***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[Evermind]

Can you please stop baiting us "typical" Indian supporters please?

Is he havin' a laugh? IS HE HAVIN' A LAUGH?

 

[R_D]

Nice ploy by the BCCI to let the indians drop this game to somewhat avoid any suspicion.

Thnx for letting us know... games have been fixed, you've been harpoeing on about that for a while..... they should've let Sri Lanka win the first match i reckon.. less suspicion that way don't you think

Sri Lanka nearly lost twice to Bangladesh... don't you think they aren't as good as you think they are.

 

[Uppercut]

Day match it was mate.

Ahahaa i need to pay more attention before ranting

 

[Prince EWS]

Ahahaa i need to pay more attention before ranting

A minor slump after the honeymoon period?

 

[Precambrian]

Thnx for letting us know... games have been fixed, you've been harpoeing on about that for a while..... they should've let Sri Lanka win the first match i reckon.. less suspicion that way don't you think

Sri Lanka nearly lost twice to Bangladesh... don't you think they aren't as good as you think they are.

It was a Precambrianesque take on the situation, aka dire, aka prodigious dry humour.

 

[Uppercut]

I've totally been figured out.

 

[Arjun]

Well done to Sri Lanka.. they outplayed us..


Shows that our bowling attack minus Zak and Ishant and maybe Praveen is still poo... We need to get our second string guys better if we are serious about getting to #1 and being there for a few weeks at least...

The Indian bowling is not that bad. All of them (including the struggling Irfan) have finished the series with averages under 30, bar Zaheer, who had an off series, and Yusuf, whom Dhoni does not trust. The real problem, however, is with those so-called batsmen who can bowl a bit. In fact, the combined average of all of them is over 40- against a weak batting side, on spin-friendly surfaces.

If Sehwag, Yuvraj, Raina and Rohit Sharma are bowling options, the Indians are in trouble. They're not international quality at all, and have to be handled with kid gloves, all the time. If they play like main bowlers, they're finished, and so is the team. There is that other intangible effect on their batting- Sehwag and Raina were out cheaply, setting the team back. Goodness me, this is your top six! The cream of your batting! Why subject them to something they have no business doing?

The lack of an all-rounder is obviously a cause for concern, but Dhoni isn't trying to do anything to ease this problem- rather, making it even worse. Your top option is Irfan, but he's struggling to keep an economy down- then again, he will get a lot more wickets and finish a lot more overs than those bits-and-pieces spinners. You can also try Harbhajan, but it's risky, and even more so Praveen, but these two together will be a good idea. With a performing top six that's allowed to concentrate on batting, these two (followed by Zaheer or spinner Rajesh Pawar) will be more useful. Rather, it's worth the risk.

Then there's the allocation of overs- when in-form or useful-but-struggling bowlers don't finish their ten overs, while part-time tripe gets fourteen in a match, you can't blame the bowlers for a debacle like this.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

I've totally been figured out.

CricketWeb's Mendis IMO.

z

 

[Prince EWS]

z

That was actually the point of this post:

A minor slump after the honeymoon period?

 

[cowboysfan]

The Indian bowling is not that bad. All of them (including the struggling Irfan) have finished the series with averages under 30, bar Zaheer, who had an off series, and Yusuf, whom Dhoni does not trust. The real problem, however, is with those so-called batsmen who can bowl a bit. In fact, the combined average of all of them is over 40- against a weak batting side, on spin-friendly surfaces.

If Sehwag, Yuvraj, Raina and Rohit Sharma are bowling options, the Indians are in trouble. They're not international quality at all, and have to be handled with kid gloves, all the time. If they play like main bowlers, they're finished, and so is the team. There is that other intangible effect on their batting- Sehwag and Raina were out cheaply, setting the team back. Goodness me, this is your top six! The cream of your batting! Why subject them to something they have no business doing?

The lack of an all-rounder is obviously a cause for concern, but Dhoni isn't trying to do anything to ease this problem- rather, making it even worse. Your top option is Irfan, but he's struggling to keep an economy down- then again, he will get a lot more wickets and finish a lot more overs than those bits-and-pieces spinners. You can also try Harbhajan, but it's risky, and even more so Praveen, but these two together will be a good idea. With a performing top six that's allowed to concentrate on batting, these two (followed by Zaheer or spinner Rajesh Pawar) will be more useful. Rather, it's worth the risk.

Then there's the allocation of overs- when in-form or useful-but-struggling bowlers don't finish their ten overs, while part-time tripe gets fourteen in a match, you can't blame the bowlers for a debacle like this.

what about the all-rounder who scored 60 not out on debut?.jadeja is the future imo.he was playing way out his postion @8(he should come in before yusuf and dhoni).its too much for a kid on debut to finish a match.

 

[Precambrian]

what about the all-rounder who scored 60 not out on debut?.jadeja is the future imo.he was playing way out his postion @8(he should come in before yusuf and dhoni).its too much for a kid on debut to finish a match.

I disagree. One match is hardly anything to judge a player upon and by the time Dhoni departed the match was all but gone and clearly Jadeja was using the opportunity to get himself a hang of batting in International conditions without any of the pressure associated with it. And once he got settled in, he did impress with some good strokes, but also included the airy-fairy ones, as Jaya brought in the fielders due to the PP. Overall looked ok, but still must wait for a long run, well as long as Yusuf Pathan hits a bad patch.

 

[honestbharani]

yep.. wont watch to change this team but Balaji certainly needs to get a bit more pace there... In one of his interviews a little while back, he told that he was not going 100% yet and that he was going on gradually and adjusting to his new action and trying to change his muscle memories before he started going flat out.. So I guess we can still hope he has 5-10 Ks an hour left in his tank to add in terms of speed... Otherwise, I do think his international career is over.

 

[cowboysfan]

I disagree. One match is hardly anything to judge a player upon and by the time Dhoni departed the match was all but gone and clearly Jadeja was using the opportunity to get himself a hang of batting in International conditions without any of the pressure associated with it. And once he got settled in, he did impress with some good strokes, but also included the airy-fairy ones, as Jaya brought in the fielders due to the PP. Overall looked ok, but still must wait for a long run, well as long as Yusuf Pathan hits a bad patch.

it was his debut for petes sake.i know he can push the scoring rate because i have seen him do it in the ipl.jadeja is the future imo.he will eventually make it to the test team-that is my opinion.

 

[adharcric]

yep.. wont watch to change this team but Balaji certainly needs to get a bit more pace there... In one of his interviews a little while back, he told that he was not going 100% yet and that he was going on gradually and adjusting to his new action and trying to change his muscle memories before he started going flat out.. So I guess we can still hope he has 5-10 Ks an hour left in his tank to add in terms of speed... Otherwise, I do think his international career is over.

How was Balaji's pace in this match?

 

[honestbharani]

His max was 127-128 and he averaged around 125..


As I said he needs to add at least 5, if not 10 Ks to entertain hopes of international cricket. Hopefully all the stuff he said about having a bit in reserve is true... Else we would have lost one more pace option..

 

[Cricket_God]

His max was 127-128 and he averaged around 125..


As I said he needs to add at least 5, if not 10 Ks to entertain hopes of international cricket. Hopefully all the stuff he said about having a bit in reserve is true... Else we would have lost one more pace option..

balaji should play domestic cricket and ipl,there are bowlers out of the team who are
better.

 

[honestbharani]

I think Badri, Vijay and DK should get into the NZ test tour squad as the reserve opener, middle order and keeper.. As for the seamers, it should be Zak, Ishant, Munaf, Praveen and Irfan in that order. I am not convinced about Sree (even though his pace seemed ok in the second innings) or RPS or even Balaji just yet... The spinners will obviously be Bhajji and Mishra although I would really prefer it if Mishra can play as the lone spinner.. He is the more attacking option. But that is obviously not going to happen....


For the extra batter's spot, I think it might be Rohit Sharma or Raina, based on whoever performes better in the ODIs, if they pick the extra batter.


IF it was upto me, I would pick this squad of 16 for the 3 tests:


Sehwag (vc)
Gambhir
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Yuvraj
Dhoni (wk) (c)
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Ishant
Munaf


Reserves:

Vijay
Badri
Mishra
Praveen
Karthik


A back up for every spot should be enough for a 3 test series.

 

[adharcric]

I think Badri, Vijay and DK should get into the NZ test tour squad as the reserve opener, middle order and keeper.. As for the seamers, it should be Zak, Ishant, Munaf, Praveen and Irfan in that order. I am not convinced about Sree (even though his pace seemed ok in the second innings) or RPS or even Balaji just yet... The spinners will obviously be Bhajji and Mishra although I would really prefer it if Mishra can play as the lone spinner.. He is the more attacking option. But that is obviously not going to happen....


For the extra batter's spot, I think it might be Rohit Sharma or Raina, based on whoever performes better in the ODIs, if they pick the extra batter.


IF it was upto me, I would pick this squad of 16 for the 3 tests:


Sehwag (vc)
Gambhir
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Yuvraj
Dhoni (wk) (c)
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Ishant
Munaf


Reserves:

Vijay
Badri
Mishra
Praveen
Karthik


A back up for every spot should be enough for a 3 test series.

Completely agree. Unfortunately, our pace stocks currently look quite poor after Zaheer, Ishant, Munaf and Praveen. India really need Sreesanth and RP Singh to return to top form; Balaji, Irfan and the rest will be a bonus. Let's hope Munaf is ready to go after the injury he picked up in SL; he can't afford to miss out on another tour full of (relatively) bowler-friendly pitches after he had to sit out the last tour of SA. Harbhajan is also returning from injury and if he somehow doesn't make it, Ojha or Jadeja would be in with a shout. If he does make it, it'll be interesting to see how he operates on these pitches.

 

[honestbharani]

Completely agree. Unfortunately, our pace stocks currently look quite poor after Zaheer, Ishant, Munaf and Praveen. India really need Sreesanth and RP Singh to return to top form; Balaji, Irfan and the rest will be a bonus. Let's hope Munaf is ready to go after the injury he picked up in SL; he can't afford to miss out on another tour full of (relatively) bowler-friendly pitches after he had to sit out the last tour of SA. Harbhajan is also returning from injury and if he somehow doesn't make it, Ojha or Jadeja would be in with a shout. If he does make it, it'll be interesting to see how he operates on these pitches.

Munaf has said he will be fit by this weekend. So I guess he should be fine. He will play in the Deodhar trophy too, I think.. So hopefully he will be match fit. I am guessing the selectors might just opt for one more seamer in the team and take RPS or Sree or even Irfan to New Zealand and have a 1 man squad.. Just a hunch.

 

[adharcric]

Munaf has said he will be fit by this weekend. So I guess he should be fine. He will play in the Deodhar trophy too, I think.. So hopefully he will be match fit. I am guessing the selectors might just opt for one more seamer in the team and take RPS or Sree or even Irfan to New Zealand and have a 1 man squad.. Just a hunch.

That's what I was thinking too but isn't 17 a bit much? Is there any restriction on how many you can take?