**Official** India v Pakistan

[Duncan]

India should drop Zaheer and bring in Nehra. Zaheer was so pitifully ineffective. Even Pathan was but you can't expect him to take a five-for every match. Harbhajan should come back to the XI as well.
The batting is fine... although you would hope Ganguly would just drop himself and bring in Yuvraj or Kaif. Like that's going to happen.

Pakistan needs to drop Younis Khan and bring in Afridi. That's another decent bowler and he probably bats better then Khan does. I think they should stick with the openers of Taufeeq and Salman. They can't keep switching the openers every match.

Salman Butt (give the guy a chance... to drop him will end his short career like Hameed)
Taufeeq Umar (failed in the second innings to some bad luck but was decent in the first innings)
Asim Kamal
Yousuf Youhana
Inzamam
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal
Sami (he was pitiful in this test but they have noone to replace him with)
Rana
Kaneria

 

[Arjun]

India should drop Zaheer and bring in Nehra. Zaheer was so pitifully ineffective.

That is a big worry. He is potentially the most effective (read into his 2002 Test form) bowler in the side and can be quite destructive when he bowls to a plan (he's a bulldozer in FC matches) but he needs to get his line and length sorted out.

Even Pathan was but you can't expect him to take a five-for every match.

The least he could do is take a wicket every 20-odd runs, or score an explosive 30+ with the bat- he can, but chooses not to. His match average is 68, which is not good.

although you would hope Ganguly would just drop himself and bring in Yuvraj or Kaif

If India had a Trevor Hohns...but some other big names were terrible.

That's another decent bowler and he probably bats better then Khan does.

Point...

 

[mofo123]

He was talking about batting abilities.

ahhh, pardon me then

 

[mofo123]

India should drop Zaheer and bring in Nehra. Zaheer was so pitifully ineffective. Even Pathan was but you can't expect him to take a five-for every match. Harbhajan should come back to the XI as well.
The batting is fine... although you would hope Ganguly would just drop himself and bring in Yuvraj or Kaif. Like that's going to happen.

Pakistan needs to drop Younis Khan and bring in Afridi. That's another decent bowler and he probably bats better then Khan does. I think they should stick with the openers of Taufeeq and Salman. They can't keep switching the openers every match.

Salman Butt (give the guy a chance... to drop him will end his short career like Hameed)
Taufeeq Umar (failed in the second innings to some bad luck but was decent in the first innings)
Asim Kamal
Yousuf Youhana
Inzamam
Abdul Razzaq
Shahid Afridi
Kamran Akmal
Sami (he was pitiful in this test but they have noone to replace him with)
Rana
Kaneria

i do see where ur comming from but younis khan is a top bat, just didnt find himself this match, average of 37 with 6 centuries thats not bad, he shudnt b dropped taufeeq shud, his batting is not up to standard, his 44 was luck.

 

[Anil]

wonderful rearguard action from akmal and razzaq...pakistan will take heart from this performance...even though india batted well and dominated most of the match, i sense a slight momentum swing....

 

[Neil Pickup]

And the terraces have gone rather quiet all of a sudden... Seriously ballsy effort from Razzaq and especially Kamran Akmal - making your first Test ton against India in that situation's no mean feat!

 

[rehanyazdani]

What a test. As a Pakistan fan I'm quite happy. Having spent the money to watch this series (I live in the US) I was really thinking that I had wasted my money. Guess not! Anyways, India dominated this test until day 5 and I think that Pakistan has to make some changes in its top order (batting) if they want to be competitive during the entire match. Akmal did an excellent job and so did Razzaq. All in all it was an excellent test, and hopefully it will really boost the morale and confidence of Pakistan.

 

[rehanyazdani]

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)

India:
Gautam Gambhir (he did a pretty good job)
Virender Sehwag (great player must have)
Rahul Dravid (why in the world would you not select this man?)
Sachin Tendulkar (nothing to even say here, hopefully he'll get the world record)
Sourav Ganguly (need the skipper!)
VVS Laxman (did a nice job)
Dinesh Karthik (could have batted better)
Harbhajan Singh (great spinner, replace Pathan who didn't do well)
Balaji (played so well)
Anil Kumble (Kolkata is a spinning track, Kumble should do well)
Ashish Nehra (he does well, I really like him; replace Zaheer Khan who struggled)

So those would be my sides. What do you guys say?

 

[Duncan]

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)

So those would be my sides. What do you guys say?

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.

 

[Mecnun]

Messers Vandematram, wahindiawah, Choora and company: Which mithai do you prefer? Barfi or Gulab Jaman?

I am quite partial to barfi myself..having soem right now as matter of fact..Gulab jamans are nice I suppose..but too too sweet, can only hav one or two at most ; )

 

[adharcric]

India:
Gautam Gambhir (he did a pretty good job)
Virender Sehwag (great player must have)
Rahul Dravid (why in the world would you not select this man?)
Sachin Tendulkar (nothing to even say here, hopefully he'll get the world record)
Sourav Ganguly (need the skipper!)
VVS Laxman (did a nice job)
Dinesh Karthik (could have batted better)
Harbhajan Singh (great spinner, replace Pathan who didn't do well)
Balaji (played so well)
Anil Kumble (Kolkata is a spinning track, Kumble should do well)
Ashish Nehra (he does well, I really like him; replace Zaheer Khan who struggled)

So those would be my sides. What do you guys say?

Well Harbhajan definitely needs to come in for Zaheer Khan. As for Nehra, he might be a good choice but I think there's a better chance we'll see Pathan remain as the new-ball bowler with Balaji, that duo has proved solid for us in the past.

 

[cricket player]

Bash Tufeeq umar bring shahid afridi back,Bob woolmer should think before he makes a decision,the mohali pitch was good for leg spinners considering that anil kumber and danish kenaria has done well,He should have brought afridi in,because afridi did well in the test againts australia and also he batted well in odis,Shahid afrid can also ball,perhaps he has proven it,remember him taking 5 wickets againts australia when australia toured pakistan back in the 1990s.You got it right it was shahid afridi who picked those wickets.

Also he has batted well againts india in test matches his best was 141 againts india in 1999,Oh boy I loved that inning of his,so over all I think they should bring back shahid afridi as they are lacking behind batsman and also openers to make runs,Make him go as a opener,He will attack from the start and make the india bowlers abit uncatiouse and also some one mentioned that brining back rashad,absloutely right,The banglor pitch looks go for the spinners and having 4 spinners in your team does make a winning difference,I bet you that india will bring back singh,I dont know why he wasnt playing the first test match,perhaps give nehra a chance,

Also for god sake bring a new wicketkeeper for india,Karthick was just lazy let byes go for no obvoiuse reasons,Good batting by kaml and razzaq.both of them did a great job,they killed india making them field in the sun for 10 hourse or so,well dont pakistan and yeah pakistan zindabadddddddddddddd.

 

[honestbharani]

Bash Tufeeq umar bring shahid afridi back,Bob woolmer should think before he makes a decision,the mohali pitch was good for leg spinners considering that anil kumber and danish kenaria has done well,He should have brought afridi in,because afridi did well in the test againts australia and also he batted well in odis,Shahid afrid can also ball,perhaps he has proven it,remember him taking 5 wickets againts australia when australia toured pakistan back in the 1990s.You got it right it was shahid afridi who picked those wickets.

Also he has batted well againts india in test matches his best was 141 againts india in 1999,Oh boy I loved that inning of his,so over all I think they should bring back shahid afridi as they are lacking behind batsman and also openers to make runs,Make him go as a opener,He will attack from the start and make the india bowlers abit uncatiouse and also some one mentioned that brining back rashad,absloutely right,The banglor pitch looks go for the spinners and having 4 spinners in your team does make a winning difference,I bet you that india will bring back singh,I dont know why he wasnt playing the first test match,perhaps give nehra a chance,

Also for god sake bring a new wicketkeeper for india,Karthick was just lazy let byes go for no obvoiuse reasons,Good batting by kaml and razzaq.both of them did a great job,they killed india making them field in the sun for 10 hourse or so,well dont pakistan and yeah pakistan zindabadddddddddddddd.

Typical sub-continental response there.....If you have faith in a guy's ability, you got to stick with him. Anyone and everyone can have a bad game. I think both Younis(even though it was not YOU who mentioned he should be dropped) and Dinesh Kaarthick have shown a lot of potential in their respective departments in the past and one bad test SHOULD NOT be the reason to be dropped. Fair enough, if this run continues, then drop them but not based on one test alone. That is why India and Pakistan have never been world beaters.

 

[Sehwag309]

.

What the PIC in ur sig, it leads to "imagestation page"

 

[cricket player]

Typical sub-continental response there.....If you have faith in a guy's ability, you got to stick with him. Anyone and everyone can have a bad game. I think both Younis(even though it was not YOU who mentioned he should be dropped) and Dinesh Kaarthick have shown a lot of potential in their respective departments in the past and one bad test SHOULD NOT be the reason to be dropped. Fair enough, if this run continues, then drop them but not based on one test alone. That is why India and Pakistan have never been world beaters.

A international player should play the game to it's level,I understand That some of the guys Are good players but I agree with you with every does struggle some times or the other,but they have good players waiting to be called,So if one batsman fails to play well then,The pcb has the right to give some one else a chance,salman butt has talent,but i dont think tufeeq is up to a level where he can score big runs,So i say change him replace him with afridi,He bowls his leg spin batsman and also a good fielder what else do you need

 

[Choora]

Messers Vandematram, wahindiawah, Choora and company: Which mithai do you prefer? Barfi or Gulab Jaman?

Mate why drag me into it? I did say Pakistan will lose and so did you , well we were all proven wrong. I think Akmal played a brilliant knock and Razzak was awesome too, India was a better team in the match but they had their faults (particularly the selfish Innings by Sachin that cost valuable time to India) .

BTW, i do criticize Inzi and Woolmer alot, but my intentions are not to humiliate Pakistan. I do think they make silly mistakes(like going into a match with 3 specialist bowlers) however in this test match they should be thanfull to the young keeper who saved Pakistan from a certain defeat.

 

[Choora]

10-3 -----------------> 243-6 --------------------> 458-8

Terrific comeback by pakistan

At ten for three i was honestly expecting Pakistan to get out to a 200 or even lesserr score, i'm sure most ppl were of the same opinion.

 

[Bapu Rao Swami]

Pakistan turned a mountain into a molehill and settled for a favorable draw at the PCA stadium, Mohali thanks to a partnership which defied the odds, history and expectations. When people are thrown to the deep sea they have only two options. Either then can swim or sink. To take up the first option one needs to have resilience, bravery, fortitude and stomach for battle. Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzak might not loads of talent but they showed the bravery which would have impressed Hermod.
Every Indian fan will be wary of any Pakistani cricket team even if it looks under strength or not. The pedigree of Pakistani cricket is a proof of that. They find heroes out of thin air especially against India against the laws of nature.

India entered the final day hoping to wrap up the test in two sessions and they had every reason to believe that. They thought that they have exorcised the ghosts of Pakistan by winning at Multan and Rawalpindi. But this Pakistani side has gritted out to open some of the old wounds which are hard to be licked away.

A wicket keeper who chooses the biggest occasion under the greatest pressure to hit his first test hundred must be saluted for his sense of occasion. An ODI allrounder who is not known for patience showed truckloads of the same and he curbed his natural instincts for the national cause. His resilience has to be admired.

Did India bowl badly? Not necessarily. They tried hard and the pitch was benign and the ball didn’t swing that much. But that can’t be an excuse to pick up the final four wickets on the fifth day of a test match. India will be greatly disappointed that they couldn’t clinch a 1-0 lead after dominating the first four days (to most extent) of the game. A few questions will be raised about Saurav Ganguly’s strange negative tactics on fourth day when Inzamam and Youhana were batting. A few questions will be asked about the slow going of Indian batsmen on the third afternoon when they had the foot on the throat of Pakistan only to relieve a bit of pressure. A few questions need to be raised about the inept wicket keeping of Dinesh Karthik.

Pakistan will claim moral victory out of this draw and they have every right to do so. This performance will be a reminiscent of 2001 Kolkata (India Vs Australia) for India in the opposite way. Hopefully this will give Pakistan the confidence to take on the Indians with positive intent at Kolkata and Bangalore. The way Sami ran in to bowl the second innings showed that they have got the belief to bowl out India in the future tests. The onus is on India to reclaim the hard earned advantage.

The Pakistani fans can be proud of the fact that their men have given them something to cheer by their bravado and they can enjoy the same till it lasts. Indian fans will believe that they can still be better side on the turning tracks of Kolkata and Bangalore. Given the history of Indo-Pak cricket one can never be sure of the upcoming tales.

Thanks to both the sides for providing us entertainment over 5 days at Mohali. It was not a classic in the mould of Bangalore 87 or Chennai 99. But it was still a very good test match which will be remembered for various reasons.

--BRS (Bitterly disappointed about the draw but saluting the heroics of Akmal and Razzak)

 

[Choora]

Typical sub-continental response there.....If you have faith in a guy's ability, you got to stick with him. Anyone and everyone can have a bad game. I think both Younis(even though it was not YOU who mentioned he should be dropped) .

Well i said that Younis should be dropped and i still think that the guy should get the axe.Its not the failure with th bat for which he should get the axe, its coz of way he got out playing totally irresponsible shot when he happen to be the vice captain of the team.

 

[Jono]

I just got back from a long-ass weekend at University Law Camp, and have just found out that Pakistan managed to come back and save this test after being 3-10. What the hell? Wowee.

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.

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.