Tournment Ends

[pcfan123]

Shows just how class Harbhajan is if someone like Murali can whack im like that. Just a year or two ago I would have put Murali in the same batting league as Martin, Mendis and Kaneria. His batting has improved ridiculously, but still should not be carting around India's premiere spinner.

 

[Dare]

Gambhir not playing the 3rd test is a huge blow for India. Far more reliable and consistent then Sehwag and who knows how his replacement will do.

Also saw some interview with Murali saying this will probably be his last tour.

 

[pcfan123]

Good, Murali is a shadow of the bowler he used to be, frankly its getting old now.

 

[CaptainOZ]

Good, Murali is a shadow of the bowler he used to be, frankly its getting old now.

He'd be hanging in for the 800 wickets I'd think.

 

[Dare]

He'd be hanging in for the 800 wickets I'd think.

Yea same, he probably thought he would get to 800 in this series.

 

[aditya123]

Looks like Sri Lanka will have to wait for some more time before they conquer their `final frontier`. Frankly speaking though, I don`t see them being real No.2 test side material yet. I`m yet to see them winning a test in Australia or SA. In fact they did not win a test against Australia even in Sri Lanka the last time Ausralia toured Lanka (admittedly a long time ago). They have`nt won a series in England or West Indies either. They did beat the Kiwis in NZ though (or was it just a drawn series again?). They`ve been pretty much unbeatable at home though.

However, overall India have been a far better test side than them in the past 3 or 4 years.

 

[pcfan123]

yea but SA > AUS > IND still.

 

[Dare]

Not having Thushara and Kulasekara is a big problem for the Srilis in this series. Next test they should bring in Kulasekara if Prasad is not fit.

 

[SaiSrini]

yea but SA > AUS > IND still.

I would agree to that! This would be my lineup

SA - AUS - IND - ENG - NZ - SL - PAK - WI

saisrini80 added 2 Minutes and 37 Seconds later...

is this serious?

I have never heard of an Indian player skip a game to attend the wedding of his family people. He has all the rights to do it and I wont blame him for it, but I hope he is not criticised by the Indian public because they might have this tendency to say "is your sister's wedding more important than playing for your country?". But I wont say that because he is not fighting in the army or fighting to save people of his nation, but he is just playing for entertainment of the fans who watch the game and earn money.

 

[aditya123]

Not having Thushara and Kulasekara is a big problem for the Srilis in this series. Next test they should bring in Kulasekara if Prasad is not fit.

I don`t see them making a huge difference to be honest with you. Kulasekhara with the old ball will be cannon fodder with his pace and Tushara has played against India before with very limited success. These Indian batsman scored tons of runs against better bowling attacks of
Australia (Lee,Clark,Johnson,Siddle) and England(Harmisson?,Flintoff, Anderson,Swann,Broad) just last year. Those are argualbly better or at least more seasoned pace bowlers than Tushara and Kulasekhara. That does not mean Kulasekhara and Tushara cannot take wickets but its highl unlikely they`d have done any better than Welegedara did at Ahmedabad.

Its Murali not picking up wickets which is a bigger problem for them. I still don`t know why they dropped Kulasekhara.

 

[Dare]

I have never heard of an Indian player skip a game to attend the wedding of his family people. He has all the rights to do it and I wont blame him for it, but I hope he is not criticised by the Indian public because they might have this tendency to say "is your sister's wedding more important than playing for your country?". But I wont say that because he is not fighting in the army or fighting to save people of his nation, but he is just playing for entertainment of the fans who watch the game and earn money.

o I know he has every right to do that, I was just asking if its actual serious info or just cricinfo getting their stuff wrong.

I don`t see them making a huge difference to be honest with you. Kulasekhara with the old ball will be cannon fodder with his pace and Tushara has played against India before with very limited success. These Indian batsman scored tons of runs against better bowling attacks of
Australia (Lee,Clark,Johnson,Siddle) and England(Harmisson?,Flintoff, Anderson,Swann,Broad) just last year. Those are argualbly better or at least more seasoned pace bowlers than Tushara and Kulasekhara. That does not mean Kulasekhara and Tushara cannot take wickets but its highl unlikely they`d have done any better than Welegedara did at Ahmedabad.

Its Murali not picking up wickets which is a bigger problem for them. I still don`t know why they dropped Kulasekhara.

well yea the biggest problem has been Muralis form but those 2 guys are probably best pace bowling options Sri Lanka have. Thushara being probably the quickest, at the pace of Prasad.

 

[pcfan123]

"is your sister's wedding more important than playing for your country?"

Yes it is much more important. There will be many more Tests to play for India, but only the one wedding for his sister (unless she is American :laugh)

 

[aditya123]

yea but SA > AUS > IND still.

SA> INDIA, I`d agree but AUS > IND is debatable. Australia toured India with a far better and settled side than the one they have currently and lost badly (2-0). Even the 2-1 defeat which India faced in Australia last year was a close fought one. I`d still put my money on India doing well in Australia against Australia if we were to play them with a fully fit pace attack of Zak,Ishant and Sreesanth firing. Our batting usually does well against Australia as well.

Don`t forget Australia have lost 3 out of their last 4 test series to India,SA and England which is the reason why they are at No.4 in the rankings currently. India also currently have a 6 match unbeaten run against the Aussies in tests.

 

[pcfan123]

On paper sure , but I think Australia is a much more disciplined and all round team than India.

The Aussie bowling is miles above Indias as is their fielding. Batting wise its a toss up in Test cricket. With Siddle and Johnson constantly improving and Sharma falling off the wagon (too early to tell if Sree's return is a flash in the pan or something substantial) Id back the Aussies to take 20 Indian wickets more than Id back the Indians to take 20 Aussie wickets.

 

[aditya123]

On paper sure , but I think Australia is a much more disciplined and all round team than India.

The Aussie bowling is miles above Indias as is their fielding. Batting wise its a toss up in Test cricket. With Siddle and Johnson constantly improving and Sharma falling off the wagon (too early to tell if Sree's return is a flash in the pan or something substantial) Id back the Aussies to take 20 Indian wickets more than Id back the Indians to take 20 Aussie wickets.

There was a reason why I used the word debatable (in bold).