[Surprise]

Cricinfo - Kirsten: Dravid best suited for No. 3

Rahul is probably more suited to batting at No. 3 and that's certainly something that will be discussed over the next few days," he said in his first press conference since landing in Australia. "Sehwag's spot will be discussed. He has got a big hundred and also has the respects of the Australians, the way he plays. It will become a part of the decision making."

It will be good if this is implemented. Let Shewag open the innings and try his luck with scoring some quick runs and the wall block everything thrown at him one down.

Kirsten also felt the team would face a "tough dilemma" regarding Harbhajan Singh, their offspinner who has been in the centre of the controversy over the last week. "He's been very much involved in the last week," he said, "but the thing that I enjoyed was his batting performance in Sydney. We've identified that it's very important that members of the lower order make a contribution with the bat and he did that in the Test."

Lets bring Pathan in place of Singh.

Meanwhile Gilli is upbeat in gettting the 17th con win.

[maddy42]

Well the pitch seems to have crazy bounce so its better we got some pacers on the team. Well one thing for sure. Aussies know how to get sehwag out. Lets see how he performs. Well i dont understand why kumble agreed to drop charges. Let the ozzies go to hell. We are not here for some peace mission!!

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by maddy42

Well i dont understand why kumble agreed to drop charges. Let the ozzies go to hell. We are not here for some peace mission!!

goodwill gesture , says Kumble while endorsing a feature thats been common to all Indian captains barring a few (Shastri, Ganguly).

With this gesture - we have just showed the Aussies how soft hearted we are and that starts with the captain. And trust me , the Aussies will CRUSH us. I see the Perth test lasting 3 days (max 4th day , 1st Session).

How stupid of Kumble to back off. And if Bhajji is pronounced guilty , then what ? The Aussies will plead for not banning Bhajji ??

[maddy42]

HAHA its like trying to calm a bloody bloodhound and make it eat veggie stuff.
We will end up being laughed at. There is this hindi saying which is khoon ke badle khoon. How ever i dont think we can win the remaining 2 matches so rather getting some of them banned would have been a better approach.

[LLL]

Ponting said he would have liked the catching agreement to continue, but at least got umpires Asad Rauf and Billy Bowden to rule on close calls themselves instead of referring them to the third umpire.

I thought kumble was an engineer and he would have learned from his previous mistake. Now has he agreed to allow on-field umpire to make tricky decisions?

why not use the 3rd umpire who has the tv replays to refer to?

[MC Mayank]

what time does the match start tomorrow? I think it would be two hrs later right?

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by LLL

And indians didnt? i am sure they would have...

ICC and its rules beat me. No wonder everyone calls it as a spineless spectator.

Only racist taunts are to be reported immediately to the on field umpires (which ponting did), all else can be taken up with the match referee later on (Which kumble did).

[rks]

Originally Posted by LLL

I thought kumble was an engineer and he would have learned from his previous mistake. Now has he agreed to allow on-field umpire to make tricky decisions?

why not use the 3rd umpire who has the tv replays to refer to?

Ponting is another one of those who oppose the use of technology. Illogical, inexplicable. The flimsy excuse given is that the technology is indecisive in certain cases, especially when ruling on whether catches were taken cleanly. My point is that if technology is indecisive, then the ruling (as always) goes in favour of the batsman; nobody will have anything to complain about, because that is the best that can be done. And if the ICC desires, much better technology can be made available that will decide even these border-line cases; after all, the ICC and the cricket boards are rich.

Another dubious argument against use of technology is that too much time will be wasted in looking at replays after each appeal. So what? The truth is important and even one wrong decision can make a mockery of a cricket match. Think of the wasted time and money of all the people who paid through their noses to see a match ruined by bad umpiring.

The Aussies seem to be the ones that strongly oppose the use of technology. Ian Chappell recently said that he would like to see even the present usage curtailed! Unbelievable, from a man who normally talks sense. The South Africans are much more sensible and forward-looking .They introduced the present system of using technology for run-outs in their domestic circuit before it was accepted by ICC.

[diabloo]

The reason - to intimidate umpires & get decisions in their favour.

Fast bowling legend Michael Holding has slammed Ricky Ponting's Australian team as one of the worst behaved in world cricket due to their excessive appealing which puts tremendous pressure on the umpires.

"I won't pinpoint the exact teams, but Australia isn't far from the top (for poor behaviour)," Holding said. "I base that on their excessive appealing and the way they intimidate umpires," the Jamaican was quoted as saying by Herald Sun.

Ponting's team one of the worst behaved: Michael Holding- Hindustan Times

Originally Posted by rks

Ponting is another one of those who oppose the use of technology. Illogical, inexplicable.

[diabloo]

Its at 8AM IST

Originally Posted by MC Mayank

what time does the match start tomorrow? I think it would be two hrs later right?

[diabloo]

Australia, India drop contentious catch agreement

Originally Posted by LLL

I thought kumble was an engineer and he would have learned from his previous mistake. Now has he agreed to allow on-field umpire to make tricky decisions?

why not use the 3rd umpire who has the tv replays to refer to?

[LLL]

Originally Posted by rks

Another dubious argument against use of technology is that too much time will be wasted in looking at replays after each appeal. So what? The truth is important and even one wrong decision can make a mockery of a cricket match.

yes, completely agree. if icc continues like this and doesnt embrace technology, pretty soon, only a few countries will be left playing cricket. These would be the countries who dont have any other sport to turn to.

Who wants to see a farce game, where the result is decided by umpires. I can bet that if india starts to do well in hockey or football, suddenly, most of ppl will switch over as games are shorter, there is more action and they would be fairer.

[esteem_lover]

I read about a good suggestion from someone in Sydney. Goes like this.

Every team is given 3 appeals (on field appeal against the umpires' decision) per innings.

If the fielding side appeals for an LBW against a batsman & it is turned down, the fielding side would appeal to the 3rd umpire/match referee who will check with the replays & give his verdict. If the verdict is in favour of the fielding side, they get to keep their 3 appeals in tact, if not they lose one appeal.

The same applies to the batting side, if the batsman feels he has been unfairly given out, his team can appeal, if he is not out, he can continue to bat & his team keeps their 3 appeals in tact, if not he has to go & the team loses one appeal.

I feel this is a pretty good suggestion. This way, it would be ensured that the teams use this only if they want to & not on any whim.

The pros & cons of this idea guys.

[toiingg]

Get sreesanth in.
He was the one who had the guts to stare down a couple of those 'monkeys'.
And, he's not a bad bowler too.

[Nitin]

Originally Posted by toiingg

Get sreesanth in.
He was the one who had the guts to stare down a couple of those 'monkeys'.
And, he's not a bad bowler too.

Sreesanth said he's fit enough to play. There was speculation that if he was used in any of the games,the chances of sledging and the already tense situation going out of hand.
The guy has aggression,and a lot of it works against the Aussies.