zen

In Ind conditions, by and large, all teams are competitive. It would depend upon the form of the players. Team A of course has a good spin attack so can be more lethal on day 4 and day 5. Team A can play a pacer from Ghavri, Prabhakar, Roger Binny, Chetan Sharma, Madan Lal, etc., as well if required.

Who are your favorite cricketers and how do they stack up against the top performers? For a cricketer to qualify on your list, you must have watched at least 3 years of cricket of the cricketer. Try to limit your list to 3 cricketers. Below is my list in no particular order: Virender Sehwag Tests: I see Sehwag as the most impactful test batsman from India. He revolutionized opening in tests. There is probably no one like him. I also like the fact that he has played a few gems (esp. v Pak) and hit big 100s to unsettle the bowlers, helping others in the team to big scores as well at times. He would certainly be in my Indian AT Test 11, however, I cannot find a place for him in a World AT Test 11 at least in the first team. ODIs: In ODIs, again he has a class leading SR for his time but lacks consistency relatively speaking (a trait associated with high SR batting). He was Ind's best ODI batsman in the 2008-2011 period (Link). Will find a place in my Ind AT 11. There are more optimal options than him for a World AT11 place but like in tests, can get into 2nd or 3rd 11. Hardik Pandya Nothing much to write about at the moment except potential and a few performances here and there. What I like about him is his clean hitting capabilities, fearless attitude, and ability to bowl at 140+. He is among the unique cricketers that I have seen emerge from India. If you look at Kapil Dev, he had great potential but it was not translated into matching performances. For e.g., in ODIs, Kapil went without scoring a 50 in the last 6-7 years of his career. If a player of Kapil's caliber goes through that, it hurts. I hope that Pandya can utilize most of his potential and give India most of what it missed out through Kapil's inconsistency with the bat. If you want to encourage this talented cricketer, make sure to join his fan club - Link To be relatively neutral, my list would need at least an international cricketer. Now I like many cricketers from the pre 90 era but have not watched 3 years of their cricket. Post 90 too, there are a lot options. I think I will have to go back to the 1992 World Cup, where I saw some great cricket. I had not seen a consistent performance like Martin Crowe's - both in batting and captaincy. The atmosphere at stadiums when Crowe was playing was unbelievable. The commentators' energy levels went up as well. Even though I write against Imran Khan (ball tampering for e.g.), I am impressed by his captaincy and performances - winning and performing in the 89 Nehru Cup and 92 World Cup. He is a cricketer who worked hard to improve his game. And of course there are others as well. Let me go with: Martin Crowe: There is a thread on him which talks about his highlights - Link Tests and ODIs: As good as any modern batsman but will probably miss out on a place in the first World AT11 unless you consider his captaincy as well. Of course, an automatic choice for a place in NZ AT11. What about a hypothetical place in an Ind 11? I rate him on par with the top Indian batsmen so will not only find a place but can also captain it.

Yes, based on form, approach, and the qualities I want in my team. This thread is based on cricinfo's analysis though which has not broken down the numbers further (unless one feels Amla is among the top 3 based on it)

I agree, which is one of my points - we can be Gujaratis/Tamils/.... among Indians, Indian among nationalities, South Asian among regions Much like how an Emirati can be of an Arab Tribe in UAE, Emirati as well as Middle Eastern We can call ourselves Indians. We can be a part of the South Asian community. Others may see us as South Asians

There is no this or that. As mentioned before, we can be both Indians (nation) and South Asians (region) Sri Lankan is not an Indian. He is Sri Lankan and a South Asian

Cricinfo has compared the two "statistically" while asking who is better among the two as opener - Link ^ With Amla in there, I am not sure if it strengthens or weakens, Rohit numbers vs. Sachin's. ^ Appears as if Cricinfo has started using my INNS/100 metric as well

Overall, he has 36 5-ers in only 150 innings. Best by any pace bowler post 1970.

Post 1970 View overall figures [change view] Opposition team Australia or England or India or New Zealand or Pakistan or South Africa or Sri Lanka or West Indies Home or away away (home of opposition) or neutral venue Start of match date greater than or equal to 1 Jan 1970 Ordered by five wickets in an inns (descending) Page 1 of 30 Showing 1 - 50 of 1463 First Previous Next Last Return to query menu Cleared query menu Overall figures Player Span Mat Inns Balls Runs Wkts BBI BBM Ave Econ SR 5 10 Sir RJ Hadlee (NZ) 1973-1990 43 75 11255 4996 230 9/52 15/123 21.72 2.66 48.9 21 6 SK Warne (AUS) 1992-2006 73 138 20445 9138 372 7/94 12/246 24.56 2.68 54.9 21 6 GD McGrath (AUS) 1994-2005 57 110 13095 5613 268 8/38 10/78 20.94 2.57 48.8 18 1 M Muralitharan (ICC/SL) 1994-2009 49 76 15783 7254 252 9/65 16/220 28.78 2.75 62.6 18 6 Hadlee 21 5-ers in 75 innings!

# of 5-ers on its own do not tell the full story esp. without considering the number of matches played preferably excluding BD and Zim

Rewatched The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), a remake of the 1934 film. Nice entertaining film. Still holds up. Revisited North by Northwest (1959) as well. The finale at Mt. Rushmore is one of my favorite segments. Watching a good Hitchcock film is an experience in itself. You feel like you watched something really good (like having a great meal for e.g.) and the time was well spent.

There can be a difference b/w what we want to call ourselves and how we are categorized in our community and by others Gujarati/Pujnabi/Tamil/Bengali can be Indians as well as South Asians Among Gujaratis/Punjabis/Tamils, we can be Gujaratis/Punjabis/Tamils .... With Gujaratis and Punjabis/Tamils, we can be Indians .... With Indians, Sri Lankans, etc., we can be South Asians Conversely, we can be Gujaratis/Punjabis/Tamils among Indians, and Indians among South Asians Therefore, it can make sense to own various brands so it can align more with you

Yes, there are differences. But they are still from South Asia, Western Europe, etc. For a Spanish and French, there is a difference b/w them, but someone in Japan or Australia can categories them as Europeans. Or if Spanish, French, and Italians for e.g. can form a West European/European group in Japan/Australia. Rather than be like oh we are French, not Europeans (and that too to those who do not even care) can turn into a low margin game. It can make sense for a French or Spanish to own the European brand by aligning it more with French or Spanish culture, so when the term European is mentioned people think more of Spanish or French or etc.

I am not sure if Sharma is even good enough to be in MI team I hope he learns to get off the blocks relatively quickly. Many times, one has to wait for him to score a 100 before his impact can be felt

Many of them are Sachin fans who use Sharma to write against Kohli