India tour of New Zealand - March 2009

[Houdini]

Hats off to the Indian top order batsmen.
For continuing a trend and scoring extremely well.
Sehwag is a machine, he has really come upon some great form.
I hope to see alot more great cricket from him.
I also hope that the NZ side plays well in the next ODI, just to save face.
The Middle order needs to harden up. :boxing

 

[Ari]

NZ test squad announced ORAM DROPPED!

McIntosh
Guptill
Flynn
Taylor
Ryder
Franklin
McCullum
Vettori
Mills
Patel
Martin
O'Brien
Arnel

Good to see Guptill kept in the team and they didn't go back to How, Franklin takes Oram's spot as the batting allrounder.

At least they have gone for experience with Martin but Arnel is a surprise I can't see him making the 11.

 

[SaiSrini]

as much as i enjoyed the sehwag CARNAGE

am finding this whole series quite boring !! the pitches are like those in india !! no competition between the bat and ball,extra small boundaries, placid tracks etc..

and given the reputation and history of NZ pitches its a shame really.....
i hope this things turn around drastically during the test matches !

These are the pitches you see all around the world these days in ODI's and T20's. Even the wickets for the test matches are slowing down and becoming batsman oriented. Cricket itself is changing to a batsman's game.

YEAYYYYY!!!! Series win for India. We have been winning series left, right and centre. And as someone said here, only one series win was at home (the England one). All others have been away (the most pleasing was obviously the win in Australia and this one in NZ). Right now, we are not the official world champions but we deserve to be called as the team that wants to be called world champions.

Sehwag is not just another 'hit and miss' guy. He has brought about a lot of method to his game. He hits only the absolute bad deliveries. Of course, he has developed this potential to thrash even the good deliveries and this has made him a very dangerous guy. This is a very different Sehwag from what he used to be and its danger signs for the world's bowlers. Sehwag, Sachin and Gambhir at the top with Yuvraj, Raina, Dhoni and Yusuf following in. WHAT A BATTING LINEUP??

 

[m_vaughan]

New Zealand are a shadow of their former self. They used be a quality ODI side not so long ago.

 

[irottev]

New Zealand are a shadow of their former self. They used be a quality ODI side not so long ago.

We still are. We still 2-2 and woulda won in Australia if not for a washout. India are a quality ODI side themselves. They've just outplayed us, simple. Our bowling attack is a bit off the mark too. They'll pick up. Oram in bad form and McCullum unable to keep wicket doesn't help either.

That's been how good India have been, they've made a good side look average by putting pressure on.

 

[deerkick]

Wow the Indian team hype is pretty huge right now. But you guys seem to be forgetting that we have yet to prove ourselves on true bowling pitches. I wish NZ does prepare green pitches in the future and definitely so for the test matches.

I myself would've enjoyed both teams struggling to make 220-230 and the game dragging on to the final overs. But sadly cricket is changing completely into a batsman's game.

It's getting ridiculous to see every single player hitting sixes left and right to every corner. Where's the insane pace, swing, and bounce that would make every batsman think twice about playing a certain shot?

Sorry stupid rant. :

 

[sohum]

Well Twenty20 has made cricket a batsman's game and if ODI cricket wants to stick around commercially, it has to orient itself with the batsmen.

The bigger issue I see is Test cricket, which has always held itself at a different level from the shorter version, at least in trying to maintain the unique conditions at each venue. Unfortunately, it appears that TV contracts are emerging as a factor to try and force a "5 day game" but what ends up happening is a game that wouldn't be finished even if the teams were out there for 10 days.

Test pitches need to be challenging for batsmen, otherwise I think it will be phased out because people will be bored of the drawn games and the mammoth run totals, not to mention it will only aid in bowling being less popular with budding cricketers.

 

[Chetan0304]

The newspaper are flooded with Sehwag's picture on the cover page ! :hpraise

10 wicket win and a opening partnership of 200+ with RPO of 8, this is spacial and true Cricket

 

[King Cricket]

^What newspapers? I thought the newspaper offices were closed yesterday because of Holi. Anyway, our paperboy didn't deliver us any paper today. What paper are you talking about?

 

[angryangy]

That's been how good India have been, they've made a good side look average by putting pressure on.

Yeah, exactly. Pretty much every team has at some point had to accept a thrashing at the hands of a player like Tendulkar or Sehwag. India are the form ODI team right now, there's really no shame in coming off second best.

 

[naresh091]

Sehwag has the reputation of going for a duck after a courageous statement he gives after scoring a big knock.
Hope he overcomes that this time around.

 

[Cricketman]

Hopefully Dinesh Karthik gets a game for the dead rubber. Dhoni has always liked giving chances to the bench players in these games so hopefully he should get a go and make his mark. Sachin should take it easy, even if he's fit I'd rather he sits out so he doesn't aggravate it and put doubts on the tests.

Rest a lot of players, maybe even Dhoni himself. I'd go with

Yusuf Pathan
Gautam Gambhir
Suresh Raina
Yuvraj Singh (c-ewwwwwwwwwwwwwww)
Dinesh Karthik (wk)
Rohit Sharma
Irfan Pathan
Praveen Kumar
Harbhajan Singh
Praghyan Ojha
Munaf Patel

Doubt we' go with anything close to that but, yeah.

 

[deerkick]

Wow that team would get dominated.

 

[Cricketman]

Yes, yes it would .

 

[Ari]

Well weather not looking good again, it seems like Auckland will be the only place with rain in the north island tomorrow. :

I can't recall a summer this bad ever if all the one day games from this series and the WI series had been moved one day forward or put back one day we would not have had this problem it has just been the worst luck.

Hoping for a better test series with plenty of green tops!