Starts on Monday 20 July 2009.
Will SL whitewash the series or will Pakistan prevent them?
Will Pakistan collapse spectacularly again?
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
Will you have tears again ? :p
The team is low on morale and confidence (there is nothing worse than losing games from winning positions - the players know that they lost the games themselves rather than Sri Lanka winning it) and if recent reports of infighting and player politics are true, another spectacular collapse and defeat cannot be ruled out. Add to that the fact that Srilanka won both games despite not having played at their best themselves. Their batting has not really fired in this series; the bowlers won them both games. Expect another 3 or 4 day finish.
We still have to lift ourselves - Jayawardene
http://www.cricinfo.com/slvpak2009/content/story/414842.html
" Winning the second Test was a fantastic achievement and a great effort from all the guys in the team," he wrote on his website.So to play below par and take a 2-0 lead is really pleasing. [But] the fact is that we are not playing brilliant Test cricket right now and there is some way for us to get to our best. As Sanga [Sangakkara] said afterwards, it reflects well on the teamwork and the fact that when we needed something special someone put their hand up."
Will you have tears again ? :p
never mind one day you will get over the humiliation of 20/20. :D
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
:p
^Do not you know we were champions in 2007 :D
But the fall of Pakistan(I mean cricket team) has been pathetic.You won the T-20 Cup and in less than two weeks time lost two tests in a row and poeple are talking about a white wash now :p
India(I mean Indian Cricket Team)maintained a steady pace after winning the cup and even after the early exit they beat W.I(I mean W.I Cricket team) in W.I.................... :)
That shows the difference :)
:p
^Do not you know we were champions in 2007 :D
But the fall of Pakistan(I mean cricket team) has been pathetic.You won the T-20 Cup and in less than two weeks time lost two tests in a row and poeple are talking about a white wash now :p
India(I mean Indian Cricket Team)maintained a steady pace after winning the cup and even after the early exit they beat W.I(I mean W.I Cricket team) in W.I.................... :)
That shows the difference :)
Did you know that after India won the 1983 world cup WI toured India and royally whipped India.
yeah that was the difference.
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
I very well knew that you would come up with this weird statistics.Would you pls care to go through Indian Test and ODI records,prior to 1983?It was our 1983 victory that many people here in India actually came to know abt Cricket as a game and this sporting event became popular.So rather than going for old numbers and digits,it's better to go through more recent series :)
:p
^Do not you know we were champions in 2007 :D
But the fall of Pakistan(I mean cricket team) has been pathetic.You won the T-20 Cup and in less than two weeks time lost two tests in a row and poeple are talking about a white wash now :p
India(I mean Indian Cricket Team)maintained a steady pace after winning the cup and even after the early exit they beat W.I(I mean W.I Cricket team) in W.I.................... :)
That shows the difference :)
Don't compare T20 with test cricket. They are two very different formats. Pakistan might still do well in the ensuing one-day series and T20.
And its not like the two tests were one-sided. The failure to win is down to many factors (already discussed in other threads, lack of exposure to test cricket over the past two years being the main reason). The fact that we were actually in a position to win both tests is a big surprise in itself
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
^ Though it was a nice attempt to justify the defeats,I can not buy this point Asif. Aussies after winning the World Cups remained unquestioned champions in tests aswell, until recently.
So the real reasons have to be unearthed from somewhere.
I very well knew that you would come up with this weird statistics.Would you pls care to go through Indian Test and ODI records,prior to 1983?It was our 1983 victory that many people here in India actually came to know abt Cricket as a game and this sporting event became popular.So rather than going for old numbers and digits,it's better to go through more recent series :)
It is not a weird statistic, it is the truth and it must have hurt, live with it. As for recent series, unfortunately your best team in the universe has not won any major tournament except for 20/20 in 2007 which they lost rather humiliatingly a few weeks ago so really not much to compare with when the cupboard of such a "talented" team is empty. Try again.
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
^ Once again you are trying hard,Ehsan.Ehsan you are talking about an era wherein India were just infants in World Cup Cricket and I would reckon their 1983 victory was `just happened'.
The point here is that India after winning the 2007 W.C did manage to continue with their show but Pakistan in less than two weeks after winning the same title has succumbed to the same team they defeated in the WC 20 Final.There shows .
I very well knew that you would come up with this weird statistics.Would you pls care to go through Indian Test and ODI records,prior to 1983?It was our 1983 victory that many people here in India actually came to know abt Cricket as a game and this sporting event became popular.So rather than going for old numbers and digits,it's better to go through more recent series :)
This is a very, very weak argument. Cricket in India wasn't popular before the 1983 World Cup???? Care to elaborate which other sport was more popular than cricket?
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
Hockey
And how come that was a weak argument?Thats the truth.
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
It's hard to believe Hockey was more popular than cricket before 1983. And by the way, Pakistan was Hockey World Cup Champions in both 1978 and 1982. India didn't even finish in the top four on either occasion.
Your argument is weak because you haven't included any evidence to support your argument. As far as I recall, cricket has been extremely popular in India. Gavaskar, Pataudi, Chandrashekhar, Amarnath, Bedi has been superstars long before 1983.
^ Though it was a nice attempt to justify the defeats,I can not buy this point Asif. Aussies after winning the World Cups remained unquestioned champions in tests aswell, until recently.
So the real reasons have to be unearthed from somewhere.
As GoldenAsif has already said, Tests and T20 are two entirely different formats. Australia is still the unquestioned champions in Tests and ODIs, not so much in the T20.
There's no justifying Pakistan's performance in the Tests against Sri Lanka, but I can't buy the argument that India has been the model of consistency. Despite the huge advantage of playing the IPL, India failed to even come close to defending it's title.
^ Though it was a nice attempt to justify the defeats,I can not buy this point Asif. Aussies after winning the World Cups remained unquestioned champions in tests aswell, until recently.
So the real reasons have to be unearthed from somewhere.
Give me an example of a test team in history that played 4 or 5 tests in two years and then went on to win test matches consistently. Forget Pakistan, even teams like Australia and South Africa w'd struggle if they played just a handful of tests over that sort of period. So one has to be realistic too
T20 is a different format altogether. You may not play any cricket for a while and still do well in T20 - as Pakistan proved recently - because the game is not long enough to test your true skills and character. But you simply cannot play no cricket and then expect to do well in test cricket. In test matches you have to play consistently well over 15 sessions. One bad session can cost you the game as happened with Pakistan in the first two tests
Ofcourse there are other reasons too - psychological, problematic openers, player politics if true etc.
It's hard to believe Hockey was more popular than cricket before 1983. And by the way, Pakistan was Hockey World Cup Champions in both 1978 and 1978. India didn't even finish in the top four on either occasion.
Your argument is weak because you haven't included any evidence to support your argument. As far as I recall, cricket has been extremely popular in India. Gavaskar, Pataudi, Chandrashekhar, Amarnath, Bedi has been superstars long before 1983.
I became `wordless for a couple of seconds' seeing your comparison between India and Pak Hockey histroy.
Dude Right from 1928 Amsterdam Olympics to 1960 Rome India was the sole winner in Olympics Hockey games.Straight six Olympic Gold Medals,winning 24 consecutive matches !!!!The Indian stranglehold over the Olympic hockey gold came to an end, when Pakistan defeated India in the final of the 1960 Rome Olympics. However, the record created by India is likely to stand strong through ages, as no other country has ever managed to come close to it, leave about beating it.This feast continued in 1964 and 1980!!!
Re: Pak V SL - Third Test Match
why start a test match on Monday? That ensures that every day will be a weekday, some scheduling this is 
Give me an example of a test team in history that played 4 or 5 tests in two years and then went on to win test matches consistently. Forget Pakistan, even teams like Australia and South Africa w'd struggle if they played just a handful of tests over that sort of period. So one has to be realistic too
T20 is a different format altogether. You may not play any cricket for a while and still do well in T20 - as Pakistan proved recently - because the game is not long enough to test your true skills and character. But you simply cannot play no cricket and then expect to do well in test cricket. In test matches you have to play consistently well over 15 sessions. One bad session can cost you the game as happened with Pakistan in the first two tests
Ofcourse there are other reasons too - psychological, problematic openers, player politics if true etc.
Asif ,forget two years.S.A had not played any form of cricket for more than two decades but when they reurtned they marked it in style.In 1992 W.C they would have beat England had not rain cheated them.
So it's not abt time span.........Thats for sure
I w’d rather discuss cricket here but since u brought it up…
You are right about the Indian hockey team’s earlier domination in Olympics but they have not won a major hockey title since the Moscow Olympics in 1980 in which Pakistan and many other major nations did not participate!!!
Pakistan once held all three major hockey titles - World Cup (1978 and 1982), Olympics (1984) and Champions Trophy - simultaneously in the early 80s.
And despite their recent indifferent form, Pakistan has won more hockey world cups (4) than any other nation winning it last in 1994. Holland with three titles are second