***Official*** New Zealand in Zimbabwe & Zimbabwe/New Zealand/India ODI Tri-Series

[C_C]

by Jagmoahn Dalmia and his cohoots, are leading Indian cricket down the same black hole.

The same Dalmiya who has made arguably the greatest contribution to cricket and under who's leadership India saw the largest ever investment in cricketing infrastructure ?
But then again, you've shown your notions to be dictated by whimsical journalism, 'maai baap' attitude and little reasoning whatsoever.

 

[Anil]

The same Dalmiya who has made arguably the greatest contribution to cricket and under who's leadership India saw the largest ever investment in cricketing infrastructure ?

what is the greatest contribution that dalmiya has made, the introduction of bangladesh into test cricket? dalmiya has shown himself to be a politician and a power-broker....with all the connotations that those terms imply....and while infrastructure helps, indian cricketing fortunes are going to take a significant upturn only when there is a major change in attitude among the players and the officials who run the sport in india....

 

[Sanz]

what is the greatest contribution that dalmiya has made, the introduction of bangladesh into test cricket? dalmiya has shown himself to be a politician and a power-broker....with all the connotations that those terms imply....and while infrastructure helps, indian cricketing fortunes are going to take a significant upturn only when there is a major change in attitude among the players and the officials who run the sport in india....

And how can Dalmiya change the attitude of players and officials ? If players had Dalmiya's attitude, they would be far more successful than they actually are. Dalmiya has done a lot for Indian cricket and (although he has his own faults). To list a few - bringing the WC to the subcontinent(twice), globalization of cricket, bring money into cricket, Introduce the concept of foreign coaches to Indian cricket, making Sourav Ganguly the captain, re-start cricket ties with Pakistan .

That said, I think it is time for him to pass the baton (to whom ? ) and also its time for Sourav to go, but it will make Indian cricket significantly better is certainly debatable and only time will tell.

 

[Sanz]

I stopped reading news about Bihar and Indian hockey quite some time ago. Bihar politicians represented by Laloo Yaadav are responsible for the mess in the first.

Oh so now you are an expert on Bihar also ?? How long have you lived in bihar to become an expert on the state ?

 

[honestbharani]

Dalmiya has done some good stuff, but he has done his share of bad stuff too. Dalmiya is not the only man responsible for the mess right now. It is very easy to conjecture that it is only because of Dalmiya that Sourav has stayed on as captain, but the fact is, having been as successful as Sourav has been as a captain, even I think he deserved this chance. Now, of course, if he fails in even this series, then obviously the time has come for a change. I still don't see Sourav as playing any significant part in Indian cricket from now on, but at the moment, I would rather wait and watch than put forward any conspiracy theories. One of them has just been shot down by the ICC.

 

[shaka]

Irfan Pathan gets a fifty, Ganguly heading for a 100 that has been a long time since his previous

 

[Deja moo]

You know theres something horribly wrong when Yuvraj Singh makes the side ahead of Kaif.

 

[Sanz]

You know theres something horribly wrong when Yuvraj Singh makes the side ahead of Kaif.

Well everyone knows Ganguly prefers Yuvraj over anyone and also the fact that Yuvraj comes from a very influential background. It was his father Yograj singh who had first come up with the idea of Yuvraj opening in test matches.

Sourav is going pretty soon, his batting has been painful to watch and he looks clueless as a captain.

 

[Deja moo]

Well everyone knows Ganguly prefers Yuvraj over anyone and also the fact that Yuvraj comes from a very influential background. It was his father Yograj singh who had first come up with the idea of Yuvraj opening in test matches.

Sourav is going pretty soon, his batting has been painful to watch and he looks clueless as a captain.

Sourav probably wont go as long as Dalmiya has any say in affairs though.

 

[Jono]

You know theres something horribly wrong when Yuvraj Singh makes the side ahead of Kaif.

You know how infuriated I was? That's just stupidity at the highest order.

 

[SJS]

You know how infuriated I was? That's just stupidity at the highest order.

It was criminal injustice but it had been widely expected and was predicted by a Bombay paper on the morning of the first day.

 

[SJS]

Great Indian Divide

Here is the article that appeared a few hours before the sun rose in Bulawayo on the morning of the first day.

 

[Jono]

Well that article, and a few others in that paper, suggest Ganguly wanted Kaif in the team but there was pressure from the board for Yuvraj to be selected.

That article suggested Yuvraj would open if selected, thank God that didn't happen.

What's that whole animated discussion business between Ganguly, Chappell and Dravid I wonder? Got to do with Kaif not being selected?

 

[Sanz]

Okay, another one of those conspiracy theories. Well it is not really a surprise that it has come from a newspaper whose main news is about '11 Persian cats, rare mynah rescued from Kalina house' . .

This is getting ridiculous, after every poor performance people come out with this kind of crap. The reporter has no idea of what he was talking about really. He has got pretty much everything wrong.

* Agarkar will play (if Balaji is not fit) - Wrong
* India will play one spinner - Wrong
* Ganguly may not be fit enough to play - Wrong
* Yuvraj may open - Wrong
* The argument was about Yuvraj - Wrong

Also I just read that VVS laxman after his century talked about the pressure being put on him and how some people in the team didn't want him in the team :-

"There is always pressure on me. It was unfortunate that I was not there in the one-day team and also there were some negative vibes going around about my inclusion in Test side....I was not making any statement but I just wanted to prove myself that I am still good to play international cricket. So I did not think about things that are not in my conrtol and wanted to concentrate on my batting..."

 

[Sanz]

Sourav probably wont go as long as Dalmiya has any say in affairs though.

I dont think so. Watch out for the news in the morning. It's either Greg or Gangs. After hitting his 100 Gangs says that was told to quit. He didn't quite clearly say by whom though.

 

[Sanz]

Btw, this isn't coming from a tabloid in Mumbai, it is reom Reuters :-

Ganguly and Chappell tight lipped on captaincy issue
Thu Sep 15, 2005 7:57 PM BST
Printer Friendly | Email Article | RSS

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Saurav Ganguly, fresh from a century against Zimbabwe, said on Thursday he had been asked to step down as India's captain.

Ganguly made 101 as India took firm control of the first test against Zimbabwe. India scored 554 for a first innings lead of 275 and then reduced the home side to 67 for six in their second innings.

"It's true, I was asked to step down but that's all I have to say at this stage," Ganguly told reporters after the third day's play in Bulawayo.

When asked who had requested his resignation, Ganguly said: "Ask the coach. He will give you the answer."

India coach Greg Chappell then said: "Saurav and I discussed the balance of the team and there were a number of issues but that's all I want to say at this stage."

When asked directly whether Chappell had sought his departure as captain, Ganguly replied: "You know what has been happening in Indian cricket.

"Other people are making the decisions, my silence says everything so I'll stick to it."

The 33-year-old Ganguly was retained as captain despite a debate in the Indian media in the months leading up to the tour of Zimbabwe, the start of a busy season, in which there were calls for his replacement by long-term deputy Rahul Dravid.

Ganguly, whose 19 test victories as captain are an Indian record, had suffered from poor batting form in the last two seasons

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/new...915:MTFH40856_2005-09-15_18-56-22_L15276686:1

 

[Deja moo]

If it is indeed Greg who wants him to step down, I bow before him. He has the guts to suggest something very few coaches in the world would, and so early into his job too.

 

[C_C]

what is the greatest contribution that dalmiya has made, the introduction of bangladesh into test cricket? dalmiya has shown himself to be a politician and a power-broker....with all the connotations that those terms imply....and while infrastructure helps, indian cricketing fortunes are going to take a significant upturn only when there is a major change in attitude among the players and the officials who run the sport in india....

Dalmiya taught the idiots at ICC an MCC on how to make cricket a sustainable sport financially and prevent it from dying out.
He also massively improved the infrastructure in India while hosting the 87 world cup and the facilities continued to improve by leaps and bounds. It is also under Dalmiya's leadership that India saw an explosion in terms of # of stadiums, nets and practice equipment in India.
And i agree that the player and official attitudes have to change but Dalmiya is a part of the solution, not part of the problem.

 

[Sanz]

If it is indeed Greg who wants him to step down, I bow before him. He has the guts to suggest something very few coaches in the world would, and so early into his job too.

Sorry, If(and only IF) Greg really did that then he should immidiately be sacked as coach and should never be allowed to talk about Indian cricket ever again.

If he really wanted someone else as captain, then he should have made it clear to the selection committee, BCCI or whoever is making that decision. He would have got my support and I would have respected him for his stand. If he wanted to confront Ganguly then he should have asked him to quit before the team left India for the Zimbabwe, but he didn't do that either.

What he did was worse, on the eve of the match he asked the leader of the team to quit and which probably divided the Indian dressing room for the first time since 1999-2000.

 

[Sanz]

And my hats off to Ganguly and Laxman, two players sho saved India from losing to Zimbabwe despite being under so much pressure. My hats off to them.