*Official* India in Pakistan Thread

[luckyeddie]

Laxman was dropped at....30 was it? . Pathan at two or something as well, made on to make 20 off 12. Both by Taufeeq Umar.

Richard's moved to Lahore

 

[Tony Blade]

Richard's moved to Lahore

Let me whine! :P

 

[Raj123]

Laxman was dropped at....30 was it? . Pathan at two or something as well, made on to make 20 off 12. Both by Taufeeq Umar.

blessing in disguise i reckon... he made sure pak had a chance during their reply

 

[Arjun]

I read it like that as well - very strange one.

given the fact than Shiv sunder Das, Sadagopan Ramesh, Wasim Jaffer, Deep 'The Drop' Dasgupta and Sanjay Bangar have opened, and all failed, I thought it's a good idea to have Pathan too. At least he's also a strike bowler and a more positive batsman. Those other pretenders have done nothing special.

Besides, it's a freak idea which can be tried in a least risk situation.

Anyway, even with 7 batsmen, it helps a lot when the tailenders can bat. Good victory for the Indians, especially when you know they've won a series, which was quite rare in the recent past.

Good shots or bad, clear umpiring or dodgy, the Indian bowlers, except Sachin and probably Sehwag, did quite well. Especially when a much-loved bowler was missing- in a way, luckily. Balaji should cut out that one boundary-ball-an-over, to reduce his RPO, which will make him an even better bowler. He's a very effective selection, since he can bat quite well, and all his shots were quite clean. He can also field quite well. It helps a lot when there are multi-purpose players in your team.

Irfan Pathan, another such player, was quite a revelation. With 8 wickets in 3 matches, he is definitely a good choice for a strike bowler. He goes for a lot of runs, but this time, he has cut down on that a great deal. I would prefer getting him into the attack with the tail exposed, so that he can clean up the tail. Good to see him take early wickets, but they're not enough. The team has to take ALL the wickets. That won't happen by bowling 3-over bowlers. Instead, one batsman should be played regularly as a bowler- the best option is Sehwag.

However, Ramesh Powar was unlucky. He got just 2 matches and in one, just bowled 6 overs of aggressive, tempting off-spin, while Sachin, who bowled rubbish, got 6 overs too. Worse, in the next match, he got just 4 overs and after that six hit by Inzamam, he was taken out permanently. It went further, when Ganguly said they were missing a spinner, even though Powar was picked as a spinner. He does not seem to like Powar and this may be evidence. He did not have much confidence in him, which was quite sad. Powar looked like a player capable of handling the pressure in international cricket. He definitely looked the part in the two matches- a gutsy player who put in more than 100% effort. With the Test series coming, and with Dravid likely to be captain, he may get a fair try.

The Test series will be quite interesting and hopefully just as competitive. As for the one-day series, which was supposed to be IND batting v/s PAK bowling, the heroes were Inzamam and Pathan, which made it a very interesting ODI series.

 

[godofcricket]

Congratulations to india on winning the series. But if i had to choose one team amoung these two, then that would be difficult becuase i would rank them in the same spot.

I dont understand why Pakistan didn't pick imran nazir for even a match,he is one of the best attacking players i have seen.Pakistan lacks good openers in its batting line-up and as long as you dont have good attacking openers who can take the pressure out of the middle order then your batting will always be in trouble .I like yasir hameed but i would certainly prefer imran nazir over taufeeq omar, imran farhat and shahid afridi because he attacks and his short selection is much better than afridi and farhat. Pakistan needs to work on its opening pairs who can bat under pressure and i dont think taufeeq omar is the right choice, it should be imran nazir.

 

[Arjun]

I like yasir hameed but i would certainly prefer imran nazir over taufeeq omar, imran farhat and shahid afridi because he attacks and his short selection is much better than afridi and farhat.

Taufeeq and Imran batted well in that practice match. At least one of them should have played. Farhat was a disappointment, wile Afridi was his usual inconsistent self, so they had to drop him.

 

[godofcricket]

Taufeeq and Imran batted well in that practice match. At least one of them should have played.

Very true but i would say taufeeq got his century because Imran removed the pressure early on and that was the reason why pakistanA won that match quite convincingly. And if there was no nazir then i fail to see how such an inexpreniced batting order managed to get 336 with 4 to 5 overs to spare.

Farhat was a disappointment, wile Afridi was his usual inconsistent self, so they had to drop him.

I would never pick afridi again unless he does something extraordinary. Farhat has talent but i dont think he can bat under pressure, for me Nazir should be in the opening slot with yasir hameed.

 

[godofcricket]

I was very impressed with Irfan Pathans bowling, the way he swings the ball is quite brilliant. i think when nehra is fit enough he should replace Balaji which would make india's bowling much stronger.

 

[Raj123]

i think when nehra is fit enough he should replace Balaji which would make india's bowling much stronger.

i think that place is booked for agarkar

 

[marc71178]

Richard's moved to Lahore

He does seem to have disappeared actually.

 

[harry674]

Reminds of Worcestershire's run glutton Graeme Hick in Pakistan in one of the ODIs in 2000.

it never happened. person who posted this was not watching match and was probably hooked to radio or cricinfo text commentary. ahkter should have come between fielder and wickets to avoid direct hit by sacrifising his body but he failed to do so, he did extend his bat though.

 

[PY]

person who posted this was not watching match and was probably hooked to radio or cricinfo text commentary.

Guilty as charged.

 

[Armadillo]

Pakistan test team announced

Pakistan team Right? Wrong? Surprise Younis Khan got left out and inzi said Saqlain will play.

 

[Mecnun]

Pakistan test team announced

Pakistan team Right? Wrong? Surprise Younis Khan got left out and inzi said Saqlain will play.

I have never seen Gul or Danira play but rest is what I expected. I hope Saqlain plays. He is a match winner.

regards

 

[Jono]

I'm very interested to see Saqlain back, I haven't seen him play for a very long time. This is good news

 

[masterblaster]

Does Saqlain have that really, really long beard now as well?

What is with everybody now growing huge beards?

Inzamam is on his way to a big one, Saqlain apparently has one.

Saeed Anwar's beard is understandable after the loss of his daughter and then changing into a religious lifestyle......

But are many Pakistani players going 'religious' now?

Maybe the Pakistani fans can let us know......

 

[Tony Blade]

No, its a fashion statement!

 

[luckyeddie]

Inzamam is on his way to a big one, Saqlain apparently has one.

Inzy's is so that he can continue to enjoy his lunchtime soup throughout the afternoon session

 

[Muddaser]

saqlains grown the beard after the death of his father where as inzamam has just come back from the hajj pilgrimage.

 

[Craig]

My India side:

Chopra
Sehwag
*Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
*Ganguly/Yuvraj (depending on fitness)
+Patel
Pathan (yes I think he is good enough for 8)
AA
Kumble
Zaheer/Powar/Balaji

Depending on the pitch, if it takes spin (likely will) then I would play Powar, if not I will go for Zaheer or Balaji.

AA doesnt strike me as a number 8, more of a number 9 IMO.