*** Official *** Pakistan in India

[BhupinderSingh]

Pakistan is hardly a poor side. They have Younis, Yousuf, Akhtar and Kaneria who are all top ranked players all about/atleast in the same caliber or better as any that we have, yes incl Kaneria. That India nullified 3 out of 4 of these in this game was part of putting up the winning performance.

Not just the superstars: Misbah, Butt, Tanvir are all quite decent and did their jobs even in this match. Gul, Asif were the only notable absences from a full strength team but in exactly the same department that India too had two injuries.

But yes, lets try to reverse jinx Dravid. Still two more matches to win.

Kaneria is the worst specialist spinner I've ever seen playing for Pakistan.

 

[Pratters]

Kaneria is the worst specialist spinner I've ever seen playing for Pakistan.

Did you see him bowl in this game?

 

[BhupinderSingh]

Did you see him bowl in this game?

Yep,wrapped up the tail in 1st innings & was extremly poor in 2nd innings as well.

 

[Pratters]

Yep,wrapped up the tail in 1st innings & was extremly poor in 2nd innings as well.

That is what the scorecard tells you. I am asking, did you see him bowl in the game?

 

[The Sean]

Not sure why its damning really - successful chases or not, we still tend to win at home most of the time. Plus chasing in India is mighty tough.

Second highest successful run chase at home, not overall. Which is, as SS said, probably down to how difficult it is to chase in India when the pitch can deteriorate markedly, moreso than in most places.

Ah, fair enough lads - I thought it was second highest ever, not just in India.

 

[BhupinderSingh]

That is what the scorecard tells you. I am asking, did you see him bowl in the game?

Yes,I did.He bowled some good delliveries but failed to take wickets.People always keep saying that he bowls well but fails to take wickets but in the end,its the wickets you take which matter.Not taking wickets when your team needs means you're rubbish & don't deserve to be selected to play tests,which are top most form of cricket.

 

[Pratters]

Heh. I feel that you are being too harsh on Kaneria. I thought that he bowled superbly in the first inning, showing his variations.

The second inning, he was poor but Malik gives a fair enough reasoning I feel.

Malik said the total was inadequate for leg spinner Danish Kaneria to come into play and the lack of strong sunshine meant the wicket did not break up when India batted last.

"We were 100 runs short in the second innings," Malik told reporters. "Whoever is the spinner, he needs some amount of time to get the batsmen out.

"If the sun had shone on this pitch, it would have behaved differently. From the day the match started, it hardly got any sunshine.

Cheers.

 

[Perm]

I'd just like to say "**** off" to all the Indian fans that constantly criticise their team, especially their batting line-up, when they obvoiusly haven't got a clue about cricket.

 

[shortpitched713]

Kaneria bowled very well in the first innings, and poorly in the second. It really was a bit disappointing from him, as he should be doing better in the second innings where he has struggled of late.

 

[Manee]

I'd just like to say "**** off" to all the Indian fans that constantly criticise their team, especially their batting line-up, when they obvoiusly haven't got a clue about cricket.

I hope that was not aimed at me, I have not once said that any of the team's batsmen, except Jaffer, should be dropped and I have good reasons to doubt Jaffer with an average of just 35.14 after 23 Test matches.

 

[jeevan]

Yes,I did.He bowled some good delliveries but failed to take wickets.People always keep saying that he bowls well but fails to take wickets but in the end,its the wickets you take which matter.Not taking wickets when your team needs means you're rubbish & don't deserve to be selected to play tests,which are top most form of cricket.

Kaneria has a better test average in India than Muralitharan. He's not the first spinner to post ordinary performances against India.

 

[nightprowler10]

Kaneria has a better test average in India than Muralitharan. He's not the first spinner to post ordinary performances against India.

He's been mediocre since late 2005 though, only bright spot being WI tour to Pakistan. Though I agree that he bowled well enough in the first inning, he still needs to improve his ability to out think the batsman.

 

[Jono]

I hope that was not aimed at me, I have not once said that any of the team's batsmen, except Jaffer, should be dropped and I have good reasons to doubt Jaffer with an average of just 35.14 after 23 Test matches.

Since Jaffer's return to test cricket he's averaging 41.89.

Since Karthik's return to test cricket he's averaging 48.41.

Yet people want these two dropped?

 

[adharcric]

Since Jaffer's return to test cricket he's averaging 41.89.

Since Karthik's return to test cricket he's averaging 48.41.

Removing the tour of Bangladesh, Jaffer averages 39.88 and Karthik averages 41.55. Damn solid nevertheless.

 

[Prince EWS]

Yeah, I'm not totally convinced by the openers, but they've certainly performed well enough to keep their places and then some. England isn't a particularly easy place to open the batting, either. I'd consider bringing Chopra in if one of the current two has a rough trot, but certainly not now.

 

[adharcric]

Chopra is scoring decent runs for Delhi but Gambhir is in ridiculously fine form at the moment. Sehwag, meanwhile, should be out of the reckoning by now. This may end up being a very close call for the third opener's spot in Australia.

 

[jeevan]

Chopra is scoring decent runs for Delhi but Gambhir is in ridiculously fine form at the moment. Sehwag, meanwhile, should be out of the reckoning by now. This may end up being a very close call for the third opener's spot in Australia.

Somehow Gambhir's long form successes have seemed the cheaper minnow-bashing kind. Whereas Chopra's last trip in Australia was exactly what an opener needs to be, especially fronting this Indian middle order - ie see off the new ball at any cost, including to your batting average and batting strike rate.

 

[biased indian]

Gambir will make the team i think...and i hope he dont get to play, that means our openers are playing well

 

[adharcric]

Somehow Gambhir's long form successes have seemed the cheaper minnow-bashing kind. Whereas Chopra's last trip in Australia was exactly what an opener needs to be, especially fronting this Indian middle order - ie see off the new ball at any cost, including to your batting average and batting strike rate.

Perhaps they have but it will be difficult for the selectors to overlook Gambhir's run spree if he keeps going at this rate. Really, I am not sure if they analyze and value things such as Chopra's occupation of the crease and taking the shine off the new ball as much as some of us here on CW do.

 

[shortpitched713]

Removing the tour of Bangladesh, Jaffer averages 39.88 and Karthik averages 41.55. Damn solid nevertheless.

Karthik looked terrible in this Test, imo. Would not at all be surprised to see that average plummet.