India tour of New Zealand - Jan to Feb 2014

[nightprowler10]

I watched all of day 4. Fantastic rearguard from McCullum and Watling, and Neesham's knock was crucial to ensure India had no chance to get back in the game.

Interesting side note, Neesham used to post on cricketweb regularly a few years back and more or less predicted that Kane Williamson and Corey Anderson would come good.

 

[icyman]

This makes it 3 captains who have scored triple tons against the spineless Indian attack. Gooch-333, Clarke-329 & now McCullum-302.

India have a tendency of being too lax in the field and have been unable to seize the initiative when required. With this kind of form, MSD statement that the team is ready for World Cup 2015 seems like a far cry.

Selectors need to wake up and take some harsh decisions now. This,I believe is the 4th consecutive away series that we have lost, which is a shoddy record indeed.

 

[playkid12]

He must take some of the blame surely for the selection policies and pushing for his favourites.

I know his resources are meagre, but then isn't that a reason for pushing new talent into the side rather than sticking with an inconsistent Ishant Sharma and a declining Zaheer Khan?

The pace of this Indian attack is unsuited for the quicker pitches. They use swing and seam well, but with their lack of pace, it is blunted to a large extent... Also no Indian captain is willing to field 4 fast bowlers. I think it is highly essential on overseas tours to have a fourth seamer, preferably somebody who can also wield the bat.

I disagree on the allrounder bit. We already have Jadeja who's basically an all-rounder, allowing us to bat to 7. We just need to field 4 pacers. The quality of bowling should always be better than the quality of batting. Dhoni is being let down because he's only choosing 4 bowlers, and one of them is a spinner in conditions where there's no assistance for spin.

I mean, there's a reason why so many countries use 1 more fast bowling option than us. It's time we make way for one more fast bowler. Not like Rohit Sharma will ever score outside of the subcontinent.

 

[ferg512]

I think you guys are far too harsh on your bowlers, that pitch became pretty flat and I think they all did a decent job. Had Kohli caught that sitter when McCullum was on about 20 you probably would have won by an innings. Not entirely sure about Zaheer, was there ever a thought of giving Bhuvi a go? I suppose it is ideal to have at least one left armer though.

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I could see him (Bhuvi) being really successful in the England series.

 

[harishankar]

I think you guys are far too harsh on your bowlers, that pitch became pretty flat and I think they all did a decent job. Had Kohli caught that sitter when McCullum was on about 20 you probably would have won by an innings. Not entirely sure about Zaheer, was there ever a thought of giving Bhuvi a go? I suppose it is ideal to have at least one left armer though.

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I could see him (Bhuvi) being really successful in the England series.

Not being harsh, but it is a reality that whenever the batsmen scored runs to put the team in a winning position, the bowlers, especially the seamers have faltered in overseas conditions. The Johannesburg Test is a good example.

Fact is because we have 3 seamers, it is hard for one of them to really be an attacking weapon because of the sheer number of overs bowled in a day. It's time Indian cricket looked beyond Zaheer Khan (who is now well past his prime) and Ishant Sharma (who has had plenty of promise for years now and still fails to deliver consistently).

I'd keep Shami as the main spearhead of a new Indian fast bowling attack with preferably four seamers in faster, bouncing or seaming pitches.

 

[asprin]

Bhuvi is more of a ODI bowler. In Tests, once the ball gets old he is no longer useful. So the ball has to always be new if he is to be effective. So in the period between 10-79 overs, he becomes a liability.

 

[abhi_jacko]

India in New Zealand 2013-14 : MS Dhoni sees 'plenty of improvement' since 8-0 | Cricket News | New Zealand v India | ESPN Cricinfo - I love MSD and everything, but seriously, somehow his ideas are ridiculous.

The statements are unsurprisingly similar to the ones we heard after the 8-0. He is once again talking about huge improvements and batting well in nets and not having prep time.

I wish he would instead address the real issues that even a 5 year old can figure out:
- team selection (3 bowler attack ??)
- dropping critical catches
- clueless captain+bowlers once the batting team gets on top
etc. etc.

Captain cool needs to stop being so 'cool' about our string of disastrous overseas tours

PS: The whole 'faith in the process, and not results' makes him sound like our beloved Indian politicians

 

[War]

 

[used2bcool]

Agreed a hundred percent. It seems to me that he's toeing the party line (or in this case the BCCI line) since this statement seems like the kind of tripe the BCCI generally put out in order to avoid making too many changes.

At least I hope that's all it is - a simple statement that doesn't really say anything radical or ruffle too many feathers and calls for the status quo to continue - because if it isn't and he really believes this, we have far bigger problems than we thought.

 

[grkrama]

I wouldnt be too worried with his statements, he hardly speaks whats is in his mind, remember at end of 2012 how he kept backing gambhir,zak,sehwag in press, immediately there after they would be dropped.
I remember him calling zak as tendulkar of bowling and then next match he was dropped.
He just loves giving some material for press to spin about.
Some more Dhoni Bashing in press: for some reason people always seem to like it
http://sports.ndtv.com/new-zealand-...slammed-after-latest-tour-flop-in-new-zealand
http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/obnoxious-dhoni-under-fire-after-new-tour-flop
http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/dhonis-record-is-good-only-on-home-pitches-says-mohinder-amarnath
http://sports.in.msn.com/gallery/ms-dhonis-list-of-excuses#image=3
Not so much Bashing with this one:
http://www.wisdenindia.com/cricket-article/india-abroad-sifting-fact-fiction-2/99942

What im worried is his own issues like even after so many years he doesn't seem to be able to be a solid batsman in tests overseas, which makes him go far the extra batsman, which in turn results in 3 bowler attack, Ideally he should really work on his batting and try to contribute in the coming overseas tours if India are to succeed, otherwise it would be time for him to step down as test captain at the end of Aus tour.

 

[SaiSrini]

Its good that the talk is finally gaining momentum asking for Dhoni's head from the test captaincy. Dropping him right now for all forms of captaincy is a bad idea because we have the World Cup in less than a year away. It wont be wrong to split captaincy and give test captaincy to either Kohli or Pujara (Kohli since he has been backing his aggression with performances so far) and let Dhoni lead India in ODI's and T20. And after the 2015 WC, Dhoni has to be transitioned out of all captaincy (I think he himself might take that call).

 

[grkrama]

^I personally dont think Captaincy will suit kholi at the moment, He is establishing himself as a terrific batsman , i will just allow him to relish it and complete that journey for another year or two, while he may like captaincy there is every chance it can affect his batting with undue pressure, i would still give dhoni time till aus series and take a call, Pujara is definitely a good choice also Dhawan, though he needs a few more matches under his belt.

 

[surendar]

It is fine for Dhoni to speak about positives, as a skipper he needs to shoulder his team's loss. But someone has to assess & speak about Dhoni for reviewing his test captaincy. Just because you always stand in front & accept the loss gracefully behalf of the team, you can't get away with being a skipper to loose again and again. True leader is responsible for team's action inducing a change in correct time for effective outcomes - if he cannot achieve that, leader has to go sadly!

 

[shravi]

Why would I listen to Pujara if I was a player? There wouldn't be any respect there. Kohli on the other hand would demand respect both through his attitude and performances.

 

[Aalay]

I feel that if Kohli leads the team, he will become even better batsman. I never rated Kohli as a T20 batsman before 2012. He was good in ODI but did not perform that well in T20. As soon as he was appointed as a captain of RCB in 2013 IPL, he became a monster in that format as well. He ended up as the third highest scorer in the last IPL edition. However, I am not sure what Dhoni will do if Kohli is appointed the captain of the test team? I mean will he retire or continue playing test cricket?