Pakistan in India

[T20]

Gosh man!! Lost more than 100 points voting for India and a draw in the 3rd test. Should tread this vbookie with more care!

tell me about it

 

[dayne]

hahaha, i see.. a shame though, inshAllah we'll see him again though, beacuse honestly he was one of the most entertaining batsmen i've ever seen

 

[bharat]

I betted on India,Draw & Pakistan

Agarkar is an aggressive bowler and a handy batsman. But he gives away to many runs & it also makes me feel that he is playing for the opposition.

 

[aditya123]

great win for pakistan ! Congrats ! I think that the indians have taken the tag of dosti series too seriously by levelling the series 1-1 (kidding)!!!!!!!!!!
Defensive batting cost india the match
If u have a look at the indian batting lineup , they are all basically strokemakers and the way they batted y`day was very uncharacteristic
I think that ganguly is very lucky that the next test series is quite a few months away bcoz he cud get away with his poor test form with the help of a few blazing knocks in th ODIs . Ganguly in my opinion is still one of the best batsmen to have in the 1st 15 overs in ODIs but the problem for him is that India have one of the best ODI opening combinations in S & S . Just wait for the ODIs to begin and iam sure he will find his feet . He is the second highest run getter in ODIs ! Just do not bombard him with criticism in the middle of such an important series . We still did not lose the test series though i must admit that the performance was very ordinary .
When I look at the Indian ODI lineup i feel surprised at the level of inconsistency of the side eventhough they have a balanced lineup in ODIs . Sachin and Sehwag are an ideal opening combo followed by sourav who when in good touch can be just as dangerous . Dravid has evolved as a good ODI player and can score at a rapid pace when required by improvising . We have a jhonty kind of a player in kaif and Yuvraj can be one of the cleanest strikers of the cricket ball and play matchwinning knocks under pressure . Bowling lineup with 3 seamers and Bhajji too looks decent and on the subcontinent wickets sehwag and sachin are not easy to score off as well !!
Do not count th Indians out as yet . They have a knack of pulling a rabbit out of the hat when least expected of them . REmember the World cup 2003 performances admist all the criticism at home !

 

[SaiSrini]

Great post..

And Adi, I really am impressed with your signature...

HI all, read this. This man just says what I was saying here before the final day of the Bangalore test commenced

Sehwag, the lone warrior

 

[sachinisgod]

Aditya, nice post but I differ slightly... one there's no combo as good as Ganguly-Sachin, as of now, coz of the sheer no. of runs they have put on and the avg at which they have done so...but S&S company is not bad either and may cross all such statistical records... but I think the rest of the order should be floating( I think this for almost all teams)... let us say that spinners are operating on both ends - thats the time to send in Ganguly... if anything Inzy would be tempted to give a over or two to Sami and this could disrupt the way he would have planned his bowling order... Yuvi if in form can blast the best pacemen out of the ground anytime of the day...so if that is the scene then send him... keep the best finishers in Kaif and Dravid for that particular job... but hang on - Wright's not listening here. is he?

 

[sohum]

The ODIs should be exciting--I haven't seen competitive ODI cricket played in some time, now. I guess the Indian team thinktank will have to consider a good combination for the game now. I am sure that Inzamam will consider sending Afridi in early, especially after the performance in the Bangalore 2nd Innings. With Afridi opening, Irfan Pathan's inswinger could be quickly offset, which would really take away his confidence for the rest of the match and perhaps the series, also. Pathan has been the key to the Indian bowling for some time because of the starts he gives. That has been one of the problems in the Test Series when it was mainly Balaji who was hitting the line and Pathan somewhat supporting. Pathan needs to get his confidence back up and bowl lethally.

It looks like India is finally building towards the future by giving M.S. Dhoni a chance in the full team. That means Dravid can concentrate just on his batting and perhaps even playing a slight leadership role on the field. He will have to take over whenever Ganguly dives and gets injured, anyway. Dhoni, though, seems to be one more in the line of good batsmen-ordinary keeper--a problem that has plagued India since the days of Nayan Mongia. This definitely needs to be solved quickly because a keeper's role in ODI cricket is very important--he saves important runs (byes) and needs to be aware of the situation always, with quick-singles and stuff. He also needs to be a strong batsman in the lower order, in case the match situation gets close.

As for the opening quandary, perhaps they may experiment with Sehwag+Ganguly opening for India and let Tendulkar languish in the middle order, at least for a couple of games. This will allow Ganguly to find his feet. However, if Ganguly's strike rate as an opener is anything under 70, he must go back to the middle/lower order. The team composition cannot revolve around him. Didn't Sachin and Sourav recently open in a series? I am not sure but I think Sehwag wanted to try and go down to the middle order and ended up getting out in a few balls. Was it at the ICC Champions trophy? My memory fails me. Anyhow, I expect a close contest and perhaps a 4-2 verdict to Pakistan.

 

[Ajit]

Indian team that should have been playing

V.Sehwag(capt.)
G.Gambhir
M.Kaif(vice capt.)
Yuvraj Singh
D.Mongia
S.Sriram
M.S.Dhoni
I.Pathan
M.Kartik
L.Balaji
S.S.Paul

Veeru should force all(that's why I haven't included any senior player) of them to drink milk(its good for health) and play their natural games. There would then won't be any gameplan and India could play better without it. Veeru can deal with juniors well as well.

But, the given team should be

V.Sehwag(Our best batsman)
S.Tendulkar(Attack, C'mon)
M.Kaif(Our ace, has to play up the order)
S.Ganguly(It's the time to disco)
R.Dravid(Play as aggresively as you can)
Y.Singh(Smash 'em all)
M.S.Dhoni(Smash 'em all)
I.Pathan(Get that ball back into the right hander, and some accuracy)
L.Balaji(Get acccuracy)
H.Singh(Don't care about wickets, just bowl tight)
Z.Khan(Show your killer instinct, if you have it)

 

[sohum]

Zaheer's drop in the 'killer instinct' as you have mentioned, has probably been one of the biggest let-downs to Indian cricket in recent years. When he first came on the scene at Nairobi, he seemed to be India's answer to a fast and lethal bowler, with his 90+ mph yorker. Now he is medium pace, at best, and is more adept at bowling wides and no-balls than yorkers.

 

[Ajit]

His bowling action sucks now, how dangerous did he used to look in earlier days.

 

[sohum]

Yes he looks really labored now. When he came back between his injury breaks he didn't even run in. He sort of jogged and bowled in one motion. Its very, very disappointing. He needs some "doodh".

 

[jazz]

Yes he looks really labored now. When he came back between his injury breaks he didn't even run in. He sort of jogged and bowled in one motion. Its very, very disappointing. He needs some "doodh".

thats beacuse his physio advised him dont put pressure on on yur run up stright away

 

[sohum]

Okay...but its cost him a place in the team.

 

[brad352]

REmember the World cup 2003 performances admist all the criticism at home !

Really sorry everyone, but I couldn't let that pass without reference to the final

I've said my part

*runs*

*comes back*

Afridi should be opening

*runs*

*returns*

PlanetCricket Top Winner (combined bets)

Too bad it doesn't count losses hey?

*runs*

On reflection- worst post ever

*goes to cry in the corner*

 

[sohum]

Good that you are getting some exercise! Aaah--the art of entertaining oneself...