***Official*** India in Pakistan

[Arjun]

Ganguly has been an opener in limited-overs matches for years, so he should be the first choice to open. Why would you have him open in ODI's and open a Test innings with someone who has rarely or never opened?

 

[PAKMAN]

great job pakistan, younis khan just loves piling up runs against india and tousuf just carrying on the form from the last test where he scored a double hundred on the same ground

 

[Pratters]

Ganguly has been an opener in limited-overs matches for years, so he should be the first choice to open. Why would you have him open in ODI's and open a Test innings with someone who has rarely or never opened?

Opening in ODIs and tests isnt the same. In ODIs you dont have 3 slips for instance.

Yuvraj is a better player of fast bowling than Ganguly at FC, test level.

 

[Sanz]

Here is a +ve development :-

India coach Greg Chappell has denied any rift in the team after television images showed Saurav Ganguly engaged in an animated discussion with him and skipper Rahul Dravid before the first test against Pakistan.

"It was nothing, we were just discussing cricket. Why do you people have to read more into everything?" Chappell told a news conference on Friday.

A team source said the discussion centred around who would open the innings, with both former captain Ganguly and Dravid keen to take one of the slots.

http://in.today.reuters.com/news/Ne...192137Z_01_NOOTR_RTRJONC_0_India-231873-1.xml

 

[Anil]

great job by pakistan! another good day and they would've batted india out of the match....indian batting will be under pressure to save this test, let's see who steps up....

 

[Arjun]

Opening in ODIs and tests isnt the same. In ODIs you dont have 3 slips for instance.

Yuvraj is a better player of fast bowling than Ganguly at FC, test level.

These days, you'll find three slips in ODI's, depending on the situation and bowling attack. I'm not sure how much better Yuvraj is against pacers at FC level, but when he played against the Aussies, as well as in the second innings at Lahore, he was dreadful. In fact, far worse than against the spinners. He doesn't have the style or skills to fit the openign position, and would be far more effective at four, five or six. Ganguly can't do far worse than him when opening the batting.

 

[Pratters]

A specific match I can point to show Yuvraj played superbly coming in at No. 3 after Sehwag fell early is a Duleep Trophy match from a season ago.

http://www.cricketarchive.co.uk/Archive/Scorecards/f/48/f48023.html

I saw this on DD Sports and Yuvraj made a superb 100* off 114 balls against a West attack including Zaheer Khan in the second inning of the match.

I dont think Yuvraj is as poor against pace as Ganguly for facing the new ball in tests. We disagree on this then.

 

[Prince EWS]

Technically though, he didnt open. He batted #3. And if youre going to make arguements based on players scoring runs at #3 after the fall of early wickets, then surely you'd go for Dravid...

 

[Arjun]

That's just ONE match. In comparison, Dravid and Tendulkar have virtually opened the innings in every match. Moreover, Tendulkar has opened for India countless times in ODI's against Test class attacks, with success. Why not open with Tendulkar?

If you still think Yuvraj is good against pace, just watch the Test in Lahore as well as the series against Australia. He looked out of sorts against the pacers.

 

[Pratters]

In comparison, Dravid and Tendulkar have virtually opened the innings in every match.

Not in tests or FC matches regarding Tendulkar.

Regarding Dravid yes he is much better against pace than Yuvraj.

EDIT - If you have to push one of Dravid and Tendulkar - both crucial middle order players - I see no reason to push Tendulkar at the opening. In this pitch there are options for opening as I said earlier. Inzamam when asked on the Indians playing 1 opener and who should open between Dravid and Ganguly, he said that even Pakistan has played 1opener. On this pitch it isnt as difficult as normally. I believe the same.

 

[Arjun]

Not in tests or FC matches regarding Tendulkar.

Regarding Dravid yes he is much better against pace than Yuvraj.

Virtually– that's the key word here. In virtually every match, an opener was out for little or no score, bringing in first Dravid, then Tendulkar. They've batted at three and four, and given the Indians' opening woes, they've been together at the crease at 20 for 2 very often. That's as good as opening the innings.

 

[Pratters]

Virtually– that's the key word here. In virtually every match, an opener was out for little or no score, bringing in first Dravid, then Tendulkar. They've batted at three and four, and given the Indians' opening woes, they've been together at the crease at 20 for 2 very often. That's as good as opening the innings.

Dravid does come in a lot but Tendulkar not as often.

Also virtually counts for nothing. Laxman loves batting at No. 3. But he has struggled as an opener. There is a mental adjustment required as well.

 

[cricketboy29]

And i think this ganguly's last stand, wouldnt he prefer to go out fighting at the top of order against fast bowling, then be hidden away to face spinners?

This is the maharaj were talking about, the prince of kolkata, whose arrogance is almost as big as his ego. I seriously dont think hes going to let anyone push him down the order.

 

[Sanz]

Facing a Ranji isn't same as facing Akhtar, Rana and Sami. Besides Yuvraj didn't open, he came into bat on 10th over.

 

[Pratters]

Facing a Ranji isn't same as facing Akhtar, Rana and Sami. Besides Yuvraj didn't open, he came into bat on 10th over.

And no one is saying that it is.

 

[honestbharani]

Gavaskar used to say that if a batsman is offered a choice between no.6 or 7 and no.1 or 2, he would (and should) always take no.1 or 2. Take that for what it is worth.



On another note, the Set top box company is closed for the weekend and I am not even able to get an opinion on what is wrong with it. So I guess I will be missing an Inzy hundred and an Afridi blaze tomorrow and an Indian capitulation on Sunday and Monday.


On second thoughts, NOT watching India lose is not such a bad thing, is it?

 

[superkingdave]

Well its a good job i have Malik, Khan and Moyo in my fantasy side. Now lets hope for an AA hattrick, tons for Sehwag, Laxman and Dhoni, and wickets for Shoaib, Rana and Danish

 

[shankar]

Excellent performance by Pakistan. While I don't like the sort of cricket that's played out on these sort of pitches, it was very good and a safe strategy from the Pak management for the first match of the series considering the bowling attacks of the two sides. It virtually puts the spinners out of the match till the last couple of days and only the Pak pacers are going to get anything out of it. If Pak win this match, I think we'll see pitches with lot more in it for the pacers for remaining two matches.

 

[Arjun]

What are your comments on Irfan's bowling? Wasim Akram said he's giving it away by exposing the shine on the ball, so the batsmen know which way the ball will move.

 

[ClownSymonds]

When I watched Pakistan play England, it seemed like everything that went wrong for them turned out to be a blessing in disguise. A similar thing happened today when Salman Butt got run out for 6. Younis Khan then got going and got a bit of luck when he was given not out after looking plumb LBW. Now things are really looking good for Pakistan, and India will probably be hoping to save the match as soon as they start batting. I still think it will be tough for Pakistan to bowl India out twice, but they have laid a great foundation.

On the side, India's bowling looks to be absolutely horrible. It seems that their performance against Sri Lanka was meaningless, as Sri Lanka have become little more than minnows. I'm not sure how India are going to make it through this series with just 3 real bowlers, none of whom look especially threatening, and all of whom don't bowl particularly tight. Having only two seamers, Pathan and Agarkar at that, is ridiculous. It's no wonder that the pitch looks so lifeless, and they don't have the pace to help things, either.