Never thought he was bad at playing spin. Knew he would find the fast bowlers tough to face but didn't expect him to be a bunny for Swann.It has?
Nothing to do with how well Swann bowled at each point in time, then?Yuvraj dominated Swann, while Raina struggled against him big time.
So odd.
Yuvraj a better player of spin for me - and a soft ball/flat wicket/poor bowling didn't help. The fact that he's had such success against Gambhir (one of the best players of spin in the world) suggests that he could do well against most left-handers, so doing well against Raina doesn't seem hugely surprising.Yuvraj dominated Swann, while Raina struggled against him big time.
So odd.
Swann pretty much owned Gambhir in 2008, though, too.Tbf to Gambhir he was struggling on every occasion with different Kinds of injuries and concussions when he faced him and wasn't his usual self.
And usually Raina is a better player of spin than Yuvraj who has struggled in the past against even really ordinary spinners, even in ODI's sometimes when starting his innings.
Gambhir is a bit soft though. If he stubbed his toe he'd probably take the day offTbf to Gambhir he was struggling on every occasion with different Kinds of injuries and concussions when he faced him and wasn't his usual self.
And usually Raina is a better player of spin than Yuvraj who has struggled in the past against even really ordinary spinners, even in ODI's sometimes when starting his innings.
No idea where this Gambhir is soft thing is coming from. The guy came out to bat at Lords day 5 to save the test when he got cannoned into fielding at short leg the day before, which resulted in him missing the next test.
Just goes to show how easy it is for people to pass judgement on players based on a few tests in a series. He's one of the more hard nut Indian players who battled through and batted out draws for long periods of time in crucial tests in New Zealand in 2009 and South Africa in 2011.
If the guy was so soft he'd make Mukund and other noobs field at short leg.
The guy's a bit of a ****, no doubt. But calling him soft is harsh.
Indeed. Mishra looks like an ideal replacement for VVS as well. Hard to tell who had the 99 international hundreds when Mishra was batting with Sachin yesterday.As their frontline spinner, yes.
UV played what one substantial innings the whole test series? And when he faced Swann, he was just slog sweeping (to good effective mind). Hardly a big enough sample size to say UV was dominating; even Raina gave Swann some tap in the 3rd test before Swann picked him up. UV for an Indian is a surprisingly poor and completely one note player of spin. This guy was even trapped plumb LBW by Hashim Amla in a test match, only to be saved the embarrassment by a blind umpire.Yuvraj dominated Swann, while Raina struggled against him big time.
So odd.
On a relative greentop when he was batting totally fine in the nets...No idea where this Gambhir is soft thing is coming from. The guy came out to bat at Lords day 5 to save the test when he got cannoned into fielding at short leg the day before, which resulted in him missing the next test.
I fear that the fact that he's progressed so much faster in limited overs cricket will forever prevent him from really making the most of his talent in Tests though. He'll be playing a lot of T20Is and ODIs for India which will take him out of the the Ranji and Duleep Trophy matches he needs to improve. If he's centrally contracted by the BCCI and their only plans for him right now are limited overs cricket then that's what he'll focus on developing and that's what he'll be playing 90% of the time. The same thing happened to Yuvraj - he'd probably be a better cricketer right now if he developed his OD game a little slower and wasn't playing so much ODI cricket for India before he'd developed completely as a batsman.He should stick to T20s and ODIs. Know your role, and come back in 5 years and see if you can play tests. He's ****house, but he's young so he can try and improve.
The fact he was having fielding drills and net sessions on day 1 of the test he missed marks him out as a soft ****. If you can do that you are fit to play, but as it was a greentop he bottled it.No idea where this Gambhir is soft thing is coming from. The guy came out to bat at Lords day 5 to save the test when he got cannoned into fielding at short leg the day before, which resulted in him missing the next test.
Just goes to show how easy it is for people to pass judgement on players based on a few tests in a series. He's one of the more hard nut Indian players who battled through and batted out draws for long periods of time in crucial tests in New Zealand in 2009 and South Africa in 2011.
If the guy was so soft he'd make Mukund and other noobs field at short leg.
The guy's a bit of a ****, no doubt. But calling him soft is harsh.
Swann conceded 84 runs against Gambhir, getting him out three times in 4 innings, and averaging 28 in doing so. I did say "pretty much" owned him, so whilst he didn't completely dominate, he clearly had the better of him. In his debut series in away conditions to boot.
Gambhir got 66,197 and 97 that series.
The fact he was having fielding drills and net sessions on day 1 of the test he missed marks him out as a soft ****. If you can do that you are fit to play, but as it was a greentop he bottled it.
On a relative greentop when he was batting totally fine in the nets...