I think this scoring fast and slow is not relevant. Australia is head and shoulders above everyone. The main aim in a test match is not to score fast but to win the test. India declared on the second day having scored 500 odd runs and now have NZ on the rack. They have 3 more days to destroy them and win the match. So who cares if they took nearly 2 days to score 500 runs so long as they acheive their objective.
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*Originally posted by ehsan: *
I think this scoring fast and slow is not relevant. Australia is head and shoulders ahead of everyone. the main aim in a test match is not to score fast but to win the test. India declared on the second day having scored 500 odd runs and now have NZ on the rack. They have 3 more days to destroy them and win the match. So who cares if they took nearly 2 days to score 500 runs so long as they acheive their objective.
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As long as if you have bowlers who can bowl out the opposition twice in the next 3 days, than its fine. But in test cricket these days, you also have to score at a decent rate, somewhere above 3 an over, because whats the use of piling up 500 runs in 2 days and the match ends up in a draw, I think similiar happend the last time these 2 teams played in Ahmedabad, India put on a huge score but the match was a draw.
The point is, India is going to win the match so not having a blistering scoring rate won't matter. ehsan is right, it's about getting the job done.
There was a similiar situation the last time these 2 teams played @ the same venue.
Link
India scored big, NZL middle order fought back.
And it was a draw.
Umair316 - That match was a draw because India didn't enforce a follow on and the reason for that was It would have been really hard on Indian bowlers to bowl 3 days continously.
I still remember that game - Srinath and Prasad sort of refused to bowl in the scorching heat which forced Sachin and Kapil to bat instead. The difference this time is India has a player like Zaheer khan who is not afraid of bowling in any condition. Srinath ,for all his skills as bowler, was a whiner.
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Originally posted by UMAIR316: *
But in test cricket these days, you also have to score at a decent rate, somewhere **above 3* an over
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I guess 500 in 159 overs is above 3 an over. No ??
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*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Umair316 - That match was a draw because India didn't enforce a follow on and the reason for that was It would have been really hard on Indian bowlers to bowl 3 days continously.
I still remember that game - Srinath and Prasad sort of refused to bowl in the scorching heat which forced Sachin and Kapil to bat instead. The difference this time is India has a player like Zaheer khan who is not afraid of bowling in any condition. Srinath ,for all his skills as bowler, was a whiner.
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Isn't it the same situation this time, if they bowl out New Zealand by tommorrow, will they enforce the follow on?
Can they make Zaheer Khan and co bowl again in scorching heat. Presuming that the weather is very hot.
At that time Kumble was @ his peak, thats not the case anymore.
And plus 3 an over is still very slow for this explosive Indian batting lineup on this flat track.
Umair316 - No things are not the same this time, Since you failed to notice, let me tell you the difference.
- Zaheer is our main bowler this time, last time it was Srinath who is a Whiner.
- We have an agressive captain in Ganguly as opposed to Sachin (a disaster in that role)
- No Cairns in NZ team
- In this game three of their main batsmen (including their most experienced batsman)are out, whereas in last game one of the three batsmen out was a night watchman(Vettori), They still had batsmen like Fleming, Cairns, Harris, Astle, Parore to bat and they still couldn't avoid follow on.
- This time Ganguly will ask them to follow-on (If NZ scores less than 301).
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*Originally posted by UMAIR316: *
And plus 3 an over is still very slow for this explosive Indian batting lineup on this flat track.
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I already told you - It is a slow pitch where ball doesn't come nicely on the bat which makes it harder to score runs. Besides Indian batting is hardly explosive -
1. Sehwag isn't a Test batsman
2. Chopra is a newcomer
3. Sachin - Okay we can call him an explosive batsman
4. Dravid - Bats slowly
5. Laxman - Yes, he is really explosive
6. Ganguly - Under pressure to succeed in Test
7. Parthiv patel - Newcomer
So I see only two batsman who are really explosive and out of them, one got out early. I dont understand your obsession with scoring fast, what difference does it make, it is a TEST match not ODI.
He need a reason to criticize Indians.This is the only thing he has got so far.
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It was going well till U.S eliminated 
- hopefully U.S will win the 3rd place game against Canada.
[thumb=D]Rahul.JPG[/thumb]
As for the match well surely Rahul Dravid has now won the match for India at the moment - I was completely shocked by the collaspe of the New Zealand batsmen - well done Zaheer Khan!
Rahul batted very well - i have to say that Sachin really did miss out on what was a run fest in the end - which is pretty unusual for him.
Just incidently Sorauv Ganguly made history in the fact he became the first person in the history of the game to be docked runs for running down the centre of the crease - 2 runs were taken away from him after he took no notice of an original warning.
NZ ended the day at 282/8, 19 runs short of saving the follow on. It will be interesting tomorrow morning, if they get the 19 runs the match will probably end in a draw.
^^ Yes. If somehow NZ can avoide the follow on, draw is most probable. Actually SLOW RUNRATE will hunt india if this happens or India will need heroics from Zaheer and other bowlers to rip through the NZ batting lineup.
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*Originally posted by Asif_k: *
Tom - what would you prefer India scoring 300 all out in one day or 500 for 6 in 2 days ?
No one is stopping any batsman from hitting Six & Four, all we are saying is Tullaybaajs shouldn't be allowed to play TEST Cricket. The Six Sehwag hit at thirdman boundry was a fluke and was hardly entertaining.
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!!!! Asif_K is Saurav? Aye aye captain! You dabest
I wonder if SG will enforce the follow on IF NZ fall short of 301. I think he should - hope that India has to make only 150-200 to win and take the chance.
Can I get audio or video on braodband? (free I mean). I don't feel like paying Cricinfo prices
Tommy the only thing you'll get free when India's playing is a login, bro!
Arre what's happened to Zaheer? In the beginning he looked like a lalloo,but now he's incredibly handsome. I hear he's using Ayurvedic fair and lovely....
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*Originally posted by karina: *
In the beginning he looked like a lalloo,but now he's incredibly handsome.
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Lallopann is a state of mind. Or so say the buzarg.
India made to work hard on fourth day](http://uk.cricinfo.com/link_to_database/ARCHIVE/CRICKET_NEWS/2003/OCT/283415_INDNZ2003-04_11OCT2003.html)
New Zealand 340 all out (Astle 103, Vettori 60, McMillan 54) and 48 for 1 (Vincent 21, Tuffey 0) need 322 runs to beat India 500 for 5 and 209 for 6 (Dravid 73) **
India were severely vexed on the fourth day of the first Test, as New Zealand’s tail-end resistance ensured that they had to spend much of the day batting when they would rather have been bowling. New Zealand began the day requiring 19 to avoid the follow-on, with two wickets in hand, but Daniel Vettori and Paul Wiseman not only got them there, but also cut India’s lead to 160 with some determined batting. India then had to bat for nearly 45 overs before they could amass a lead (369) that was sufficient to allow them to declare. And then they encountered some stiff resistance once again from another pair of New Zealand batsmen, openers Matthew Richardson and Lou Vincent. Only the wicket of Richardson (44 for 1) late in the day, caught by a diving Akash Chopra at short-leg off Anil Kumble, allowed them to leave the field believing that they still had a realistic chance of winning this Test.
**India’s troubles began when it took them 22 overs, and the best part of the morning session, to take the last two New Zealand wickets. Vettori and Wiseman were not troubled by either pace or spin, and with Wiseman defending doggedly, Vettori kept out the good balls and put away the bad ones to extend his 28 not out overnight to 60. **
Vettori had said before the Test series that he would endeavour to try the patience of the Indian batsmen, but he proved that he possessed the resources to vex the bowlers as well, with an enterprising knock in which he scored as quickly as any of the top-order batsmen on either side. On his last tour of India, he averaged just 3.66 with the bat, but he is a better batsman than that figure suggests, and his fifty today was actually his sixth in Test cricket, and his second in succession against good spin attacks, after one against Muttiah Muralitharan and Co. in May. Not all spin bowlers, who by necessity must devote much of their time to understanding what batsmen do to counter spin bowling, are able to convert this knowledge into time at the crease when they themselves play the turning ball. But Vettori was as sure in his handling of spin as any of his team-mates, and on this occasion his batting was of more importance to New Zealand’s fortunes than his bowling in either innings.
Vettori and Wiseman put on 67 for the ninth wicket before Wiseman made a mistake, top-edging a pull off Zaheer Khan to VVS Laxman at square leg. Anil Kumble then brought Vettori’s long vigil at the wicket to an end, getting him to edge a drive to Dravid at slip.
When India batted a second time, it was once again Dravid who contributed most to their quest for quick runs with a sparkling 73. Dravid came in at 20 for 1, after Virender Sehwag fell trying to cut a ball that was too close to him, and sent it into Robbie Hart’s gloves almost off the full face of the bat. Chopra proved unable to push the scoring-rate beyond a point, and it was up to Dravid to lead the charge.
With the field set well back, Dravid set about finding different ways of making quick runs, employing every shot in the book and some improvisations of his own conception in an innings that served as a counterpoint to his impeccable 222 in the first innings. He drove Daryl Tuffey past mid-off for four, and pulled Oram between two fielders square on the leg-side before running him down deftly to the left of another at third man. He lapped Vettori several times from outside off-stump, and swung him to the midwicket boundary first with a horizontal bat and later with a vertical bat. He even played the reverse sweep, hitting Wiseman into a gap on the off-side. He lost Chopra at 97, driving Vettori to cover, and Tendulkar at 118, skying Wiseman to long-off, but always seemed to keep well clear of the fielders when he took risks of his own. He was finally out at 166, and India batted a little longer before declaring at 209 for 6. Wiseman was the New Zealand bowler to profit most from charging feet and flailing bats, picking up four wickets for 64 runs.
India were left with 18 overs on the day, and a minimum of 90 overs on the morrow, to bowl New Zealand out, and would have hoped that Zaheer Khan would produce a first spell similar in quality to that in the first innings. But that was not to be, and they came closest to taking a wicket when L Balaji produced a superb delivery that seamed away from Vincent and caught the edge through to Parthiv Patel. But Balaji’s excitement was muted by Rudi Koertzen’s call of no-ball. With just over two overs of play left, Kumble got one to bounce steeply and take the shoulder of Richardson’s bat, and the reliable Chopra caught a sharp catch. But India have a lot of work ahead of them on the last day.