[thefreak]

India wins by five wickets!

How come we have no polls yet on the scoreline of the series! Someone please do the needful!

[Steeroid]

Originally Posted by thefreak

How come we have no polls yet on the scoreline of the series!

India - Pak no longer holds the same magic sway. The 'enemy' has shifted - we're more interested in beating Australia these days.

Sadly, the Pakis still believe in the old days. The Pakis in the office were quite surprised that we were not so worked up about scores or that nobody was following the match on the TVs in the office.

[thefreak]

Bang on Steer! We were discussing much the same thing today in office. It is India Australia that elicits the same kinda emotions as India Pak did some years ago...

[snaronikar]

Hey guys, Dravid hits double ton (in ranji against Mumbai) and has come back to form.....any guesses whether he will be included in team from 3rd one day?

[pmbabu]

Dravid is currently at 204* against Mumbai. Is he now fit enough and has he proved his form?

Edit: Oops, just saw the previous post :(

[thefreak]

I dont think so especially if India end up winning the match on Thursday too in Mohali. Selectors have shown a great tendency to ignore form and keep a winning eleven (or fourteen or whatever)

[snaronikar]

I feel there are no body in the middle order to stay calm and bat throughout if at all there are couple of 3 wickets fall in 30~40 runs, then the tail will be exposed. We cannot depend on Dhoni as he has shown only y'day that he can bat. Yuvi and Uthappa are hard hitters and we cannot depend on these guys. Hope if they include Dravid it will give the middle a little push/punch that is required in case of any emergencies.

If they pick him up and ask him to perform in down under it may be difficult unless you give some chances in the domestic tourneys.

[safari_lover]

Whatever the outcome could be, but Dravid has made his statement strong and loud, and how! (letting his Bat to do the talking). Now it would be real fun to read and watch Mr. Vengasarkar facing the music after the next selection meeting. Because my gut feeling says, they might drop Sehwag and bring back Dravid. Which will again raise a hell lot of question from the media. Even if they don't bring back Dravid, Vengasarkar will be reminded of his earlier statement, "Dravid has to prove his form and fitness".

[pmbabu]

Rediff and IBNLive are reporting that SRT has declined to be the Test Captain. Seriously, what makes our selectors go begging to someone who has terrible record of being the Indian captain?

[diabloo]

Sachin doesn't want the burden of captaincy to affect his batting & his subsequent plans to play the next World Cup

Originally Posted by pmbabu

Rediff and IBNLive are reporting that SRT has declined to be the Test Captain.

[thefreak]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Sachin doesn't want the burden of captaincy to affect his batting & his subsequent plans to play the next World Cup

A rather baseless comment.

He has made it very clear why. At one end you guys shout for a young team and when a senior member wants to have a young captain then you make mincemeat of him.

It is advisable to have a young captain at the helm with the seniors still in the team. The seniors advice to a young captain will be important and the young captain can develop in the mean time. Compare this to a scenario when the young captain suddenly takes the helm with none of the experienced guys around to support him and you have the recipe for disaster.

[diabloo]

We are not against anybody as captain. I was trying to read between words said by Sachin.
What experts say:

Greg Chappell, who quit as India's coach in April, said Dhoni may be too inexperienced for the Test captaincy. "He [Dhoni] is doing his apprenticeship in the limited-over forms of the game," Chappell told the news channel Times Now. "Probably another 12 months or more I think before he is perhaps ready for all three of them. A tour of Australia behind him will finish him off nicely as a cricketer and as a potential leader."

Ravi Shastri, who was India's manager in Bangladesh earlier this year, felt that handling the Test captaincy to Dhoni would burden him. "It will put him under a lot of pressure. In future he may do it but not at this moment," he told PTI. "He has a lot of talent but I think he is not ready for this responsibility now."

Cricinfo - Tendulkar declines Test captaincy

Originally Posted by thefreak

A rather baseless comment.

He has made it very clear why. At one end you guys shout for a young team and when a senior member wants to have a young captain then you make mincemeat of him.

It is advisable to have a young captain at the helm with the seniors still in the team. The seniors advice to a young captain will be important and the young captain can develop in the mean time. Compare this to a scenario when the young captain suddenly takes the helm with none of the experienced guys around to support him and you have the recipe for disaster.

[Surprise]

If Sachin has accepted the role, comments will be like " why not he leave the option of some youngster" or " he wanted to take that role so that he cannot be dropped from the playing 11". One thing for sure is to criticize all his moves (expect he decides to walk out from both forms of cricket )

Dhoni has insisted Gambhir's presence over Shewag. If India wins this series with the same playing 11, chances of getting Dravid into the squad is very very difficult. He will not be looked into the Aussies series

[thefreak]

Originally Posted by diabloo

We are not against anybody as captain. I was trying to read between words said by Sachin.

Why were you trying to do that rather than take the words on face value? Do you have some inside information that enables you to take a more holistic view of the situation? Please do share with us wannabes.

Originally Posted by diabloo

What experts say:

Ah the Greg expert! Wonderful example from a man who has never understood the inticracies of Indian cricket.
Ravi: Well he is entitled to have his opinion. Sachin is as entitled to have his own opinion right? And Sachin is as astute a cricketer as was ever born and there is no reason to discount his opinion. Also Ravi has gone on air to state that Dhoni handles pressure extremally well and this time around he says that Dhoni will be under a lot of pressure (something that he can handle well). Where is the problem? He is leading the team well and with the seniors experience coming in handy he will be able to hone his skills as a captain.

Originally Posted by diabloo

Cricinfo - Tendulkar declines Test captaincy

What exactly were you trying to show?

from the article

He [Tendulkar] was of the view that presently the Indian team was doing extremely well and the Board must think of appointing a younger person as the captain, looking at the future of the team

Everyone talks about the future of the team. But when Sachin does the same it becomes bulla eh?

[diabloo]

Cricinfo - ICL to begin on November 30, but the site indiancricketleague.in seem to be down. Most likely the matches will be live on Zee Sports and I am not able to spot that channel in Tata-Sky. Any news on this?