[suhaas307]

How do you delight a child? Give him a bubblewrap," says Chris. How do you delight Pujara and Sehwag. Give them Swann and Patel.

Gotta love CricInfo!

Ideally, India should have wrapped things up before England got into the lead. But Alastair managed to Cook India for a while. England is pretty tail-heavy in the batting-department, I've gotta say.

[champ27]

Glad we could win this one. I was getting an uncomfortable feeling that Cook & Prior were all set to spoil our party. But kudos to Eng, especially Cook to have put up such a fight in 4th innings. We never saw such intent when India toured Eng last year. They will definitely look to build on this fightback in the coming tests.

On a side note , it's strange to see how quiet Sachin has been in the last 8 - 10 tests India have played. One could hardly notice him. I would love to see him come back in the thick of things.

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

IMO, if Cook maintains his fitness and motivation, he will surely be an all time test great for England. He is just 28 years old, and already has 21 test centuries and more than 6.5k test runs at an average of almost 48 under his belt.

Cheers,
Vikram

Yes, he is definitely one of the better players in modern cricket. More than the stats that you have mentioned, it's the manner and conditions under which he has achieved those numbers. He has scored against quality attack across the world. As you have rightly said, he just needs to maintain his fitness and motivation and he should be good for next 5- 6 years.

[comfortablynumb]

A lovely article on Viru: http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine...ry/592138.html

Cheers,
Vikram

[suhaas307]

Here is a little something that's bound to put a smile on your face:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqajK...&feature=share

[vinu_h]

India 121/5 in 43. Excellent come back from England. I wonder if there's any truth to that pitch fixing story; if there is; it blew up all over Dhoni and his lads' faces.

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

India 121/5 in 43. Excellent come back from England. I wonder if there's any truth to that pitch fixing story; if there is; it blew up all over Dhoni and his lads' faces.

We'll never know if there was any truth to the pitch fixing story. But one thing is for sure, England will struggle against spin here against Bhajji, Ashwin & Ojha :-)

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Rufus_M

We'll never know if there was any truth to the pitch fixing story. But one thing is for sure, England will struggle against spin here against Bhajji, Ashwin & Ojha :-)

The great Indian top-order collapse. Work as usual for the Indian team. Always a treat to watch.

But you're right. If Monty and Swann seem so lethal against us, I can only imagine what the spin trio can cook up when they come out to bowl.

[PPS]

Most probably i may be going to the stadium tomorrow. I was hoping to watch some of our batting tomorrow but i guess that wont be the case!
I just hope & pray that the pitch doesn't ease out & become a batting paradise!

I'm not surprised Monty has taken a few wickets, if a part-timer like Micheal Clarke can get a bagfull of wickets on this pitch then so can anyone.

[champ27]

This lad Pujara does look the part. Excellent knock once again. What I really like about this guy is the way he conducts himself on the ground. Monk like concentration, no cockiness , knows his role fully, are some of his traits that are striking. After reaching the three figure, he just simply raised his bat, looked upwards and thanked the God and moved on. No excessive pumping of fists, mouthing foul words and exaggerated celebration unlike what a youngster would normally do (or does) in such a situation. So far he has given all right signals. Just hope he continues in the same fashion.

Ashwin at times gives you an impression that he is a top order bat. Some of the shot he played were absolutely gorgeous. This chap has some real batting talent. He has the ability to grow into a full fledged all rounder.

Sachin failed once again (one more Bowled against his name). Is the end round the corner?

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by champ27

Sachin failed once again (one more Bowled against his name). Is the end round the corner?

Yes, certainly feel that the end is round the corner. He is a legend, but he's too old now. It's high time youngsters are given a chance keeping in mind the long-term prospects. I'm a huge fan of him,though.

Pujara is a gifted batsman, no doubt. For a lad who's just played 7 tests, he has shown amazing temperament & hunger for runs. He simply doesn't throw his wicket away.

Ashwin batted well too.

[champ27]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Here is a little something that's bound to put a smile on your face:

That indeed brought a big smile on my face. The guy was good. I thought Harsha & Tony were the best ones.

Originally Posted by Rufus_M

I'm a huge fan of him,though.

You are not alone . Absolute legend, no doubt about that. I somehow refuse to accept that he is nearing his end. I still believe there is that ONE legendary innings still left before he hangs his boots.

[hemanth.anand]

Saw this on Facebook today...don't know if its posted here earlier.


this is the same comparison but updated till today


"If sachin is god, this guy is oh my god"

I'm also a Sachin fan but at the same time I have great respect to this fellow who is 2-in-1
Wonder what mad fan following he would've had if he was in the Indian team

[mazda4life]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

Here is a little something that's bound to put a smile on your face

It did put a smile , thanks for sharing

[champ27]

@ hemanth-Nothing to take away from Kallis. He is a modern legend, a fabulous player often spoken spoken of in the same breath as Sir Gary Sobers, who is acknowledged by many as the best cricketer ever. But SRT goes way beyond these numbers. It's the incredible burden of expectations he has been carrying for 23yrs that sets him apart from everyone else. There was a time when the team depended heavily on him. His wicket used to deflate the side completely and the opposition used to just walk over us. Whereas SAF was always a well rounded side with JK one of the vital cogs. But I am sure even he would agree that the pressure on him was no where close to what Sachin had to face for years.

And yes, if Kallis was in Indian team and managed to achieve such numbers, people would have built temples in his name.

But an interesting stat anyway. He is indeed a 2-in-1 player. The moment he left the field on the 1st day of the ongoing Adelaide test, SAF were hammered and looked clueless through the day. Here they missed Kallis the bowler.

[karty_83]

Wow India are already 4 down in the second innings and are yet to take a lead.

So we now have a team that cant play on Bouncy tracks, Seaming tracks and for that matter even on Spinning tracks. A bunch of flat track bullies with inflated averages is all we have.
Sadly Sachin is past his prime. No Dravid and Laxman either. Save for Puajara and Kohli, our batting looks absolutely fragile on sporting wickets.