Sri Lanka in India

[SaiSrini]

I have seen Sachin get defensive at the sight of a landmark.. There are various instances. Even when approaching an 100, he slows down in a big way in the 90's... i dont say that he is not a team man. but definitely landmarks have some importance to him for sure...

yes its also a fact that he's not fully fit. but that cant be taken as a reason for this. he got himself operated upon and if he wasnt really fit, then he shouldnt have made it to the team in the first place! by playing with a "not fully fit" condition, he is not only risking himself but also is putting Team India at stake!

(Hope this does not paint me as an anti-Tendulkar person! I am a very big fan of him and I have fought for him against various anti-Tendulkar fans! But I want him to succeed and I want to see it!)

 

[aditya123]

Could somebody explain to me as to why Agarker is bowling instead of Zaheer Khan?

i don`t know hy noone bothered answering to your question !
Zaheer should have been in the team .
Although Agarkar bowled well in the ODIs , test cricket is a different gam altogether . I do not think Agarkar will be a great bet in the long run . He may win you a game here and there but will never be a match winner which Zaheer can be . Zaheer has 3 consecutive five wicket hauls outside the subcontinent . He struck a rich vein of form in the domestic competition but for some reason, the selectors preferred a `batting allrounder` for him !
You all know who the batting allrounder is !

 

[ZoraxDoom]

You all know who the batting allrounder is !

Pathan? Viru? :confused:

 

[icyman]

yes its also a fact that he's not fully fit. but that cant be taken as a reason for this. he got himself operated upon and if he wasnt really fit, then he shouldnt have made it to the team in the first place! by playing with a "not fully fit" condition, he is not only risking himself but also is putting Team India at stake!

(Hope this does not paint me as an anti-Tendulkar person! I am a very big fan of him and I have fought for him against various anti-Tendulkar fans! But I want him to succeed and I want to see it!)

This does not paint you as an anti tendulkar person.
Even if it does,remember that we are a democracy and on an online forum everyone is free to express his/her views on a third person or article.

Anyways,If sachin is not fit then he should not risk playing himself.I feel that he has'nt actually done anything recently apart from those two 90's he got against sri lanka.After that there has been a lull.
If the Chappell way is to be followed then tendulkar too should be asked to prove his form.We are therefore to remember that tendulkar too is human and not demi-god (as indians and all others have painted him)

 

[Adarsh]

Forfeiting an innings is not match-fixing. Its simply declaring one innings at "0" and setting up a target. Perfectly fine and within laws and has happened few times notably between SA and ENG, which England won and was the most exiting match of that series.

I don't think you understand that, as Andrew said, the match between England and SAfrica WAS fixed. As in, Cronje took money for forfeiting that match. If he didn't, he wouldn't have agreed to that 'deal' of forfeiting innings. He was (wrongly) appreciated for that and people thought it was for the good of cricket. In fact, he did it so that he could lose, get the money AND be appreciated for what he did.

 

[furyfoxx]

i don`t know hy noone bothered answering to your question !
Zaheer should have been in the team .
Although Agarkar bowled well in the ODIs , test cricket is a different gam altogether . I do not think Agarkar will be a great bet in the long run . He may win you a game here and there but will never be a match winner which Zaheer can be . Zaheer has 3 consecutive five wicket hauls outside the subcontinent . He struck a rich vein of form in the domestic competition but for some reason, the selectors preferred a `batting allrounder` for him !
You all know who the batting allrounder is !

Zaheer's story is pretty funny... i read that he pulled out of the sri-lanka odi series for 'personal reasons' but it hasnt been confirmed yet.... there have also been rumors of an incident wherein he 'lunged' at the coach Greg Chappell. Wonder how true that is?

As i said about Ganguly's case as well, there's more to this than meets the eye.

 

[andrew_nixon]

Forfeiting an innings is not match-fixing. Its simply declaring one innings at "0" and setting up a target. Perfectly fine and within laws and has happened few times notably between SA and ENG, which England won and was the most exiting match of that series. You cannot score a six if don't throw the dice. India and SL should have done the same thing, but they won't because they doubt their abilities and prefer "draws" over victories and hence they are not one of the sporting teams and will never be one of the best in cricket. You give few and take few.....

Firstly, forfeiting an innings has only happened once in test cricket, and the match it happened in (South Africa v England at Centurion 2000) WAS fixed.

Also, forfeiting an innings is NOT the same as declaring at 0. They are technically two different things.

 

[nightprowler10]

i don`t know hy noone bothered answering to your question !
Zaheer should have been in the team .
Although Agarkar bowled well in the ODIs , test cricket is a different gam altogether . I do not think Agarkar will be a great bet in the long run . He may win you a game here and there but will never be a match winner which Zaheer can be . Zaheer has 3 consecutive five wicket hauls outside the subcontinent . He struck a rich vein of form in the domestic competition but for some reason, the selectors preferred a `batting allrounder` for him !
You all know who the batting allrounder is !

Thanx for the info. He's always been my favorite Indian cricketer barr Dravid, and I don't like the fact that he doesn't get many chances anymore.

 

[SaiSrini]

Thanx for the info. He's always been my favorite Indian cricketer barr Dravid, and I don't like the fact that he doesn't get many chances anymore.

Zaheer Khan is reported to be having an attitude problem... He is also being alleged to have physically assaulted John Wright when he was asked to practice on the ground... Its also reported that he has a similar problem with Chappell.

Otherwise, he is a very good bowler! But after a great start, he dwindled out. He started doing commercials and he was also said to be the favorite of lot of women, etc. I think thats his problem more than for what he has done on-field! He needs to be discplined!

 

[cricket_lover]

Zaheer did have disciplinary issues. I'm not sure if he still has them, for he has performed very well in domestic season and his coach is very happy. But his exclusion is obvious, you had to find a place for Ganguly and since Zaheer had been away for a while, there were less resistance for his exclusion.

Regarding Sachin, he does slow down, a bit, when he is in the 90's. But not when he is 10~ or 20~ runs not out, he plays a compact game. He knows what exactly he is doing, and probably the best student of cricket! So Sachin is not a worry for India. It would have been nice if they played a practice match before the test series, like a 3-day or something.

The reason is, after this tour, we'll be heading to Pakistan and then tests in England, you want your players to be confident right from the beginning. And for that, you'll need practice.

 

[SaiSrini]

And also what happened to Chappell's statements like "we need to preserve Sachin but not making him play every game"? Except for the Ahmedabad ODI against Sri Lanka, Sachin has played in ODI's and in 2 days of the Chennai test. I agree with Chappell when he says they need to preserve Sachin. They should rest him for some matches and give others some chance.

I still feel Sachin should not play the Ahmedabad test match. Yuvraj or Kaif can play in his place (if Ganguly is dropped, then both should play!). Sachin gets more rest before the Pakistan series if this happens!

Zaheer did have disciplinary issues. I'm not sure if he still has them, for he has performed very well in domestic season and his coach is very happy. But his exclusion is obvious, you had to find a place for Ganguly and since Zaheer had been away for a while, there were less resistance for his exclusion.

Regarding Sachin, he does slow down, a bit, when he is in the 90's. But not when he is 10~ or 20~ runs not out, he plays a compact game. He knows what exactly he is doing, and probably the best student of cricket! So Sachin is not a worry for India. It would have been nice if they played a practice match before the test series, like a 3-day or something.

The reason is, after this tour, we'll be heading to Pakistan and then tests in England, you want your players to be confident right from the beginning. And for that, you'll need practice.

Regarding Zaheer, Chappell wants to make sure Zaheer gets rid of all his discplinary issues. If he had picked Zaheer immediately after his 17 wickets in the domestic season, then it would have sent a signal to Zaheer that wickets are what he needs to be in the team. So he will pick wickets but continue his bad attitude in the team which will in turn affect other members! Zaheer has to fully know that only a good attitude coupled with good performances will help him remain in the Indian team! So Chappell is probably waiting for some more time before bringing back Zaheer! I am sure Zaheer will come back some time or the other!

 

[cricket_lover]

I kind of agree with you. but if Sachin is rested, he is short of match practice. He is in some desperate need of match practice, just to get that rhythm going. That was one reason for his rather slow innings in Chennai. I think Kaif really deserved a test place. Since that series against Australia, he has been very consistent in the ODI's. He's being tipped as a future test captain! and we need him to have the experience.

Yuvraj too needs to get into the team but for now it is just difficult for the coach/selectors to accomodate youngsters. When India plays against "weaker" oppositions, they could opt for playing with Kaif, Yuvraj and V.Rao so that they gain experience and when one of the seniors fail, they could grab that place.
YOu cannot expect youngsters to perform well in a test match without that much experience. Look at Clarke for example, he is a very technical player, very similar to Sachin in his early days. But bad run has cost him a place. We don't want a similar thing.

What happens is, basically, you get Kaif or Yuvraj to perform in few matches. If they perform well!, it is good for the team. INcase they fail in couple of innings, pressure is on them, and they might very well lose their place. That'll affect their confidence, it is a very big blow. This has been the problem India has been facing. We've got the talent, we are just not using it correctly.

i really hope Chappell can rectify this.

 

[abaddon_67]

What lack of match practice for Sachin ?
Hes played 10 one dayers in the last 1 month .. How much more net / match practice does he need ?

 

[SaiSrini]

Yup... Sachin has more than enough match practice now...

He can get his rhythm going in the nets by facing good quality bowlers... But he needs some amount of rest too to keep healing his elbow till it becomes 100% okay! He is not 100% okay yet!

 

[furyfoxx]

Sehwag Hospitalised

Muchos bad news ppl... i read on a news site that Sehwag has been hospitalised with throat infection and body ache. Bad news for India as he may not be fit for the match but theres no confirmation.

Also rumors are that in such a case Dhoni will open with Gambhir....YikeS!!