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[sgusa]

Nasser shows his thought process: We would have stayed (at the offer of light), gone for it, and if we got to 9 down, taken the light offer!

[toney]

once we dont take the light, the umpires wont offer it to us unless it further deteriorates
But we sent the message across and although soeme DGians wont accept it, we have made a statement, courtesy a bold decision by the team think tank. I am happy.
I am happier because SRT was in his elements today. Even in his childhood, I have rarely seen him grin so much while batting, almost a nervous kind of smile. I remember him opening in the 2nd innings against NZ once, where he played some absolute cheeky shots to speed up a declaration (ran on the pitch and got a mouthful from Fleming). But otherwise, he has usually been more poker faced when batting.

[pieterSAN]

I don't think light was offered. They appealed for bad light. Which is why Nass was suggesting wait until last second before asking for light. Regardless there was no way light was going to stay the same at that time of the day.

[sgusa]

once we dont take the light, the umpires wont offer it to us unless it further deteriorates
But we sent the message across and although soeme DGians wont accept it, we have made a statement, courtesy a bold decision by the team think tank. I am happy.
I am happier because SRT was in his elements today. Even in his childhood, I have rarely seen him grin so much while batting, almost a nervous kind of smile. I remember him opening in the 2nd innings against NZ once, where he played some absolute cheeky shots to speed up a declaration (ran on the pitch and got a mouthful from Fleming). But otherwise, he has usually been more poker faced when batting.

SRT batting like it was '98  i am so pumped up i can't sleep !!

[sgusa]

I don't think light was offered. They appealed for bad light. Which is why Nass was suggesting wait until last second before asking for light. Regardless there was no way light was going to stay the same at that time of the day.

I am positive light was offered by the umpires.

[toney]

I don't think light was offered. They appealed for bad light. Which is why Nass was suggesting wait until last second before asking for light. Regardless there was no way light was going to stay the same at that time of the day.

Technically, you cannot appeal for light. Umpires have to offer it. Of course, batsman can make some noises about it and unless the match ref is Ranjan saab or Dennes, Indians dont have to be concerned abt any rules violations.

[achutank]

we had a chance i felt to win this one. but i still beleive that GC's strategy revolves too much around pathan and dhoni. jaffer got a century and that was wonderful, but we already have one anchor on the other end so why not score a bit more briskly? 8 an over is achievable if there are 12-15 overs remaining not more. the highlights frankly looked like real time so many dot balls that the highlights capsule had to incorporate them.

last match against south africa when ponting led that run chase they put the pressure on the africans from the word go. thats great cricket. its was structured and planned meticulously.
not this lets see if we can give a go *. everybody knew we were just taking a shot at it and the eng captain knew that one or two wickets and the run chase would end. big laugh about this scare business. he would have been reallly scared if we needed six runs an over after tea with dravid and jaffer scoring singles and twos at will. finally the media and all of us want to justify this indian team because that's the only team we can support, right.

[dhruvdeepak]

dude you cant compare those two matches, or australia vs india.
ponting is their main stroke maker, viroo is ours. viroo left without scoring. ponting got two 100s in the match.
australia were chasing on a nice belter, and chasing 280 odd. our pitch was not one to score 4 per over on, not chasing 367 in 90 overs. it is easy to criticize and say "they should take more singles" but look at the bowling and the pitch, working the ball around off that immaculate line is hard, as is timing the ball.

it was a much better effort from india (in light of our previous three losses, two to pakistan and one to australia), and a bit of fun at the end too. we did not get to finish our quota of 90 overs, so there is no grounds to grudge the team for not chasing the total.

[achutank]

i did not see the ball doing anything at all. there was just this lack of bounce but isn't that a good thing for indian batting technique? it comes nicely at the lower end of the bat. belter or no belter the indian approach to my mind is built around pinch hitters when actually its the batsmen in the team who should be working towards that total. i saw absolute hittable balls not even converted to singles, patted back to the bowler.

that VS got out again shows the lack of commitment that i have been talking about. and its not a new thing that has cropped up during this coach. its alwasy been there. if anything GC should recognize this and work on it (i think he already is but only yuvi is picking up)

seeing SRT bat i thought except for him no one in that team had a clue on how to approach such totals. but this has been a past malise throughout our history. we always see demons where we need to see commitment and attitude.

and can i ask for your opinion if ponting + hayden + langer + clarke = SRT + VVS + RD + VS

[dhruvdeepak]

yeah our order looks better on paper, but again, you are measuring by different yardsticks. i think as a team, the aussie 3 perform more compatibly and build better totals (clarke is new). it is one of the keys to their success. if we find an opener to bat with sehwag i think we will do a lot better.

The ball doesn't need to do anything. It is a slow pitch, the ball struggles to get off the square. You dont get timing, and RD/Jaffer are no power brokers either. The trend in the match of going at 3 per over should have been hint enough of what type of a wicket it was like. Highly improbable that 360 will be chased in 90.

Sehwag will be Sehwag. One day he's up and the next he's down. Cannot blame him and say he's not applying himself whenever his oft-successful methods fail.

As for commitment and attitude, you would be saying the same thing if we tried to up the runrate early, lost some wickets and lost/nearly lost. The only way the team would manage to escape criticism is if they successfully chase 360 in like 80 overs on the 5th day of a 3 per over pitch.

[achutank]

yeah our order looks better on paper, but again, you are measuring by different yardsticks. i think as a team, the aussie 3 perform more compatibly and build better totals (clarke is new). it is one of the keys to their success. if we find an opener to bat with sehwag i think we will do a lot better.

The ball doesn't need to do anything. It is a slow pitch, the ball struggles to get off the square. You dont get timing, and RD/Jaffer are no power brokers either. The trend in the match of going at 3 per over should have been hint enough of what type of a wicket it was like. Highly improbable that 360 will be chased in 90.

the ball was not stopping and then coming as it tends to do on breaking pitches. this pitch was slow but had no pace variation. so by now you should know how to approach stroke play. agreed you cannot hit fours easily but you can always use the slowness of the pitch to turn for singles.

Sehwag will be Sehwag. One day he's up and the next he's down. Cannot blame him and say he's not applying himself whenever his oft-successful methods fail.

again sehwag will be sehwag. but so is foolishness. sehwag has been sorted . look his last five dismissals, all on the front foot, driving through cover missing the line compeltely.

1st innigs 2nd test caught in slip b. razzaq

2 innings in the third test bowled through the gate.

1st innings again going for the drive and playing the wrong line caught in slips

2nd innings again expansive drive misses the line. bowled


yesterday the commentators were constantly talking about jaffer's weakness for the closed face of the bat as he drives through cover. he nearly gave a chance at cover (very tough diving effort in vain by strauss i think) and in the same over nearly chopped it into his stumps playing the same way. guess how flintoff got him?

point is indian batsmen seem to be foolish except for the very very notable exception of the Wall who is a textbook on commitment. he never changed his natural game only sealed the holes. is it too difficult i ask for sehwag to continue playing the way he does but not get out for glaring incompetencies?

As for commitment and attitude, you would be saying the same thing if we tried to up the runrate early, lost some wickets and lost/nearly lost. The only way the team would manage to escape criticism is if they successfully chase 360 in like 80 overs on the 5th day of a 3 per over pitch.

i had no problems going for a draw. i was happy. in tests i prefer staying power. but obviously the think tank was not working properly here. if the plan was to consolidate and then hit then they must have had a target for tea. and then you have three designated hitters to do the damage. look at the way achin played. brilliant. he improvised so well. even dhoni did. but RD and Jaffer were plodding at times which i do not think is correct. again for the record playing good defensive is a treat to watch and i can sit and watch 90 maiden overs if the conditions demand defensive play. but there ws really nothing wrong with this pitch, nothing that some smart play could not ahve handled.

either we have blatant hitting (VS, dhoni) or plodding (RD, Kaif). seems like we have nothing in between except for yuvi and SRT who do can do so.

[gouravk]

achu
It is a bit harsh to say VS has been sorted. Last 4 times he has got out he has to 2 superb bowlers - one a great swinger, the other who is talked about as being the next mcgrath. let us see what he does in mohali.

[Sahir]

achu
It is a bit harsh to say VS has been sorted. Last 4 times he has got out he has to 2 superb bowlers - one a great swinger, the other who is talked about as being the next mcgrath. let us see what he does in mohali.

I don't think he has been sorted, but he did look completely out of touch in his second innings-- hoping it is not the start of a prolonged slump.

[achutank]

no then exlain the straits of gibraltar between his bat and front foot? it's ok if you are going to cut or slash that gap does not make any difference at all. even srt does not get too close to the ball while cutting the fast guys, but not while driving. thats cardinal and if RD can sort technique to improve his strike rate drastically then why not VS. i love this guy. he has the best temperment and he is so close to the india i love but cmon i dont want him go the way SG went.

[gouravk]

but he has been having those straits ever since he started playing ... if he could get away with it for 5 years ...

[achutank]

and people have sorted him out by now. earlier he was getting out holing out, now he is getting out to traps. thats the difference. bob woolmer knows. he has implementedit successfully. now fletcher knows and we can see the results.

[gouravk]

Im not sure of it. Let us hope it is not true. Sehwag had mixed success in Pak. he had a 254 and a good 60 in an ODI game and then three poor scores. So it is not as if he has been completely sorted out.

[sgusa]

I would really like to see SRT in at 2/3 down, and given free license to bat as he sees fit (except in really bad conditions and we NEED to save the game - well i gues SRT will control himself then in any case). The way he played in the 4th inns, it showed that if Ind's entire burden is not on his shoulders he can play his normal game ( party like its 1998) even now. And with all the battting strenght we have not, and with Dravid/WJ/Kaif to play anchor (VVS too if reqd ), we should let VS, SRT, Dhoni and IP unleash hell if they see it fit to do so.

[justforkix]

And you think SRT doesen't do that. He obviously judges what is best for the team and bats accordingly. For e.g., his innings in Mumbai, SCG, Multan. And of course his input to the captain/coach is given a lot of consideration, if not for anything, just his experience. SRT plays according to the match situation most of the times.

[gouravk]

You think SRT bats freely ?? I dont think so. Just imagine in the last innings when he batted freely he scored more runs than he had in his previous 7 !! Where he had prodded along like a Maruti 800 where in fact he should have been racing like a Ferrari !!