Pragyan Ojha vs Murali Kartik - for the Test squad

[Uppercut]

Unnatural Mishy-love aside for a second, i think Kartik's miles better than Ojha. Inconsistent and hit-and-miss he may be, but I've seen nothing to suggest that Ojha is anything other than poor.

 

[Richard]

He was gun in the ODIs against Aus, whereupon he waltzed into selection oblivion.

Yeah, thought that was odd in the extreme. Was half expecting him to ICL himself due to such a gross injustice.

 

[anoop4real]

Murali Karthik IMO

 

[Prince EWS]

Always rated Murali Kartik TBH. I think his time is basically gone now and he never lived up to what I thought he would, but if I had to pick either him or Ojha for a Test right now, I'd definitely pick Kartik.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Kartik isn't far too effective outside of good turners. He's always seemed like a turning track bully to me, a damn dangerous bowler in those conditions, but toothless pretty much anywhere else.

 

[analyst]

Although I don't rate left arm slow bowlers,Kartik has improved dramatically in the last three years and has a lot of variety also. He could have IMO easily challenged Harbhajhan for a place in the team, had the likes of Ramesh Powar and Chawla not been given a chance. IMO his chance is over and Ojha will keep the warm bench for a while now.

 

[Prince EWS]

I don't rate left arm bowlers

 

[analyst]

I meant to say left arm slow bowlers, laugh it up though mate.

 

[masterblaster]

Murali Kartik for me too. I've always thought highly of him as a cricketer and as a competitor. One of the most underappreciated and underutilised spinners in India. He could've had a great career if he had got the support of captains, coaches and selectors. He's one of my favourite cricketers.

 

[Richard]

Kartik isn't far too effective outside of good turners. He's always seemed like a turning track bully to me, a damn dangerous bowler in those conditions, but toothless pretty much anywhere else.

What's most odd about that is that Kartik himself says he hates playing on turning tracks. Great attitude, disown your one weapon.

Mind, any fingerspinner will be a turning track bully - you can't expect a fingerspinner to turn it on anything. There's just different levels to which it'll happen - a Kartik or Jason Krejza will be quite spectacular, someone like Daniel Vettori or Monty Panesar it'll be less ridiculously pronounced but still pretty obvious.

 

[Richard]

Although I don't rate left arm slow bowlers

Why just slow left-arm ones? Slow right-arm ones (presuming "slow" means fingerspinners here) are every bit as ineffective, if not even more so, given the same ingredients.

 

[Uppercut]

Why just slow left-arm ones? Slow right-arm ones (presuming "slow" means fingerspinners here) are every bit as ineffective, if not even more so, given the same ingredients.

Because a right-armer can be an effective wrist-spinner whereas (presumably he feels) a left-armer can't.

Funny, i remember remarking some time ago in a thread on Mendis that i'd be shocked if he could bowl a googly but not a legbreak. Trying to bowl some legspin while messing about with a tennis ball yesterday, i found i can do exactly that .

 

[Richard]

Because a right-armer can be an effective wrist-spinner whereas (presumably he feels) a left-armer can't.

Well, in that case, the reality is that precious few bowlers - be they right-arm or left-arm - can be effective wristspinners. Generations will go by without one.

And given that right-arm bowlers outnumber left-arm bowlers considerably, it's none too surprising that all of the tiny number of good wristspinners we've had so far have been right-armers. There'll be a left-armer eventually, I'm sure, but it might well not be for quite some time.

Funny, i remember remarking some time ago in a thread on Mendis that i'd be shocked if he could bowl a googly but not a legbreak. Trying to bowl some legspin while messing about with a tennis ball yesterday, i found i can do exactly that .

Paul Adams mastered the Googly (if not the ability to bowl a good length) at the age of 16 or something, and struggled all his career to learn the standard wristspinner's Break.

Guys like him are indeed exceptionally unusual, though.

 

[Uppercut]

Well, in that case, the reality is that precious few bowlers - be they right-arm or left-arm - can be effective wristspinners. Generations will go by without one.

And given that right-arm bowlers outnumber left-arm bowlers considerably, it's none too surprising that all of the tiny number of good wristspinners we've had so far have been right-armers. There'll be a left-armer eventually, I'm sure, but it might well not be for quite some time.

Paul Adams mastered the Googly (if not the ability to bowl a good length) at the age of 16 or something, and struggled all his career to learn the standard wristspinner's Break.

Guys like him are indeed exceptionally unusual, though.

Haha yeah, was about to say, Paul Adams doesn't count because he's a freak of nature.

 

[Precambrian]

Isn't Mendis a finger spinner?

 

[Uppercut]

Isn't Mendis a finger spinner?

Predominantly, but he has a lot of variations and many involve the use of the wrist.

 

[Richard]

I thought Mendis was the first ever bowler to bowl most if not all of the stock-in-trade wrist and fingerspinner's balls.

I guess we'll see in the coming years.