Congratulations Dhoni! Your kitchen cabinet politics with Harbhajan worked so well! Both of you conspired to deprive Sreesanth of bowling opportunities. So at first you began by introducing spinners, and then when Sreesanth got an opportunity and took a wicket and bowled very tight maidens, you quietly replaced him with Zaheer, even though Sreesanth was bowling a tighter spell! Both of you guys - Harbhajan and Dhoni - were worried about Sreesanth repeating his success from the last test. So Bhajji and you came up with the good idea of keeping Sreesanth on the outfield while Zaheer kept on bowling.
Dont worry Dhoni, you and bhajji can conspire all you want. You attitude will only propel Sree to perform even better. Your and Bhajji's (Hayden may have had his reasons to call Harbhajan a 'weed' after all - he really needs being weeded out) games will not be able to keep deserving players out of the team for long.
Re: Dhoni and Bhajji scheme kept Sreesanth away from bowling!!!
by Narayanan Kutty on Dec 06, 2009 11:45 AM
Well said. I second your views. It was pretty obvious even to a lay man that they were depriving Sree of his opportunities. How long can you hide such a talent. The first test would have been India's way had Sreesanth had been in the team.
Tendulkar Comments " No retirement as long as I am enjoying the game." In both matches that India won Sachin didn't score a century whereas INDIA won with match winners scored century.Tendulkar is also enjoying as like other spectators enjoying watching Gambir,Sehwag,Dhoni and Dravid(Match winners) scoring centuries. No spectator would prefer to retire watching these match winners. Sachin can join Spectator seat and enjoy the game but Sachin should retire from playing? why grand pa among youngsters doing nothing but enjoying game watching match winners score centuries.Sachin score centuries either on drawn matches and India may loose that game ?
Re: Sachin can enjoy game as a spectator but retire from playing
by Robert Rajan on Dec 06, 2009 04:02 PM
If it wasn't for his century in the 1st test,we would have lost it. Just relax and enjoy the series win instead of commenting on issues which hardly matter after we have won the series.
Re: Sachin can enjoy game as a spectator but retire from playing
by Anthony Raj on Dec 06, 2009 01:46 PM
Well said KMVB. You are correct. He is somebody who has to sit out. If u look at his strike rate in tests, it is very below par,, worse than that of a bowler. He has been playing like this for last 4 years.
Re: Sachin can enjoy game as a spectator but retire from playing
by kiran desai on Dec 06, 2009 11:16 AM
Not losing a test match (drawn test matches) is also equally important. Tendulkar saved first test with century. Had india lost the first test, the series would have been different story altogather. In second test he batted selflessly as he played to increase the run rate rather than paying slowly to increase personal tally. In last test also he scored 40 and 50 , which not bad by any standards. just two series back against england he played match winning century knock when india was chasing 400 in second inning. thus its foolish and stupid to say that he should retire as he is still performing. If sachin scores century and bolwers don perform in that match and the match is drawn or lost, how can you blame sachin. So ppl like KMVB should understand the game first before posting ediotic comments.
sachin ,dhoni,sehwag,gambhir laxman and not to forget dravid and bhajji,zaheer they all make india no1 in test cricket ponting and team also made contribution of bad performance and icc caleender so that SA does not have a single match now a days but no 1 position wuold be see saw
People say that Kapil's era was the best of Indian cricket. That's laughable. How many Test series did we win during Kapil's era ? We were the punching bag of all teams at that time.
Our best era has been since the arrival of Sachin. Look at our achievements since then as a team -
1. We have won Test series against all Test playing nations. This is something we never accomplished previously.
2. We have won ODI series against all major nations.
3. We have won Test series in all but 3 countries - Sri Lanka, Australia and South Africa. We do have 2 Test series against South Africa coming up next year.
4. We have been the only team who defeated a full strength Australian team during the prime of their dominance. How many teams were able to win a Test series against the great West Indian team of the 80's ? India were whopped the West Indies in the 80's almost every time they met.
5. We have given the most dominant team of this generation (Australia) the biggest challenge among all other teams. Did India challenge the West Indian team of the 80's in such a way ?
6. For the first time we can be the # 1 Test team in the world if we win the current Test match. Only South Africa and Australia have done it previously. Did India ever reach the #2 spot, let alone #1 previously ?
The only thing people can complain is that we haven't won a World Cup in between. However, we do have the chance to win it in 2011. Then what will the critics complain of ?
Re: Re: Some poeple are naive ........
by CHANDRA GANGADHARAN on Dec 06, 2009 08:14 AM
Exactly when did we win a series in South Africa and Australia. We are Kings in our own back yards Also two umpiring decisons favoured us-Dilshan both innings.What a hue and cry we made when Sachin was given our wrongly.
DOUBLE STANDARDS-What a shame No World Cup,Champions Trophy and we got thrashed in our own back yard by Australia-Secodn IX
Re: Some poeple are naive ........
by criclover on Dec 06, 2009 12:41 AM
BCCI should call Bangladesh next and Zimbabwe after that...and our bravehearts will break all the records..:) and retain this records until they play agains Aus, Pak , SA or NZ.
Re: Re: Some poeple are naive ........
by Dibs on Dec 06, 2009 01:47 AM
Dear Dire Straits, India won so far only one world cup and you know shich team it was. By the way till 1990 there was no ranking either in Test or onedays. Dont compare different eras. Anybody now can climb Mount Everest, but Edmund Hillary will always be remembered as first one. There is a good list of 6 individuals crossing 10K runs in Test, but it will always be Gavasker first. Have you ever seen the 175 runs from 138 balls from Kapils bat in 1983 worldcup when india was 17 for 5 down. Tell me where in worldcup you have seen where someone hits a massive century and won the match after the first 5 wickets down for less than 20. Have you ever seen any worldcup where a team wins even after scoring a mere 183 runs against the strongest batting line up of that time. Have you ever seen a team scoring more than 400 runs in the last innings of a test match in a pitch where all bounced to chest high with the worlds best bowling pairs attacking? Yes that was agolden era because that was team. This era you're talking about is the era of individual charisma, individual talent. Only major cup won by complete team spirit in this era was the T20 world cup in south africa. Again, I am not disputing your thought that this indian team is a talent powerhouse. But Don't laugh at what you dont know or what you have not seen, just heard from here and there.
Re: Re: Re: Some poeple are naive ........
by sagar kendre on Dec 06, 2009 03:51 AM
Well , India s rise to No 1 is largely due to weakning of teams West Indies , Pakis , New Zealand and England ( who as always cannot win apart from in their background) .
I feel this side though not the strongest Indian test side , it has put some memorable test performances in the last 10 years or so .
Unbeaten on home soil par 2 test series ( VS AUSTRALIA 2005-06 & SA 2000) .
Beat Pakistan in Pak ,beat England in England ( drawn the other ) , beat WI in WI , New zealand in NZ .Drew with Aust (1-1)
only losses away were marginal losses to SA ( 2-1 , after winning the first test) , the controversial 2-1 loss vs AUST and 2 hard fought 2-1 losses to SL . I can also remember a 1-1 draw vs ZIM ( THANKS TO MR CHAPELL).
Well I guess , this India side have given truly memorable and sometimes astonihing performances in the last 10 years and we should be proud of it , so lets cherish this moment , as we might slump back to no 2 in couple of months if SA beat Eng 4-0 .
Re: Re: Re: Some poeple are naive ........
by Balaji Krishnamurthy on Dec 06, 2009 07:04 AM
Dear Dibs, What you are talking about is the 70's, 1975-76. That Test was what made Lloyd dump spinners and go for a four man pace attack. Those guys were great, but Indian cricket then was always 1 step forward 2 steps back. That is not the case today. This team has been performing really well. The 80's team did well in tournaments and badly in bilateral series. This team seems to do well in bilateral series and badly in tournaments. So let us put things is perspective. Those teams paved the way for this team, but these guys have redefined the way India has played cricket. To me the quintet of Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid, Laxman and Kumble are among the finest to have played the game. Each has contributed hugely in their own manner. Ganguly and Kumble are gone. It will be maximum another 2 years before the others go. Then I really dread what will happen. India will have only two tested batsmen in Gambhir and Sehwag. Yuvraj is not up to the mark. The only bright spark I see right now is Murali Vijay.
India becoming No 1 is a musical chair they can be toupled at any time with the on going Aus WI series .Let them play consistantly particularly the Bowling dept .As indian v support the team irrespective of whether they deserve to be no 1
Re: Blah
by rakesh on Dec 05, 2009 11:44 PM
even if australia win all tests against WI they will climb by onky 1 point in the ranking.. and still 6 points difference wil remain between india and them.. we should hope that south africa loses against england in tests too.. that will increase the difference between india and SA, making india more comfortable... as they have only 4-5 tests more to play in next 14 months or so!!
