India in Pakistan

[SaiSrini]

Going by what they say of the venue of the second test, this series is likely to be the least interesting of the test clashes played between India and pakistan! The weather forecast seems bad there

anyways, i hope sehwag gets his hundred tomorrow and ganguly comes in soon and gets batting practice!

 

[hassan]

draw and nothing else i can see in this test

 

[BigCrickNan]

. I was hoping for a good day today...Sehwag did really well though, but Dravid was slow.

 

[usy]

what do you expect every Player from Pak , and India start smashing ??

 

[Stephen Bailey]

On that pitch I'd expect my dog to be able to smack it about with ease!

 

[sohum]

Well Dravid is sheet anchoring just in case something happens. I think he's playing his role perfectly.

 

[cricket_lover]

Dravid knows what to do ..better than us. When you are up against a big total, it doesn't matter what your batting line-up is or what the opposition bowling is. Its all about pressure and playing the smart game, with caution and aggression, things will work well and it did..so far.

Sai, i agree. May be send Ganguly 1down or two down, getting him some practice and some confidence as well.

 

[SaiSrini]

But I doubt if Chappell or Dravid would be interested in sending him at 1 or 2 down! Because I dont think they give more importance to ganguly's confidence than Laxman or Tendulkar's batting prowess!

 

[cc2003btw]

^ Exactly. It's a test match, if Ganguly needs confidence builders from going in early then he shouldn't be there anyway. Although he shouldn't be anyway. Bloody Indian cricket board is corrupt.

 

[cricket_lover]

But I doubt if Chappell or Dravid would be interested in sending him at 1 or 2 down! Because I dont think they give more importance to ganguly's confidence than Laxman or Tendulkar's batting prowess!

At this point they shouldn't worry too much on Laxman's or Tendulkar's batting prowess, rather they should make use of the opportunity. Both Laxman and Tendulkar are in good form, in international cricket, and we all know the crisis involved with Ganguly. They intend to have him in the playing 11 and the best thing is to involve him in the middle, let him get the runs.

The point is, we have to look ahead...for the second test. You want all the batsmen to be in form, and to acclimitize to the winter conditions.

 

[siddharth2002]

At this point they shouldn't worry too much on Laxman's or Tendulkar's batting prowess, rather they should make use of the opportunity. Both Laxman and Tendulkar are in good form, in international cricket, and we all know the crisis involved with Ganguly. They intend to have him in the playing 11 and the best thing is to involve him in the middle, let him get the runs.

The point is, we have to look ahead...for the second test. You want all the batsmen to be in form, and to acclimitize to the winter conditions.

Ideally I don't even want Ganguly in test team - why?
Answer- simple mathematics-
Rahul in middle order>>>>> Ganguly in middle order
Jaffer or Gambhir opening >>>>>>> Ganguly opening
What if Rahul had gotten out in this match. He can smash a 300 in middle order. Simply to protect Ganguly from new ball he has sacrificed himself. So what Ganguly is better usable in middle order but he is not bigger than team demands.
And if he plays in next test, Rahul will have to open again or maybe Yuvraj or anyone and hence sacrificing somebody else who is greater effective in middle order than Ganguly.
And also the pitch in next match won't be a belter and don't expect our openers to make 145 in 28 overs but something like 50/2 etc with whoever opens with Sehwag getting out.
Another case, India then might open with Ganguly in next match to save a middle order player but then shouldn't he be made to open in this test and get some runs and confidence behind him on belter of a pitch.
I m so totally confused and all those pre-match things, animated meetings ect. indicate that Indian cricket is ready to take those 2 steps back after taking one step forward.

My comments will contradict the fact that I have got Ganguly in my FC team because I want to win that FC and thats a different thread.Here we talk about whats good for Indian team on this tour. As long as Ganguly makes runs opening I m fine with it but sorry no place in middle order.

 

[SaiSrini]

What if Ganguly makes runs in the middle order?

Rather than having him open, I would have him in the middle order to have a steadying influence (he is in good form now to give strength to my claims of him being a steadying influence!).

Somehow I feel Yuvraj should be dropped for the next test and an opener be brought in (I hope the knee bruise he got off the hitting of Shahid Afridi stays!). Even if it doesnt, he is the one who should be dropped. We have picked Ganguly here in this test. If Ganguly doesnt get a chance to bat here or if he scores a good (by good, I mean fluent) 35-40 runs, he should be retained for the next test also IMO!

He has experience and he gradually becomes menacing as he gets runs in the middle! He is also a much improved fielder now (not only due to that fantastic catch but he did field well in this game!) and is a useful medium pacer on somewhat responsive wickets!

 

[Wicket Keeper]

Who is carrying the game?

Middle East, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka & Bangladesh----TEN Sports
UK & Europe----ARY Digital
Africa----SuperSport
United States----Echostar Dish Network
Canada----ATN
Broadband----willow.tv, cricketon.tv, mediacricket.com

Notice that the commentators this time are from other countries + the television scoreboard is from Sky Sports.

 

[vibs89]

Most likely the weather for today is rain. Chances is 60% of rain today. So more likely I don't think the play will be played today. I hope they play today as I want to see Shewag batting.

 

[Wicket Keeper]

Drizzle becoming rainy, the schedulers have poor timing this game should of been placed for next month.