Parthiv to replace Karthik behind stumps

[Kartikey]

http://www.cricketnext.com/news/parthiv-to-replace-karthik-behind-stumps/33403-13.html Colombo: India skipper Anil Kumble said wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel will replace Dinesh Karthik in the third and final Test against Sri Lanka here. Parthiv, who played his last international match, the Test against Australia in 2004 at Nagpur, will make a comeback in the team following Karthik's disappointing stint in the last two Test matches. As India's middle order has been a cause of concern for their below-par show in the first two matches, Kumble on Thursday admitted it was a time for the batsmen to fire on all cylinders. "Coach Gary Kirsten will be missed but we have enough players to get going. We are under control of the situation. We have done everything to comeback in the Test match. It is a great feeling that we won a match without the help of the middle-order. The middle-order is due for a big score," he said. Kumble said it would be important to get good partnerships in both bowling and batting if India had to win the last Test match. "Partnerships are important for batting or bowling. In the batting, openers Virender Sehwag got a double-century and Gautam Gambhir played a crucial part in the last match," Kumble said. "In the bowling department, Ishant Sharma and Harbhajan Singh bowled well, so there were partnerships, cricket is all about partnerships," he said. While his spin partner Harbhajan Singh has been consistently taking wickets, Kumble has not been that lucky but the lanky spinner said he was happy with his form and hoped for a better performance in the next match. "I am happy with my form, hopefully I will deliver with some good spells in tomorrow's match. It will be great to win this match here. The wicket is hard," Kumble said.

[Shane]

India have decided to drop wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik for the series deciding third and final Test Match against the Sri Lankans that starts on Friday here at the P. Saravanamuttu Stadium in Colombo. Karthik, whose glove work and batting have been poor in the series, will be replaced by Parthiv Patel (23), who plays his 20th Test Match for his country. Similarly the Sri Lankans also will make just one change with medium-pacer Nuwan Kulasekara replaced by either left-armer Thilan Tushara Mirando or the uncapped Dhammika Prasad, a decision they have left for the morning of the Test Match. The hosts were toying with the idea of dropping opener Michael Van Dort, who has also struggled with scores of 3, 4 and 10 in three innings. But on captain Mahela Jayawardene’s insistence, Sri Lanka selectors agreed to give the batsman an extended run. “We had a chat with Michael and there should not be any undue pressure on him because he was batting well before the Galle Test. Michael should concentrate only on things that are under his control and go on. I know he’s capable of doing that. The only way Michael can answer his critics is with his bat and he’s good enough to do that. If he comes good that’s fine and if he doesn’t come good that’s also fine. Cricketers go through these things,” Jayawardene said backing his opener. Van Dort is not the only player struggling as India’s middle order has had a torrid time in Sri Lanka. Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, V.V.S. Laxman and Sourav Ganguly have all the experience in the world, but in this series, between the four of them, they have only managed just one fifty by Laxman. India captain Anil Kumble said that the four batsmen were too good to go through an extended period of bad form. He was glad that India were able to square the series with the four leading players not getting many runs and warned the Sri Lankans that it’ll be tough for them when they get going. “That’s a great thing. Without them getting runs we have won a Test match pretty comfortably. I am not worried. If they score runs, just imagine how things will be,” Kumble said. The threat posed by Sri Lanka’s freak spinner Ajantha Mendis has caught the Indians off guard in the series. While some of them have been completely outfoxed by the Sri Lankan, others have been reluctant to take on the spinner and after creating unwanted pressure have fallen to the other Sri Lankan bowlers. Tendulkar for example was picked up by Chaminda Vaas on both instances in Galle while Muttiah Muralitharan had the better of the star batsman in Colombo dismissing him on both instances. Jayawardene was thrilled with the new prodigy and admitted that he himself has been surprised by his success so early in his career. It’s a definite advantage to have Ajantha. His presence has given us another striking option. When we saw him first, we knew that we needed to develop him in the right manner. We thought that he might take more time to settle in at the international level as he hadn’t played much first class cricket. But his success has been amazing. He has surprised a lot of people including some of us,” Jayawardene said. India have played two Test Matches at the Saravanamuttu Stadium, the venue of country’s first ever Test Match way back in 1982. Their first Test in 1985 was a bitter experience as they were the victims when Sri Lanka recorded their first ever Test win while the next Test in 1983 was a tame draw. The wicket at Saravanamuttu Stadium is considered a sporting wicket and is the quickest in the country. India’s seam bowler Ishant Sharma, who ripped through the Sri Lankan top order with three crucial wickets in the second innings in Galle, is expected to play a key role here and it was the state of the wicket that forced the Sri Lankans to opt for a quicker bowler instead of Kulasekara. It looks a good wicket with a bit of grass on it. I am sure it will help our faster bowlers. It looks a good surface,” Kumble said. However, the focus will be on Tendulkar, who needs 101 more runs to overtake Brian Lara as the most run scorer in Tests. While a Tendulkar hundred will get him to the milestone, it will also help India to consolidate their position in the series. Sri Lanka (from): Malinda Warnapura, Michael Van Dort, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Thilan Samaraweera, Tillekeratne Dilshan, Prasanna Jayawardene, Chaminda Vaas, Ajantha Mendis, Muttiah Muralitharan, Thilan Tushara Mirando and Dhammika Prasad. India: Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, V. V. S. Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma.

[Sachinism]

hmm interesting choice they should have stuck with Dinesh one last time, give him his final chance whats parthiv going to prove with one game, he'll need to get used to the pitches and then while batting, he'll face up to Mendis the 1st time

[cowboysfan]

man-none of my prayers ever come true-I should do it more often.

[umpire]

what an irony. in 2004, when Parthiv was dropped after abymsal keeping karthik replaced him in that famous Wankhede Test match against Aussies. He kept well on that pitch. Now Parthiv will replace him after Karthik's abysmal keeping. So will Parthiv keep wel?? thats the million dollar question. I think he will

[Kumar]

Well it wont make a difference if he does well, dhoni will get that test spot and captaincy. but would b nice to see him do well tomorrow, weather its batting or keeping with golves.

[umpire]

No Dhoni's place is not 100% secure. He has not done much with batting, if Chotu can bat well and keep well, he will continue.

[Kumar]

No Dhoni's place is not 100% secure. He has not done much with batting' date=' if Chotu can bat well and keep well, he will continue.[/quote'] dhoni is like yuvraj atm in tests and still isnt dropped. Unless he does terrible with the bat in odis or does terrible with gloves in both forms i cant see him being dropped.

[Desi Cartman]

so finally some sense prevails

[fineleg]

Dropthiv will also drop catches like Dropthik. However, I hope PP will bat better.

[Willow_on_fire]

Dropthiv will also drop catches like Dropthik. However, I hope PP will bat better.

yeah...Parthiv is good with the bat...good luck to him...:two_thumbs_up:

[Guest dada_rocks]

About time.. he is already looking better batsman .........

[DomainK]

Fr om what I have seen so far, Parthiv looks better than Karthik with the bat.

[Guest dada_rocks]

he is better than few of the middle order bats who keep coming in and out of the test team as batsmen....

[Shane]

Has done well so far ok with the bat and doing well behind the sticks

[Sachinism]

Has done well so far ok with the bat and doing well behind the sticks

good to hear

[DomainK]

Yes, he has definitely done better than Karthik. Hope he continues the good work tomorrow.

[diegovegaz]

Dropthiv will also drop catches like Dropthik. However, I hope PP will bat better.

:haha::haha::haha::haha::haha: xcellent fine leg but i believe that dropthiv will earn his original name back