India in Pakistan

[Indiangod]

sehwag use to be consistent performer but nowdays cant say anything.

I like Sehwag.......he is inconsistant......but he adds more strength to the teams.......he performs well in big occasions..remember world cup final 03 when he had a poor world cup and finally fired when it most mattered, but he gets out playing faulty shots or mistiming it.......in finals he gets out in the 40s most of the times.

 

[SaiSrini]

Sai, your posts usually make sense. Someone already posted the stat up about Sehwag being the most consistent performer in test matches for India. Of the 39 matches that Sehwag has played, India has won 15, and Sehwag has gone past 40 in 9 of those. I also don't think he 'loses' us matches. It is difficult to lose a match single-handedly, unless you drop a critical catch or something.

But do they count of the recent matches? Or may be I missed that 'consistency' of his? Recently, he has only been hitting those 30's and 40's and doesnt go beyond it.

I read this in the newspaper:

'PCB Chairman Shaharyar Khan revealved yesterday that the Indian cricket board had requested to push the three-day tour opener, proposed to start from January 7, by one day so that four of their players - Virendar Sehwag, Anil Kumble, Sourav Ganguly and Parthiv Patel could feature in the match as all four are due to play Ranji Trophy league matches from January 3 and are scheduled to join the rest of the squad on January 7.'

I guess that means all the four players are going to be in the playing 11?

In another story Sourav Ganguly is reverting to his side-on stance which he had at the start of his career. He is using a lighter bat and a higher backlift in practice sessions. He plans to open in the Ranji match against Tamil Nadu. And for some strange reason, about a month after he resigned as captain of the Bengal team, the Bengal board have named him captain for this one match against Tamil Nadu! As if he needs captaincy practice now?

(100th post! Yahoo!!)

Hey, I read that too!

The side-on stance that he had during his peak of the career did him a lot of good. He used to meet the ball early and had more time at his hands to play his shots! It seems as his stance gradually became chest on, he had lesser time to react it seems that that was also contributing to his downfall to deliveries aimed at his rib cage where he would usually lob it to the close in fielders

I am surprised that he didnt try to rectify his stance earlier when he was failing so much! Hope this helps him somehow in ressurecting his career!

 

[rahulk666]

Akram continues mind games

Wasim Akram seems to continue playing mind games ahead of India's tour of Pakistan.

He has said that he has been in same position as Saurav Ganguly is facing right now. He also has an advice for Ganguly. "I strongly believe that if Sourav is made to sit on the bench, he should immediately pack up his bags and return home because that's the worst that can happen to him. He should understand and read the writing on the wall," Akram observed.

He also called the Indian team "disoriented and disjointed" and urged that Pakistan should prepare bouncy tracks as he feels that the Indian top order is "struggling". He said that Indian fast bowling was not as devastating as Pakistan's and bouncy tracks were necessary if Pakistan had to win. "Pakistan has to realise and accept that Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are more experienced bowlers than Danish Kaneria or Arshad Khan. And most importantly, you can exploit Indian batting on bouncy pitches rather than on slow, turning tracks," said Akram.

Akram then went ahead and questioned Dravid's captaincy too by saying "Batting and performing as a player and as captain are two different things. So far, Rahul has performed as a player but know we will come to know exactly how mentally tough he is and how he can inspire his team."

In the end, Akram praised Inzamam's captaincy and said that due to his good form with the bat he was having more confidence in himself as well as handling the Pakistan team.

Akram joins Waqar, and Imran who have made comments on Indian team, Ganguly's selction, and stressed on preparing fast and bouncy pitches earlier.

 

[Indiangod]

I hope Akram is made to eat his own words by India soon.

 

[aditya123]

Wasim Akram seems to continue playing mind games ahead of India's tour of Pakistan.

He has said that he has been in same position as Saurav Ganguly is facing right now. He also has an advice for Ganguly. "I strongly believe that if Sourav is made to sit on the bench, he should immediately pack up his bags and return home because that's the worst that can happen to him. He should understand and read the writing on the wall," Akram observed.

He also called the Indian team "disoriented and disjointed" and urged that Pakistan should prepare bouncy tracks as he feels that the Indian top order is "struggling". He said that Indian fast bowling was not as devastating as Pakistan's and bouncy tracks were necessary if Pakistan had to win. "Pakistan has to realise and accept that Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are more experienced bowlers than Danish Kaneria or Arshad Khan. And most importantly, you can exploit Indian batting on bouncy pitches rather than on slow, turning tracks," said Akram.

Akram then went ahead and questioned Dravid's captaincy too by saying "Batting and performing as a player and as captain are two different things. So far, Rahul has performed as a player but know we will come to know exactly how mentally tough he is and how he can inspire his team."

In the end, Akram praised Inzamam's captaincy and said that due to his good form with the bat he was having more confidence in himself as well as handling the Pakistan team.

Akram joins Waqar, and Imran who have made comments on Indian team, Ganguly's selction, and stressed on preparing fast and bouncy pitches earlier.

Iam enjoying all this only because whenever people make such comments before the start of a series, it mostly always backfires on them . Remember, what Shoaib said before the 2003 World Cup clash (and then think about the result) .
Remember Glen Mcgrath and his 5-0 whitewash prediction (then look at the end result) .

I think the Pakistanis are trying to definitely play some mind games and it would be better if we show our ability to face fast bowling on the pitch .
We have batsmen better equipped technically against fast bowling .
All this stuff would only make batsmen like Dravid and Tendulkar more determined .
Someone remind Akram that this `disoriented and disjointed` team has just reached the World No.2 spot in test cricket and has won 8 out of 11 ODI matches against 2 sides ranked No.2 in ODI cricket when they landed on Indian soil .

 

[Indiangod]

Iam enjoying all this only because whenever people make such comments before the start of a series, it mostly always backfires on them . Remember, what Shoaib said before the 2003 World Cup clash (and then think about the result) .
Remember Glen Mcgrath and his 5-0 whitewash prediction (then look at the end result) .

I think the Pakistanis are trying to definitely play some mind games and it would be better if we show our ability to face fast bowling on the pitch .
We have batsmen better equipped technically against fast bowling .
All this stuff would only make batsmen like Dravid and Tendulkar more determined .
Someone remind Akram that this `disoriented and disjointed` team has just reached the World No.2 spot in test cricket and has won 8 out of 11 ODI matches against 2 sides ranked No.2 in ODI cricket when they landed on Indian soil .

Exactly..........Indias been through some good and bad times.......at the start of 2000 India was 8th on the test table........look what postion in the table they are now........and not a long time ago India was also 8th in the odi table.......but India have rebounded strongly and now thye are sitting 4th.

Thiers no point playing mind games with India, ecspeccialy to top world class batsmen like Sachin and Dravid, Sachin delt with Caddick and Akthar in the world cup 03 brutally, after saying such comments........I think the same thing will happen to the Pakistani bowlers by Sachin.

 

[SaiSrini]

Wasim Akram seems to continue playing mind games ahead of India's tour of Pakistan.

He has said that he has been in same position as Saurav Ganguly is facing right now. He also has an advice for Ganguly. "I strongly believe that if Sourav is made to sit on the bench, he should immediately pack up his bags and return home because that's the worst that can happen to him. He should understand and read the writing on the wall," Akram observed.

He also called the Indian team "disoriented and disjointed" and urged that Pakistan should prepare bouncy tracks as he feels that the Indian top order is "struggling". He said that Indian fast bowling was not as devastating as Pakistan's and bouncy tracks were necessary if Pakistan had to win. "Pakistan has to realise and accept that Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble are more experienced bowlers than Danish Kaneria or Arshad Khan. And most importantly, you can exploit Indian batting on bouncy pitches rather than on slow, turning tracks," said Akram.

Akram then went ahead and questioned Dravid's captaincy too by saying "Batting and performing as a player and as captain are two different things. So far, Rahul has performed as a player but know we will come to know exactly how mentally tough he is and how he can inspire his team."

In the end, Akram praised Inzamam's captaincy and said that due to his good form with the bat he was having more confidence in himself as well as handling the Pakistan team.

Akram joins Waqar, and Imran who have made comments on Indian team, Ganguly's selction, and stressed on preparing fast and bouncy pitches earlier.

I feel Akram is speaking crap! He is my idol in fast bowling, but this time he is just trying to irritate the Indian players and this is another case of mind games! But why do these Pakistani former players need to indulge in such games?

 

[sohum]

Patriotism, probably. I am actually confused why Akram would join--he generally keeps himself quiet when he needs to.

As for Sehwag, if you chart the development of his career, he started sort of hit and miss. He then became a lot more consistent with a string of good scores. I think that was probably his purple patch. As often, this has been followed with a slump. But I think he is too good a player to allow his form to be discovered in practice matches and domestic games.

One problem that was seen in the Lanka tests was Dravid, I feel. Missing is that feeling, when Dravid walks in, that one wicket is pretty safe. I think India desperately need Dravid to rediscover his form when they go to Pakistan.

And perhaps my favorite India Pakistan pre-series quote:

"There are Irfan Pathan's in every gully of Pakistan" - Javed Miandad.
Listen, learn and enjoy.

 

[aditya123]

Iam really baffled why Akram is making such comments .
He is a guy who usually makes sense .
I don`t think you can gain anything by playing mind games with players of the calibre of Tendulkar, Dravid and Kumble. If anything, it`ll make them more determined . They`d better shut up and wait for the series to begin .
As `indiangod` pointed out , Caddick and Shoiab himself found out the consequences of making pre-match statements when Tendulkar took him to the sword.
The little man has a history of targetting bowlers in the past .
I remember an instance when Olonga got his wicket in a league game at Sharjah and he was smashed to all corners in the final by Sachin.
Ganguly has a decent record against Pakistan. He scored 77 in the only innings he played in 2004. Ganguly has a superb ODI record against Pakistan(even took 5WI once) .

Sohum,I don`t fel there is anything to worry about Dravid.
He did well in the Sri Lanka tests. He made 32 on a difficult pitch at Chennai.

He was unwell during the Delhi test but still set an example by opening the innings due to Sehwag`s unavailability . Also scored a 52 in the 2nd innings before being run out.
He played just 3 innings in that series . So no problems with him and Tendulkar .
Laxman looked more mature during the Lanka series as well . Pathan and Dhoni were superb.
The problem for us in the SRL series was the opening partnership. Once it gets sorted out, our midle order will look even more imposing .

Also, Akram made a point doubting Dravid`s leadership abilities .
He had fever during the Delhi test and could have sent Yuvraj or Pathan in to open on Day 1 on a seaming Delhi track on a `WINTER` morning but he set the right example and lead from the front by coming out to open. That is what you call leadership .

Inzamam might be a good captain but there is something to learn from Dravid for him. Inzy mostly prefers to come down the order after most of the innings has been built by Yousuf and others.

 

[ZexyZahid]

These comments come from both sides of the countries. There shouldn't be looked much into it.

Dravid has been scoring a lot of runs as captain. In Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka his team failed to back him up, but against Sri Lanka they did well. In the past series in March Sehwag was the important man of India. Now I think it will be Dravid.

Too bad the series will start after two weeks. I would have wanted to see it now in the holidays.

 

[sohum]

Yeah, same here. The series starts 5 days after college begins.

 

[UsmanCHADDA]

Iam really baffled why Akram is making such comments .
He is a guy who usually makes sense .
I don`t think you can gain anything by playing mind games with players of the calibre of Tendulkar, Dravid and Kumble. If anything, it`ll make them more determined . They`d better shut up and wait for the series to begin .
As `indiangod` pointed out , Caddick and Shoiab himself found out the consequences of making pre-match statements when Tendulkar took him to the sword.
The little man has a history of targetting bowlers in the past .
I remember an instance when Olonga got his wicket in a league game at Sharjah and he was smashed to all corners in the final by Sachin.
Ganguly has a decent record against Pakistan. He scored 77 in the only innings he played in 2004. Ganguly has a superb ODI record against Pakistan(even took 5WI once) .

Sohum,I don`t fel there is anything to worry about Dravid.
He did well in the Sri Lanka tests. He made 32 on a difficult pitch at Chennai.

He was unwell during the Delhi test but still set an example by opening the innings due to Sehwag`s unavailability . Also scored a 52 in the 2nd innings before being run out.
He played just 3 innings in that series . So no problems with him and Tendulkar .
Laxman looked more mature during the Lanka series as well . Pathan and Dhoni were superb.
The problem for us in the SRL series was the opening partnership. Once it gets sorted out, our midle order will look even more imposing .

Also, Akram made a point doubting Dravid`s leadership abilities .
He had fever during the Delhi test and could have sent Yuvraj or Pathan in to open on Day 1 on a seaming Delhi track on a `WINTER` morning but he set the right example and lead from the front by coming out to open. That is what you call leadership .

Inzamam might be a good captain but there is something to learn from Dravid for him. Inzy mostly prefers to come down the order after most of the innings has been built by Yousuf and others.

I totally disagree about that part about Inzi. In fact we Pakistanis have no problems with him batting at that number. Inzi's batting record as captain is phenomenol and only Ponting has been able to match it. I dont have time for stats right now but I am sure one of you can dig them up and see them yourself.

 

[ZexyZahid]

If you see this year's scorecard you will see that Inzamam has been scoring the most runs. Which means he himself actually is building a total for Pakistan, apart from some another players who have been scoring with him to bring up a total.

 

[Big_Boss]

New Sehwag in New Year?

Seeking to put behind his poor form with the bat, Virender Sehwag has promised his fans "a new Sehwag with a new technique" in the coming year which begins with India taking on arch-rivals Pakistan in a Test and one-day international series.

Sehwag admitted candidly that he had not performed to his potential in the recent past, but said he is confident of overcoming the slump in Pakistan.

"I know I have not played up to the expectations, especially in the one-day games. I have been able to score 20s and 30s but could not convert them into big innings. But I believe this is a thing of the past," he told Aaj Tak in its programme 'Seedhi Baat' to be telecast on Sunday.

"In the new year, people will see a new Sehwag with a new technique and I am confident of making good scores."

Asked if he prefers to play in the middle-order, he said: "I don't think so. I have played better than many players who have opened for India in the recent past. I made my debut as an opening batsman in 2002 and since then I have made nine centuries whereas while playing in the middle order, I have made one century.

"By any standards, I think it's a good performance. Many batsmen such as V V S Laxman, Hemang Badani, S S Das, Akash Chopra, Wasim Jaffer and Sanjay Bangar also opened with me but I think they were not so successful."

Sehwag said every batsman suffers from slump in form at some point in his career.

"There comes a time when a batsman is out of form and everybody from Sachin to Rahul Dravid to Sourav Ganguly to Laxman -- all of them have gone through it."

Rediff.com​

This New Year>>>New Sehwag>>>New Technique

 

[sohum]

New Technique? Hmm. I also think he should not have sounded so arrogant, though since he is good enough, he might as well accept it.