*Official* Australia in India 2010

[GotSpin]

Spent most of the last two sessions watching it at the pub.

Ultimately a very disappointing day for an aussie fan; however:

Ponting looked in great nick so I expect heap
Clarke looked good except lacked patience
Watto good except lost his way when approaching his century
North has to go! Been really annoying me for a while now but he needs to be dropped so badly

Don't think its all over for Australia yet but very dissaponting after a very fortunate start

 

[Teja.]

Frankly I don't agree at all. The only serious argument for Sehwag not bowling more than he does is that it'd drain him too much and weaken his batting.



Most under-rated bowler in world cricket IMO. Even ignoring the fact that replacing a fast bowler with a spinner in a team that already has three spinners among its best five bowlers would be pretty crazy in terms of team balance, I think Sree's a better bowler than Mishra these days anyway.

Yeah, AWTA on both counts.

What hurts most is Ishant being played and Sree being left out with Ishant averaging over fifty in the past one year and career bowling average close to kissing 40.

 

[Manee]

The current crop of seamers who've made their debut for India post June 2009 have been utter rubbish. There's no way you can consider Sudeep Tyagi, Ashok Dinda, Umesh Yadav, Mithun or Jaidev Unadkat as international standard, or even good enough to replace an out-of-form Ishant. Sreesanth now bowls in the 120's and low-130's, and is now easy picking, with his lack of power and control. Besides, those seamers who did well for India then are not as good now- there's no way any of Sreesanth, RPS or Munaf can replicate what they did initially.

Firstly, are you sure Sreesanth now bowls in the 120s and 130s? Last time I saw him, he was up around 135kph most of the time. He has all the tools, imo, but simply should not be in the Test setup, because he has never had a prolific Ranji season in India. He has taken over 30 wickets in a season just once, in his debut season! Compare that to someone like Praveen Kumar who has had one poor season and four outstanding ones and yet is never considered for selection, especially inside India which is where he is taking all these wickets.

Regarding a second seamer for Test matches (the ones you mentioned):

• Tyagi has done nothing in FC cricket other than his first season. He has been inconsistent in OD cricket too.
• Dinda is a possible option as he has been okay for Bengal, but I think he may be injured - I don't think he is Test standard though.
• Umesh Yadav's rise to prominance just because he can bowl 140kph (not even consistently) is madness. He has done nothing in FC cricket or OD cricket and should be nowhere near the Indian or India A teams.
• Mithun has had one good FC season. Since when was one season enough for an Indian cap? He doesn't look international standard to me, either! He is slow, bowls from too wide of the crease and has an extremely unsightly action.
• Unadkat is living off one match against West Indies A. He hasn't even played a Ranji season and he is playing for the BP XI and ROI XI, that is crazy.

I used to think that R Vinay's time would come soon, but he can't even make the BP XI side. He has had five good Ranji seasons in a row, what more can he do? It is not like he is slow either, he bowls at 130kph and is very accurate.

Also, where is Munaf Patel? He was backup seamer against Sri Lanka and now is not in the ROI team? Is he injured again? He is one of our most credible options.

Dhawal Kulkarni hasn't taken any wickets today, but why is he not in contention? He was a backup seamer for the NZ tour and took 33 wickets at 29.78 in his last season, so not quite up to his debut season, but still respectable (which cannot be said for Tyagi). He didn't do too well in England, but he did take one five wicket haul.

RP Singh had a poor last season, but he did get through a full season without injury, which was promising and improved toward the end, ending with 35 wickets at 31.80. I think he will be a good option in the future, if he strings a few more full seasons together.

Oh well, that's what I think.

 

[Teja.]

Manee, What should the bowling attack be in the second test, in your opinion?

 

[Manee]

Zaheer Khan's bowling was amazing to watch....

He is definitely up there with Anderson in terms of the skill with his swing. He possesses so much control - he turns more side on and gets the old ball to hoop inwards to the left hander - truly admirable.

 

[Manee]

Manee, What should the bowling attack be in the second test, in your opinion?

Realistically, Sreesanth has to come in for Ishant Sharma. Ideally, I would have either Munaf Patel, Dhawal Kulkarni or R Vinay Kumar in for Ishant Sharma, probably Munaf on the basis that R Vinay Kumar has never had a prolonged go at India A cricket and his South Zone record is poor and Dhawal Kulkarni couldn't quite match his debut FC season last year and didn't quite live up to my expectations on the England tour.

But there is simply no right or wrong selection, because the selectors have stuck with the likes of Unadkat and Yadav for the ROI and BP XI matches. If Munaf and R Vinay Kumar were there, along with Kulkarni who is playing for Mumbai, we could have seen who is bowling well which can help (but obviously not entirely decide) these borderline calls.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Most under-rated bowler in world cricket IMO. Even ignoring the fact that replacing a fast bowler with a spinner in a team that already has three spinners among its best five bowlers would be pretty crazy in terms of team balance, I think Sree's a better bowler than Mishra these days anyway.

Yeah, agreed. Sreesanth has all the tools to make a go of tests. Swings it when conditions assist and quick enough for batsmen not to take liberties when it doesn't. I think because he seems both a sook and a **** people tend to view him with whatever the opposite of rose tinted specs are. Turd tinted specs? Brown tinted specs?

I haven't seen all of the other options, but would have Sree ahead of Munaf & RP Singh based on those I have.

 

[Xuhaib]

I think Sree is decent but I would only play him if I have to play 3 seamers and then he is worth a punt as he tends to be very inconsistent and is often poor then good.

 

[BoyBrumby]

I think Sree is decent but I would only play him if I have to play 3 seamers and then he is worth a punt as he tends to be very inconsistent and is often poor then good.

Poor would've been a huge improvement on Ishant. He was genuinely awful today. Down on pace, falling away in his delivery stride so not utilising his height and stricken with no-ballitis. Bowled 4 in one over which went for 19, which is some going when the day's scroing rate was under 3RPO.

 

[Manee]

Yeah, agreed. Sreesanth has all the tools to make a go of tests. Swings it when conditions assist and quick enough for batsmen not to take liberties when it doesn't. I think because he seems both a sook and a **** people tend to view him with whatever the opposite of rose tinted specs are. Turd tinted specs? Brown tinted specs?

I haven't seen all of the other options, but would have Sree ahead of Munaf & RP Singh based on those I have.

My issue is that Sreesanth plays Ranji Trophy Plate cricket. This is a low level, comparable to Division Two County Championship, but without nearly the professionalism that is inherent in English cricket. Sreesanth has only ever had one good season at this level and it was his debut season where he took 33 wickets. Since then, he has only had one 20+ wicket FC season and this was his Test tour of South Africa. You simply need to have performed more than one season at domestic level to be a good Test player, imo.

 

[Evermind]

Firstly, are you sure Sreesanth now bowls in the 120s and 130s? Last time I saw him, he was up around 135kph most of the time. He has all the tools, imo, but simply should not be in the Test setup, because he has never had a prolific Ranji season in India. He has taken over 30 wickets in a season just once, in his debut season! Compare that to someone like Praveen Kumar who has had one poor season and four outstanding ones and yet is never considered for selection, especially inside India which is where he is taking all these wickets.

Regarding a second seamer for Test matches (the ones you mentioned):

• Tyagi has done nothing in FC cricket other than his first season. He has been inconsistent in OD cricket too.
• Dinda is a possible option as he has been okay for Bengal, but I think he may be injured - I don't think he is Test standard though.
• Umesh Yadav's rise to prominance just because he can bowl 140kph (not even consistently) is madness. He has done nothing in FC cricket or OD cricket and should be nowhere near the Indian or India A teams.
• Mithun has had one good FC season. Since when was one season enough for an Indian cap? He doesn't look international standard to me, either! He is slow, bowls from too wide of the crease and has an extremely unsightly action.
• Unadkat is living off one match against West Indies A. He hasn't even played a Ranji season and he is playing for the BP XI and ROI XI, that is crazy.

I used to think that R Vinay's time would come soon, but he can't even make the BP XI side. He has had five good Ranji seasons in a row, what more can he do? It is not like he is slow either, he bowls at 130kph and is very accurate.

Also, where is Munaf Patel? He was backup seamer against Sri Lanka and now is not in the ROI team? Is he injured again? He is one of our most credible options.

Dhawal Kulkarni hasn't taken any wickets today, but why is he not in contention? He was a backup seamer for the NZ tour and took 33 wickets at 29.78 in his last season, so not quite up to his debut season, but still respectable (which cannot be said for Tyagi). He didn't do too well in England, but he did take one five wicket haul.

RP Singh had a poor last season, but he did get through a full season without injury, which was promising and improved toward the end, ending with 35 wickets at 31.80. I think he will be a good option in the future, if he strings a few more full seasons together.

Oh well, that's what I think.

It really amazes me that India are unable to produce a halfway decent quick bowler - apart from Zaheer Khan. And I'm not talking about a Steyn or a McGrath here (that'll be the day, eh?) but even say someone like Siddle or Kallis? Why does a country with more people than all the rest of the cricketing world combined not groom fast bowlers to a halfway decent level?

Is it genetics? Hell, ALL the rest of the subcontinent teams have superior bowlers, and India's seam options seem to be on par with Bangladesh's at the moment. Sri Lanka are far superior, and Pakistan in a different world altogether.

Really, really disappointing. WTF is wrong? Cricket is pretty much the only sport Indians like to play and watch. And yet!

 

[BoyBrumby]

My issue is that Sreesanth plays Ranji Trophy Plate cricket. This is a low level, comparable to Division Two County Championship, but without nearly the professionalism that is inherent in English cricket. Sreesanth has only ever had one good season at this level and it was his debut season where he took 33 wickets. Since then, he has only had one 20+ wicket FC season and this was his Test tour of South Africa. You simply need to have performed more than one season at domestic level to be a good Test player, imo.

I don't really follow Indian domestic stuff at all unless one counts IPL, but I'm sure what you say is true. However, judging by what I've seen, he looks to have the chops for tests. He's mainly a swing bowler (although has a decent bouncer too) so I'd imagine he doesn't get favourable conditions all that often? Just guessing tho.

Of course some players just raise their game for tests. Chaps like Barrington, Gower and Warne all have superior test to overall FC records. Maybe Sree likes the spotlight & performs best under it? As an ex-disco dancing champion (IIRC) it'd be quite likely he does.

 

[Teja.]

Poor would've been a huge improvement on Ishant. He was genuinely awful today. Down on pace, falling away in his delivery stride so not utilising his height and stricken with no-ballitis. Bowled 4 in one over which went for 19, which is some going when the day's scroing rate was under 3RPO.

It's not a one-time occurrence either. Has averaged over 50 while striking at 77 bpw and going at 4 runs an over for the past one year. Really surprises me how he plays on. Should do a good two years in the domestic circuit before playing tests again IMHO.

 

[Faisal1985]

He is definitely up there with Anderson in terms of the skill with his swing. He possesses so much control - he turns more side on and gets the old ball to hoop inwards to the left hander - truly admirable.

Oh yes, and has a proper bowler's physique as well. No offense to other bowlers of course...

Remember his previous reverse swing exploits....its a different pleasure watching a left armer reversing the ball.

 

[Furball]

It's not a one-time occurrence either. Has averaged over 50 while striking at 77 bpw and going at 4 runs an over for the past one year. Really surprises me how he plays on. Should do a good two years in the domestic circuit before playing tests again IMHO.

If anything I reckon Sharma would benefit from a year of County Cricket.

 

[Manee]

I don't really follow Indian domestic stuff at all unless one counts IPL, but I'm sure what you say is true. However, judging by what I've seen, he looks to have the chops for tests. He's mainly a swing bowler (although has a decent bouncer too) so I'd imagine he doesn't get favourable conditions all that often? Just guessing tho.

My knowledge of Indian domestic cricket isn't top notch, tbh. I just go by what I read and obviously try to devalue the level of Plate cricket when I see Amit Mishra opening for his state and the sort of cricketers who have played international cricket's performance at the level. I've also played a few Plate cricketers on a Sunday too. Sreesanth may be a swing bowler, but that hasn't stopped Praveen Kumar performing excellently on the domestic circuit. He is the epitome of someone who has one weapon of swing and yet has done very well for himself.

Of course some players just raise their game for tests. Chaps like Barrington, Gower and Warne all have superior test to overall FC records. Maybe Sree likes the spotlight & performs best under it? As an ex-disco dancing champion (IIRC) it'd be quite likely he does.

He does raise his game for Test cricket. Definitely. However, if someone does not know how to take wickets at the domestic level, then they cannot progress too much further in the long term. Runs are different because concentration and the big match occasion can help someone like a Collingwood raise his game. When looking at bowlers, there are hardly any that have been poor domestically and good internationally, especially for FC/Test (rather than List A/ODI). When you talk about Warne, his domestic record is hardly poor, at the high level of Aussie domestic cricket in very unfavourable conditions.

Moreover, seasons under your belt at a high level mean that your fitness is proven too, something which Sreesanth's is certainly not. For me, it does not matter if a player has a mixed action or a back twisting all over the place, if he can get through five or six full seasons, uninjured, then he is fit enough for Test level competition and schedule.

 

[Manee]

If anything I reckon Sharma would benefit from a year of County Cricket.

Yes. Would need to be a full season as I highly doubt he'll bring instant results and it is the S&C that will benefit him most, imo. He may stagnate in the Indian system, the English system is professional and could finally harness his talent for the long term.

 

[Xuhaib]

don't know why PK not an option in tests if Asif can be a success at 80mph then why not him.I know they are different bowlers one is a swing bowler while the other is seam but its not like India has great fast bowling depth so no harm in trying, also seems to have a good FC record.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Trouble is tho he's on (I think) US$950k a year just from the IPL? Strong chance the bright lights of Scarborough and Chesterfield might not twinkle enough to entice him.

 

[Manee]

Trouble is tho he's on (I think) US$950k a year just from the IPL? Strong chance the bright lights of Scarborough and Chesterfield might not twinkle enough to entice him.

He'll be earning the square root of **** all if he continues bowling like he did today.