What Went Wrong!!

So the match dint go according to our plans. Yuva XI showed us, why they are considered as a top team, and we were given a tough learning lesson today, as to where we stand against top opponents. Changing match avenues did not help our cause. We were caught napping in our field placements in a full 360 ground and by the time we could learn from our mistakes the match was already lost. The first 7 overs of Yuvas innings decided the match today. They had scored 59 runs and the damage was already done. Although our main bowlers pulled it back in the next 3 overs, the remaining batsman in Yuvas team had the confidence and the runs to go for their shots right from the beginning. We were already playing catch up after such an horrendous start.

Bowling wise, there were too many loose balls in the offering today. A strong batting unit as Yuva should not be given such juicy fulltosses in any grounds and that too in a 360 made it all the more easier for them. The abundance of left handers in their team dint help our cause either. Some of our bowlers had a tough time adujsting to their lines when bowling to a right left combo. Anyway some food for thought there. Bowlers have to really think and get everything right when we are playing such a tough opponent. Its one thing bowling one fulltoss but its a completely different situation when we keep dishing the same stuff out.

The ground fielding was very very ordinary to be polite. I myself am a culprit in couple of occasions. To start off, we were very lethargic and they were stealing runs underneath our noses. There were couple of dropped catches, couple of catches where ppl cud have gone for it but decided otherwise. The energy levels had to be really high when playing Yuva, but it looked as if we were going through the motions right from the first ball. And once they started going hammer and tongs it made the situation even bad. We need to pull up our socks, fielding wise if we really are harbouring any thoughts of being in the top 15 of this league.

Well after having been set an imposing target of 131, you never really can fault the batters if the chase doesnt go according to the plan, but our batting also lacked a strategy. We did get off to a decent start, courtesy Jigar,but we kept losing wickets in regular intervals and the chase never really got off up front. It dint help the cause that the set batsman couldnt bat longer, including me and there was too much to do in the last 10 overs. The running between the wickets was really bad, here again me being a culprit. Definitely room for improvement there and as Yuva XI showed, we need to show more urgency while batting or stealing those 1s and 2s and put more pressure on the fielders. Amar played really well to take our team score to 95 and it was really good to see him come good with the bat.

The one good thing from todays game was, we all know that we played badly and hence the result. It is not like we gave 100% but still ended up losing. I guess that kinda game would have satisfied our effort part but it would have been even more harder to digest, since u know u gave your best shot. But today we lacked discipline and a strategy bowling as well as fielding wise and we definitely know that we can do better. A lot more games to come and from here on we would be playing not so tough opponents, but that should not make us complacent in any way. We have been performing really well this season and today happened to be just one of those days, where we were outplayed or let ourselves to be outplayed by a good team. But i have confidence in this team and i for one surely know that we will come back harder, and this defeat is going to make us a even more tougher unit as the season progresses by.

I strongly encourage the team management to enforce the half an hour practice session before the match, as i do believe that gives us more confidence than the extended practice session that we have a day before the match. So we should make it a rule and expect players to turn up at 8 am and have a good 25-30 mins pracice before the match starts.

Anyway keep your chin up guys, more victories coming along the BLITZ way for sure ;)

GO BLITZ!!

Satish