***Official*** Australia A and New Zealand A in India

[bryce]

Seems very strange... Looks like a Yusuf onslaught!

 

[pup11]

Yousuf Pathan deserves a good run in Odi cricket as a batsman in the lower middle order, he is one of the cleanest strikers of the ball in India and he can fire in some off-spinners ala Chris Gayle.

 

[Arjun]

I'd like to know more about Grant Elliot. He's apparently a regular (now) in the NZ side and has a bowling average a little over 8 in ODI's! He's also a more-than-useful batsman, but I don't know what he can do better. Neil Broom seems a good batsman but no good with the ball, and I don't know what Nathan McCullum's role is in the team.

 

[Polo23]

I'd like to know more about Grant Elliot. He's apparently a regular (now) in the NZ side and has a bowling average a little over 8 in ODI's! He's also a more-than-useful batsman, but I don't know what he can do better. Neil Broom seems a good batsman but no good with the ball, and I don't know what Nathan McCullum's role is in the team.

Elliott is first and foremost a top/middle order batsman. His bowling is handy in the limited form of the game, but nothing spectacular. A little bit like Nathan Astle.

Broom is a batsman who very rarely bowls. I'm guessing the only reason he had a bowl today is because everyone else was getting smashed by Pathan. He is a solid player..I reckon he wouldnt be a bad bet for a Black Cap in the future, atleast in the ODI team.

Nathan McCullum is a pretty typical NZ cricketer. He is a very handy middle/lower order batsman and bowls some tidy off spin. He doesnt do either skill well enough to ever play test cricket, but he is very well suited to the OD game.

 

[duffer]

Shame it's not on TV anywhere. Would've loved to see a Yusuf onslaught.

 

[Arjun]

Elliott is first and foremost a top/middle order batsman. His bowling is handy in the limited form of the game, but nothing spectacular. A little bit like Nathan Astle.

Broom is a batsman who very rarely bowls. I'm guessing the only reason he had a bowl today is because everyone else was getting smashed by Pathan. He is a solid player..I reckon he wouldnt be a bad bet for a Black Cap in the future, atleast in the ODI team.

Nathan McCullum is a pretty typical NZ cricketer. He is a very handy middle/lower order batsman and bowls some tidy off spin. He doesnt do either skill well enough to ever play test cricket, but he is very well suited to the OD game.

I looked up those stats a little harder, and noticed Elliott hardly ever bowls (barely four overs a match in List-A), though he's got good figures. Astle was better in the sub-ODI matches, but he wouldn't be used much when the team had Cairns and Harris with them. Maybe now there's a chance for Elliot. Much better than India's so-called batsmen-who-can-bowl.

Broom played a good hand in that last match in Hyderabad, scoring that 50 and building a partnership with Fulton to rescue the team. That against a reasonably strong Indian A bowling lineup. With more space in the current NZ team, he has a chance. Nathan McCullum doesn't have the stats behind him, but I wonder, what impact can he make in a match?

 

[Arjun]

Shame it's not on TV anywhere. Would've loved to see a Yusuf onslaught.

Me too. Sadly, there isn't even live web coverage- all of Cricinfo, Cricket Nirvana (related to NEO Sports, who broadcasted the first round of matches) and even Cricket Archive (who were covering the FC matches against Australia A) have drawn a blank.

 

[Arjun]

I know Yusuf powered India A to 305/8 and there were five run-outs, and were at 66/5. Can we have a fresh update? Anybody?

 

[pasag]

Is that the highest number seven List A score?

 

[SJS]

Uthappa=class

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I know Yusuf powered India A to 305/8 and there were five run-outs, and were at 66/5. Can we have a fresh update? Anybody?

it is sad to see Asnodkar not firing.. i thought he had it in him to make it big...

 

[Arjun]

Uthappa=class

Uthappa=sad case

 

[Arjun]

it is sad to see Asnodkar not firing.. i thought he had it in him to make it big...

He has one more chance...maybe even two...

 

[Arjun]

Looking at the scorecard, the Kiwis had simply no answer, losing wickets regularly. Irfan and Praveen continued their impressive run with the new ball, while Dhawal continued his unimpressive not-so-run as a change bowler. Yusuf wasn't so lucky with the ball, and was hit for a few and was changed. Raina took four wickets for 23 in his six overs, so you get a hint of how New Zealand A's batting was, even without any media coverage.

Deductions would be- a slightly-better-than-average match for India A.

• Irfan is tight again, though a repeat would be needed against Australia A and in the final.
• Likewise Praveen, who's bowled a lot better.
• Yusuf had a great match with the bat, but wasn't given a fair try with the ball when NZA wickets were tumbling to Raina.
• It was an upside-down match for Raina, as he couldn't score runs (which matter a lot more) but took more than a few wickets (which matter a lot less).
• Uthappa flatters to deceive yet again. His expansive strokes, be it swiping outside off or swinging over mid-on, trying to hit sixes, are getting him out caught. From someone unstoppable early in his career, he's now struggling to even stay out there.
• Disappointment for Asnodkar again. He's actually one of India's best limited-overs openers, and should come good sooner than later.
• The bottom five of India A may make it easily for India, except Zaheer in for Dhawal Kulkarni and staying put at eleven.

 

[honestbharani]

Looking at the scorecard, the Kiwis had simply no answer, losing wickets regularly. Irfan and Praveen continued their impressive run with the new ball, while Dhawal continued his unimpressive not-so-run as a change bowler. Yusuf wasn't so lucky with the ball, and was hit for a few and was changed. Raina took four wickets for 23 in his six overs, so you get a hint of how New Zealand A's batting was, even without any media coverage.

Deductions would be- a slightly-better-than-average match for India A.

• Irfan is tight again, though a repeat would be needed against Australia A and in the final.
• Likewise Praveen, who's bowled a lot better.
• Yusuf had a great match with the bat, but wasn't given a fair try with the ball when NZA wickets were tumbling to Raina.
• It was an upside-down match for Raina, as he couldn't score runs (which matter a lot more) but took more than a few wickets (which matter a lot less).
• Uthappa flatters to deceive yet again. His expansive strokes, be it swiping outside off or swinging over mid-on, trying to hit sixes, are getting him out caught. From someone unstoppable early in his career, he's now struggling to even stay out there.
• Disappointment for Asnodkar again. He's actually one of India's best limited-overs openers, and should come good sooner than later.
• The bottom five of India A may make it easily for India, except Zaheer in for Dhawal Kulkarni and staying put at eleven.

He was never really unstoppable.. He has got the attacking shots but I am sorry, his defense is simply non-existent.. AT best, if India are playing 7 batters and are looking for a lower order hitter (who can't bowl and shows off better than he actually fields, btw), then there is a case for picking or at least considering him but otherwise, as a top order batsman, he is simply an Afridi without the bowling talent........

 

[Arjun]

He was never really unstoppable.. He has got the attacking shots but I am sorry, his defense is simply non-existent.. AT best, if India are playing 7 batters and are looking for a lower order hitter (who can't bowl and shows off better than he actually fields, btw), then there is a case for picking or at least considering him but otherwise, as a top order batsman, he is simply an Afridi without the bowling talent........

When he made his ODI debut and played as a replacement for Sehwag, he was unstoppable in the run-up to the 2007 World Cup. Since then, however, he was confused (and it showed) when he was shunted up and down the batting order.

That lower-order blaster role wasn't any good for him, is what ruined his batting. He doesn't fit the bill for that now. It's time he played like a top order batsman.

 

[honestbharani]

When he made his ODI debut and played as a replacement for Sehwag, he was unstoppable in the run-up to the 2007 World Cup. Since then, however, he was confused (and it showed) when he was shunted up and down the batting order.

That lower-order blaster role wasn't any good for him, is what ruined his batting. He doesn't fit the bill for that now. It's time he played like a top order batsman.

To be a top order batter at the international level, you need to have a good defence. And he doesn't have that. Watching him for Mumbai Indians against the Super Kings in chennai, he was consistently late in playing the ball off someone like Gony, even.. He is simply too loose outside the offstump and is too late against real pace to be effective at the top order.


Having said that, given his natural flair for attacking shots, no.7 may just be the right position for him, but his inability as a bowler and his inconsistency as a fielder may just affect him... He looked pretty good in this role back in Australia but for some reason was asked to open during the final series.... Mainly perhaps because of Gambhir doing so well at no.3...

 

[Arjun]

To be a top order batter at the international level, you need to have a good defence. And he doesn't have that. Watching him for Mumbai Indians against the Super Kings in chennai, he was consistently late in playing the ball off someone like Gony, even.. He is simply too loose outside the offstump and is too late against real pace to be effective at the top order.


Having said that, given his natural flair for attacking shots, no.7 may just be the right position for him, but his inability as a bowler and his inconsistency as a fielder may just affect him... He looked pretty good in this role back in Australia but for some reason was asked to open during the final series.... Mainly perhaps because of Gambhir doing so well at no.3...

He has age and a little more on his side, so he can work on his defence. He's not likely to get a Test berth and won't look like returning to the ODI team, so events such as this one will help him a lot.

A specialist batsman at seven is simply not good enough to be in the team. He looked good in that role initially back in England, but at home against Australia, he couldn't do enough, and against Pakistan, he struggled to strike the ball and got out cheaply, facing too many. They figured he'd do better as an opener, and benefit more, so they opened with him. He didn't do too well, but that's something he'll be more useful at, because he can't bowl. That number seven should go to a batsman who can bowl a lot, like Yusuf Pathan (who's had a major role in this series) or any of the bowlers who can bat (with another to follow, like Irfan and Praveen).

 

[Precambrian]

Robin is the typical case of going astray after big start. He has so far proven only on flattest of tracks, and is a one way player, with attack as only option. His technical deficiencies were pointed out long back, like the shuffling across the stumps which has made him sitting Duck for leg befores, but has done little to improve on that. In fact, one feels he has been guilty of being caught in the showtime for too long, and needs a season off the national side, to go back and work on his game. He simply has to prove himself capable at positions 3 to 5. At present, he is no case for number 7. I'd give that to Yusuf Pathan, with his added bowling ability.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Robin is the typical case of going astray after big start. He has so far proven only on flattest of tracks, and is a one way player, with attack as only option. His technical deficiencies were pointed out long back, like the shuffling across the stumps which has made him sitting Duck for leg befores, but has done little to improve on that. In fact, one feels he has been guilty of being caught in the showtime for too long, and needs a season off the national side, to go back and work on his game. He simply has to prove himself capable at positions 3 to 5. At present, he is no case for number 7. I'd give that to Yusuf Pathan, with his added bowling ability.

TBH, he never had the big start.. he got selected into the ODI team after an isolated hundred in the challenger trophy.. not based on any consistent domestic performance... he has got 3 shots, 1. walk down the pitch and hitting the ball over midwicket or mid off or mid on with utter power hoping the ball will clear the boundary. 2. one paddle sweep 3. a defence to half volleys... he should consider himself very very lucky with the opportunities he had got so far.. he is a very average player and should struggle to get into the south zone XI TBH.. i dont see him playing any more internationals... i would agree Yusuf Pathan is the best bet for the no.7.