^^ I didnt say india are going to declare, and in million years I am not going to believe that they will develop +iveness to take that step(s) BUT what I was trying to say is that at this moment even though momentum seems to be with NZ, India still in my opinion have not lost it and the game is still pretty balanced (if they take lead to 150+)
Had it been Pakistan in that situation (with 150 lead), they would have 'generously' and "very positively' thought to declare and win the game.
I think India already lost the match unless Lax makes another miracle with tail end.
Had it been Pakistan in that situation (with 150 lead), they would have 'generously' and "very positively' thought to declare and win the game.
I think India already lost the match unless Lax makes another miracle with tail end.
I doubt it....i think NZ wont be able to score anything above 150....pressure would be just too much..the wicket has strated to take turn and sardar and ohja would be effective....
Had it been Pakistan in that situation (with 150 lead), they would have 'generously' and "very positively' thought to declare and win the game.
I think India already lost the match unless Lax makes another miracle with tail end.
This isnt a discussion that needs a Pak v India touch, but since you added above comment, let me walk you through two same situations where Indian and Pakistan captains acted differently.
Bangalore 2005 --> Pak went into 2nd inning and declared after batting for 50 overs and declaring and giving indians a target, which on that wicket, with that kind of inform batting line up, Virender, Dravid, Sachin, VVS, Saurav would have been risky but was still opted for by Pakistani captain, Pak gave option of scoring 350+ in minimum 100 overs.
Bangalore 2007 --> India starts of the final day with lead of over 220 (if i remember correctly) and the captain did not declare till ten overs before tea. India gave option of scoring 350+ in minimum 30-40 overs.
I think above two example explain how two different teams would react when it comes to making bold/brave decisions in the ground.
Another good score by Bhajji this inning..40 not out so far.. India leads by 150+.. if they get out for 200ish... wth 50ish overs to go at NZ it's a good chance..
and Steve Davis has now called it over, but only five balls have been bowled
89.5
Vettori to Ojha, no run, 83.2 kph, defended off the back foot towards second slip
89.4
Vettori to Ojha, no run, 83.9 kph, tossed up outside off, defended solidly
Ojha to face the hat-trick. Two slips, silly point, leg gully
89.3
Vettori to Khan, OUT, 85.3 kph, and Vettori is on a hat-trick! So is Umpire Davis! Moves across, does Zaheer, to a straight length ball, and is done in by the lack of spin. Hit smack in front of stumps, given out, but Zaheer can't believe it because he reckons there is an inside edge, and replays confirm that - a late inside edge. Not as blatant as Laxman's, and Davis must have thought it to be pad first
Z Khan lbw b Vettori 0 (1b 0x4 0x6) SR: 0.00
Zaheer Khan is the new batsman. Has taken the guard outside leg
89.2
Vettori to Laxman, OUT, 86.8 kph, that cannot be out! Laxman is stunned! He has hit the leather off this arm ball. Big inside edge, big deflection, but given lbw by Umpire Steve Davis, who has had a ripper of a game so far. The only blemish, but that denies Laxman another second-innings century. He walks back in disbelief
VVS Laxman lbw b Vettori 91 (253b 9x4 0x6) SR: 35.96
89.1
Vettori to Laxman, no run, 78.1 kph, tossed up outside off, pushed to cover
=====================
AND Indians would still keep denying UDRS to their players!
Great job by Bhajji!! #8 won the MOM because of his BATTING. Unbelievable haha!
India did quite well to save this test.. being 15/5 at one point!!
Not trying to defend the Indian batters at all but that was an exceptional spell by Martin. Did anyone of you catch it? Fantastic bowling on a unresponsive pitch. Similar to what Steyn did last year in India in the 1st test. I had seen Martin bowl before but had no idea he could bowl like he did. Bhajji had to say this about Martin.. "Hats off to this guy (Martin) for he bowled his heart out on this flat wicket. For me he is the Man of the Match; to take five wickets on this pitch was something really special."
Bring on the next one. NZ have proven that they should not be taken lightly. India might end up losing significant ranking points in this series if they don't bring their A game.. since NZ is so lowly ranked.
(1) Harbhajan is the luckiest player to have played International Cricket (after Agarkar perhaps). Can't believe he has a Grade A contract. Can somebody tell me how many matches he has won for India in recent times with his bowling. Highly overrated spinner (and a chucking one at that). He seems to be a buddy of Dhoni (like one Mr Jadeja) and making the most of it. Meanwhile a hugely talented player like Irfan Pathan (yeah....lost pace...and all) is being over-punished because he has not endeared himself to Dhoni.
(2) If India were not winning - people would be asking questions of Dhoni's individual performance also. He has been Kamran Akmal-esque behind the stumps lately and not that great with the bat either.
(1) Harbhajan is the luckiest player to have played International Cricket (after Agarkar perhaps). Can't believe he has a Grade A contract. Can somebody tell me how many matches he has won for India in recent times with his bowling. Highly overrated spinner (and a chucking one at that). He seems to be a buddy of Dhoni (like one Mr Jadeja) and making the most of it. Meanwhile a hugely talented player like Irfan Pathan (yeah....lost pace...and all) is being over-punished because he has not endeared himself to Dhoni.
(2) If India were not winning - people would be asking questions of Dhoni's individual performance also. He has been Kamran Akmal-esque behind the stumps lately and not that great with the bat either.
Bhajji is definitely an overrated spinner.. and his performances are not that great anymore.. for a while.. but to suggest that it's because of Dhoni is a bit much.
Irfan Pathan? What has he done in domestic cricket to warrant a return? I would love to see some stats.
Dhoni definitely needs a break. He has been playing absolutely nonstop. I wouldn't be surprised if he has played the most cricket out of anyone in the world. All the games for India in all formats + IPL + CL20 !!!!
(2) If India were not winning - people would be asking questions of Dhoni's individual performance also. He has been Kamran Akmal-esque behind the stumps lately and not that great with the bat either.
I agree and noticed the same thing....dhoni has been pretty ordinary behind the wickets....and i have not seen him batting that well either....laxamn has to take all the load almost in every test match once the top batting line is back into the pavilion....
but dhoni has charisma and a winning track record and that is what matters most in subcontinent.…..every region has different culture…and lets accept that that is how we have been programmed…even the players in sub-continent respond to personal charisma……imran had it, akram had it….miandad did not have one…gavaskar never had it….dravid never had it....and ganguly had it big time even though his performance was not as good as dravid and tendu.....plus dhoni has brought back the consistency that was missing after ganguly retired...
haha some1.. bhajji 3 wkts on day 2 morning.. cricinfo says "zak bhajji put india on top" hahaahaha...
This is exhibit 1 of how Harbhajan manages to keep his place in his side.
The headline makes it seems as though he ran through New Zealand batting while the fact is that 3 of his 4 wickets were that of lower order batsmen. Never mind also that we are playing New Zealand who are not a great batting side....and his bowling competition in the side (other than Zaheer) is feeble and somebody has to take those wickets.
I have seen Harbhajan struggle even in spin friendly conditions. He is definitely no Swann, not even Saeed Ajmal is you ask me.
His other antics - slapgate, Symonds etc and a typically feisty attitude have kept him in the limelight and generally projected an impression that he has been central to the team's sucess while clearly he has not.
Irfan Pathan? What has he done in domestic cricket to warrant a return? I would love to see some stats.
My question is what big sin has he committed to be sent back to domestic cricket for so long.
The popular line is that Pathan has lost pace...as if he was Shoaib Akhtar when he started out.......as if other Indian bowlers are spewing fire.
Even with his so-called lost pace , Pathan won us the 2007 T20 WC, he won us the famous Perth Test.
If not for tests, at least bring him back for ODIs & T20s....are you saying that a severely limited player like Ravinder Jadeja is better than Irfan Pathan. No way.
Also, I will go out on a limb and say that Irfan Pathan will give some of our ODI batsmen (e.g. Rohit Sharma) a run for their money if given as many chances at the top of the batting order. Greg Chappel saw that and utlized Pathan effectively as a batsman many times.
Pathan's slide started with Dhoni at the helm. I don't know what Dhoni's beef is with Pathan but it is common knowledge that Dhoni let his displeasure known when at one time Pathan was selected ahead of his other pal R P Singh for a test match (Pathan scored a century in that test match btw).
The only match winning performance i saw of bhajji was against aussies in year 2001
Yes.....the event that earned him the title of "turbanator" and guaranteed him a place in the side for the next 10 years.
A batsman's true worth is known by his performance outside the subcontinent, and so is a spinner's. Bhajji has done close to zilch outside the sub-continent.
Bishen Singh Bedi says "Virender Sehwag is the best off-spinner in the Indian side" and I agree.
This is exhibit 1 of how Harbhajan manages to keep his place in his side.
The headline makes it seems as though he ran through New Zealand batting while the fact is that 3 of his 4 wickets were that of lower order batsmen. Never mind also that we are playing New Zealand who are not a great batting side....and his bowling competition in the side (other than Zaheer) is feeble and somebody has to take those wickets.
I have seen Harbhajan struggle even in spin friendly conditions. He is definitely no Swann, not even Saeed Ajmal is you ask me.
His other antics - slapgate, Symonds etc and a typically feisty attitude have kept him in the limelight and generally projected an impression that he has been central to the team's sucess while clearly he has not.
Actually 2 wks were of batters... I consider Vettori as a proper batter.
Anyway I was just messing around. I would pick Swann (for all formats) and Ajmal (for ODi and T20) over Bhajji too. I hate that when bhajji gets hit all he does it speed up his bowling... hahaha buddy you are not a medium pacer..
Bhajji is a hot head hence alll these antics but you cannot question his motivation and dedication to the team.. or his fighting spirit.. that is something to be appreciated..
I do agree though that Ojha or even Mishra should be our first choice spinner for Tests at least.
Bhajji's recently improved batting makes it even harder to kick him out though.
My question is what big sin has he committed to be sent back to domestic cricket for so long.
The popular line is that Pathan has lost pace...as if he was Shoaib Akhtar when he started out.......as if other Indian bowlers are spewing fire.
Even with his so-called lost pace , Pathan won us the 2007 T20 WC, he won us the famous Perth Test.
If not for tests, at least bring him back for ODIs & T20s....are you saying that a severely limited player like Ravinder Jadeja is better than Irfan Pathan. No way.
Also, I will go out on a limb and say that Irfan Pathan will give some of our ODI batsmen (e.g. Rohit Sharma) a run for their money if given as many chances at the top of the batting order. Greg Chappel saw that and utlized Pathan effectively as a batsman many times.
Pathan's slide started with Dhoni at the helm. I don't know what Dhoni's beef is with Pathan but it is common knowledge that Dhoni let his displeasure known when at one time Pathan was selected ahead of his other pal R P Singh for a test match (Pathan scored a century in that test match btw).
Again.. has he done well in the domestic cricket these past years? That was a honest question as I am not aware of anything. If he hasn't then I don't see why he should be brought back???
His performance (and not just pace) did dip when he was kicked.. perhaps there were other factors too as you mention.
But again the 1-2 times that I have seen a domestic scoreboard with Irfan in it.. he's been getting creamed by domestic batters easily..
Totally agreed that he is WAY better than Jadeja.. that is just a fk up by Dhoni!
Pathan would be a very handy "all rounder" in SA ENG AUS and NZ and I am sad too that he has faded out. He definitely should be given a chance to reclaim himself (like Zak has) .. but he needs to perform at the domestic level first.
waleed.. watch the highlights bro... this was not some tailender being an opportunist.. NZ had applied good pressure on India.. getting dhoni and raina out cheaply.... bhajji turned the day around and ruined all the hardwork done by NZ for hours.. in 1 hour... hahah.. good hitting.. full entertainment..
would be insane if he gets his 2nd 100 of the series tomorrow!
