I had a bet with my son - once Sehwag gets out, India will get into Defence - they do not have the confidence to chase targets anymore - it is evident from our ODI performance since the World Cup - we have slipped in world rankings to almost the bottom.
When Dravid is playing like the Wall, Sachin gets into that mold too - sometimes I believe he wants to show that he can be better at defense than Dravid - which everyone knows that he is!!!
Further, I think Gavaskar has finished off Sachin's game by telling him to stay there (when he was in Australia) and runs will come. Runs do come when you stay there but at what cost!!! Now-a-days Sachin's lack of sroke play (because of following Sunny's advice, I think) is the cause of India not winning the match in Mohali and losing it here.
I fully agree with Dravid for the declaration he made in Pakistan when he was on 194 now - he deserves it now!!!
He got his 10,000 runs but is slower than Lara - and not the Genius or Little Master anymore - he should now go back to the basics of when he learnt his trade - play the ball on its merit and do not be afraid of getting out - you have made the runs and the statistics & are a legend!!
Utterly disgraceful & pathetic. A regular club team would have fared better than this. I wonder if John Wright had any say on the team's strategy or was this Ganguly's arrogance and vanity on display?? I would sincerely urge all those foreign coaches out there to give a lot , i repeat, a lot of thought before they venture into a coaching assignment with this team. This crap is not worth your time or effort. Pls. call Mr. John Wright for reference!! One cannot make a Squid sit upright!! It's a lost cause.
I had posted this on my institute's intranet before Aussies had come down to play last yr listing 5 do's while preparing for an Indian Tour with DRAW in mind. (For paucity of space posting only the 5th point)
Never try too hard or overdo anything...
Always remember that Indians are a timid team. They play for broke only against Aussies coz defeat is expected & a draw is moral victory. Against the rest they'll never make sporting declarations to enliven a dull match or chase 350+ targets on docile 5th day pitch. Check the record books what Indians did in Motera needing 357 on the last day with all 10 wickets intact against Hoggards, Giles, Richard Dawson (yeah, another of those types who need to brought out of the drawers for the Indian trips). The Indian chase did not even take off and the top 3 batsman had just the sort of strike rates that killed test cricket in the mid 80s. They scored 198/3 off 97 overs. The triumvarate of SS Das, Dasgupta & Dravid with 58 off 159, 60 off 190 and 26 off 108 batted as if there was a curfew. It got so infectious that even the Master scored 26 off 81. Chases do not take off, when there are hiccups due to aggro batting & then batsmen shut shop..
Well said Prem. It was a pathetic show by the Indians. Once Pakistanis were allowed to get 570, the Indian batsmen should have shown more responsibility in their first innings. Reckless strokes by the main batsmen made things easy for the Pak. They threw their wickets away in the first innings. If they had stayed for some more time, the pressure would have been on the Pak on when to declare. I need not say anything about the second innings...we all know. Saurav, your bat should talk more and not you. Nobody is reserved a place in the Indian team. Perform and earn it. Youngsters like Yuvraj and Kaif with the right attitude should be given place in the test team.
First of all very disappointed batting display by the indians except gambit shewag and kumble who did bat well in the last overs was running out of partners at one end than to played a good game . ganguly should learn atleast from the tailenders how to play . even a kid can say how we can get him out.
when u say we are following australia s ways in improving the cricket . First thing to be done is sack Mr ganguly thanks for ur services as captain take example from australinas lehman even though he is vice captain and is performing consistently he is sacked to give place to Michale clarke , when a player is not performing why is he given so many chances and wasting the young talent available ..
i donno what tht board thinks but its high time we thank ganguly and ask him to quit from both forms of cricket at the earliest time for good of the team and indian cricket
After the results of the Third Test, the best way to boost the confidence of the Indian Cricket team would be to make them play some competitive matches with the Indian Womens Cricket Team. Maybe they would see some similarities in their game and then try to change the way they play.
If the Indian Team of eleven, selected from the vast population of over 100 crores is made to represent INDIA then they better be the best and show some performance.
Atleast for now Ganguli does not deserve to be in the team and should give way to somebody else who is in form. It was really dissappointing.
I dread to think what would be the outcome of the One day series if this performance continues.
A pathetic show as usual by the Indians. Weak at heart and no true sporting spirit let to the downfall of the team today. Thank God Pakis won for otherwise the 'game' cricket would have lost.
The result-'draw' in the longer version of the game often raises the question as to why one would want to see a game where there is a good chance (50%) that one might end up, after 5 long days watching two loser teams playing the game (in the case of the match being drwan)
Given that and what we saw today, I really wonder, why do they call it the gentleman's game???!!!
There are a few unwritten laws between india - pakistan games:
1. India should always lose 2. If India happens to win, it should immediately lose next game. (this is a general rule for India). 3. Great Batsman sometimes has an off-day: For India, sometimes all the great batsmen have a collective off-day. 4. India always loses test in Bangalore pathetically.
As an immediate measure after the loss of Bangalore test and drawing Pak series (which should have been easily won), Ganguli should be sacked as a captain and Dravid be made captain and Sehwag the vice-captain. Since Ganguli has not failed in ODIs as a batsman, in the overall interest, the Test and ODI captains should be same and therefore Dravid and Sehwag should also be made Captain and vice captain of ODI squads also. If selectors want they could select Ganguli for ODI team only as a batsman purely on his merits. I used to support Ganguli as a captain and batsman when others used to call for his sacking in view of his failiure as a batsman. However, now I also feel that he is finished as a Test batsman and therefore does not have a right to be in Test team. Also, Laxman could be also put on notice for the Test and ODI teams since his performance does not speak highly of hime inspite of his scores.
