Sri Lanka in India

[SaiSrini]

350 is quite low. India should think about occupying the whole pre-lunch session. We'll need to accumulate runs at a good pace as well. 400~ will do the job. 5 sessions is good enough to get the SL bowled out but we need a high score as well.

If I am right, the Kolkatta test followed a similar script. India extending their lead to 384 in the fifth and final day and then bowling out Australia for 212. The difference here is that the wicket is slightly less reacting to the spinners! But still its a turning wicket and is expected to aid Anil Kumble and Harbhajan on the final day! So here we have to revise our final target! A 400 lead should be what we have to aim for! We should also allow ourselves at least 4 or more sessions to bowl Sri Lanka out!

 

[Dhoni]

I think its not the case that you can score 350 in 5 sessions or not, its more of if the team can handle the pressure of chasing such a big total. Dont forget what happened when india tried to go for draw in fifth day of test three against Pak earlier this year.

Don't ever underestimate Lankan!!! You never know Sangakkara might scores a quick hundred or even more. Definitely we need a lead of 400 today and make Lankan play 30-40 overs and try to pick up few wickets; and then look for the victory on the 5th and final day by getting the Lankan all out.

 

[prarara]

What a great knock by Gujarati hero Ifran Pathan!!! He picked up 3 wickets and scored important 93 runs. I don't care what people say, but to me he's a great all-rounder. He always perform for India.
India should look to win this one as they're in a commanding position. Ganguly, Yuvi and Dhoni needs to get some quick runs tomorrow and give the Sri Lankan a target of 400+ to chase. Come on India!!!

Pathan, India's Imran Khan?

 

[Dhoni]

Pathan, India's Imran Khan?

With the bat he is, but don't think with bowling! Pathan is a good bowler but not like Imran Khan though, but he'll improve and become a bowler like Imran Khan one day.
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EDIT: Today it's going to be a crucial day for both sides. India will be looking to add few more runs to the total and on the other hand Sri Lanka will be hoping that the magician Murli will repeat what he did in the 1st Indian inning. So, can't wait for the match to start. Come on Dada!! Come on Yuvi and Dhoni!!!!

 

[m_vaughan]

With the bat he is, but don't think with bowling! Pathan is a good bowler but not like Imran Khan though, but he'll improve and become a bowler like Imran Khan.

Chill with the Imran Khan part. Pathan is definately improving with every game, and yesterday he showed he was more than capable of scoring runs as an opener as well.

 

[Cricketman]

Argh, i didn't want pathan to open today. They're giving him too much exposure! Some people may say taht's a good thing but hear me out....:

We have to keep Pathan as our "trump card" with the bat. If you constantly give him opportunities at the top, other teams will learn his weaknesses, ect. Say suddenly we are 44/8 (nz match). Because of Pathan we managed to hit a respectable 164 ( )
I don't know if you guys understand me but its kinda hard to explain. I also want him to concentrate more on his bowling! India have countless amounts of batsman, and with Agarkar and Yadav in the team, we bat till 9 or 10. Now, our bowling is improving, but lets face the facts, Pathan's our best. He has to lead with the new ball. He picks up wickets with ease. I don't want him to become like say Kallis, who was a pure allrounder when he started and now only bowls part time. I want him to stay like Pollock or Streak, opening the bowling, attacking in the death and batting with the tail. Occasionally coming out in the middle order to smack a few runs...

I hope you guys understand my point.

now what do you think would have happened to bowling allrounders like Pollock or Streak if they came at the opening slot or in the top order? I don't think they'll play as well as Pathan. I think Pathan is the next Wasim Akram, in all ways. He's going to be our Bowling king, and a force to be reconed with with the bat.

 

[Dhoni]

Argh, i didn't want pathan to open today. They're giving him too much exposure! Some people may say taht's a good thing but hear me out....:

We have to keep Pathan as our "trump card" with the bat. If you constantly give him opportunities at the top, other teams will learn his weaknesses, ect. Say suddenly we are 44/8 (nz match). Because of Pathan we managed to hit a respectable 164 ( )
I don't know if you guys understand me but its kinda hard to explain. I also want him to concentrate more on his bowling! India have countless amounts of batsman, and with Agarkar and Yadav in the team, we bat till 9 or 10. Now, our bowling is improving, but lets face the facts, Pathan's our best. He has to lead with the new ball. He picks up wickets with ease. I don't want him to become like say Kallis, who was a pure allrounder when he started and now only bowls part time. I want him to stay like Pollock or Streak, opening the bowling, attacking in the death and batting with the tail. Occasionally coming out in the middle order to smack a few runs...

I hope you guys understand my point.

now what do you think would have happened to bowling allrounders like Pollock or Streak if they came at the opening slot or in the top order? I don't think they'll play as well as Pathan. I think Pathan is the next Wasim Akram, in all ways. He's going to be our Bowling king, and a force to be reconed with with the bat.

I understand what you mean and also I agree with you. Pathan is our best bowler and we don't want him to be like Kallis one day. We want him to be like Pollock and Streak and bat in middle order. He is an all-rounder no doubt.

 

[cricket_lover]

He isn't Imran Khan. Khan was legendary, he bowled against formidable line-ups in the world and did reasonably well both at home and abroad.
Pathan is an all-rounder in the making, but you can't call him an all rounder...just like Kaneria, who is a good leg-spinner in the making but not one of the best yet.

 

[SaiSrini]

Argh, i didn't want pathan to open today. They're giving him too much exposure! Some people may say taht's a good thing but hear me out....:

We have to keep Pathan as our "trump card" with the bat. If you constantly give him opportunities at the top, other teams will learn his weaknesses, ect. Say suddenly we are 44/8 (nz match). Because of Pathan we managed to hit a respectable 164 ( )
I don't know if you guys understand me but its kinda hard to explain. I also want him to concentrate more on his bowling! India have countless amounts of batsman, and with Agarkar and Yadav in the team, we bat till 9 or 10. Now, our bowling is improving, but lets face the facts, Pathan's our best. He has to lead with the new ball. He picks up wickets with ease. I don't want him to become like say Kallis, who was a pure allrounder when he started and now only bowls part time. I want him to stay like Pollock or Streak, opening the bowling, attacking in the death and batting with the tail. Occasionally coming out in the middle order to smack a few runs...

I hope you guys understand my point.

now what do you think would have happened to bowling allrounders like Pollock or Streak if they came at the opening slot or in the top order? I don't think they'll play as well as Pathan. I think Pathan is the next Wasim Akram, in all ways. He's going to be our Bowling king, and a force to be reconed with with the bat.

One more thing. You give the instance of the 44/8 that India got in New Zealand. Had Pathan opened, he might have stood and batted out there and India might not have plunged to such despairing depths!

Pathan is not our permanent solution to the opening slot. But he is the first person in the line to be called to open if we fall short of either Sehwag or Gambhir!

He is now putting pressure on Gambhir! With Sehwag in for the next test, I wont blame it if the team management think of persisting with Yuvraj who is playing right now and dropping Gambhir for Sehwag and opening with Pathan or Dhoni! Ahmedabad is also expected to be a turning wicket and so the bounce is not going to be big. So I think that might happen (though not sure!)

He isn't Imran Khan. Khan was legendary, he bowled against formidable line-ups in the world and did reasonably well both at home and abroad.
Pathan is an all-rounder in the making, but you can't call him an all rounder...just like Kaneria, who is a good leg-spinner in the making but not one of the best yet.

Pathan has to make more impact on Indian wickets! Also he should fare well against the formidable sides! He shouldnt rely too much on his swing alone to pick wickets! He needs that extra yard or so of pace badly! At his speed, when there is no swing, he becomes ineffective most times!

 

[cricket_lover]

True. I'm sure he'll try to improve his speed, for now, he is still a growing fast bowler. He'll need to bowl consistently in the mid 130's.

COming to the match, Ganguly/Yuvi are playing quite well. I hope we take the lead beyond 400, and then declare. I mean, 4+ sessions is enough to get the opposition out!

 

[aditya123]

a 400 lead will be achieved in the first session itself . If we bat for another 45 mins after lunch (if we are not bowled out)
and give SRL 4 and a half sessions to bat, we have it in our bag .

 

[sunnyvempati]

i think to give ourselves a legitimate chance of winning..we should declare at lunch.....sri lankan batting lineup is way too experienced to figure out what to do in situations if we keep batting after lunch

 

[SaiSrini]

a 400 lead will be achieved in the first session itself . If we bat for another 45 mins after lunch (if we are not bowled out)
and give SRL 4 and a half sessions to bat, we have it in our bag .

i dont think a 400 lead is possible within the first session going by how they are playing right now. They are playing sensibly not taking any risks.

I think the 400 lead might come after the lunch session!

Dont think a win here is easy for India! The wicket is slower and lower and its tougher to prise batsmen out! Unless it changes dramatically for the good of India, I am highly worried!

i think to give ourselves a legitimate chance of winning..we should declare at lunch.....sri lankan batting lineup is way too experienced to figure out what to do in situations if we keep batting after lunch

No No! We should believe in ourselves to win with four sessions remaining!

We have won with 2 sessions remaining before (of course, on a slightly more turning pitch!)

 

[sunnyvempati]

i'd say we have about 30 more overs..and if india does not score atleast 100 runs ..we won't win the match...here's wat dravid prolly said to ganguly and yuvy....play the first 10-15 overs out and get a good look at the pitch and then go for ur shots and really make a run at it..i wouldnt' be surprised if they sent bhajji out there next just to get a quick run boost..we all kno bhajji can bat..even w/ no footwork but thas the type of player they need coming in next..and if they can post a good 400 lead on the board....this could be their only chance of winning...

if that does not happen...chances of india winning get even slimmer

 

[SaiSrini]

i'd say we have about 30 more overs..and if india does not score atleast 100 runs ..we won't win the match...here's wat dravid prolly said to ganguly and yuvy....play the first 10-15 overs out and get a good look at the pitch and then go for ur shots and really make a run at it..i wouldnt' be surprised if they sent bhajji out there next just to get a quick run boost..we all kno bhajji can bat..even w/ no footwork but thas the type of player they need coming in next..and if they can post a good 400 lead on the board....this could be their only chance of winning...

if that does not happen...chances of india winning get even slimmer

Are you mad? Will Dravid is his right senses send Bhajji to get quick runs? We have the best man for it - MS DHONI!

India have played very well in the first hour! Now its time to probably force the situation and get runs faster than so far! I would count on Ganguly to do it! He is more experienced and he has more chances of coming out successfully if he goes for runs!

Sourav is a mentor too - Chappell

Well, Saurav is doing all what is needed to do! Thats a particularly pleasing comment from Chappell! Will help to even more heal the sore wounds of the past!

Was also acknowledged by the commentators about Chappell's comment!

Update: NO YAAR! Saurav gone for 39!

Dhoni hits Murali over the long on for four! Should be exciting since Dhoni is there! Wow! The crowd is chanting 'Dhoni, Dhoni, Dhoni'... Its awesome and its electric!

Srinath and Shiva (Sivaramakrishnan) debating on who to drop for the next test in the Indian batting order if Sehwag comes back!

I think it should be Gambhir but if India want to give Gambhir more chances, then it has to be Yuvraj! Because Saurav is turning out to be a solid batsman for India! He was solid in both innings here and has experience. Shows improvement in fielding. Also would Chappell drop one of the newly found mentor of the side and make him one among the others? I prbably dont think so!

Tough problem but one that the selectors will be pleased to have!