West Indian Tour of India, 2013: Sachin's 200th Test Appearance

[War]

If the the BCCI had sense like the rest of the world & had DRS available in this series, Tendy could still be batting.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

There is a far cry about the inclusion of DRS but honestly i am not really impressed with it. I don't want to take down DRS totally by calling it a crap, there are certain amendments to be made in it before it can be put to use just like some former players like Gilchrist feel.

 

[playkid12]

The DRS isn't perfect, but it is still the best system we have. It is superior to umpires. Rejecting it for not being 100% fool proof while accepting umpiring, which is much worse, makes no logical sense.

It doesn't matter though. Tendulkar's lil innings is done.

 

[ferg512]

That is what we call it as, 'Farewell to a legend'. If our mindset fails to accept, yeah it is better to turn it off and stay away from it.

Yeah, I don't mean to rain on the parade, its just not my cup of tea. I mean there is still a game of cricket going on out there, hopefully the Indian side haven't forgotten that. Really impressed by Shami, India surprisingly have a decent crop of bowlers now with Bhuvi, Shami, Yadav and Aaron (just need to get the last two on the pitch). Hopefully this means it will be a very long time before Ishant and Vinay Kumar are even thought about for any Indian side, they are just not good enough. What happening with Zaheer btw? Heard hes actually fit now which should make a world of difference.

 

[aditya123]

Yeah, I don't mean to rain on the parade, its just not my cup of tea. I mean there is still a game of cricket going on out there, hopefully the Indian side haven't forgotten that. Really impressed by Shami, India surprisingly have a decent crop of bowlers now with Bhuvi, Shami, Yadav and Aaron (just need to get the last two on the pitch). Hopefully this means it will be a very long time before Ishant and Vinay Kumar are even thought about for any Indian side, they are just not good enough. What happening with Zaheer btw? Heard hes actually fit now which should make a world of difference.

Yadav`s fit and been good in the tests he has played so far. Zaheer is fit now and looks like the selectors want him to play a couple more domestic games to prove his fitness before they choose him. I think if all goes well, our seam attack in SA will consist of Bhuvi, Shami, Yadav, Zaheer and one other seamer from the pool of Unadkat, Aaron, Mohit Sharma or Ishant. Add Ashwin, Jadeja and Ojha to the mix and you might have a decent bowling attack in SA.

 

[zeustrojanstark]

Ashwin is nearing a well deserved half century here. He has put up a partnership quiet a few times when India are in kind of a sticky situation. Well played Ashwin. Also RG Sharma is on his way to a century in his debut. He is brimming with confidence and form.

 

[macintosh]

Ashwin is a really useful cricketer in tests. His batting has also improved a lot.
Allows India to fit in a bowling allrounder/bowler when needed.

Can afford to have 5 bowlers overseas now I guess, that would be our best bet. 2 spinners + 3 pacers or 4 pacers + 1 spinner.

 

[Samuels]

If the the BCCI had sense like the rest of the world & had DRS available in this series, Tendy could still be batting.

Virat too. Anyway, what we saw is the beauty of test cricket. A day back, it was all India but after the first session, WI with the heroics of Shillingford made a strong comeback into the test but alas, other bowlers let it slip from our hands. Tbh, our bowlers barring Shillingford looked to have no clue of how to bowl to the Indian batsmen which is alarming because even if the likes of Rampaul, Roach and Edwards return to the side, people like Sammy, Best and may be Cottrell would be in the pool of preferred players to pick from. That is real bad case for WI with no good fast bowlers in the reserves.

 

[War]

Virat too. Anyway, what we saw is the beauty of test cricket. A day back, it was all India but after the first session, WI with the heroics of Shillingford made a strong comeback into the test but alas, other bowlers let it slip from our hands. Tbh, our bowlers barring Shillingford looked to have no clue of how to bowl to the Indian batsmen which is alarming because even if the likes of Rampaul, Roach and Edwards return to the side, people like Sammy, Best and may be Cottrell would be in the pool of preferred players to pick from. That is real bad case for WI with no good fast bowlers in the reserves.

Kohli edged that ball surely?. I saw it live didn't see didn't see any issue nor hear the commentators complaining.

I thought Best & Cotterell for large period supported Shillingford well.

Windies truly never had 5 o\proper bowlers in the truest sense going into this test. They just had 5 bowlers just in name.

Realistically they had 3 bowlers who really was the only wicket taking threats (Best, Sheldon & Shilly) & dud left-arm spinner like many feared Permaul would be & Sammy with is ineffective medium pace.

Shilly bowled so much overs bcause it was clear Sammy didn't trust Permaul to be a serious threat versus the Indian batsmen. If Narine was playing surely the spin workload would have shared.

And Sammy didn't bowl enough as a 5th bowler bcause he knows he is just gives teams net session out in the middle. I dear say if Dwayne Bravo was bowling in last night as the all-rounder he might have been more of a wicket-taking threat.

Harsh to say windies have no good fast bowlers in reserve also, even with Roach & Rampaul injured, Jason Holder, Miguel Cummins, Delorn Johnson, Shanon Gabriel are talents from i've seen. Whether they could be suited to bowling in Indian conditions though is another story.

 

[StinkyBoHoon]

I'm still not decided about DRS, it helps sometimes but too often it's useless.

I will say on a personal level that I don't really miss it when it's not available, if anything it makes the game feel a bit less fussy.

 

[Aalay]

Shilingford is a really good test bowler. I hear Ian Bishop talking about him before the start of the day but I didn't expect this. He has a really good doosra which is very hard to pick. He beats the batsmen in the flight which is an excellent sign for a new spinner. His record is brilliant as well, so he can prove a real threat to India. However, both Kohli and Sachin were unlucky to given out like that. Kohli did not edge the ball and the ball hit the back leg of Sachin and it was going over the middle stump. So Nigell Long got 2 decisions wrong. Our lower middle order played very well though. Nice to Rohit getting a century on his debut and Dhoni and Ashwin supported him very well. Ashwin's batting in Sub continent is very good and i would say even better than Jadeja. Hope he gets his well deserved century today.

 

[Samuels]

Kohli edged that ball surely?. I saw it live didn't see didn't see any issue nor hear the commentators complaining.

I thought Best & Cotterell for large period supported Shillingford well.

Windies truly never had 5 o\proper bowlers in the truest sense going into this test. They just had 5 bowlers just in name.

Realistically they had 3 bowlers who really was the only wicket taking threats (Best, Sheldon & Shilly) & dud left-arm spinner like many feared Permaul would be & Sammy with is ineffective medium pace.

Shilly bowled so much overs bcause it was clear Sammy didn't trust Permaul to be a serious threat versus the Indian batsmen. If Narine was playing surely the spin workload would have shared.

And Sammy didn't bowl enough as a 5th bowler bcause he knows he is just gives teams net session out in the middle. I dear say if Dwayne Bravo was bowling in last night as the all-rounder he might have been more of a wicket-taking threat.

Harsh to say windies have no good fast bowlers in reserve also, even with Roach & Rampaul injured, Jason Holder, Miguel Cummins, Delorn Johnson, Shanon Gabriel are talents from i've seen. Whether they could be suited to bowling in Indian conditions though is another story.

I did not watch Kohli's dismissal live; only in the news but it looked as if it went through his pad. I agree with you on the point that Narine should have been playing the test instead of Permaul since the latter did not have confidence of his skipper. I too want to see Bravo back in the side but I think that is not going to happen with the skipper being a similar type of cricketer (bits and pieces here and there). The only reason why Sammy is in the test team I think is because he is the captain. As far as the fast bowlers in reserves are concerned, I stand by my words. I know the ones you have mentioned are very talented, in fact, I am a fan of Holder and Johnson but they need to be in the national test squad on a consistent basis to be counted as reserve bowlers. I hope the selectors will learn from their mistakes and will give the nod to the Holders, Cummins, Johnson and Narine in the team dropping Best, Cottrell and even Sammy. I would like to see Kirk Edwards in too and give him as much experience as possible before Chanders decides to call it quits. Edwards is one of the few young WI batsmen suited for test match cricket.

 

[War]

I'm still not decided about DRS, it helps sometimes but too often it's useless.

I will say on a personal level that I don't really miss it when it's not available, if anything it makes the game feel a bit less fussy.

Whether you convinced or about DRS or not, the problem is due to the inept ability of the ICC to make it universal or not and BCCI bullying over to not use it, its has made a mockery of cricket stats.

We are playing two series with two different rules & that is utterly ridiculous. This has never occurred before in test history except for the period pre 80s when AUS used 8 ball overs & the rest of the world used 6 & that was hardly a massive difference anyway.

 

[aditya123]

Kohli edged that ball surely?. I saw it live didn't see didn't see any issue nor hear the commentators complaining.

I thought Best & Cotterell for large period supported Shillingford well.

Windies truly never had 5 o\proper bowlers in the truest sense going into this test. They just had 5 bowlers just in name.

Realistically they had 3 bowlers who really was the only wicket taking threats (Best, Sheldon & Shilly) & dud left-arm spinner like many feared Permaul would be & Sammy with is ineffective medium pace.

Shilly bowled so much overs bcause it was clear Sammy didn't trust Permaul to be a serious threat versus the Indian batsmen. If Narine was playing surely the spin workload would have shared.

And Sammy didn't bowl enough as a 5th bowler bcause he knows he is just gives teams net session out in the middle. I dear say if Dwayne Bravo was bowling in last night as the all-rounder he might have been more of a wicket-taking threat.

Harsh to say windies have no good fast bowlers in reserve also, even with Roach & Rampaul injured, Jason Holder, Miguel Cummins, Delorn Johnson, Shanon Gabriel are talents from i've seen. Whether they could be suited to bowling in Indian conditions though is another story.

Indian conditions are helpful for pacers who have the skills. Over the years think of all those seamers who have done well in India. India has had Srinath and Zaheer, both of whom have been real wicket taking options in India. Their numbers may not exactly indicate that but in Srinath and Zaheer, India had ideal seamers who could alter the game with one decisive spell of reverse swing. Australia, during their tours to India in 1998, 2001 and 2004 were kept afloat mainly due to effective seam bowling by the likes of Kasprowicz, McGrath and Gillespie. Pakistani seamers, contrary to other pacers always seemed to enjoy bowling in India more than anywhere else with the conditions aiding reverse. More recently, we saw how effective Anderson and Finn were in India.

When you look at those names Zaheer, Srinath, Wasim, Waqar, McGrath, Gillespie, Anderson and Co, they are all highly skilled pace bowlers which is something we cannot say about the current West Indian pacers operating here. They have raw pace without doubt but whether they have the nous of a Zaheer Khan to carve out a wicket out of nowhere is what is questionable. Mediocre spinners or seamers have seldom succeeded in India (except say a couple of performances like Clarke`s 6/9 at Mumbai). Someone like Fidel Edwards might have been more effective with the lengths he bowls. Cottrel`s drop in pace in his last spell was alarming. From the mid-140s in the morning session, he had dropped down to the late 120s in the evening.

Also, although I like Sammy as a cricketer, I`m not sure if he adds value to this WI test side. The WI administration missed the plot by taking away the ODI captaincy from him and retaining him as the test captain. According to me, the exact reverse would have suited them better. That would have meant they could play Dwayne Bravo or Kirk Edwards instead of Sammy while Permaul could have made way for Narine or one of Cummins/Gabriel/Roach.

My ideal test lineup for the WI would be this;

Powell
Gayle
Samuels
Chanderpaul
Darren Bravo
Dwayne Bravo (c)
Ramdin (w)
Rampaul
Roach
Shillingford/Narine
Cummins/Gabriel/Cottrel/Edwards

As you can see, Sammy does not find a place in that side. The sooner the WI setup realizes this the better because there are`nt many sides around in world cricket with a better pool available than the West Indies. Its just that they keep picking the wrong lineups.

 

[War]

^^

You have smashed the nail on the head with that summary sir.