***Official*** India in Sri Lanka

[adharcric]

Yes!

Been waiting to say this as I didn't want to jinx him, but Badrinath has been so, so impressive on debut. When was the last time a debutant has batted with such maturity and responsibility? Love his technique as well.

Gambhir, Kohli, Badrinath, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina/Sharma, Raina/Sharma/Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Praveen, Munaf

 

[Dissector]

Saw only a bit of his innings but I was impressed as well. My impression is that in a situation with a higher required RR he will be able to work the ball around for the one's and two's very effectively without risking his wicket.

After 10 ODI's Mendis's average is still below 10.

 

[irfan]

BADRINNNNNNNNNATTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTH

What a debut! Thank god he didn't let a lot of us down. Bigups to Zaheer as well

 

[SJS]

Superb debut by Badrinath. One fantastic catch and then in a crisis, complete calm as he played 57 deliveries and only one of them, if I remember correctly, bothered him.

He had absolutely no hesitation on when to go forward and when back. His feet were always in the right place, he met every ball with the full face of the bat, hit absolutely nothing in the air, ran beautifully between wickets, had no trouble whatsoever in having his bat in exactly the right spot, every time he faced Mendis. He played him to the on side and he played him to the off but not once did it look as if he should have played it differently.

Kohli also got runs and very useful runs they were but the difference in class between them was HUGE. No running down the slip area for Badrinath and no driving in the air with his front leg on the leg stump and the bat moving in an arc a foot away.

This man should be playing Test cricket.

 

[ret]

Wow, what a win by the young guns w/o Sehwag and Gambhir!!!!

Zak finally came up with one of those match-winning spell. i was hoping that he would do that in the 3rd test but its better late than never

Badri should have played in the last game but again better late than never. too bad that SL didn't have more runs on the board or he would have got a 50 on debut

 

[masterblaster]

What a fantastic game of cricket and I'm extremely happy with Badrinath's debut. The man deserves all the success he gets. From that terrific catch to a wonderfully mature and composed innings, this was his match alongside Zaheer's.

It was fantastic to see the guy's dream of playing for India come true and he played wonderfully well.

 

[Manee]

Zaheer Khan shows once again why he is one of the world's best bowlers in swinging conditions. The chance of him winning a game almost single handedly when there is a touch of swing in the air almost makes up for his deficiencies when there is no swing readily available. The situation is similar for Praveen Kumar, who really is outstanding when there is swing, but can prove flat when there is no swing available - that 125kph bouncer is not going to trouble many international batsmen unless horribly misjudged on a quick pitch.

As for Badrinath - wow! Just wow. Truly magnificent knock against Muralitharan and Mendis in full flow. The innings was critical as Mendis could have easily disposed of the tail with a click of the fingers (or raising of the middle). His technique looks rock solid and what most impressed me was how late he played the ball, without getting himself into a tangle on the front foot or looking rushed. Of course, 27 off 57 balls will not prove a good knock in all situations, but I have no doubt of his ability to both score quickly and build long innings on a regular basis. Furthermore, two very good catches from him too.

Despite scoring 37, I highly disagree with Virat Kohli's inclusion in the squad, much less the side as an opener. I fully believe that there are two obvious players for fourth and fifth opening spots and they are Robin Uthappa; who has not been given enough of a go as opener to be disregarded for that role and Shikhar Dhawan whose domestic record is nothing short of extraordinary, with 1783 runs at 46.92 with a strike rate of 81.15 - and this doesn't even take into consideration his 184 in the Emerging Players Tournament! Moreover, he did very well in the IPL and performing at three (below Sehwag and Gambhir no less), shows that he has potential as a long term project to bat three in the future.

 

[Migara]

Very very impressed by Badrinath's play. All things that have been saying about him do look true. He should play at #4, with Dhoni at #5. Yuvraj is good enough for quick 30 at the end in this seies.

 

[masterblaster]

Shame Dhoni couldn't see it home. Oh well, Badri to hit the winning runs on debut?

Great call duffer! Simply awesome to see Badri hit the winning runs!

 

[SJS]

Its a relief to be level in the series but it wasn't a performance to gloat about as far as the batsmen are concerned. India just scraped through and one was sitting on the edge of the seat even as number nine, Zaheer was playing out four deliveries from Mendis' last over.

India's batting woes are far from over. No Indian batsman has scored even a forty and only scores in the 30's are from Dhoni and Kohli. That Kohli heads the batting averages at this stage with a total of 49 runs in two innings is not something to congratulate our young batsmen for.

 

[honestbharani]

Hope we can get the line up sorted and that the batters can bat with more responsibility. CAnt expect our bowlers to step up to the plate every time like they did today.......

 

[SJS]

Hope we can get the line up sorted and that the batters can bat with more responsibility. CAnt expect our bowlers to step up to the plate every time like they did today.......

I honstly dont see what we can do if Gambhir is not available. The options are so limited. Raina and Rohit Sharma have done nothing to remain in the side. Yuvraj will remain only because he has done better than those two at least. How many players can they drop. At best, Badrinath and Kohli may open (I am not very sure of Kohli's pedigree but hope he proves me wrong) and then we have nothing else. If Gambhir is fit, I hope Badrinath opens with him. He is much more solid than Kohli who keeps tempting fate.

Then we may find that we have three batsmen plus Dhoni plus the struggling Yuvraj. I think it was an error not to get a replacement for Sehwag.

Our best bet is for Vaas to continue to be unavailable and for Mendis to be struck by viral fever

 

[honestbharani]

I guess we may try the outrageous option of Praveen Kumar at the top, in that case.


FWIW, he has opened at the domestic OD games... But yeah, I do agree it is a toughie as of now.. Probably the same side will play in the next game. Maybe Yuvraj can come in at 3 because he may get a few more overs of medium pace in that case.. Badri at 4 and Dhoni at 5 with the youngsters Raina and Rohit at the next two places sounds a lot more feasible...

 

[Raghav]

Once I heard that Badri is playing today, I expected CW to go all in support for him as I see there are lot fans for him

Good innings from him TBH.

Indians, with the help of Zaheer was able to beat SRL. I feel it was a good toss/good call to win for Dhoni and bat first. Had if Indians batted first , I think the Srilankans would have chased... I am not sure...

Anyway, good win but expect SRL to bounce back and win series

 

[gettingbetter]

Badri gets support from the captain: http://content-aus.cricinfo.com/slvind/content/current/story/365668.html, might not be the selectors, but its good enough to have a decent tenure in the team one thinks.

 

[SJS]

Hope we can get the line up sorted and that the batters can bat with more responsibility. CAnt expect our bowlers to step up to the plate every time like they did today.......

You were supposed to send me your postal address ?

 

[honestbharani]

sorry SJS.. been working from 9 - 23 at office.. some issues. I will mail u the address now.. Really sorry

 

[debtblue]

Why can't Indians play Mendis?

I m not sure if this is something to do with their inconsistant performance outside India. But what I do not understand is how come Sri Lanka can produce such great bowlers and India cannot.

India has never produced a consistant bowler who other teams are terrified of playing like Shane Warne, McGrath etc

Why is our batsmen so inconsistant that one day they can beat Australia and on another day they will get beaten by Bangladesh!!!!!!

India won the 2nd one dayer but look at the score they lost 7 wickets to get just 143 runs !!!! thats shocking

What do you guys think???

 

[masterblaster]

I m not sure if this is something to do with their inconsistant performance outside India. But what I do not understand is how come Sri Lanka can produce such great bowlers and India cannot.

India has never produced a consistant bowler who other teams are terrified of playing like Shane Warne, McGrath etc

Why is our batsmen so inconsistant that one day they can beat Australia and on another day they will get beaten by Bangladesh!!!!!!

India won the 2nd one dayer but look at the score they lost 7 wickets to get just 143 runs !!!! thats shocking

What do you guys think???

Well we were missing Gambhir our best opener and the poor form of Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma continues on. Thank goodness we had Badrinath and Dhoni though. Badrinath really showed that experience counts. I hope in the future we select proven First Class performers and less flash in the plan or U-19 World Cup winning players.

 

[pup11]

Well we were missing Gambhir our best opener and the poor form of Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma continues on. Thank goodness we had Badrinath and Dhoni though. Badrinath really showed that experience counts. I hope in the future we select proven First Class performers and less flash in the plan or U-19 World Cup winning players.

Completely agree with you on this, but in Pakistan and India if you don't make it to the side by the age of 21-22, then your chances of playing for your country are more or less over, which is just so wrong.