Australia's Tour Of India - 2008

[nikhil_99]

Ya,India managed in the end,thanks to Tendulkar,Laxman,Gambhir(he was with Sachin for a long time),2nd test match is in Mohali,that suits fast bowlers,there is something for seamers on that track,that will suit more to the Aus.

 

[shubhrayu]

Mohali is the home ground of Brett Lee and Katich in India

 

[naresh091]

^^also to yuvraj,pathan and sreesanth.but none of them are in the squad.

 

[nikhil_99]

We could have chased 299 had Viru and Gambhir fired: Kumble


http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3591295.cms

Its easy to say,but frankly in my opinion,even if they would have got good start,it would have been a bit difficult,unless Shewag bats for 2 sessions,no need of saying anything further,because when he bats he lashes out the bowlers,also batting on 5th day was more difficult too.So in my opinion,Sachin,Laxman batted really well,few balls were really keeping low,both senior bastman read it well..

 

[sohum]

Good to see India were able to hang on to the draw. I'm still a little disappointed by our batsmen's conversion ability this Test match. The likes of Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar usually get a 100 when they get a 50. So that was kind of disappointing.

 

[playkid12]

Damn Ganguly is in good form, he must be regreting the fact that he's gonna retire after the series...

Ganguly is tired of fighting for his spot in the team, and being left out of the Irani Trophy was just ridiculous. He's always the one people point fingers at. His fielding is abysmal, which doesn't help. I don't think he's regretting it at all. Honestly, he needs to retire.

 

[SaiSrini]

I feel India should feel a lot better because they have saved a test match, at which they are not good at. And that too, the unexpected of all - Sachin Tendulkar has been instrumental in saving the game for India which should boost them even more. The turning point was obviously Bhajji and Zaheer's partnership that saved it for India. The Fab Four have all scored runs in this game (Dravid has a 50, Ganguly has a 47 and 26*, Sachin has saved the game and Laxman did the same too with a 40 odd). Only thing is, Dhoni didnt get a proper hit. But if the Top 6 do well, Dhoni will not be that much required.

Zaheer was true in his comments! It was surprising to see the Aussie approach to this game. I also guess its a ploy by Zaheer to bring them back to their usual game which presents India with more chances if they keep bowling the right lengths. When the Aussies are defensive, wickets are a little harder to come by. But when they attack, they present more opportunities.

Lets see what his comment does to the Australians next match. For one, I expect Matthew Hayden to take note of his comment and do something at Mohali.

saisrini80 added 1 Minutes and 40 Seconds later...

Ganguly is tired of fighting for his spot in the team, and being left out of the Irani Trophy was just ridiculous. He's always the one people point fingers at. His fielding is abysmal, which doesn't help. I don't think he's regretting it at all. Honestly, he needs to retire.

Also Ganguly is playing with a free mind in this series. Had he not announced retirement, maybe it might not have looked this rosy for Ganguly. When he played the India A game, he flopped miserably scoring less than 20 runs in two innings put together. After that, he announced his retirement and he has now scored 47 and 26*. Just see what a big change that announcement makes. I even expect a hundred at some point of time in this series from Ganguly.

 

[Leggie]

Mohali is the home ground of Brett Lee and Katich in India

And Harbhajan Singh I wonder who will benefit more on a spinning track? I wonder :

 

[SaiSrini]

And Harbhajan Singh I wonder who will benefit more on a spinning track? I wonder :

It will be an interesting situation if Kumble is fit enough for Mohali, which is bound to be a fast bowler's track. Will they drop Harbhajan and pick Munaf, or will they drop one of the batsmen (none can be dropped) to accomodate Munaf thereby having 5 bowlers?

I hope for the sake of less confusion and for a better team, that Kumble is not fit for Mohali.

 

[angryangy]

He's playing mind games with the Aussies. This is actually proper and intelligent sledging, as compared to the ridiculous things that Sreesanth and Harbhajan do. It's going to be in the papers, be discussed by commentators, and Australia's mentality might change if they aren't careful.

There are some good ideas and it was eloquently phrased, but not greatly intelligent. The 20 wickets call is not bad, but they couldn't take 20 wickets either. The defensive cricket comment is solid because it's hard to disprove, but the defensiveness of the batsmen on day 5 was apparent to anyone who watched. However, there were some terrible ones, like the aforementioned "it can't get any better than this". The bit about spin comes to mind;

"On a fifth-day pitch the spinners could not do us any harm. That shows what their spin attack is all about." The debutant Cameron White and part-timer Michael Clarke combined for only three wickets in the game.

This statement simply relies on no one pointing out the obvious. Indeed the Cricinfo staff writer has also overlooked it, giving it unnecessary weight. Yes, Clarke and White combined for 3/166 in 68 overs. However, Harbhajan and Kumble combined for just 3 wickets as well, but from a much greater workload, totalling 339 runs in 119 overs. They're meant to be the big scary spin kings with over 1700 first class wickets shared between them, while White and Clarke have taken less than 200 first class wickets. Highlighted by White's 28 ball battle with Tendulkar, the two all-rounders certainly proved as effective as the more veteran players.

A message has obviously come from the within the team that they have to target Australia's spin performance, the apparent weakness. However, by drawing attention to spin, they leave their own spin bowlers very vulnerable to a counter-attack. As it is, Kumble is already under pressure.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

We could have chased 299 had Viru and Gambhir fired: Kumble


http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/3591295.cms

Its easy to say,but frankly in my opinion,even if they would have got good start,it would have been a bit difficult,unless Shewag bats for 2 sessions,no need of saying anything further,because when he bats he lashes out the bowlers,also batting on 5th day was more difficult too.So in my opinion,Sachin,Laxman batted really well,few balls were really keeping low,both senior bastman read it well..

I say we could have win if Stuey clarke was fully fit

 

[Animator!]

I think the, arguably, two part-time Australian spinners did a decent job. I say two part timers, since Clarke is a batter who bowls a bit, and that's what White's career seems to have become in recent years. They did as equally a job good statistically as the Indian spinner who were supposedly their major threat in a home series. Whether that casts a good light on the performances of Clarke and White or a dark cloud on the performances of Kumble and Harbajhan is debatable.

 

[vaibhav mehta]

Look like it is all over. We clearly played better cricket than India but just lacked that killer blow to finish them off.!

Well I would say it was great match.Great cricket from both of the teams.But I don't agree that Australia played better than India,not at least after the partnership between Zaheer and Hrabhajan.
India have not finished the day with tailenders.We still had Dhoni to bat on last day.
Game was evenly balanced after each inning.But on the fifth day after the lost of Sehwag actually India have played better.

 

[aussie1st]

If the Mohali pitch is taking pace we must play 4 seamers. White was hardly needed with the bat in this match and bearly used with the ball. In Johnson, Lee and Clark we have enough in the lower order. We had our best chance in the first test match to grab the win but without a 4th pacemen that can strike we weren't able to finish India off quick enough in the 1st inns and then again in the 2nd inns.

 

[WORLD CHAMPIONS]

Well I would say it was great match.Great cricket from both of the teams.But I don't agree that Australia played better than India,not at least after the partnership between Zaheer and Hrabhajan.
India have not finished the day with tailenders.We still had Dhoni to bat on last day.
Game was evenly balanced after each inning.But on the fifth day after the lost of Sehwag actually India have played better.

We difinately played better, we use our part time spinners. We have no Gilly or Langer now. White and Watson cannot be count as great replacements. Stuey clark was even ill so he was not even properly used. See your lineups, fully balanced and more experienced. Hayden twice crap dismissal : and still you say you played better ???? It was your players who told they going to crush us as we are underdogs and way less experinced. At the end of day you all were busy to keep ur arse save ....