I don't believe there is much substance to what Kumble is saying for the various reason already outlayed here and others unmentioned, and I think Kumble is cunning and intelligent enough to understand as much, it's purely motivational talk which is fine. To be a better captain than Ganguly he must merely play to win from the outset and not for face saving draws, and to be a better captain than Dravid he must hold the depth of character to overcome the petty in-house factions and squabbling that has marred a spiritually void Indian Team. He stands as good a chance as many and better than most of being such a captain.
RE:Sachinism
by kotanaga bhanukiran on Nov 18, 2007 01:04 AM Permalink
well tere ko ulta karne se oh bhi nahin hoga. Dog ka bhi ijjat hai o wafadar hota hain gabbar, he is patriotic to country. Tere jaisa gaddar nahin. Har chees ulta karneki adat hain kya. Need not say anything, he is doing what he has to do for the country as a cricketer, as a good citizen if you enjoy him playing enjoy. otherwise keep your mouth shut.
sehwag has a good avereage about 50 he should be back.instead of S.Africa series he never fail in any test series.he has make 12 century,twice time 2 hundred plus & one time 3 hundred plus.
RE:Opening batsmen
by abhishek singh on Nov 17, 2007 05:30 PM Permalink
can u name any other openr batsmen in indian cricket except sunil and sehwag , who scored 4 centries outside india... well no body is there.........
RE:Opening batsmen
by uncle shame on Nov 17, 2007 05:48 PM Permalink
i agree that sehwas gutsy and scored even outside ind inspite of his technicuqe. but for that his hand/eye coordination required a lot to work which may b missing right now.
With the present set of bowlers it is just wishful thinking. look how Australia is hammering Sri Lanka. Even the batsmen will get mauled in Australia. By the way Sachin has still not scored an ODI hundred in Australia.
The only way india can win in Austrlia is to pick a younger side. Its time to kick out ganguly, laxman and bring in yuvraj and uthappa who both can take agression to the Aussies otherwise we will be hammered like SL.
RE:youngsters
by Suman Bhat on Nov 17, 2007 10:46 AM Permalink
win or defeat depands on the performance of XI players aussies are playing as one unit with desire to win each match. aussies are now outplaying SL in bowling batting as well fielding. indian players play for self record, sponsers, to save the place for next match, for group which player belongs to.. team india is consists of superstars and their chelas some players wants to open innings it is done nobody will object to it.some players even openers has to bat at any nosotherwise they will never get a chance to perform bcci and selection committee has diff yardstick to drop players and selection of team.some rules never apply to superstars and their chelas. Kumble will be successful only if he gets support of all other 10 players. that did not hapened to to previous captain. some players never supported dravid's captiacy it was visible on the field
RE:youngsters
by Suman Bhat on Nov 17, 2007 12:39 PM Permalink
ganguly is a toothless tiger selfish politician is a curse to team india and burden in odi and as well as test team
RE:youngsters
by sharath chandra on Nov 17, 2007 12:52 PM Permalink
honestly ganguly d`nt deserve a place in the current eleven. yuvi should be picked in his place. little master patel is scoring heavily. time to think of him seriously
RE:RE:youngsters
by Aritra Misra on Nov 20, 2007 10:45 PM Permalink
oye sharath.get ur facts right,ganguly was the best test batsman for india in the last 2 test series...please check out cricinfo. its a shame people like u kive in india,cause u can only talk big like the aussies,dis-respecting people who bought fame to this country.Aus is different,where younstars will get blown away,just like u get kicked out of ur house everyday...kyun jali na???
RE:youngsters
by uncle shame on Nov 17, 2007 02:04 PM Permalink
yes. recently young parthiv is in tremendous form. and he has proven himself earlier in ausi when he was just a teenager. as far boling is concerned, v need one genuine pace bolr.
It's funny! sometimes captains says they take inspiration from series which was played 3 years back and if they happen to loose a game the same guy will say history doesnt matter, every game is new game and we have defeat in our last game back of our mind. Last time when india fought to Aus: (i) Pitches werent made too fast, they werent typical pichtes one get in Aus (ii) India had 2 in form openers. Chopra was very resolute not to loose his wicket no matter what. I doubt we have it this time arround. (iii) Indian middle order is same but 3 years older now, so though they are experienced they have lost flexibility in terms of fitness (iv) Everything Sehwag did clicked, Luck doesnt favour team/person all the time.
I think Aus are too formidable side to beat and India will have to do something special to beat them. I think India will loose comprahensively.
RE:Aussies too formitable team to beat
by Michael S Ponnudurai on Nov 21, 2007 02:22 PM Permalink
Further, for the entire series they did not have McGrath and Warne due to injuries. For the first match they did not have Gillespie and Lee. For the second they had Gillespie joining them. Brett Lee joined them from the third march onwards
the big difference is that when we went to Australia the last time we had a Viru in Hot form and a A Chopra determined to keep the Aussies out no matter what! From one end we had a dasher that counter punched the bowling attack and from the other end a guy blocking it out and rotating strike !! SO we got starts most visiting teams dreamt about in their wettest WET DREAM!!
This time around I think the test opening batsmen are not capable of giving them a solid foundation, like in England we get the likes of Dravid and Tendulkar facing a relative new ball and unlike the english the Aussies will be all over them like a bad rash! Some how we got to get some solid openers ready for the tour!
To look at the positives this would be the best attack we taking to Aussie shores for ages! could be capable of grabbing 20 of their wickets in a test!!
RE:Opening Batsmen
by Sameer on Nov 17, 2007 06:38 AM Permalink
Lot of people are saying ajit agarkar is very poor bowler of india. I am not big fan of agarkar or he is not my relativs but i still feel he is better that all other 3 (zahir/rp/srrsantH) so I just check crickeinfo and collect the information and found he is better than other 3. if you compare overall career or last 10/15/20, his is no. 1 then other 3. just check below data.
Ajit Agarkar Mat Runs HS BatAv 100 50 W BB BowlAv 5w Ct St
RE:Opening Batsmen
by CricFan01 on Nov 17, 2007 06:24 AM Permalink
I agree that opening pair for tests is not ideal but that is the best we have. My gut feeling is that Dinesh Karthik will not play all the tests because he will be taken out early by the Aussies. With Jaffer the problem is early on in the innings he is very tentative and many times get bowled or LBW, but overall is solid. I still think they should take Sehwag to Aus. Middle order looks solid with Dravid, Sachin, Laxman and Ganguly/Yuvraj. Dhoni is unknown at this point on Aus wickets. Bowling is OK, the mercurial Sreesanth should not get carried away and start his theatrics. Fielding is the weakest link. In one dayers India have a better chance to give Aus a good fight and if they play to potential they may even surprise Aus in few games. Hopefully they give a good fight and not go down tamely like SL is/
RE:RE:RE:Opening Batsmen
by Edwin Babu on Nov 20, 2007 02:44 PM Permalink
One thing is sure - Indian cricket team is not going to change for the better - good talent is seldom recognized and we are very happy to carry the past performance and talk laurals of it for another 10 years thereby deprieving the opportunity for younger guys. We are more than happy to be on the loosing end - blaming the pitch and the conditions all the time rather than putting the best performance. Australia is a far superior team in all aspects and it takes phenominal character and skill to match them (if not beating them). Guys pls use your time in other productive means rather than closely following Indian team - THEY ARE DETERMINED TO BE WHAT THEY ARE - COME WHAT MAY
RE:Opening Batsmen
by Michael Ponnudurai on Nov 21, 2007 02:32 PM Permalink
1. W. Jaffer 2. Tendulkar 3. Dravid 4. Laxman 5. Sourav 6. Dhoni 7. Pathan 8. Kumble 9. Zaheer Khan 10.Sreesanth 11.R. P. Singh or Harbhajan based on pitch and other conditions The stress is to have 6 batsmen, one allrounder in Pathan, and including him - 5 bowlers. 5 bowlers are key for us bowl out Aus twice
RE:Opening Batsmen
by TandooriRasamKadhi rosgula on Nov 17, 2007 08:43 AM Permalink
After watching kartik in England Test series, I think he is going to be ok in Australia. With the moving ball in England and opening the test innings for the first time in his career, he did well. I am not sure you're watching Srilanka and Aussie, but the pitches seem dead in Aussie. they have outstanding bowlers, but this Kartik character is one gutsie kid. I can see him do better then Jaffer, although I hope they both sign equally... Cricket is played in mind a lot too, and if we go fearless in Aussie, we can upset them...