Tournment Ends

[Arunava]

India is persisting with Harbhajan because we want a spinner who can replace Anil Kumble. So for that, the spinner has to have a big reputation of running through opposition teams and Harbhajan has that in quite good amounts. He needs a break right now to sort his stuff out. Definitely he is not over yet. But a break might help him see whats wrong. He is mainly an attacking bowler and he should know that. If the opposition tries to disturb his rhythm by stepping out and hitting him, he should withstand that and still be able to attack and prise out wickets. Thats what is called 'battle'.

Bhajji is Kumble's successor, but he needs to prove that better

This whole chase to find Kumble's successor will sink India honestly. There can be no other Kumble, no other Michael Jackson, no other Sachin, no other Shane or no other Saisrini. .just let Harbhajan be himself and then there will be no other Harbhajan. .well anyway there can't be any other Harbhajan :laugh. Still yea Harbhajan is world class and yes he is attacking bowler. .but how can he attack if dhoni doesn't let him freedom to attack because the other end is weak(Mishra). .Bowl Zaheer and Harbhajan in Attack mode for a while. .then relax with Ishant and Mishra :laugh and comeback with Zaheer and Bhajji again. .

 

[pcfan123]

The little of the match that I did watch, Harbhajan was bowling with 6 guys on the leg side and just firing in at the leg stump. Not going to get the wicket of Mahela or any class batsman that way.

Did not get to see final sessions so not sure if he actually started to attack later. Mishra also looked woeful from what I saw.

 

[SaiSrini]

This whole chase to find Kumble's successor will sink India honestly. There can be no other Kumble, no other Michael Jackson, no other Sachin, no other Shane or no other Saisrini. .just let Harbhajan be himself and then there will be no other Harbhajan. .well anyway there can't be any other Harbhajan :laugh. Still yea Harbhajan is world class and yes he is attacking bowler. .but how can he attack if dhoni doesn't let him freedom to attack because the other end is weak(Mishra). .Bowl Zaheer and Harbhajan in Attack mode for a while. .then relax with Ishant and Mishra :laugh and comeback with Zaheer and Bhajji again. .

:laugh:laugh You got me in splits with that!

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

given dhoni's tactics it almost looks like harbhajan should be dropped.

2 sessions bowling containment overs down the legside, it's not even enough to stop sri lanka winning, they will quite happily crawl along for another 50 overs like this tomorrow, build a lead close to 300 then go at them.

interesting aside to this series is, if murali takes a ton of wickets (increasingly likely seeing as if india lose the next two will be result pitches and rank turners) it will bring his average in india down nearer his career average. could that be the final nail in murali warne debate?

 

[RoboRocks]

I'm surprised at the Indian bowling and tactics.

Mishra's not going to remove anyone bowling around the wicket unless he's able to turn the ball big and have deadly accuracy to be able to bowl the right length. Warne is the only one in history who can do that on a regular basis.
He was better off bowling a full length and trying to draw a batsman into a drive, where then a googly could come into play.

Harbhajan bowled too short at times as well, so India have real problems on the bowling front. I don't see them getting 20 wickets unless the pitch really deteriorates.

 

[SaiSrini]

India will now play it very slowly and try to eat up time. But I wish they remain positive and keep the confidence up. You never know. A flurry of wickets in the morning and a typically aggressive but long Sehwag knock can still change things around. The wicket still is so placid and great for batting. I dont think it has started showing any wear 'n tear signs. If India can pick up the remaining wickets for less than 60-70 runs and manage to wipe out the SL lead by tonight, we can have an interesting final day.

 

[nikhil_99]

SL is really in a strong position, even if they loose few wickets early today, still they are leading by good margin, today is day 4, so now th SL spinners will definately will be more dangerous lets see...

 

[pcfan123]

India will now play it very slowly and try to eat up time. But I wish they remain positive and keep the confidence up. You never know. A flurry of wickets in the morning and a typically aggressive but long Sehwag knock can still change things around. The wicket still is so placid and great for batting. I dont think it has started showing any wear 'n tear signs. If India can pick up the remaining wickets for less than 60-70 runs and manage to wipe out the SL lead by tonight, we can have an interesting final day.

A victory for India is well beyond sight. The can only play it slow and hope for an easy draw. If they do manage to wrap up Sri Lanka there is still no way they can build enough of a lead and have time to take 10 more wickets. They only took 2 wickets on day 3!

No knock from Sehwag or flurry of quick wickets will turn anything around. This is either a well deserved win for Sri Lanka or a moderatly difficult draw for India.

Personally hoping for a Sri Lanka win so that the next 2 wickets are result pitches.

 

[Cricketman]

Just shows how weak our bowling attack really is.

We miss Kumble. That's a fact. Jayawardane is probably one of the best players of spin in the world, maybe even ever, and the tactics that Mishra and Harbhajan used were just terrible. Harbhajan is NOT ready, and I doubt he will ever be, to lead our bowling and spin attack. But honestly who can do any better? Ojha is too young. Piyush is wishy washy. Murali Kartik is constantly overlooked. I had hopes in Mishy but his performance today has really set me off.

If only our top order had clicked to post 600, or Dravid got stuck in again on day 2 we wouldn't have to depend on our bowlers in the first place. But ifs and buts mean nothing in the end now do they.

Cricketman added 3 Minutes and 24 Seconds later...

I've got a feeling that Harbhajan and Mishra are gonna look so bad if Murali and Herath rip through our batting sometime tomorrow.

I think that's exactly what is going to happen.

Nobodies like Prasad and that other guy (don't even know his name) can rip through our stacked top order, yet Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra cannot contain a relatively inexperienced Siril side? Something is wrong here.

 

[hacker]

Nobodies like Prasad and that other guy (don't even know his name) can rip through our stacked top order, yet Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra cannot contain a relatively inexperienced Siril side? Something is wrong here.

What the hell you mean by inexperience?????

I think SL hv good chance to win this match...

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

Nobodies like Prasad and that other guy (don't even know his name) can rip through our stacked top order, yet Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra cannot contain a relatively inexperienced Siril side? Something is wrong here.

in what sense are sri lanka's batsmen less experienced than that bowling line up?

mishra has played 5 tests, and sharma less than 20 anyway. Jayawardene has played over a 100. dilsh, sanga and samaraweera have over 50 caps.

the pitch isn't great for bowling but on paper sri lanka have a strong line up that's in form.

 

[Howsie]

Nobodies like Prasad and that other guy (don't even know his name) can rip through our stacked top order, yet Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra cannot contain a relatively inexperienced Siril side? Something is wrong here.

That's a pretty poor comment on so many levels.

 

[hacker]

Indian team has Individual great players at the moment, much better than Sri Lanka man to man. .but the team lacks creativity, imagination and cohesiveness- which can do wonders for any team.

I dont think that inida hv much better team than SL man to man. may be gambir and dhoni are better player that SL operner and WK. ithink that SL is much better than india on current form (last 12 to 18 month)

 

[hacker]

i think india should not let SL to get easy runs...and try to bat all day..i mean day 4 and 5

 

[SaiSrini]

Nobodies like Prasad and that other guy (don't even know his name) can rip through our stacked top order, yet Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra cannot contain a relatively inexperienced Siril side? Something is wrong here.

Sri Lanka are No. 2 in test cricket, ahead of India and Australia. They are also playing in subcontinent conditions where they are so used to (India is not too different from Sri Lanka except for maybe the crowds, which has also declined in India for test cricket). Thushara is missing due to injury, but still they have the option of Kulasekara and Malinga which they have not used. They have Mendis which they havent used. Their top order is quite strong with Dilshan, Sangakkara, Jayawardena and Samaraweera. There are some people who would like to portray every team that India plays against as weak and inexperienced to either make fun of India or to downplay their achievements. Hope you're not feeding them.

We dont know how India's 2nd innings will go. So lets keep the pessimism down. I think we might bat well enough again too.