***Official Australia in India***

[Manee]

The curator is from NZ, if that helps.

 

[Arjun]

The curator is from NZ, if that helps.

There doesn't seem to be any trans-Tasman rivalry here...

 

[Arjun]

By the way, does anyone watch this show known as Dial C For Cricket? Every episode ends up being a war of words...

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

I don't buy the suggestion that the wicket particularly favours Australia, really. At least not in any sense that would be easily controllable by the curators. It's a dry, cracked wicket with uneven bounce... not exactly unheard of in the subcontinent.

The toss did favour Australia, but that's just luck.

 

[jeevan]

Harbhajan's third 50 in his last five innings against Australia...

 

[Arjun]

I don't buy the suggestion that the wicket particularly favours Australia, really. At least not in any sense that would be easily controllable by the curators. It's a dry, cracked wicket with uneven bounce... not exactly unheard of in the subcontinent.

The toss did favour Australia, but that's just luck.

A whole lot of Indian pitches prepared lately don't favour the Indian team, but put them in a tight spot. Bangalore is notorious for hostile pitches coupled with weather that is typically European. Let's not forget the nasty Nagpur and Ahmedabad pitches, which favour touring teams heavily.

Actually, the Indian team is hardly at an advantage on flat pitches- in fact, they're a lot weaker when the pitch offers next to nothing for the bowlers.

 

[SJS]

In my book, OZ haven't proved anything yet. Not so long ago, the BP11 had them by their tails .... i would say that when a stronger Indian unit takes them. the spin bowling has been so poor that even Ponting got a 100 [whats more to say then that. though full credit to Ponting ]

and what i m saying above reflects from what I wrote when the team was announced, which i have quoted below:

The batsman who looked completely clueless and a misfit in the test was not one of the senior indian batsmen but the much celebrated indian wicket keeper. The 9 runs he scored in 51 balls was not because of any newly acquired maturity or 'sacrificing his natural game for the team's cause'. It was purely due to being completely out of his depth in the game. Of course, thats not new for MS Dhoni in test cricket in conditions even slightly helpful to bowlers but the compete myopia of his fans cant see it. Yes I agree Badrinath and Rohit Sharma would have been better than him with the bat, unfortunately they dont keep wickets. there is no other batsman who played in this test who looked as if, Badrinath, Rohit or kohli were automatic better choices than him.

 

[G.I.Joe]

There doesn't seem to be any trans-Tasman rivalry here...

Ironically the imported experts are doing a far worse job than the locals they replaced.

I can just about imagine the pitch committee at their meeting deciding that since spin is India's strength, hey, lets fly in a curator from.......New Zealand

And people wonder why spin is no longer king in India.

 

[andruid]

Ironically the imported experts are doing a far worse job than the locals they replaced.

I can just about imagine the pitch committee at their meeting deciding that since spin is India's strength, hey, lets fly in a curator from.......New Zealand

And people wonder why spin is no longer king in India.

Is this that pitch they made grassy and bouncy specifically for the Afro-Asia cup a while back?

 

[Arjun]

Ironically the imported experts are doing a far worse job than the locals they replaced.

I can just about imagine the pitch committee at their meeting deciding that since spin is India's strength, hey, lets fly in a curator from.......New Zealand

And people wonder why spin is no longer king in India.

The idea was possibly to get in someone who can prepare seamer-friendly wickets, so that the Indian batsmen get used to playing pace and bounce, and seamers Zaheer and Ishant get more purchase. What we get, instead, is a flat pitch.

 

[Arjun]

Headlines Today say that they have comments from the physio that half of the Indian team is unfit. There's a discussion on already.

 

[weldone]

The batsman who looked completely clueless and a misfit in the test was not one of the senior indian batsmen but the much celebrated indian wicket keeper. The 9 runs he scored in 51 balls was not because of any newly acquired maturity or 'sacrificing his natural game for the team's cause'. It was purely due to being completely out of his depth in the game. Of course, thats not new for MS Dhoni in test cricket in conditions even slightly helpful to bowlers but the compete myopia of his fans cant see it. Yes I agree Badrinath and Rohit Sharma would have been better than him with the bat, unfortunately they dont keep wickets. there is no other batsman who played in this test who looked as if, Badrinath, Rohit or kohli were automatic better choices than him.

AWTA...Dravid and Ganguly played sensible innings, Laxman has been the only middle-order batsman among runs in SL, and I suppose none is questioning Sachin's place in the side yet so I'm assuming I don't have to say anything in his support...

However, I'm sure SJS you'll agree that with the likes of Chawla and Mishra (and should I add Ojha?) on, it's time for Kumble, the great test match winner of yesteryears, to say goodbye to test cricket (or to get dropped from the side, whichever way you look at it)...Having said that, knowing his character for years, I won't be too surprised if he bounces back in the second inning itself; though I'll be surprised if that comeback persists for long...

 

[ret]

In other words, Australia aren't that good it's just that India are ****?

simply put: the Indians are making the OZ look good *winks*

 

[adharcric]

Oh dear, Dhoni really needs a good knock or two soon as I fear the man may have to take up the test captaincy as early as the next series. Get a strange feeling Kumble's done as well. Great to see Dravid and Ganguly score some runs though.

 

[ret]

The batsman who looked completely clueless and a misfit in the test was not one of the senior indian batsmen but the much celebrated indian wicket keeper. The 9 runs he scored in 51 balls was not because of any newly acquired maturity or 'sacrificing his natural game for the team's cause'. It was purely due to being completely out of his depth in the game. Of course, thats not new for MS Dhoni in test cricket in conditions even slightly helpful to bowlers but the compete myopia of his fans cant see it. Yes I agree Badrinath and Rohit Sharma would have been better than him with the bat, unfortunately they dont keep wickets. there is no other batsman who played in this test who looked as if, Badrinath, Rohit or kohli were automatic better choices than him.

your opening line is a misnomer, i.e. "The batsman who looked completely clueless and a misfit in the test was not one of the senior indian batsmen but the much celebrated indian wicket keeper." .... on one hand you are taking the senior Indian BATMEN and comparing their contribution to that of the Indian WK, who plays as an all-rounder!!! .... i guess, Dhoni is suppose to keep WKts and bat like Hussey

the point is not how abc did compared to xyz but how the senior batsmen played according to the expectations [lower]. Amongst the 4 Indian senior batsmen, it's difficult to aggregate more than 150 runs amongst them and thats where the problem lies and not in how Dravid and Ganguly did reasonable well in the Ist inning and the other two didn't. it could well have been Sachin and Laxman hitting 40s-50s with the other two coming out cropper [which could well be the case in the next inning or the next game]

the point is that amongst them India needs to get bulk of its runs [like it use to in the past]. and it is not getting them because these guys are not consistent. 2 guys hit 40s-50s and the other two fail and then it goes on like musical chairs, which is as I said where the problem is. and those 40s-50s are not helping too as these guys are not going on to get the big ones [which is what is required in tests and can be seen in the Australians innings with Ponting and Hussey getting 100s]

Why playing all the seniors is not a good idea is because they don't have it in them, as of now, to get those big ones and as a group they are inconsistent enough to not give India enough runs from positions where traditionally big runs come from

 

[ret]

a nice couple^ - one lives in India and supports OZ and the other has an Indian name like Raghav with a siggy "I support any team playing against India" .... and both of them are laughing at the idea of Australian not being as good as they are being made to look

don't know who should be laughing at what and whom

 

[Jakester1288]

Headlines Today say that they have comments from the physio that half of the Indian team is unfit. There's a discussion on already.

The same thing happened when India toured Australia. They were put on a diet, get to eat one thing of choice per night, and one day per week were allowed to go out. Otherwise, they had to stick to a strict diet.

 

[Sanz]

Some of the suggestions in this thread that 'Australia deserve no credit for their performance' is quite appalling. After all how many teams come to India and do well ? Australia has easily outplayed India in pretty much every session (except when Zaheer/Bhajji batted) . That India is still in the game show how tough it is for any team to come here and win.

Also it is so annoying to see people taking cheap shot at Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly, VVS and SRT. It is just so annoying to hear it everytime Indian team fails, yet no credit when they do well and India win because of them.

 

[Sanz]

Sometimes I wonder...whose side are Indian curators on???

Some times I wonder , what it will take to give credit where due.

 

[adharcric]

Also it is so annoying to see people taking cheap shot at Kumble, Dravid, Ganguly, VVS and SRT. It is just so annoying to hear it everytime Indian team fails, yet no credit when they do well and India win because of them.

Not that I disagree with your overall point but these guys get plenty of credit when they lead India to victory. It's a matter of two extremes rather than pure criticism for the Fab Five - you're just seeing a lot more of one extreme due to their recent performances.