[motortechie]

I hope i am alive to see a day when a team win matters more than a personal milestone in this country.I have personally seen some sachin fan(atic)s praying that sehwag gets out before 200 so that their idol could have the highest individual score.To read some posts suggesting that Dhoni is selfish is amusing .
If dhoni is selfish what would you say about sachin who refused to budge from his no.4 position in the recently held test series against england. It was dravid and laxman who had to bat out of their comfort position all of the time.I still am unable to get a cricketing logic as to why sachin couldnt bat at least at no.3 forget opening the innings which btw is his comfort postion in ODI's.
Dhoni did what any another batsman would do at that situation i.e. get as many runs as possible on the board

[esteem_lover]

And in what way was Dhoni selfish ? He was not trying to create a new record, he was hammering the bowlers, the same Morkel and Steyn that Sachin was hammering. And why bring God into sachin's records, as it is he has too many, leave the praying bit alone please.

[carwatcher]

My opinion is in highlighted in Bold letters:

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

I am sorry i might be! But what I have written is what I believe!

Could be!

You have already admitted that you are being little harsh on Dhoni. Absolutely No problem as everyone is entitled to express his/her opinion.

But 47.4 to 49.3 - Not even a single ball was given to Sachin, who had 199 runs on the board.

I would see it as sensationalizing of facts like what media does. We can also look it like this... In between 48th and 50th over Dhoni batted out the whole of 49th over and scored 17 runs in that over. Tell me what's wrong in that. It is very usual for a player to bat out complete over. And MOST IMPORTANTLY Tendulkar was cramping after 47.5th over.

Even at 49.3 - it was a call for two, except for a brilliant piece of fielding by Amla which restricted it to 1 run.

Get your facts right as it was 49.2 not 49.3. If you believe that if two runs were take on that ball and SRT would've been denied his 200 in remaining three balls, then I don't think Dhoni would've been able to face the nation for his entire LIFETIME. Com'on can any player on earth can do this with SRT. I don't think so. Rahul Dravid is still remembered for denying SRT double century in a Test match in Pakistan even though India won that Match.

And, it looks like Dhoni decided to have a go at the bowlers himself -
I have changed my batting, but the situation demanded that kind [attacking] of innings.

Can you please tell what is wrong in that.

We may never be able to understand what happened that day.

Its not that tough. You can go to Cricinfo's commentary section of that match like I did and at least get a fair idea of what exactly happened during these overs. Here's the Link - 2nd ODI: India v South Africa at Gwalior, Feb 24, 2010 | Cricket Commentary | ESPN Cricinfo

But my opinion was not from a sudden realisation. Whatever reasoning I do, i end up with the same conclusion. Sad - because I have to admit - he is one of the best captains in Indian cricket - ever.

We have always complained of how few players have played for individual records rather than in the interest of the team and this post of yours is the classic example of that. What Dhoni's innings did was literally pushed the target beyond SA's reach (101 runs in 8.5 overs with SRT) and rather than praising the effort we are criticizing him.
IIRC when Matthew Hayden scored 380 against Zimbabwe, the highest Test score at that time one Australian player commented, "I am sure that if this record will ever be broken, the person doing it won't be an Australian." Then he explained the reason for that. He said that if someone will play with an intention to break this record, the match would surely be heading for draw and we Australian don't play for draws. We put team priority before individual records.
What Dhoni did was what he is best in doing, achieving the desired result and at the same time keeping all the people happy, Sachin getting 200, Dhoni pushing Run rate and India defeating SA and winning the series. At that time it didn't matter if SRT getting 200 or 225 as the occasion of getting first 200 in Men's cricket was very big in itself. Lara also scored exactly 400*, isn't it.

P.S. - I was Dhoni's fan earlier but by seeing his over defensive approach while chasing in Tests abroad and now even in India is not gone well in my books. He wants to maintain clean records. Maybe because he follows Cricinfo.

[deky]

This link is so funny and worth posting here for a good laugh.

So guys read it and chill as the discussion of who is the best and which innings was better will never end

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by deky

This link is so funny and worth posting here for a good laugh.

So guys read it and chill as the discussion of who is the best and which innings was better will never end

Nice one deky. I loved this part here

Sehwag had tested positive for a rare drug during the dope test after his double-century. A high level of Tendulkaroid, also known as the god steroid, was found in Sehwag’s blood samples.

Chill guys, we are all cricket fans and Indian cricket fans.

[Eddy]

Faking News is bloody brilliant ! Am subscribed to their facebook updates and the headlines never fail to bring a smile on my face

[Turbokick]

Sachin's innings is being compared to Sehwag's ?

By 35th over of the match, my update on facebook was 'Sehwag will score a 300 if he stays till the end '
By the 40th over, Sehwag slowed down considerably and ofcourse fall of wickets and tiring innings bogged him down to some extend but I am sure Sehwag is one batsman who can score a 250 or even 300 on his day in a ODI match. This is no exaggeration.

I believe Chris Gayle is one more player who can emulate such feat !

As far as SRT's innings is concerned, it was masterclass. Morkel and Steyn were so frustrated that they laughed at the end. Numbers dont do the justice actually, Sachin's innings was actually superior to Sehwag's in terms of class and quality.

But again Sehwag is unpredictable. He can blast even the greatest Australian attack of game.

[esteem_lover]

Just read about the OZs' fear here and more on that same site.

Sehwag strikes shot across bow

[esteem_lover]

Watta match. The OZs went down like a pack of cards, only Sehwag's disciple stood firm with a scintillating century.

[Turbokick]

Inspite of all the focus on Sehwag, I believe this will be SRT's series. He will be the one who would like to clear the last frontier.

Expect some serious firework this time.
Despite the defeat,Aussies will come hard at us.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Inspite of all the focus on Sehwag, I believe this will be SRT's series. He will be the one who would like to clear the last frontier.

Expect some serious firework this time.
Despite the defeat,Aussies will come hard at us.

Thing is, I'm not feeling too good about the Australia tour. Especially after what happened in England earlier this year. The Indian team needs to prove itself on foreign turf, the Caribbean not counted.

Remember, we might have won the Cup, but that still doesn't make us the best team right now. There is room for improvement, I'm of the opinion.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by Turbokick

Inspite of all the focus on Sehwag, I believe this will be SRT's series. He will be the one who would like to clear the last frontier.

What exactly is the last frontier?

[karty_83]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Thing is, I'm not feeling too good about the Australia tour. Especially after what happened in England earlier this year. The Indian team needs to prove itself on foreign turf, the Caribbean not counted.

I second that. In fact Aussies are struggling with their batting and not bowling. They have unearthed a couple of decent pacers in Pattinson and Cummins though the latter is ruled out of the series. Moreover most of their faster men will prove handy on those bouncy wickets against our batting.

Every 3rd batsman has his best score against India and our bowling is the most preferred by out of form batsmen and aussies have plenty of them now. If Indians need to win the big 3 has to fire and score big.The present oz batting order can't handle pressure thereby making our bowling more effective.

This is India's best chance to beat OZ in their own backyard.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by karty_83

Moreover most of their faster men will prove handy on those bouncy wickets against our batting.

The last time India got fast bouncy wickets in Australia was in the 99 tour.

The last 2 tours have been very average wickets - yeah, they are faster & and bouncier than Indian wickets but not really like the 91-92 & 99 tours. The 92 Perth pitch was really really quick & bouncy.

[C300]

Originally Posted by carboy

The last 2 tours have been very average wickets

+1. Given the focus on T20 big bash down under, I expect the wickets to be bat friendly across Aus barring Hobart. They will be tempted to create green tops against India but that strategy can potentially backfire given their batting form.
We have to adapt quickly at MCG and a drawn boxing day test will be a good start IMO.


There are no two doubts that this is our best chance to win the series in Aus. Pattinson is a threat but lack of experience means he will have few bad days in the field.
Our batters will do well but its the bowlers who win the matches. All eyes on Zak, Ishant & co.