Who is your favourite cricketer?

[muralilal]

Originally posted by Gotchya
Yes, but when a player starts looking like he'll never going to perform, he should get the sack. Thats whats happening

Thats not whats happenning, Afridi got sacked from test matches coz he isn't good enough for it, yet he will come back for onedayers, same goes for Ajit.
India have been playing with just two pacers, in SA India will go with three pacers and Ajit will be the third one.As for Ajit not performing, look at his recent stats and then come up with a reply, his poor performance was in test matches not in onedayers(atleast the past one yr had been very good for him)

 

[marc71178]

If India play 3 semaers, I guess one of Harbajan and Kumble will be dropped, but the question is which one?

I know what I would do, and it would involve 3 seamers and both spinners.

 

[Top_Cat]

Yes, but when a player starts looking like he'll never going to perform, he should get the sack.

Ridiculous. You can never have a crystal ball for how well a player is going to perform. If every selector had that attitude, we'd never have seen Matt Hayden, Justin Langer, Damien Martyn, Andy Bichel, Shane Warne, Nantie Hayward, Cameron Cuffy etc. again. And we certainly wouldn't have seen Colin Miller in the Aussie Test side. Players CAN bounce back, y'know.

Look, it's abundantly obvious to anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of pace bowling that someone like Agarkar has a heck of a lot of talent. He's just having a tough time right now and as with anyone with talent, it's probably a confidence issue. I noticed when I saw him bowl in England that he seems to be bowling without a lot of variety right now and just sticking to a standard line-and-length only moving the ball away in the air. This suggests to me he's struggling to find the confidence to be more adventurous with his deliveries.

So I say drop him for now and give him some first-class cricket then re-assess where he's at. But only a fool would write him off permanently.

Who knows, maybe he's carrying an injury. Jeff Thompson played his debut Test with a broken foot and took 1/100+. And of course everyone wrote him off as worthless.

Think about it.

 

[muralilal]

quote]Originally posted by marc71178
If India play 3 semaers, I guess one of Harbajan and Kumble will be dropped, but the question is which one?

I know what I would do, and it would involve 3 seamers and both spinners.

[/quote]

Well, i would like India to play with six batters, and 5 bowlers( three seamers and 2 spinners), with Ajit being the 3rd seamer.

 

[Anil]

Look, it's abundantly obvious to anyone with even the most rudimentary knowledge of pace bowling that someone like Agarkar has a heck of a lot of talent. He's just having a tough time right now and as with anyone with talent, it's probably a confidence issue. I noticed when I saw him bowl in England that he seems to be bowling without a lot of variety right now and just sticking to a standard line-and-length only moving the ball away in the air. This suggests to me he's struggling to find the confidence to be more adventurous with his deliveries.

Ok, I am not a bowler, never have been(can turn my arm over without bending it at the elbow, that's about it) and I understand that you are a very good one. So, let me ask you one thing. You said in England he was bowling a standard line-and-length only moving the ball away in the air and you attributed that to lack of confidence. If a "line-and-length bowler who moves the ball in the air" gets whacked for nearly 4.5 runs per over consistently for 4 tests(mind you, he still got to play all four tests and atleast 2 of them were played in distinctly seam-friendly conditions) and takes all of 8 wickets at 60 something runs per wicket, what does that tell you about his "line-and-length" and "movement in the air"? If he has a lack of confidence in himself despite all his seniors and coach showering confidence on him, when will he ever gain confidence?

Plus, with a batting average of 7, he suddenly averaged 42 in this series. Tell me, can a player who has totally lost his confidence suddenly improve one aspect of his game like that?

Another thing, the time when Indian players used to hide injuries to get into the final 11 are more or less over. So, it is highly improbable that Agarkar is carrying an injury and that's affecting his performances.

Could you please explain the above to me? Believe me, if Agarkar turns out to be this great bowler who finally realises his talent, I, as an Indian and an avid cricket fan will be the happiest person. I just find it hard to believe anything even remotely that spectacular is going to happen in the case of Agarkar.

 

[Gotchya]

So I say drop him for now and give him some first-class cricket then re-assess where he's at. But only a fool would write him off permanently.

Oii...I didn't write him off permanently. Thats what i was getting at in the first place. On current form agarkar is proving to be a burden on the side. A compromise, they can do without him for now. Note that i used the word 'starts'. He should get the sack and thats fair enough.

 

[marc71178]

Originally posted by muralilal
quote]Originally posted by marc71178
If India play 3 semaers, I guess one of Harbajan and Kumble will be dropped, but the question is which one?

I know what I would do, and it would involve 3 seamers and both spinners.

Well, i would like India to play with six batters, and 5 bowlers( three seamers and 2 spinners), with Ajit being the 3rd seamer. [/quote]

I fear that leaves the number 7 spot weak in terms of batting ability, but with the 6 above them, that may not be a problem.

 

[Gotchya]

Thats not whats happenning, Afridi got sacked from test matches coz he isn't good enough for it, yet he will come back for onedayers, same goes for Ajit.

Afridi's problem is his 'upper story', he's got an agressive outlook to batting, which is over the boat in Test matches. Thats not drawing parallel to Agarkar.

 

[R_Powell_fan]

*My favourite batsman is (obviously) : Ricardo Lloyd Powell because of his ability to play great innings under pressure and because he is still young and has lots of potential.
I also love to watch Brian Lara when in full flow which is when he looks like the best in the world...
*My favourite fielder is Jonty Rhodes....nuff said...he is litterally unbelievable.
*My favourite pace bowler will have to be: Brett Lee, lots of swing, pace and also lots and lots of potential.

 

[muralilal]

[quote
Afridi's problem is his 'upper story', he's got an agressive outlook to batting, which is over the boat in Test matches. Thats not drawing parallel to Agarkar. [/quote]


Whatever Afridi's problem is, he's NOT IDEAL for test matches and will never be a sucessful test batter, Likewise Ajit would probably never be a test bowler.
And yeah, Today Ajit did play, its only a matter of time, he will be in onedayer 11 shortly!

 

[Kimbo]

Lee... potential...
he is about to turn 27, I think he should have reached his potential by now, he hasn't improved at all, he needs to step up...

Agarkar bowled well in the washed out final- 7-0-37-0 i think it was, or something similar.

 

[full_length]

My favourite non Indian present-day cricketers are:

-Andy Flower (One of the top three batsmen over the last several years. Best player of spin outside the Indian team. Great temperament......)
-Brian Lara (present-day??)
-Imran Nazir (quality. not sure about the 'top-storey' !)
-Nathan Astle (Class. 'positive' attitude. Offside play similar to Ganguly, though powerfull as opposed to the Indian skipper's finesse.)
-Shane Warne(Terrific chap. Outstanding cricketer. Sportsman, and loves a challenge. Any time in any form, he's a treat to watch!)

Favourite Indian players in order:
Sachin
Rahul
Saurav
Harbhajan
Laxman
Sehwag
Srinath
Zaheer
Yuvaraj
Kaif

oops... pretty close to the full team Hey but these are gifted players, terrific to watch. And some very good and forcefull characters.

 

[marc71178]

I was gutted for them today - that rain rule seems a bit farsical to me.

Still, at least it means I get another stab at Jayawardene to be top scorer.

DOes anyone know if the teams HAVE to remain the same?

 

[marc71178]

I was gutted for them today - that rain rule seems a bit farsical to me.

Still, at least it means I get another stab at Jayawardene to be top scorer.

Does anyone know if the teams HAVE to remain the same?

 

[full_length]

Ever known of a good rain rule ?

I guess it's part of the game. We'll never know if India would have taken the game away or collapsed.

If Mahela makes it,he'll be upsetting a few predictions.

It will be good to have a keenly fought final. This will also test out some people on both sides.

 

[Simon]

Originally posted by full_length


Andy Flower (One of the top three batsmen over the last several years. Best player of spin outside the Indian team. Great temperament......)

I think Matthew Hayden is the best player of spin bowling, he takes on any spinner with such confidence.
You only have to go back to India last year to see that.

 

[R_Powell_fan]

Oh I forgot Micheal Bevan...does anyone remember that innings he played for a Mark Waugh captained Rest of World all star XI agianst an Asian XI...That innings will have to be counted as being one of the best ODI innings ever !!!! 185 not out...in the end missed victory by less than a metre...as 5 were needed off the last ball which he smashed down the ground and the ball landed just 2 feet away from the boundry for a four.

 

[Anil]

I think Matthew Hayden is the best player of spin bowling, he takes on any spinner with such confidence.

He is a good player of spin and had a great series against india, but Flower has done a great job against India throughout his career.

 

[Simon]

you also have to consider that was the first time hayden had played against India and he carved them up, he also has played vettori and the pakis spinners very well.
Most people know he was a very poor player of spin bowling at the start of his career, but he went to India for a few months and really worked on it, now he is one of the best in the world.

 

[warrioryohannan]

Mine are,

Sachin
Sehwag
Bhaji'
Youhannan
Zulu
Gilli
Lara
Akram
Razzak
DeSilva
Trescothick