Gollum

Too much hate for Pandya here. He may be an irritating asshole but as long he doesn't harm others (except maybe Pakistanis) or indulge in fixing, politics I am ok with him. He is at an age where mind wanders, when a person gets too rich/famous too quickly and isn't mature (and educated) enough to handle it this is the result. He needs a good PR manager and mentors...don't want him going down the Kambli route. Sure criticize him for his social media antics, public behavior etc but we need to stay within limits. No need for racist or classist coinage of words to describe him. Hope Kohli takes him under his wing because he was much worse in this department 6-7 years back but now has significantly improved. But if you guys wanna let off steam somewhere you can start with Yash Birla, compared to him Pandya is like the second coming of the Buddha.

@FischerTal every time you post in this thread, mera din kharaab ho jaata hai yaar . How long will this * continue man? God give strength to our security personnel posted all across India.

Last 2 days 2 brave sons of the soil have lost their lives because of jihadi swine , heartfelt gratitude to constables Tanveer Ahmad and Aashiq Hussain. These heroes will be avenged in the coming days, the dream of caliphate flag in Kahmir will be shattered very soon and all cockroaches, local and foreign will be brought to task. Peace loving Kashmiris deserve infrastructure, education, healthcare, sanitation, skill centres...not this mujahideen and stone pelting bakwaas. Ummer Fayaz, Ayub Pandit, Aurangzeb, Tanveer Ahmad, Aashiq Hussain etc represent the silent majority of the valley and they all understood the evil they were fighting...we have no option but to go full throttle now, we owe the relatives of these bravehearts at least that much. Our side too will suffer casualties but they won't be forgotten, hum log un sab jawanon ke saamne dhool hai. There are other cockroaches too in the political class (Ghulam Nabi Azad latest entrant) who have nothing but contempt for our security forces, they ought to be treated like vermin.

And this makes you happy, why? Does it make him any less of a player than what he was? Even Sanga, Waugh, KP, G. Smith, ABDV, Amla, Ambrose, Steyn, Waqar, Donald, Kumble etc failed to make the cut.

You want more or none? Then how come we had 3 and 4 test series against a much weaker WI all these years? When a handful of teams play this sport we can't afford to be so choosy.

Beat Pakistan 4-0 today but not happy with the performance. Until the end of Q3 we were being dominated by them, only their pathetic conversion saved us. Repeat that performance against any gora team and we will be 0-5 down in no time. Why did we sack Oltmans when we were making progress under him ? We were silver medalists last time but overall have an absolutely pathetic record in this tournament. The teams are: Argentina Australia Belgium India Netherlands (Hosts) Pakistan If we make it to the bronze medal match it will be an achievement. Tomorrow we play Argentina (Rio Gold Medallists), a team we have done well against (relatively) of late.

Poll attached, so do vote. Right now 2000s Aussies are leading 3-1. I am expecting more votes for the Aussies because most of us have grown up watching those beasts in action. Wish one day we have a similar Indian team to talk about.

Had WI been in Pak's place Roy would have had to face 20 more overs of WI quick bowling , bahut kismat chale toh 180 bana dete wahaan. That WI fast bowling was something else man, by any chance did you watch the U-19 WC in 2016 which WI won beating us in the summit clash...similar modus operandi was the hallmark of that legendary WI team. 30-40 overs of pace upfront and not just any pace..imagine Steyn, Ambrose, Bond and Donald bowling together non-stop.

@Jimmy Cliff great post as always. I remember Holding was asked this question after the 2007 WC..he said with helmets Australia is better, without helmets WI . Ponting once when asked about Australia's dream ODI opponent said he would prefer to play 1996 Lanka as that was the highest level of ODI cricket he had ever seen, that cheeky b@stard trying to downplay the greatness of Aus' only true competitor, Lloyd's West Indies.

May be that's why Kohli is ill treating Rahul, may have observed some vibes between the other 2...as such he reeks of insecurity.

Applying your definition Nadal is more attacking than Federer which no one can possibly admit. Propensity to limit unforced errors even if one can't find winners is the analogy. BTW Garner was similar to Mcgrath, in fact a better ODI bowler...way harder to hit because the ball would either come at chest height or toe crushers delivered from a tree top. Mcgrath wasn't an attacking bowler by any stretch of imagination, he preferred to tease the batsmen, test the patience, make it a battle of attrition, give no loose deliveries, be consistent whole day....he was a master no doubt just like how Nadal and Carlsen are in their respective fields. Examples of proper attacking bowlers are Marshall, Steyn, Waqar, Donald who had the ability to blow apart world class batsmen on dead tracks with their skill set, Mcgrath/Pollock/Ambrose were a different breed.

You missed the green grapes part...here let me refresh those memories.

Agree that in tests Aussies were way hungrier and pushed boundaries to win matches...WI were content with draws while Aussies risked defeats to search for victories...a rare trait at that level. In fact because of their brand of attacking test cricket, red ball cricket these days features team trying to push for victories more often rather than limp dick draws..in that aspect 2000s Aussies were trendsetters. But let us stick to ODI cricket here. How were Aussies aggressive and WI defensive? In ODI cricket I would argue that offensive brand of cricket entails aggressive bowling more than aggressive batting. WI always looked to get the opposition all out, the 4 quicks would continuously bowl upfront for 35 odd overs and aim to end the contest there. In case of Aussies the focus was on limiting damage rather than searching for wickets. Scorecard pressure while batting 1st and efficient chasing of moderate totals seemed to be the mantra. WI would look to bowl the opposition out no matter what. You can call Aussies more efficient because with evolution all aspects of the game tend to get more efficient, but at least in ODI cricket WI weren't defensive. Spectators would still throng to see the fearsome WI quicks in action and get viewing pleasure from Viv/Greenidge making mincemeat of bowlers. I don't quite catch the drift of philosophy you are talking about.

As bad as he is padosis churn out proper sample pieces regularly. Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal must top these cringe lists.

2003 team didn't have Warne (doping ban). 1999 team had both but also Moody and Reiffel. Besides that batting order was yet to peak, 2003 and 2007 had much better batting line ups. 1999 Aussie campaign was quite unconvincing tbh whereas in 2003 and 2007 they swept through the field. What do you think of Marshall-Garner-Roberts-Holding?