India tour of New Zealand - Jan to Feb 2014

[Biggs]

Just going to throw this out there; New Zealand is the better team.

Bowlers are out-thinking your best batsman. Our batters are out-planning your best bowlers.

Don't think India are playing poorly. NZ is just better. In form. In touch with the game.

...annnnnd... go...

 

[asprin]

Just going to throw this out there; New Zealand is the better team.

Bowlers are out-thinking your best batsman. Our batters are out-planning your best bowlers.

Don't think India are playing poorly. NZ is just better. In form. In touch with the game.

...annnnnd... go...

No reason not to agree on this.

That said, I still think India are in with a shout in this test match.

I wouldn't bet on that. 130/4 and trailing by 373 runs. Nothing much left in the batting. I predict a result by Day 4 first session.

 

[grkrama]

Corrected

Just going to throw this out there; New Zealand is the better team on this day / series.

Our batters are out-planning your best bowlers.

 

[ChinamanSpin]

I wouldn't bet on that. 130/4 and trailing by 373 runs. Nothing much left in the batting. I predict a result by Day 4 first session.

New Zealand were 30/3 and made 500.

I can't believe I'm about to say this: I agree with Biggs. Just like last Feb-March, New Zealand are showing they can match the big boys stroke for stroke, and they were incredibly unlucky back then. Hopefully they can start doing that away from home, but for now I think they should be top 5 in the rankings, not 8th.

 

[asprin]

New Zealand were 30/3 and made 500.

There is huge difference at the moment between NZ batting and bowling v/s Indian batting and bowling.

It's already 1-0 and if, and that's a big if, India somehow manage to draw this then NZ will have bowled the worst that they have had in a long time.

 

[karolkarol]

The ICC proposals are based on the business aspect of cricket. India, by far, has the largest following in cricket. The BCCI brings in $$$. That's all that matters. The series wont have much bearing on it, except it might save NZ from being compared to Bangladesh and Zimbabwe. They might be placed in a higher tier.

And it's exactly that type of i'm alright Jack attitude which is going to ruin test cricket, forget growing the game globally, money talks. You stay classy BCCI.

Also, go Kiwis, good to see brave cricket rewarded.

 

[Ohm]

In 2012 when India loosed 4-0 to Australia, fans were demanding to remove Sehwag, Gambhir, Dravid, Sachin, Laxamn from team to bring in new talent. Now in 2014 when India loosed 4-0 to NZ in an ODI series and failing in tests all will demand those legends back. Better if we decline further oversea tours.

 

[CG123]

Been to both of the first two days, might as well get the most out of what will probably be the last Test in Auckland for a while considering the poor crowds. I paid $50 for an adult match pass so I'm not sure why people are complaining about the prices, sort your shit out a month in advance and you can get a massive bargain considering I'll also be going to Sunday and probably Monday as well (got my own game tomorrow).

 

[Biggs]

There's also a pretty decent % discount if you book via BlackCaps.co.nz and sign up for their fan club. Pretty disgraceful showing from Auckland fans, to be honest.

Hopefully they can start doing that away from home, but for now I think they should be top 5 in the rankings, not 8th.

We've already been doing it away from home. Remove that Bangladesh aberration and we've had a pretty decent success record overseas, especially in the UK most recently.

 

[SaiSrini]

I am frankly surprised to see this fightback from Rohit Sharma. Very well done! If he goes on here to get a hundred, this innings is what would count so high in his career - an overseas hundred against a good bowling attack in conditions where Indian batsmen were expected to be bounced out (from what we've seen so far, Boult/Southee/Wagner/Anderson have been troubling us in this innings). Rahane has shown that he can stay in there.

I would be interested to see tomorrow's play. If Rahane and Rohit can stay in for a really long period tomorrow, India should avoid the follow-on and push towards NZ's total. I am not putting too much faith in MS, but he is not a bad player against short pitched bowling and there's not much sideways movement here in this ground. It all depends on Rohit and Rahane. But I'm happy to see some fightback after the double blow of Pujara-Kohli.

P.s: Someone talking about Pujara out there. As one other person said, Pujara had a very good series in SA the previous one. And he has been constantly touring with India-A sides abroad, and has been amassing runs in some really difficult conditions. People have lot of faith in him when it comes to tough conditions because of his supreme technique and temperament.

 

[abhi_jacko]

We were always set to lose this game after MSD announced to playing XI - that we would combust so spectacularly was something I did not expect. I feel really bad for Varun Aaron and Umesh Yadav. Ishant might have gotten 6 but we all know he bowled sh!t, and Zaheer was even worse. They were just unwilling to fix their lengths, probably inspired by the stubbornness MSD has become known for.

 

[grkrama]

I feel its a joint conspiracy by black caps and other teams against indian team, to throw a few wickets for Ishant whenever he is on his last straws ,so that MS would get a reason to retain him, im pretty sure MS wont drop him now for another year.
Have the same doubt with the other Sharma but have to admit that he did play elegantly today and if he doesn't throw it away tomorrow ,it would surely be one of his important innings for his career.

 

[Ohm]

P.s: Someone talking about Pujara out there. As one other person said, Pujara had a very good series in SA the previous one. And he has been constantly touring with India-A sides abroad, and has been amassing runs in some really difficult conditions. People have lot of faith in him when it comes to tough conditions because of his supreme technique and temperament.

That's actually a typical problem of some fellow who hate Indian team or who don't follow Indian cricket. Ignore them, we can't change their minds. Never!

I feel its a joint conspiracy by black caps and other teams against indian team, to throw a few wickets for Ishant whenever he is on his last straws ,so that MS would get a reason to retain him, im pretty sure MS wont drop him now for another year.
Have the same doubt with the other Sharma but have to admit that he did play elegantly today and if he doesn't throw it away tomorrow ,it would surely be one of his important innings for his career.

I disagree there. Really seen the way Ishant bowled in? He was bowling nicely with the old ball there. No matter he is a worse blower, but he was playing his best cricket. I really can't blame him this time, he didn't left any chance though.

 

[grkrama]

I disagree there. Really seen the way Ishant bowled in? He was bowling nicely with the old ball there. No matter he is a worse blower, but he was playing his best cricket. I really can't blame him this time, he didn't left any chance though.

I never doubt his commitment,at this level sure he is always giving what is his best,but is it really good enough and has there been an improvement over time with ishant's bowling ? we do have a few other talented youngsters sure they may go for runs a bit at starting but they seem to have potential to grow much better than ishant.Now with this success Ishant is going to be around for a while,
and most of the wickets he got were due to poor shots or batsman trying to score some quick runs ,and anderson wasnt out but was given.

 

[Aalay]

Have the same doubt with the other Sharma but have to admit that he did play elegantly today and if he doesn't throw it away tomorrow ,it would surely be one of his important innings for his career.

He has to throw it away, he can not digest his food until he throws his wicket away.

Rahane is fighting it out but it seems like he is gonna get out any minute with the way he eventually pokes at a delivery going away from him. Dhawan's form is also worrying for me. This was always going to happen after his golden patch was over but he isn't showing any sign of improvement by playing some really poor shots. As Murli Vijay said in his press conference that we should have handled the new ball better because they showed brilliant discipline in South Africa. Yesterday however, there was no discipline shown by either Dhawan or Pujara.