***Official*** New Zealand in India 2012

[weldone]

The ICC All Rounder rankings are a joke. Siddle, Steyn, Swann, Philly etc are in there but no Ashwin? Gimme a ****ing break.

He's yet to clear the minimum tests barrier... (forgot what they call it)...

That's probably 20 (10?, 15?) tests now...Once he crosses that, he'll surely be above all those 4...

 

[ankitj]

Come to think of it, we practically had just 3 batsmen this series - Kohli, Pujara and Dhoni. Raina scored one fifty but there was not much beyond that from others.

 

[Shri]

Sehwag looked clueless but got us quick runs. Gambhir/Raina/Tendulkar were worthless.

 

[Kippax]

Meanwhile, in two weeks time India A play NZ A... with the entire series to be played in Lincoln. Seriously? In mid-September? I know Canterbury is drier than much of the country but that still seems like a weird piece of scheduling. Could be kinda cold for the Indians on a few of those days... Plus they get three weeks in Lincoln, or a centre-less Christchurch. Not the most glamorous of tours but I guess it gives a few fringe players some cricket before the English arrive.

September is historically as dry in Chch as January apparently. I quite like it if they're trying to reclaim some crazy land from the sea here for an A tour window, and hope they aren't scared off the concept completely if the drop-in pitches play up in the first year and the Indians get flouncy.

Also a pity NZ A looks dreary (or 'we already know') on paper tbh, an Aus/NZ Rookie Contracts XI and a tri-series might've been a gun idea.

 

[Teja.]

Come to think of it, we practically had just 3 batsmen this series - Kohli, Pujara and Dhoni. Raina scored one fifty but there was not much beyond that from others.

Would say Sehwag, while not being exceptional, was pretty important to the Indian cause at the top of the order playing 45 (55) sort of knocks every time India batted.

 

[Manee]

Sehwag looked clueless but got us quick runs. Gambhir/Raina/Tendulkar were worthless.

Indeed. We do not have a lack of quality batsman knocking on the door. Rahane looks like one of the best prospects in the world outside of current Test cricket. Badrinath was discarded initially too quickly and certainly has the experience required to, erm, not play the shot that Raina did. Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma are also promising options, despite the failure of both and also Rahane, incidentally, to capitalize on the India A series against West Indies A.

 

[Manee]

Come to think of it, we practically had just 3 batsmen this series - Kohli, Pujara and Dhoni. Raina scored one fifty but there was not much beyond that from others.

On that note, I thought Dhoni's counter attacking style earlier today was superb batting that went largely unnoticed. The pressure was right on India and by scoring 20 off his first 18 balls, he completely put the game back in India's favour.

 

[Shri]

Indeed. We do not have a lack of quality batsman knocking on the door. Rahane looks like one of the best prospects in the world outside of current Test cricket. Badrinath was discarded initially too quickly and certainly has the experience required to, erm, not play the shot that Raina did. Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma are also promising options, despite the failure of both and also Rahane, incidentally, to capitalize on the India A series against West Indies A.

And Yuvraj when he returns. Hope he is picked instead of Raina for the England series. Always does well against them.

 

[Contra]

I think Dhoni's just realized that the best way for him to play regardless of the situation is aggressively, which I don't have a problem with because I simply don't back his defense, I'd rather have him play shots and get out than just block and eventually get out anyway. I'm sure there will be times when he'll play an attacking shot and look ugly and get out, and people will laugh at him, but he'll contribute more and more often with an attacking approach than the type of stuff he did in Aus/Eng.

Another thing that will help Dhoni is the young guys, earlier Dhoni usually use to bat a lot with laxman, and laxman isn't the best of runners, with Kohli, Tendulkar, Pujara etc he can run faster, and Dhoni is lightning fast when running, so it's about time he got to use one of his more positive attributes.

Anyways good win, not worried too much on the bowling front, but GG needs to tighten up and lose that ****ing dab shot of his, he's playing fine otherwise, Sehwag needs to convert his starts and Sachin needs to get back into his groove.

Oh and please get rid of Raina, why do we put so much stress on batting positions? Just play Rahane already <_<

 

[Manee]

And Yuvraj when he returns. Hope he is picked instead of Raina for the England series. Always does well against them.

It will be interesting to see if he has the stamina to maintain long Test innings after his chemotherapy. Its hard to explain but it just takes away your energy and that really is for an amount of time which varies from person to person.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Indeed. We do not have a lack of quality batsman knocking on the door. Rahane looks like one of the best prospects in the world outside of current Test cricket. Badrinath was discarded initially too quickly and certainly has the experience required to, erm, not play the shot that Raina did. Manoj Tiwary and Rohit Sharma are also promising options, despite the failure of both and also Rahane, incidentally, to capitalize on the India A series against West Indies A.

Grrrr when will stop equating the benefits of experience with all sorts of completely unrelated things.

 

[Manee]

Grrrr when will stop equating the benefits of experience with all sorts of completely unrelated things.

C'mon. Was used only as an aside-insult at Raina.

 

[Shri]

Its rare to see Badri playing a lofted shot in T20 let alone tests tbf to Manee.

 

[Prince EWS]

I got Dhoni a lot of stick for being a vastly over-rated Test batsman and having the most inflated Test batting average in the history of cricket so it's only fair that I tip my hat when he performs well. He didn't make a big score here and he still looked absolutely terrible at times but this was a real batting contribution from him in this game. Credit where credit is due.

 

[Manee]

I got Dhoni a lot of stick for being a vastly over-rated Test batsman and having the most inflated Test batting average in the history of cricket so it's only fair that I tip my hat when he performs well. He didn't make a big score here and he still looked absolutely terrible at times but this was a real batting contribution from him in this game. Credit where credit is due.

Far too condescending to call it a 'real' batting contribution. It was a superb knock which seized the initiative.

 

[Pup Clarke]

They're more or less the same thing tbh. Don't see how it's condescending.

 

[Manee]

They're more or less the same thing tbh. Don't see how it's condescending.

Condescending is perhaps the wrong word. It seems to give the impression of 'finally Dhoni made somewhat of an impact on the result' whereas Dhoni played a far bigger role than the scorecard would have one believe.

 

[wellAlbidarned]

Oh hey look! I have the third most posts in the thread and it is not completely terrible.

You been counting?

 

[HeathDavisSpeed]

Seemed a decent crowd for that last game. Obviously cheering on the Indians as much as possible, but seemed to appreciate good shots/play from us too. Looked like a decent turn-out for what can't have been a particularly attractive Test series. Must be fantastic for the players to get to play in front of decent Test crowds.

 

[silentstriker]

Yea I was pleasantly surprised. Shows that if they play Tests in the right cities - they will get the turnout. Places like Eden Gardens should get a lot more.