The playing 11 for the Kotla Test

[TaNk]

Gully Cricket ka team hai kya ??? 10 players

yup

[Lord]

Er. Sachin was out of form for the majority of the series. He contributed significantly only in the last 3 matches that India played (60+ against Sri Lanka, 117* & 91 in the Finals). Before that only in game #4, he scored 44 when we had to chase 158 against Australia, and the match was actually in balance when Sachin got out at 92/3 (or something similar). Dhoni and Rohit put together a stunning partnership after Yuvraj lost his stump to Brad Hogg (yet again) to get us to win that game. Your argument that Yuvi, Sehwag, Sachin, Bhajji were there in the series so it wasn't a young side doesn't make any sense at all. All the games we won were influenced by terrific consistency from Gambhir (a "young" guy), Dhoni (he had the highest average when either team is considered 60+ I believe), Ishant's bowling and along with that Bhajji and Chawla's consistent restriction of runs. Dhoni played a HUGE role (was our most consistent batsman, was a terrific captain, etc.) in winning us the CB Series along with the contributions from Sachin, Gambhir, Ishant, Harbhajan, etc. Even in ODIs, Ajantha Mendis took 6/14 against us in the Final of the Asia Cup - where Dhoni was the last man out or one of the last men out who also was our topscorer, IIRC. The same Mendis was restricted to take enough wickets to let Sri Lanka win the series. We won the series because of his captaincy, his two consecutive 50+ knocks. So to master against a guy who took 6/14 in a foreign land in his own country is pretty amazing. He and Gambhir led the way (after Sehwag showed it in the Test matches) in handling Mendis, by the way. I am appalled at your bias towards a guy who has clearly been the world's best ODI cricketer and possible for the nation's in the past year and a half. He has done well in the 2 Tests he captained. I agree that Kumble ought to come back to Kotla because its his favorite ground and he'll probably put in a much better performance after the rest he got. But to criticize Dhoni after winning several games for us in the past 10-15 months is just not right.

in that game#4 u r talking about we needed about 50 runs in plenty of overs.so it wasnt that stunning partnership.good at best but as i said it was a great series win for full team,not just dhoni in that asia cup final he sure was the top scorer but made 92 ball 49.wen everyone else was trying for a win,dhoni was content in selfishly accumulating runs for himself and inflating his averages.so others tried to up the ante but they didnt have ability of dhoni n lost their wickets.but dhoni didnt use his ability to risk his wicket to fashion a win for india. my criticism of dhoni is not for his ability.he has tremendous ability and a clever mind.but he's a selfish,coward and an opportunist guy.how came he made only 9 off 52 in b'lore n now this performance in mohali?even in keeping he was seen advicing and encouraging his bowlers in mohali?why didnt we see that in bangalore.as a wicketkeeper he should be doing that anyway. why the hell did he suddenly feel tired and backed out of test series.u'll say he needed rest.but it was TESTS ,he could have rested in kitply cup ,sri lanka odi series and even asia cup.but he chose the test series. i'll tell u why.bcoz he didnt want to be exposed to M&M in test series.he 'd have failed and that 'd have hampered his chances of captaincy in tests.also DK n parthiv failing cemented his place in the side.it was a calculated risk taken by dhoni ,not for the team ,but for himself. and if criticising him is not right,then praising him for every little thing is also not right.

[graphic23]

in that game#4 u r talking about we needed about 50 runs in plenty of overs.so it wasnt that stunning partnership.good at best but as i said it was a great series win for full team,not just dhoni in that asia cup final he sure was the top scorer but made 92 ball 49.wen everyone else was trying for a win,dhoni was content in selfishly accumulating runs for himself and inflating his averages.so others tried to up the ante but they didnt have ability of dhoni n lost their wickets.but dhoni didnt use his ability to risk his wicket to fashion a win for india. my criticism of dhoni is not for his ability.he has tremendous ability and a clever mind.but he's a selfish,coward and an opportunist guy.how came he made only 9 off 52 in b'lore n now this performance in mohali?even in keeping he was seen advicing and encouraging his bowlers in mohali?why didnt we see that in bangalore.as a wicketkeeper he should be doing that anyway. why the hell did he suddenly feel tired and backed out of test series.u'll say he needed rest.but it was TESTS ,he could have rested in kitply cup ,sri lanka odi series and even asia cup.but he chose the test series. i'll tell u why.bcoz he didnt want to be exposed to M&M in test series.he 'd have failed and that 'd have hampered his chances of captaincy in tests.also DK n parthiv failing cemented his place in the side.it was a calculated risk taken by dhoni ,not for the team ,but for himself. and if criticising him is not right,then praising him for every little thing is also not right.

Dude Sachin made only 13 runs in the first innings. Apart from Zaheer, Harbhajan, and Dravid no one was able to score well in the first innings. Like he said in the post-match ceremony at Mohali, he felt that he was not playing his natural game in tests so far and wants to change that. Sachin scored 49 runs in 126 balls in the second innings. Was that not uncharacteristic? Was Sachin then selfish? How come then Sachin was able to score 88 off 111 balls in Mohali (nearly 80% S/R as opposed to 39% S/R at Bangalore)? He's an opportunist selfish guy? C'mon! BTW, I have no problems in you criticizing Dhoni but doing so for non-cricketing reasons and just personal hatred is whats bothering me. I agree he shouldn't be raised to the skies after every good performance but you shouldn't discount his performances either, like you are doing right now. It was 50 runs needed in that game #4 (in CB Series), and if you watched that game, you'd know that we won in the 46th over. Brett Lee was bowling tremendously well - and so were the rest of the Aussies. It took some real grit and mental strength to push India through. Rohit, guided by Dhoni did a terrific job as well. Regarding his performance in the Asia Cup final, your argument that he stayed there to increase his average is completely invalid. C'mon. Seriously, you believe that? If so, I'm done arguing. I cannot argue when your mind is so convoluted.

[chanakya]

Dude Sachin made only 13 runs in the first innings. Apart from Zaheer, Harbhajan, and Dravid no one was able to score well in the first innings. Like he said in the post-match ceremony at Mohali, he felt that he was not playing his natural game in tests so far and wants to change that. Sachin scored 49 runs in 126 balls in the second innings. Was that not uncharacteristic? Was Sachin then selfish? How come then Sachin was able to score 88 off 111 balls in Mohali (nearly 80% S/R as opposed to 39% S/R at Bangalore)? He's an opportunist selfish guy? C'mon!

lol I dont think u can use the second innings in Bangi comparison to the first in Mohali. 49 of 126 was a great effort. We were saving a test match there.

[Willow_on_fire]

Kumble says he's raring to go at Kotla so looks like he is playing

'raring to go' for sure...coz his captaincy and his position as a bowler are lil iffy...:nervous:

[graphic23]

lol I dont think u can use the second innings in Bangi comparison to the first in Mohali. 49 of 126 was a great effort. We were saving a test match there.

No, you mistook me. I understand that part. I am saying that it was an intentional innings by Sachin to play that way. Dhoni also has been trying to stay the wicket rather than throw it away by going for an ambitious shot. I was saying that perhaps he has learned that his way of batting can also succeed at the Test level, given the correct type of application. I am not belittling Sachin here (obviously not, I'm his biggest fan remember? :D ) but just saying that people can try different styles of batting sometimes to try and hit form and score runs in a different way.

[diegovegaz]

kumble shouldn't play mishra is the right choice let us win the series first, then kumble can have his way!!!