**Official** Australia in India Thread

[Jnr.]

I know the Aussies got swept up in the emotion of the win, but JAAAYSUS, what's going on here?!?!

That picture would be good for a "Caption this" thread in the Cricket Jokes forum.

 

[SJS]

Possibly in the future, but I guarantee Sehwag will open in Mumbai. He's in good form, and they need someone with experience there otherwise we'll be 2 down in no time with McGrath and Gillespie bowling well.

That being said, I'm happy with the changes. Especially with Karthik in

Oh yes. I was being sarcastic just to make a point that you cant run away from the fact that the middle order can not remain unchamged for ever however big the names and reputations.

BTW, no one has said it, but SS Paul is a bit of a surprise. But considering that the other three debutants are from North(Gambhir), South(Karthik) and West (Jadhav), its not surprising that the fourth is from East

 

[KennyD]

That picture would be good for a "Caption this" thread in the Cricket Jokes forum.

its all about close team relationships...

I mean look at Justin LAnger and Mattie Hayden, they're lovers

 

[telsor]

AA and Patel dropped?!?!?! Thats half of Indias batting gone!

More seriously, making so many non-compulsory changes at once must be unsettling for the side and reeks of panic.

I don't think the AUS team are necessarily more talented than India as individuals, but rather that they play better as a team, and that comes in part from keeping the same players together.

 

[deeps]

Harmo never got mutilated for ten an over repeatedly though, did he?

if he dcided to bowl on the pitch, that would be a possibility

 

[Sanz]

AA and Patel dropped?!?!?! Thats half of Indias batting gone!

More seriously, making so many non-compulsory changes at once must be unsettling for the side and reeks of panic.

I don't think the AUS team are necessarily more talented than India as individuals, but rather that they play better as a team, and that comes in part from keeping the same players together.

Exactly, but not many people in India understand that. Look at who is dropped, They didn't have anything to do with the result. Those who are failing are still there and will be there after this series is over. The new comers will be out (and forgotten) and thos who are dropped will be back again.

 

[SJS]

Exactly, but not many people in India understand that. Look at who is dropped, They didn't have anything to do with the result. Those who are failing are still there and will be there after this series is over. The new comers will be out (and forgotten) and thos who are dropped will be back again.

I dont think thats a fair statement. Its not a question of who is directly responsible for the defeat but whose performance justified dropping them.

The only case where their is some sense of injustice according to me is in considering Laxman for another go in the middle order and dropping Yuvaraj when in the same middle order he wasnt disastrous, was he. His only fault, if one could call it that, was not to protest at being proposed as an opener. He just fell for it like a sucker. So did many cricket followers , including some on this forum, but Yuvraj, if he is a thinking cricketer, should have known better.

Sehwag, inspite of his success in at the top, is clear that he is more comfortable in the middle.

I think Yuvraj's case is tragic. He is lucky India chose three openers in the squad so one of (Gambhir or Jadhav) will not get an opportunity here but if Sriram was chosen and he managed to get in AND score, Yuvraj's career would be in even greater peril. Kaif has already done his own career no harm (at Yuvraj's cost no doubt) and other youngster's coming into the middle order are also going to be much more likely to get in one decent enough score and it is here that it wil continue to be crowded for India.

 

[honestbharani]

I think Yuvi must first learn to play the spinners, though, if he wants to play test cricket. Secondly, I think the guys who have been dropped were responsible for the defeats, just as much as the others in the side were. Parthiv's case has been discussed to dust, he simply is not a good test keeper and hence he has been dropped and someone else has been given a chance. Agarkar is again someone who has promised a lot and delivered little. I guess SS Paul has been rewarded for consistent performances in the Ranji level. That is also a fair selection. Chopra and Yuvraj both wasted opportunities, although it can be said that Sourav's statements and the musical chairs of opening did not help either. But the bottomline is this break could do both of them some good since they can sort out their games now, away from the media glare. It also gives an opportunity to both Dheeraj and Gambhir who have done consistently well in the India A level. I think these are good selections and if Sourav is fit, we will probably see VVS dropped for Mumbai as well.

 

[Linda]

The Indians have got to play more Test cricket. Didnt they play like 5 Tests last year or something ridiculous? They've forgottern how to play the long game because the whole country focuses on the short.

 

[Dasa]

^That's not a fair statement really... People focus on how India only played 5 tests last year.. that was only one year. Most years, the Indians have played just as many tests as other teams - in 2002 they played 16 tests. Many teams go a year or 2 without playing much - Aussies in 1996 only played 5 tests.

 

[Jono]

Didn't Australia only play 2 tests more, those up in Darwin against Sri Lanka.

Australia and India both played one against each other in Sydney. Then Australia played a 3 match series against SL while India played a 3 match series against Pakistan. India then didn't play for the rest of the year while Australia played SL up in Darwin in the 2 test series (2 right?).

That's not that much difference when you think about it.

 

[Sudeep]

India then didn't play for the rest of the year while Australia played SL up in Darwin in the 2 test series (2 right?).

Darwin and Cairns...

 

[marc71178]

if he dcided to bowl on the pitch, that would be a possibility

IIRC, wasn't it being played under 1 day rules, hence the tight leg side ruling?

 

[bugssy]

Then it's a bit of double standards your comment before. You said that AA is paid to bowl and therefore his batting should not be taken into account. I responded to that and you seemingly ignored my response.

someone mentioned that no one admired his innings with the bat, and i said he is tehre for his bowling.

 

[marc71178]

^That's not a fair statement really... People focus on how India only played 5 tests last year.. that was only one year. Most years, the Indians have played just as many tests as other teams - in 2002 they played 16 tests. Many teams go a year or 2 without playing much - Aussies in 1996 only played 5 tests.

From 2000 to now, only Pakistan and New Zealand have played fewer Tests than India out of the major nations (discounting Bangladesh and Zimbabwe from this for obvious reasons)

Over the last 2 years, it's worse (as no side has played fewer) and in fact WI have played as many in 2004 as India have in 2003 and 2004 put together!

Going back to 1996 for a comparison is a but futile, as there were about half the number of games that there are nowadays.

 

[biased indian]

Test matches played since 2000
Eng 63
W I 61
aus 54
sa 51
SL 50
ind 47

i think Eng and Wi are playing too many test????

 

[marc71178]

Why do you say that?

Isn't it more that India aren't playing enough?

 

[Sanz]

I dont think thats a fair statement. Its not a question of who is directly responsible for the defeat but whose performance justified dropping them.

SJS, Only Patel's dropping can be justified. I dont think yuvraj was given enough opportunities to succeed, Neither was Chopra and dropping them issimple unfair. especially the Dropping of Chopra and I am afraid Gambhir and Jadhav are under immense pressure to perform. As for Kaif, Once Ganguly comes in, he will have to go.

 

[Sanz]

Secondly, I think the guys who have been dropped were responsible for the defeats, just as much as the others in the side were.

A look at the top order scores in all the tests, and we will know who was responsible for defeat. Yuvraj didn't even play in the last test. Chopra was under immense pressure, thanks to the mess created by Ganguly. Agarkar, as if we didn't know how he was going to perform.

 

[SJS]

SJS, Only Patel's dropping can be justified. I dont think yuvraj was given enough opportunities to succeed, Neither was Chopra and dropping them issimple unfair. especially the Dropping of Chopra and I am afraid Gambhir and Jadhav are under immense pressure to perform. As for Kaif, Once Ganguly comes in, he will have to go.

Pateps dropping is justified as you also agree.

As far as Yuvraj's opportunities. well as an opener he was given one opportunity too many . But I agree he shud have been persisted in the middle order but once they pushed him to opening and he agreed and failed, they hadf toreplace him with another opener.

Agarkar : Well his performance was not terrible but not earth shattering either. I have always preferred Nehra (inspite of not being very bright )as a bowler to him so I was expecting Nehra back.

Chopra has had a roler coaster ride. This roller coaster bit was not of his making but with the piece meal chances that he was getting his confidence was obviouly shattered. It wasnt possible to persist at this stage with him, sad but unavoidable.

I think comsidering that the series is lost, trying the youngsters at this stage is not a bad idea at all.