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So you closed your eyes after that ? Good news for you khaadu. there was no play after that & India managed a shameful draw

Almost 3 hours & 65+ overs of play left - India with just 1 wicket in hand still managed a draw. Rain played for India.

You and I may feel ashamed. But what would it take for our former "greats" to get shamed into retirement? Seems they are quite incapable of shame. Tendulkar was seen smiling broadly as Dhoni and Sreesanth came back for bad light.

why should they be ashamed ? they have averages that international cricketers can only dream of. why should they retire ?

Look at the way Shivnarine Chanderpaul played for WI against a superior English attack including Hoggard and Harmison. Compare that performance with that of our "greats".

Look at Kevin Pietersen and compare him to our great men. Pietersen came into the England team at the expense of Graham Thorpe, who was experienced and had an impressive record. But in England, you cannot hang on to the team based on your past record and when better players like Pietersen come along, you either gracefully retire (like Nasser Hussain did to make way for Strauss), or you get dumped unceremoniously, which happened to Thorpe. Of course after getting dropped Thorpe saw the writing on the wall and promptly announced his retirement. Not like our hangers-on.

We are going around in circles while talking about our fab 5. We all know they are there on their past records and nothing else.

Some news channel anchor even suggested that if any of the 3 ie. Sachin , Laxman and Ganguly is dropped, India's close catching ability will be severely hampered (Ganguly :Shockked: )

Dilip Vengsarkar was present at Lords and he saw who played how but are you guys expecting him to drop Sachin , Saurav, Ganguly or Laxman ? Fat Chance, I say !

Dravid and Laxman are top class slip fielders; not very athletic, but fantastic reflexes and safe hands. Sachin and Saurav are not quite as good, but adequate. I would compare them to Gavaskar. They have a safe pair of hands and will hold on to anything within their (limited) range. Unfortunately I have seen Yuvraj, Kaif, Jaffer, Pathan and now Karthik floor sitters in the slip/gully area. Jaffer seems to be the best of this lot. Of course Anil Kumble in the gully would give nightmares to any bowler.

:D Thats a sight to behold. Anil Kumble diving for the ball, all arms and legs flailing every where and he dives over the ball which goes to the fence. Hilarious man. Thanks rks for bringing a smile to my face. hehe.

Do you guys foresee any changes to the team for the next match ? Will / should Yuvraj play ?

But the best sight of all is when he bowls a long hop which is promptly dispatched to the fence & he gets so angry with the close in fielder or the boundary runner for not stopping the ball. Man, that is one face you dont wanna see.

EL,

Better than Kumble - Srinath was a master at camouflaging his long hop and blaming it on the fielders when it went to the fence just using his expressions. The way he made faces when his bowling was thrashed was a sight to behold. :D felt like the batsman got lucky every single time he got a boundary of Srinath.

Agreed, srinath was worse. Maybe a common trait among friends. I remember srinath acting as if that was a ploy to get the batsman out & the fielders just did not support him on that. lol:

So reports on TV say that India going in with an unchanged squad for the 2nd test. Ganguly has a niggle they say but will be fit for the match, bah ! Seems like the non performing seniors have trampled upon the more eager, fitter and better youngsters (majorly Yuvraj) :Frustrati :Frustrati

Its time Dravid was dropped as captain. He has no flexibility and all his decisions are so predictable. No thinking on his feet, no innovativeness , nothing.

Will not be done. We had trouble choosing a vice-captain and hence no logical choice to replace him. Don't tell me you want Sachin to captain again :Shockked:

Saw an add on TV today that said.

1 country and a billion bowlers & batsmen.
1 country and a billion critics.

And so on...

Goes to show what 1 country with a population of 1 billion can achieve (or rather lack of it).

NC, so who should be the captain according to you?

Did anyone see Murali Karthik's interview with Bob Willis and the other presenter on Star Cricket today? Was interesting nonetheless.