**Official** India v Pakistan

[SJS]

Very well played by Pakistan. They have shown effectively how much Sehwag has contributed to this Indian team and what can happen if they get Sehwag early.

Its back to the drawing board for India. Their worries are many fold. Some hard decisions to drop a big gun or two. Change of skipper. Change in batting order including that of some sacred cows.

The bowling has been woeful all along but so much is the focus on runs that the role of bowlers seems to have been given a burial. This is a weak Indian bowling side....a very weak Indian bowling side and it has only two of its top six scoring runs !!

Problems.

Come on India..do something.

 

[deeps]

yup india need to make a few big decisions

1) Sehwag
2) Ganguly (back to where he made those big scores in the odi's...this is the last roll of the dice for him)
3) Dravid (looked so solid today, another that the pakistanis' have struggled to dismiss. scoring quickly as well)
4) Tendulkar (needs to find some form)
5) Mohammed kaif
6) Yuvraj Singh
7) MS Dhoni (the pakistani's showed that if you bowl at him, he struggles to score. move him up when ganguls gets dropped :P)
8) Lakshmipath Balaji (if he's fit, otherwise agarkar)
9) Murali Kartik (bhajji has not looked at all effective)
10) Zaheer Khan (startin to find form)
11) Ashish Nehra (Excellent form)

Pathan has lost the plot and needs to come back to earth. bhajji doesnt seem at all impressive, and with such a good replacement in kartik waitin i think it'll b a good change. agarkar can win games with his bowlin, he's had a long lay off, so hopefully he's had a long hard think about his cricket and will have improved. Ganguly should get perhaps 2 more matches, and if he stil doesn't perform, that should be the end for him. Dhoni can then move up the order.

Pakistan on the other hand, need the firepower of afridi down the order. They need someone that can blast fours and sixes at will.. Razzaq can do it, but he isn't as effective as afridi in a short burst. Shoaib Malik has the tempremant and all the shots to be a good opening batsman. He should be given a go

1) Salman Butt
2) Shaoib Malik
3) Younis Khan
4) Inzi
5) Youhana
6) Razzaq
7) Afridi
8) Akmal
9) Sami
10) Rana
11) Shahid Nazir

With the spinning options of both shoaib malik and shahid afridi available now, i think kaneria will miss out. Having a quality 3rd seamer will balance the team very well. There's one quick, 2 Medium fast good quality seamers, one medium, a leggy and an offy in that team. Alot of variety.

 

[Sehwag309]

Thanx Pak...and Congrats

I recovered by 2nd ODI Bet

 

[Beleg]

Osman Samiuddin has written probably the best article of his life here.

http://pak.cricinfo.com/link_to_dat.../2005/APR/226398_INDPAK2004-05_09APR2005.html

Now, we all know that sub-continent policemen are no guardian angels, but the incidents mentioned in the above article seem way over the top. I wonder at the reason behind it? Is it the typical sub-continent corruption (which osman hinted at but was probably too politically correct to mention openly) or did the police just overreact to the earlier stone throwing incident.

Either way, the article left a bitter tang in my mouth. Hits home too close.

 

[Nate]

Rana sucks - 7-for.
Kaneria will be slaughtered out there - 1/45.

Well done.


Excellent win Pakistan, brilliant! Rana is a champ, Sami also bowled beautifully, an absolute snorter to Dravid! If you`ve got time please, put it up Sehwag309! Loved it!

I`d like it if Younis Khan and Salman opened the next one, with Malik at three and Afridi down the order. But meh.


EDIT: I`d like to say something positive about the Indian performance... but there wasn`t much! Pathan batted well, I also thought Khan and especially Nehra bowled well.

 

[SJS]

Asolutely.

Superb bowling by both Sami and Naved.

Dravid had no clue. That ball really climbed. Even the one which got Dhoni sat up from not too short a length. Dhoni had npo time to get into place for any kind of shot.

It was an eye opener on a wicket which was claimed to be the best of the three batsmen's paradises we have been served with on this tour.

Yes. its a bad idea sending Afridi up front. I know Pakistani fans would like him to be their Sehwag but he really isnt the player for that spot. He did try and play some cricketing shots to start off and looked very good I must admit. If he had continued that way he could have got a big score AND very quickly too. But he just cant hold it for too long. He has the strokes of Sehwag maybe but he has the head of Harbhajan. As long as he is not able to convince himself that without cross baated heaves and sudden desires to hit the ball into the sea, he can still score big and fast, he will keep infuriating the team management more often that thrill the fans with his pyrotechnics.

Salman is good and Younis, in the absence of the one's sent away can open.

Malik at three and Inzy at four with Malik and Razzaq to follow is good. With Akmal and Afridi still to come, this is a very long batting line up. If they get off to a good start, they are very difficult to curb. All they need is a good start and the soilidity of Inzy and Yohanna, higher up than they are getting today.

We hear so much about Afridi and Malik's batting order. But Yohanna is after with Inzemam the best batsman in this side. I am surprised that no one talks of him being wasted lower down. He has the best mix of strokes and technique in the team.

 

[PAKMAN]

Asolutely.

Superb bowling by both Sami and Naved.

Dravid had no clue. That ball really climbed. Even the one which got Dhoni sat up from not too short a length. Dhoni had npo time to get into place for any kind of shot.

It was an eye opener on a wicket which was claimed to be the best of the three batsmen's paradises we have been served with on this tour.

Yes. its a bad idea sending Afridi up front. I know Pakistani fans would like him to be their Sehwag but he really isnt the player for that spot. He did try and play some cricketing shots to start off and looked very good I must admit. If he had continued that way he could have got a big score AND very quickly too. But he just cant hold it for too long. He has the strokes of Sehwag maybe but he has the head of Harbhajan. As long as he is not able to convince himself that without cross baated heaves and sudden desires to hit the ball into the sea, he can still score big and fast, he will keep infuriating the team management more often that thrill the fans with his pyrotechnics.

Salman is good and Younis, in the absence of the one's sent away can open.

Malik at three and Inzy at four with Malik and Razzaq to follow is good. With Akmal and Afridi still to come, this is a very long batting line up. If they get off to a good start, they are very difficult to curb. All they need is a good start and the soilidity of Inzy and Yohanna, higher up than they are getting today.

We hear so much about Afridi and Malik's batting order. But Yohanna is after with Inzemam the best batsman in this side. I am surprised that no one talks of him being wasted lower down. He has the best mix of strokes and technique in the team.

u spot oon there about afridi'z position ,good post

 

[PAKMAN]

and by the way nice to see the crowd cheering for salam's hundred apart from the clay pot throwing incident theyv bin a gud croud

 

[Sehwag309]

Rana sucks - 7-for.
Kaneria will be slaughtered out there - 1/45.

Well done.


Excellent win Pakistan, brilliant! Rana is a champ, Sami also bowled beautifully, an absolute snorter to Dravid! If you`ve got time please, put it up Sehwag309! Loved it!

 

[Sehwag309]

Its a matter of Pak winnings the toss and batting 1st, its genuinely an advantage

I dont see India winning 3rd time in a row, Inzi will win toss and bat 1st..I want to see India chase something for a change

 

[Shahid_afridi]

y is every1 on ganguly so much...to b fair tendulkar is in just as bad form as he. but ah well good job pak...keep it up

well actually tendulkar was pretty decent in the test but he sucks in the odis.i think the pak team just found out how to bowl to ganguly(his weak points) and ganguly just doesnt know how to deal with that situation.i think ganguly should be dropped and dravid could be the captain.there is noc reason why ganguly shouldnt be dropped.being a captain doesnt mean that you HAVE to be in the team!



great win paaaaaaakistan

 

[shoot_me]

Pathan did a wonderful job with the ball, throughtout the series, the so called "Baroda bombar" was fabulous!

just to make sure, that was a sarcastic comment wasnt it?

 

[deeps]

We hear so much about Afridi and Malik's batting order. But Yohanna is after with Inzemam the best batsman in this side. I am surprised that no one talks of him being wasted lower down. He has the best mix of strokes and technique in the team.

youhana would be an ideal number 3, but he simply refuses to bat at 3, as does inzi. so that leaves 4 and 5 for him, and 4 is inzi's and so youhana has no choice but to take 5. youhana began as a number 3 iirc. SJS, wat did u think of the order i suggested? perhaps swap younis with shoaib

 

[shoot_me]

Excellent effort by Pakistan and they had India on the mat throughout the whole match. This series is not going to be easily won. India should be hoping for Balaji's return--Agarkar is not reliable and Pathan sucks with the ball. A BOWLER who got smacked for 67 runs from 8.2 overs with no wicket cannot redeem himself with his batting and expect to stay in the side. It was a great innings but he's a medium pacer and if he cant handle that job then forget it.

 

[Anil]

tendulkar and ganguly should either pull up their bloody pants and start performing or should be rested....congrats pakistan! i really expected them to win this match but i didn't expect this third batting failure from tendulkar....

 

[Mr Casson]

tendulkar and ganguly should either pull up their bloody pants and start performing or should be rested....congrats pakistan! i really expected them to win this match but i didn't expect this third batting failure from tendulkar....

Well, in fairness, Tendulkar is just one big batting failure.

*runs like hell*:

 

[Anil]

Well, in fairness, Tendulkar is just one big batting failure.

*runs like hell*:

how far can you run in the neverland ranch? straight into the arms of michael jackson?

 

[JustTool]

tendulkar and ganguly should either pull up their bloody pants and start performing or should be rested....congrats pakistan! i really expected them to win this match but i didn't expect this third batting failure from tendulkar....

Tendulkar is way overrated - I have been saying that for years. He is more interested in milking the money through his endorsements, restaurants and land deals than he is in performing. He should have been dropped a long time ago. Ganguly did India well with his aggression as captain but India should have dropped him before this series began. As long as the captain cannot be dropped for continuos long term non-performance, there is no presure on anyone (look at that fool Yuvraj - when was the last time he performed when it mattered?)

 

[shoot_me]

As long as the captain cannot be dropped for continuos long term non-performance, there is no presure on anyone

Good point there.

 

[Nate]

Well, in fairness, Tendulkar is just one big batting failure.

*runs like hell*: