Pakistan in India

[brad352]

no way, he just had a bad series, well his batting is good for a keeper!

Many bad series

And he has to learn how to keep before batting even comes into the situation, he'd be picked as a keeper not a batsman

 

[rahulk666]

You have to be in good books of Mr. S. Ganguly to be in the team plus in good books of the Jokers (selectors). S. Ganguly gave a lot of chances to P. Patel but his wicketkeeing became more and more pathetic every time.

On a side note, Don't be surprised you see fast bowler called S. Paul included in Indian team for Test Series. He seems to be Saurav's left hand

 

[sachinisgod]

after what he did today to Bangladesh team i think it would be fair to have SS Paul in the squad at least... and rahul u r unnecessarily obsessed with Parthiv Patel...his keeping grew pathetic day by day but his batting became more solid at the same time...i think its time India did what SL are doing at present - playing Sangakara as a batsman...and people who claim Patel was the worst ever...his keeping was far better than mediocre in Pakistan and the real bad series he had was the BG trophy in India...admitted he kept pathetically in those 4 tests but he batted very well...if we need a good gritty opener then we should use this lad's grit...and that has nothing to do with Saurav Ganguly's book...history bears testimony to the fact that every single youngster he has backed has come up with the results...Patel too will...

 

[squiz]

Do you really think a First Class and Test average of only 30 warrants a test spot?

 

[sachinisgod]

Stats are poor descriptors of value...

don't just look at the averages...look where and how those test runs came and look at the no. of first class matches Patel has played...a few examples in tests:
1) debut at Trent Bridge - didn't know which way the ball was flying but stood there until Hussain threw in the towel.
2) excellent attacking innings against Aussies in Brisbane and Sydney
3) a great opening partnership(virtually) with Dravid to see that India gained advantage in Rawalpindi
4) two good innings against Aussies in Chennai and B'lore when things could have gone towards worst case scenarios(at this point of time he had an avg of 48-50 in last four or five tests)
when India play against good bowlers they need batsmen like Patel and Chopra opening with that gambler and not another hit or miss batsman like Gambhir...time will only show whose thinking is right but i think that the lad has it in him to bounce back may be after two years and by that time i am sure India's opening conundrum would have resurfaced...

anyway its good news that the Madras Highcourt is giving an interim order today for the telecast rights of this series...it seems every series in this four year span will hinge on such interim orders only...

 

[angryangy]

India doesn't need Aakash Chopra. There's a difference between a subtle, restrained accumulator of runs and an outright stonewall. At the same time, he hasn't been a very effective stonewall. On average he has faced about 66 balls per innings. By comparison Pathan averages about 50. Perhaps he has the mettle to improve his Test level performance. Until he does, at least, surely India has better men for that job.

 

[littlegenius90]

not another hit or miss batsman like Gambhir...

may be I missed ur point...
but u cant call gambhir hit or miss batsman...
after 107 first class innings his average is 55.81
that is consistency...

 

[rahulk666]

after what he did today to Bangladesh team i think it would be fair to have SS Paul in the squad at least... and rahul u r unnecessarily obsessed with Parthiv Patel...his keeping grew pathetic day by day but his batting became more solid at the same time...i think its time India did what SL are doing at present - playing Sangakara as a batsman...and people who claim Patel was the worst ever...his keeping was far better than mediocre in Pakistan and the real bad series he had was the BG trophy in India...admitted he kept pathetically in those 4 tests but he batted very well...if we need a good gritty opener then we should use this lad's grit...and that has nothing to do with Saurav Ganguly's book...history bears testimony to the fact that every single youngster he has backed has come up with the results...Patel too will...

Wow!! Do you think SS Paul should be included in the team because he bowled against second string Bangladesh team!!

Patel might be having guts but his spot in the team is to fill the wicket keeper's slot and not the opener's slot. Please don't agrue about how many and under what circumstances he made his runs. By dropping dollies and missing stumpings which even a Boycott's mom would have made he eventually was a liability to the team. There's no point scoring a gutsy 40-50 runs and missing simple chances behind the stumps for batsmen of calibre of Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn or S. Waugh.

Also you say that players who have been backed by Ganguly have performed well after keeping them in the team for long enough. But don't you feel that there might have been players who were even better but didn;t make it into the team because of Ganguly?? And seriously if Ganguly thinks he should give chances to youngsters he himself should vacate his spot from the team. He has not done anything good for India in recent past. Also please don't sing praises about his captaincy. Its just the matter of him "being in the right place at the right time".

 

[Pak_cricketer]

Pakistanis are in form almost all of them!
Malik, Razzaq, Afridi, Yoyo, Inzi, Butt, Akmal, Rana, Kaneria.

Its not easy to beat a team that has just toured Australia. Even Bangladesh played better after they played Australia!

Also you say that players who have been backed by Ganguly have performed well after keeping them in the team for long enough. But don't you feel that there might have been players who were even better but didn;t make it into the team because of Ganguly?? And seriously if Ganguly thinks he should give chances to youngsters he himself should vacate his spot from the team. He has not done anything good for India in recent past. Also please don't sing praises about his captaincy. Its just the matter of him "being in the right place at the right time".

True, I dont find Ganguly as a great captain. hes always under pressure! :

 

[littlegenius90]

Wow!! Do you think SS Paul should be included in the team because he bowled against second string Bangladesh team!!

Patel might be having guts but his spot in the team is to fill the wicket keeper's slot and not the opener's slot. Please don't agrue about how many and under what circumstances he made his runs. By dropping dollies and missing stumpings which even a Boycott's mom would have made he eventually was a liability to the team. There's no point scoring a gutsy 40-50 runs and missing simple chances behind the stumps for batsmen of calibre of Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn or S. Waugh.

Also you say that players who have been backed by Ganguly have performed well after keeping them in the team for long enough. But don't you feel that there might have been players who were even better but didn;t make it into the team because of Ganguly?? And seriously if Ganguly thinks he should give chances to youngsters he himself should vacate his spot from the team. He has not done anything good for India in recent past. Also please don't sing praises about his captaincy. Its just the matter of him "being in the right place at the right time".

well I dont know y r u after ss paul...he has done enough atleast to be in the team...he is the best bowler in entire ranji season...but the harsh fact is the poeple think he would be in team just because he also plays form bengal or in other words him and gangully r onn the same team...his consistency in domestic level is superb...so I dont see a proper reason for not picking him in the team...

Oh please dont start on this topic again...u mean to tell me that after losing guys like azhar, jadeja, mongia, etc. all in one blow(match fixing) it was easy for captain to take over??? and the new attitude change just came in out of no where and ganguly got credit for??? and all this so called stars like sehwag, bhaji, bala, pathan, zaheer, kaif, yuvi they just droped from the sky and where ready for the big league??? "being in the right place at the right time" ya right!!!

 

[sachinisgod]

Wow!! Do you think SS Paul should be included in the team because he bowled against second string Bangladesh team!!

Patel might be having guts but his spot in the team is to fill the wicket keeper's slot and not the opener's slot. Please don't agrue about how many and under what circumstances he made his runs. By dropping dollies and missing stumpings which even a Boycott's mom would have made he eventually was a liability to the team. There's no point scoring a gutsy 40-50 runs and missing simple chances behind the stumps for batsmen of calibre of Gilchrist, Ponting, Martyn or S. Waugh.

Also you say that players who have been backed by Ganguly have performed well after keeping them in the team for long enough. But don't you feel that there might have been players who were even better but didn;t make it into the team because of Ganguly?? And seriously if Ganguly thinks he should give chances to youngsters he himself should vacate his spot from the team. He has not done anything good for India in recent past. Also please don't sing praises about his captaincy. Its just the matter of him "being in the right place at the right time".

ur SS Paul question has been answered...if you don't keep the best in the domestic season at least in the squad then you are discouraging the youngsters to play the domestic circuit. Parthiv's blemishes in the BG trophy were unforgivable and he was not forgiven but to me a player is not as good as the last tournament and hence he is good stuff for me...time will tell whether u will have the opportunity to continue with your obsession or not...and for heaven's sake don't think that the opener question has been sorted out...let the team go to a tour of SA, Aus, or Eng or for that matter even SL or Pak and then let's see what triumphs flamboyance or grit...Saurav's captaincy is not dependent upon my praise alone...here too u r looking at it through a negative prism and can't be helped...but by passing vague comments like there could have been others who could have done better u r not making a point properly...u seem to follow India's regional cricket and cricket politics very well so please name:
1) one young offspinner who could have broken the back of all touring batting orders in the last 3-4 seasons after being severly reprimanded by the NCA.(for some crazy reason).
2) one batsman of who could stand against a Lee-Mcgrath attack not only on his debut in Nairobi and Australia but also could win fron a no-win situation.
3) a replacement for Veeru.
4) for Pathan, Khan and Balaji.
thats too long a list to be all termed as coincidence but when people start having faith in the "captain's book" they can have faith in anything.

anyway i think ur obsession with Indian cricket's "politics" is taking the centrestand at the wrong place...this is about the upcoming tour and not Indian team selection policies(or politics as u may have it)...there was this fellow claiming that everyone who comes back from Australia does well - well they do if they have done well there - Bangladesh (gaining lead in one of the tests), India - (squaring the tests), SL - (drawing a test)...AND IF THEY ARE FACED BY PAKISTAN IN THE TOUR THAT FOLLOWS ... all three had to play Pakistan after that and all performed very well - Bangladesh - (Inzy saved the day at Multan), India - no comments, SL - squared the series...

 

[angryangy]

I think at the very least, when any team plays the best team in any sport, they learn what they are really made of.

 

[Dhoni]

India Squad


1st Test


Virender Sehwag
Gautam Gambhir
Rahul Dravid
Sachin Tendulkar
VVS Laxman
*Sourav Ganguly
+Dinesh Karthik
Irfan Pathan
Anil Kumble
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
Yuvraj Singh
Ashish Nehra
L Balaji
Board President's XI


Dheeraj Jadhav
Satyajit Parab
Shikhar Dhawan
*Mohammad Kaif
Venugopal Rao
Suresh Raina
+Parthiv Patel
Ramesh Powar
Gagandeep Singh
SS Paul
RP Singh
R Ramkumar
Ranadeb Bose
Niraj Patel

 

[bharat]

Indian team looks prety strong.

 

[Dhoni]

bharat, It is very strong, but balaji needs to bowl well if he plays coz he gives too many runs away...specially extras; every thing else is good...HOPE INDIA WIN!!!.. HINDUSTAN ZINDIABAD!!!