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...
RE:we can not
by jamescunnin on Nov 17, 2007 12:50 AM Permalink
no offense the rate Gangu is going he find it hard to find his place in the team!! He has really become unstuck against quick fast bowling! It is a shame cause he is a great in his own right, may be being on the verge of an exist of the team might get him back to good form!
RE:we can not
by CricFan01 on Nov 17, 2007 06:28 AM Permalink
I am not against Ganguly, he is an attractive batsmen to watch especially on off side. His one day record is excellent. However he is vastly overrated as captain, he was aggressive and would think out of box but many times he got lucky. Moreover his days are over so dont bring that topic back again.
RE:gangul should be captain
by sudhir dhar on Nov 17, 2007 01:13 AM Permalink
Are you sure? Will the make it to the final 16 for Australia? You have to wait and see, so forget about his captaincy issue.Also Jumbo is not captain, and he is to be supported now.This does not mean Jumbo is better than Gangudeva.Its just as the thinks are.
RE:gangul should be captain
by JM on Nov 17, 2007 01:24 AM Permalink
If anger is the criterion for captaincy, then we should make the angrient nut-case the captain.
We certainly will stop them. Kumble is the thinking captain who will bring series victory for India against PAK and AUS. PAK will be a easy one while AUS will prove to be tough but something we will cherish for a long time like 1971 WI conquest.
RE:focus plaese !!!!!
by Om Shanti Om on Nov 16, 2007 11:20 PM Permalink
he is just doing what lot of cricketers do nowadays...like sreesanth says "i want to do well in australia" hoping he will get picked up for aus tour on basis of his statement..even bhajji said "he will like to give it to the aussies this time"....
he may be a great leg spinner looking at the final stats but he is just another ordinary thinking person. he is talking abt Aussie series for which he is not even the captain so that selectors take notice and make him captain for that series too. is he so insecure? first let him even do captaincy for a single day of his life and then he can speak what he wants to. look at how he immediately said okay when captaincy was offered to hima s if he was yearning for the power all these years. it requires a great cricketer and extraordinary thinking human like sachin to give up test captaincy position offered to him on a platter by his own state people who are ruling indian cricket now just so that younger players can get the opportunity. there's a sea of difference between how a great thinking cricketer like sachin thinks and an ordinary thinking cricketr like Kumble....
RE:Kumble is just ordinary thinking cricketer
by s r on Nov 16, 2007 10:30 PM Permalink
Om shanthi, and it also requires only ordinary thinking people like you to come to such a conclusion. The "great" cricketer was offered captaincy twice before, he took it immediately and what did he do first? brought back kambli without reason. The results were there for everybody to see. Now you claim that he gave up captaincy for a younger player. Can you prove it? He was just scared..
RE:Kumble is just ordinary thinking cricketer
by CricFan01 on Nov 17, 2007 06:32 AM Permalink
Actually Kambli was brought in by Azhar and then brought back by Ganguly not Sachin. In regards to Om Shanthi's point, Kumble talking about taking on Aus, there is nothing wrong. He may not be a captain but that does not mean he cannot express his opinion?
what a performance again. scored 158 in the ranji after the irani trophy 162 and 59*. scored more than 1100 runs in 2007 and against all the good quality opponents like SA -A and on all grounds. the most consistent batsman in india. he definitely needs a look specially as batsman atleast. v need a batsman like him in Ausi to perform consistently. in india u will find many so-called heros. Our so-called good batsman having backing on flat-bed indian pitches will show their true colour in ausi. But especially in Ausi conditions, v definitely need to look at parthiv. and parthiv has earlier performed in Ausi as well. plz ckt fans judge his performance objectively without any prejudices at him for his keeping. (even that has been improved a lot). but just judge him simply as batsman. in the era of dhoni when nobody thought beyond dhoni, but once given the chance, even dinesh karthik showed his talent. similarly let the hidden talent to be taken out of him to prosper. that is healthy for competition.
RE:incredible consistency from parthiv patel!
by Mayur Soni on Nov 16, 2007 10:16 PM Permalink
wat??? r u crazy or wat?? parthiv as batsman??? come on dude.
RE:RE:incredible consistency from parthiv patel!
by uncle shame on Nov 17, 2007 12:47 AM Permalink
if one does not know his recent performances, the same question will be asked as asked by u. even for dinesh karthik the same question was asked, karthik as batsman; but he proved his utility more than kaif/mongia/and even sehwag.
Other day Kumble was more interested in vouching for Rahul Dravid ( his state mate) to bring him back in the ODI team - which is none of his bussiness as he is neither selector, commentator, captain or even a player of ODI team! Today he speaks about stopping Aussies again a series for which he is not the captain yet, his actual focus should be Pakistan test series. He seems to be concentrating on every thing except the right thing. It seems having become captain quite surprisingly at this old age( due to sheer luck or nation's bad luck) this fellow has lost his balance, he is so overjoyed that he is going overboard in almost every ocassion. A new head ache for Indian cricket fans!
RE:Kumble consistently out of Context!!!
by Vijayan on Nov 16, 2007 08:50 PM Permalink
Kumble talking too much he should immediately stop talking and try to perform his duty in a mature and effective manner. Aussies or Pakis only sterling performance can stop them not big-mouthing!
RE:Kumble consistently out of Context!!!
by prashanth gudibande on Nov 16, 2007 09:39 PM Permalink
whats the problem with you guys. is there any rule that he should not speak. if ganguly can show his aggression, why not kumble??? if kumble is silent, you call him docile, if he speaks then you call him something else. he is the captain, and he has the right to speak and this is one way of getting under the skin of opposition. keep it up kumble. continue to do so. kudos to you
RE:Kumble consistently out of Context!!!
by Superhero on Nov 16, 2007 09:53 PM Permalink
exactly..he has the right to talk abt future test series..kumble and his team shud set up few plans..to break aussie great run...
parthiv patel the kid lol...he will be in the team only if dhoni and karthik play badly...dhoni and karthik are better batsmen then mr..parthiv patel...
look at dhoni battin averages..they r better than karthik and parthiv..and please parthiv patel need to improve his personality...
