***Official*** Sri Lanka in India

[Dasa]

how about 20 of 37 then. There are batsmen like M Waugh, Azhar, D Martyn who make
the batting look easy and there can be others too. Kaif is the only one who can
look any surface or any mediocre bowling attack look great

You're seriously underrating Kaif there. He CAN up the tempo when required, but he simply doesn't have to now...I'd rather he keep his wicket intact than try to score at a 90+ S/R and go out. By the way, all those batsmen you have named have similar S/Rs to Kaif - in the mid 70s.

 

[Jono]

Yuvraj is absolutely dominating now. I don't know whether to be happy as an Indian supporter, happy because he's in my fantasy cricket team or disappointed because as much as I like him, I think he should have a stint outside the ODI team to realise he shouldn't take his spot for granted.

Either way, I think we all knew he'd eventually score in one of the 7 games in this series.

 

[Jono]

how about 20 of 37 then. There are batsmen like M Waugh, Azhar, D Martyn who make
the batting look easy and there can be others too. Kaif is the only one who can
look any surface or any mediocre bowling attack look great

Who cares? He's averaged over 40 since the WC. He averages 44.85 this year. I don't care if he makes the bowler look good, as long as he doesn't throw away his wicket and gets the runs. He knows when to increase the run rate when he has to.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

You're seriously underrating Kaif there. He CAN up the tempo when required, but he simply doesn't have to now...I'd rather he keep his wicket intact than try to score at a 90+ S/R and go out. By the way, all those batsmen you have named have similar S/Rs to Kaif - in the mid 70s.

This match is OK. But the worrying thing is I have seen Kaif doing the same irrespective of the asking rate. We already have Dravid in the team, who plays the anchor role initially and ups the tempo during the end in an impeccable fashion. One of the reasons for India's successful run chases of late is the absence of Kaif in the line up. Whenever Dravid and Kaif bat, Kaif has put a lot of pressure on Dravid and invariably it is Dravid who gets out.
I have seen Kaif even during slog overs (even in 49th and 50th over) take singles and get to the other end, which i feel is very unfair.

 

[Jono]

You reckon we've been successfully chasing down targets and winning games because Kaif has been injured?

Each to their own I guess, just don't be hypocritical and cheer if he continues to perform as he has done all year and help win India a few games against South Africa.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

You reckon we've been successfully chasing down targets and winning games because Kaif has been injured?

Each to their own I guess, just don't be hypocritical and cheer if he continues to perform as he has done all year and help win India a few games against South Africa.

People tend to look at Kaif with bias, as the memory of the natwest final lingers
in their mind. I would be very happy if he can pull one for India when it has to
chase a big total. But I dont think it will happen and i hope Kaif will come up with
one such performance which will hold my argument in good stead.

 

[Jono]

People tend to look at Kaif with bias, as the memory of the natwest final lingers
in their mind. I would be very happy if he can pull one for India when it has to
chase a big total. But I dont think it will happen and i hope Kaif will come up with
one such performance which will hold my argument in good stead.

I'll gladly admit bias. I reckon I'm the biggest Kaif supporter on this forum, so denying bias would be a lie. However there is a reason why I'm a big supporter of his. I love the way he plays, his temperament and grit. Plus he's one of the biggest 'team men' in the Indian squad.

I hold no bias when it comes to where he's from in India (Uttar Pradesh), which domestic side he plays for etc. because I'm born and bread in Australia. My only bias is I enjoy his consistency and the fact that he has been performing extremely well lately. You can't deny his 40+ average this year. He played brilliantly in the tri-series with Zimbabwe and New Zealand. His 102* and 93* were awesome, and if someone had stuck with him in the Videocon Triangular Series Final against NZ maybe India would have won.

I just don't understand some people's criticism of him because he isn't as flowing as Yuvraj or as aggressive as Dhoni or Sehwag, and not as elegant as Dravid or Sachin. He grits his way through, and paces his innings very well. Sure you won't see him get strike rates of 120+ often, but we've got plenty of those kind of players.

And in regards to his slow knock today (I know you weren't referring to it alone) there was a small target, Yuvraj was playing aggressively on the other end and he hadn't played cricket for a while because of his injury. All this must be taken into account.

 

[Jono]

Yuvraj leads India to victory in the 6th ODI, and India go up 5-1 in the series. Brilliant performance by the whole team. RP Singh bowled well, and I liked the look of the 5 bowler attack. I think in some cases this will work well, whereby if India to collapse batting first having a batsman as a super-sub will be beneficial as that batsman can just replace one of the 5 specialist bowlers. However if India bowl first like today, they just sub their batsman in for a specialist bowler and there are 7 batsman in the line-up like normal.

Should happen more often I reckon.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I'll gladly admit bias. I reckon I'm the biggest Kaif supporter on this forum, so denying bias would be a lie. However there is a reason why I'm a big supporter of his. I love the way he plays, his temperament and grit. Plus he's one of the biggest 'team men' in the Indian squad.

I hold no bias when it comes to where he's from in India (Uttar Pradesh), which domestic side he plays for etc. because I'm born and bread in Australia. My only bias is I enjoy his consistency and the fact that he has been performing extremely well lately. You can't deny his 40+ average this year. He played brilliantly in the tri-series with Zimbabwe and New Zealand. His 102* and 93* were awesome, and if someone had stuck with him in the Videocon Triangular Series Final against NZ maybe India would have won.

I just don't understand some people's criticism of him because he isn't as flowing as Yuvraj or as aggressive as Dhoni or Sehwag, and not as elegant as Dravid or Sachin. He grits his way through, and paces his innings very well. Sure you won't see him get strike rates of 120+ often, but we've got plenty of those kind of players.

And in regards to his slow knock today (I know you weren't referring to it alone) there was a small target, Yuvraj was playing aggressively on the other end and he hadn't played cricket for a while because of his injury. All this must be taken into account.

My point is India have lost matches where Kaif was present during the final stages
and two or three big hits from Kaif would have made a huge difference to the result.
once recent instance was the India vs Srilanka Final match. The other performance or non-performance
was the India vs Bangladesh match which India lost and he was applying pressure
on Sriram at the other end by playing too many dot balls and he could not up the
tempo himself when need and India eventually lost. he may be a good player when the
target is low. I dont expect him to score with a strike rate of 100 plus. All I expect from
his not to play too many dot balls when there is a big score to chase and make it
difficult for the batsman at the other end. If you follow any of the Kaif's inning scoring
pattern, there will always be a dot ball or two before he scores a single.


i am definitely not referring to this match.

 

[Little Master]

Kaif is in great form and has been one of the best players this year for India. In the sri Lankan final he got 31 from 36 which is not the worst score. Also in the match that India lost to Bangladesh he got 49 from 56 while Sriram got 57 from 91.

In the above matches he was batting at 5 whilst i believe he should bat at 3 or 4 and guide india to high scores.

He got 93 from 110 in the last final and also got 102 from 121 againts New Zealand and led India to victory.

Kaif plays according to the match situation and is a clever cricketer.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Kaif is in great form and has been one of the best players this year for India. In the sri Lankan final he got 31 from 36 which is not the worst score. Also in the match that India lost to Bangladesh he got 49 from 56 while Sriram got 57 from 91.

In the above matches he was batting at 5 whilst i believe he should bat at 3 or 4 and guide india to high scores.

He got 93 from 110 in the last final and also got 102 from 121 againts New Zealand and led India to victory.

Kaif plays according to the match situation and is a clever cricketer.

30 of 36 when the required rate was 13-14 and giving to strike to the hapless tailenders
when the onus was on him to take up the mantle. he had always been clever enough to keep
his place in the side, which poor guys like Venugopala,Sriram, Bangar, Badani,etc never managed
to do.

 

[Little Master]

So thats one match then.

He isn't a lower order batsman but a No. 3 or 4.

Once he is settled then he can play good shots.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

So thats one match then.

He isn't a lower order batsman but a No. 3 or 4.

Once he is settled then he can play good shots.

You do not have to be a lower order batsman to go for big hits in the 49th or the 50th over.

Thatz what i precisely say, he can always play good shots and never big shots when big shots are the need of the hour.

He is just a Sanjay Manjrekar in ODIs and he fields better than Manjrekar.

The only good thing i admire is his running between the wickets where at times the batsman at the other end gets that bonus run.

 

[Little Master]

You still adamant to talk about that one match. What about his great season this year.
Well you can talk to me in a years time when Kaif will be a crucial part of India's ODI and Test Setup.

 

[honestbharani]

The thing is that Kaif plays a lot of dot balls. That is a fact. He times the ball well but generally hits it straight to the fielders (mainly early in his innings but at times, even at later stages). That is why him at no.7 was not the best place to fit him in at. But at 3 or 4, he comes in with the field restrictions on, he can pierce the gaps better and once he settles in, he is pretty good at rotating the strike and making sure the score ticks over. And especially over the course of this season, he has gotten better and better. Maybe giving him more responsibility and making him bat in the top 4 has had a positive impact on him. But he has looked more confident and fluent ever since...

 

[ramkumar_gr]

You still adamant to talk about that one match. What about his great season this year.
Well you can talk to me in a years time when Kaif will be a crucial part of India's ODI and Test Setup.

Just because he is strokeless does not make him a choice for the tests. We have seen
how pathetic they turned out to be in the cases of Akash Chopra,SS Das etc. He lacks both
the class and temparament to be part of the test cricket. (Pls. refer his FC average)
and also the selectors did a wise job in selecting Yuvraj over Kaif in tests for Zim.
but i would say Venugopala should be the first choice now for the tests in case there
is a vacancy in the test side.

 

[Little Master]

Ok.

seems your'e not going to change your views and seem to have something against Kaif.

Before getting rid of Kaif in ODI's i think there should be a few players higher up the list.
And if he was strokeless he wouldn't be playing cricket.

 

[Arjun]

How fast was RP Singh today? Fans on another forum are quoting speeds incredibly high for an Indian pacer.

 

[honestbharani]

HE hit around 136-137 mark today. His speed was quicker at Ahmedabad, he hit 140s some 3 or 4 times..

 

[honestbharani]

A little analysis of today's game

Okay, so when we started off, everyone mentioned 300-350 being an absolute necessity if you want to win the match. WE all saw how that panned out. Jayasuriya played away from the body without minimum footwork, but that is something that he always does. It is just that because he has not been in good form and spent enough time in the middle that he nicked it instead of middling it. Sangakkara played a poor shot, slower delivery or not and as a form batsman, he should have known (and done) better. Tharanga got the delivery of the match. Atapattu gave Sangakkara a run for his money by playing an equally atrocious stroke. Arnold underestimated Kaif, and Dilshan underestimated Yuvraj. The tail was mopped up. I seriously think that the time has come for Moody to try out some others at the top. It will be interesting to see if Arnold is prepared to open. I seem to remember him coming in as an opener from domestic cricket. Tharanga looks like he has potential. It is just a matter of him staying at the wicket for longer periods of time, the runs will come just fine. Dilshan should be given a chance at 3. Robin Singh believes that the form players should always be given the most opportunities and it might be worth the try. Sangakkara should bat at 4, because he seems to get carried away when batting with the field restrictions on. Jayawardena is very good against spinners in the middle overs and can bat at 5. Atapattu and Jayasuriya are not in good form and can bat lower down so that they can try and hit their way out of form. At least, they will be giving the guys in touch their best chance to make big scores.



For India, things are going well. I still think they performed really well in the last game and I think the game would have been a lot closer had it not been the dew. But there are areas to be improved upon. Yuvraj's diving is comical, to say the least. He never dives across, he simply dives down into the ground and as such doesn't cover any real distance while making stops. Some of the Indian outfielders seem to take their eyes away from the ball even before they have it in their hands, and that should be sorted out, or it will be found out against RSA, who will be a lot tougher than Sri Lanka have been. Sree Santh should try to avoid over experimenting while bowling and Pathan needs to get more control, he is simply too expensive for a strike bowler. Murali Kartik still seems to have little answer when batsmen go after him determinedly. And Sehwag still has to try and convert his starts.