***Official*** England in India

[Anil]

Ooohh...This is the first case of in-fighting I have seen on here!

no in-fighting going on here friend....

 

[What-A-Player]

I bet somewhere it does have wicketkeepers who can build a sensible innings, though.

Not someone who can viciously counter-attack Aktar and Co. in Pakistan test Matches

 

[Scaly piscine]

Can't believe Cricinfo gave Udal 7 out of 10 for his series performance, his batting was crap and he picked up wickets from shocking batting when the game was over. Anderson also getting 7 out of 10 shows up how stupid it is - he picked up one more wicket than Udal, all of them mattered and wasn't a liability with the ball, oh and he ran Dhoni out in the first innings as well.

 

[silentstriker]

Ooohh...This is the first case of in-fighting I have seen on here!

Anyway. On the case of Dhoni I have been saying ever since I joined here that his wicket keeping is not up to test match level, occasionally he shows moments of brilliance but far too often he lets the side down. His batting usually compensates for this but no always. Is there an Indian Wicket Keeper out there who is better than Dhoni at Keeping and will score as many runs as he does with the bat? I doubt it. Is there a player out there 10-20 runs worse than Dhoni but far better at Keeping? I dont know.

His shot selection was insane. First and foremost the droped catch should have kicked him into gear and made him think twice before playing it again, but to do the same shot a few balls later is unforgiveable and whilst some have been saying it should cost him his place in the side, I would not go that far but what I would say its a major blot on his CV and anymore stunts like this and he will be in danger

It should cost him his test career. We need responsible cricketers if we want to win series overseas.

theres no excuse for the whole indian batting order having performed liek that....so theyre all idiots?

Any batsman that plays a shot like that (twice) in that situation, is an idiot. Or at the very minimum, so irresponsible that he does not deserve a place at the international level.

The team performance was an absolute disgrace. See my signature for the side that should tour WI. That will give a wake up call to all the lazy cricketers that playing irresponsibly and just trying to be flashy will no longer be tolerated. It has cost us too many series abroad, and now its biting us at home too.

 

[Pothas]

Can't believe Cricinfo gave Udal 7 out of 10 for his series performance, his batting was crap and he picked up wickets from shocking batting when the game was over. Anderson also getting 7 out of 10 shows up how stupid it is - he picked up one more wicket than Udal, all of them mattered and wasn't a liability with the ball, oh and he ran Dhoni out in the first innings as well.

He got 4-14!!!!!!. he only played one test and got 5 wickets, how could argue with him getting atleast 7 out of 10???? Ok his batting was pretty dodgy but he survived an hour on the fourth day and if he had gone in the first over it could be have been a different story. He got the second most important wicket in the English victory and it wasnt his fault that India hit the self destruct button. He was given the job of getting wickets on the last day and people like you said he wasnt good enough to do it. then he does it and you still cant give him any credit, its beyond belief.

 

[silentstriker]

He got 4-14!!!!!!. he only played one test and got 5 wickets, how could argue with him getting atleast 7 out of 10???? Ok his batting was pretty dodgy but he survived an hour on the fourth day and if he had gone in the first over it could be have been a different story. He got the second most important wicket in the English victory and it wasnt his fault that India hit the self destruct button. He was given the job of getting wickets on the last day and people like you said he wasnt good enough to do it. then he does it and you still cant give him any credit, its beyond belief.

Right, whether it was shocking batting or exceptional bowling, the fact that he got 4-14 to win the match for England means he gets 7/10. It shouldn't be held against him that batsman played bad shots against him. He can't do anything else, and he bowled well enough to capitalize on India's weakness.

 

[Scaly piscine]

Right, whether it was shocking batting or exceptional bowling, the fact that he got 4-14 to win the match for England means he gets 7/10. It shouldn't be held against him that batsman played bad shots against him. He can't do anything else, and he bowled well enough to capitalize on India's weakness.

Rubbish, any true cricket fan wouldn't give him 7 out of 10. He was handed 3 wickets on a plate when the game was all but over. These 7 out of 10 things are all about performance not result, his performance was comfortably below Anderson - even if the figures were fairly similar.

 

[Sanz]

Rubbish, any true cricket fan wouldn't give him 7 out of 10.

I hope you are not trying to suggest that you yourself are true cricket fan. Because there are true cricket fans, cricket fans and then there are whinners.

 

[Pothas]

I hope you are not trying to suggest that you yourself are true cricket fan. Because there are true cricket fans, cricket fans and then there are whinners.

quite right. If mr piscine was a true cricket fan instead of a fat, bitter pontificating prat he would be congratulating Udal that at end of his career he has had a wonderfull day and has massivly helped England to a great victory

 

[silentstriker]

Rubbish, any true cricket fan wouldn't give him 7 out of 10. He was handed 3 wickets on a plate when the game was all but over. These 7 out of 10 things are all about performance not result, his performance was comfortably below Anderson - even if the figures were fairly similar.

Yes, since we have unanimously elected you the arbiter of the True Cricket Fandom©, please let us all know what we should think.

 

[chicane]

@silentstriker:

so for one mistake you want to decide he cant play test cricket at all? what would you have felt if he wasnt run out in the 1st innings and scored a hundred, which he was looking very likely to get, and changed the game at that stage itself?

and you seriusly think that team on your sig can play better cricket? you back jaffer and gambhir to do better than even an inconsistent sehwag, are so sure raina will do better than yuvraj after failing in one test, and vrv singh, who looked very average in that warm up game, to do better than pathan, who has been in poor form off late, but has been our main strike bowler when our bowling has been rubbish, and is coming through as a good all rounder?

 

[chicane]

my thoughts -

sehwag - sure he has some flaws to sort out, but hes looked unusually below par after that injury, and now hes down again. nothing to suggest he wont be back. he has got hundreds in south africa, england, new zealand, australia, pakistan, sri lanka....

pathan - he doesnt seem 100%, hes easily quicker than he has been, and ive never seen him look so bad with line, pace etc. again id back him to be his usual self soon.

dhoni - the whole team fails but hes getting a special bashing, everyone forgets his 1st innings knock. only justified criticism is of his keeping.

yuvraj - dissapointing in the last game and dropped catches, but even then he looked good while he was there, and has been in such great form.

sure anyone who doesnt perform should be dropped no matter who they are, and like ganguly, if sachin continues this way i agree he should be dropped. but the players mentioned above havent yet done anything to justify dropping them.

 

[silentstriker]

@silentstriker:

so for one mistake you want to decide he cant play test cricket at all?

Yes, at least until he druges through enough matches in domestic cricket to realize what an honor it is to play for the test team, and you cant BS it away with irresponsible shots like that. I want him to sit at night and keep dreaming about the shot that cost him his test spot, and maybe he will realize what it means to play with responsibility.

what would you have felt if he wasnt run out in the 1st innings and scored a hundred, which he was looking very likely to get, and changed the game at that stage itself?

I don't care if he scores a century. If in pressure situation, when the team absolutely needs him, when he is basically their last batsman left, and he resorts to playing shots like that even once in a while, it is unacceptable.

and you seriusly think that team on your sig can play better cricket? you back jaffer and gambhir to do better than even an inconsistent sehwag, are so sure raina will do better than yuvraj after failing in one test, and vrv singh, who looked very average in that warm up game, to do better than pathan, who has been in poor form off late, but has been our main strike bowler when our bowling has been rubbish, and is coming through as a good all rounder?

The point isn't that they can play better, the point is to hammer through their thick little heads that their spots aren't automatic. And that if you play irresponsibly, and collapse in pressure situations like they did, they don't deserve to be in the test squad. Sitting them out for one series will drive that point home.

 

[adharcric]

Dhoni and India's Wicketkeeping Situation

Anyone who claims that his test career should be over or even that he should be dropped because of that one horrendous shot lacks stability of thought. He showed plenty of composure in the 1st innings, does that all go down the drain because of this mistake now? If he plays rashly rather than responsibly a few more times, then the verdict will be out that Dhoni is simply not a test-class batsman. As for his keeping to the spinners, it is a big worry. We shouldn't settle for anything less than the best simply because "keeping to Kumble is difficult", but that should be taken into account and thus Dhoni's keeping should be given a few more chances before he is dismissed. As for the other options, Dinesh Karthik showed more composure behind the stumps and his batting showed glimpses of responsibility as well ... it remains to be seen what role he (and Parthiv Patel, don't write him off because he didn't perform well as a teenager) can play for India.

 

[open365]

Silentstriker, dropping Dhoni would be like cutitng of your nose to spite your face, sure, he played a bad shot, but would dropping him benefit the Indian cricket team?

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Silentstriker, dropping Dhoni would be like cutitng of your nose to spite your face, sure, he played a bad shot, but would dropping him benefit the Indian cricket team?

Yes, because he can't keep wicket very well...

 

[silentstriker]

my thoughts -

sehwag - sure he has some flaws to sort out, but hes looked unusually below par after that injury, and now hes down again. nothing to suggest he wont be back. he has got hundreds in south africa, england, new zealand, australia, pakistan, sri lanka....

Yes, and he needs to improve his fitness. He is too lethargic in the field. And 27 year old cricketers shouldn't have beer bellies.

pathan - he doesnt seem 100%, hes easily quicker than he has been, and ive never seen him look so bad with line, pace etc. again id back him to be his usual self soon.

Let me get back to his usual self in domestic cricket.

dhoni - the whole team fails but hes getting a special bashing, everyone forgets his 1st innings knock. only justified criticism is of his keeping.

The whole team didn't play two all time horrible shots within a space of a couple balls. Even if he had scored a century in the first innings, you can't play shots like that even some of the time.

yuvraj - dissapointing in the last game and dropped catches, but even then he looked good while he was there, and has been in such great form.

In one dayers, yes. He seems out of his depth here.

sure anyone who doesnt perform should be dropped no matter who they are, and like ganguly, if sachin continues this way i agree he should be dropped. but the players mentioned above havent yet done anything to justify dropping them.

At least Sachin scored something in the last innings when it mattered, the rest didn't. Thats not to say Sachin did well this series, he definatly didn't. But there are about seven players who deserve their tests spots revoked for the next series to drive the point home.

 

[silentstriker]

Silentstriker, dropping Dhoni would be like cutitng of your nose to spite your face, sure, he played a bad shot, but would dropping him benefit the Indian cricket team?

He didn't play a bad shot, he played two all time horrible shots, given the match situation. He is in the team because of his batting, not keeping, and if he is going to do this when batting, why is he even here????

Let him stay up at night and think about the irresponsible shot of the decade, and one that cost him his test place.

 

[silentstriker]

I mean, does anyone but Kumble know the meaning of 'Matchwinner'?

After this performance, I doubt it.

 

[silentstriker]

Forget the team in my sig, we should just send an all out India 'A' team to the west indies. At least most of those players are hungry to prove themselves.