New Zealand tour of India (Sept-Oct 2016)

[Aalay]

LOL people questioning Bhuvneshwar Kumar. We all here are huge cricket fans and we all have very strong opinions but we also need to realize that people sitting there in the dressing room are much much better than us at reading pitch condition. If Kohli and Kumble brought Bhuvneshwar Kumar especially for this test match in place of Umesh Yadav who actually bowled good in the last game, there must have been some thinking behind it. As I said, I wouldn't have mind seeing Umesh in this test but they felt that Bhuvi could exploit the conditions better and it turned out to be a right decision.

I also would like to talk about Saha who played an amazing inning. I have been one of the biggest critique of Saha but he has shown in past few test matches that he can contribute lower down the order. Yesterday when he was hit near his elbow and he didn't even show any sign of pain or trouble and just carried on batting. 2 overs later, he was again hit in the rib cage and same again, showed no signs that he was uncomfortable and made sure India reached a safe total. That was very good to watch. Hopefully we can wrap them up quickly tomorrow and get a decent lead.

I also heard that Pujara didn't field yesterday because he was down with fever. I hope he recovers in time because he has just come back in great form right now and we can't afford to miss him.

 

[Saroj padhy]

And your point is?

Same...

 

[Velocity]

Sigh, we have our two best seamers.

Our line-up has 11 people who have a test fifty at least!

Edit: I jinxed Shami

Wow. I underestimated Bhuvi..... Though out of the four seamers, who do you think is our two best seamers who are useful anywhere? I guess the pitch and form of the player make a difference....

 

[AliB]

Wow. I underestimated Bhuvi..... Though out of the four seamers, who do you think is our two best seamers who are useful anywhere?

I'd pick Bhuvi and Shami any day.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Good day for New Zealand. A good pitch, but India probably were not ready for it (tells from the fact that they dropped a speedster for a military medium bowler, in search of swing). Kohli obviously has to look bad now after that "strike rate of Pujara" talk. All that aggression is fine, but you are playing test cricket and you need different types of players too. For once, India have a very good blend (aggressive Dhawan, on the fence Vijay, anchor Pujara, flashy Kohli, anchor Rahane, flashy Sharma). Pujara again proved himself this game though a century would have been wonderful. Rahane again the pillar of our test team. Not going to talk about the blue eyed boy, he is always safe.

NZ are ahead here. I expect the pitch to be good for batting on Days 2 and 3, which means that NZ can put India under serious pressure if they quickly wrap India up tomorrow (they need to get past Saha and Jadeja and Bhuvi can hold a bat too).

Looks like the military medium did alright?

This is why I've been saying Bhuvi should be played everywhere. People are surprised with his speed, but you shouldn't be. He was bowling close to 140 at times in the death in the IPL as well as the one off T20 he played in Indian colours.

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Same...

You're not making any substantial point that hasn't been discussed earlier! I say, there is a test match on, GET ON with it and stop trolling by posting opinions as facts! Everyone here has said a million times Gambhir deserves it, but don't try and portray useless conspiracy theories by picking up fan tweets. There are a lot of 'other' fans who must have tweeted that the return of Gambhir is a step back in Indian cricket. But do you see us picking that up and stirring the pot?

I don't think any one of us here dislike GG, but you do a fantastic job of shoving him down our throats.

 

[abhi_jacko]

If Kohli and Kumble brought Bhuvneshwar Kumar especially for this test match in place of Umesh Yadav who actually bowled good in the last game, there must have been some thinking behind it.

I hear what you are saying, but its a little hard to trust the selection when you also have Sharmaji and Dhawan (to some extent) playing in the lineup as well.

Anyways, Bhuvi was splendid and answered his critics (including me) beautifully. I was really really surprised to see him hitting 135+kph speeds. I wish we had picked Umesh in place of Rohit, then it would have been perfect

 

[zwarrior]

Well. It would have been unfair for Dhawan if Gambhir was picked in this match as Dhawan was the back up opener and Gambhir came later to the team. Yes he is not playing well, but he was in the main squad. Not Gambhir. Now that he didn't perform well in this match, Gambhir should be picked for the next match.

PS- I don't want Dhawan in the team. But I feel tt is just fair that he was picked in this match as he was in the original squad.

On other note, people hated MSD because GG was not picked and now they are bashing Kohli since GG was not picked again. Two of our best players are being bashed for not picking GG ? Surely senseless people they are.

 

[Saroj padhy]

You're not making any substantial point that hasn't been discussed earlier! I say, there is a test match on, GET ON with it and stop trolling by posting opinions as facts! Everyone here has said a million times Gambhir deserves it, but don't try and portray useless conspiracy theories by picking up fan tweets. There are a lot of 'other' fans who must have tweeted that the return of Gambhir is a step back in Indian cricket. But do you see us picking that up and stirring the pot?

I don't think any one of us here dislike GG, but you do a fantastic job of shoving him down our throats.

Ohh hello Mr. Don't show me your aggression.
I have seen a lot of that.
And for your kind information, I like Kohli too. I am against the decision that taken by him and the management.
That's my opinion. If you have a problem with that then deal it on your own.

 

[Velocity]

I'd pick Bhuvi and Shami any day.

For me, I would rather look out for where they would play and how the pitch is. If it is England, Ishant, Bhuvi and Shami are a must in those conditions. In Aus, Bhuvi is TRASH in Aus so you could replace him with Umesh Yadav, as his pace suits those conditions.For the subcontinent, you'd just need that pacy bowler and that fast bowlers who can just bowl just in that same area to trouble the batsmen (Shami and Ishant) Bhuvi was not certainly a first pick for Tests in the subcontinent, but I guess uneven bounce and luck worked out for him. He swung the ball quite well. Though, he's not really a useful bowler EVERYWHERE, which is somewhat of a problem. For instance, Bhuvi is terrible in Aus and SA (though Im not sure if he ever played in SA) Mainly he is definitely a first choice bowler for WI and England, where the conditions suit his bowling.

 

[SaiSrini]

I am happy with Bhuvi proving me wrong, but I still feel Yadav could have played this test (if India would have played 5 bowlers, they could have played the third seamer if they knew the wicket was green, which it was to start off with). Saha played a brilliant knock. His knock could be very vital in this game based on how it goes. There is no question right now in moving Saha from the test team. He has cemented his spot. He is actually more sound in batting than Dhoni, though Dhoni is more flamboyant and flashy.

P.s: Obviously all of us are armchair critics who sit in front of our laptops and say "India should have done this and that" based on our reading of the conditions, pitch, etc from our own homes. We will be proved wrong many times but that's the beauty of it.

 

[Velocity]

P.s: Obviously all of us are armchair critics who sit in front of our laptops and say "India should have done this and that"

That really means we gotta really appreciate the team has put in. Usually everyone has something negative to say,while the Indian team out there has to work hard out there, for the results that we will put opinions on.. We basically sit there munching on junk food while commenting on the forums.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Crucial runs being scored here by these two .. this game could be closer than the last one if we have a second innings collapse

 

[Chewie]

If India were to lose all 5 remaining wickets for no runs here it'd still be 60/40 in India's favour right now - NZ without Williamson and on this pitch with it's variable bounce probably wouldn't be able to chase this amount

 

[LiveLoveABD]

Shikhar Dhawan has done his bit in the test! Made 20 odd runs in two innings and twirled his stache when the camera was on him! What a cricketer!