Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

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Yes, I said it…coming back here after a long time(though I promised not to)…just needed to let out steam somewhere…

I followed the INDIA-WI-SL series on Willow TV and just saw the India-NZ match…and I have come to the following conclusion…(which I am sure will delight my Paki friends here) :

INDIAN TEAM IS CRAP , whichever way you look at it.

Even if God(much less Greg Chappel) is made the coach of this team, India will continue to do what is does best - LOSE. The talent of most Indian players simply does not match up with their celebrity and hero-like status in India and the kind of commercial and media exposure they get.

GANGU does not know how to play fast bowling - he should be not just stripped off captaincy but also dropped from the team for good.

KAIF/LAXMAN/YUVRAJ - All mediocre, unreliable and Inconsistent batsmen. Yuvraj is the only one worth something in one-day matches because of his slogging abilities.

SEHWAG - very unreliable…never scores much unless he has been given a few chances …that is a fact…Unfortunately he is our future captain(given our desi tendency to make the “best” player kaptaan even though he may not have the little thing called brain)…

AGARKAR : Either the selectors are insane to bring him back or there is truth in the rumours about bribery behind team selection. I want to know what he does to deserve so many recalls, while youngsters with potential are ignored. Agarkar is a useless friendly bowler and much worse batsman. If the selectors could not figure that out in 7-8 years that Agarkar has been on the scene, when will they ?

DHONI - Mediocre wicket-keeper, Useless batsman. I had not “seen” him bat during the India-Pak series so did not have an opinion of him. Now that I have seen him, I will say this - I don’t care how aggressive or hard-hitting he is, he just does not have the technique to be a prolific consistent scorer. There goes our Indian Gilchrist !!

ZAHEER/NEHRA/BALAJI : All ordinary and mediocre bowlers who will perform once-in-a-while when conditions suit or luck favors or both…

Indian team may be worth something in Test Matches…but in One-dayers, I think we are in the league of Zimbabwe and Bangladesh…and sadly this is not a hyperbole.

Indian team is in serious need of ITEM players for one-day matches(like Hindi movies have ITEM songs) - players in the mould of Afridi, Razzaq, Flintoff, Pietersen, etc

End of Rant.

ps> Sorry if the above post was not coherent…but you get the idea.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

Nehra is pretty underrated actually. The rest of your post is fine.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

bowlers been doing a decent job lately. to score runs is not their main job. its the batsmen thats been letting down the team as a whole. they should put a little bit more thought into their batting strategies. 212 was not a big score to chase and everyone was 200% sure that india won't have any problems but man were they wrong. shane bond has come back into international cricket after a long layoff n have something to prove so he was at his leathal best. good to see him blowing away indian top order in 2-3 overs. good for him.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

You said that things you are saying will delight the Paki friends here, well my friend not many things are new which you have finally concluded after watching the IND vs NZ match.
Every one knows what kind of hype cricketers get in India. This is one of the major reason their standard has declined lately. The other day Waqar Younis in a ZEE TV program very rightly pointed out that the biggest problem with Indian cricketers is that they think that they are above the game of cricket.
The stars are fearless that no one will touch them regardless of their performance because of their “star value”. Players like tendulkar and Ganguly are in denial that their era has ended and now its time to give opportunities to youngsters. Kaif and yuvraj are such wonderful finds in India but sorry to say their talents have never been utilized. Looking at their ODI stats, one would imagine that they are mediocre players averaging in late 20’s and early 30’s. But when you look at their game you wonder why their averages arn’t in high 40’s? The simple reason is that most of the time they come in the final 10 or 15 overs of the match. Stars like Ganguly and tendi if not willing to retire should atleast realize this fact that Yuvraj and kaif can do a much better job high up in the side and will be more useful to the “TEAM INDIA” cause by batting at positions which are currently occupied by stars (although tendi is out these days but we know that he has a reserve spot).
The only reason Ganguly is captain is due to his track record as a captain and unfortunately thats the other reason he is in the side as well. Just when I thought that things are starting to change in India and dravid will be a captain and ganguly either will be playing under him as an ordinary player or playing indian domestic cricket to prove himself, Indian selectors came up with another pathetic decision. Ganguly was appointed captain again. So now we have to see him playing again for the next couple of years just only because he is the “most successful” Indian captain ever.
All that should really bother an indian, we as outsiders can only enjoy sitting and watching how these man made gods are making a mockery of the game.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

some1 welcome back...keep posting yarr...I know exactly how you are feeling.....It is very sad indeed to see india displaying such a disastrous show...Any way I dont want to intensify your pain but I can not help posting some senetnces from cricinfo which made me laugh so much:

***From the moment that Sourav Ganguly jumped like a scalded cat to the first delivery he bowled, Bond must have known that he was in for some easy pickings.

Yuvraj Singh, who manages an innings of substance about as frequently as the Olympic Games are staged.....

Unfortunately for India, the Gandhian trait of refusing to kick a downtrodden opponent - not admirable in the world of sport - is alive and well.

On a deck that was clearly made for run-scoring, India were in danger of putting up a total that would have caused blushes in the Namibian dressing room.***

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

^I was not emotional when I wrote the above post. Even as a detached observer - I feel that this Indian team are a bunch of "shareef and friendly" players who simply lack the aggressiveness or the punch required for the shorter version games. And I am not saying this just because we lost the last 2-3 matches.

We simply do not have the players with the right attitude for one-day matches.

The other thing that pisses me off is the hype that envelopes most of these players in India considering their talent(or lack thereof) . That is one reason I like the Sri Lankan team, they have so many under-rated players who rarely get as much media expposure - e.g. Attapattu, Sangkarra, Jaywardane...even Upul Chandana (who btw I think can bat better than Laxman) and can bowl too.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

Indian team has been on a decline for past year or more, Tendulkar is out of touch or is out with injury, Ganguly is playing just cuz of his past captaincy. They need to collect themselves again otherwise they might become West Indies after official retirement of Tendulkar and Ganguly whose only batsman will be Rahul Dravid.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

i agree with most of the original post.
i think Pathan would be half the player he is if Wasim Akram didnt reveal swing methods, bowling tips etc.
indias lack of decent fast bolwers in the last 20 years is a legendary story! a country of over a billion…not being able to produce a decent fast bowler is amazing!
ganguly is a total joke! i think hes in squad solely to tell stand-up gags to the rest of the team because he is kak! awful captain! and a thoroughbred idiot who cant take defeat like a man!
Sehwag and Tendulkar could argue to be include in the list of ‘good players’ but theyve been under achieving for quite some time now!

ive always liked tendulkar bcuz of his achievements…but i always love to add the fact that hes never inspired bharat to world cup victory!..Inzy of course has! :rolleyes: :snooty: :mocking:

Time Pass
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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

So do u think Indian team need a cleansing that Pakistan selectors did after 2003 worldcup.?

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

Frankly speaking, I believe the player power culture is getting out of hand in India. Just look at the recent spectacle in Zimbabwe with players not bothering to show up at the coach's appointed time.

The talent is not impressive either, too many players are banking on their rare past performances. Dravid is the sole stand out.

Plus, speaking of Test performances, they aren't much better than ODI's. In the last 20 tests, India has won only EIGHT and TWO of those were against Bangladesh.

India desperately needs in the infusion of new talent, with a new captain. Right now they are playing it safe with all the usual names, but the results aren't coming.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

May be it's the multi-crore endorsement deals - fire the whole team and get some youngsters.

Time Pass
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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

May be they should. However I am not sure even that will help as I do not see too many potentials outside.

But for heaven’s sake dump Agarkar and Ganguly for GOOD.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

vut? Agarkar is back? Awright -- may be I should start rooting for the zulus

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

That’s not the right attitude either. The blend of youth and experience should be just right. You can’t recruit youngsters and expect them to win or gain any confidence if there are no seniors in the team.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

Some1, haven’t seen you on here in a bit...
Well I would say that your team does have some serious issues with ODI's. The problem is that Indians hinge on reputation and image forever. I think it is a side product of the incredible media frenzy\over hype produced in a nation of 1 Billion+ people. So you get players like Yuvraj and Kaif who are massively over-rated, wouldn’t be able to play in the top 6 of most countries, but are always hanging around because they played one consequential knock many years ago and that is ingrained in people’s minds. You need to be far more ruthless with the way you select players. Its no different with Agarkar or Zaheer Khan.
Pathan has some talent as well but he can be wildly inconsistent at times and from my perspective (Pakistan fan), I would love to see him retained on the Indian team. When the ball is swinging he can be dangerous (even when he swings it, he can only go one way), but in every other situation he gets absolutely plastered.
The only Indian players for me who have serious sway in ODI play are Dravid (obvious class) and Sehwag (shines at times). Tendy is well past it and the rest of the bunch are grossly over-rated. India has many talented young players, especially batsmen, its just that you need to give them a chance to play.
Now Tests are another story, but the persistent failures in ODI's will hurt you there as well.

Under Arrest
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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

"Zimbabwe are better than you"

A damning chant from the crowd at Bulawayo after India collapsed to 44 for 8 against New Zealand. They eventually lost by 51 runs.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

indian team is surely crap but i think we cant include pathan yet in the team as most reliable he still needs time. under pressure the guy heavily lets his team down and that we have seen him due quite often against pakistan regarding his fieldings especially. i think besides dravid there is no one that good. indian team is in turmoil and their ranking in one day is getting worse and worse however in test they are comparatively good

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

I dont think Indian team is crap as such. They have got few quality batters. What they suffer from IMO is that many players are in 'comfort zones'. They know that there arent much competition from fringe players so they dont get motivated enough to perform. Yuvraj and Kaif dont produce at all and when they do, they get so much hype. After NAtwest final few years ago, their only worthwhile partnership was against WI in SL recently and look how indian media was jumping all over.

Plus lack of a quality allrounder is always going to be their pain (same as Australians). That is precisely Agarkar was brought back as Greg Chappell wanted to have a look at him personally.

Pari hoon mein ...
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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

^ Plus players are put on a pedestal after just one flash in the pan performance. Case in point, Dhoni. This guy had one good game with the bat and immediately he was the brown skinned Gilchrist. Even with batsman like Tendi, Dravid, Laxman, etc, Dhoni was tried as an opener and one down!! He has failed to impress and his wicketkeeping skills are apalling.

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Re: Except for Dravid & Pathan, Indian team is CRAP !!

Quality Allrounder and Agarkar. Wow !!

Agarkar has been on the scene long enough for any sane person to figure out that he is a dud. The “Quality Allrounder” once scored SEVEN DUCKS IN A ROW for starters.

Tu ...