India in the West Indies

[sohum]

But, the thing is that without the Monk, the Indians would have been in a bit of trouble. I believe there is nothing you can take away from the Monk, in this innings. The pitch was a little slow to start with, which didn't suit his game. He played straight, he took no risks (at the top of the innings) and he eventually got on top of the bowlers. Once he was dealing in boundaries, the bowlers became inaccurate and that resulted in more boundaries.

If you saw the second session, the West Indies bowlers were far more composed and they kept it on their line and length. Run-scoring wasn't easy any more, and there was also a bit of zip and pep off the pitch. I think the Monk's brilliant innings coupled with the West Indies inaccurate bowling has gotten India to a good score, here, and not so much the pitch. Let's see how the Windies bat, though.

 

[aussie1st]

Well the Windies have their own Monk in Gayle who could do the exact same thing. How Pathan goes should basically tell you what type of pitch it is as he is suited on wickets that suit bowlers. But whatever the pitch India do have Kumble and Sehwag to bowl if it's spinning and the pacemen for seam movement.

 

[blackleopard92]

come on people its first day!
I have a gut feeling that this pitch is going to detoriate, fast.

and spinners would be a force to reckon with in 4,5 day.of which India has a upperhand

 

[newzolt]

come on people its first day!
I have a gut feeling that this pitch is going to detoriate, fast.

and spinners would be a force to reckon with in 4,5 day.of which India has a upperhand

Harbhajan being missed?

 

[IloveGilly]

come on people its first day!
I have a gut feeling that this pitch is going to detoriate, fast.

and spinners would be a force to reckon with in 4,5 day.of which India has a upperhand

I don't see that happening

 

[sohum]

Well the Windies have their own Monk in Gayle who could do the exact same thing.

The Monk is insulted by this comparison to a meagre mortal.

 

[blackleopard92]

The Monk is insulted by this comparison to a meagre mortal.

not to mention that mortal needed to be given sedative to get his excitement controlled on being compared with 'the' monk

 

[Ritwik]

not to mention that mortal needed to be given sedative to get his excitement controlled on being compared with 'the' monk

Lets not make this thread "superthread version 2.0"

Really looking forward to seeing Dhoni bat today, hopefully he will set off some fireworks like the last time :d

 

[cricket_lover]

The Monk is insulted by this comparison to a meagre mortal.

Sehwag himself is a mere mortal, nothing else.

India will be missing Harbhajan, unless the pitch (somehow) gets better for the faster bowlers. Pathan's mediocre pace may not help, and he might want to extract as much swing as he can.

Munaf Patel might trouble but i'm not sure about VRV. Sehwag and Yuvraj will also play a vital role in bowling.

 

[Manohar]

I'm not sure which end Sarwan was bowling from, but I feel there were two reasons that he was bowled: to pitch it in the green areas of the pitch and because he would be harder to get away. As you saw, the Monk had to go inside-out to get Sarwan away, which is much harder than, say, hitting the ball straight down the ground for six.

I am not sure which end it is but he started over the wicket and at the end started bowling around the stumps. Sehwag went inside out as they packed the leg side and there was no sweeper cover. Dravid and Sehwag found it easy to get runs off him lofting him the air a lot. Sarwan bowled many full tosses and went more than 5 runs an over. May Lara thought that the batsmen may become complacent and play a loose shot and get out but Sarwan did not seem like taking a wicket.

I don't see that happening

Just been watching the game and the odd balls are keeping really low for the pace bowlers. Lets see what happens.

I think the pitch has fooled everyone out there with its outward looks.. A spinner would be better on such pitches. India miss Harbhajan again, and West Indies this time will miss Mohammed (even though he isnt a great spinner)
Yes.. May be a bit faster scoring rate tomorrow in all sessions that india bat will help them get to 550 closer...

Certainly the West Indies were fooled by the looks of the pitch by choosing 5 pace bowlers and no regular spinner but Dravid more or less got it right this time. He chose to bat in spite of the green look of the pitch and they have at least one regular spinner. Sehwag and Yuvraj could be more than usefull if the pitch give assistance to the spinners.

Kaif and Dravid are going strong while Dhoni and Pathan yet to come. There could be some more entertainment if Dhoni is given the license to go after the bowling.

 

[cricket_lover]

Kaif is in very good touch, and the way India are scoring now, it'll give you a good measure of how the wicket is behaving.

A 600 by tea is a possibility and India will look to bat only once, and put the pressure on WI.

 

[ZexyZahid]

I've got a feeling that India will declare if they get about 600 runs. And runs are coming very easy now for India. Kaif has 69 runs already with a strikerate of 0.70.

 

[blackleopard92]

I've got a feeling that India will declare if they get about 600 runs. And runs are coming very easy now for India. Kaif has 69 runs already with a strikerate of 0.70.

true.however, dhoni needs to fire if India are to declare and try getting 20 WI wickets.

 

[m_vaughan]

India are in a good position to get a big innings victory here. Windies, like they did against South Africa last year, have a tendency to crumble chasing large totals.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Nice century from Kaif!