So far the pitch hasnt really suited Indian bowlers more than SA. As far as seamers are concerned, India doesn't have anyone of the quality of Pollock with experience of bowling on flat tracks. WRT Kumble, in the first innings at least the wicket had slow turn with pretty even bounce which really isnt all that suitable for him.
Yes, he really made the situation very difficult for India today, but he looked pretty good in the first Test got to 63 and 64 in his last 4 innings. He's the third highest scorer for either side for the series. It's not been very Tendulkar-worthy, even given poor umpiring, but it's not been a failure of a series either.
Ganguly has probably been India's best batsman in the series though. His half-century in the first innings of this Test was crucial, especially given the present state of the match. And he's been positive pretty much throughout the series. I don't think he's done too much wrong in what hasn't been a terribly highscoring series. Only Ashwell Prince from either side has averaged more than he has.
There is no doubt Ganguly is much more effective in ODi's than in tests. He isn't a poor test batsman (but I never said that).......but he hasn't really done all that well against the stronger attacks --- he avreages 32 against Aus, 28 v Pak and 28 v RSA.
Stats against Pakistan are slightly skewed, if you account for the extended period of time when he was basically rubbish in all forms of cricket toward the end of his captaincy stint. He has just 119 runs his last 7 innings against Pakistan. Before that his average still wasn't anything spectacular, but it stood in the high 30s. That doesn't influence the argument though. Just interesting to note.
Fair enough that he was always a better ODI cricketer than Test cricket, but he was a good Test batsman too for most of his career. Above average at least. No one's calling him a great Test batsman or anything of the sort. But his average has been above 40 for his entire career, so I would certainly call him good at least.
Didn't he perform in this series? Just because we're on the backfoot, doesn't mean lay blame on one guy. He was terribly out of form last year agreed, but to me he has looked pretty promising in this series apart from today's innings where, once again, he was unfit.
Granted, he's not fit, but he also hasn't done much for a long time.
Why is he playing for India if he's desperately unfit? Can't India find someone fit to average more than 33?
No wasn't he fit before the start of this match. He looked fine in the first inning. He went off the field yesterday, and since then he has looked in pain.
Yes, he was hurt today. But he has been doing badly for a while now. He needs to pick up his game next series, or he should be gone. He has been the greatest batsman in history of Indian cricket, but sport is ruthless and unless he can show he deserves to be there on merit - and not reputation - it is time to look somewhere else.
TBH, I agree that yes he should be dropped if he continues his bad form. But what I am saying is he has looked pretty good this series, except today, and this might just be a sign of things to come. If he remains injury free, he, chances are will continue to do good, and I can say this by looking at how he has played this series.
Tendulkar in last 10 matches averages 28, Dravid averages 50. Slight difference there.
Yeah I don't know if I dig the Dravid being dropped idea, he has only failed this series, while he was superb in the West Indies. Dravid has performed in the past year on many occasions, but Tendulkar has been failing for a long time, and I mean long, apart from this series ofcourse.
