Australia's Tour Of India - 2008

[ZexyZahid]

I see two new books are coming out. I believe it's the third book that has to do with that incident.

Ponting tells of request to drop Harbhajan complaint
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/indvaus2008/content/current/story/377383.html

Officials spun 'cultural misunderstanding' line - Symonds
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/australia/content/current/story/377483.html

 

[Will_NA]

To be fair to 'Pro', the quality of cricket won't be as high if the pitches are as flat as they are in India. At least, in England and Australia, the pitches don't ridiculously favour the home side and have something in it for the bowler.

 

[tassietiger]

yeah, go and watch ur england-australia matches where you guys will predictably thrash the english... dont know what happiness u derive from beating an already dead snake?

this series has been interesting, in fact very interesting. australia almost got there in bangalore but were thwarted by sachin/vvs. then they got crushed in mohali. then they came back pretty well with their batting in delhi, and here too they havent done too bad. but india have given them a fierce fight. australia started off as world champions and most probably might still be considered world champions even after this series. the series might not have been as lively as the one played in australia, but its highly competitive in its own right.

This series has been the most interesting for me since the Ashes in 2005. This particular match was hard to watch yesterday, but I've been more interested in how this series folds out than any other for a fair while.

 

[Chetan0304]

Till the time Hussey was batting the run rate was something more than 3.+ after his wicket it came down to 2.66.

India has a great chance to win this wif they get a total lead of 400+ Give Aussies to bat after tea(if 400+ lead is done) get a wicket or two and the rest tomorrow :cool:

 

[jkartik]

Yes, so what you really mean is that the tactic didn't really WORK until the end of day 3. I knew that if Dhoni played a defensive type tactic the fan boys would be out there defending it as being "not really defensive but really clever". Let's pretend you didn't know that Kumble had retired and you were watching the 1st session yesterday. Wouldn't Joe the Caveman be thinking - geez Kumble/generic Indian captain's being a bit defensive isn't he?? But because Dhoni was the captain, it's suddenly the smartest tactic ever devised :

The fact that Australia imploded before tea had very little to do with the tactics he employed anyway. Hussey and Watson fell to unusual dismissals and Clarke was just dismissed by a great straight delivery that made him play with a 6-3 field - that was all Ishant, nothing to do with Dhoni. So the damage wasn't done by the wide bowling or the 8-1 fields at all. Sure it slowed Australia down, but I think Katich and Hussey would have been reasonably happy to grind out runs for a while longer. They knew Zaheer and Ishant couldn't bowl all day (though Dhoni tried...). It's just that Katich didn't quite make it to lunch.

And just a personal rant but people need to stop using "defensive" as a swear word. Kumble was too defensive people say, and they make it sound like a disease. Captains often need to be defensive, it can save a lot of runs and frustrate batsmen out. But I personally think that the morning of day 3 with a 250 run lead was too early to start being defensive. Dhoni seems a good captain, but he's not a god and everything that happens during a day is not because he's pulling the strings, most of it's luck (Richie Benaud once said captaincy is 90% luck)

excellent post !!! couldnt have put it any better........:hpraise:hpraise

 

[Griffo]

This is just as bad as bodyline... its pathetic and ive lost the little respect I had for indian cricketers, Im actually friggin furious

Indians do enough by making pitches to suit what they need but once again they out do themselves, they now say "Monkey is a cultural mix up" May i ask why it took so tweaking long to work that out

 

[Cricketman]

It's as bad as bodyline to choke the batsman and just bowl to your field? Ponting had similar fields in the first few matches, too bad you don't have the bowlers to actually put it where you need to.

Cricketman added 2 Minutes and 53 Seconds later...

To be fair to 'Pro', the quality of cricket won't be as high if the pitches are as flat as they are in India. At least, in England and Australia, the pitches don't ridiculously favour the home side and have something in it for the bowler.

There is something in it for the bowler. The spinner. Krejza debuted and picked up an 8-fer, they should've simply picked him earlier, you are playing in India for god's sake.

The fast bowlers got serious reverse and bounce in the first few tests. I am THE last one to say Indian pitches are good (they usually suck) but this time around it hasn't been as bad. The Australian bowling attack is just simply sub par this time around.

 

[pal]

The fast bowlers got serious reverse and bounce in the first few tests.

You are mistaken. Zaheer Khan getting the ball to reverse swing consistently unlike the Australian fast bowlers is obviously the fault of the pitch, Harbhajan Singh, and the BCCI.

 

[Inbox24]

The fast bowlers got serious reverse and bounce in the first few tests. I am THE last one to say Indian pitches are good (they usually suck) but this time around it hasn't been as bad. The Australian bowling attack is just simply sub par this time around.

Have to agree with you here. It's not like both teams failed to bowl each other out, only the Aussie bowlers failed to do so, so obviously something is wrong with them.

We effectively ruined our chances by picking White and Watson who should only be bowling at FC at best. I've always been a firm believer in specialists and not half players who do half a job and lose you games. It's ironic for a team who's had such high standards of both batting and bowling over the years allow entry of players with such poor abilities.

 

[Griffo]

India are not the best team in the world, but they are certainly the best at home

 

[Inbox24]

India are not the best team in the world, but they are certainly the best at home

Australia are pretty damn good at home too, I think we just pip them in recent times considering we haven't lost a series in 15ish years.

 

[Cricketman]

You are mistaken. Zaheer Khan getting the ball to reverse swing consistently unlike the Australian fast bowlers is obviously the fault of the pitch, Harbhajan Singh, and the BCCI.

I'm sorry, I see my mistake now. Obviously, the BCCI using their money powers have only made the Zaheer Khan deliveries swing, sometimes the Ishant ones too, and Harbhajan Singh is obviously to be blamed for everything.


Sehwag on fire.

Cricketman added 1 Minutes and 40 Seconds later...

India are not the best team in the world, but they are certainly the best at home

Sri Lanka?

 

[aussie1st]

Twice in that last Johnson over I heard some noise after the ball left Sehwag bat. The first Haddin appealed the second no one did. Would like to see sniko on the appeal Haddin had.

 

[Cricketman]

As you say it they have snicko up . Well after it passed the bat.

 

[SaiSrini]

India are not the best team in the world, but they are certainly the best at home

Apart from india, which team took you so close in your 'home' series in recent times? we never said we are best yet, but we are close there.