The rest of the subcontinent isn't as relevant to this discussion because Sehwag plays half of his cricket in India and not all over the subcontinent. Pitches and bowlers are different and it just muddles any point one may have(Subcontinent vs India only makes Ponting look a bit better, but this thread isn't about Ponting for a change).
Yeah, Michael Clarke and Damien Martyn who are good players of spin had success in India. Look at 2001 where basically the top-order made all of the runs and the middle-order crumbled.
Slicing & dicing down to one series? No thanks. Dont mind tedious stats myself, but at some point it becomes ridiculous.
Why are you using arguably the best team ever as an example? Of course they are going to perform better then other non-subcontinent teams. Why not use South Africa as an example? The first Test, Amla and Kallis (both were in relatively early and faced the new ball before spin came on) batted and made the bulk of the runs. Then in the 2nd Test, Peterson and Amla made all of the runs before a collaspe by the middle-order where all of the new batsman fell to the spin of Harbhajan and Mishra.
It was quoted by Waugh as that, but in reality it started as a fair featherbed (as most SAfrican decks were 2001/02-2005/06) before getting a bit uneven (and no more than that) as the game went on. Waugh just thought it was difficult because he was awfully out-of-form at the time. Donald, apart from being way over-the-hill by 2001/02, did not even bowl at Gilchrist as he was injured after 15 overs, and Ntini at that point was a poor Test bowler.
Based on the same principle you used to compare KP to Sanga. You were so worried of performance against the best.
Well in reality, coming someone who played in that match and a relieable, well proven cricketer like Steve Waugh; I'd say that his point of view is very valid. Out of form or not, he isn't an idiot.
Different circumstance. I was comparing how players went against the best team whilst he comparing how the best team went in a certain condition.Based on the same principle you used to compare KP to Sanga. You were so worried of performance against the best.
Not if it flies in the face of how the ball actually behaved. There was next to no seam in that wicket all Test; the odd ball scuttled along the ground on day three but on the first couple of days it was very true in bounce. Waugh only found the deck difficult to bat on because he was out-of-nick. All the other Australians found it very easy, assisted by the SAfricans' diabolical catching.
Not really - Nel can take a flat deck out of the equation and did, several times, so his case proves nothing whatsoever; Pollock actually averaged 24.11 in the time in question, and returned particularly impressive figures in just 5 Tests out of 19; Ntini in 9 out of 24. And of course quoting figures to attempt to show how a pitch played is illiterate, really, because that depends on the quality of the bowler and the quality of batsmanship as well as the deck. A really good bowler can take the deck out of the equation, and if the batting is poor even moderate bowling on a flat deck can return good figures.
Nice analysis, but I don't really see any difference between the pitches in South Africa over the past 5 years and the 5 years before that. Every Test of Australia's tour of South Africa in 2005/06 was very bowler friendly from my recollections and England's tour of South Africa 2004/05 offered a bit aswell.
Nah, the pitches in 2005/06 Aus vs SA were definately as much of a factor as the overhead conditions. The only real difference between the two teams in the first 2 Tests were Hayden & Ponting's batting and it was no easier for Australia's batsman as the ball was moving around and it was incredibly difficult to score. Both Andrew Symonds and Justin Langer were cleaned up by vicious bouncers in that series; so it wasn't just the overhead conditions.
Commentator was right - "Sehwag - just not up to the task".
Yeh, it's as if the players themselves stay constant while everyone else/conditions get better or worse/tougher or easier,2006 is the same as 2009?
Cool, I'm 20 again
Love when CW refuses to believe players improve. Happens with Hayden and Sehwag a lot.
