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[ramshorns]

I think the MOM for this match is already decided.  What this is the 2nd day of the Test.  Such was the impact of the knock and no matters what happens from here nothing else will come close to the 284* already in the books.  Wow.

I think Murali needs to advance his retirement to like the end of this Test.  It is getting uglier by the innings for him.  There is only so much you can blame the tracks and say Sehwag does this pretty much to most of the bowlers.  But Murali has gone over a hundred in each of the innings he bowled and never ever remotely looked close to what we are accustomed to seeing him as a bowler.  A 10fer guy in each match.  He is now a pale shadow of his former self.

A great 2-0 series win for us thanks in this test to mainly Sehwag.  I think we will now be officially No.1.  The challenge is staying up there.  Let us see if we are up for it.

Also I want to see VS get to 400 tomorrow and beyond.  Could happen before lunch tomorrow.  I will be up for that and so should you.

[ramshorns]

Another 16 runs tomorrow will make VS the first player in history to score three triple hundreds.  If he gets to it and no reason to believe he will not after a goodnight's rest that record will not be broken anytime soon despite the advancements in scoring rates in ODI's tests.

It takes lot more than scoring fast to get to a triple hundred.  Even the prolific Lara and Bradman only managed to cross that hollowed mark twice along with VS as of now and that could change early tomorrow with VS being the first three timer of triple hundred.

[ramshorns]

Another 16 runs tomorrow will make VS the first player in history to score three triple hundreds.  If he gets to it and no reason to believe he will not after a goodnight's rest that record will not be broken anytime soon despite the advancements in scoring rates in ODI's.

It takes lot more than scoring fast to get to a triple hundred.  Even the prolific Lara and Bradman only managed to cross that hollowed mark twice along with VS as of now and that could change early tomorrow with VS being the first three timer of triple hundred.

Also this is VS's fourth score of 250+.   Only the incomparable Sir Donald has more knocks that high and tall.  He has 5 of them which crossed the 250+ mark.

[Cover Point]

Another 16 runs tomorrow will make VS the first player in history to score three triple hundreds.  If he gets to it and no reason to believe he will not after a goodnight's rest that record will not be broken anytime soon despite the advancements in scoring rates in ODI's.

It takes lot more than scoring fast to get to a triple hundred.  Even the prolific Lara and Bradman only managed to cross that hollowed mark twice along with VS as of now and that could change early tomorrow with VS being the first three timer of triple hundred.

Also this is VS's fourth score of 250+.   Only the incomparable Sir Donald has more knocks that high and tall.  He has 5 of them which crossed the 250+ mark.

errr Ramji .. have you forgotten that you were calling for Shewag's dropping just yesterday? 

[12th_Man]

Sehwag only plays for records and is about accumulating 300 + scores.

[12th_Man]

Sehwag only plays for records and is about accumulating 300 + scores.

Before you guys castigate me for this, I hope you understand the refernece to some other players.

[12th_Man]

MVijay may not get to bat second time. I think india will declare if they bat an hour after tea today. Or let us say 700 run mark. That way they can use one hr today and hopefully some moisture tomorrow.

[ramshorns]

Another 16 runs tomorrow will make VS the first player in history to score three triple hundreds.  If he gets to it and no reason to believe he will not after a goodnight's rest that record will not be broken anytime soon despite the advancements in scoring rates in ODI's.

It takes lot more than scoring fast to get to a triple hundred.  Even the prolific Lara and Bradman only managed to cross that hollowed mark twice along with VS as of now and that could change early tomorrow with VS being the first three timer of triple hundred.

Also this is VS's fourth score of 250+.   Only the incomparable Sir Donald has more knocks that high and tall.  He has 5 of them which crossed the 250+ mark.

errr Ramji .. have you forgotten that you were calling for Shewag's dropping just yesterday? 

I still stand by what I said.

1) Vijay is in there as a stand-in for GG by far the best batsman over the last 16 months in Tests in a line-up of VS/GG/RD/SRT/VVS.  All one needs to do is go and analyse each of his knocks in that timeframe and compare them with others.  He has been a virtual run machine.  So in that scenario for Vijay to play as an opener his natural spot there is only VS's spot available if one thinks that he needs a continuity for whatever reason.   I do not for a second think or ever said along those lines but that is the option should someone want to make a change.

2) Vijay is not a pr-oven commodity yet or a talent on display that warrants a reshuffle in the order to accommodate him.  Not when you have a line up that has RD/SRT/VVS and specially when they are producing series after series in the recent past.  If this was prior to the NZ series when RD was in a rut then may be we could have advocated such a move but then RD proved what he is made up of.   So that possibility is also gone.  And YS is coming to grips with the Test cricket and doing ok at the No. 6 spot.  So that is not an option either.

Given all that Vijay as good as he is appearing to be again the two Tests he appeared in are in tailor made subcontinental tracks is an excellent option should we need to use him Tests as an opener for some reason.  But that is where things stand as of now.

[ramshorns]

Nice analysis by Majrekar on today's play.   Listen in.

http://www.cricinfo.com/talk/content/current/multimedia/437957.html

[12th_Man]

Nice analysis by Majrekar on today's play.   Listen in.

http://www.cricinfo.com/talk/content/current/multimedia/437957.html

I think he(SManjerkar) starts talking abt records too early.
VS should just focus to play first 10 overs tomorrow. Then get back to the session playing. Records would come in way. Only when he gets to 350 + or 375 + , the next milestone should be set. Baby steps at times work.

[Cover Point]

But it would be cool to see a triple century.

now let me come to the real analysis.

Why is it that Delhi has to be carrying the rest of India in Cricket. All the triple centuries ever scored by any Indian is coming from Delhi (its from migrants from Haryana ... but that does not help my theory so we will ignore it). How much can Delhi give? I mean the rest of the country screws up and its either Gambhir or Sehwag that is saving their skin. If its not them then it is Nehra doing it. If its not him then it is Virat Kohli. Earlier too it was Chetan Chauhan that kept the opening batting going and really made Gavaskar what he became. How come the madrasis and the mumbaikars and the bengalis not doing their part? We gave the world a MANOJ Prabhakar just to make Srinath look good. We gave the world Madan Lal just to make Kapil look good.

Not only in cricket but also in other spheres Delhi has to take all the burden. Delhi-ites go out of their way to be rude to everyone so that when the visitors go to other parts of the country it APPEARS better in comparison. We house all the politicians so you dont have to. We set new standards in corruption ... again to make the rest of the country look better. Though they have failed in that (Bihar and UP take the cake ... not to talk about Khoda or whatever that name is).

We may not have the equivalent of a Thakray but that is just an abberation.

Despite their greatness, we live on selflessly and humbly without as much as taking one bit of credit. I think Delhi should secede from the rest of the country. Why let the others drag us down?

[12th_Man]

You will also host commonwealth games to show how ill equipped you are.

[Cover Point]

You will also host commonwealth games to show how ill equipped you are.

anything for the country. We make even Bengal look better ..... well maybe not they have a skill of their own too 

[Blwe_torch]

I wish VS gets to his triple ton tomorrow..............from 0...India is now 3 up!....well almost, hope he is not jinxed!

[12th_Man]

now gambhir can be permanently let go

While i think it is ok for GG to take off, I was asking this to myself:
1. Had GG been given a maiden oppurtunity to play this test for India with same circumstances (sisters marriage), What would had been his priorities?
2. A new player who make a cut in test team e.g  MVijay in early days IMO will play the test over a marriage event.
While I can't speak on behalf on everybody, but i think it is easier for somebody like GG or SRT or RD to attend a family event than a new enterant.

[keep-it-cool]

Another 16 runs tomorrow will make VS the first player in history to score three triple hundreds.  If he gets to it and no reason to believe he will not after a goodnight's rest that record will not be broken anytime soon despite the advancements in scoring rates in ODI's.

It takes lot more than scoring fast to get to a triple hundred.  Even the prolific Lara and Bradman only managed to cross that hollowed mark twice along with VS as of now and that could change early tomorrow with VS being the first three timer of triple hundred.

Also this is VS's fourth score of 250+.   Only the incomparable Sir Donald has more knocks that high and tall.  He has 5 of them which crossed the 250+ mark.

errr Ramji .. have you forgotten that you were calling for Shewag's dropping just yesterday? 

I still stand by what I said.

1) Vijay is in there as a stand-in for GG by far the best batsman over the last 16 months in Tests in a line-up of VS/GG/RD/SRT/VVS.  All one needs to do is go and analyse each of his knocks in that timeframe and compare them with others.  He has been a virtual run machine.  So in that scenario for Vijay to play as an opener his natural spot there is only VS's spot available if one thinks that he needs a continuity for whatever reason.   I do not for a second think or ever said along those lines but that is the option should someone want to make a change.

2) Vijay is not a pr-oven commodity yet or a talent on display that warrants a reshuffle in the order to accommodate him.  Not when you have a line up that has RD/SRT/VVS and specially when they are producing series after series in the recent past.  If this was prior to the NZ series when RD was in a rut then may be we could have advocated such a move but then RD proved what he is made up of.   So that possibility is also gone.  And YS is coming to grips with the Test cricket and doing ok at the No. 6 spot.  So that is not an option either.

Given all that Vijay as good as he is appearing to be again the two Tests he appeared in are in tailor made subcontinental tracks is an excellent option should we need to use him Tests as an opener for some reason.  But that is where things stand as of now.

Well said. Completely agree.

I wouldn't mind trying Vijay in place of Yuvraj ....but not on the basis of 3 test innings. Even Yuvraj has some very good knocks to show.

What I really dont mind is keeping Vijay as an option not only for the openers' slots but also for any middle order slot that may fall vacant due to injury / non availability. It is unfair on Badri ...but tough luck.

[keep-it-cool]

But it would be cool to see a triple century.

now let me come to the real analysis.

Why is it that Delhi has to be carrying the rest of India in Cricket. All the triple centuries ever scored by any Indian is coming from Delhi (its from migrants from Haryana ... but that does not help my theory so we will ignore it). How much can Delhi give? I mean the rest of the country screws up and its either Gambhir or Sehwag that is saving their skin. If its not them then it is Nehra doing it. If its not him then it is Virat Kohli. Earlier too it was Chetan Chauhan that kept the opening batting going and really made Gavaskar what he became. How come the madrasis and the mumbaikars and the bengalis not doing their part? We gave the world a MANOJ Prabhakar just to make Srinath look good. We gave the world Madan Lal just to make Kapil look good.

Not only in cricket but also in other spheres Delhi has to take all the burden. Delhi-ites go out of their way to be rude to everyone so that when the visitors go to other parts of the country it APPEARS better in comparison. We house all the politicians so you dont have to. We set new standards in corruption ... again to make the rest of the country look better. Though they have failed in that (Bihar and UP take the cake ... not to talk about Khoda or whatever that name is).

We may not have the equivalent of a Thakray but that is just an abberation.

Despite their greatness, we live on selflessly and humbly without as much as taking one bit of credit. I think Delhi should secede from the rest of the country. Why let the others drag us down?

We gave Agarkar to make everyone else look good. That alone cancels out all of the above and puts us in the lead by around 300 pts ...

And, while we are at it, we can still give Agarkar back once again if required

Aur bolo

[flute]

question: is it now time to put Viru alongside hayden, RD, Ponting,VVS etc? not comparing but in the same bracket in test cricket?

 I did not mention SRT for a reason.

the problem is, when he fails, he looks like he doesn't care for the team..an RD can look good even in getting out as if he gave his 100%, but a VS comes across as arrogant when he fails.

[keep-it-cool]

question: is it now time to put Viru alongside hayden, RD, Ponting,VVS etc? not comparing but in the same bracket in test cricket?

I have always rated him alongside most of these guys ...the only difference being that the others have played through or almost through their whole career whereas Veeru has some time to go. Dont forget, it is only towards the end of their careers that a lot of the above players went through poor phases ....Veeru may yet have his to come. So a fair comparison is only possible after he goes through that entire cycle.

I did not mention SRT for a reason.

the problem is, when he fails, he looks like he doesn't care for the team..an RD can look good even in getting out as if he gave his 100%, but a VS comes across as arrogant when he fails.

I dont see this as a factor at all. What "appears" need not be so ...there are people in all walks of life who take things in their stride, dont consider it the end of the world ..for all we know Veeru is one of them.

And the way he gets out (arrogant or careless) is a function of how he plays ...you cant get the upside without the downside. It is because of this attitude (that of not being worried about getting out or looking silly doing so) that he is able to score the way he does. Else he would morph into another kind of batsman altogether.

[keep-it-cool]

now gambhir can be permanently let go

While i think it is ok for GG to take off, I was asking this to myself:
1. Had GG been given a maiden oppurtunity to play this test for India with same circumstances (sisters marriage), What would had been his priorities?

It is an unfair question. Who is to say he would not have done the same? Dhoni rested from a test series in SL when his place in the test side was not a certainty. VVS refused to open even though that was possibly the only way he could have entered the team at one point.

2. A new player who make a cut in test team e.g  MVijay in early days IMO will play the test over a marriage event.
While I can't speak on behalf on everybody, but i think it is easier for somebody like GG or SRT or RD to attend a family event than a new enterant.

Obviously it is easier. But that is the case in any walk of life. If you are in a new job, you would be always more apprehensive of taking one or a few days off. It boils down to priorities. And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments) than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

[flute]

And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments) than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

of course Southies are more practical and less prone to being emotional, they are more about real things than symbolic stuff..

for example compare hindi movies to tamil/telugu movies, hindi hereos personality is still like their 50s,60s heroes, except in more affluent settings and more beautiful environs, hindi heroes in a lot of areas seem gay, crying/overly sentimental/shouting in emotion etc.

comparatively tamil/telugu ones have moved on, they are less emotional and the whole cinema moved away from too much sentiment and more towards realistic/subtle play with emotion.

on top it, north is still wallowing in communal/caste conflict to a large extent because it is easy to arouse people in the gangetic plain in the name of religion/temple/caste etc.

in the south , extremist/divisive forces find it more difficult to take root.

Mind you, above is not to say, south is completely progressive and is impossible to rouse people in emotion, but I am talking about degrees here.

since, above is not about WB/SG/ganulians etc, may be can have some decent discussion about it in some other split thread without descending into personal fights..

[kban1]

the problem is, when he fails, he looks like he doesn't care for the team..an RD can look good even in getting out as if he gave his 100%, but a VS comes across as arrogant when he fails.

isnt that a perception issue ? Unless the batsman throws away his wicket, this judgment is perception

Bottomline is both fail but an attacking player like VS comes across as careless or arrogant while a defensive player like RD looks like he gave it his best or tried to negotiate the ball but failed (looked good while getting out).


The same is apparent in the case of form too --

When a naturally attacking player / strokemaker loses form, he looks totally out of sorts while an equally out of form defensive player / technical bat looks to the common eye as making an effort to do better.

When in reality, the ease with which the former category batsman scores runs when in form provides for a greater contrast when he is out of form, and thereby perpetuates the theory that he is unwilling to fight it out, lazy, arrogant or totally out of form scratching around.

It is precisely why a VVS, Gower, SG, evoke adjectives such as lazy, arrogant, completely out of touch, scratching around while a Dravid, SMG, Boycott, Gatting would appear to be diligent, trying to work out their problems, fighting their way out of a form slump (because the contrast between their in form playing style and their out of form playing style is rather muted).

Perception, not reality.

[Blwe_torch]

the problem is, when he fails, he looks like he doesn't care for the team..an RD can look good even in getting out as if he gave his 100%, but a VS comes across as arrogant when he fails.

isnt that a perception issue ? Unless the batsman throws away his wicket, this judgment is perception

Bottomline is both fail but an attacking player like VS comes across as careless or arrogant while a defensive player like RD looks like he gave it his best or tried to negotiate the ball but failed (looked good while getting out).


The same is apparent in the case of form too --

When a naturally attacking player / strokemaker loses form, he looks totally out of sorts while an equally out of form defensive player / technical bat looks to the common eye as making an effort to do better.

When in reality, the ease with which the former category batsman scores runs when in form provides for a greater contrast when he is out of form, and thereby perpetuates the theory that he is unwilling to fight it out, lazy, arrogant or totally out of form scratching around.

It is precisely why a VVS, Gower, SG, evoke adjectives such as lazy, arrogant, completely out of touch, scratching around while a Dravid, SMG, Boycott, Gatting would appear to be diligent, trying to work out their problems, fighting their way out of a form slump (because the contrast between their in form playing style and their out of form playing style is rather muted).

Perception, not reality.

Very well written....and you have a strong point.
Yeah...Dravid appears to be working hard all the time................it explains.

[flute]

the problem is, when he fails, he looks like he doesn't care for the team..an RD can look good even in getting out as if he gave his 100%, but a VS comes across as arrogant when he fails.

isnt that a perception issue ? Unless the batsman throws away his wicket, this judgment is perception

Bottomline is both fail but an attacking player like VS comes across as careless or arrogant while a defensive player like RD looks like he gave it his best or tried to negotiate the ball but failed (looked good while getting out).


The same is apparent in the case of form too --

When a naturally attacking player / strokemaker loses form, he looks totally out of sorts while an equally out of form defensive player / technical bat looks to the common eye as making an effort to do better.

When in reality, the ease with which the former category batsman scores runs when in form provides for a greater contrast when he is out of form, and thereby perpetuates the theory that he is unwilling to fight it out, lazy, arrogant or totally out of form scratching around.

It is precisely why a VVS, Gower, SG, evoke adjectives such as lazy, arrogant, completely out of touch, scratching around while a Dravid, SMG, Boycott, Gatting would appear to be diligent, trying to work out their problems, fighting their way out of a form slump (because the contrast between their in form playing style and their out of form playing style is rather muted).

Perception, not reality.

kban, I am aware of the perceptio part of it but even accounting for perception, VS does have a tendency to be slack sometimes, remember the incident hwne he had to lose his wicket and we had to lose the match because he failed to ground the bat after taking the single leisurely?

[keep-it-cool]

And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments) than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

of course Southies are more practical and less prone to being emotional, they are more about real things than symbolic stuff..

for example compare hindi movies to tamil/telugu movies, hindi hereos personality is still like their 50s,60s heroes, except in more affluent settings and more beautiful environs, hindi heroes in a lot of areas seem gay, crying/overly sentimental/shouting in emotion etc.

comparatively tamil/telugu ones have moved on, they are less emotional and the whole cinema moved away from too much sentiment and more towards realistic/subtle play with emotion.

on top it, north is still wallowing in communal/caste conflict to a large extent because it is easy to arouse people in the gangetic plain in the name of religion/temple/caste etc.

in the south , extremist/divisive forces find it more difficult to take root.

Mind you, above is not to say, south is completely progressive and is impossible to rouse people in emotion, but I am talking about degrees here.

since, above is not about WB/SG/ganulians etc, may be can have some decent discussion about it in some other split thread without descending into personal fights..

Oh please ...it is just about the issues involved. As an example, are the bandhs and extreme trade unionism in Kerala that has led to collapse of industry practical?

As for movies, let us not even go there ....Rajani, Chiranjeevi, Vijayakanth, TR, Nagarjuna - subtle?? Indra-The Tiger, Narsimha-The Iron man, Sivaji- The Boss - subtle??

Mammoothy and Mohan Lal playing 20 year olds romancing Juhi Chawla when they are nearing 50 - realistic??

Anyway, I really dont understand why considering a sibling's wedding more important than other things is being "less practical".

[flute]

Anyway, I really dont understand why considering a sibling's wedding more important than other things is being "less practical".

well it depends on those other things NO?
and those other things depend on the individual's circumstances, for example, same gambhir may not have missed this test if it were his debut test, but it still won't reduce his love for his sister. I am talking about getting hyper and jumping up and down about missing sis wedding, I saw one or two examples of people screwing their careers over sis wedding, one guy from bihar and another guy haryana, both my consultants. They are so torn and so not able to make a decision and in so much mess that one guy completely missed both, na contract aya, nah sis ka wedding attend kiya

Whole discussion is not about gambhir and his sis wedding..it is now north Vs South..

[flute]

And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments)a than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

of course Southies are more practical and less prone to being emotional, they are more about real things than symbolic stuff..

for example compare hindi movies to tamil/telugu movies, hindi hereos personality is still like their 50s,60s heroes, except in more affluent settings and more beautiful environs, hindi heroes in a lot of areas seem gay, crying/overly sentimental/shouting in emotion etc.

comparatively tamil/telugu ones have moved on, they are less emotional and the whole cinema moved away from too much sentiment and more towards realistic/subtle play with emotion.

on top it, north is still wallowing in communal/caste conflict to a large extent because it is easy to arouse people in the gangetic plain in the name of religion/temple/caste etc.

in the south , extremist/divisive forces find it more difficult to take root.

Mind you, above is not to say, south is completely progressive and is impossible to rouse people in emotion, but I am talking about degrees here.

since, above is not about WB/SG/ganulians etc, may be can have some decent discussion about it in some other split thread without descending into personal fights..

Oh please ...it is just about the issues involved. As an example, are the bandhs and extreme trade unionism in Kerala that has led to collapse of industry practical?

As for movies, let us not even go there ....Rajani, Chiranjeevi, Vijayakanth, TR, Nagarjuna - subtle?? Indra-The Tiger, Narsimha-The Iron man, Sivaji- The Boss - subtle??

Mammoothy and Mohan Lal playing 20 year olds romancing Juhi Chawla when they are nearing 50 - realistic??

Anyway, I really dont understand why considering a sibling's wedding more important than other things is being "less practical".

KIC, as for movie exmaple, you got to come at me with more than some old exmaples to discount my premise. I talked about moving on, getting away from sentimality,emotion, and that trend is very very clearly visible in south movies. Mind you, we are talkign about trend here. In contract, hindi movies still come across as same old stuff, same emotion , same snetiment etc., packaged in a new bottle,  video albums without story but lots of style and skin, but bottom line, same sentimentality, same wimpish heroes.

[dextrous]

And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments) than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

of course Southies are more practical and less prone to being emotional, they are more about real things than symbolic stuff..

for example compare hindi movies to tamil/telugu movies, hindi hereos personality is still like their 50s,60s heroes, except in more affluent settings and more beautiful environs, hindi heroes in a lot of areas seem gay, crying/overly sentimental/shouting in emotion etc.

comparatively tamil/telugu ones have moved on, they are less emotional and the whole cinema moved away from too much sentiment and more towards realistic/subtle play with emotion.

on top it, north is still wallowing in communal/caste conflict to a large extent because it is easy to arouse people in the gangetic plain in the name of religion/temple/caste etc.

in the south , extremist/divisive forces find it more difficult to take root.

Mind you, above is not to say, south is completely progressive and is impossible to rouse people in emotion, but I am talking about degrees here.

since, above is not about WB/SG/ganulians etc, may be can have some decent discussion about it in some other split thread without descending into personal fights..

wow...i guess this is called, view from the deep south.

[flute]

And from whatever I have observed so far, it is more common for a south Indian to miss a sibling's wedding (due to other commitments) than for north indians ..the latter often are shocked at even the mere thought.

of course Southies are more practical and less prone to being emotional, they are more about real things than symbolic stuff..

for example compare hindi movies to tamil/telugu movies, hindi hereos personality is still like their 50s,60s heroes, except in more affluent settings and more beautiful environs, hindi heroes in a lot of areas seem gay, crying/overly sentimental/shouting in emotion etc.

comparatively tamil/telugu ones have moved on, they are less emotional and the whole cinema moved away from too much sentiment and more towards realistic/subtle play with emotion.

on top it, north is still wallowing in communal/caste conflict to a large extent because it is easy to arouse people in the gangetic plain in the name of religion/temple/caste etc.

in the south , extremist/divisive forces find it more difficult to take root.

Mind you, above is not to say, south is completely progressive and is impossible to rouse people in emotion, but I am talking about degrees here.

since, above is not about WB/SG/ganulians etc, may be can have some decent discussion about it in some other split thread without descending into personal fights..

wow...i guess this is called, view from the deep south.

of course did not expect any other type of response....true to form

[Cover Point]

now gambhir can be permanently let go

While i think it is ok for GG to take off, I was asking this to myself:
1. Had GG been given a maiden oppurtunity to play this test for India with same circumstances (sisters marriage), What would had been his priorities?
2. A new player who make a cut in test team e.g  MVijay in early days IMO will play the test over a marriage event.
While I can't speak on behalf on everybody, but i think it is easier for somebody like GG or SRT or RD to attend a family event than a new enterant.

ofcourse. GG plays international cricket 300 days a year (or is engaged on a tour that long). Easy to take time off from that. Vijay plays international cricket 5 days in 26 years .... there is a difference.

[flute]

now gambhir can be permanently let go

While i think it is ok for GG to take off, I was asking this to myself:
1. Had GG been given a maiden oppurtunity to play this test for India with same circumstances (sisters marriage), What would had been his priorities?
2. A new player who make a cut in test team e.g  MVijay in early days IMO will play the test over a marriage event.
While I can't speak on behalf on everybody, but i think it is easier for somebody like GG or SRT or RD to attend a family event than a new enterant.

ofcourse. GG plays international cricket 300 days a year (or is engaged on a tour that long). Easy to take time off from that. Vijay plays international cricket 5 days in 26 years .... there is a difference.

so are you saying, 3 yrs ago, Gambhir would have given his arm to play this test match but now he doesn't care because he gets to play so many other tests?

[Cover Point]

now gambhir can be permanently let go

While i think it is ok for GG to take off, I was asking this to myself:
1. Had GG been given a maiden oppurtunity to play this test for India with same circumstances (sisters marriage), What would had been his priorities?
2. A new player who make a cut in test team e.g  MVijay in early days IMO will play the test over a marriage event.
While I can't speak on behalf on everybody, but i think it is easier for somebody like GG or SRT or RD to attend a family event than a new enterant.

ofcourse. GG plays international cricket 300 days a year (or is engaged on a tour that long). Easy to take time off from that. Vijay plays international cricket 5 days in 26 years .... there is a difference.

so are you saying, 3 yrs ago, Gambhir would have given his arm to play this test match but now he doesn't care because he gets to play so many other tests?

yes. thats exactly what i am saying. Or should i say now he plays so much INTERNATIONAL cricket (not just test cricket) that it is like a job.

[WicketView]

Gone caught and bowled Murali

[WicketView]

Dravid was out too .... but that was hard to pick up.

[ganavk]

RD is out now..unnecessary shot chasing the ball way outside off.

[Cover Point]

lakhan 1 off 15 balls ... finally opens the account

[broadbat]

India declare with lead of 333 and a Dhoni 100. Tricky couple of overs (3 in fact) left for SL today.

[Cover Point]

and those tricky overs bowled by spinners.

spinners opening from both ends. wow

[ramshorns]

Dravid was out too .... but that was hard to pick up.

I have seen that replay a few times of that nick from Dravid.  International umpires especially the good one's are expected to pick those.  There was both sound and deviation on that edge and the umpire goofed that up.  Good thing is Dravid did not punish SL for that lapse from the Umpire and soon perished.

[ramshorns]

lakhan 1 off 15 balls ... finally opens the account

But made it up for taking the time to settle down with a fluent 61 further runs in 76 subsequent balls he faced before getting dismissed for 62.