***Official*** Sri Lanka in India

[Isolator]

It keeps getting better

1 1 1 | 1 1 3 2 1 4 | 1 1 4 2 2 1 | 2 1 1 1 2 1 | 2 2

No dot balls in 23 deliveries and no sixes. Just 2 boundaries and another 30 all run. 38 in 23 balls.

Yesss

I know the last two guys batted really well, but SL really helped them along. Didn't cut off any singles, didn't stop the boundaries either. Dismal stuff from them.

 

[Hit4Six]

I know the last two guys batted really well, but SL really helped them along. Didn't cut off any singles, didn't stop the boundaries either. Dismal stuff from them.

marvan didnt use murali/vaas effectively at the end of the innings instead the great dilshan and russel arnold bowled the final few overs. still gr8 batting by raina, dhoni and rao.

AA got 5 vickets harbhajjan is bowling well, there is young talent flourishing in the team, tendy is being aggressive again...if someone told that to me a year ago i wouldnt have beleived it

 

[Arjun]

To be honest, the Lankan bits-and-pieces bowlers let them down a great deal. They're all targets for easy singles. At least one will get for a few big hits. The form of Farveez Maharoof is a major worry- the nippy medium-pacer who can move the ball off the pitch has looked totally out of sorts in this series, but he's done decently as a striker in the batting lineup, so they can dispense with these bit bowlers.

Their fielding has been a letdown, and theyve looked a lot weaker in what has been their main strength as a limited-overs team. Catches were dropped, they've not stopped singles as sharply as they did before, co-ordination has been found wanting at times, and when your strikers have a weak support cast, it shows up badly.

Their batting has a cheap look, and it's shown here. Russel Arnold may have saved the team many times in the past, but now, he's looked a weak link, and though he showed some semblance of return to form in Pune, he still didn't last long. Dilshan's been decent, but still, the big score has been out of reach. Atapattu had been through a dreadful run of form and when it's happening to the captain, it hurts, and the decision to drop down the order helped him. Sanath failed to fire in all four matches and that seemed even more remarkable than Sehwag's dry run, even as Sehwag showed a few signs of returning to striking form.

They've got a good pace bowler in Dilhara Fernando, and they should keep him for a really long time. He makes the batsmen play. He creates chances. He can force the batsmen on the backfoot. With his pace, he adds power to an otherwise pedestrian attack. Even as the experienced Vaas struggled, he's done well against this in-form batting lineup and should be promoted as a frontline attacking bowler.

 

[GladiatrsInBlue]

Another solid performance by Dhoni

Overall a great performance by Indian team, seems to be a team on the way up and capable of giving any team a real fight.

 

[Arjun]

Another solid performance by Dhoni

This one's definitely valuable, since he actually WAITED, then the team needed 12 in over 20 balls, and then he launched into the bowling. Good to see him adapt rather than go slam-bang like Afridi or Ricardo Powell.

 

[Jono]

Yeah I like Dilshan too Arjun, good point about him. I think he's a small positive for SL to get out of this series.

 

[SJS]

I know the last two guys batted really well, but SL really helped them along. Didn't cut off any singles, didn't stop the boundaries either. Dismal stuff from them.

Frankly, I was not watching on TV. Just siting at my factory following on cicinfo.

You may be right about singles but they surely cut off boundaries. In the first 69 runs of the partnership between dhoni and Raina, there were only three boundaries and still they got it in 69 deliveries. Surely this would mean, heavy patrolling of the outerspaces.

It is a bit difficult you know, cutting off boundaries and singles at the same time.

With their experience of Dhoni from the last match they must have thought patrolling the boundaries was a better option.

 

[honestbharani]

Well we always have an excuse for anything and everything wrong SRT does, dont we ??

Here is what Amit Varma(of Cricinfo & Wisden) writes on his blog 'India Uncut' how the Indians (SRT including) bowled during Banglore test :-

"....Sachin Tendulkar is bowling to Younis Khan, as I write this, with six men on the boundary, four of them on the leg side. He's bowling a negative line from round the wicket, outside the leg stump, angling across the batsman. Anil Kumble, bowling from the other end, is using the same tactics. The Indians are slow and easy between overs. Are they being too defensive? I think not. Is this how the game should be played? Why not? ...."

I am sure we will find another way to justify it. But hey I dont have a problem with your belief and it is okay but please dont try to convince me of all that....

http://indiauncut.blogspot.com/2005/03/defence-is-attack.html

I said that he came up the idea of bowling leg spin from round the wicket in ODIs. That tactic in the Bangalore test was obviously a last resort. Sure, it is a negative tactic and I am not sure if Sachin publicly called it so when Giles did it to him. It was others who were doing it, including the fans. Yes, I think it is wrong to use those tactics, but not many others seem to share that opinion, esp. the cricketers. Anyway, I am not defending Sachin. If you look up my earlier posts, I have said that he has his faults as much as anyone else. But his presence in the dressing room always makes a difference. It might not be enough to win every match (which is what the media is saying, but you know about our media ) but it certainly makes a difference. And that has been my point all along. I have never claimed that he was someone without any flaws.

 

[honestbharani]

Well, that was just a swipe @ one of the posts made by someone in this thread after SRT got out in first ODIs...this guy posted that how SRT on his way out stopped to talk to Rahul (who was next man in) on who should be the next guy and blah blah blah..

Media and fans create their stories to hero worship and that I have a problem with. And that said..all I do is post my views on a web forum, I hope I have the right to do that. Unfortunately it doesn't go well with most of SRT fans (or fanatics one can say) and they will jump on you every time you say anything -ve about him.

I dont hate him man, but I dont like media idolizing him just because they need some one to hero worship..every time something good happens to Indian cricket, SRT has a hand in it and he can do no wrong..media created a hype when he was caught live tampering with the ball, media stays mum when things go wrong..

To set the record straight, Dravid had clarified that Sachin and him talked about what would be a good score on that track to set for the Lankans. Obviously, because Sachin had been there for a long time, he could tell Dravid what would be a competitive score. But once again, the media do blow it out of proportion. This type of thing happens even in our backyard or beach games.

 

[honestbharani]

Another good win for India. I hope this doesn't prove to be a false dawning like the summer of 2002 and early 2003 proved.

 

[Isolator]

Frankly, I was not watching on TV. Just siting at my factory following on cicinfo.

You may be right about singles but they surely cut off boundaries. In the first 69 runs of the partnership between dhoni and Raina, there were only three boundaries and still they got it in 69 deliveries. Surely this would mean, heavy patrolling of the outerspaces.

It is a bit difficult you know, cutting off boundaries and singles at the same time.

With their experience of Dhoni from the last match they must have thought patrolling the boundaries was a better option.

I saw most of that last partnership. What they did was pick up singles again and again and again, effortlessly, and that's not just because they were batting well... there was absolutely no pressure exerted on them by the field. One would have thought after a couple of overs of relentless single-taking, there'd be some move to stop it, but no. And as far as I can see, it was much more important for SL to cut off singles and to exert pressure than to cut off boundaries at that stage. Basically, they just let them walk away with the match.

But that's not all. It also must be noted that during this partnership, more often than not, the boundary-shots attemped reached their destination.

It may not be possible to cut off both boundaries and singles, but I think SL have shown that it is possible to leave both open. I'm not detracting from the batting of Raina and Dhoni, but seriously, that was crap from SL at the end.

 

[SJS]

Another thing I noticed was that as Sachin was returning and he crossed Dravid, Dravid stopped him and they talked a bit. It wasnt Dravid asking Sachin about the wicket or bowling. If one has to make a pure guess it looked more like Dravid saying to Sachin what to do in his (Dravid's) absence in the dressing room like changing the batting order in case a couple of wickets fell around Dravid quickly.

Whatever it was, it gave a sense of well-being to me personally to see that the new skipper has someone as big (in every concievable sense of the word) as Sachin to share responsibilities with.

Some people are so habituated of using half truths, partial truths, and mixing them liberally with complete fibs and figments of their imagination that even even the mosquito-net of the "ignore list" into which one has placed them becomes too small to contain them.

Here, above is the post that has been misquoted as...
"...this guy posted that how SRT on his way out stopped to talk to Rahul (who was next man in) on who should be the next guy"

Really. I suggest they read again and get an interpreter in case English isnt their strong point. Although the problem clearly lies elsewhere.

 

[Jono]

But SJS, if those posters actually quoted correctly, their posts wouldn't have as much zing in them, and they wouldn't be able to accuse us all of Sachin fanatic who bow to him and think he can do no wrong.

 

[SJS]

But SJS, if those posters actually quoted correctly, their posts wouldn't have as much zing in them, and they wouldn't be able to accuse us all of Sachin fanatic who bow to him and think he can do no wrong.

POINT !!

 

[Pratters]

But SJS, if those posters actually quoted correctly, their posts wouldn't have as much zing in them, and they wouldn't be able to accuse us all of Sachin fanatic who bow to him and think he can do no wrong.

Any one who disagrees with him believes Tendulkar is God according to him.

 

[Arjun]

Another good win for India. I hope this doesn't prove to be a false dawning like the summer of 2002 and early 2003 proved.

The Natwest final was a one-off, the World Cup wasn't won, the Samsung Cup see-sawed but this was won well before the series ended, with the Indians winning the first four matches on the trot. Now they should look to sweep them clean.

 

[Arjun]

Any one who disagrees with him believes Tendulkar is God according to him.

What difference does it make now? They've won a series, despite 'selfish' Tendulkar!

p.s. Those were the words of a fan who believed that only Parthiv Patel and Rahul Dravid should be wicketkeeping for India, and others should sit out and watch!

 

[Pratters]

What a superb win by India to take a 4-0 lead. If it was the NBA playoffs, the series would have been over. Its called sweep and I love the term.

After the poor performances in the last one and hald years since India had that memorable tour of Pakistan, this is a very refreshing Indian team we have seen in the past 4 matches.

just for the record, how many seven match series (not many occur) have concluded 4-0 and which were these series?

 

[SJS]

What a superb win by India to take a 4-0 lead. If it was the NBA playoffs, the series would have been over. Its called sweep and I love the term.

After the poor performances in the last one and hald years since India had that memorable tour of Pakistan, this is a very refreshing Indian team we have seen in the past 4 matches.

just for the record, how many seven match series (not many occur) have concluded 4-0 and which were these series?

I dont know when India last led 4-0 in a series. Never I suppose. Not against a proper test playing nation. ????

 

[SJS]

...us all ....Sachin fanatic who bow to him and think he can do no wrong.

Actually, I get up in the morning and after the customory bow to Bhagwan Sachin's idol in the far corner of the room, I rush to wash my face hands and brush my teeth.

- Then I cover my head and prepare to do my morning pooja.

- Then I light the 'agarbatti' and take it around the room before fixing it in front of Bhagwan Sachin's Idol on a silver plate which has silver bells and Nandi the bull (I call it Kambli).

- Then I do the Tendua- Vandana while jangling the bell in my left hand and moving the agarbatti laden silver plate in front of the Bhagwan

- Then I get some laddus from the fridge and place them in a katori before Sachins large picture in the corridor to seek his blessings and get him to accept the offering of the sweet

- After this I wake up my wife who grumbles like some of those on this forum but I shove a bit of the sweet in her mouth. Its for her own good you know.

- By this time my kiddoes, Axl and Chici are restless following me around, so I give them their part of the holy prasad.

My neighbours are very irritated by the early morning ringing of bells but I am fast acquiring the reputation of being a God fearing, religious guy in Hiranandani Gardens.

Om Sri Sachinayeh Namaha​