**Official** India v Pakistan

[Choora]

I think both teams should make some changes to the side.

Pakistan:
Salman Butt (must remember to keep his bat down when avoiding a bouncer! )
Shahid Afridi (he was an opening batsmen during the '99 tour, replace Taufeeq Umar)
Yasir Hameed (in for Younis Khan. Hameed is a much better player. Younis played terribly, getting out quick and dropping catches which almost cost Pakistan the game.)
Inzamam (great performance in both innings)
Yousuf Youhana (played pretty decent)
Asim Kamal (played extremely well both innings)
Abdul Razzaq (did a decent job, needs to improve bowling though)
Kamran Akmal (just simply awesome)
Mohammad Sami (decent job, needs some improvement)
Arshad Khan/Naved-ul-Hassan (this will be a tough decision)
Danish Kaneria (must have, great performance)

It would be difficult to justify the exclusion of Umar who batted better than Salman Butt in first test.Though as i have said earlier Salman should be given more chances as he's talented.I also think Afridi should be tried as an opener, he is going to be included in the next match, i'm nearly certain about that.
I think Pak need atleast two specialist pacers, considering Rana fared poorly in the match, how about if Pakistan bring in left armer Khaleel??

 

[wahindiawah]

India lost a wonderful chance of a white-wash in a test series, this is something which is not always going to be a possibility i Indo-Pak series.

India dominated the game in the first 4 days, Pakistan played well in the last day and were able to manage a draw.I think Pakistan batted well, but at the same time i think India made a mistake by leaving out Harbhajan in the test match, had the guy played Pakistan probably wouldn't have managed to save the match.

Anyway i think th enext two match will be interesting.Pakistan's lower order batting seems to have improved but their top order is still brittle and i don't think they will always be able to hold on for a draw. The Pakistan bowling is still impotent and isn't capable of taking 20 Indian wkts in a match, therefore i think the cahnces of Pakistan winning a match is minimal.

I think India would now win the series 2-0. Too bad they missed a chance of a white-wash though

 

[Shahid_afridi]

as i said before sami bowled good.but he was quiet unlucky as 2 catches of his bowling were dropped and a slip-catch of his bowling was called a no-ball.he proofed everybody wrong who said he was crap in this forum

 

[Neil Pickup]

as i said before sami bowled good.but he was quiet unlucky as 2 catches of his bowling were dropped and a slip-catch of his bowling was called a no-ball.he proofed everybody wrong who said he was crap in this forum

2-120, 0-25 and 17 no balls.

Test average now 47.56 - you seriously need to raise your standards.

 

[nikhil1772]

Great stuff from Pakistan, but can someone explain how the game turned like a tabletop? Razzaq and Akmal must have done something special, along with a drop in the quality of bowling I'm guessing.

There's no surprise there - drop in quality of bowling.How many times has India 'lost' such matches?Its the 12th instance India drew even after securing 200+ first innings lead.

Why is it that for India,only one bowler performs at one time?

Pakistan fans must be happy, and I quietly have a smile on my face because I'm the one that predicted 2-0 to India, when people said a draw was never going to happen. I knew at least one would happen.

A smile on my face too...Indian team desreved what it got.

 

[nikhil1772]

I was so amused at the silliness of Kumble's comments in his column in today's newspaper...

He says that the pitch didn't offer any turn - hello there its you who has to turn it...and in any case you dont do it anyway...also what was Kaneria doing then?Catching Fish?

Pitch didn't offer any turn...I am still laughing

 

[honestbharani]

I think the word he should have used was 'bounce'. It is when there is a bit of uneven bounce at good pace off the wicket that Kumble is at his best and that was not available in Mohali. The bounce was low and true and the pace was too slow. I still think the batting of the Pak batters itself is not as great an achievement (given the pitch) as the way they handled this HUGE pressure. As Sourav said, I still think this is a match that was saved by Pakistan than India letting it get away. Sure, the batting could have been faster and the field placings could have been better, but all in all, I think Razzaq and Akmal and the pitch were too good for the Indian bowling line up.

 

[nikhil1772]

I think the word he should have used was 'bounce'. It is when there is a bit of uneven bounce at good pace off the wicket that Kumble is at his best and that was not available in Mohali. The bounce was low and true and the pace was too slow. I still think the batting of the Pak batters itself is not as great an achievement (given the pitch) as the way they handled this HUGE pressure. As Sourav said, I still think this is a match that was saved by Pakistan than India letting it get away. Sure, the batting could have been faster and the field placings could have been better, but all in all, I think Razzaq and Akmal and the pitch were too good for the Indian bowling line up.

I beg to differ...did you happen to watch Zaheer and Irfan bowling later in the fifth day? Taking absolutely nothing away from Pakistan...I'd still say Indian bowling let down,not to mention the fielding...for the first time I am mad at Rahul Dravid...Ganguly dropping is a common sight

I think its about time somebody mentioned the word 'Complacency'...I mean look at the way how sure Indians were abt winning at the start of the fifth day...almost considering it as given.It was reflected in AK's column too the other day

 

[honestbharani]

I guess, but I still think it is more due to the effort of the Pak batters.... Put it this way....It was 70% the Pak batters and 30% our bowlers and fielders..... (talking about ONLY the final day). We were a bit unlucky too, Balaji beat the bat umpteen times both on the fourth and fifth days, but I guess all great deeds need their share of luck.

 

[nikhil1772]

I guess, but I still think it is more due to the effort of the Pak batters.... Put it this way....It was 70% the Pak batters and 30% our bowlers and fielders..... (talking about ONLY the final day). We were a bit unlucky too, Balaji beat the bat umpteen times both on the fourth and fifth days, but I guess all great deeds need their share of luck.

Done,but I still cant swallow the fact that Balaji actually bowled well !!! Good for him but I am not happy for obvious reasons

 

[honestbharani]

Done,but I still cant swallow the fact that Balaji actually bowled well !!! Good for him but I am not happy for obvious reasons

Wait till Balaji plays at Lords.........

 

[nikhil1772]

Wait till Balaji plays at Lords.........

What was that supposed to mean?You are not expecting him to score a century are you?He'll never do that...and for that reason 'The man' will always be one step ahead...

 

[ReallyCrazy]

I think the word he should have used was 'bounce'. It is when there is a bit of uneven bounce at good pace off the wicket that Kumble is at his best and that was not available in Mohali. The bounce was low and true and the pace was too slow. I still think the batting of the Pak batters itself is not as great an achievement (given the pitch) as the way they handled this HUGE pressure. As Sourav said, I still think this is a match that was saved by Pakistan than India letting it get away. Sure, the batting could have been faster and the field placings could have been better, but all in all, I think Razzaq and Akmal and the pitch were too good for the Indian bowling line up.

Cricket is not all about pitch conditions. There is something called bowling skill which is even more important. If the Indian bowlers cannot get 4 wickets of the Pakistani lower order, then that's a reflection of how poorly they bowled and how well the pakistanis batted. The pitch has very little to do with it. So I don't agree with Kumble at all. Yep this was a match saved by Pakistan.

Even though India were clearly the better team in this test match, Pakistan came out as psychological winners. Coz lets face it, Pakistan got the result they wanted and India did not. So Pakistan should be on a high while India came out dejected. Hence Pak "won" this match AFAIC.

 

[ReallyCrazy]

Done,but I still cant swallow the fact that Balaji actually bowled well !!! Good for him but I am not happy for obvious reasons

You are not happy that Balaji bowled well, and you are a fan of Ajit Agarkar Are you from Mumbai?
EDIT: you are from Pune, Pure-Mumbai, close enough.

 

[nikhil1772]

You are not happy that Balaji bowled well, and you are a fan of Ajit Agarkar Are you from Mumbai?
EDIT: you are from Pune, Pure-Mumbai, close enough.

Thats right...But not everyone from Pune nor from Mumbai support AA,but if they would have,it'd have been a different story.AA is unlucky,dont you think

Fan of AA?Not the right word I guess...supporter will do.

 

[ReallyCrazy]

Thats right...But not everyone from Pune nor from Mumbai support AA,but if they would have,it'd have been a different story.AA is unlucky,dont you think

Fan of AA?Not the right word I guess...supporter will do.

I think Ajit Agarkar has been very lucky to have played so many matches for India. Anywhere else, he would have been chucked out a long time ago.

Balaji is better bowler than Agarkar and I think will also turn out to be a better batter.

 

[nikhil1772]

I think Ajit Agarkar has been very lucky to have played so many matches for India. Anywhere else, he would have been chucked out a long time ago.

Balaji is better bowler than Agarkar and I think will also turn out to be a better batter.

Wrong in every sense of the word

I dont have the power to argue for I dont know...a 100th time maybe

Peace

 

[Beleg]

Choora posted,

Mate why drag me into it? I did say Pakistan will lose and so did you , well we were all proven wrong.

Chaloo Bhiya, if you don't like barfi then I can offer you some fresh Lassi?

The drink of fraternity, as they say.

P.S: You are often... exceedingly vocal, shall we say, in your criticism of Pakistan team - for all the wrong reasons.

 

[ReallyCrazy]

Wrong in every sense of the word

I dont have the power to argue for I dont know...a 100th time maybe

Peace

well thats your opinion. But my opinion is not gonna change either. Agarkar sucks and I hope he never comes near the Indian team again.

 

[mofo123]

It doesn't make much sense to make Afridi a test opener and to drop Taufeeq... Afridi has been tried so many times as an opener and it won't work. It's better to keep the openers the same... it's really harmful to keep dropping people and recalling them. I think Afridi should come in for Younis Khan. It is beyond me that he is even on the team, let alone vice captain. Hameed has been tried and tried and he has been proven to be a flat track bully.

younis khan is a good bat, he has had a bad test every1 starts to come down on him, after inzi and youhana he is the third best bat we got, afridi has been tried as opener in 15 tests got 2 centuries and an average of 35, i think that deserves another go taufeeq is not as talented as salman i knw its wrong to say that but the shots he played for his 44 were pretty bad, cover drives going to the long on boundry thats not a good shot.