Singh is King - Well Done Bhajji

[bigdhoni7]

Nitini was better than steyn throughout this test series. Morkel also outbowled him in this match.

[Desi Cartman]

bedi ki jal rahi hogi :cantstop:

[Kartikey]

Bhajji thoroughly deserved it. Second best spinner after Kumble in our team.

[Shehezaada]

Thought Steyn should have got the man of the series. He was pretty darn good' date=' bowling at 150 kph.[/quote'] Why? Steyn took 4-103 in the first innings on a flat deck. Excellent figures. Too bad that only one of them was a top order batsmen, Dhoni, the rest were Kumble, RP, and Bhajji Steyn took 5-23 in Ahemdabad. Again Excellent figures (no sarcasm here). Worth noting though as well that 3 of them were the two Singhs and Sreesanth 3-91 in the 2nd innings, two of them the two Singhs, and Ganguly being the other. 3-71 in Kanpur, getting VVS, Laxman, and Bhajji, wicketless in the other innings. 15 wickets. 9 of them tailenders. Comparing Bhajji, 13 wickets versus 6 (counting Morkel as a batsmen, if you don't like it then 11 versus 8). A MoS richly deserved. Disclaimer: No meanings here to run down Steyn after a brilliant series for him. He bowled with a lot of heart, fire, and earned respect. Although I hate his guts for coming down the wicket in his follow through and laughing at the batsmen, major props to him. He's got a great future.

[sm332]

top class efforts and gives me some succour in imagining a post Kumble team ... Chawla was deeply disappointing however.

[kumble_rocks]

Well done Harbhy! you proved me wrong ... Good to see him get out of the defensive ODI mode when bowling in this test series and actually flight the ball.

[Bumper]

I rate Bhajji no more than I do, Jaffer. Both are decent cricketers, in conditions loaded in favor of them. Dont be deluded to think Bhajji is a match winning bowler on normal test wickets. Did you guys see how Veeru made the ball talk yesterday ? Veeru turned the game in his first two overs. Three wickets in one third the number of overs from Bhajji, eight wickets overall @20 for the series. Puts Bhajji's performances in perspective!

[ludhianvi]

I rate Bhajji no more than I do, Jaffer. Both are decent cricketers, in conditions loaded in favor of them. Dont be deluded to think Bhajji is a match winning bowler on normal test wickets. Did you guys see how Veeru made the ball talk yesterday ? Veeru turned the game in his first two overs. Three wickets in one third the number of overs from Bhajji, eight wickets overall @20 for the series. Puts Bhajji's performances in perspective!

Also puts Kumble's performances in perspective:cantstop:

[Bumper]

Also puts Kumble's performances in perspective:cantstop:

Didnt know that he played on a pitch tailored made for him ?

[Shehezaada]

I rate Bhajji no more than I do, Jaffer. Both are decent cricketers, in conditions loaded in favor of them. Dont be deluded to think Bhajji is a match winning bowler on normal test wickets. Did you guys see how Veeru made the ball talk yesterday ? Veeru turned the game in his first two overs. Three wickets in one third the number of overs from Bhajji, eight wickets overall @20 for the series. Puts Bhajji's performances in perspective!

Ganguly and Tendulkar have turned the game around numerous times with their bowling as well. Ganguly, by that logic, won us the game in Delhi against PAK with his wickets on the 4th morning. Are you going to say his spell puts Kumble's or Sharma's stats in perspective? The same Harbhajan Singh toiled away for 45 overs on the flattest chennai pitch and picked up 5 wickets. Bhajji has picked up 19 wickets in this series, and 7 in this match where it suited him. The first two he played were flat (the 76 all out owing to good conditions for seam bowling). 12 wickets in 2 matches on normal test wickets is pretty good.

[silv3rado]

good post Shehzaada I think this analogy can also be put when boling in seaming conditions. Like someone like Ganguly picks up 2-3 wickets and a seasoned seamer like Zaheer Khan picks up 'only' 4 wickets. And then to say it really puts Zaheer's performance into perspective.

[Bumper]

Ganguly and Tendulkar have turned the game around numerous times with their bowling as well. Ganguly, by that logic, won us the game in Delhi against PAK with his wickets on the 4th morning. Are you going to say his spell puts Kumble's or Sharma's stats in perspective? The same Harbhajan Singh toiled away for 45 overs on the flattest chennai pitch and picked up 5 wickets. Bhajji has picked up 19 wickets in this series, and 7 in this match where it suited him. The first two he played were flat (the 76 all out owing to good conditions for seam bowling). 12 wickets in 2 matches on normal test wickets is pretty good.

Veeru picked up two crucial top order wickets, the only two batsmen (Smith & Kallis) who were between India & victory. I dont know how you can compare this effort vs Ganguly's in the Delhi test (Ganguly took out Malcolm Sami & Misbah when he was trying to slog away). There are numerous instances of part timers picking up useful wickets at crucial junctures in the game. Thats hardly the point I was trying to make. On a spitting cobra of a pitch, taking 7 wickets (just 3 top order wickets out the seven), is not worth going gaga over. Decent effort, but nothing to celebrate about.

[umpire]

All of you are missing the point, just like batting, bowling is about the pair. How pair of bowler bowl in tandem. The key is both should keep the pressure on. Sehwag is brilliant spinner, I would not call him part timer. He is more than part timer. Also remember bhajji opened the bowling, that was key moment of the game. His effort meant that SA never ever got the quick starts that they were getting.

[Predator_05]

Thought Steyn should have got the man of the series. He was pretty darn good' date=' bowling at 150 kph.[/quote'] Before the 3rd day of this final test, i would have agreed with you; but the way he 'bowled' (read: sprayed) to India's #10 and #11s killed any chance he might have had of winning that accolade. He is incredibly talented and will terrorise batting lineups for years to come, but as of right now he is a loose cannon and somewhat of a "work in progress".

[Shehezaada]

Veeru picked up two crucial top order wickets, the only two batsmen (Smith & Kallis) who were between India & victory. I dont know how you can compare this effort vs Ganguly's in the Delhi test (Ganguly took out Malcolm Sami & Misbah when he was trying to slog away). There are numerous instances of part timers picking up useful wickets at crucial junctures in the game. Thats hardly the point I was trying to make. On a spitting cobra of a pitch, taking 7 wickets (just 3 top order wickets out the seven), is not worth going gaga over. Decent effort, but nothing to celebrate about.

Ok. Take Tendulkar getting Moin and Yousuf in the Chennai test, or Martyn and Waugh (both well set) in Adelaide. Secondly, I'm not goin gaga. What I'm saying is that a MoS performance is a great performance and should be treated as a great performance. People are just refusing to accept that here, and given that they've dissed Bhajji pretty bad in the past, I think they need to come out and face the music. Just for the record, Bhajji has been underperforming of late. But in the CB series he was excellent, and here he showed extremely promising signs. The SRL series should be a cracker. Bhajji and Kumble versus Murali and Mendis (hopefully)

[Shehezaada]

On a spitting cobra of a pitch, taking 7 wickets (just 3 top order wickets out the seven), is not worth going gaga over. Decent effort, but nothing to celebrate about.

Going by that arguement, everyone's giving props to Dale Steyn for his bowling in the 2nd test. Just 3 top order wickets out of 8 isn't worth going gaga for either. BUT the bowling was class and the fire was there. He deserved more wickets, but he didn't get em. If you've played any cricket then I'm sure you'll know this and I am speaking from personal experience. A batsmen will be so concentrated on denying the strike bowler (Bhajji) wickets, that mentally he will relax a little againt a part timer (Veeru). Bhajji was unplayable all day and Veeru came and got the wickets. Not to say that Veeru didn't bowl good deliverires, bowling Smith behind the legs was well thought out and the ball to Kallis was sick. But that also could have happened in any single Harbhajan over as well. Right after lunch in fact Kallis lobbed one to short square but no one was there. Infact that's how I get my wickets. The main bowlers bowl their heart out and get nothing, and I throw my all sorts buffet bowling and get wickets off full tosses and long hops!

[f.b.m]

yes, watching the test match, I can safely say that Harbhajan was the best bowler of the match. Great line and length (which is all you really need on this sort of a wicket), rarely gave away a half volley or a long hop, used his drifter/floater and his topspinner perfectly (not over or underusing them), etc etc. Easily the best inning of spin bowling since Kumbles 5 fer at MCG in day 1. As someone who loves to watch spin bowlers, I can say that I'd was more than satisfied, even if it would have been a completely flat track by Bhajji's performance.

[Chandan]

So Harbhajan has the third highest wickets among bowlers who've played for India. He has a good chance to be the 22nd highest wicket-taker in the world. So who'll become the 22nd bowler to take 300 wickets--Bhajji or Lee who has 271 wickets at present?

[Ram]

Bhajji is slowly giving a few of his own back to the critics. People may justifiably say that he didnt deserve a recall into the test line-up in the first place and that his 20/20 and ODI inclusion helped fast-track his selection for tests. But after a barren series against Pak and Aus, he finished the CB series strongly and has now won MoS in this series. We need him to be at his best to beat Lankans. Surely, the Sardar has a lot of fight left in him.

[Shehezaada]

Bhajji is slowly giving a few of his own back to the critics. People may justifiably say that he didnt deserve a recall into the test line-up in the first place and that his 20/20 and ODI inclusion helped fast-track his selection for tests. But after a barren series against Pak and Aus, he finished the CB series strongly and has now won MoS in this series. We need him to be at his best to beat Lankans. Surely, the Sardar has a lot of fight left in him.

that's one thing about him. He has the fight. Whether some people give him credit or not, he's going to go out there and try his best.