[AbhishekB86]

Originally Posted by PPS

To win test matches, you need bowlers to take wickets! That England series is far away, its going to be another embarassment for us!

Exactly. Ishant contributing with maiden overs and stares isn't going to pick 20 wickets for us. For the England tour if noone else rises we should go back to Zaheer to lead the attack and for that extra pace pick Yadav and to swing the ball maybe go to Mohit Sharma, Jaidev Unadkat and Bhuvneshwar Kumar etc.

I'm still not over the disaster spell bowled by Vinay Kumar at Perth. I find him an adequate ODI player but picking him for test matches ahead of other bowlers would be a mistake.

[Oxy]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Exactly. Ishant contributing with maiden overs and stares isn't going to pick 20 wickets for us. For the England tour if noone else rises we should go back to Zaheer to lead the attack and for that extra pace pick Yadav and to swing the ball maybe go to Mohit Sharma, Jaidev Unadkat and Bhuvneshwar Kumar etc.

I'm still not over the disaster spell bowled by Vinay Kumar at Perth. I find him an adequate ODI player but picking him for test matches ahead of other bowlers would be a mistake.

I don't think we can go back to Zaheer. Next year he'd by 35 right (or 36)?

And if you remember, he broke down after bowling one spell in the opening test of the 2011 England tour, and that led to the whitewash.

[sgiitk]

Ishant has been totally off form. Also, why was he called to bowl at the death. He is always taken to the cleaners there.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by AbhishekB86

Exactly. Ishant contributing with maiden overs and stares isn't going to pick 20 wickets for us.

Here is an interesting year old article about Ishant by Sanjay Manjrekar which sums up things quite well. He's become much worse now!

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine...ry/548557.html

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by PPS

Those chaps in the squad are our best bowlers currently. Sad but true! Zaheer,Yadav,etc are not match fit yet.

They may be the best fast (should I say non slow?!) bowlers in the country. But they are not the best bowlers. Overall, if we have 3 good spinners it makes sense to play them than to play 3 rubbish medium pace guys who will be tonked all over town.

[carboy]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

They may be the best fast (should I say non slow?!) bowlers in the country. But they are not the best bowlers. Overall, if we have 3 good spinners it makes sense to play them than to play 3 rubbish medium pace guys who will be tonked all over town.

Where do we have 3 good spinners? Our spinners do OK in India and do miserably outside India.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by carboy

Where do we have 3 good spinners? Our spinners do OK in India and do miserably outside India.

I would say Ashwin, Ojha and Mishra sound better than Ishant.
At the stage, Bhuvneshwar is a shoo in.

I agree the spinners do miserably, but so do the medium 'pacers'

[carboy]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

I would say Ashwin, Ojha and Mishra sound better than Ishant.
At the stage, Bhuvneshwar is a shoo in.

I agree the spinners do miserably, but so do the medium 'pacers'

Ashwin has played 3 tests abroad and averages 63 with the ball.
Ojha averages 53 outside home. Mishra averages 43 outside home.

In Australia, Nathan Lyon looked 10 times the spinner Ashwin was.

Even someone like Kumble averaged 36 outside home which is at best a stock bowler's stats.

[pratyush6]

OK a lot of Ishant bashing. I am no fan of the young man and the moment he was handled the ball in the 48th over, my first thought was - Gosh, he would be bowling the 50th over as well - but well Ishant proved me wrong, there was no need of the 50th.

Ishant highlights what wrong has happened in Indian cricket. Where batsmen (mostly) are impatient if they face 6 dot balls and bowlers find it hard to concentrate for more than 4 overs, and all the bowlers think is how to 'not get hit' rather then 'get him out'.

P.P.S : And in this respect I find someone like Cheteshwar Pujara such a balm for your nerves, knowing there is atleast one guy who has his priorities correct.

BCCI and the players are so engrossed in making a quick buck that we have forgotten the base of cricket. No wonder England beat us in India. That has been by far the single most humiliating defeat we have had; and no one is even bothered about it.

P.S. I hope Ishant keeps off twitter for a week or so.

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by carboy

Ashwin has played 3 tests abroad and averages 63 with the ball.
Ojha averages 53 outside home. Mishra averages 43 outside home.

In Australia, Nathan Lyon looked 10 times the spinner Ashwin was.

Even someone like Kumble averaged 36 outside home which is at best a stock bowler's stats.

I am not talking about tests. I am talking about this series.
And if they want to build a team for the 2015 world cup, the pitches should be similarly built. It doesnt make sense to try 'pace' bowlers on patta pitches and get their confidence shot to pieces.

The kind of pitches for this series are not suitable for Ishant type bowlers. They are for Johnson type bowlers though. Therein lies the difference.

For tests abroad, we do not have bowlers at all except Bhuvi and Ojha. Maybe we should just go with 2 bowlers and wait for people to declare

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

For tests abroad, we do not have bowlers at all except Bhuvi and Ojha. Maybe we should just go with 2 bowlers and wait for people to declare

For overseas tests, I think we should just stop pretending, play 11 batsmen and increase the probability of a drawn series [tongue firmly in cheek!]

Cheers,
Vikram

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

For overseas tests, I think we should just stop pretending, play 11 batsmen and increase the probability of a drawn series [tongue firmly in cheek!]

I said 2 bowlers so that we can have them open the batting.

Anyone here who knows how/ where to buy tickets for the Wankhede test?

[PPS]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Overall, if we have 3 good spinners it makes sense to play them than to play 3 rubbish medium pace guys who will be tonked all over town.

As i said earlier, Dhoni isn't very comfortable playing 2 frontline sppiners in the side. As it is there is a dearth of good spinners in our country! Ashwin hasn't been all that effective since he tries too many variations & a loose ball is always on the offering.

[NPV]

Wow, what an amazing finish to a superb ODI match.
Loved the confidence exuded by Virat Kohli, he seems so sure of himself in these big run chases.
Virat really seemed to be in the Diwali mood already with that cracker of an innings today

There was a time few years ago when any team chasing a total of 250+ was considered tough, then 300 became the magic number and now even 350+ seems possible.
Also, finishing on the winning side for the Indian team in big run chases wasn't common, we'd come perilously close and lose then lose by narrow margin, sometimes just 1 run. But now things seem to have changed, World Cup 2011 is another proof for this team.

And now the Aussies are on the losing side in the top 5 run chases in ODI matches

The final match in Bangalore is now going to be the series decider and what other occasion than the day of Diwali for this match to be played!

[AbhishekB86]

Originally Posted by NPV

There was a time few years ago when any team chasing a total of 250+ was considered tough, then 300 became the magic number and now even 350+

I somehow was most interested in cricket when 280/290 was a challenging enough score. 7/10 times a team with that sort of total would win the game. Specially when Sachin went crazy at Sharjah and helped India first qualify and then in another innings win the final.

However what that does to me personally is to have no interest when India is bowling and only watch the batting to be entertained. Having said that what a superbly crafted innings by Virat. His slight arrogance reminds one of a in-form Ricky Ponting