***Official Australia in India***

[BoyBrumby]

Love the knives coming out as soon as we lose a game. We can be sportsmen just as much as every other country on Earth. I have no problems admitting that the better team at Mohali won, and that as much as some of the Aussies playing badly contributed, they only played as badly as they were forced to by some sustained excellence from the Indian team.

Well done to Dhoni and the boys - if you can consistently play like that, you'll be a top team for a long time.

From the Aussie perspective, I don't think there's any need for knee-jerk reactions. We were a good team 5 days ago, if obviously not as good as our best teams over the past 10 years, and we're still a good team now. We didn't play well here, and the guys should be thinking about what they can do to improve their performances, but I don't think there are any sensible changes that can be made to improve the team with the options that are available, other than Clark coming back into the bowling attack, which should make a big improvement in our attack.

Seamer for White? He's hasn't been quite as bad as I feared, but not a serious test spinner for my money. Ponting almost invariably went to Clarke first if spin were required & Cam hasn't seriously troubled the scorers with the blade, so he's just wasting a bowling spot for my money.

 

[Jono]

Well... that was nice

 

[Matt79]

Yeah, him or Siddle, I'm afraid. He's exceeded my expectations of him, but still not been test class. P.Siddy had an ok debut, given the rest of the team didn't really show up, but would have to be the quick to make way. I'd be ok with it if they dropped Siddle instead of White as I think the difference is pretty marginal, and White probably offers more in the other aspects of the game.

 

[andruid]

I was thinking when Australia were 58/5 this was the sort of situation one Mr Symonds would have stepped out to the crease and basically fluked his way to a century and guided Australia to a half decent score

 

[archie mac]

Anyway well done to India

 

[pup11]

Seamer for White? He's hasn't been quite as bad as I feared, but not a serious test spinner for my money. Ponting almost invariably went to Clarke first if spin were required & Cam hasn't seriously troubled the scorers with the blade, so he's just wasting a bowling spot for my money.

The issue with seamer for White theory is that an extra seamer would only make sure that Australian over-rate which has been pretty ordinary so far, would dip even further which is an obvious issue for the Aussies, but as whole-heartedly as Cam White may have bowled, let's face it, he is not making much of difference, is he, in addition to his bowling if he was batting decently then he could have had case for holding onto his spot in the side but that hasn't been the case, so Aussies are in bit of a fix in that regard to what to do with White, whether to play him or replace him, but the problem is the other spinner (Krezja) is a dangerously poor option, but i have a feeling Aussies just might gamble with him in the next test.

 

[pup11]

Ponting denies problems with Lee
Well i would like to believe Ponting is telling the truth here, anyways i just hope all these talks really pump Lee up for the remaining games, and make him perform like we all he could.

 

[Ikki]

Congrats to India. SS jinxed us to death. Bloody guy! LOL

 

[Cevno]

Do not think the aussies should drop white at delhi.
The delhi pitch is unlikely to be like Mohali(normal bounce for the most part) or bengaluru(Low bounce for most part) ,as it is likely to have inconsistent bounce.

 

[silentstriker]

Hmm, Aussies going in with four seamers at Feroz Shah Kotla? I'm a big proponent of Australia playing their four best bowlers (which all happen to be fast bowlers), but if there was any place where I'd be inclined to make an exception, it'd be at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

 

[Top_Cat]

The domestic cricket has six teams and one wins. So 5 teams do lose. I fail to see how players can't learn that they can lose despite playing their best while coming through the ranks. It is just poor sportsmanship if they cannot acknowledge it regardless of which team or country one belongs to.

An Australian can be a true sportsman - Pat Rafter for instance is a top example which comes to mind.

You're telling me how it should be, I'm telling you how it is.

 

[Matt79]

Hmm, Aussies going in with four seamers at Feroz Shah Kotla? I'm a big proponent of Australia playing their four best bowlers (which all happen to be fast bowlers), but if there was any place where I'd be inclined to make an exception, it'd be at the Feroz Shah Kotla.

And although White's lack of test level ability is making me in this instance come around to you and Richard's POV, the fact that none of the quick options are exactly bashing the door down with their mastery of the conditions makes me nervous about trying it out.

 

[Prince EWS]

I've got a strong feeling Krejza will play the third Test. I actually have no idea when it starts though.. is there a tour match in between?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I've got a strong feeling Krejza will play the third Test. I actually have no idea when it starts though.. is there a tour match in between?

First post of thread...

 

[silentstriker]

I've got a strong feeling Krejza will play the third Test. I actually have no idea when it starts though.. is there a tour match in between?

October 29th, there is no tour match.

 

[duffer]

Krejza in would e a gift from above from an Indian pov. Even if he were to play a role where he just spells the fast bowlers I think he's the type of guy our top order will get stuck into so it'll be a very expensive rest for the quicks.

 

[ret]

Day 5

Cricinfo

11.02 am: The margin of 320 runs is India's biggest victory in Test cricket (not counting innings victories). The Australians line up to congratulate the Indians as they troop off the ground. Dhoni's got a stump as a souvenir, but, seeing that Ganguly doesn't have one, he gives it to him.

"Cant get better from an Indian bowling point of view - Bhajji starts it all, Ishant chimes in, Zaheer joins the party and now Mishra wants to wrap it up. Good all round performance," says Ravi.

1-0 up, Bingo!!!! .... Yday, Bhajji and Ishant did the damage. Today' it was Zak and Mishra's turn!!! Whats nice to know that both pacers and spinners were amongst wickets with 8 and 12 wkts respectively in the match .... like this bowling attack, may be we need a pace bowling all-rounder or a 3rd seamer to lend a little depth to it

The good thing is that everyone did well apart form Dravid and Laxman .... Tendulkar became the highest test run scorer in the history of the game, Ganguly got a 100 in his final series, the openers, who have been the strongest part of Indian batting line up of late, delivered as usual, and Dhoni was exceptional both with the bat and captaincy

in short, brilliant performance


As is the case with India in most cases, with every step we take forward, we usually take one back. And this process is one of the reasons that stops India from becoming a super-power that it rightly deserves to be .... we need to change the way we think .... for those wondering whats this all about, its about the team selection

Running an organization that represents a country is not about doing charity but about taking decisions that helps the team and not individuals. This was an opportunity to take Kumble out of the series, along with one of Dravid and Laxman, and force him to leak his retirement plan

Why do you want to bring in someone in to the squad who is neither the better captain nor one of the top two spinner? Is it because of what he did in the past? Is it because of his record at Delhi? One of the reasons why India did well is because the 11 didn't have a heavy baggage like him to carry. Dravid, Laxman and Kumble in a 11 is too heavy a baggage to carry and playing them together is a charity to them that India cannot afford to give. Yes, they have done a lot in the past. I would honor them with accolades and money, if they feel they haven't received enough already. But as professionals, we have to do the best for the team and not whats best for them and their fans

As a nation our tendency is to build, go up and then fall before we realize that we need to change and thats one of the reasons why we are unable to sustain the growth as much as we should

my 2 cents

 

[Sanz]

Over the moon as an Indian fan.

Chandrayan dispatched already ?

 

[Matt79]

That is all fine and dandy but don't you think the young Aussie sportsmen should also be taught the basic principle of competitive sport: That you can do everything right and still be beated, because the opponent was better...........

What use is such a thought when you're winning everything?

Okay seriously, that sort of reality contradicts the control freak mentality so the solution is not to teach it at all. Considering Aus's home and away record for the past 20 years, you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone in the Aus heirarchy they were wrong.

The domestic cricket has six teams and one wins. So 5 teams do lose. I fail to see how players can't learn that they can lose despite playing their best while coming through the ranks. It is just poor sportsmanship if they cannot acknowledge it regardless of which team or country one belongs to.

An Australian can be a true sportsman - Pat Rafter for instance is a top example which comes to mind.

Ponting acknowledges "we were outplayed"

 

[ret]

You obviously didn't look hard enough. You only had to read the next couple to get the context right.

I hope you got warned for the 'Son of ****' thing too...if not, then you can blow me.

Edit: If you were then you can ignore that last comment

if you can take a look at your key board then you will see that 'K' and 'O' are close to each other so its easy to hit one instead of the other if you have a 12" laptop like the one that I have

If i wanted to name you then I would prefer something like '****oo' more than 'coc*'

and for your last comment, I m not gay .... judging by the silliness of your posts, I can understand your desperateness in imagining others to be gays .... and you keep trying to pick on me, because you know I am not going to refuse an invitation to kick your ass, which I guess caters to your gayish fantasies

enough said