***Official*** India in New Zealand 2013/14

[hendrix]

After going for all 4 days of the Eden Park test to see an absolute thriller, I thought I'd made the right decision there. Absolutely flabbergasted that this test could potentially be even better.

 

[James]

Managed to catch the last hour of the HIGHlights on Fox Sports. What a master class in strokeplay from McCullum, just simply top class batting and as others have said the bowling didn't look that bad.

What's been mentioned the whole tour is how far Dhoni stands back and thus pushing the slips back. Cost them a couple of times at least today judging by the highlights and countless other times in other matches on tour. Is that how Dhoni typically prefers to position himself? Suppose it must be but should be mentioned in the post-tour review.

Great to see at the close of the play the Indian team shaking his hand and the pats on the back. Class act from them in acknowledging his innings - that's what cricket is all about.

 

[Jono]

Yeah it was very classy. Good stuff.


Also looks like Dhawan did the presser for India. Surprisingly he did not come across as a dick at all. Gave credit to NZ pretty much and said India did what they could. Whether you agree or disagree with that, he handled it well imo. Pleasantly surprised.

Press Conference : Dhawan: A long, hard day for India | Cricket videos, MP3, podcasts, cricket audio | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[uvelocity]

well done sheep shaggers

 

[Bahnz]

I'm obviously glad that Neesham was in the side to play the innings that he did today. But y'know, I really wouldn't mind having Sodhi in the team to bowl into those footmarks outside leg on day 5. Still, India only has one lefty in their top 7, so it probably wouldn't have made much difference.

 

[Briony]

Sensational from McCullum. Hope he gets that triple ton.

 

[Flem274*]

The difference between the draw/Indian win and the NZ win will be in the Indian mindset (barring a sporting declaration which I hope doesn't happen). If they're looking to restore some pride and get some pay back then India will be fine and might even win, especially if they're batting earlier rather than later. If they spend the last day feeling sorry for themselves and tired then their techniques will be a little lazy and loose and NZ will win.

Getting an opener and Pujara out early will be crucial. Kohli is too confident in himself to panic but Rohit and Rahane might, though Rahane was bloody impressive in the first innings.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Why the **** was Blocky banned, that guy was onto something.

But I've watched this test and I can't describe how amazed I am at the NZ fightback. I'll admit I was one of the first to write the Kiwis off (didn't we all tbh?) after their bowling fell flat on day 1, but since Baz and Watling started scrapping on day three I've just sat back, thankful how the test is panning out. There was something incredibly happy in watching them fight from 94-5 to 250-odd at the end of day three, despite them being effectively 6-5 at the end of day three.

Today was just brilliant. Both McCullum and Watling continued their sterling form. I've always liked Watling, great fellow, good wk and a good batsman but in the past he had always lacked huge innings so kudos to him. BMac was just a beautiful sight to watch, not only did he majorly curb his aggressive instincts, he braved through pain as well and it never looked like his determination to see his side through waned. Perhaps my favourite moment was that shot he played through the 3 point fielders, that was ace stuff. India's bowling was toothless for a major part of it but that shouldn't really take anything away from the pair. Neesham was superb too, when Watling fell I was worried for a while whether NZ's remaining 4 wickets would fall quickly but the Neesh played sensibly and gave good company to his captain.

So things standing as they are, what would be NZ's best course of action tomorrow? Knowing how aggressive McCullum can be as captain, I have a slight worry he'll declare overnight. I say the Kiwis should bat on, with McCullum getting his 300 and then quickly switching gears and accelerate towards a 400-440 lead. Declare just before lunch and have a go at the Indian batsmen for 60 overs. May not guarantee a win but a) NZ's chances of defeat would decrease a lot (thus pretty much ensuring a series win) b) India would be totally ground in the dust by then I presume c) It'll be interesting to see how the Indians' mindset would be toward chasing that sort of target.

 

[Bahnz]

So things standing as they are, what would be NZ's best course of action tomorrow? Knowing how aggressive McCullum can be as captain, I have a slight worry he'll declare overnight. I say the Kiwis should bat on, with McCullum getting his 300 and then quickly switching gears and accelerate towards a 400-440 lead. Declare just before lunch and have a go at the Indian batsmen for 60 overs. May not guarantee a win but a) NZ's chances of defeat would decrease a lot (thus pretty much ensuring a series win) b) India would be totally ground in the dust by then I presume c) It'll be interesting to see how the Indians' mindset would be toward chasing that sort of target.

Would declare slightly earlier myself. Try and set India 400 off 70 overs. Then let Southee and Boult have an extended opening burst either side of lunch.

It's pretty incredible that New Zealand are going to win this series given how poor our batting has been overall. Only two of New Zealand's top 7 batsmen averaged over 35 in this series (KW and Baz), compared to 4 for India (Dhoni, Dhawan, Rahane, Kohli). This really is Baz's finest hour.

 

[andyc]

Just read through the last two days, some good calls here.

If someone scores a double ton here I'll love them forever (apart from Latham and Neesham, because I don't trust debutant centurions and 5fers).

We're more likely to see a couple of fighting 50s and a 10 wicket win to India though, if that.

how good is Rahane though? Looks a bit of a gun.

Barring a NZ record stand between the keepers we've gone from looking the goods to ****house in record turnaround time.

Good work lads. Now tripple it

Good news is khan won't be able to walk tomorrow, india will be down to 3 bowlers so if this partnership lasts out the first session we will be set to make 600

Including this one because it's still possible

would be funny if Baz got out for 281 and we won the game

But wow, what a ****ing effort. Followed it all day from work and every time I came back from a meeting/lunch etc. I was afraid NZ would have suddenly lost a few quick wickets. Nothing gets my cricket juices flowing more than an epic rearguard though and I just hope McCullum doesn't do anything silly like declare overnight. Even with the momentum behind them, I can't really see NZ bowling India out tomorrow so they should basically just bat until BMac is out. I watched Clarke make his triple in Sydney and with Dhoni's captaincy on those days, Clarke could've scored as many runs as he wanted. I'll be annoyed if a second batsman turns down that offer by declaring early. Bat, bat and bat.

 

[Furball]

Surely New Zealand bat on and on tomorrow? Giving India a sniff of the win, and thus drawing the series, is stupid.

 

[silentstriker]

Surely New Zealand bat on and on tomorrow? Giving India a sniff of the win, and thus drawing the series, is stupid.

India seem mentally gone. But if I were a NZ fan, I'd probably want my team to just bat on as well.

 

[Athlai]

India seem mentally gone. But if I were a NZ fan, I'd probably want my team to just bat on as well.

Go for the win. Always.

 

[ajdude]

what time does play start tomorrow? cricinfo's hours of play says 11am, the commentary says "Do not miss the action when play resumes tomorrow morning at 10.30 am".

 

[Bahnz]

Starts at 11. Maybe cricinfo means they'll start the text commentary 1/2 hour before play begins.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Would declare slightly earlier myself. Try and set India 400 off 70 overs. Then let Southee and Boult have an extended opening burst either side of lunch.

Hmm well I'd consider 2 things before declaring: 1) The pitch flattening out 2) The Indian batsmen's intent.

The pitch is definitely flattening so I'd be more comfortable setting a target which is almost impossible to get hence the 450 in 60 overs. And like Flem said the result will be determined by how the Indian batsmen approach their innings. With the pitch not assisting bowlers anymore the first wicket will be even more crucial - if Dhawan gets off to his typical Warner style start then with Kohli (and Dhoni possibly getting promoted) following then India can pose a threat. Also one has to keep in mind that the other batsmen in their team - Rahane, Rohit and Pujara are all competent as well so I wouldn't get too carried away with where NZ are at the moment.

In fact, this may seem a bit ridiculous but I'd actually go further and say bat on a few overs after lunch. Then NZ can pretty set a constant ultra-aggressive field, and the major benefit would be that the Indians don;t get the lunch break to try and think how to pace their innings. What say you?

 

[Swingpanzee]

Basically NZ have had such a golden summer, to declare prematurely and then risk a loss seems a bit pointless. Rather eliminate the chance of a loss and then try and sneak a win.

Then again, if I were Shane Warne, #mustpreparetolosetowin

 

[karan316]

I don't see MSD's captaincy taking India in the right direction when it comes to test cricket. I mean the team didn't do that badly in SA and even here, overall they have been allright. But, I really don't see that aggressiveness and intent to win from MSD. Leadership has been the issue for the past couple of years and despite of a very good team we aren't able to achieve success in away games.

 

[OverratedSanity]

If we lose this, Dhoni will get to 12 overseas test losses. More than Azharuddin and MAK Pataudi who captained notoriously weak overseas sides. Oh, and Dhoni has only been captain for 4 years while Pataudi and Azhar were both captains for 9 years +

 

[Shri]

I don't see MSD's captaincy taking India in the right direction when it comes to test cricket. I mean the team didn't do that badly in SA and even here, overall they have been allright. But, I really don't see that aggressiveness and intent to win from MSD. Leadership has been the issue for the past couple of years and despite of a very good team we aren't able to achieve success in away games.

Yeah. Almost 33. Will probably won't be captain for more than 2 years max. Kohli will hopefully be a better test captain.