India in the West Indies

[cricket_lover]

Laxman must be dissappointed. He was playing quite beautifully and it was a total waste of a important wicket.

Jaffer played a gem of an innings, never really bogged down and kept the scoreboard ticking. With Dravid at the other end, India should end up two wickets down at the end of third day.

Good spirited come-back from the India, and i hope to see them do the same in the first innings of next few tests.

 

[sohum]

Well, looks like more than a few people were befuddled by this pitch. In hindsight, bowling first on this pitch may have been the correct decision, but it has eased out a lot, now. The commentators keep comparing this to the 2004 game against Australia, where West Indies chased a (world record) score of 418(-ish) to win the game. Low first innings scores there. So if India leave West Indies anywhere around 300 runs, I'm sure they will go for it.

But that is a long way. We are still to reach a 100 runs lead. With just about 2 overs to go in the day, hopefully we should come back tomorrow, strongly.

 

[s2sschan]

Yep well done to Jaffers on his 100. I suspect the pitch is settling down now so if the Windies play it like India have they should be able to come out with a draw. But 192 runs for the loss of 2 wickets to go with the Windies 371 suggest the pitch is back to prematch predictions.

The ball is seaming just a little bit though. The pace bowlers aren't out of it altogether. Also, the Windies haven't swung the ball much in the second innings.

 

[SaiSrini]

Wow. I never thought this would happen. Should restore some much needed confidence among the team members after a fruitful day at the office! Still Windies have it in them to restrict India to a low score and chase it successfully.

The pitch, as people say, is slow and turning. I think we will see more of the spinners in the next two days. India have Kumble, Sehwag and Yuvraj while Windies have Gayle and Mohammed.

Tremendous knock by Jaffer! Come on man, go on and get a double ton tomorrow and put India in the commanding seat! We have seen India play badly this tour. We finally want to see the real India come out now and play with real hunger!

 

[gaurav_indian]

But we will miss Bhajji in the second inning.

 

[SaiSrini]

Ronny,

Saisrini80 is a Patriot and a fine gentleman. He is a Prince among the Indian fans and a class act. You owe him an apology.
You are SO wrong about Sreesanth. He's got so much spirit and enthisiasm. And just for his motivation he deserves to be persisted with. Sreesanth is the kind of bowler who electrifies the atmosphere. Have never seen anyone like him in the Indian side.

Sunil Chandurkar

I dont expect anything like that! Just wanted to prove that I dont give importance to regional biases.

I agree. Sreesanth is full of spirit and enthusiasm. He needs to be given some more chances to prove himself. He was given chances even though he was unlucky in the initial ODI's and now he has reposed the faith by picking up wickets. He will do the same in the tests too. Mind you, this is his first test outside the subcontinent.

But we will miss Bhajji in the second inning.

Oh come on yaar, wohi baat baar baar kyun keh rahe ho tum log (why do you guys repeat the same thing again and again)?

we have the warrior, Kumble and some one like Sehwag who can support him and Yuvi can do something too with the ball.

 

[irottev]

GOod to see some life back into the test. evenly poised at the moment.

 

[Manohar]

Indian Bowlers are piece of crap! They can't bowl! They only show off. I swear to god I will beat the **** outa of all the Indian players if they lose this Test series. They're ruinin my country by losing too many games against crappy teams.

Seems that you blew the top! Take it easy it is just a game! Kumble, Munaf and Sehwag has bowled well. Even VRV bowled well this morning to get two wickets. Only Sreesant seem to have lost his rhythm and run up. Hopefully he will get it back. The wicket is getting to better and better for batting from the first day to the third day. Hopefully India will put up a 300+ lead tomorrow. The last day it could turn more and may not be the best to bat. India has a good chance.

By the way the current West Indies is definitely not a crappy team. Their batting looks good with Lara, Gayle, Sarwan, Chanderpaul and Bravo. Their bowlers even though are not express except for Edwards are bowling a very good line and length. Their fielding is very good and athletic. Seems that West Indies is finally getting it together.

 

[cricket_lover]

Originally Posted by cricket4life
Indian Bowlers are piece of crap! They can't bowl! They only show off. I swear to god I will beat the **** outa of all the Indian players if they lose this Test series. They're ruinin my country by losing too many games against crappy teams.

You're ruining the discussions here. Go post your BS elsewhere.

This ain't a place to show your darn frustrations, its a place for constructive discussions.

If you're that good, go play. Or just keep quiet.


India will need to get beyond 300, to have a shot against WI. LIke they demonstrated earlier, its hard to pick up their wickets, especially when they're on form. Even if the pitch is turning, you've just got Kumble to do the damage. I think India will follow a slow approach in the morning, and slightly up the tempo after lunch (if they have wickets intact), and then go beserk at the end.

Lets see how day four goes.

 

[jdbais]

The match is evenly poised but is no doubt headed for a draw. For India to have a chance they will need to send the West Indies in to bat by the close play tomorrow and for WI to have a chance they need a few early wickets.

 

[cricket4life]

GREAT KNOCK by Jaffer. He's the man! What the heck is wrong with DRavid? come on man...we need some runs...he should look for some boundaries tommorow. He plays too slow. I hate watching that. Shewag motto always fun to watch. Hope Jaffer carrys on to make double hundred and also hoping for Dhoni and Yuvi show with some big hitting. Everybody know how they play. Come on India!!!!!!!1

 

[Hamish]

I just checked the score, and seems like India has made a spectacular comeback thanks to Jaffer. Hopefully he goes on, and hopefully Dravid aims to get a strike rate over 55 (no offence to him, he is a great player). I don't think a draw is that likely, as its the last resort for both teams...

 

[aussie1st]

Well both teams will think they can win but it will be tough. India would have to score a fair bit of runs. 200 odd in 2 sessions is about what they need but if they can get that in 2 sessions then that suggest the pitch is still a good one so if that would be enough is another question. If India was a decent lead of 400 that would take most of the day if not all of it. West Indies then would have to bat pretty badly to lose it from there.

Of course if the Windies can spark a collaspe then they will be able to win but all points to a draw with rock Dravid and confident Jaffer at the crease should prevent any major collaspe.

 

[ronny_kingsley]

Yup. You'll hardly ever find a player as dedicated as Sreesanth. Not to forget, he is clever, aggressive, and never backs out from a fight. Like the fast bowling version of Kumble.

Bowling is far more important than dedication.

Primary thing has to be his trait ,other than dedication as you guys have made out to be.

Sreesanth is just not a good enough bowler.

Why not have Zaheer just because his "dedication" isnt that good enough ?

As far as Michael Clarke's stats are concerned it does show that guy can be good on dust bowls.

Sreesanth ,for me,has just not prooved that he is anywhere as good as Agarkar,Zaheer,Irfan,Harbhajan to dislpace them out of team.

Ronny,

Saisrini80 is a Patriot and a fine gentleman. He is a Prince among the Indian fans and a class act. You owe him an apology.
You are SO wrong about Sreesanth. He's got so much spirit and enthisiasm. And just for his motivation he deserves to be persisted with. Sreesanth is the kind of bowler who electrifies the atmosphere. Have never seen anyone like him in the Indian side.

Sunil Chandurkar

I dont owe anyone an apology. Its my personal opinion which I am entitled to express in the forum as well.

I have seen many guys like that (Robin Singh,Ajay Jadeja,Balaji and many more) but none was persisted just for thier enthu or spirit.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

That was a mistake made by the boards of the past, not playing Robin Singh and Jadeja more. Balaji is still in the frame, Chappell has mentioned that he isn't completely out of the picture.

Look at Sreesanth's bowling traits:
1) He can bowl from 3 different angles. Wide of the stumps, close, and normal. He can also bowl well from around the wicket.
2) He has a well disguised slower ball.
3) Can bowl a good bouncer
4) Can get conventional inswing and outswing
5) Can reverse swing the ball, and has the ability to hide the ball in his runup.
6) Posses a good yorker

And to top it off, he is usually accurate and can touch good speeds.
Tell me one more bowler, just one, who, in India's cricketing history, was capable of doing all this.
Stats don't reveal everything.

And on Micheal Clarke, yes, I bet the selectors are just waiting to yeild the axe on Mcgill and Warne when they next tour India. And ofcourse, Gillespie is going to replace Hussey and Martyn in the middle order...: