cricket_lover said:
The forecast is promising...not going to rain that much today. They should wrap up the game before tea.
India has a pool of fast bowlers, but like i always say, they need to "harness" their talents EFFICIENTLY. Khan, Nehra are all match-winning bowlers, but they could not continue, mainly due to fitness.
We don't want that to happen often, Indian pace bowlers have the history of breaking down sometime, so we need to use them in the right way.
Chawla should be given a break. I think India should go into the last test with 6 batsmen.
That would be a very tough decision buddy! Sreesanth bowled very well in his debut test at Nagpur and picked 4 wickets. He has a big heart and bowls well. Since we have Munaf at the other end with very big confidence going into the Mumbai game, having Sreesanth with Munaf will certainly give India highly confident young bowlers and thats really great to have!
Barring a miracle, this game is in India's bag. Well what will be their game for Mumbai? They certainly should first look for a sporting wicket like this that has good bounce. This wicket at Mohali has been a revelation - something in it for fast bowlers, spinners, batsmen. If Mumbai can produce such a wicket, fantastic for test cricket.
India are well off with 5 bowlers. Dhoni and Pathan lend depth to the batting and our top order even though they are not in great form are world class players. And our lower order with Kumble, Harbhajan, etc have been batting really well on Indian wickets. So India SHOULD GO IN WITH 5 BOWLERS AGAIN!
alfa_beta said:
don't think so... India is on a hot chasing streak. They have chased 13 times straight in odis - and some of them were 280+ and one even 300+. India is currently one of the best sides chasing and this situation is like a odi - 120 to get off 60 odd overs.
ODI's and tests are different. You dont have field restrictions in test matches. But yeah, I thought England allowed the match to turn on its head by their ultra defensive tactics in batting. They seemed to have settled for a dull draw and batted very defensively.
Machanperu Bala said:
India are going at nearly 5 an over here. At this rate the match could well be over before tea. But knowing India, I wouldn't be overly confident. So there is a fare share for both the teams. But England have their work cut out.
Regarding the quicks in India, Balaji has comeback from an injury and is bowling a bit quicker than he previously used to do. Also Abid Nabi, Vijayakumar Yomahesh (Tamil Nadu & India U19), Praveen Kumar (UP), Gaurav Dhiman (All rounder) are certainly the names to be on look out for.
Though I am a bit worried about spinners. Piyush needs to be groomed properly and Bhajji needs to get back his confidence (A series against Australia, Perhaps?). Anil can play a maximum of 2 - 3 years. Also, we need a consistent workhorse like spinner. One in the Vettori mould.
Anil can play for at least a year or so. Thats it. Expecting him for 2-3 years is a little too optimistic.
Piyush can be groomed well. We have Powar who has done really well in domestic cricket. But yes, we need more guys coming in for spin.
jk16_4 said:
Wow !! excellent bowling by munaf ! i guess he is the only current indian bowler who can do reverse swing
good signs for india. india can win this game EASILY !!!
a big kudos to dravid and boys
Pathan reversed it in Nagpur. Sreesanth also did it in Nagpur.
Did you guys notice something? Munaf starts off at mid 120's and gradually builds up pace and hits the mid 140's. I feel this way of bowling allows him to bowl longer spells. He doesnt straight away hit the peak and that I feel consumes less energy for Munaf
alfa_beta said:
India is learning from earlier mistakes regarding Nehra & Khan - don't think they will make the same mistakes with current set of bowlers. Remember, Nehra & Khan started playing for india when there was hardly any support staff available. But now we have bio-mechanists and other support staff to look after the bowlers.
As for last test, India should go with tried and tested 7 batsman formula - onus would be on Englan to win and India should let them do the hard running. Besides, Tendulkar & Sehwag have looked shaky and Yuvraj has recently returned from injury. Kaif should be included to provide additional cover.
I disagree. India needs to look for wickets. Even though England might lose here, their batting has done well so far on this tour of India! Flintoff is in good form, Pietersen, Cook, Collingwood have all come up with good innings. So they are still a strong batting line up even though they dont have Trescothick and vaughan
