*Official* Sri Lanka in India

[Pratters]

Rahul Dravid. What a champion cricketer.

 

[Pratters]

And Sehwag does lay to rest the Sehwag v Jayawardene debate. The S/R Sehwag scores at is higher than that of Jayawardene and you would almost always choose a batsman with a higher strike rate above one with a considerably lower one if their averages, achievments are similar other wise. Sehwag can destruct like few batsmen can.

 

[Pratters]

Well I am just happy to see some test cricket. First people complain that there aren't enough test matches and when we actually do have test matches, people start complaining about how docile the pitch is and how lousy the cricket that is on display etc etc.

To be honest, it is boring to hear the constant whining in almost every series. If you do not like it is okay to not watch the match.

I have seen flatter wickets and yet not seen anyone bat like Sehwag and Gambhir did and it was very entertaining watching them bat on the first day.

Two points.

Firstly, if people complain about flat wickets, they can in my opinion. Flat wickets kill tests. There was a reason the popularity of tests declined before draws lessened.

Secondly, no matter how flat the pitch, if you score at four runs an over you have done a damn good job and deserve to be ahead in a test match. It is Sri Lanka's test match to save and I don't see any thing wrong with that.

 

[Pratters]

India's recent record when there's something in it for the bowlers on the first morning leaves a bit to be desired.

Really? Sehwag is not great on pitches abroad against good opposition but Gambhir is one of the best openers in the game right now and you have Dravid coming in third. That is almost as strong as any top 3 in the world.

 

[Cruxdude]

I actually felt Sreesanth bowled pretty well today. Almost got a wicket too. Bhajji was a lso pretty good. Tmrw could be pretty interesting.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah, but what can you do? Ojha won't win India any matches, but his performances will rarely be bad enough to warrant his replacement, while Harbhajan's status ensures his place in the side for as long as he likes. Mishra's struggling from being labelled with the "expensive leggie" stereotype, as he has been for his entire international career.

Ojha's a decent tweaker though. Good luck to him.

 

[Pratters]

Well Tendulkar throws his wicket.

I know, just disappointed, was looking forward to watch him.

Nice that you couldn't watch him bat. I couldn't watch too but that's because I was busy with business.

 

[Migara]

SL needs to bat out of the skins to save this. But unfortunately two of SL's weakest players against spin are at the crease. There will be some maidens bowled at them.

Mendis should have a lesson from Herath, how to use the carrom ball.

 

[Langeveldt]

I'm watching the "highlights" on Supersport.. 600/4 at the moment.. Why is that in anyones book good? Home advantage is fair enough, but how can a side be expected to be dominant away from home when coming up with roads like this.. Take a look at the variations in Australia's pitches, although admittedly not perfect, give you a bit of encouragement if you want to be a paceman, a spinner, or a specialist bat, one reason for their past dominance both home and away I feel..

Fair enough to India for a cracking performance, but its not nice viewing

 

[shankar]

I don't know if they are getting particularly bad at preparing fair and competitive pitches. Pitches are much less inclined to deteriorate heavily than they have been previously, and as I've pointed out before, the effect of winning the toss is statistically negligible in test cricket. (In the last ten years, the toss-winner has won 134 and lost 128 games).

You can only come to that conclusion if you know that the two teams in each of those encounters were equally strong. In fact, given that in a lot/most of those matches the opposing teams would not have been equally strong, the stat actually implies that the toss played an equalising role.

 

[Uppercut]

You can only come to that conclusion if you know that the two teams in each of those encounters were equally strong. In fact, given that in a lot/most of those matches the opposing teams would not have been equally strong, the stat actually implies that the toss played an equalising role.

Nah, it doesn't.

Two teams are never equally strong, obviously, but the point of taking a big sample like every test match played over the course ten years is that it irons variables like that out. There are a lot of variables obviously, but it's a bit of a stretch to say that the statistics are warped because over 250 games the stronger team lost the toss significantly more often than the weaker team. I excluded Bangladesh and Zimbabwe in any case.

What it doesn't tell us is instances where a team lost when they would have drawn had they won the toss. I can't think of a way to measure that- feel free to try. So you can still argue that a coin-flip is the difference between losing and drawing, but it's a stretch to say it's the difference between winning and losing.

 

[Shri]

In other news, Dravid has gone past Border's tally of runs in test cricket. No one almost noticed it with all the bickering and whining.

 

[Migara]

The point that is overlooked is there are some grounds if you bat first, you'll be shot over for a low score, and there are some, where batting in 4th innigs is near impossible.

Ex. Asgiriya. The team batting first is shot out for low scores because of the movement. Then the pitch gradually improves to be a belter on the 4th day, and some sharp spin on the 5th. Team batting first, loses in most occasions.

 

[Cruxdude]

The point that is overlooked is there are some grounds if you bat first, you'll be shot over for a low score, and there are some, where batting in 4th innigs is near impossible.

Ex. Asgiriya. The team batting first is shot out for low scores because of the movement. Then the pitch gradually improves to be a belter on the 4th day, and some sharp spin on the 5th. Team batting first, loses in most occasions.

These are essential for cricket though. If all pitches were the same, cricket would be such a big bore.

 

[Uppercut]

The team batting first doesn't usually lose at Asgiriya. Well, not in test matches anyway. Past ten years, teams at Asgiriya have won batting first six times and lost batting first six times. But two of the teams that lost batting first were Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, so history still tells you to bat first there.

I don't doubt that it is often hard to bat on early on and on the fifth day, but it's a negligible factor compared to the quality of the teams. Assuming the game isn't a draw, the better team wins regardless of the toss 99% of the time.

 

[social]

And Sehwag does lay to rest the Sehwag v Jayawardene debate. The S/R Sehwag scores at is higher than that of Jayawardene and you would almost always choose a batsman with a higher strike rate above one with a considerably lower one if their averages, achievments are similar other wise. Sehwag can destruct like few batsmen can.

Disounting the fact that he was dropped on zero of course

I presume that if that sitter been taken, the debate would've been settled in the other's favour

 

[Raghav]

I will answer that question, if you wouldn't mind. Can you name a few venues where test matches are played in India?(use google or cricinfo if you have trouble)

you don't know how many are there? Go to Cricinfo and select Grounds section and then the country"India".. you will find there..find and post here..Lets go through them

 

[Jono]

**** me dead, if you're all so certain of a draw I reckon everyone should load up some money on it.

Its paying $2.34, compared to India paying $1.77

Either you guys know something the bookies don't, or you're all wrong

 

[Raghav]

I'm watching the "highlights" on Supersport.. 600/4 at the moment.. Why is that in anyones book good? Home advantage is fair enough, but how can a side be expected to be dominant away from home when coming up with roads like this.. Take a look at the variations in Australia's pitches, although admittedly not perfect, give you a bit of encouragement if you want to be a paceman, a spinner, or a specialist bat, one reason for their past dominance both home and away I feel..

Fair enough to India for a cracking performance, but its not nice viewing

perfect call this

 

[Raghav]

**** me dead, if you're all so certain of a draw I reckon everyone should load up some money on it.

Its paying $2.34, compared to India paying $1.77

Either you guys know something the bookies don't, or you're all wrong

we know what they dont know