***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[alternative]

Haha only Ganguly would/could have done that.

 

[Dissector]

Yes, it's ridiculous that Hawkeye isn't allowed to show happens to the ball after impact. We know Hawkeye isn't perfect but it's still usually better than guessing from replays. Show the umpire everything that Hawkeye says and allow to disregard if he thinks it's wrong.

India seems to have gotten the worse of the review system so far. Have we got even one decision changed so far? We have probably had half a dozen changed against us of which at least a couple were dubious.

Anyway from the pov of the game this has definitely increased the drama and gotten Sri Lanka back in it. What a test match.

 

[Dissector]

BTW did Hawkeye show the ball hitting the stumps after the main review. Didn't catch that on TV. If that's the case I guess the decision was OK though I still think that umpires should be given that information before making a decision.

Anyway this game is perfectly poised for tomorrow. India still have the edge but given the cluelessness of our lower order against M&M the innings could be wrapped up very quickly tomorrow.

 

[Dissector]

Ah, saw the full Hawkeye replay right now. It was clearly out but as Bishop was saying they need to clarify the rules about how much time you have to ask for a review. Players shouldn't be allowed to question the umpires before asking for a review.

 

[Uppercut]

I think it is significant though I am the one supposed to be defending Sehwag , no ?

I feel the problem lies in his strike rate which is unchanging over different innings.

SS does have a point that Sehwag's stats are somewhat skewed but his not doing well even in matches won are quite remarkable. I suspect, it has to do with his continuing his merry way irrespective of the stage of the match.

Here are his strike rates in the four innings of Test matches played by him (in brackets are his batting averages).

1st Innings of the match : 75.1 (70.5)
2nd Innings of the match : 80.6 (68.6)
3rd Innings of the match : 74.4 (27.1)
4th Innings of the match : 71.7 (28.6)

Surely those strike rates in the third and fourth innings of the match, probably on the 3rd to 5th day of the match, are too similar to what he does in the first innings.

Of course, this should not surprise, his attitude that is, but with the condition of the wicket often changing considerably over the duration of the match, the batsman would have to change his tactics to counter it. Sehwag doesn't, not at all. That cant fail to have an effect.

Its one thing to conquer the best bowlers in the world with brilliant aggression but how to counter the unpredictable and unexpected that may come from the uncertain ground conditions. There is a bit of an issue here it would seem.

I agree to an extent, but strike rates don't tell the whole story. Often on difficult pitches the best way to play is aggressively, because you can get out so easily playing a defensive stroke or no shot to a delivery that does something. Sehwag's problem is more to do with his shot selection, i.e. he chooses the wrong balls to attack as opposed to attacking too many.

 

[Napier16]

Good to see a genuine, official test match/ series which contains correct decisions, not simply decided by luck, which ever umpire it is at the time and crowd roaring, or appeal loudness.

Whoever win's these games will know that they deserved to do so and can feel rightfully proud of themslves.

 

[SJS]

You sure about this SJS?. Since straight up if thats your stance of Sehwag ATM i'll have no choice but to follow suite.

edit: to add

Lets say India's all-time got to WI, AUS, ENG or SA with such great fast-bowlers & tough batting conditions expected you sure you wan to risk him at the top with Gavaskar?.

Why not go for Mankad who has some big runs as an opener & bring in someone like Vishwanath into the middle-order to compliment Dravid/Tendulkar/Hazare.

But i reckon you could try Sehwag in a home test given you would be expecting India to prepare flat tracks that are condusive to spin bowling.

I must say, I am at this point in time very influenced by his superb batting in thi\s Test and\, in fact\, the whole of this year. That second innings century in Australia was absolutely mind boggling.

Maybe he will revert to his old ways, but Sehwag does seem to have changed for the better after his last comeback. But one has to watch.

I have always had a problem with the small quantity of Test cricket that Merchant played.
I am sure he was a great player but we really are basing everything on his first class record. I do feel that if India did have another option for a suitable opener of world class to chose from, many people would not chose Merchant, not because he wasn't what is claimed but for his ten Tests.

Now with Sehwag, we seem to be getting an option to consider.
What do we really have against Sehwag? His style of batting and his aggression and the way he gets out? Suppose he batted as slow as Dravid and instead of getting out playing big shots he got out to catches in the slips and to bat pad catches to the bevy of fielders that surround the cautious batsman. And suppose instead of a strike rate of 77 he had a strike rate of 47 and still averaged 53 in Tests, what would we have done other than proclaim him the second Gavaskar?

Its possible that with that style of batting he may have saved a few Tests for us by playing seven hours for 175 and saving the team after it had followed on. But you know what, all batsmen in the team are not required for that. You also need players who will score so fat and put up big hundreds once they are settled that they increase your chances of winning by giving you more time to get the opposition out twice.

Maybe if our middle order was to perform to its peak now, after Gambhir and Sehwag have given us 150 runs in a session, we sould put the opposition under all kinds of pressure.

Merchant had a partner like that. His name was Mushtaq Ali. Together they once put on 194 in a session (between tea and close of play) in England in a Test match. He averaged just 32 in Tests. But I have talked to people who saw him bat, they rave about him.

Then Sehwag is the product of the modern era. He is performing in a time when the limited overs game is almost at centre stage. He has been brought up in that school. And he is brilliant at it.

Finally, as I started, he is changing.

In the present calendar year he has reversed his second innings problem. He has scored one hundred and one fifty in 6 innings in India;s second innings at 49.33. This is out of a total of 3 hundreds and 2 fifties he has scored this year. Maybe he is changing.

I am very impressed with the way he batted in this Test. Its not just that he smashed the spinners, did you see him defending - off both feet. His bat was as straight as anyone's and he looked very comfortable with it. And today when his fierce but uppish drive was taken by a jumping Dilshan at short extra, he was visibly upset. He seemed determined to put up another big score.

Finally its his attitude. No one can convince me that dropping him from the Test side was justified. He was not just dropped but kept away for so long while we gave a free ride to someone as unsuitable for opening as Kaarthik is and yet he kept his council. Did not go yapping as Mr Yuvraj Singh does, kept biding his time and when he got the chance finally, took it as if he had never been out of the side.

The guy must be good for the side's morale.

I am a traditionalist and my ideal openers are people like Hobbs and Gavaskar but in the bare cup-board of Indian openers' Sehwag shines brightly st present.

As for Mankad, yes, I agree he had a great record as an opener. An average of 40.7, 5 hundreds and 4 fifties in 24 innings as opener, and two of those centuries in Australia and a third at Lords. But the other two hundreds which are both double hundreds and really give a big boost to his figures came at the expense of the weak visiting New Zealand attack on 1955-56.

All Indian batsmen made merry. Just look at their batting averages.

• Mankad : 105.2
• Umrigar : 70.2
• Kripal Singh : 99.5
• Manjrekar : 77.2
• Ramchand : 58.5
• P Roy : 75.3

Take away that one series and his overall Test average drops from 31.4 to 25.5.

His average as opener drops from 40.7 to 30.9.

I think we put Mankad in the opening slot again because of any great options and that world record he and Pankaj Roy mad in the same series.

 

[weldone]

Haha only Ganguly would/could have done that.

What did he do?...I haven't seen the match...

 

[silentstriker]

Now with Sehwag, we seem to be getting an option to consider.
What do we really have against Sehwag? His style of batting and his aggression and the way he gets out?

No, no one has that against him. Maybe the latter in many cases, yes.

Suppose he batted as slow as Dravid and instead of getting out playing big shots he got out to catches in the slips and to bat pad catches to the bevy of fielders that surround the cautious batsman. And suppose instead of a strike rate of 77 he had a strike rate of 47 and still averaged 53 in Tests, what would we have done other than proclaim him the second Gavaskar?

Then he'd be rated worse than he is now, because he would continue to be bad when the pitch demanded, and in the second innings, but we would not have the benefit of speedy starts that we do now.

Its possible that with that style of batting he may have saved a few Tests for us by playing seven hours for 175 and saving the team after it had followed on. But you know what, all batsmen in the team are not required for that. You also need players who will score so fat and put up big hundreds once they are settled that they increase your chances of winning by giving you more time to get the opposition out twice.

SJS, you are rallying against an argument that does not exist. No one is holding his fast strike rate against him. On the contrary, his S/R is one of the things that strongly works in his favor

 

[Uppercut]

Hasn't he scored huge and fantastic hundreds against the SA, SL and Australian attacks this year? They may well be the three best attacks in world cricket. Why would you doubt his ability to score against good bowlers now? That argument has gone. The flat pitch one still has some merit, but i think he's incredible anyway.

 

[Ikki]

List of batsmen with 2500+ runs since Jan 01 1989 - excluding Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

 

[silentstriker]

No one is denying his ability to outscore everyone on airport runways.

 

[Ikki]

No one is denying his ability to outscore everyone on airport runways.

SS, it isn't an argument against you or for SJS. Just a point to bring about that against all, without the easiest teams, he's done well.

Furthermore, if all pitches are going to be "airport runways" now, then he is the most valuable batsman India can have...isn't he? Some batsmen in the past may have been excellent against sticky wickets but that doesn't mean anything today.

 

[silentstriker]

SS, it isn't an argument against you or for SJS. Just a point to bring about that against all, without the easiest teams, he's done well.

Furthermore, if all pitches are going to be "airport runways" now, then he is the most valuable batsman India can have...isn't he?

All pitches aren't, and when they start that way, they don't remain so. On pitches that are probably going to produce draws anyway, he does well to ensure that draw. On pitches that will produce a result, he is extremely hit and miss. You have gems like the one he played today, but more often it's not the case.

 

[JBH001]

Shaping into a real good test match. Pity I have not been able to watch any of it in NZ.

India have the edge I think, I dont see Sri Lanka chasing more than 250 in the 4th innings (if that).

Should be well set up for the final test at P Sara.

 

[ret]

some of Sehwag's knocks in difficult conditions

Nagpur 2004 .... there were rumors that Ganguly decided not to play in that game because of the grass on that pitch .... more interesting in the 2nd innings Sehwag hit 58 [the top score for India in that game] .... Dravid, Tendulkar and Laxman scored 2, 2 and 2!!!!

Melbourne 2003 .... [Ist inning] the scores of the top six - 44, 195, 49, 0, 37 and 19 .... Sehwag scored 195

 

[Salamuddin]

SJS,

Those statistics paint him in a more favorable light than he deserves. The vast majority of his huge runs have come on absolute featherbeds where multiple people have tonned up big. When the pitch starts doing something (e.g, in the second innings), he can't handle it. I've no problem with him being in the Indian side, and he is absolutely an important player to the lineup, but he is not all time material.

Sehwag has actually played several good innings on pitches that have offered something to the bowlers...
Bloemfontein 2001, Trent Bridge 2002, Lords 2002, Mumbai 2002, Lahore 2004, Chennai 2004, Nagpur 2004, Mohali 2006, Galle 2008

Anyone who saw any of those innings will realise this guy is not a mindless slogger who can only succeed on featherbeds. This guy can actually play pretty well in a variety of conditions.

 

[adharcric]

Finally its his attitude. No one can convince me that dropping him from the Test side was justified. He was not just dropped but kept away for so long while we gave a free ride to someone as unsuitable for opening as Kaarthik is and yet he kept his council. Did not go yapping as Mr Yuvraj Singh does, kept biding his time and when he got the chance finally, took it as if he had never been out of the side.

Listen, I'm a big fan of Sehwag, especially the way he's approached the game since his return to the test side ... but what's your point here? Upon being dropped, Sehwag didn't score runs in domestic cricket for a long time and still earned a "free ride" to Australia based on his past exploits. Karthik may have been "unsuitable for opening" but he certainly didn't get a "free ride" - the man averaged 52 in four tests against South Africa and England and was discarded at the first sign of failure. If you're referring to his getting an opportunity to open in the first place, India were desperate for an opener that actually wanted to see out the new ball and Karthik volunteered and impressed.

 

[pasag]

Yeah there was no logic in recalling Sehwag at the time but it turned out to be a genius decison so kudos to the Indian selectors for getting it right.

Just watching the extended highlights of this on Foxsports, Dravid has no clue against Mendis early on and t'was a very nice delivery from him to get Gambhir.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Kudos to them for getting lucky, by that reasoning.