Sri Lanka in India

[Gibbsrules]

Congratulations to India on a dominant series victory.I must say,I enjoyed seeing the Sri Lankans getting hammered.They hammered SA last year,now they've just got a whipping.Just a few more days till the next series starts,and what a series it will be! C'mon South Africa!!

 

[Ashish_Nehra]

Poor Ganguly! I knew this! He is facing the most rejuvenated bowler of Indian cricket - ZAHEER KHAN! This was to happen! The guy who was backed to the hilt by Ganguly, is now acting as a roadblock to Ganguly's return to international cricket! Funny!

I think ganguly will be back for tests anyway, you don't get dropped after scoring 100
but i think dravid will be captain

also, i think india are favs for next series as well

thanks to marvan and arnold for atleast putting competition, otherwise it would have been boring and finished earlier
i was hoping lanka get atleest 250, so that there is something for 2nd inning
thank god we have murali kartik and sehwag, well done guys, who likes boring matches

 

[Adarsh]

I always liked Zaheer Khan at first, especially his yorkers which he seems to have lost recently. He was also quite pacey, bowling at 148kmph in the world cup! Since then, however, he has lost it a bit. Good to see him back in form, but who should he replace? India can't, or won't go in with 4 fast bowlers. RP Singh, Agarkar and Pathan are all bowling well.

 

[aditya123]

Nothing Succeeds Like Success --- by Aditya

Nothing Succeeds Like Success
By Planetcricket Correspondent Aditya
November 12, 2005

A change in personnel may not always mean change in results (poor in India`s case in the 2004 season). The India-Srilanka series however saw the change bring better results for the home side . A side which was always full of talent never really got going in the 2004 season pushing them to No.7 in the ODI rankings (eventhough they were at No.3 in the test ranking) . The new season saw a new coach being brought in by the BCCI admist great hype . What followed was a below par tri-series in SriLanka and another loss in the final . Was Greg Chappel the right person , questioned many ! The fact was that India performed decently in th Srilanka tri-series and could have won all the matches against Srilanka . The Zimbabwe series also showed a similar picture . The batting started to click but still the results did not change . Another defeat in the finals .
More that the results , what hogged the limelight was the tussle between the coach and the former captain . Ganguly`s injury made it easy for the selectors and Dravid for the first time had an extended run as captain .

India pose with the Winners trophy

The VIDEOCON CUP 2005 began with Srilanka billed as clear favorites since they were difficult to beat in the subcontinent . The Nagpur ODI saw the return of India`s ODI legend , Sachin Tendulkar . The first ODI set the tone for the series and India`s Asian rivals never really recovered from the early loss . With each game sprung a new strategy and with it a new hero . Be it Dhoni`s 183 at Jaipur ,Sachin`s 93 and Pathan`s 83 at Nagpur,Gambhir`s 100, Raina guiding India home at Pune, RP.Singh`s 4 wickets at Rajkot, Yuvraj`s return to form , great fielding efforts, Agarkar`s wickets at Pune and many more each player played his part superbly . The fielding looked to be on the upward swing and so did the performances. As a result the side which was World No.2 in the ODI table crshed to a 6-1 defeat. SAchin Tendulkar`s return and his role as a mentor definitely seemed to have an influence . The Indian captain did not seem to have any pressure of captaince and showed why he was in the World XI ODI side . Dhoni suddenly made us forget of all the wicketkeeping woes India had . Pathan showed glimpses of being a future all-rounder.
Another main feature was that the youth now has made it a problem of plenty for the Indians . With Old Faithfuls like Zaheer Khan and Balaji being left out of the side and waiting in the bench, India`s bench strength which was untested in the pst now seems quite strong .

With the Srilankans being thrashed in familiar conditions for Srilanka also , the Indians need to keep the focus going against a rejuvenated South African outfit which thrashed the World No.3 side NZ (before the series) . India could move up to No.3 in the rankings with a series win over South Africa and that would be a big boost ahead for the season which would pose many challenges like the Pakistan Series, ASIA CUP 2006, England Series , The Champions Trophy to be hosted by India and above all, The World Cup 2007 ! Its just the beginning and the success achieved may spur this young team on to achieve greater heights in an intriguing season which lies ahead!

The writer is a member of the Planetcricket Forums which is a well known Cricket Forum .

 

[ZoraxDoom]

Yay! :happy

This is good. Murali Kartik had a bad game, but no worries. he is still an ace spinner. Our batting is also good. We can bat deep, and all the batters can chip in when required. RP Singh has come good now, and we can use him. Sreesanth is also very good, bowls well in bursts. The more domestic matches he plays, the better he will be.
Dhoni is also a great find. Parthiv Patel should be tried out once again as a backup.
All I can say now is Yay :happy. Who needs Dada ?

 

[icyman]

Had they even had pathan or bhajji at Ahmedabad...lankans would have slumped to
7-0

 

[Cricketman]

Yay! :happy

This is good. Murali Kartik had a bad game, but no worries. he is still an ace spinner. Our batting is also good. We can bat deep, and all the batters can chip in when required. RP Singh has come good now, and we can use him. Sreesanth is also very good, bowls well in bursts. The more domestic matches he plays, the better he will be.
Dhoni is also a great find. Parthiv Patel should be tried out once again as a backup.
All I can say now is Yay :happy. Who needs Dada ?

Ganz should come in for Yuvi....one 79 doesn't make him "great"

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I never said so...but whats better? 79* against Lanka, or a duck against the West Zone?

 

[SaiSrini]

And who's better? A 24-25 year old player who saves 15-20 runs on the field and is a good bat or a 33 year old player who is sluggish out there on the field as well as running between wickets?

When Yuvraj starts batting, it is said that he starts 15-20 runs ahead! In the case of Ganguly, sometimes he starts with negative runs ahead!

 

[ZoraxDoom]

And, Yuvi is a better bowler than Ganguly too

 

[Indiangod]

India completed a comprehensive win to make it 6-1 (altough I wanted it to be 7-0 to India, who cares anyway, the lankans got a thrashing), first game Tendulkar scored 93 and Pathan scored 84, and H singh and Kartic chipped in with 3 wickets each. Second game, Pathan took 4 wkts, while Tendulkar socred a superb 70 n.o. Third game India was set a duanting target to win and Dhoni smashed his way to 183. 4th game, Agarkar took 5 wkts, and Dravid scored a fifty. 5th game Gambhir and Dravid both scored 100's, but India lost. 6th game Rp Singh took 4 wkts and Yuvraj scored 73 n.o. Last game the bowling was superb, Rp singh was bowling accurate, and Dhoni again smashed his way to 80, and showed his brillance. The Indian fielding as been top-class in the whole entire series and good things has happened to India.

 

[aussie1st]

And who's better? A 24-25 year old player who saves 15-20 runs on the field and is a good bat or a 33 year old player who is sluggish out there on the field as well as running between wickets?

When Yuvraj starts batting, it is said that he starts 15-20 runs ahead! In the case of Ganguly, sometimes he starts with negative runs ahead!

Why bring back Ganguly if you beat the number 2 side so comprehensively. Ganguly's career is all but over as India's batting was brillant.
If you don't think Yuvraj is the answer bring in some other young guy. India seem to have plenty of these all rounders floating around.

 

[Indiangod]

Yuvraj is a terrific batsmen, Yuvraj is a pure match-winniner, and one of the best fielders, he played well under-pressure in the natwest series final, a game vs Zim in Ind, 4th odi in Pak 2004, world cup vs Pak, his 84 on debut vs Aus, the 100 in the odi series in Zim, his hundred in Aus, when India was slipping a bit.

 

[aussie1st]

I agree Yuvraj has potential. Just needs to be more consistent with his performances. Definitely one to keep though as he is one of the big hitters in the Indian team. Very handy for ODIs.

 

[SaiSrini]

Time now to move on to South Africa... Our motto should be to crush them to pieces although its no easy task at all! But our aim should be to crush our opponents. If we have to upstage Australia from the top of the ladder, we need to adopt this policy!

At least for now, Time to party for the Men in Blue!

I agree Yuvraj has potential. Just needs to be more consistent with his performances. Definitely one to keep though as he is one of the big hitters in the Indian team. Very handy for ODIs.

Yuvraj definitely cant be thrown away in haste! Chappell and the team management knows what his calibre is. When its his day, he makes the opposition think of other areas in their profession!!!!!! he is a similar kind of player like Sehwag who on song, will tear the bowling into pieces! A brilliant fielder and a handy bowler who can break partnerships at crucial situations!

An insult for this all rounder to be compared with a one dimensional guy like Ganguly!