Why has Gambhir been so much more fluent playing straight down the ground in the last year?

[Mr. Wicket]

http://content-www.cricinfo.com/indveng/content/story/335700.html

Tendulkar advised Robin Uthappa and Suresh Raina on techniques to adapt to the conditions and the pitches in Australia, suggested tips to Rohit Sharma to improve his front-foot drives and counselled Gautam Gambhir and Manoj Tiwary on their stance. Gambhir was told not to have a completely side-on position at the crease, and instead open up his stance for a slightly two-eyed look at the bowler. This would allow him to offer the full face of the bat, and help him play through the on side more effectively. "The plan is simple, see the ball, hit the ball and play in the 'V," Gambhir had earlier revealed his theory of batting in Australia. "The conditions here give a batsman full value for his strokes, though you need a lot of courage and determination. It's difficult to get on to the front foot when you are facing genuine quick bowlers like Brett Lee or Mitchell Johnson but there is very little chance when you are sitting on the back foot." Tendulkar's tips are designed to enable Gambhir score more freely in his preferred area down the ground.

The article's now almost a year old. One year on, looks like SRT's advice has been working. Mere presence in the dressing room? Boolsheet. Scorecard: fineleg zero, Worshipperz many many more.

[Sachinism]

I remember this article, I believe it was also posted on here Finey - loses again

[satishg]

wow this man is just awesome..seriously his knowledge in cricket is unfathomable..and i am proud of myself that i admire him the way i do :)

[amits]

even though i might be a huge fan of sehwag & gambhir, but u can never leave tendulkar out. almost all of the youngsters like gambhir, uthappa, raina & some even senior cricketers like sehwag have learnt a lot from tendulkar

[Holysmoke]

even though i might be a huge fan of sehwag & gambhir' date=' but u can never leave tendulkar out. almost all of the youngsters like gambhir, uthappa, raina & some even senior cricketers like sehwag have learnt a lot from tendulkar[/quote'] :yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes::yikes: PS - Leave tendulkar out?:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[Mr. Wicket]

Wow. Even amits admits it and Tendulkar's not from Delhi. WOW! So fineleg is the only one still sitting in the dark?

[fineleg]

dark? I'm a SRT fan too (despite the usual suspects will deny it) and I understand that he is a legendary player, just that some of ya'll are way too crazy about him, and I admire him, but with going total gaga over him. Even if he retires, I can take it well (ofcourse I'll miss the assurance his presence in the 11 will give the Ind team), applaud his contribution, and continue to watch the matches, unlike some who say they'll stop watching if he retires etc. Excess feeling, I'd say. And, the fact that he has done well in both formats Tests and ODIs is quite a feat.

[Mr. Wicket]

You have some very interesting reactions for a fan. Like wishing injury upon Tendulkar when he scored a big hundred at Sydney and remained not out (amidst some BS accusations of protecting his wicket/average)...

[fineleg]

Salil, That was a mistake in the heat of the moment, and I apologized publicly the very next day (the latter most seem to forget, and continue to harbor anger against me for that - anyway, some will never let go and forget that, so be it). I may still have some difference of opinion on whether what he did was smart strategy for that situation, but the way I displayed the anger was a mistake.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[fineleg]

Boss, Not gonna debate that SRT giving strike to tail enders now...did we know our tail is reliable (forget bhajji, he bats ok)? who is better placed to score? was it SRT or tail? I know this will be endless, but its over now, no energy to restart whether it was indeed the RIGHT thing to expose the tail?. He did what he did, whether it was based on strategy or not, it worked out well that day. Another day, different thing could have happened and tail may have holed out. Anyway, its past, and I am not gonna open it again now.

[rahulrulezz]

Sachin u LEGEND!! Gambhir is an awesome player..always supported him from... all he needs to do is to cut down his opening his blade/latecut shots to thirdman region..he got out like that many times... Gambhir will surely be counted as one of the best left-handed player from India...

[flamy]

I am truly amazed at how much Gauti has transformed. I did not rate him at all during his first stint. Thank GOD

[The Outsider]

PS : I am also a Gambhir hater and anti Delhi because I did not think he would come good earlier. Thank God for making a fool out of me.

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[Mr. Wicket]

Same here, prof. Varun and a few others here will remember me frequently bagging Gambhir when he struggled in his first stints because I thought his game was too weak against the swinging/seaming ball and too inconsistent on the back foot. I've been happily eating my words for a while now. But amazing to see who's played such a part in this turnaround.

[EnterTheVoid]

Why has Gambhir been so much more fluent playing straight down the ground in the last year? I will ask Gambhir and get back to you

[The Outsider]

Arrey lets assume that it was a bad decision ... is it (in your opinion ) still worse than RD's perennial pottering at sleep inducing strike rates ? Pls note that this happens in almost all Test matches and going by no.of balls faced RD has played more Test match cricket than anyone bar Allan Border even though the no.of innings is far far lesser.

Boss, I don't see the point of bagging Dravid to get back at a poster. Dravid is a bonafide great in his own right and has brought lots of success to India, played a huge number of amazing innings etc. etc. I know(or at least hope) you don't mean it, but why go down to criticize an all time Indian great just to drive home a point which can never be driven home in fineleg's mind. He/she is a drama queen and will start criticizing any player who he/she thinks is being praised too much - there is a pattern here - his/her criticism of Ganguly on their previous forum, continuous bickering about Tendulkar here, and lately attacking Dhoni at every available opportunities.

[Anakin]

Hello FL, for the umpteenth time, please help me find out all those zillions of posted you made during RD's slump.

[Anakin]

Boss' date=' I don't see the point of bagging Dravid to get back at a poster. Dravid is a bonafide great in his own right and has brought lots of success to India, played a huge number of amazing innings etc. etc. I know(or at least hope) you don't mean it, but why go down to criticize an all time Indian great just to drive home a point which can never be driven home in fineleg's mind. He/she is a drama queen and will start criticizing any player who he/she thinks is being praised too much - there is a pattern here - his/her criticism of Ganguly on their previous forum, continuous bickering about Tendulkar here, and lately attacking Dhoni at every available opportunities.[/quote']I think the point lies in the pattern of posts of some so called objective non-worshiper poster (actually the same can easily be applied to quite a lot here, not just one), not any attempt to belittle RD or anyone else.