***Official*** India in Australia 2011/12

[Shri]

Ashwin will better Clarke's effort tomorrow or the day after. 354* imo.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Yeah I get that impression too..especially from people like Gambhir, Kohli and even to an extent Sehwag. I can't believe these players chose to play the IPL after a grueling World Cup when they knew an important 4 match series was coming up in England. This is where I respect people like Ponting, Clarke who skipped the IPL to focus on the Ashes. You get the feeling that for Australian and English cricketers, test cricket is the most important...can't say the same for some subcontinent players sadly.

I don't think the Indian players have the choice. If they're fit - they have to play is how I see their teams and the BCCI viewing it. Tendulkar missed the England ODIs by way of an injured big toe, and he was lugged around by MI for the Champions League. He spent the entire tournament warming the benches in the dug out. If Tendulkar has no say in it, can't see the other Indian players being able to skip those commitments too.

 

[G.I.Joe]

It's been relatively sudden too. I think many people just checked out after the WC win.

AWTAz.

 

[adub]

I think a factor he took into account is that it was him batting. He might not have declared if he was out and it was Ponting chasing it. I think a captain is more likely to sacrifice his own milestone.

I have a no doubt that's so, and that is a mark against him not for him. If it would have been right to hold out for a 37 year old ex captain in Ponting (and I have no doubt he wouldn't haven't declared on Ponting for fear of the backlash) then it was doubly right to go for it himself as the new captain of a rebuilding side. He should be making the calls based on what is best for the team, when he's worrying about what haterz are thinking then he isn't doing that.

At the end of the day it won't make any difference to the end result of this test, but I reckon Pup has missed a big opportunity.

 

[Spark]

I'm pretty sure he was, tbf. He just has a different reading of the situation.

 

[Furball]

In fairness to Clarke I think his declaration had less to do with worrying about "haters" than the fact that the previous hour consisted of Ashwin and Sehwag bowling negative lines to a negative field. Reckon Clarke just wanted to move the game on beyond batting for the sake of batting.

 

[Spark]

I mean in the end Zaheer hadn't bowled since the first hour and clearly wasn't going to bowl again, Ishant probably the same, maybe have an occasional spell with Yadav but nothing too taxing, and by his own admission the temperature/humidity wasn't that taxing. Yeah, the match situation meant he could have batted on a bit longer but he declared 470 runs in front!

 

[Son Of Coco]

Have seen heaps of people praising the declaration, but yet to see one serious or valid reason for why it had to be then and not two hours later. If tomorrow is washed out then sure right call, but the forecast is for minimal to no time lost. If that's the info Clarke has then time just isn't an issue.

For the pretty dubious benefit of having 220 overs to bowl them out instead of 190 overs he has paid for it by giving India time to bat on the pitch whilst it was still flat, 120 runs or so, having the ball 30 or so overs older tomorrow when the cloud cover comes in and encourages the swing, and opened up the tiny chance of losing the game. The sizzle wasn't worth the sausage in terms of the match position.

In just terms of the match and the series another session in the field would have hurt India real bad. It was pretty obvious that if you asked Dhoni if he'd like to go off and have a bat now or stay out for another two hours of humiliation what his answer would be. When you're on top like that you don't give the opposition what they want unless it's giving you a pretty big advantage. I ain't seeing the advantage.

But even bigger than that would have been the 400. It wouldn't have been just a personal milestone. With the side rebuilding and our propensity to collapse, putting a world record score on the board, especially from the new captain would have been huger than huge. As big as a great triple is, it won't mean much next week. The record though would have been just massive. Hayden's didn't mean jack because we were no.1 and it was Zimbabwe, but it really would have been a giant boost to how the the team sees itself and how the country sees the team. He did say he was getting tired, so he probably wouldn't have made it, but I think he should have had a red hot go at it whilst still giving the bowlers a decent 10-15 over crack in the evening. He's sweated the small stuff by worrying about ensuring he had 220 overs to bowl instead of 190. If he'd converted that chance into a 400 he would have achieved something truly transformative (without in any way endangering the win). He's a real good captain, but he missed an opportunity to be a great leader I reckon.

India can't win this and we need to bowl them out. Can't see what difference it makes personally. I thought the declaration would come a bit later too, but at 450 in front with 2.5 days left I don't think it is really much of an issue.

 

[Spark]

I do think there was one external factor that could have been playing on his mind though, and that's not the "haters" - it's Cape Town, and specifically playing an awesome knock, losing, and hence having that awesome knock very much tainted in his own mind. So I think that may have influenced him err on the side of caution with respect to time.
EDIT: He says his plan all along was a 450ish run lead.

 

[Spark]

Sehwag Backwards Ball against Australia at the SCG - YouTube

 

[benchmark00]

Went to the first three days of the test.

Two things.

Haters of Michael Clarke can go **** off. He should be given a knighthood.

Doubters of Ponting, and let's face it, there were/are dickloads of them here, can go and jump in front of a bus.

Very satisfying few days for me.

That is all.

 

[Burgey]

****mark00 surfaces.

 

[morgieb]

Clarke...just wow.

India just don't seem to give a damn in the field. People try to take the piss out of us conceding 1/517, India conceded 1/622!

They did bat OK, but I'd be shocked if we don't win. Christ our seamers were unlucky though.

Haddin deserves to go. He doesn't really justify a place in the side anymore. Lyon also shouldn't play against India in Australia - in fact sides should just **** off spinners against India away.

With that said, it felt like the middle-order woke up in 2006 over the past 2 days!

 

[silentstriker]

TBF, I'm glad he's doing well but I don't think it was really unreasonable to doubt him before that innings in SA when he started looking good again.

I said the same thing with Dravid - IMO it was reasonable to call for a drop at the time.

You can only go by what you see - if you're not performing for an extended period of time, I think the questions are fair. At at his age, it's almost impossible to separate bad form with simply a decline (declines often come on suddenly too).

 

[Ausage]

I'm with adub on this one. It seems strange to be even remotely critical of Clarke after what he's done the last two days but I think the declaration was a (very minor) tactical error. The Indians could have been milked for 30-40 more before tea, then Clarke and Huss could have come out and really gone at them for 10 or 15 overs after tea. The pitch was still playing very well (Gambhir is scoring ffs). Drive them into the ground a bit longer, make them come out again after tea, while still giving yourself much more than enough time to bowl them out. Give Huss a chance at 200, Clarke the chance at the record and Haddin a chance to belt himself into some form if one of them got out.

Probably not an enormous issue though tbf. As I speak it's raining pretty heavily too so what do I know?

 

[Spark]

The pitch was playing well but up until Dravid's wicket we bowled poo, tbh. Improved by several orders of magnitude afterwards though and yeah very unlucky not to get one or two more. Not fussed though - bowl like that tomorrow when need be to that exact same plan and we should squeeze 'em out in good time.

 

[cool4u]

India has shown to the world that they are only loins at home and whosoever is there in this world not in a good form even a school boy can make a comeback or get their touch against the poor Indians......Do something Sachin

 

[NUFAN]

I'm so happy for Clarke, I didn't mind the declaration and think it was justified with the early wicket of Sehwag. If we had a keeper who could catch and India 3 down, I would be ecstatic. Basically Brad Haddin ruined 03/01/2012 to 05/01/2012.

 

[Burgey]

India has shown to the world that they are only loins at home and whosoever is there in this world not in a good form even a school boy can make a comeback or get their touch against the poor Indians......Do something Sachin

What happens to their loins away from home?

 

[smash84]

India has shown to the world that they are only loins at home and whosoever is there in this world not in a good form even a school boy can make a comeback or get their touch against the poor Indians......Do something Sachin

True