***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[ret]

great come back by Sehwag, Gambhir and the bowlers [wouldn't say India]

I have no doubt that SL is able to compete with India because of the collapsing Indian middle order. We pulled out this one to level the series because of the guys I mentioned

so who in the middle-order [apart from hitting 30s-40s] is going to put hand up and take India to a competitive total in the next test .... or will it be another Sehwag show

 

[Prince EWS]

Samaraweera stranded. Typical.

 

[SJS]

Listen, I'm a big fan of Sehwag, especially the way he's approached the game since his return to the test side ... but what's your point here? Upon being dropped, Sehwag didn't score runs in domestic cricket for a long time and still earned a "free ride" to Australia based on his past exploits. Karthik may have been "unsuitable for opening" but he certainly didn't get a "free ride" - the man averaged 52 in four tests against South Africa and England and was discarded at the first sign of failure. If you're referring to his getting an opportunity to open in the first place, India were desperate for an opener that actually wanted to see out the new ball and Karthik volunteered and impressed.

The point is that he should have never ben dropped from the Test side in the first place.

 

[pasag]

Samaraweera stranded. Typical.

Bandwagon jumper.

Congrats India. Looking forward to the highlights tomorrow.

 

[masterblaster]

Great win by India and great to see that we're on the board again! As I said, a lead of 300 just gave us the edge and it was so good to see us bowling well.

 

[Dissector]

BTW this game has raised Sehwag's average in India wins to 50.29.

 

[SJS]

BTW this game has raised Sehwag's average in India wins to 50.29.

Even averages dont tell the whole story.

Who really influences the results of the match ?

In the 59 Tests that Sehwag has played, in 19 of them an Indian batsman has been the Man of The Match. Here is the break up

• Jaffer : 1
• Ganguly : 2
• Tendulkar : 3
• Sehwag : 6
• Dravid : 7

Quite revealing. Now before someone jumps up and says Sehwag scores big runs in pointless drawn games - I checked the MOM only for games won by India. Now here the bowlers are even more dominant, naturally. Still Indian batsmen did manage to bag NINE MOM awards in matches India won. Here is the break up

• Ganguly : 1
• Sehwag : 3
• Dravid : 5

I suggest people look at it and ponder, not just on Sehwag but also on the missing names

 

[Dissector]

• Ganguly : 1
• Sehwag : 3
• Dravid : 5

I suggest people look at it and ponder, not just on Sehwag but also on the missing names

Vijay Merchant?

 

[Manee]

The point is that he should have never ben dropped from the Test side in the first place.

Indeed. One the one hand, he didn't deserved to be recalled, but on the other he never should have been dropped. However, one can argue that his drop has lead to an increase in performance.

 

[JBH001]

Saw it coming, but still, a little disappointed.

Nevertheless, an excellent win by India, spearheaded by Sehwag, Sharma, and Singh (S, S & S). So congratulations to them and of course to the Indian fans, none of whom picked a come back win . And all to play for at P Sara where Sri Lanka is in real danger of losing at home. A bit worried about the fragility of the top order, a poor pace attack, and even the lower order which has usually, for the most part, Vaas excepting, been prone to collapse (for quite a while now too).

 

[Manee]

Sri Lanka are thinking of debuting Dammika Prasad, the supposedly rapeeede bowler, to boost the pace attack.

 

[adharcric]

Sri Lanka are thinking of debuting Dammika Prasad, the supposedly rapeeede bowler, to boost the pace attack.

Good idea. Vaas can be there for his experience in swinging conditions but I don't understand why Kulasekara's still there - looked harmless for the most part.

 

[Manee]

I've got a feeling that he is in merely for his domestic record.

 

[unccricket]

how likely is karthik to be dropped in favor of parthiv patel?

 

[Anil]

never thought they could pull it off, anyway congrats india on an excellent victory! the next big hurdle is 2 test wins in a row which india has accomplished for some time now i believe...

 

[adharcric]

I'd say 85%. The last time it was this obvious that a keeper was hurting his team so much was probably with Parthiv several years ago - you could even sense throughout this test that nobody, including Karthik himself, was really sure he'd hold on to the next chance. Parthiv should and will get a go, IMO. Feel bad for Karthik but either turning into a specialist batsman has ruined his keeping talent or he's just going through a terrible phase. Blew a great opportunity.

 

[SJS]

never thought they could pull it off, anyway congrats india on an excellent victory! the next big hurdle is 2 test wins in a row which india has accomplished for some time now i believe...

Thats quite true. They last beat Sri Lanka at Delhi and Ahmedabad in 2005. But away from home they have done it only twice in their entire 76 year Test history.

40 years ago in New Zealand under Pataudi and then with almost the entire Australian side missing during the Packer Era, they still lost the first 2 Tests and then won the next two in 1977-78.

Its been a long time

 

[Top_Cat]

Even averages dont tell the whole story.

Who really influences the results of the match ?

In the 59 Tests that Sehwag has played, in 19 of them an Indian batsman has been the Man of The Match. Here is the break up

• Jaffer : 1
• Ganguly : 2
• Tendulkar : 3
• Sehwag : 6
• Dravid : 7

Quite revealing. Now before someone jumps up and says Sehwag scores big runs in pointless drawn games - I checked the MOM only for games won by India. Now here the bowlers are even more dominant, naturally. Still Indian batsmen did manage to bag NINE MOM awards in matches India won. Here is the break up

• Ganguly : 1
• Sehwag : 3
• Dravid : 5

I suggest people look at it and ponder, not just on Sehwag but also on the missing names

Wow. Very surprising.

 

[Anil]

I'd say 85%. The last time it was this obvious that a keeper was hurting his team so much was probably with Parthiv several years ago - you could even sense throughout this test that nobody, including Karthik himself, was really sure he'd hold on to the next chance. Parthiv should and will get a go, IMO. Feel bad for Karthik but either turning into a specialist batsman has ruined his keeping talent or he's just going through a terrible phase. Blew a great opportunity.

but was it such a big opportunity for karthik any way? wasn't he just keeping the gloves warm until dhoni came back?

 

[SJS]

Wow. Very surprising.

You know TC, the 'average' as a measure, can be very dicey if one is to weigh the impact individual innings could have had. That is why theoretically a batsman who scores ten double centuries plus twenty scores of under ten is more likely to be a match winner than someone who scores twenty seventies and ten low scores.

Sehwag's big scores and the rate at which he scores means that if the bowlers fire in those matches where he scores big, the team has a good chance of winning.

Dravid to, although he doesn't score as fast, has in the period just before his recent slump, scored so made so many big scores that it had to result in some Test wins.

I think this is where Sachin's lack of real big scores on a consistent basis is resulting in great figures for him but not so much for team India.