***Official*** India in Australia

[ozone]

Too cut it short
5 pacers that are good as Lee would have canned India batting within 220 without those dropped catches. Would have wrapped Indian batting within 300 with 2-4 dropped catches.

Johnson and Symonds provided the reprieve for Dravid and Laxman. Laxman needed the perfect bouncers every now and then to loose his focus. He was taking many chances.

Johnson and Symonds were not pressuring enough in the beginning. This is where the Indian batting firmed up. Hogg gives sufficient relaxation to middle order Indian batsmen though he is a good all rounder.

Good luck finding them.

 

[Agent TBY]

Too cut it short
5 pacers that are good as Lee

If they had that many, they'd be in the squad.

 

[TT Boy]

Yep, delivery of the game so far. Totally unplayable.

Wow top ball.

Although, it must be said Jaffer really can't handle Lee or indeed any resonates of pace. His been playing back to literally everything regardless of length so far on this tour.

 

[skipper]

Johnson and Symonds provided the reprieve for Dravid and Laxman. Laxman needed the perfect bouncers every now and then to loose his focus. He was taking many chances.

Well said. I thought about it too. Johnson kept pitching it up in the 19 run over. He wasn't getting any swing but I thought that he was doing that upon instruction from his captain.

 

[skipper]

Wow top ball.

Although, it must be said Jaffer really can't handle Lee or indeed any resonates of pace. His been playing back to literally everything regardless of length so far on this tour.

It is a good ball. But, top ball? unplayable?

 

[skipper]

As a unit India had very little experience, yet were still able to succeed. They should be given much more credit than they got, particularly from some of the international posters on CW.

I agree about that. The youngsters responded wonderfully well.

 

[aussie]

Legacy of Indian batsmen

Now looking at Laxman bat this morning & remembering all those superb knocks againts Australia over the years i've finally resigned myself that this bloke is Very Very Special & is got to be right up there when one rates Indian batsmen throughout history.

Looking at the legacy of Indian though i'd say Tendulkar, Gavaskar & Dravid would probably be the top tree but how highly would Laxman rate along with other batsmen like Ganguly who has stepped up his game since his return, Vishwanath & Vengsarkar two guns of the 70's & 80's, Hazare & Umrigar two greats from the early days & the leg-side king for me Azharuddin?

Very interested to hear what you Indian fans have to say about this..

 

[Nishant]

Now looking at Laxman bat this morning & remembering all those superb knocks againts Australia over the years i've finally resigned myself that this bloke is Very Very Special & is got to be right up there when one rates Indian batsmen throughout history.

Looking at the legacy of Indian though i'd say Tendulkar, Gavaskar & Dravid would probably be the top tree but how highly would Laxman rate along with other batsmen like Ganguly who has stepped up his game since his return, Vishwanath & Vengsarkar two guns of the 70's & 80's, Hazare & Umrigar two greats from the early days & the leg-side king for me Azharuddin?

Very interested to hear what you Indian fans have to say about this..

Laxman is definitely a special player and has proved that over the tears by playing thhe important knocks against the best team. He has a good technique and has the character needed to succeed. I remember a match against pakistan where he was struck by a bouncer on his eye. Yet...he was willing to come out and play with one eye open (well...basically..) and play for the team. However, the main reason why laxman has not been 'celebrated' as much as the tendulkars and gangulys is because of his lack of success in ODIs...and the indian public in general judge batsmen in that form of the game. Thats why laxman is a fine player and has been under-rated IMO.

 

[tooextracool]

Lee swung the new ball pretty consistently today. By consistently I mean the majority of deliveries for his entire opening spell. Basically the exact opposite of what you said yesterday - "Brett Lee has never swung the red ball conventionally".

Patently false then, and it still is. He's not a swing bowler as a rule, at least not in test cricket, but he can swing the new ball when there's any sort of help around for it. See Brisbane against the West Indies a couple of years back, Boxing Day against South Africa that same summer, a few spells in the away series following that, and so on. Hell, the SCG test in the 02/03 Ashes as well, one of the first times I saw Lee take the new ball in test cricket and he swung it plenty. Basically the only good spell he bowled that summer.

Id have to rewatch the highlights of the first days play given that 2 people have suggested this, but i certainly dont remember him swinging the ball consistently yesterday. From memory he got the odd one to swing, but it was nowhere near consistent to bear mention.

BTW, I'd also dispute that it swung "a touch". Naturally, outswing will be more visible if the ball is wider, but the reason Jaffer missed that ball is because it was angled in at his pads. It straightened in the air and swung away slightly to beat the bat. If it had been outside off stump to begin with it would have swung a huge amount. Simply look at the angle Jaffer attempted to play it at. Sensational delivery, second best of the series to date IMO, after the Zaheer ball to Ponting.

Umm the reason why Jaffer missed that ball was because his bat came down late. He was done by the pace than anything else, as is patently obvious from that youtube video where his bat comes down when the ball hits the stumps. AFAIC, that was a decent delivery perhaps even a good delivery, but unplayable or sensational? commone dont pull my leg. It was a low full toss that swung away a touch(not even a stumps width). Like any yorker thats missed, these sorts of deliveries always look better than they actually are when a batsman does not get bat on ball. A quality batsman would have no problem keeping that out, not even worthy to mention in the same breath as the zaheer Khan delivery which was unplayable for any batsman in world cricket.

 

[tooextracool]

i dont think it has evened out for India.. but atleast dropped catches/close catches/no balls in some way has given India a bit of luck... which is better than not.. so atleast they will feel... ok maybe SOME justice has been served (since Aussies rarely drop any and Midge never bowled a no ball bar that delivery etc.)

My definition of justice(which has to do with fairness) does not unfortunately take into account poor skill of another team. Poor umpiring is unfair, dropping catches is not. The indian batsmen may have benefitted from a few chances, but i do not put that down to 'luck', but ineptitude of the opposing team.

 

[dansa]

Lee - Yeah, he (Gilli) dropped a few but everyone can have an off-day

Well said. I thought about it too. Johnson kept pitching it up in the 19 run over. He wasn't getting any swing but I thought that he was doing that upon instruction from his captain.

Good attitude towards Gilli after all those dropped catches.

Still think 5 pacers gives a big net to catch big fishes Surely, two of them can strike lethal blows few times during the day from both ends.

 

[jeevan]

Even the weather is rigged, apparently, against the visitors. It is overcast, so presumably the ball will move a bit more in the air, how is India expected to play the whole day and at a decent run rate that's needed.

Isnt Bucknor advantage enough. For crying out loud you're the Aussies.

 

[Son Of Coco]

Id have to rewatch the highlights of the first days play given that 2 people have suggested this, but i certainly dont remember him swinging the ball consistently yesterday. From memory he got the odd one to swing, but it was nowhere near consistent to bear mention.



Umm the reason why Jaffer missed that ball was because his bat came down late. He was done by the pace than anything else, as is patently obvious from that youtube video where his bat comes down when the ball hits the stumps. AFAIC, that was a decent delivery perhaps even a good delivery, but unplayable or sensational? commone dont pull my leg. It was a low full toss that swung away a touch(not even a stumps width). Like any yorker thats missed, these sorts of deliveries always look better than they actually are when a batsman does not get bat on ball. A quality batsman would have no problem keeping that out, not even worthy to mention in the same breath as the zaheer Khan delivery which was unplayable for any batsman in world cricket.

I think you'd have to watch a large part of his first spell with the ball...highlights won't do the trick. He swung it consistently with the new ball.

 

[ozone]

Even the weather is rigged, apparently, against the visitors. It is overcast, so presumably the ball will move a bit more in the air, how is India expected to play the whole day and at a decent run rate that's needed.

Isnt Bucknor advantage enough. For crying out loud you're the Aussies.

Bloody Aussies, fixing the weather...

 

[Laurrz]

Even the weather is rigged, apparently, against the visitors. It is overcast, so presumably the ball will move a bit more in the air, how is India expected to play the whole day and at a decent run rate that's needed.

Isnt Bucknor advantage enough. For crying out loud you're the Aussies.

looks sunny to me...not swinging at all for Lee/Clark

 

[Son Of Coco]

I do not understand a concept of a team 'giving luck' by playing poorly. Whatever you want to call it, the point is that many seem be indicating in this thread that the 'luck has evened out'. It has not because one team has been inept in the field and allowed the other team to take advantage of the situation. This is completely different from an umpire costing a team wickets from actual skill.

Actually, I think both teams have been inept in the field...one incredibly so. The other one has dropped a few catches yesterday

 

[Pratters]

They are showing on Star Cricket that the Jaffer dismissal was off a no ball.

 

[Pratters]

Excellent four by Ganguly. Master of offside... perfect timing.

 

[Laurrz]

this pitch is really getting slower

 

[Turbinator]

They are showing on Star Cricket that the Jaffer dismissal was off a no ball.

****ing hell!