preview India vs West Indies Test 1

Two teams that have had a lot of draws against each other, and also a history of strange results.

India managed two series wins against the all-powerful West Indies of the 70's (in 1970/71 and 1978/79, but overall West Indies have dominated most series. India having won less than a quarter of the matches between the two teams.

There are a 4 things I am going to be watching for in this series:

1. Kirk Edwards vs Pragyan Ojha. Edwards was in dominating form in Bangladesh, but there is a difference between Bangladesh and India. The one weakness that he did show was that he got out LBW to left are spinners a few times. It will be interesting if Ojha sets a plan for this.

2. Divendra Bishoo. Bishoo has been a real star for West Indies, and has certainly managed to get me excited. He takes wickets by turning the ball, not just by putting it on the spot and making batsmen make a mistake. Not many spin bowlers have had any success against India, but Bishoo may be an exception.

3. Ravi Rampaul. It seems a strange decision to leave out Roach for Rampaul, but he was quite effective in the CLT20 tournament, and it will be interesting to see how the different lines that he bowls go against the aggressive Indian batsmen.

4. Yuvraj Singh. Yuvraj has traditionally had a weakness against short-pitched bowling, and this is probably the thing that West Indies is the most famous for. While Rampaul, Bishoo and Sammy are not likely to give him too many concerns, Fidel Edwards will be licking his lips with glee at the thought of bowling to Yuvraj.

Some thoughts on betting: Yuvraj to score less than the line is a good option, likewise Kirk Edwards to get out LBW. Also a draw seems to be the most likely result.