as usual (cricket)

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:37 am

our bowlers have worked very hard to bring every aussie batsman and his grandmother back to form. but it's wrong to dump on the bowlers. they were probably demoralized by the pathetic showing of our batting worthies. we need two huge partnerships if we were to have a prayer of saving this thing. if either of gambhir or tendulkar departs before tea tomorrow, it's game over.

by The Absolute Zero Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:32 am

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:our bowlers have worked very hard to bring every aussie batsman and his grandmother back to form. but it's wrong to dump on the bowlers. they were probably demoralized by the pathetic showing of our batting worthies. we need two huge partnerships if we were to have a prayer of saving this thing. if either of gambhir or tendulkar departs before tea tomorrow, it's game over.

Man, you are a surreal optimist. Are not you? This is the main reason they keep selecting morons like Sehwag who throw wicket for nothing. He must be dropped until he learns responsibility. Forget about his 200* or 400*, drop him first. India will lose this test before tea. They will fold for less than 300. $kar will get his 40+ and he is a goner.

The test series (not just this game) is over before they started the tour. Too much hype about their "ability" and such non-sense. This team cannot bat, cannot bowl and cannot field. Only thing BCCI needs to do is to rebuild from base zero and get a good team. Oz do it regularly when their so called greats retire. BCCI just counts the money and forgets everything else. Bat to their ability? My foot. Even SL is battling braver than this stupid bunch of fat-wallet, good-for-nothing blokes who have no responsibility. One final thing for VVS, $kar and Dravid - Retire people, your time IS OVER. Move on.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:54 pm

The Absolute Zero wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:our bowlers have worked very hard to bring every aussie batsman and his grandmother back to form. but it's wrong to dump on the bowlers. they were probably demoralized by the pathetic showing of our batting worthies. we need two huge partnerships if we were to have a prayer of saving this thing. if either of gambhir or tendulkar departs before tea tomorrow, it's game over.

Man, you are a surreal optimist. Are not you? This is the main reason they keep selecting morons like Sehwag who throw wicket for nothing. He must be dropped until he learns responsibility. Forget about his 200* or 400*, drop him first. India will lose this test before tea. They will fold for less than 300. $kar will get his 40+ and he is a goner.

The test series (not just this game) is over before they started the tour. Too much hype about their "ability" and such non-sense. This team cannot bat, cannot bowl and cannot field. Only thing BCCI needs to do is to rebuild from base zero and get a good team. Oz do it regularly when their so called greats retire. BCCI just counts the money and forgets everything else. Bat to their ability? My foot. Even SL is battling braver than this stupid bunch of fat-wallet, good-for-nothing blokes who have no responsibility. One final thing for VVS, $kar and Dravid - Retire people, your time IS OVER. Move on.

My thoughts exactly. Hope Mohinder has the guts (finally) to bring down the curtain on these folks.

Sehwag has become a handicap for India. For every pressure situation he creates for the opponents, he creates 4 such situations for his team. The opponents NOW know if Sehwag can be enticed into slashing, the pressure will be on india.

Dump him... Enough is enough. He is dragging the whole team more than pulling the whole team.

That will certainly be a start and the axe should fall on the rest as well.

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:48 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:our bowlers have worked very hard to bring every aussie batsman and his grandmother back to form. but it's wrong to dump on the bowlers. they were probably demoralized by the pathetic showing of our batting worthies. we need two huge partnerships if we were to have a prayer of saving this thing. if either of gambhir or tendulkar departs before tea tomorrow, it's game over.

It's game over already. I will be happy if we can erase the deficit. Pitch eased out considerably, Gambhir took advantage of that and I hope Laxman will find his touch back and a very good opportunity for Kohli to prove his worth. BTW, did you watch Dravid's wicket, ball wnet between the bat and pad yet again. Gambhir & Sachin survived two edges that just missed the stumps in the last 3 overs of the day.

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 7:51 pm

mucho: i was too upset to watch yesterday. watching today.

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:03 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:mucho: i was too upset to watch yesterday. watching today.

wonderful start thus far.

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:08 pm

and there's that awful edge while closing his bat face again. awful.

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:17 pm

The Absolute Zero wrote:
Man, you are a surreal optimist. Are not you? This is the main reason they keep selecting morons like Sehwag who throw wicket for nothing. He must be dropped until he learns responsibility. Forget about his 200* or 400*, drop him first. India will lose this test before tea. They will fold for less than 300. $kar will get his 40+ and he is a goner.

In the last tour when he was brought back to the team after being dropped for a couple of series, he did play responsibly and scored 150+ in the 2nd innings help us draw the test. Looks like he went back to his old ways, that slash/cut shot was too predictable.

The Absolute Zero wrote: The test series (not just this game) is over before they started the tour.

Really! you eternal pessimist

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 8:22 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and there's that awful edge while closing his bat face again. awful.

Yep. Bowling change worked immediately.

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:16 pm

all over. laxman got a good one. sachin really needs to get over his nervousness as he nears the fake landmark. and dhoni is playing gilli - danda. now that the loss is a given, we can sit back and just see how much fight the youngsters are able to summon. that's the only interest left in the match.

by truthbetold Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:19 pm

Top Indian batting is back in pavillion. tail is in session. Hope Kohli gets some runs to his credit. when partnerships of 300 required, SRT and VVs were content with 103. Indian bowling managed 1 wicket in 600 runs over two days. Australia on the sa me easy wicket gets a wickets every session. This is the best India could offer but unfortunately it is not good enough to even salvage innings defeat against an average australian team in a rebuilding mode. Since it is happening for the 6th time in an years time, it is time I learn to set my expectations a little lower. I predicted 2-0 win for Australia. Another whitewash seems to be in store. Sad. Really sad.

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:21 pm

and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:26 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

Damn! AZ is right again. Wonder if this is the last series for one of the 3 (VVS?)

by MaxEntropy_Man Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:32 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

Damn! AZ is right again. Wonder if this is the last series for one of the 3 (VVS?)

i understand the frustration because i share it, but i don't understand the suggested solutions. if VVS wants to go he can retire voluntarily, but what is the big bleeding hurry to replace him? with whom? it's not like the youngsters we are trying out every now and then are blazing talents. they are mediocre tonty tonty players at best. i'd like to see you point to a genuine test talent as a replacement for any of these three. i seem to be the lone holdout here and the only reason i am a holdout is because i don't see any credible replacements. you don't want to make a change and make a bad situation much much worse. what's the point of that?

by truthbetold Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:38 pm

confuzzled dude wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

Damn! AZ is right again. Wonder if this is the last series for one of the 3 (VVS?)

Replace VVS with what? Badri, mukund, tewari, kohli?

BCCI needs to set up at least 10 fast bowling venues where Indian batsmen can play Ranji/Duleep trophy regularly to allow Indian batting to catch up with international standards. Otherwise India will continue to be flat track bully with an occasional Sachin or Dravid. One has to be more disappointed with the young talent than 38 year olds who are failing.

by Mosquito Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:39 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
confuzzled dude wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

Damn! AZ is right again. Wonder if this is the last series for one of the 3 (VVS?)

i understand the frustration because i share it, but i don't understand the suggested solutions. if VVS wants to go he can retire voluntarily, but what is the big bleeding hurry to replace him? with whom? it's not like the youngsters we are trying out every now and then are blazing talents. they are mediocre tonty tonty players at best. i'd like to see you point to a genuine test talent as a replacement for any of these three. i seem to be the lone holdout here and the only reason i am a holdout is because i don't see any credible replacements. you don't want to make a change and make a bad situation much much worse. what's the point of that?

In my ex-sweetheart's defense, he got an unplayable ball. But yes, his recent record has been less than stellar.

by truthbetold Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:50 pm

In all this gloom, in case you did not notice, India scored more than 300 runs in an inning. It required gambhir, sachin and Laxman batting out of their skins on pitch Aussies scored 600 for the loss of one wicket.

With this defeat, we have to endure the lectures of Chappel, Mark waugh and all other Australian has beens.

by confuzzled dude Thu Jan 05, 2012 11:52 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:
confuzzled dude wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:and now we know conclusively that kohli doesn't belong. time to look for the next candidate at the #6 spot.

Damn! AZ is right again. Wonder if this is the last series for one of the 3 (VVS?)

i understand the frustration because i share it, but i don't understand the suggested solutions. if VVS wants to go he can retire voluntarily, but what is the big bleeding hurry to replace him? with whom? it's not like the youngsters we are trying out every now and then are blazing talents. they are mediocre tonty tonty players at best. i'd like to see you point to a genuine test talent as a replacement for any of these three. i seem to be the lone holdout here and the only reason i am a holdout is because i don't see any credible replacements. you don't want to make a change and make a bad situation much much worse. what's the point of that?

VVS appears to have declined this year, He averaged ~20 against two quality oppositions, may be he is going thru slump like Dravid and Sachin did, but we all know that he won't be given as much rope. He will have to score big in the remaining tests for him to survive (1 century & 1 fifty at a minimum).

As for youngsters, it is impossible to find able replacements immediately, for any of these three, big shoes to fill. India will have to go through the rebuilding process. The likes of Pujara, Rohit, Kohli will have to be given ample chances to prove their mettle else before we realize they would be nearing 30s.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:01 am

truthbetold wrote:

Replace VVS with what? Badri, mukund, tewari, kohli?

See my other post

truthbetold wrote:

BCCI needs to set up at least 10 fast bowling venues where Indian batsmen can play Ranji/Duleep trophy regularly to allow Indian batting to catch up with international standards. Otherwise India will continue to be flat track bully with an occasional Sachin or Dravid. One has to be more disappointed with the young talent than 38 year olds who are failing.

I don't necessarily agree with this. Most bats fare well in the circumstances they are familiar with; not all the world class bats do well on Indian soil. Real issue with us is with lack of spinning options, we lost edge there nor we are able to produce top notch pacers. If we can develop a world class spinner some of the batting inadequacies of younger batsmen will be covered.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:05 am

PseudoIntellectual wrote:
In my ex-sweetheart's defense, he got an unplayable ball. But yes, his recent record has been less than stellar.

Don't fall for Shastri's commentary he could have defended that with straighter bat; he was trying to work it to the leg side.

by truthbetold Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:20 am

confuzzled dude wrote:
truthbetold wrote:

Replace VVS with what? Badri, mukund, tewari, kohli?

See my other post

truthbetold wrote:

BCCI needs to set up at least 10 fast bowling venues where Indian batsmen can play Ranji/Duleep trophy regularly to allow Indian batting to catch up with international standards. Otherwise India will continue to be flat track bully with an occasional Sachin or Dravid. One has to be more disappointed with the young talent than 38 year olds who are failing.

I don't necessarily agree with this. Most bats fare well in the circumstances they are familiar with; not all the world class bats do well on Indian soil. Real issue with us is with lack of spinning options, we lost edge there nor we are able to produce top notch pacers. If we can develop a world class spinner some of the batting inadequacies of younger batsmen will be covered.

It is natural that batsmen do not do well in unfamiliar places and conditions. But A nation has to produce enough talent that can produce in unfamiliar conditions to match or beat opposition on their home turf.

I am not clear how adding a spinner will mitigate any of Indian batsmen's problems. Most world class spinners would be rendered useless on most of world's pitches outside India. Bedi, Chandrashekar, Prasanna and Kumble could not buy wickets on many venues.

Whatever may be Pak team's problems, they were always able to produce a good bunch of pace bowlers and one or two world class spinners. India could learn a trick or two from them on how to breed bowlers.

by Another Brick Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:29 am

confuzzled dude wrote:
PseudoIntellectual wrote:
In my ex-sweetheart's defense, he got an unplayable ball. But yes, his recent record has been less than stellar.

Don't fall for Shastri's commentary he could have defended that with straighter bat; he was trying to work it to the leg side.

sir, dravid and laxman always get unplayable deliveries. that's written in cricket almanac. others throw their wickets.

sarcasm apart, this was a much better batting performance by INDIA. i mean, gambhir, SRT and laxman. if only they all had batted well in the first innings, this could have been an easy draw. let's hope they win at least one test. it is not difficult. they can do it.

for the next one, they should play ojha in ashwin's place and sharma/rahane in kohli's. it won't be a bad idea to kick sehwag's behind. he is an eternal idiot. wtf was he thinking yesterday? was he thinking that he could win us this game?

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:32 am

truthbetold wrote:

It is natural that batsmen do not do well in unfamiliar places and conditions. But A nation has to produce enough talent that can produce in unfamiliar conditions to match or beat opposition on their home turf.

I am not clear how adding a spinner will mitigate any of Indian batsmen's problems. Most world class spinners would be rendered useless on most of world's pitches outside India. Bedi, Chandrashekar, Prasanna and Kumble could not buy wickets on many venues.

Warne and Murali did.

truthbetold wrote:
Whatever may be Pak team's problems, they were always able to produce a good bunch of pace bowlers and one or two world class spinners. India could learn a trick or two from them on how to breed bowlers.

Natural talent I don't think PAK cricket board has any great programs to groom cricketers. May be we should offer citizenship to top PAK talent so they can make big bucks and play for us Smile

by Another Brick Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:07 am

confuzzled dude wrote:
VVS appears to have declined this year, He averaged ~20 against two quality oppositions, may be he is going thru slump like Dravid and Sachin did, but we all know that he won't be given as much rope. He will have to score big in the remaining tests for him to survive (1 century & 1 fifty at a minimum).

laxman can handle the bounce very well but he is not that good a player when the ball swings. that explains his poor record in ENG (hasn't scored a hundred there) and NZ. given that, i don't agree that he is in a bad touch. his low scores in ENG were not entirely unexpected. and he played well today. he will score runs in the next two matches. in fact, i sense a hundred from him in perth where it bounces a lot.

and no, none of these guys will retire after the tour nor will they be forced to retire. each one of them deserves a farewell at home. and why should they retire now? replacements (yuvraj singh, raina, kohli, vijay) haven't done well either. it is only because of them that IND is scoring respectable 200s and 250s in away games. if it wasn't for them, IND would have been humiliated.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:26 am

Another Brick wrote:
laxman can handle the bounce very well but he is not that good a player when the ball swings. that explains his poor record in ENG (hasn't scored a hundred there) and NZ. given that, i don't agree that he is in a bad touch. his low scores in ENG were not entirely unexpected. and he played well today. he will score runs in the next two matches. in fact, i sense a hundred from him in perth where it bounces a lot.

He didn't score a ton in SA or PAK either. Most of this has got to do with his batting position. Anyway VVS was shaping the ball well in ENG his shot selection has been poor (was practicing for tontey tontey may be)

Another Brick wrote:

and no, none of these guys will retire after the tour nor will they be forced to retire. each one of them deserves a farewell at home. and why should they retire now? replacements (yuvraj singh, raina, kohli, vijay) haven't done well either. it is only because of them that IND is scoring respectable 200s and 250s in away games. if it wasn't for them, IND would have been humiliated.

You need to remember that even VVS struggled early in his career, averaged around 25 in his first 20 tests. We need to pick a player and show faith and stick with him for him to develop.

by truthbetold Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:32 am

Warne did.

Yes. So did. Vivian Richards. So did Sachin and Dravid for a while. Those exceptions cannot be the basis for planned action.

Avg Indian batsmen must be allowed to improve his skills against fast, swing, and bouncy bowling conditions. Those are what Indians will face in most of the world. An army that practices well wins the war. You can't expect Kohli to pick up basic technique while playing test matches. One can improve but one cannot learn basics at the top.

Retirement of sachin, dravid and laxman will force Indian adm to rethink how to groom talent in the land. At present, India faces Windies like slide for several years.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:36 am

Lost by an innings and 68 runs. Had our batsmen shown a bit more application we would've avoided innings defeat which would've set a platform for the next set and seeded doubts in Aussies minds.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 1:50 am

truthbetold wrote:Warne did.

Yes. So did. Vivian Richards. So did Sachin and Dravid for a while. Those exceptions cannot be the basis for planned action.

Avg Indian batsmen must be allowed to improve his skills against fast, swing, and bouncy bowling conditions. Those are what Indians will face in most of the world. An army that practices well wins the war. You can't expect Kohli to pick up basic technique while playing test matches. One can improve but one cannot learn basics at the top.

Retirement of sachin, dravid and laxman will force Indian adm to rethink how to groom talent in the land. At present, India faces Windies like slide for several years.

Sure but it's very hard to replace players of high caliber and we can't expect to replace them with the same level of talent, pray tell me how many teams have had 3 top notch batsmen played together. Aussies of last decade and may be Windies of '80s. Even those batsmen were immensely benefited by their team's bowling strength. Having said that if given enough chances I'm sure Kohlis and Rainas will sort out their technique issues like Gambhir did.

by Marathadi-Saamiyaar Fri Jan 06, 2012 2:13 am

Enough folks...

Save your analysis for the next 2 tests....

by The Absolute Zero Fri Jan 06, 2012 9:40 am

Marathadi-Saamiyaar wrote:Enough folks...

Save your analysis for the next 2 tests....

IMAO (A=arrogant), our batting can be managed. Note, I am *not* saying it is good. But bowling is horrible. So we give so many runs away and put pressure on batters to defend. If a guy like Clarke can score 300+ in 420 deliveries it speaks volumes about the bowling attack. That too when none of bowlers or lead players is injured (Unlike in England tour).

First off, who is Umesh Yadav? I would have picked Irfan Pathan. Sehwag MUST go. I would prefer a 50 year old $kar and a 75 year old Gavaskar than a 22 year old Kohli or 18 year old Sehwag. Morons do not win matches. They give them away.

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:38 pm

The Absolute Zero wrote:

First off, who is Umesh Yadav? I would have picked Irfan Pathan. Sehwag MUST go. I would prefer a 50 year old $kar and a 75 year old Gavaskar than a 22 year old Kohli or 18 year old Sehwag. Morons do not win matches. They give them away.

Irfan Pathan would be as bad on a pitch like this one. There is a good reason for him to be not in the side. What's his strike rate when you exclude his performance against B'desis & Zimboks.

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:40 pm

what happened to r.p.singh? i didn't think he was that bad on his last test outing.

eta: oops sorry. just checked. he sucked. but then everybody sucked.

by doofus_maximus Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:41 pm

MaxEntropy_Man wrote:what happened to r.p.singh? i didn't think he was that bad on his last test outing.

RP Singh and Agarkar should make a comeback. LOL

by confuzzled dude Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:47 pm

doofus_maximus wrote:
MaxEntropy_Man wrote:what happened to r.p.singh? i didn't think he was that bad on his last test outing.

RP Singh and Agarkar should make a comeback. LOL

or Munaf. At least he'd frustrate batsmen with his geriatric run-up (like Mohinder used to do).

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:50 pm

i have a better idea. recall kapil dev. he can't be worse and he might actually take some wickets.

by doofus_maximus Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:52 pm

I vote for Big Bottomed Binny. He can swing the ball in any condition.

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:53 pm

ashwin was a huge disappointment. i thought he has more guile than harbhajan. but he is also a spear thrower. kumble was a different kind of bowler; he had some unusual weapons in his quiver and could get wickets bowling at that high speed. i don't know why these young fellows can't bowl traditional spin -- slow it down, flight the ball, give it a good rip etc. they all bowl like they are javelin throwers.

by MaxEntropy_Man Fri Jan 06, 2012 12:55 pm

i think you are all too young to have watched bedi and pras. i caught the very end of their careers on TV as a young boy. i've never seen anyone (indian that is) bowl like them after they retired. well maybe doshi and he had some very good success but was too old to continue playing. but that's it. whatever happened to that style of bowling. has the limited overs game completely killed it?

and if you think that style is outdated and not suitable to the modern game, you only have to watch video replays of warne and murali.

by Sponsored content

Hitskin.com