***Official*** India in Pakistan

[Arjun]

I would replace one of them (Agarkar) with Zaheer Khan. I know, it potentially weakens the batting but I don't believe Agarkar's batting is so much better than Zaheer's that it offsets his weaker bowling. I might give Murali Kartik a go since Harbhajan has appeared quite harmless so far. Also, I wouldn't mind experimenting Pathan/Dhoni up the order in case of an early wicket.

Yes. Zaheer over Agarkar is a good choice. Sure, Zaheer may look a little off-colour, but as a former Pakistani pace legend said, he's thinking like a medium-pacer. Once he tries to go on an all-out attack on the batting side, he'll be a lot more effective than he has been so far. So what if the pitch isn't conducive to fast bowlers? Genuine fast bowlers don't think like that– they just go all out to blast the opposition anywhere. He'll have to stop getting his foot on fence-bound balls in the outfield, since that's important in ODI's. As for Irfan and Dhoni, they don't have to be promoted in the first 15 overs– even in the middle overs, they can start a fire, and they have to come in before the 40th over to be most effective, especially after a big total has been scored by the batsmen before them.

 

[Arjun]

Does anyone knows as to why Kumble isn't in the OD squad?

Kumble's looked a little off-colour in ODI's, but Murali Karthik doesn't seem a far better choice. Powar can definitely play in his place, and if he did, the team wouldn't need a stupid-sub.

The team management can consider using Tendulkar sparingly, while giving Kaif and Raina ample opportunities to play a long innings from the middle-overs.

 

[adharcric]

The Pakistan lineup is a good one, and may be expected, but swap Afridi with Akmal. Afridi's just a hitter, and a very explosive one, so he'll be a lot more effective at the top of the order. Akmal is more of a pure middle-order batsman, and he'd be a lot better at position six or seven rather than facing the new ball. Otherwise, it's a good team, with a good balance of skill and value addition.

That value addition, however, is missing in the Indian side. You've got a middle-order batsman opening the innings, even though he's quietened down a lot since the 90's and would serve the team better at number four than opening. You've got a pace spearhead who's underpowered and inconsistent. That team will depend a lot on the super-sub, and if they're in a trap, they may be a batsman or bowler short. That's what will happen with the options provided for the series. A few improvements we can have would be replacing Kaif with Gambhir (let's persist with a genuine opening combination, shall we?) and have Zaheer as a strike bowler in place of Agarkar– he's still the best choice. They could, however, get a more versatile combination with Munaf Patel in the team.

I don't want Kaif or Yuvraj out of this team. They are the foundation of our future middle-order and our leading fielders. Both are in good form as well. If you want Gambhir to open, make him supersub instead of Raina and bring down Sehwag/Sachin if we bat second. Raina and Gambhir are both very useful supersubs, both useful batsmen and solid fielders (Raina at cover/point, Gambhir for spinners at short leg is brilliant). Gambhir is more experienced but Raina can bowl a bit as well. Close call, but I personally believe Raina will be a regular for India in the future.

 

[adharcric]

Sure, I don't mind Zaheer replacing Agarkar provided that he's bowling with pace and venom. Otherwise, we might as well go with Agarkar, who will either give one of those random wicket-taking bursts or be absolutely pathetic, in which case he'll force the selectors to drop him once and for all (hopefully).

 

[honestbharani]

I agree with every word of what you say. But its blind followers like adhar who believe that every thing good happening to Indian Cricket has been because of Chappel when the fact clearly is that, with the ouster of Ganguly and inclusion of new comes like Raina, Rao, Dhoni, Singh etc, India has improved a lot and also a lot of credit goes to Dravid also for whatever success India has achieved.

About fitness a lot depends on players also on how they want to follow Coach's, trainers inputs. Irfan, Bhajji may have benefited but If you look @ Sehwag, it is quite clear that he hasn't. An excellent prospect like Balaji is not even considered for his state. Nehra is still not fit enough. Who will take the blame for all that ?

You may be impressed by Chappell's ways, I certainly am not. I dont like his way, for me Wright's way was much better.

Actually Sanz, both Bhajji and the one player who you have all missed out on, YUVRAJ, both have credited Chappell and Frazer for their better form now. Bhajji is pivoting more on his right foot now and apparently it allows him to flight the ball more even with his offbreaks. Yuvraj has talked about how he changed his WHOLE game as a batsman to get better, something with Chappell and Frazer both accepted was a huge risk, given that he was a reasonably successful international batsman. Their interview appeared on cricinfo magazine of January. I bought it. And Kaif has improved his batting under Chappell too.



I am not saying Greg is the only who should be getting the kudos. Rahul's leadership and more importantly, Ian Frazer's kinesology inputs have all contributed. But Greg did bring in Ian Frazer for this reason. So he should get that much credit. And secondly, even AA has admitted that he has worked on his action and improved (or so he says, we haven't seen any improvement in performance ). So, the fact is that the trio are working on a lot of players, and some of them are succeeding and they are as much responsible for THEIR success as they are for the others' failures. Greg's role is getting overhyped but then again, what isn't when it comes to Indian cricket... But as I said earlier, he has his faults but I still think he was the best guy out of the 3 shortlisted.


BTW, Balaji is injured. There is no way TN selectors will actually cast him aside if he is available. TN have played way too poorly for that.

 

[Sanz]

I dont know what improvement you are talking about Bhajji, under Chappel is 38.5 in ODIs
42.65 in tests (and that includes a series against Zimbabwe). Yuvraj, I would like to see more before I can call 'Reasonable Success'. Because on an away tour against Zimbabwe he averaged 18. Agree he scored well in the second innings @ Karachi, but that's somewhat similar to Agarkar's inning in England and I dont have much respect for that. Although he did play much better in ODIs under Chappell and Chappell needs to be given credit for this sudden rise in his ODI batting.

I am not saying that Greg has done nothing, Obviously he is the coach and he is working with the players. But my issue is with the people giving Greg credit for every tiny bit of success yet when the team fails, it becomes someone else's fault.

 

[Armadillo]

So, the one-dayers are coming soon ... preferred lineups?

Pakistan
Salman Butt
Kamran Akmal+
Younis Khan
Mohammad Yousuf
Inzamam-ul-Haq*
Shoaib Malik
Shahid Afridi
Abdul Razzaq
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan
Shoaib Akhtar
Mohammad Asif
Supersub: Arshad Khan

Azhar Mahmood for Pakistani supersub!

 

[danish]

But i will still criticize the PCB for messing up the pitches, and i'm sure that had the wickets been supporting throughout, India would have emerged victorious, probably by 2-0 margin!

I'm sure if India played better than Pakistan they would have won 3-0.


But alas... they did not. They both played on the same pitches throughout the series and Pakistan beat them comprehensively in the last test. Why can some people not acknowledge that Pakistan won the last test because they played the better Cricket?

 

[Fusion]

I'm sure if India played better than Pakistan they would have won 3-0.


But alas... they did not. They both played on the same pitches throughout the series and Pakistan beat them comprehensively in the last test. Why can some people not acknowledge that Pakistan won the last test because they played the better Cricket?

Most do. Ignore him, he's just a troll looking to stir things up.

 

[Arumpnoo]

Your team one the test series, congrats!! I salute the great bowling by Pak bowlers and the good captaincy by Younis khan.

But i will still criticize the PCB for messing up the pitches, and i'm sure that had the wickets been supporting throughout, India would have emerged victorious, probably by 2-0 margin!

Thanks for such a generous congrats, well I guess if we would have lost the match we would have said if we had Inzi we wouldn't have lost. As far as pitches are concerned, this is what I think, Pakistan won the test series against England on the same pitches. England had a more potent bowling attack and less in batting strength. I think the first pitch was a real belter and no doubt about it. I also think that weather played a good part in preparation of that pitch. The faisalabad pitch was almost the same as the pitches made for England. But due to lack of sunshine the pitch never broke like it did during 4th and 5th days for England. Trust me, before the third match I would have rather seen India won the third test rather than a dull draw but I don't think that PCB tried to play with the minds of touring teams. It would be hard on both Pakistani and Indian team as both have to adjust to green tops. I think the only difference is that Pakistan adjusted in the second innings and Indian batsman failed to make those adjustments in both the innings. On this pitch, if you are allowing lead of 600 runs, you can forget about the match. Also, I couldn't understand but during the second innings Pathan bowled first couple of overs where he was keeping the seam right up and hitting the deck but after that his bowls were no where near htting the seam. They were having revolutions that even harbajhan would be proud of. Whats with that.

Anyways, my point was not that anybody should praise Pakistani team but bottom line is a win is a win and a loss is a loss. Well played Pakistan and hope to see a good matchup between the two teams during odis. No offense to anyone.

 

[danish]

Thanks for such a generous congrats, well I guess if we would have lost the match we would have said if we had Inzi we wouldn't have lost. As far as pitches are concerned, this is what I think, Pakistan won the test series against England on the same pitches. England had a more potent bowling attack and less in batting strength. I think the first pitch was a real belter and no doubt about it. I also think that weather played a good part in preparation of that pitch. The faisalabad pitch was almost the same as the pitches made for England. But due to lack of sunshine the pitch never broke like it did during 4th and 5th days for England. Trust me, before the third match I would have rather seen India won the third test rather than a dull draw but I don't think that PCB tried to play with the minds of touring teams. It would be hard on both Pakistani and Indian team as both have to adjust to green tops. I think the only difference is that Pakistan adjusted in the second innings and Indian batsman failed to make those adjustments in both the innings. On this pitch, if you are allowing lead of 600 runs, you can forget about the match. Also, I couldn't understand but during the second innings Pathan bowled first couple of overs where he was keeping the seam right up and hitting the deck but after that his bowls were no where near htting the seam. They were having revolutions that even harbajhan would be proud of. Whats with that.

Anyways, my point was not that anybody should praise Pakistani team but bottom line is a win is a win and a loss is a loss. Well played Pakistan and hope to see a good matchup between the two teams during odis. No offense to anyone.

Welcome to the forum Arumpnoo . Your unbiased comments add weight to the fact that there are Indian Cricket fans who don't believe in the almighty indemnity that is the Indian Cricket team.

 

[godofcricket]

The Pakistan lineup is a good one, and may be expected, but swap Afridi with Akmal. Afridi's just a hitter, and a very explosive one, so he'll be a lot more effective at the top of the order. Akmal is more of a pure middle-order batsman, and he'd be a lot better at position six or seven rather than facing the new ball. Otherwise, it's a good team, with a good balance of skill and value addition.

Well i dont think afridi should be opening, the current players Akmal and Butt seem pretty good and we can expect them to give some consistent opening stands. Afridi, altough has matured but i wouldnt change his current position in which he has been scoring lots of runs recently and i feel he is more confident on what he needs to do, at number 6, even if he gets out cheaply it wouldnt affect the team to the extent when he gets out at the top of the order where it then creates pressure on the middle order.

 

[godofcricket]

My Pakistan team:

1: Salman Butt
2: Kamran Akmal
3: Younis Khan
4: M. Yousuf
5: Inzamam-ul-haq
6: Shoaib Malik
7: Shahid Afridi
8: Abdul Razzaq
9: Shoaib Akhtar
10: Rana Naved
11: Mohammad Asif
12: Arshad Khan (super sub)

This is an awesome line-up.

 

[Arumpnoo]

Welcome to the forum Arumpnoo . Your unbiased comments add weight to the fact that there are Indian Cricket fans who don't believe in the almighty indemnity that is the Indian Cricket team.

Sorry dude but I am not an indian, though just a cricket fan.

 

[Fusion]

Welcome to the forum Arumpnoo . Your unbiased comments add weight to the fact that there are Indian Cricket fans who don't believe in the almighty indemnity that is the Indian Cricket team.

Thought Arumpnoo8 might not be an Indian, you can find those qualities in many CW members. Jono, Pratyush, SJS, Sanz are just a few that come to mind right now. There are others. Of course there are trolls as well, but as SJS once advised me, just ignore them and they'll go away (I sometimes fail to follow this advice). I'm a Pakistani BTW, just to add perspective.

 

[adharcric]

I dont know what improvement you are talking about Bhajji, under Chappel is 38.5 in ODIs
42.65 in tests (and that includes a series against Zimbabwe). Yuvraj, I would like to see more before I can call 'Reasonable Success'. Because on an away tour against Zimbabwe he averaged 18. Agree he scored well in the second innings @ Karachi, but that's somewhat similar to Agarkar's inning in England and I dont have much respect for that. Although he did play much better in ODIs under Chappell and Chappell needs to be given credit for this sudden rise in his ODI batting.

I am not saying that Greg has done nothing, Obviously he is the coach and he is working with the players. But my issue is with the people giving Greg credit for every tiny bit of success yet when the team fails, it becomes someone else's fault.

I hope you're not under the impression that I believe Chappell isn't at all to blame for the recent loss to Pakistan. He is.

Btw, you a Steelers fan?

 

[adharcric]

It would be hard on both Pakistani and Indian team as both have to adjust to green tops. I think the only difference is that Pakistan adjusted in the second innings and Indian batsman failed to make those adjustments in both the innings.

It's just a little harder to adjust agasint Asif and Akhtar than against the harmless Indian bowlers, don't you think? Not taking anything away from the Pak batsmen or giving anything extra to the Ind batsmen, the former clearly were solid and the latter (bar yuvi, gangs) clearly blew it.

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

THE BIG PICTURE



Chuck it, Pak, Greg knows what he’s talking about


Cricket: India’s coach has seen genuine fast bowling as a player, so when he sees slingshot action he knows what it’s about


TREVOR CHESTERFIELD


Posted online: Saturday, February 04, 2006 at 0007 hours IST



Greg Chappell is not one to quibble about fast bowlers. He made his Test debut against an England side at the WACA in Perth when the venue was also making its international debut on December 11, 1970 and John Snow was a particularly nasty fast bowler in that England side.

Snow, a prototype Brett Lee, did more than anyone to help England beat Australia 2-1 in a rather heated Ashes series in 1970/71. Vicious swinging yorkers also gave him an advantage over others in that England attack. But he wasn’t a show pony. He was a genuine sort.



So when India’s coach passed comments about Shoaib Akhtar’s action, it should be known where the middle Chappell brothers was coming. There was something decidedly peculiar about Shoaib’s action when he bowled in Karachi.

Watching on television is, admittedly, hardly the same as being at the venue. But Shoaib’s action was noticeably slingshot and thus suspect at times and it appeared he was out to deliberately hit the batsmen. Snow didn’t need to do that. He was too good.

In the first two Tests, on flatbed surfaces where Pakistan were only interested in having an extended middle net, the Rawalpindi Express looked decidedly smoother and there was no jerk in his action (not that anyone would notice the difference).

Karachi was different. And, as expected, the comments coming out of Pakistan are decidedly paranoid over the Chappell allegations. After the ICC’s Bowling Review Group upheld the banning of Shabbir Ahmed for a year over his decidedly dodgy action any criticism of a Pakistan bowler will not be appreciated.

There are those in Pakistan who view anything said about the action of their bowlers as a ‘prejudiced plot.’ That’s garbage. Did you hear the United Cricket Board bleating over Johan Botha’s action when it was questioned?

It is known that Botha was the subject of serious comment during South Africa’s A team tour of Sri Lanka last August/September. It even reached the stage where the views of the Sri Lanka A team management were place in a report but it wasn’t sent to the ICC; just a verbal concern that he should be watched.

Now Shaharyar Khan, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, is tossing his rhetorical toys. Here he grumbles about Wasim Bari, the Pakistan selection convener, being fined for comments about umpires and wants the ICC to discipline Chappell. It’s time Pakistan got rid of this touch of inferiority (or obsession) and take a serious look at Law 23 (notes 2 and 3) and also Law 1 (notes 3 and 4). Of course the PCB chairman can quote such laws verbatim.

It is well-known that Shoaib has hypertension in the elbow, but if you examine replays of the action from Lahore to Karachi, there was a decided difference whether the Pakistanis like it or not.

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

Since half the wkts that Asif and razzak got came from Akhtar's effort, the result of the match should be reversed, or atleast the match result should say abandoned instead of an Indian loss.

 

[adharcric]

You can say what you want about Shoaib's action .. even I felt uncomfortable with it while watching on tv and Chappell knows what he's talking about I would presume. But don't suggest that we didn't get outplayed by the Pakistanis in the third test. That's a different matter.