[amitoj]

Indian team, the one who has strongly opposed use of DRS, is itself making a strong case for it!

[watfor]

India's in a real spot of bother here. Chasing something above 300 is never going to be easy. Harbhajan has again been a liability and the inability to wipe out the tail is hurting.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by watfor

India's in a real spot of bother here. Chasing something above 300 is never going to be easy. Harbhajan has again been a liability and the inability to wipe out the tail is hurting.

why pick out only harbhajan? in any case, hteres hardly anything for spinners. these pitches are for seamers. and our bowling is again exposed, just like first innings! Eng have scored 440+ in 100 overs (thats a runrate of 4.4!) They are the new Australia!!!

This test can be counted as lost! And with it maybe our 1st ranking!

[NPV]

England with a lead of 374 runs and still having 4 wickets on hand seem formidable. Is this test going to be the turning point for the World #1 test team ? Either they prove they really are world class by winning it or they lose and begin their downfall from the test team ratings - will be interesting 4th day's play !

[esteem_lover]

2-0. The writing's on the wall. All the batsmen look jagged and just going through the motions. Hope the return of Sehwag will boost this team. Dhoni as a test player in england, the less said the better.

[srishiva]

Dhoni should go back to being captain of T20 and One day sides. Blame the pitches in India for the wrong set of players to come out tops.

[PPS]

Only Rain can save us !
Btw, did anybody hear Ravi Shastri & Naseer Hussain arguing during commentary!
Too many runs were leaked to third man, Dhoni should have kept a fielder there.

[Spitfire]

I have hope. I always have hope. We have players like VVS Laxman and Dravid and Sachin in there - In that order of stature that they will need to rise to. We have a game on guys.

[Sanyd1711]

Originally Posted by PPS

Only Rain can save us !
Btw, did anybody hear Ravi Shastri & Naseer Hussain arguing during commentary!
Too many runs were leaked to third man, Dhoni should have kept a fielder there.

Yeah..I heard it. Nasser Husain should have used his words a bit carefully, he was in a commentators role and could have avoided speaking something like this, here is the part of the news article printed in DNA newspaper

" Hussain slammed the BCCI for not making the full use of the DRS and called it a "disgrace".

Shastri, a fellow commentator, while replying to a question on Star Cricket, made a scathing attack on Hussain, saying that England are jealous of India's world number one status and BCCI's big purse.

"England are jealous about the way IPL is going, jealous that India is No.1 in world cricket, jealous that India are world champions. They are jealous because of the too much money being made by BCCI. Bottom-line is that they have never been No. 1 in the world in Test cricket," said Shastri.

That was not all as on third day of second Test today, Shastri and Hussain clashed again while commentating together with the latter picking up from what was left yesterday.

"Ravi, I just want to pick you up on something you said on a show yesterday, questioning my right to call non-use of DRS a disgrace. Well, I have earned that right after 96 Tests to voice my opinion on cricket. It is my job and my right to voice my opinion," Hussain said.

[watfor]

Originally Posted by joslicx

why pick out only harbhajan?

Harbhajan was expected to play at least the containing role. Just read he has a stomach injury, still his bowling average in the past two years have been 40 and 38. His strike rates;85 and 78. This compared to a career average of 32 and strike rate of 68. This at a time when India has done very well in the test arena. He does not seem to trouble the batsmen any more.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by srishiva

Dhoni should go back to being captain of T20 and One day sides. Blame the pitches in India for the wrong set of players to come out tops.

come on! That for the guy universally recognized as the best captain in international cricket at the moment!! Doesnt 2 WCs, leader of No. 1 ranked test side, couple of IPLs and a CL as well do enough for you? How is it Dhoni's fault if India from its 1B+ people can not produce a single world class bowler???

Test matches are won by bowling, not batting. Conversely, ODIs and T20s are batsmen game. In a test match, to win, you need to take 20 wickets. No other option. Unless we can find at least 2 really world class bowlers (on all kinds of pitches) we will feel these frustrations!

Who should be the captain if not Dhoni? Dravid ? Laxman? Tendulkar? Yuvraj? Bhajji? Shreesanth!!?

what are their credentials as captains???

[amitoj]

What do you guys think of Dhoni's decision to withdraw the runout appeal? Most people in my office are of the opinion that he should not have done so. As for me, i think it was a masterstroke from Dhoni to temporarily distract critics from his flaccid captaincy.

[Eddy]

I would have done the same. The match had almost gone already, good time to earn a moral victory and some PR

[suhaas307]

This is when India should show what they're made of. They had their moments in both the test matches. Now, they must capitalize on what they've got. They must press for victory. It looks like we've got 2 full days of cricket ahead of us. And we must play our best game in these 2 days. We must be aggressive.

Dhoni has been very defensive. I don't seem to understand why.

[comfortablynumb]

Originally Posted by Spitfire

I have hope. I always have hope. We have players like VVS Laxman and Dravid and Sachin in there - In that order of stature that they will need to rise to. We have a game on guys.

Totally agree. This game will end in a draw or win for India - I can just feel it. It's been a rough few weeks for India in the test arena [no, a 1-0 win in WI doesn't count], and a turn in the tide is long overdue for them. Besides, they haven't become # 1 just by shooting for adverts.

Cheers,
Vikram