KP has shown, once again, why Test Cricket is Boss

[Ram]

You couldnt miss the hidden message in his recent comments about Yuvraj Singh. But before that, rewind a fortnight to before the start of the series. When someone asked KP about pressure on Rahul Dravid and what the English make out of it, he said something along the lines of 'Well, you never take someone who's made 10,000 runs in Test cricket lightly' and went on to pay his due homage ato Dravid, who had struggled to put even bat onto ball in recent times. And yet, KP wouldnt dare belittle him even jokingly. But take the case of Yuvraj Singh, someone in red hot form, someone who blasted them into orbit in the ODI series and pulverized them in the first innings, but his lack of pedigree keeps coming back to haunt him. Yuvi's recent exploits against the Poms notwithstanding, there wasnt too many respects paid to Yuvraj by KP were they? Sure, some may say KP was merely referring to his bowling and not his batting or his status as a cricketer, but still, its impossible to miss the connection. If this doesnt motivate Yuvraj to become a world class performer, nothing will. And one can expect a big one from him on day 5 for sure.

[fineleg]

You couldnt miss the hidden message in his recent comments about Yuvraj Singh. But before that, rewind a fortnight to before the start of the series. When someone asked KP about pressure on Rahul Dravid and what the English make out of it, he said something along the lines of 'Well, you never take someone who's made 10,000 runs in Test cricket lightly' and went on to pay his due homage ato Dravid, who had struggled to put even bat onto ball in recent times. And yet, KP wouldnt dare belittle him even jokingly. But take the case of Yuvraj Singh, someone in red hot form, someone who blasted them into orbit in the ODI series and pulverized them in the first innings, but his lack of pedigree keeps coming back and haunting him. Yet, there wasnt too many respects paid to Yuvraj by KP were they? Sure, some may say KP was merely referring to his bowling and not his batting or his status as a cricketer, but still, its impossible to miss the connection. If this doesnt motivate Yuvraj to become a world class performer, nothing will. And one can expect a big one from him on day 5 for sure.

Hope so. But the match has anyway drifted away from Indian win based on day-4. And - yes, Test cricket shud be used as the yardstick for judging the greatness of a player.

[Bumper]

You are reading too much into this Sriram. I think the dynamics, in this case, is simple. When you are THE top bat in your team (as KP is) & your team has been reduced to 2/2 by the opponent pacers, who are in the form of their life you expect the opponent captain to throw his best resources at you. KP found it insulting to find Yuvraj at the other end. KP was quite effusive in praise for Yuvraj during the ODI series & even made comments such as "If Yuvraj bats this way, even 400 is not enough" (when asked about what would be a good target to set). Its all friendly banter & makes for more colorful cricket. No one has hurt the English more than Yuvraj in recent times. And deep inside they know how much they respect Yuvraj. Not to belabor the point, did you see how dramatically our fortunes changed (after being ahead 150+) when Veeru failed ? Goes to show, how much difference this man makes to our psyche, when he comes off. There is simply no other cricketer like Veeru in our history.

[DomainK]

I think the reason is quire clear. YS has given him some very tough time recently....both with the bat and the ball. Hence the offensive comments.

[Sachinism]

You are reading too much into this Sriram. I think the dynamics, in this case, is simple. When you are THE top bat in your team (as KP is) & your team has been reduced to 2/2 by the opponent pacers, who are in the form of their life you expect the opponent captain to throw his best resources at you. KP found it insulting to find Yuvraj at the other end. KP was quite effusive in praise for Yuvraj during the ODI series & even made comments such as "If Yuvraj bats this way, even 400 is not enough" (when asked about what would be a good target to set). Its all friendly banter & makes for more colorful cricket. No one has hurt the English more than Yuvraj in recent times. And deep inside they know how much they respect Yuvraj. Not to belabor the point, did you see how dramatically our fortunes changed (after being ahead 150+) when Veeru failed ? Goes to show, how much difference this man makes to our psyche, when he comes off. There is simply no other cricketer like Veeru in our history.

I agree with you there. He must have felt a bit offended to see Dhoni bowling Yuvi, but it was a great move by Dhoni, KP tried to hit him and nearly lost his wicket

[coffee_rules]

I agree with you there. He must have felt a bit offended to see Dhoni bowling Yuvi' date=' but it was a great move by Dhoni, KP tried to hit him and nearly lost his wicket[/quote'] More than KP, Athers in the c box was fuming. He called it a stupid move and went on to call iteven after he was removed an over later. His claim was after a beautiful over by Zkhan and Ishant and when Eng were 2/2, these kinds of false bravado was unnecessary and India lost the momentum. But nobody mentioned how KP almost gave his wkt away, if not for a blind Laxman who could have attempted that catch. He stood there rooted and turned back to see the ball drop short of Sehwag. He could have moved to his right and it would have been a wonderful catch.

[fineleg]

More than KP' date=' Athers in the c box was fuming. He called it a stupid move and went to call it after he was removed after 1 over. His claim was after a beautiful over by Zkhan and Ishant and when Eng were 2/2, these kinds of false bravado was unnecessary and lost the momentum. But nobody mentioned how KP almost gave his wkt away, if not for a blind Laxman who could have attempted that catch. He stood there rooted and turned back to see the ball drop short of Sehwag. He could have moved to his left and it would have been a wonderful catch.[/quote'] Unfortunately Laxy doesnt move much when fielding or while running between wickets. (hear, Rohan - why he cannot ever get into ODIs, since Rohan still feels he shud be in ODIs)

[graphic23]

Unfortunately Laxy doesnt move much when fielding or while running between wickets. (hear, Rohan - why he cannot ever get into ODIs, since Rohan still feels he shud be in ODIs)

Er, he's one of the best short leg and silly point fielders we have. He's also an excellent slip fielder. He has been quite quick to react a lot of times. Sometimes, it just doesn't work.

[punjabi_khota]

You couldnt miss the hidden message in his recent comments about Yuvraj Singh. But before that, rewind a fortnight to before the start of the series. When someone asked KP about pressure on Rahul Dravid and what the English make out of it, he said something along the lines of 'Well, you never take someone who's made 10,000 runs in Test cricket lightly' and went on to pay his due homage ato Dravid, who had struggled to put even bat onto ball in recent times. And yet, KP wouldnt dare belittle him even jokingly. But take the case of Yuvraj Singh, someone in red hot form, someone who blasted them into orbit in the ODI series and pulverized them in the first innings, but his lack of pedigree keeps coming back to haunt him. Yuvi's recent exploits against the Poms notwithstanding, there wasnt too many respects paid to Yuvraj by KP were they? Sure, some may say KP was merely referring to his bowling and not his batting or his status as a cricketer, but still, its impossible to miss the connection. If this doesnt motivate Yuvraj to become a world class performer, nothing will. And one can expect a big one from him on day 5 for sure.

Every they have taunted Yuvi, it has came back to bite them. He already changed the pace of the game, and if somehow there is no delay due to fog on 5th day, we can expect him to go ballastic in the first hour and declare with325-350 to get in 2 and half sessions.