**Official** India v Pakistan

[SJS]

Sami's top speed was 91 mph, !!!

Of course its a matter of minor detail that he went for 7 runs per over in a test match !! Why the hell doesnt some one tell the batsmen that this guy is bloody fast

Its also interesting to see that in the last 8 series (since 2002-03) minus the one against Zimbabwe, Mr Mohammad 'Larwood" Sami has taken 71 test wickets at a strike rate of 97.3 and a phenomenal average of 61.4 runs per wicket.

Some speed. i must say.

These include
- Two series against australia who wetted their pants as he struck once every 324 balls and once every 81 balls for an impressive average of 187 runs per wicket and 57 runs per wicket respectively.

- A series against India at home where our tiger took a wicket every 105 deliveries at 62 runs each.

- A series against SAfrica with a monumental average of 63 runs per wicket.

- A series against New Zealand at an uncharacterstic 41 runs per wicket.

Did I forget anything...Oh yes..

- One more series against S Africa in which he snared a grand total of TWO wickets at a miserly 143 runs each and got them every 195 deliveries !!!

Wow !!

Pace like this is what Ganguly's enemies must wish he had at his disposal

 

[Jono]

I not understand why India need pace. Thanks SJS.

 

[garage flower]

Of course its a matter of minor detail that he went for 7 runs per over in a test match !! Why the hell doesnt some one tell the batsmen that this guy is bloody fast

(Nothing to add, just wanted to quote this)

 

[SJS]

Oh my god..why...must..they..drop..him..so..often...

Why do you think they drop him ??
Cricket consists of three basic disciplines batting, bowling AND fielding.

Fielding badly IS NOT bad luck just like bowling no balls and wides is not bad luck. It is poor cricket exactly as not scoring runs or not bowling well is poor cricket.

Those who think Sehwag was lucky he was dropped might as well say Sehwag was lucky Pakistan has lousy bowlers or Balaji was lucky Pakistan batsmen couldnt play him better.. Its the same thing really.

Fielding is not an optional in cricket !!

 

[Tony Blade]

It was more a crticism of the fielders rather than Sehwag

 

[SJS]

It was more a crticism of the fielders rather than Sehwag

Sorry mate, maybe i over reacted.

 

[Sanz]

Good day for India, Veeru and Gautam are getting better at the top and I like this pair more than Veeru/Chopra. Gambhir seems like a natural stroke player and looks confident while batting. Both are young and if persisted with can become one of the best opening combinations for india. And as someone was suggesting to drop Gambhir to have one more bowler in the team, I would rather play with 4 bowlers.

Arjun, when are you gonna learn cricket ? Do you have an idea how annoying your posts(on Balaji) are ? I dont like to put anyone on ignore, so please dont make me do it.

I hope India continues where it left today

 

[SJS]

Good day for India, Veeru and Gautam are getting better at the top and I like this pair more than Veeru/Chopra. Gambhir seems like a natural stroke player and looks confident while batting. Both are young and if persisted with can become one of the best opening combinations for india. And as someone was suggesting to drop Gambhir to have one more bowler in the team, I would rather play with 4 bowlers.

Arjun, when are you gonna learn cricket ? Do you have an idea how annoying your posts(on Balaji) are ? I dont like to put anyone on ignore, so please dont make me do it.

I hope India continues where it left today

and hope Sachin gets 125 runs tomorrow

 

[Jono]

Oh my god..why...must..they..drop..him..so..often...

I feel for you, I really do. I remember my frustration during the TVS Cup final where Laxman (who is one of my favourite players, so I'm not singling him out for any other reason other than the fact that his event happened) dropped like 1 billion catches. I was yelling so much, because I really really really wanted this to be our 'revenge of the World Cup' match. And the way India bowled early, and throughout the whole game actually, it could have been. The Aussies were too good though.

I also thought that maybe the VB Series final series could have been our 'revenge of the World Cup and TVS Cup' game. I've stopped thinking those type of thoughts against the Aussies now

 

[SJS]

India must not lose more than one wicket in the first session. This will mean getting very close to Pakistan total with seven wickets in tact, I think from there it should be possible to try and think of a big enough lead to put the pressure. If India play out the day tomorrow (and it is a full day's play), Pakistan will be in trouble.

On the other hand, a couple of early wickets in the morning and it will be level terms immediately.

Its well poised with 60% India.

 

[PAKMAN]

well played sehwag,its good to know that ganguly actually can win the toss lol

 

[Sanz]

and hope Sachin gets 125 runs tomorrow

I hope so, but I dont think he will do it tomorrow.(I would love to be proved wrong )

Ironically 125 is also the no. of tests SMG played, I guess SMG completed his 10000 runs in 124th test.

 

[SJS]

I hope so, but I dont think he will do it tomorrow.(I would love to be proved wrong )

Ironically 125 is also the no. of tests SMG played, I guess SMG completed his 10000 runs in 124th test.

I will be happy if he gets a 60 odd and plays with his usual flow. Thats more important.

Yes, you are right about SMG.

 

[Jono]

Credit Cricinfo for the following:

The first Test match of a crucial series, and Virender Sehwag was at it again, snatching the initiative early in the piece. Before this Test, Sehwag averaged 64 in the 10 opening Tests of series (compared to his career average of 51), but his stats are even more impressive in the first innings of first Tests – 937 runs at an incredible average of 93.70, with four hundreds and a fifty. In fact, Sehwag sounded out his penchant for first-innings scores on his debut, scoring 105 against a strong South African team at Bloemfontein. He followed that with 84 in the first innings of the first Test at Lord's in 2002, while his other memorable performances in first-innings of the series openers have been 147 against West Indies at Mumbai in 2002-03, 309 against Pakistan at Multan last year, and 164 against South Africa at Kanpur earlier this season.

Sehwag has for a long time now silenced critics who questioned his ability to play the new ball, but here's more proof of how much India have profited by his move to the top of the order. Since Sehwag started opening, the first wicket stand has yielded 42.66 runs per innings, with seven partnerships of over 100; in the 18 months prior to that, India's first-wicket managed a paltry 24.33, with only one century stand in 22 innings.

Holy cow that is amazing!!! Its amazing what this one man, without a conventional opener's technique or attidue, has done to this Indian team. He's a huge reason for India's success of late. And even when India fail he seems to be scoring anyway (Melbourne, Chennai (although that wasn't necessarily a failure, depends how its interpreted)).

 

[SJS]

Credit Cricinfo for the following:



Holy cow that is amazing!!! Its amazing what this one man, without a conventional opener's technique or attidue, has done to this Indian team. He's a huge reason for India's success of late. And even when India fail he seems to be scoring anyway (Melbourne, Chennai (although that wasn't necessarily a failure, depends how its interpreted)).

Actually, his technique is not that bad, what differentiates him from others is his extremely aggressive attitude and his immense confidemce in his shots.
He is like Gilchrist in this respect.

 

[Gangster]

Of course its a matter of minor detail that he went for 7 runs per over in a test match !! Why the hell doesnt some one tell the batsmen that this guy is bloody fast

Its also interesting to see that in the last 8 series (since 2002-03) minus the one against Zimbabwe, Mr Mohammad 'Larwood" Sami has taken 71 test wickets at a strike rate of 97.3 and a phenomenal average of 61.4 runs per wicket.

Some speed. i must say.

These include
- Two series against australia who wetted their pants as he struck once every 324 balls and once every 81 balls for an impressive average of 187 runs per wicket and 57 runs per wicket respectively.

- A series against India at home where our tiger took a wicket every 105 deliveries at 62 runs each.

- A series against SAfrica with a monumental average of 63 runs per wicket.

- A series against New Zealand at an uncharacterstic 41 runs per wicket.

Did I forget anything...Oh yes..

- One more series against S Africa in which he snared a grand total of TWO wickets at a miserly 143 runs each and got them every 195 deliveries !!!

Wow !!

Pace like this is what Ganguly's enemies must wish he had at his disposal

Pace isn't everything, nor is it nothing. If Sami was an Indian bowler, he would have been given advice (by Wasim Akram if by no one else), and his pace would be married to proper line and length. Just because Sami has done poorly thus far does not make him a bad bowler, it makes him a bowler unfulfilled thus far. Pace cannot be taught. I think it is plainly obvious that things like the MRF Pace Academy have failed miserably in teaching pace. Why? Because pace cannot be taught, it must come naturally. How many times have we read Pathan say "Oh, I'm easily going to be able to add a yard of pace", and then he goes out and bowls at 78 mph. My point is that while line and length and bowling intelligence can be taught, pace CANNOT. So it would behoove us as a nation to get ahold of bowlers who bowl at Sami's pace, and then teach him the rest of bowling, as opposed to the million rinky dink Shib Shankar Paul's we have floating around.

 

[SJS]

Pace isn't everything, nor is it nothing. If Sami was an Indian bowler, he would have been given advice (by Wasim Akram if by no one else), and his pace would be married to proper line and length. Just because Sami has done poorly thus far does not make him a bad bowler, it makes him a bowler unfulfilled thus far. Pace cannot be taught. I think it is plainly obvious that things like the MRF Pace Academy have failed miserably in teaching pace. Why? Because pace cannot be taught, it must come naturally. How many times have we read Pathan say "Oh, I'm easily going to be able to add a yard of pace", and then he goes out and bowls at 78 mph. My point is that while line and length and bowling intelligence can be taught, pace CANNOT. So it would behoove us as a nation to get ahold of bowlers who bowl at Sami's pace, and then teach him the rest of bowling, as opposed to the million rinky dink Shib Shankar Paul's we have floating around.

Best of luck friend

 

[Gangster]

Best of luck friend

Don't worry, Allan Border and I are on the case.

 

[SJS]

Don't worry, Allan Border and I are on the case.

 

[Sanz]

If line, Length, bowling intelligence was so easy to teach, why hasn't Sami been able to learn it yet. Sami played for two full years with Akram and Waqar, he learnt very little. Dont tell me that Bobby isn't trying to teach him that.

Trust me, I would prefer a slower, steadier, more intelligent SS Paul over a faster, wayward and dumb Sami any day. You say Razzaq, Rana were faster than Balaji, Zaheer and Pathan but let me ask you this, would you trade Razzaq, Rana and Sami for Zaheer, Pathan and Balaji ??