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***Official India in New Zealand***
- Thread starter James
- Start date
Days of Grace
International Captain
He even be a better prospect at taking wickets than Vettori, but we can't drop our captain,now, can we?
Drop Southee and regard both Franklin and Vettori as allrounders. Jeets come in.
ret
International Debutant
Baring a miracle, India is set to wrap up the series .... so I thought I would give my congratulations to the team in advance. NZ was one of the spots where we kept being disappointed and it's good to see that this time we have managed to turn things around .... the last series win in NZ was a long long time ago but may be it has also to do with the fact that India haven't played too many tests in NZ and I would imagine facing the likes of Hadlee is difficult no matter where you play him and more so in his backyard on the turf of his liking
The top five things that have helped shape this India side in to this winning unit, imo, are
1. Sehwag ----> keeps hitting those big ones, takes pressure of the other batsmen, doesn't allow bowlers to settle down
2. Gambhir ----> a perfect partner for Sehwag, fights it out there, delivers in crunch times
These two have had such an impact that it would not be wrong to say that India's best batsmen are at the top of the order. The string of big scores that they have got right from Sehwag saving the game of India in Adelaide, that hell of a triple against RSA, that double against SL, while Gambhir hitting 100s against Australia, Eng and NZ
3. Tendulkar ----> He is back to his best again and that says a lot. The fact that a lot of his 100s are helping India win must be keeping him pleased
4. Pace attack with teeth ----> After a long time, India has a pace attack with teeth that can actually bite. Zak, Ishant and Munaf have been bowling tremendously well as a combination with someone or the other putting his hand up and delivering
5. Dhoni's captaincy ----> I don't know what he does but the team looks different with him around. Overshadowed Kumble as the captain in the home series against Australia where India won 2 tests under him, did that against one test he captained against RSA .... the team looks different under him
The top five things that have helped shape this India side in to this winning unit, imo, are
1. Sehwag ----> keeps hitting those big ones, takes pressure of the other batsmen, doesn't allow bowlers to settle down
2. Gambhir ----> a perfect partner for Sehwag, fights it out there, delivers in crunch times
These two have had such an impact that it would not be wrong to say that India's best batsmen are at the top of the order. The string of big scores that they have got right from Sehwag saving the game of India in Adelaide, that hell of a triple against RSA, that double against SL, while Gambhir hitting 100s against Australia, Eng and NZ
3. Tendulkar ----> He is back to his best again and that says a lot. The fact that a lot of his 100s are helping India win must be keeping him pleased
4. Pace attack with teeth ----> After a long time, India has a pace attack with teeth that can actually bite. Zak, Ishant and Munaf have been bowling tremendously well as a combination with someone or the other putting his hand up and delivering
5. Dhoni's captaincy ----> I don't know what he does but the team looks different with him around. Overshadowed Kumble as the captain in the home series against Australia where India won 2 tests under him, did that against one test he captained against RSA .... the team looks different under him
ret
International Debutant
unhelpful conditions? was he bowling on a green surface? .... but yeah, he has been good in the series with both the bat and the ball
btw, I am taking abt the changes that have helped India shape in to such a nice unit off late .... traditionally, spin has been one of India's strong points
He was bowling on pitches which were flat mostly and a bit on the greener side.unhelpful conditions? was he bowling on a green surface? .... but yeah, he has been good in the series with both the bat and the ball
btw, I am taking abt the changes that have helped India shape in to such a nice unit off late .... traditionally, spin has been one of India's strong points
silentstriker
The Wheel is Forever
Bowling at them for five sessions with super aggressive fields is pushing for a win. If you can't bowl them out in five sessions, you shouldn't really win the game anyway. That's 150 overs on a 4th and 5th day pitch.
They are at 530 runs. If they start off aggressive and bat until a lead of 600, they may have a few overs at them before lunch, and then five sessions after that. Plenty of time IMO.
Evermind
International Debutant
Declaration should definitely come before lunch. Yuvraj and Dhoni need to be very aggressive and get the score up to 600 within an hour or so. Then there's one hour before lunch to bowl at the openers. A wicket or two before lunch and NZ are in huge deficit with only 8-9 wickets in hand and 5 sessions to go. That's pretty much the match in the bag.
If India wait till tea, and the openers survive the final session, NZ will definitely fancy their chances for a draw.
silentstriker
The Wheel is Forever
Five sessions is a long time.
Yeah it all depends on how soon the declaration comes, after the first hour or so would be ideal if Yuvraj and Dhoni go beserk. Yuvraj has got to be dropped mind regardless of what he does, he just isn't a test batsmen outside the subcontinent, where he's merely decent anyway.
Just read O'Brien's blog, very interesting, very honest. It's a great insight into the life of a fast bowler at this level, didn't realise they pay quite this much attention to rest days and nutrition, good to see. Hearing how tired the poor bloke was after the first session yestrerday doesn't speak too highly of Vettori's captaincy mind. It's amazing how much it's been mentioned on commentary and how many people are reading it, I've never seen a player blog this popular before. I really hope he does more in the future, most player blogs are just the usual PR man's bull****, taking positives and we can win from anywhere and all that rubbish. I was also really pleased to hear that the Indian team is socialising with them a bit, it's one of the few teams in world cricket that doesn't seem to get a rapport with any of the other teams.
Just read O'Brien's blog, very interesting, very honest. It's a great insight into the life of a fast bowler at this level, didn't realise they pay quite this much attention to rest days and nutrition, good to see. Hearing how tired the poor bloke was after the first session yestrerday doesn't speak too highly of Vettori's captaincy mind. It's amazing how much it's been mentioned on commentary and how many people are reading it, I've never seen a player blog this popular before. I really hope he does more in the future, most player blogs are just the usual PR man's bull****, taking positives and we can win from anywhere and all that rubbish. I was also really pleased to hear that the Indian team is socialising with them a bit, it's one of the few teams in world cricket that doesn't seem to get a rapport with any of the other teams.
Maximus0723
State Regular
i haven't read the blog but lot of this must have been due to several seniors in our team and Dhoni's cool personality.
Well actually he just mentioned Laxman, but I can't imagine that he's the only one. Apparently Dhoni doesn't like talking to people who speak English too quickly and in those situations he says he needs to get a drink and buggers off. Lol.
Uppercut
Request Your Custom Title Now!
On the subject of Vettori's captaincy, the commentators made an interesting point yesterday that i agreed with- he has a serious tendency to shirk responsibilities.
Vettori continues to bat at 8 when he's one of New Zealand's most reliable batsmen. When his other bowlers are going round the park in ODIs, he'll never bowl himself at the death even though he's probably their hardest bowler to get after. He never attacks with the field in tests when he bowls himself, and generally if the team really need a wicket he'll look to someone else.
It's in stark contrast to Dhoni moving himself up the order in ODIs and doing the job himself, and i don't think it helps the team.
Vettori continues to bat at 8 when he's one of New Zealand's most reliable batsmen. When his other bowlers are going round the park in ODIs, he'll never bowl himself at the death even though he's probably their hardest bowler to get after. He never attacks with the field in tests when he bowls himself, and generally if the team really need a wicket he'll look to someone else.
It's in stark contrast to Dhoni moving himself up the order in ODIs and doing the job himself, and i don't think it helps the team.
JBH001
International Regular
You sort of see that out in the field too. Play is hard during the session but there is always some convivial chatting between the players as they come off the field. Its good to see. And check out O'Brilliants blog. Its well worth reading. Feel sorry for the NZ bowlers, they've really been bowled into the ground over the last few days.
profernity
U19 Debutant
I have noticed the same thing, but I thought it was borne out of a fear of being seen as taking the limelight as captain, bowler and batsman, and consequently underutilising himself in an overreaction.
JBH001
International Regular
I think I said something about this a couple of years back before Vettori got the captaincy. It was a discussion on whether Vettori should come up the order and bat at 6 or 7 as he had finally started to score a lot of runs. I said that Vettori did not want to do it, and when he did do it, he seemed to be unable to score many runs - almost as if the responsibility of being a batsman who bowls a bit was too much for him, as opposed to being a bowler who bats a bit. The same thing may be happening now. That said there is no doubt in my mind that he should bat at no.7 with McCullum taking the no.6 spot and Frankllin returning to his primary duties as a bowling all-rounder.
silentstriker
The Wheel is Forever
Jesse Ryder is going to get his head cut off. What the hell is Vettori thinking?