IP could have played at #7, lending some depth to the pace bowling. (and he is not too far behind in batting than some of those who bat at #7) That's where we sometimes miss ganguly, who could bowl a few overs to help the pacers out when conditions were good for that kind of bowling
I meant guys like Yuvi, Saha, etc who play as the extra batsman since I consider Dhoni as a Wk all-rounder and amongst 6 batsmen, which opens up an allrounder's spot or 5th bowler's
He isn't THAT bad. >_<
Yeah, I really didn't think Parnell should've been anywhere near Test cricket before this Test. He still looks pretty raw so I still think another season of franchise cricket (preferably one in which he actually takes wickets..) would have been good for him, but there's the possibility there for it to not be a complete disaster early on; he bowled well.
Yeah, he looked pretty ordinary but not completely out of place.
Would you think SA are the favs to become #1 after this series?
hmm, so it has the bowling attack to make it number one but not the one to stay at the top for a serious period of time
Yup, my guess is their current group of bowlers aren't good enough to see them sustain the no 1 spot for a long period. The fact they have both a higher population & more money (in the game) than the rest of the cricketing world put together would suggest they should have a group of 'top class' test bowlers come through in the next 5 years or so, if not, it's a bit of a worry tbh.
I know that. I am asking for his opinion on what he thinks are SA's chances of getting that after this series esp since SA only have to draw to win the series
I am not talking about beating those teams, but beating them without losing a test. I guess Eng did beat some of the other contenders in tests and even picked up the series against OZ so it's not like what's expected happens
So instead of predicting what would Dravid and Laxman have done, let's just accept the fact India got spanked and the two might or might not have changed anything... It could still have been a superb spanking.
Exactly, bad enough to mention when losing by a small margin let only by an innings
My point is that it not really an extra ordinary achievement but merely a good one. The chaos created by England helped India gain the number 1 ranking. SA didn't play enough tests during 09 thus lost it by not playing rather than poor playing. Although 1-1 against eng is a poor result. But their away record is better than india while india's home record is better. Finally in fairness to aussies they had very good summer and they are never below SL anytime. Its always a three horse game. I always thought SA as a no:1 although they don't have a formidable home record. But SL at 2 is embarrassing, considering they are yet to do anything significantly outside SL.
