India deserves this situation. It is time Indians realize that they are not really the Number One Team in the world. Of course, in terms of individual EGO, India has been Number One for quite some time now. Personal Ego, in India, has been fast developing into undesirable proportions. Thanks to high money yields, commercial endorsements, hero worship, political glorification, tinsel connections, influence of women and wine. Except for a very few, most members of our team are infected by these factors. Also, Cricket has taken such a position now that even national security and sovereignty of this country takes a lower ranking. Considering these factors, India deserves a "white wash" even at the hands of Canada or U.S.A.
India deserves this situation. It is time Indians realize that they are not really the Number One Team in the world. Of course, in terms of individual EGO, India has been Number One for quite some time now. Personal Ego, in India, has been fast developing into undesirable proportions. Thanks to high money yields, commercial endorsements, hero worship, political glorification, tinsel connections, influence of women and wine. Except for a very few, most members of our team are infected by these factors. Also, Cricket has taken such a position now that even national security and sovereignty of this country takes a lower ranking. Considering these factors, India deserves a "white wash" even at the hands of Canada or U.S.A.
Re: On a lighter note
by vijie sista on Aug 12, 2011 09:52 AM
Dont worry...even if rain saves india , they'll be happing and jumping around at the oval....
We fans are understandably frustrated with the team. But just like life cricket has ups and downs. Just think how Michael Holding would be feeling now looking at the windies team?
India had a good run in the last 5 years when we won 2 world cups and did reasonably well in tests. But now we have an English team that is simply at the peak of their prowess. The average age of the players would be around 28 if i am not mistaken. 5 years back the english team were beaten 5-0 in the ashes. Now they are world champions.
We have to find replacements for the 3 oldies real soon to have any chance of atleast being in the top 4 of world cricket.
Also, BCCI has to be strict in monitoring players fitness in the off season.
We have this "chalega" attitude which would cause us immense harm in the future.
Also, let us not get too personal with our comments on the indian players. Sportsmen who play at the highest level have huge egos and they would surely be hurting at the thrashing they are getting now. They might not show it outside.
We fans are understandably frustrated with the team. But just like life cricket has ups and downs. Just think how Michael Holding would be feeling now looking at the windies team?
India had a good run in the last 5 years when we won 2 world cups and did reasonably well in tests. But now we have an English team that is simply at the peak of their prowess. The average age of the players would be around 28 if i am not mistaken. 5 years back the english team were beaten 5-0 in the ashes. Now they are world champions.
We have to find replacements for the 3 oldies real soon to have any chance of atleast being in the top 4 of world cricket.
Also, BCCI has to be strict in monitoring players fitness in the off season.
We have this "chalega" attitude which would cause us immense harm in the future.
Also, let us not get too personal with our comments on the indian players. Sportsmen who play at the highest level have huge egos and they would surely be hurting at the thrashing they are getting now. They might not show it outside.
Guys I know we are all disappointed now but I don't think we need to diss out the players now. Instead of looking at negatives, look at positives. The bowling strength we have is young. Bowlers like Ishant and Praveen are still learning. Look at what they are gaining by this and how potent they can be in future. This is the same team that gave us the pride of being world champions. ENgland is a good team and they have experienced players all around. The main issue currently is batting. I'm still confident that in the second innings we can play better and save this match. What I feel is there will be one or two spectacular batting scores by our batsman that will spark the rest of the series.Have faith guys.
Re: Support
by Another Critic on Aug 12, 2011 03:18 AM
Do you really think Indian players can bat well in the second innings with a 300 or 400 plus run deficit and save this test?
Re: Re: Support
by Indian on Aug 12, 2011 05:20 AM
Sure they have done it before. But will they do it in this test? I doubted. But then you never know if Dravid gets going and Gambhir or VVS stay with him.
If Dravid is gone early, story is over for team India
Re: Re: Re: Support
by vijie sista on Aug 12, 2011 10:00 AM
U can see how the morale of the team is..dravid dropping twice...u dont see that too often from dravid who has the highest no of catches in test matches and is india's best slipper... india cant save this test match as they r mentally down...they were down yesterday itself after the first hour when thye got no breakthrough..... if the indian team just depends on dravid to save the test match the its never gonna happen..india will lose by a innings ...
Re: Support
by vijie sista on Aug 12, 2011 10:07 AM
@sheema : young bowling attack ???? still learning??? seems u dont have any knowledge on cricket....dat is the problem with indian ppl.. we have the chalta hai attitude.... ishant is playing test cricket for more than 3 yrs now.. he used to bowl a very good line in the start but nowadays he just sprays the ball..praveen kumar is good but not lethal...on unresponsive wickets he'll be clobbered.... look at the eng attack : bresnan got into test cricket only 2 yrs agao and is already making huge strides....it shows with what mindset eng is playing this series and how well they have prepared....andy flower plays a huge part in mentally preparing them for this series....on the other hand india is just an embarassment..coz of the chalta hai attitude we are trailing 2-0 and will go down 3-0 on sat.... btw , sheema why dont u go an dwatch those saas-bahu serials...its more engrossing than this test match :)
Rediff readers blamed it all on Harbhajan and called him all names like wicketless wonder. Indian bowlers today took 3 wickets in whole day of play & were hit all over. Why didn't India's fortune change after replacing Harbhajan?
For the people who are familiar with pitches in England, it is clear that the pitches were prepared not to assist the spinners. Harbhajan, Swann, and Mishra have all alstruggled in this series.
The fact remains that without Zaheer and Harbhajan, Indian bowling lacks aggression and can't seem to bowl the entire England team out.
Same bunch of readers were also happy to see Yuvraj depart with a broken finger. Yuvraj could have been a potent answer as Raina, Sehwag, Tendulkar, and Abhinav Mukund are all struglling to get started against the swinging balls in wet English conditions.
It is evident that team selection and preparation were poor. They never trained in conditions similar to England. Lack of physical conditioning is the main reason for injuries to players like Zaheer Khan.
Tactically, Indian skippper Dhoni and coach Fletcher look clueless and appear ameturish against a tactically prepared England team.
Can they turn it around? Only if the Indian players fightback with their heart. I only saw sparks of that in Praveen and Dhoni. Rest of them already look resigned to defeat. I want then to surprise me with a fightback but realistically, I am waiting for Bhajji, Yuvraj, Zaheer to come back!
Re: Re: Who do you blame now?
by Arv Singh on Aug 12, 2011 02:53 AM
Mishra got one wicket and that makes you happy... wow. Can't you understand that these pitches don't assist spinners like they do in India. Without Zaheer and Harbhajan, Indian bowling attack looked like Bangladesh.
Re: Re: Re: Who do you blame now?
by Bhasmasur on Aug 12, 2011 02:56 AM
Actually, Indian spin bowling dept looked worst then Bangladesh with Harbhajan leading the pack..
Bangladesh has better spinners then Harbhajan.
Forget about this series, Harbhajan sucked for a long time now
Re: Re: Re: Who do you blame now?
by taklu on Aug 12, 2011 03:07 AM
bhajji was lethal under ganguly...dhoni's defensive captaincy and field placings have killed him
Re: Re: Re: Re: Who do you blame now?
by Prabodh Jain on Aug 12, 2011 03:55 AM
sure, blame dhoni now... Harbhajan is a little baby who constantly needs direction from captain..
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Who do you blame now?
by Arv Singh on Aug 12, 2011 04:01 AM
Well you cant blame harbhajan for this one! I bet Dhoni is making it "different" these days.
Credit to Senior Players who are not fit to play real(Test) cricket, thanks to IPL. Everyone knows that Indian team is good playing in their home conditions, but dont think that they are ready to face the challenges abroad, which is not a hallmark of a champion side. They still struggle on the bouncing ball and pace while batting. Neither do they have genuine fast bowlers who can even trouble any opposition. This is the reason why any overseas player fancies playing against India as they can come back in form as there is no variation in the bowling. Also, in the past senior players like Sachin, Sehwag, Zaheer, Harbhajan, etc. have issues with playing international cricket as they had picked up injuries during the IPL. Wonder! how they become fit to play the IPL then.
Re: DROP
by Jay on Aug 12, 2011 02:26 AM
Sree's catch was a piece of CAKE... no no it was a LOLLIPOP. My grandma would have caught that. Once again the lazy Indian commentators like Shashtri, Gavaskar, Harsha Bogle were all quick to give excuses such as mental fatigue, physical tiredness, mind games etc. What rubbish !! this is an insult to the entire country - this tour. Every Indian in the UK and around the world should quiver in shame and disgrace at this performance by the indian team.
Re: DROP
by ajay rajput on Aug 12, 2011 02:35 AM
Drop Dravid from test matches. Dropping catches means selectors dropping struggling bowlers who are toiling so hard.
Re: Re: DROP
by taklu on Aug 12, 2011 03:22 AM
very valid point, a dropped catch drops the bowler's confidence, especially when our bowlers need it. And drop catches are FAR WORSE BLUNDERS than misfields and the like, when dropped catches result in batsmen hitting 40-50 more runs after being dropped in tests, that's like those runs in extras or misfields.
whats the use of only focussing on batting if we keep on dropping catches?
