The Cricket Thread

[Oxy]

Now that the squad for the third test is announced, I really hope to see Vijay replacing Gambhir. The selectors have to send this message to Gambhir that he cannot take his place in the team for granted. Also, I'd like to see Rahane in the eleven replacing Yuvraj. It would be perfect if he replaces Sachin, but that's wishful thinking.

In the bowling department, I'd like to have Dinda in place of Harbhajan.

Also, Fletcher needs to go after this series. He is just a glorified yes man to Dhoni. How he got the job after England's 5-0 drubbing in the 2007 Ashes is beyond me. He's just living on his 2005 Ashes reputation.

Why can't we have Rahul Dravid as our batting coach, Anil Kumble as our bowling coach and Sourav Ganguly as the head coach instead of Fletcher? These guys will atleast ensure the right things are done after an embarassment like Mumbai.

[Eddy]

Not all good cricketers make good coaches. Kapil Dev is a good example.

With a flourishing media career ahead of them, I doubt Dravid or Ganguly would be interested in coaching. And that too, at this difficult juncture.

That said, Fletcher has been a disappointment. He definitely has to go.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Oxy

Did you see the way Gambhir batted on the fourth morning in the Mumbai test? He didn't even make an effort to take most of the strike.

And what is it with him going away for the wedding of his sister? Since then he has been in woeful form, I wonder what he ate there!

By the way, I think Sehwag is ok in the test team. Just because he is there, some declarations are made later than usual. And with our bowling, we are usually waiting for someone to declare. there is no fight at all in the bowling. we need an impact bowler like Siddle. Umesh Yadav seemed to be that guy, but now he is injured.

Originally Posted by PPS

I don't really see Yuvraj Singh cementing his place in the Test team so there is an opening for Tiwary. But has Tiwary ever made it to the Test squad? He is always 12th man during the ODI's.

why not try Rohit Sharma? agreed he failed in ODIs but he has never been tried in tests as far as I recall.
it is time to find a fresh fast bowling attack. I hope that doesnt mean the return of Ashish Nehra/ Munaf Patel/ Ishant Sharma again

[PPS]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

why not try Rohit Sharma? agreed he failed in ODIs but he has never been tried in tests as far as I recall.
it is time to find a fresh fast bowling attack. I hope that doesnt mean the return of Ashish Nehra/ Munaf Patel/ Ishant Sharma again

Rohit Sharma has abundance of talent but nobody knows when he will use that talent, remember talent is of no use if it is not converted into performance!

Regarding bowling, we have no other option but to fall back on Munaf & Ishant. Zaheer won't last that long. Umesh Yadav & Varun Aaron seem to be injury prone. Thankfully, we wont have to see Nehra as his career is pretty much over & from what i read he was dropped from Delhi team as well.

[suhaas307]

I'd think varun Aaron is a good option. He too looks like one of those 'impact-bowlers'. It's true, his line and length is wayward but if the lad is given a chance, it will allow him to prove himself, if not anything.

It's not like we have great bowlers anyway. Our bowling has always lacked that certain 'spark'. It's very ordinary and simply cannot hold and sustain pressure, either at the giving or at the receiving end.

And our batting was the only saving grace. Now even that has failed miserably. Apart from Pujara and to a certain extent, Gautam, it's been forgettable. I was expecting Kohli to fire in at least one out of the 4 innings. He has the makings of a good test-player. Yuvraj well, he is struggling but you can see that he is giving it his all. Perhaps he is past his prime? And honestly, the lesser said about Sachin, the better.

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

I'd think varun Aaron is a good option. He too looks like one of those 'impact-bowlers'. It's true, his line and length is wayward but if the lad is given a chance, it will allow him to prove himself, if not anything.

It's not like we have great bowlers anyway. Our bowling has always lacked that certain 'spark'.

+1, completely agree with you on this.

Varun Aaron is the only 'impact' bowler apart from Umesh Yadav, who comes to my mind. Sreeshanth can be good too in tests, but he's injury prone. Apart from bowling, he also provides on-field entertainment :-P

Pakistan has naturally gifted swing bowlers. They've got good pace too.

This maybe the last series of Sachin if he doesn't score runs in the next 2 matches. But I have a feeling that he'll do well.

[karty_83]

The biggest problem with Sehwag and Gambhir in the last 2 years has been their consistency. They fire once in 10 innings and the 10th innings would have been their last chance lest they would have been dropped. Thereby just hanging on. This cant go on for ever, something has to be done at some point.

Come 3rd test, either one of them have to move down the order and replace Yuvraj. Yuvraj is gifted and a fantastic ODI and T20 player, but he is not test match material. With due respect to his talent, there is no point wasting time on him right now in the test side.

Open with Rahane and stick to him even if he fails initially. If our team management can persist with non performing soon to retire seniors for game after game, then every new player should be given a long rope as well. After all they are our future.

And when finding new talent, be it in bowling or batting, the selectors should show more cricketing acumen. Not all players can play all 3 formats and be successful. Some players like Pujara and Badrinath(someone who missed the train) are Test class. Find them, groom them. No point in pushing ODI specialists like Yuvraj and Raina.

[Ananthang]

My view, on forming a Test team for the next 2/3 Years

Drop once for all - Harbhajan Singh, Sachin, Yuvraj, Raina

On the Wall - Gambhir, Dhoni. Yes you read it correct, Dhoni is like Yuvraj, good for T20 and ODIs, not definetely for the Tests.

To Persist with New Faces (atleast 10 Test Matches) - Manoj Tiwary, A Rahane

To check - Varon Aaron, W Saha, Sreesanth, Murali Vijay, I Pathan, Rohit Sharma (but let Rohit prove himself consistent in a ODI formats first)

I always thought that, Laxman still had a Year or two of cricket left in Test format but BCCI and Dhoni handled him very badly

[amitoj]

I dont know whether it was here that someone had mentioned or in the comments section of cricinfo that the Eden Gardens curator is known to have a mind of his own and will probably not pay any attention to Dhoni's demands.
And look what BCCI has done now:
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/ca...rator/1037499/

In a move which has triggered a fresh controversy, the BCCI today asked the Cricket Association of Bengal to appoint East Zone curator Ashish Bhowmick to prepare the Eden track in place of veteran Prabir Mukherjee, who has been in charge of the historic Eden Gardens pitch for decades.

Come on BCCI. That is no way to treat someone who has given his life to the game and takes pride in what he does.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Come on BCCI. That is no way to treat someone who has given his life to the game and takes pride in what he does.

You mean Sachin, don't you ?

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by amitoj

Come on BCCI. That is no way to treat someone who has given his life to the game and takes pride in what he does.

Eden Gardens, have to admit, is least favorite of mine when it comes to games that involve India there. Its an unlucky ground for us and it can be argued India lost at least one world cup because of one of the worst pitches possible for an ODI (1996 WC semifinal). If that pitch was prepared by Prabir Mukherjee then I have no sympathy for him.

[anand_hc]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Not all good cricketers make good coaches. Kapil Dev is a good example.

With a flourishing media career ahead of them, I doubt Dravid or Ganguly would be interested in coaching. And that too, at this difficult juncture.

That said, Fletcher has been a disappointment. He definitely has to go.

Agreed that Fletcher needs to go. Who will replace him? BCCI seems keen for foreign Coach. It's been more than decade since we had an Indian coach.

Dravid & Ganguly in commentary box make it interesting. SMG & RS have bored us to hilt in last 2 decades. Similar to ST continuing to play after expiry date. IMO, We need fresh faces on & off the field too.

[amitoj]

Originally Posted by Eddy

You mean Sachin, don't you ?

Originally Posted by joslicx

Eden Gardens, have to admit, is least favorite of mine when it comes to games that involve India there. Its an unlucky ground for us and it can be argued India lost at least one world cup because of one of the worst pitches possible for an ODI (1996 WC semifinal). If that pitch was prepared by Prabir Mukherjee then I have no sympathy for him.

I know players are a superstitious lot but to call an entire ground unlucky for a team over the years is still beyond comprehension. The 1996 WC SF loss could have been avoided without bringing the fast deteriorating pitch into consideration. Anyway, we dont stop respecting a player because he scored a duck or had a bad day. Then why be so harsh on the curator?

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by amitoj

I know players are a superstitious lot but to call an entire ground unlucky for a team over the years is still beyond comprehension. The 1996 WC SF loss could have been avoided without bringing the fast deteriorating pitch into consideration. Anyway, we dont stop respecting a player because he scored a duck or had a bad day. Then why be so harsh on the curator?

dont know about you but i had a heart break that day. that was a heart break of a 16 year old. It was totally so unfair on our team, having to bat on that horrible pitch. I have never come to terms with Eden Gardens since, not even when Laxman guided India to that famous victory. I dont think I am ever gonna like Eden Gardens again (or maybe if we win the world cup there in future the wounds might heal but who knows)

[KRRaj]

Originally Posted by joslicx

It was totally so unfair on our team, having to bat on that horrible pitch. I have never come to terms with Eden Gardens since

Well, I guess you are talking about the WC semifinal against Sri Lanka. Well, who asked Azhar to bowl on winning the toss? I remember clearly in the papers next reports of the curator informing Azhar about the pitch and clearly telling him to bat first. That decision reeked of fixing to me by the way...