***Official*** Australia in India

[honestbharani]

Uthappa would have been the best option at that time because he can hold an innings together. Pathan's contribution was good, but it was more important to build on, which the Indians didn't do.

when has Uthappa EVER held an innings together at this level?

 

[honestbharani]

IMO, there was always more to Dravid's stepping aside as Indian captain than has been revealed and this seems to be reflected in his batting at the moment.

He appears to me to be a guy with more on his mind than the next ball

Agree 200% there. He just doesn't look happy to be out there, does he? Get the feeling that all is not well with his relationships within the team and I think he just needs to take a sabbatical for a couple of months, see if he can clear his mind (and also, hopefully, the team will learn what they are missing when he isn't around) and then he come back recharged....

 

[biased indian]

Goodness me, I would have expected that everyone on these forums were better than this, and wouldn't bring themselves down to the level of a few idiots in the crowds in India.

If its a joke, it definitely is not funny in anyway at all.

Anymore of this, and you'll find yourself banned.

such idiots are ther every where in the world..not alone in india

 

[honestbharani]

I think us playing 5 bowlers is really not on. One bowler is always having an off day and in our conditions esp., it is always more than one bowler. Given the fact that our bowlers can't bat and also the fact that they aren't exactly world beaters, there is no reason to keep playing 5 of them. Yesterday, Harbhajan was all over the place while Murali Kartik had a great spell. Maybe Dhoni should have continued with Kartik but all that is beside the point. India should NOT play 5 bowlers at home, because a) those guys are not good enough to bowl out the opposition or even take a decent number of wickets anyway and b) none of them can bat well enough. Pathan at 3 was a waste and he wasted balls, and Sourav up the order is showing an alarming decline in his ability to score run a ball or better. India need to play 7 batsmen and hope to get the best out of Sachin, Sourav, Yuvraj and others... Uthappa looks seriously good as a finisher and should never come in before the 35th over if we can help it. And we bloody improve our catching soon.

Symonds has been quite outstanding in this series. But his comments about a backlash at home... I am not sure it shows any great maturity. If he means that the Australian team will play hard and try to attack India verbally, then it is fine as it is just a bit of mind-games going on. But if he is saying that the Australian crowd is also gonna throw racist remarks at Indians because one isolated incident happened in India... He is a bigger idiot than I ever thought he was, and THAT is something.

 

[James]

such idiots are ther every where in the world..not alone in india

Yeah, that's definitely the case and I certainly wasn't meaning to cause any offense to other Indian members by my post.

I was referring to his post in the case of who it was directed at and the situation of it which is Andrew Symonds.

 

[Prince EWS]

One bowler is always having an off day and in our conditions esp., it is always more than one bowler.

That's a perfect reason to play five bowlers, IMO. If you know that the four bowlers you pick will always perform, you can rely on your part-timers to just make up the fifth bowler. But if your bowlers are inconsistent, you need backup there - five proper bowlers and then the the use of your part-timers to make up the overs of a bowler who happens to be having an off day.

If you were only to pick four bowlers in the last game, it probably would have been Kartik to miss out and he was your best bowler. So not only would you have had Tendulkar/Yuvraj trying to make up some of Sreesanth's overs and some of Harbhajan's overs, but they'd be bowling their own overs as well.

Pathan is good enough to bat #7 IMO, and the inconsistency of your bowlers says you can never really go into a game with four confidently.

 

[Mister Wright]

Agree 200% there. He just doesn't look happy to be out there, does he? Get the feeling that all is not well with his relationships within the team and I think he just needs to take a sabbatical for a couple of months, see if he can clear his mind (and also, hopefully, the team will learn what they are missing when he isn't around) and then he come back recharged....

If he takes a sabatical for a couple of months he won't be around for the test series. And really, you need him for the test series.

 

[honestbharani]

If he takes a sabatical for a couple of months he won't be around for the test series. And really, you need him for the test series.

maybe for one month. I just mean the series Vs Pakistan. I just hope he can get himself up by the time the Aussie series comes along. But if he is not in a good frame of mind by that time, he should be given as much time as he needs to get better. Given his class as a batsman, there will be room for him all the time.

 

[irfan]

Goodness me, I would have expected that everyone on these forums were better than this, and wouldn't bring themselves down to the level of a few idiots in the crowds in India.

If its a joke, it definitely is not funny in anyway at all.

Anymore of this, and you'll find yourself banned.

Haha. Sorry James, couldn't resist. I took it a bit far didn't I, won't happen again - my bad

 

[irfan]

such idiots are ther every where in the world..not alone in india

Calm down mate, it was very tongue-in-cheek and I obviously meant no disrespect to Symonds (just taking advantage of a typo in Cricinfo ), who has been superb all series I mite add.

 

[honestbharani]

That's a perfect reason to play five bowlers, IMO. If you know that the four bowlers you pick will always perform, you can rely on your part-timers to just make up the fifth bowler. But if your bowlers are inconsistent, you need backup there - five proper bowlers and then the the use of your part-timers to make up the overs of a bowler who happens to be having an off day.

If you were only to pick four bowlers in the last game, it probably would have been Kartik to miss out and he was your best bowler. So not only would you have had Tendulkar/Yuvraj trying to make up some of Sreesanth's overs and some of Harbhajan's overs, but they'd be bowling their own overs as well.

Pathan is good enough to bat #7 IMO, and the inconsistency of your bowlers says you can never really go into a game with four confidently.

I know it sounds weird but the thing is none of these guys are world beaters and they do get thrashed quite often in our conditions and often, they end up giving 70-80 runs in their 10. Instead, if we can get something out of Sachin, Sourav and Yuvi, who can all bowl decently and plus, if the #7 guy we pick can also bowl, then we can afford to go in with 4 bowlers, I feel. We end up giving away big scores anyway, so why not pack our batting and risk it? Also, it didn't seem to be a coincidence that some of the part timers seemed to bowl better when bowling 6-7 overs every match regularly... Juz my opinion and BTW, this is just for our conditions.

 

[Jono]

Agree 200% there. He just doesn't look happy to be out there, does he? Get the feeling that all is not well with his relationships within the team and I think he just needs to take a sabbatical for a couple of months, see if he can clear his mind (and also, hopefully, the team will learn what they are missing when he isn't around) and then he come back recharged....

I'm a big fan of Dravid, but not good enough. Not good enough at all.

 

[honestbharani]

I'm a big fan of Dravid, but not good enough. Not good enough at all.

u mean? Look, I don't know what the problem with him is, but I just think he should take a break and then come back fresh because he looks out of it at the moment and it is obvious that it is not just a batting form issue. How do you think we should go about it, then? Drop him?


BTW, I am not saying we should force the sabbatical on him or anything, but if he is having issues other than batting form as he seems to be, then I think HE should just take a break and then come back fresh.

 

[honestbharani]

I'm a big fan of Dravid, but not good enough. Not good enough at all.

btw, if it is about what I had said in braces, yes, I do think some people in the current side don't have enough respect for what he has done.

Dhoni was asked about Dravid's poor form (he had gotten a 40 when most others had failed at Kochi, for God's sakes) and he came up with a golden "No comments". Would he have said the same thing had the question been about Sachin or Sourav? Would the media NOT have noticed it he did say that? I just don't think people respect him much in the current dressing room. Obviously this is just speculation, but that is what I think.

 

[Sanz]

btw, if it is about what I had said in braces, yes, I do think some people in the current side don't have enough respect for what he has done.

Dhoni was asked about Dravid's poor form (he had gotten a 40 when most others had failed at Kochi, for God's sakes) and he came up with a golden "No comments". Would he have said the same thing had the question been about Sachin or Sourav? Would the media NOT have noticed it he did say that? I just don't think people respect him much in the current dressing room. Obviously this is just speculation, but that is what I think.

Did you actually hear Dhoni say "No comments" or read it in the media ?

 

[honestbharani]

Did you actually hear Dhoni say "No comments" or read it in the media ?

it was quoted in the media. Hard to see how it can be quoted across 3 newspapers, if he didn't say it...

 

[Jono]

u mean? Look, I don't know what the problem with him is, but I just think he should take a break and then come back fresh because he looks out of it at the moment and it is obvious that it is not just a batting form issue. How do you think we should go about it, then? Drop him?


BTW, I am not saying we should force the sabbatical on him or anything, but if he is having issues other than batting form as he seems to be, then I think HE should just take a break and then come back fresh.

btw, if it is about what I had said in braces, yes, I do think some people in the current side don't have enough respect for what he has done.

Dhoni was asked about Dravid's poor form (he had gotten a 40 when most others had failed at Kochi, for God's sakes) and he came up with a golden "No comments". Would he have said the same thing had the question been about Sachin or Sourav? Would the media NOT have noticed it he did say that? I just don't think people respect him much in the current dressing room. Obviously this is just speculation, but that is what I think.

I'll just state again that I'm a huge Dravid fan, and have immense respect for him.

But its not good enough excusing whatever is happening to him in the locker room (even though it may very well be the reason) for his ****ty performances as far as I'm concerned. Warne, Waugh and countless other Aussies didn't get along with each other, or went through other things, but when they came on the field they delivered, and played as a team.

Dravid should not let whatever is getting to him affect his game. And whilst I do have sympathy for Rahul regarding the captaincy issue, I hardly think he was a brilliant captain that may have been robbed of a great legacy because of politics and favouritism and whatever else is going on.

Fact is, at the end of the day, Rahul has batted horribly in the past few series. Hopefully he fixes that up before Australia, because boy do we need him there.

 

[SJS]

it was quoted in the media. Hard to see how it can be quoted across 3 newspapers, if he didn't say it...

Yes he did say it but I am not sure he meant it as a comment on Dravid;s batting. He would have known what the follow up questions would be - why are you not dropping Dravid etc etc. I think he did the smart thing by cutting it in the bud.

I too felt initially that he would have been better off saying something like Dravid has had a bad run and its no big deal but then I realised that he must have known what the reporter was trying to get at.

In another headlines in the Hindustan Times he says

It says it can happen to all batsmen
Skipper Dhoni defends his predecessor Dravid.​

"He is going through a tough time in the series. It happens with all batsmen. It has happened to Sachin and to me too. It is not an issue and he will be back in form."

You can also see bits of this interview on the net here

Relax HB.

 

[honestbharani]

I'll just state again that I'm a huge Dravid fan, and have immense respect for him.

But its not good enough excusing whatever is happening to him in the locker room (even though it may very well be the reason) for his ****ty performances as far as I'm concerned. Warne, Waugh and countless other Aussies didn't get along with each other, or went through other things, but when they came on the field they delivered, and played as a team.

Dravid should not let whatever is getting to him affect his game. And whilst I do have sympathy for Rahul regarding the captaincy issue, I hardly think he was a brilliant captain that may have been robbed of a great legacy because of politics and favouritism and whatever else is going on.

Fact is, at the end of the day, Rahul has batted horribly in the past few series. Hopefully he fixes that up before Australia, because boy do we need him there.

u shud know by now that I really don't rate him at all as a captain, in terms of tactics and stuff.


Anyways, if ur point is about him letting locker room stuff affect his performance, it depends on where you come from. You quoted Australians as examples and I don't think it is fair to compare Indians to Aussies. In Australia, for instance, you will see that the media didn't exactly slide to one side and paint one as a hero and other as a villain in the Waugh/Warne thing. Not what happens in India. You have to be either a hero or a villain. There are no grey areas allowed here. And when someone like Sachin seems to be in your opposite camp, there is little chance you being painted as the good guy anywhere. And also, I don't think during the Warne/Waugh thing, the team got divided by any of it. I reckon people stayed pretty neutral then and maybe that made it easier for Warne and Waugh to perform well even though they didn't get along. But here, I just get the feeling (Zak saying stuff in England, Vengsarkar seemingly involving himself too much in selection when on tour, no seemingly great backing from the board, and now Dhoni's comments) that quite a number in this side have been cold to him and perhaps, it has been hard to take for him.


Look, people let personal things that happen in life affect their performances often enough. It is a natural thing. Maybe Dravid is not as good in that aspect as a Warne or a Waugh or even a Tendulkar but that can hardly be made out to be a fault. Is it a fault that Parthiv Patel couldn't bat like a Gilchrist?

 

[honestbharani]

Yes he did say it but I am not sure he meant it as a comment on Dravid;s batting. He would have known what the follow up questions would be - why are you not dropping Dravid etc etc. I think he did the smart thing by cutting it in the bud.

I too felt initially that he would have been better off saying something like Dravid has had a bad run and its no big deal but then I realised that he must have known what the reporter was trying to get at.

In another headlines in the Hindustan Times he says

It says it can happen to all batsmen
Skipper Dhoni defends his predecessor Dravid.​

"He is going through a tough time in the series. It happens with all batsmen. It has happened to Sachin and to me too. It is not an issue and he will be back in form."

You can also see bits of this interview on the net here

Relax HB.

well, that is the only bit I had read... Quite funny that The Hindu doesn't print these interviews...


But yeah, if that is what has happened, then it is fine. I guess Dhoni is doing the right thing.

Still think Dravid needs a break, though.