in my opinion india has lost the match.the indians, with a few exceptions, are no match to the pakistanis in mental strength and accountability.say whatever but the indians just dont have that thing called killer instincts to take advantage of some initiatives which come their way time again.
The announcement of the Team for ODIs ahead of a challenging Test match must have done wonders for the morale of the players notably sourav. The three musketeers -Rahul dravid-Chappel -More are only making asses of themselves by doing such things.I think that if the decision has been taken to give Sourav a chance the chance must be given fairly.On dead pitches you do not give him a chance since he may make good runs and ensure his stay.You take him for a bowlers wicket where the in form players are going out like quacking ducks(Dravid,Sehwag et al).A word of caution to Rahul-if you want to bring in a gentlemanly way of succession then this is the time to act otherwise you will also go the unpleasant way as Sunny,Kapil Dev,Navjot siddhu and now Sourav.Think!It is only players who can uphold the dignity of players and not the associated hanger ons who probably cannot differentiate between cricket and hockey balls.And why should they they are in the game for commercial reasons.
I'm sorry, but what Prem writes these days is far from a match report. His analyses of the match are good to read, but only after one has read a (more mundane?) report that states the important details of the match. Readers like me, who could not watch the match live, feel hard pressed to get the facts out of Prem's 'match report' columns. Once again, I have great respect for Prem's understanding of the game. I believe its rediff's responsibility to use his qualities in a more appropriate way.
I do not understand why Kumble was not brought in when Akmal and Razzaq were going good. It was really a very bas decision. Also I think if India required only fast bowlers at Karachi then I think they could have brought Agarkar instead of Kumble considering his ability to reverse swing. Lets hope Ganguly performs better. I do not understand why he is out of ODI team. Sachin is also not going beyond 30. So why Ganguly is blamed. Both Sachin and Ganguly have done a lot for India in past. Rest of the team members are hero of one day most the of times.
as your corres[eodent has mentionned it was the profligacy of the Indian bowlers during the afternoon session that gave the boost to the Pak score/ All that was required was to land the ball at the right spot ,the pitch would have done the rest. What RPSingh was trying to do bowling round the wicket was beyond comprehension. He was giving so much of width ball after ball and the batsmen were swatting these wide deliveries. Thanks to the modern trend of not using any fielder in the deep or sweeper positons boundaries just flowed. Dravid is reponsible for setting such a poor field for his errant bowlers India seems to have missed the bus in the karachi test. none of the batsmen was willing to make a correction in the degree of backswing to counter the pace and bouncf in the wicket. It was the same coming from heaven upwards . A sad day for India for losing focus on what it should have achieved
irfan pathan could have done the job well to save 3 wickets fall as night watch man why rahul and greige did not trust irfan pathan as night watchman? they have to improve their game on fast tracks like new zealand. why do rahul remember new zealand tour in 2k3
I am an ardent cricket fan and an eager reader of reports. But I am surprised to see that this writer here fails to understand that we dont want histories of anything. Sports reporting should be concise and to the point. I cannot bear my reading all this lengthy flowery language, which is so un-sync. In my opinion Prem Panicker, with all respects, should better move his style to commenting dog-shows and cocktail parties, where such lanuage is very suited. Or better still he should readhow crciket matches are reported in major newspapers. I have been a big rediff fan and being abroad, I log on to rediff as it feels closer home. So please dont let me go away and read the reports from the Guardian or the Times. I would be grateful if the writer takes some introspection into his agenda for the day.
I am speaking on behalf of many people here who share the same views on the cricket reports.
Akhtar is the correct spelling but you keep on writing Akthar. What nonsense? Akh-tar and Ak-thar the difference is enormous in Urdu as well as in English. You spell the most difficult names easily but again and again Islamic names are misspelt.
Totally unimaginative captaincy by Rahul Dravid. Why was Ganguly not sent in at no. 3, when we could have a left and right hand combination to unsettle the bowlers. India's inability to get the tailenders is a stark reality which is going to hit them in the face in this last test.
