*Official* India in Sri Lanka 2010 - Tests

[vcs]

Veeru.

Thank God the umpire didn't give Sachin out on that last LBW appeal off Randiv. Would have been a near-perfect day had we not lost Dravid who was batting quite beautifully.

 

[Manee]

Good lesson for bowling trundlers at Sehwag. Should have picked fernando / Prasad. They are likely to go for runs, but more likely to produce a brute out of no where compared to Welagedara.

I'm sure Welegedara used to have some more pace, I remember him bowling pretty quickly in his debut Test against England.

 

[Sir Alex]

Good stuff by Veeru. Was perilously close to being bowled but has played a typical innings. Two more sessions of Sehwag and we might even have India declaring late afternoon tomorrow and perhaps a triple too. Sachin played the perfect foil although appeared to get bogged down towards the very end and was lucky to survive a good lbw shout.

 

[Migara]

I'm sure Welegedara used to have some more pace, I remember him bowling pretty quickly in his debut Test against England.

Mathews easily bowled quicker than him. This is a bowler with a SORE BACK! Fully fit Welagedara was not as quick as lesser experianced Mathews, nor as accurate as him.

Mainly the blame should go to the captain. If Shewag was going to be targeted with short wide stuff, then bowlers should've been bit quicker not allowing Sehwag to change his shot once in to it. Other wise he had to bowl straight as Mathews did.

For all my money, Fernado / Prasad should've played instead of Welagedara, and Mathews would have opened the bowling because he looks the most accurate. Shame that he's nursing an injury.

 

[vcs]

Why wasn't Mathews given a bowl in the previous Test BTW? Was it due to the injury?

EDIT : I see he did bowl 9 overs, so probably picked up an injury in the process.

 

[Avada Kedavra]

Sri Lanka still in control of the match and the series.India need 250 to just match SL's score.A lot depends on Sehwag-Tendu...if the partnership is broken tomorrow then SL will have virtually sealed the series.Sehwag has never done well when he's come out to bat with a big score to his name on a fresh day's play.Let us hope he changes that tomorrow.

No point in defending,tbh - not that Sehwag will anyway :P Would rather see India go down 0-2 fighting tooth and nail for a win rather than play out a meek draw for a more "respectable" 0-1.

Randiv's getting quite a lot of turn and bounce.Me thinks India will need at least a lead of 100 or thereabouts in their first innings for them to entertain any thoughts of winning as the SL spinners will be near unplayable on the last day.

 

[Migara]

Why wasn't Mathews given a bowl in the previous Test BTW? Was it due to the injury?

EDIT : I see he did bowl 9 overs, so probably picked up an injury in the process.

He had an injury earlier regarding his back. He's slowly getting himself fit as it seems. Fully fit Mathews it lot nippier than the current one.

 

[Shri]

Has Ishant found some sort of form again? If yes, its good news with the Australian series coming up imo. With a fully fit Zaheer and Harbhajan back in the side, the attack suddenly looks above average without being really good. The addition of Ashwin to the line up would give the side some batting depth in the tail and an attacking spin option.

 

[NasserFan207]

Has Ishant found some sort of form again? If yes, its good news with the Australian series coming up imo. With a fully fit Zaheer and Harbhajan back in the side, the attack suddenly looks above average without being really good. The addition of Ashwin to the line up would give the side some batting depth in the tail and an attacking spin option.

He was pretty accurate from what I saw, if fairly unthreatening.

India doesn't really need batting depth tbh.

 

[Shri]

Ashwin should make the side purely as a bowler, a classy off spinner with lots of variations including the carrom ball. Turns the ball sharply in FC matches. His batting is an added plus which is never a bad thing. And lol at any team that doesn't need batting depth, every team in the world would welcome it if its available.

 

[Ikki]

Sehwag is such a great player he almost makes watching India bearable. Almost.

 

[Manee]

Ashwin should make the side purely as a bowler, a classy off spinner with lots of variations including the carrom ball. Turns the ball sharply in FC matches. His batting is an added plus which is never a bad thing. And lol at any team that doesn't need batting depth, every team in the world would welcome it if its available.

Ashwin may look the part, but the fact is that he 23 wickets at 36.30 in his last season and 32 wickets at 38.81 in the season before that - such a bowler should not play Test cricket.

 

[Manee]

He was pretty accurate from what I saw, if fairly unthreatening.

India doesn't really need batting depth tbh.

I haven't been able to watch any of the coverage, but cricinfo commentary seems to be saying that he is getting the ball in good areas and at a solid pace too, with an average of around 83-84mph.

 

[social]

It's been a long time since I've seen 2 major test nations field such horrible bowling attacks in the same match

Literally only a couple of half decent bowlers amongst this lot

 

[NasserFan207]

I haven't been able to watch any of the coverage, but cricinfo commentary seems to be saying that he is getting the ball in good areas and at a solid pace too, with an average of around 83-84mph.

Yeah, as I said he was pretty accurate, but everything was straight up and down. No movement whatsoever, therefore no penetration. Not sure how much of this is down to the ball/pitch and the bowler, I don't watch many tests in the subcontinent.

 

[Spudsy2061]

It's been a long time since I've seen 2 major test nations field such horrible bowling attacks in the same match

Literally only a couple of half decent bowlers amongst this lot

That's what injuries do...

 

[Shri]

Ashwin may look the part, but the fact is that he 23 wickets at 36.30 in his last season and 32 wickets at 38.81 in the season before that - such a bowler should not play Test cricket.

You say this based on stats? Thats why people like you and me are not selectors(Ishant averaged around 40 when he was picked for the test team). He is rated highly by commentators who see him bowl and others, he could have that X factor that only people who have played at the international level can recognize.

 

[vcs]

Why do Aussie fans hate India so much? It's the first decent day we've had on tour and the comments start coming in. Cheer up fellas, we're going to lose the series anyway.

 

[Manee]

You say this based on stats? Thats why people like you and me are not selectors(Ishant averaged around 40 when he was picked for the test team). He is rated highly by commentators who see him bowl and others, he could have that X factor that only people who have played at the international level can recognize.

I'm not sure about Ishant's average when he was selected, but he had only proved himself to perform in the odd game here and there and this is exactly what he has done at Test level. Moreover, his lack of FC experience showed him to succumb to the rigours of an international schedule and go into quite a considerable decline.

 

[Shri]

I personally don't mind the "hatred", the aussies copped it when they were the best. This means we are the best or around there some where.