[amitoj]

I am glad I am following this match on cricinfo only and not live on tv. I can't even if i wanted to. I went to sleep last night with India 1 down and woke up to see India 9 down. Deja vu?

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by vinu_h

They might win if they stopped trying to fix pitches.

Indian batting shielded the weak bowling all these years. When the batting failed, bowling is exposed. Actually, since the whole line up is out of form, they will fail on any kind of pitch.

Originally Posted by karty_83

Hats off to Ashwin for saving India from an innings defeat.

Ashwin (avg 51.50) is 2nd in terms of batting averages in this series, next to Pujara. But the porblem is, his bowling average (60.11) is more than his batting average ! But he has been the most consistent Indian batsman this year.

Dhoni doesn't deserve a test spot leave alone captaincy. Its high time selectors realized that.

Dhoni has failed as test captain & T20 captain. In ODIs he is successful due to superb form of Kohli in ODIs.

Originally Posted by anand_hc

Looks like this team is going only one way that's downhill. I was wishing against my brain that Mumbai was an aberration.

Actually, Ahmedabad was an aberration ! India have lost 10 of the last 11 tests, a worst record for any captain.

N Srinivas is president of BCCI and owns CSK. Incidentaly, Dhoni is the captain of CSK

[NPV]

Thanks to Ashwin, we will in fact play on Day 5 of this test! But it's still going to be an English victory sooner or later.
Ashwin proved to be a better batsman that the famed stars like Sachin, Yuvi, Dhoni, Kohli

[msdivy]

This cricket team is strange !

Earlier Sachin felt that a player must not quit on a high since when on a high that player will be contribute to team. If the player quits, the team would be devoid of the player's contribution.
(Question is what to do when on low? Wait in the team to get back to high & contribute to team )

Now Dhoni feels quitting is running away from responsibility and Dhoni wants to get this team back together !
(Question is how much longer?)

Both are similar thoughts and I suspect this team suffers from groupthink.

Source: http://www.espncricinfo.com/india-v-...ry/596331.html

[PPS]

Piyush Chawla & Ravindra Jadeja included in the squad for the final test!

Never imagined Jadeja would one day make it to the Test squad & Chawla is always the go to man for some weird reason. Amit Mishra is anyday a marginally better bowler than Chawla. Tiwary is unlucky to miss out on a berth!

[Rufus_M]

Originally Posted by PPS

Piyush Chawla & Ravindra Jadeja included in the squad for the final test!

Never imagined Jadeja would one day make it to the Test squad & Chawla is always the go to man for some weird reason. Amit Mishra is anyday a marginally better bowler than Chawla. Tiwary is unlucky to miss out on a berth!

Indian cricket is heading downhill. I'm shocked at the inclusion of Piyush Chawla!! He hasn't performed in the recent Ranji as well. Hopefully Awana does well for India. From what little I've seen of his game in IPL, he has got good pace. No words to describe Ravindra Jadeja's inclusion :-P

[suhaas307]

I think Jadeja was selected based on his recent performances at the Domestic level.

I've got to say, we saved our faces somewhat during the first session today. If only we had another 50-100 runs on the board.

[Naturalist]

Its been really long since we played a HOME series this badly.

Again Dhoni's favorite child Jadeja coming back after playing well on domestic flat pitches. This will not improve the teams strength by any means.
Chawla's inclusion is really bad decision. Why they have overlooked Mishra?
Hoping Awana will show some great spirit.

[Oxy]

I think Jadeja was the best possible choice based on current form.

The guy has scored three Ranji triple hundreds recently in a mere two weeks IIRC. I'd be surprised if that's not some kind of a record.

Awana is a sensible selection too. Chawla/Mishra are more or less the same, so not very disappointed.

What does Tiwary need to do to be selected though? It's high time he gets in. If you can't drop Sachin to accomodate Tiwary, atleast drop Gambhir or Raina.

I am happy to see Zaheer and Harbhajan kicked out. Both of them are finished IMO.

I sincerely hope Dhoni and Fletcher too go after the Nagpur test and Sachin is asked to retire by the selectors.

[srishiva]

They should drop a batsman to accommodate Ashwin. They get an additional bowler whom they can drop later. I dont see a good time for Indian team in the immediate future with the kind of players we have for tests. Pak team should be salivating...

[karty_83]

Originally Posted by srishiva

They should drop a batsman to accommodate Ashwin. They get an additional bowler whom they can drop later. I dont see a good time for Indian team in the immediate future with the kind of players we have for tests. Pak team should be salivating...

You mean for the final test ? If you meant long term, then that would be the worst thing to happen for Ashwin. Team management has already destroyed Irfan Pathan doing just that. We need Ashwin the bowler, runs from his bat are a bonus.

[NMS]

Frankly it is good to see that some changes have been made for the final test. Most importantly 2 guys who have done well in Domestic Cricket have been given an opportunity here. I really wonder what brings Piyush Chawla back in the side though.
There is no performance to back him up (neither domestic or international.) Agreed, that the England batsmen have issues playing the leg spinners, however, would having a bad leg spinner help India's cause?

[kannan666]

And if they were going purely on past performances regarding picking a leg spinner, surely Amit Mishra has a better record ?

[Naturalist]

I really doubt Jadeja as a batsman. We have seen him struggle through countless ODI's.

Current form does not count when you know that Jadeja's technique is not that good. Batting against Ranji trophy bowlers are way different to facing the overseas bowlers.

I too hope that he does well but that is a very high expectation from Jadeja.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Naturalist

I really doubt Jadeja as a batsman. We have seen him struggle through countless ODI's.

Current form does not count when you know that Jadeja's technique is not that good. Batting against Ranji trophy bowlers are way different to facing the overseas bowlers.

I too hope that he does well but that is a very high expectation from Jadeja.

I agree.

Although something had to be done. Some change had to be made. I wonder why Tiwari wasn't picked? Poor sod has always been in the sidelines and whatever opportunity he was given, he latched onto it with gusto and even performed!

It's better to try someone who's showing some promise than stick with a team that's giving you telephone-number-like results in the batting scorecard.