Thursday, March 24, 2011

Chanderpaul and Sarwan: The not so dynamic duo

The big question in a lot of people's minds is about the way Shivnariane Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan batted today.
It was truly uninspiring cricket and plays a bigger factor in their loss than losing their three wickets for less than 20 on the board.
Sarwan had an unenviable strike rate of 35.29, while Chanderpaul was a notch higher at 41.50.
Watching them bat was like watching two ants trying to mount each other before having sex. Not interesting at all.
The only person they ever managed to beat in terms of strike rate while batting in an ODI innings is Sunil Gavaskar's 36 in 60 overs.
People have spoken about Chanderpaul's experience and how he could hold fort on one end, while the others play their shots. The trouble here is that Chanderpaul looks so ugly and has been playing such terrible cricket in the last six months, that the guy at the other end will want to hit out.
Sarwan isn't far behind. He's been selected over Chanderpaul in most of the games in this World Cup. Howeve,r he hasn't looked pleasing. He made a decent score in the game against England, but his slow batting, I believe, cost West Indies that match. His batting against India prompted the other players to try and hit the ball in the air and get out.
The reason a side needs experience is to guide the youngsters. It's not an ego hassle, which Chanderpaul and Sarwan certainly seem to be having. It's probably the reason why Kemar Roach, who was batting so sensibly threw his wicket away. The tragedy of these two batsmen is that they haven't been batting well either. Players like Geoff Boycott and more recently, Jacques Kallis have been accused of putting their game over the benefit of the team. I think that it's not true, but even if they did, they have the records and Kallis is still making runs.
I've always been a big fan of Chanderpaul. I've thought his techinque was the worst in the world, but he was a gutsy player. The same belief was about Sarwan. Now, however, it's time for them to join Tony Cozier in the commentary box. It's a pity that they had to go this way, but for most nations their players don't know when to retire.

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