India in Pakistan

[sohum]

Plainly stated, India don't deserve to win this match. From having the opponent 39/6 in the first innings to having to chase 500+ in the second means your bowlers just forgot how to bowl. My biggest problem was the speed at which the Pakistanis got runs even after being 6 wickets down. Their innings still finished with a run rate of over 4! Where was the strategy?

Aditya stated it plainly. It's either going to be an Indian or Pakistan win (I'd put it 20-80 in favor of Pakistan). If the Indians try to bat this one out for a draw, they'll lose. There is an outside chance they'll reach, but I don't see it happening. As for Pakistan, they can attack from the moment go. 10 wicket balls in close to 2 days of cricket is not a miraculous feat.

Hopefully the ODI series is better.

 

[aditya123]

Plainly stated, India don't deserve to win this match. From having the opponent 39/6 in the first innings to having to chase 500+ in the second means your bowlers just forgot how to bowl. My biggest problem was the speed at which the Pakistanis got runs even after being 6 wickets down. Their innings still finished with a run rate of over 4! Where was the strategy?

Aditya stated it plainly. It's either going to be an Indian or Pakistan win (I'd put it 20-80 in favor of Pakistan). If the Indians try to bat this one out for a draw, they'll lose. There is an outside chance they'll reach, but I don't see it happening. As for Pakistan, they can attack from the moment go. 10 wicket balls in close to 2 days of cricket is not a miraculous feat.

Hopefully the ODI series is better.

Hit the nail on the head there !

How can a side allow the opposition to score 245 after being 39/6 ( should have been 53/7 had Harper given Razzaq out LBW) .
The bowling in the second session was shocking .
Allowing Shoaib Akthar to score 45 on a track with help for seamers is criminal .
The batsmen were guilty of throwing away good starts in the first innings.

Tendulkar-23
Ganguly-34
Yuvraj-45
Pathan-40
Laxman-19


Had even one of the above scored a hundred and a couple of others scored a 50, we would have had a decent lead.
Ganguly batted superbly but his dismissal was a shocker.
Yuvraj looked good in patches.

To be fair to the Indian batting though , they all looked in good touch in the first innings.
Whatever might be the result of this test, the series has been a bit incomplete in my opinion due to the Faislalabad and Lahore tests .

The pitches at Lahore and Fasialabad meant that this series ended up being a one match shootout which is not at all fair to both sides!
It leaves no time for a side to comeback into the series which is not great for any test series.
The first 2 tests being no-events have taken the excitement away from this series.

Even if the series is won by Pakistan, both sides have matched each other equally.
India were superb with their response to the huge Pakistani totals in the first 2 tests.

Can they do it for one final time in the second innings of the final test ?

 

[usy]

India's top 4 batsman will be the key for them, if they score 100's India have a chance, or else Pakistan Win (hopefully) ,

 

[Sachin_007]

India's top 4 batsman will be the key for them, if they score 100's India have a chance, or else Pakistan Win (hopefully) ,

I think u forgot to add Dhoni (not in the top 4 batsmen).....Pak have a chance to win the match and the series....DO SOMETHING INDIA!!!

 

[sohum]

Another comment I'd like to add, regarding Ganguly. Getting starts is not good enough to warrant your place in the team. He looked in good touch, but his role in the team is now such that he must convert those starts into big scores. His shot was horrific, in the first innings. Hopefully he will amend that mistake in the second innings. Tendulkar has also raised a huge question mark in this series. One must be fair--if we raised eyebrows about Ganguly's inclusion, we must now raise eyebrows about Tendulkar's. He badly needs to deliver, and very quickly indeed.

 

[Dhoni]

Pakistan will win this one and they deserve to win it. Indian bowlers are crap! They can't bowl fast coz they're weak as hell. We need VRV Singh in the team and they still didn't select him for the ODI. Pakistan is favoring to win the ODI as well. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON INDIA? Can't believe Pakistan in a position of winning after being 39/6.

 

[SaiSrini]

Another comment I'd like to add, regarding Ganguly. Getting starts is not good enough to warrant your place in the team. He looked in good touch, but his role in the team is now such that he must convert those starts into big scores. His shot was horrific, in the first innings. Hopefully he will amend that mistake in the second innings. Tendulkar has also raised a huge question mark in this series. One must be fair--if we raised eyebrows about Ganguly's inclusion, we must now raise eyebrows about Tendulkar's. He badly needs to deliver, and very quickly indeed.

Definitely, I would go with your words on Tendulkar! Eyebrows need to be raised on him too for not delivering when needed! It wasnt a great ball that dismissed him and that was something that could not be digested! He is regarded one of the world's best batsmen and lot of people find it really tough to bowl to him, but he has not delivered in recent times, apart from that 35th century against Sri Lanka! He shows glimpses of brilliance but almost always fails!

The thing that was lacking in Ganguly before was to move out of those single digit scores! It was not that he was getting starts before and not converting them into big ones! He wasnt even getting a start! So in that sense, he shows promising signs of improvement. Yes, the shot he played was bad but Razzaq also bowled a very clever delivery. It was a quick bouncer that had Ganguly in two minds.

Pakistan will win this one and they deserve to win it. Indian bowlers are crap! They can't bowl fast coz they're weak as hell. We need VRV Singh in the team and they still didn't select him for the ODI. Pakistan is favoring to win the ODI as well. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON INDIA? Can't believe Pakistan in a position of winning after being 39/6.

I dont agree in the "deserve to win it". We have seen lot of comebacks before in the history of cricket! Even Australia deserved to win the Kolkatta test 2001 after scoring 445 and bowling India out for 171. But we still regard that as one of India's best victories, dont we? Sri Lanka made us not look into our flaws. Sri Lankans were plainly bad against us and that made our bowlers like good ones! But Pakistan have exposed our weakness!

Zaheer Khan hasnt changed one bit! The commentators were highlighting his lazy attitude on the field yesterday and while he was bowling! Even though he has picked up 9 wickets in this series, he doesnt deserve to be in this Indian team! I would say pack him off! He can infect other team mates with his lazy attitude!

I think u forgot to add Dhoni (not in the top 4 batsmen).....Pak have a chance to win the match and the series....DO SOMETHING INDIA!!!

We have batting right up to Pathan! The only question is whether the pitch will aid the bowlers on the 4th and 5th days. If it doesnt aid by much, I can see India drawing the game! I am sure Pakistan will score another 100 runs by the first session today and declare! 600 in 5 sessions is next to impossible to score! Its not like if India play defensively, they will lose wickets. There is no aid from this pitch for that to happen!

 

[Indiangod]

India should just go out thier and play for a win, if they play for a draw then India will lose wickets in the process, this is a ideal ocaasion for Tendulkar and Ganguly to prove thier critics wrong, I hope both of them fires and save India!, India is still not out of this match by no means, India has got a outside chance on winning this, the batting track is getting better and like Sai said we got batting depth right down to number 10, India will fight, the match is not over till the 10th wicket has fallan.

Hopefully the main batsmen can deliver whn most needed.

 

[makaveli19]

well really if sehwag is out quickly then india must fight for a draw if he stays for a day they could win

 

[Indiangod]

India should just look to play thier normal game if thier top 2 is out early, but like I said even if Sehwag is out India can still win, I belive we might see some sort of a innings from Sachin and Ganguly, Hopefully I will stand correct.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Good innings by Faisal, He has done well, Miandad woiuld be proud . Anyways I think Pakistan are on top of this game at the momment.

 

[donkey]

did anyone read cricinfo article

Pakistan, though, have three big concerns: Younis Khan's average against India dipped from 123 to 118, Mohammad Yousuf fell three short of his fourth hundred in four Tests; and Shahid Afridi managed only a solitary six in his half-century. And here's another shocker - the batsmen have actually not covered every single record possible and, in what was only the fourth instance in Test history, the top six batsmen all crossed 50.

:

 

[Sureshot]

Lol brilliant pedantry.

 

[aussie1st]

Good innings by Faisal, He has done well, Miandad woiuld be proud . Anyways I think Pakistan are on top of this game at the momment.

Lol you think? 518 runs lead with 5 wickets remaining, ummm that is more than on top! Its now a question of when will Pakistan declear. I would say Pakistan will bat one more session to make it impossible for India then declear and begin the long and tiring road of taking 10 Indian wickets.

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Yes one more session possibly looking to hit out.