*Official* India in Australia Thread

[Tim]

NZ can largely thank Steve Rixon for their rise in test cricket anyway...he really did turn NZ into a competitive team & as far as I know still has quite a bit to do with the NZ team.
A few players go over to Sydney every year to learn skills with him.

The only time I saw Zaheer bowl well against NZ in the recent test series was at the end of day 2 in the 1st test when NZ were mentally stuffed from being in the field for 2 days & were something like 40/3.

 

[bennyr]

good for the game as a whole though

I agree with your sentiment, I think the game needs it at the moment.

However, if in five years time Australia is getting flogged by Rod Marsh's Englishmen and bruised and battered by Dennis Lillee and Bruce Reid's Indian quicks, or beaten by John Dyson's Sri Lankan's, I know that I won't be feeling so "oh well, it's good for the game". I'll want the bastard's heads on platters.

But it hasn't happened quite yet, so for the moment, it's good for the game.

 

[age_master]

However, if in five years time Australia is getting flogged by Rod Marsh's Englishmen

lol wouldn't go that far

 

[CDAK]

Was there anything wrong with Cricketwb yesterday?I was not able to get in contact ,from around 10 am GMT yesterday ,till now.

 

[iamdavid]

Was there anything wrong with Cricketwb yesterday?I was not able to get in contact ,from around 10 am GMT yesterday ,till now.

Servers were down , I beleive we are switching hosts soon so all the problems should be cured for good

 

[Craig]

I dont have a problem with ex-Australian players helping out overseas. They are entitiled to make a living and if it means helping out another country, then so be it.

Their Baggy Greens wont pay the bills.

Tyranny wont help anybody.

 

[CDAK]

Servers were down , I beleive we are switching hosts soon so all the problems should be cured for good

oh ..i c. anyway, it comes good now.

 

[amits]

ind 34/1 in reply to aus a 311/5 d. chopra and DDG batting. looking to c a sachin 100 in this match.

also india r playing a 2nd-string team today without dravid, laxman, ganguly, AA, kumble, zaheer and harbhajan. only 1st string players playing r tendulkar and sehwag. still, not a bad performance by india, considering it was by a 2nd-string indian side.

no posts for 8 hours :O

 

[deeps]

only 1st string players playing r tendulkar and sehwag.

Chopra, Nehra, Pathan, GANGULY, patel


hmmm, as well as sehwag and sachin.....that's 7 out of 11 first choice players...a very interesting 2nd string team i must say

 

[Top_Cat]

also india r playing a 2nd-string team today without dravid, laxman, ganguly, AA, kumble, zaheer and harbhajan. only 1st string players playing r tendulkar and sehwag. still, not a bad performance by india, considering it was by a 2nd-string indian side.

1. Ahem, this is hardly India's second-stringers. For one, Nehra, Patel, Chopra and Pathan played in India's last Test match, Balaji has Test experience and Ramesh also has quite a bit of Test experience and I notice you said that Ganguly isn't playing - check the scorecard a little more closely and you'll see he is and picked up Chris Rogers with the ball in fact.

2. I'll remember this comment if India win the series and you claim they're the second-best or the best side in the world after beating Australia's 'second-string' bowling line-up.

I find it interesting to note how you criticise Australia for struggling with their second-stringers and you go on about how well India played (and they did) yet when India do the same, it's excused with "They did well considering it's their second-string team"? It surely wasn't that Aust A did well, noooooo........

Hmmmmmmmm.............biased much?

 

[krkode]

That's amit, for you!

 

[ReallyCrazy]

There is no excuse for India's appalling display. They played crap. And good performance by Australia A who are playing even better than the senior team at the moment. Amits, accept it...India played crap.

 

[Tim]

As far as im concerned if you take 15 players away with you, none of them are second stringers...you should expect them all to be able to step up to the plate should they be required to play in a test match.

 

[marc71178]

give us our proper bowling attack and i dare say u will see a different result.

Granted, but injuries happen, and I seem to remember a lot of Aussies telling us to shut up when we had more than a few injuries about 12 months ago! :P

 

[marc71178]

Balaji has Test experience

1-183 from 67 overs to be exact!

 

[krkode]

As far as im concerned if you take 15 players away with you, none of them are second stringers...you should expect them all to be able to step up to the plate should they be required to play in a test match.

You're obviously not concerned very far, then. Few teams have that luxury. India especially.

Apart from Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly, and Laxman, few have really shown an ability to play good bowling in Australia or most places outside of India. And if you observe, the batting in both cases of the test matches hinged on just these four (three actually, not counting Tendulkar).

It's quite a young and inexperienced side not counting these four and Kumble and Agarkar. None of the rest have been to Australia.

 

[age_master]

Granted, but injuries happen, and I seem to remember a lot of Aussies telling us to shut up when we had more than a few injuries about 12 months ago! :P

jones got injured on the first day of the test series, equivalent - williams out, fair enough, gough was our for the series, we dont have McGrath - mcgrath is better - who else did you not have. Silverwood, Giles- who played in at least a couple of the tests, Crawley - you got lucky there and i think caddick missed a coupole as well, not that he did much except for in 1 innings.

Australia have taken different bowling lineups into almost every test in the last few months, thats the problem, the bowling attack needs to settle abit more and get combinations working, the top combination, McGrath, Gillespie, Lee and Warne work incredibly well together. than again, when was the last time england played with a settled bowling attack nyway, so it shouldn't have had nearly as much impact on them as it does the Australian team

 

[marc71178]

gough was our for the series, we dont have McGrath - mcgrath is better

Yes, but relative to the replacements available, Gough is the bigger loss.

who else did you not have. Silverwood, Giles- who played in at least a couple of the tests

Silverwood was one of the one's to break down mid-game.

Giles only played one, had one of (if not) his best Test's then got injured in the nets.

Australia have taken different bowling lineups into almost every test in the last few months, thats the problem

So have England, looking at it. Can't remember the last time we had an unchanged attack.

than again, when was the last time england played with a settled bowling attack nyway, so it shouldn't have had nearly as much impact on them as it does the Australian team

Doesn't this contradict your previous point?

 

[iamdavid]

I reckon a likely squad for Melbourne would be something along the lines of -

1.J.L.Langer
2.M.L.Hayden
3.R.T.Ponting
4.D.R.Martyn
5.*S.R.Waugh
6.S.M.Katich
7.+A.C.Gilchrist
8.A.J.Bichel
9.B.Lee
10.N.W.Bracken
11.S.C.G.MacGill
12.M.Nicholson
13.B.A.Williams

I assume they will name a 13 man squad with Nicholson to cover for Williams should be not be fully fit.
I personally would rather Damien Wright than Nicholson , but he has been pretty consistent in this seasons Pura Cup & was the pick of the bowlers for Aus A , he's not nearly as accurate as Wright but a yard or 2 quicker & more aggresive.
I've been impressed with Shaun Tait in this match but I agree with Geoff Lawson's assesment that he's really a year or two away from test standard , very quick & some nice shape , but he still bowls to many four balls & needs to straighten his action out IMO.

Rofe was underbowled but I dont seriously reckon he was in contention for Melbourne.

Nice to see Love & Hussey keeping the pressure on Katich , can only be healthy , also very , very impressed with Seccombe's keeping , he was absolutely brilliant today , particularly some of his legside takes from Tait's wayward bouncers.

I thought Cameron White bowled decently but they played him very well.

 

[Blewy]

I think Nicholson has secured a spot in the next test whether Williams is fit or not...

To take 4 wickets and still keep it as tight as he did was a brilliant effort, 25 runs from just 21.5 overs...

With him Binga and either Bichel/Willo or Bracks i think the next test side will be much better off..