Two Contasting sets of Images & Stats

[Predator_05]

It's been an amazing turnaround from him.....I had not given him any chance to overcome Mendis' date=' but he played superbly. Another good series in the NZ tests and we would have found a good replacement for Ganguly.[/quote'] I find your (and others) sudden change of tune on Yuselessraj FIGJAM to be hilarious. Can you tell me what exactly has changed ? He has played just THREE tests since the Aussie tour in which the "chimera surrounding him was exploded" (your words, whatever they mean) and in JUST THREE tests, within a year, he went from being not good enough for Test cricket, crap against spin, pace and any other form of bowling imaginable, a dispensable ODI wonder given enough tests to prove himself, to someone who is suddenly a good player capable of replacing Saurav Ganguly. LMAO, that's ONE HELL of a transformation. My question is - what exactly has he shown in the last 3 tests that he DIDN'T show in his previous 23 ? MAYBE it's just stupid old me, but i think it's the same guy. Same style of batting, same strokeplay, same approach, same everything. He played innings similar to that 85* at Chennai, the 86 at Mohali vs England before too. And he STILL hasn't proven himself away from home. So what has changed ? WHY are you abandoning your old views on him ? He is still Yuselessraj FIGJAM ch[uthiya sher ka baccha Singh ? I'm not trying to be an ass, honest, but you could at least be a bit more consistent in your views. Nobody changes in just 3 tests, it's not possible in international cricket. Either he is a good player or he isn't. Which is it

[graphic23]

Nope, a lot can change in 3 test matches. Mindset is what has changed. He cannot be as flamboyant in test matches as he can be in the limited overs form of the game. He is trying to do other things besides sweep a spinner when he is finding it tough. With regards to playing well abroad, he was terrific in that series against SA in Ireland in June 2007. Whether its 50 overs or 90 overs a day, a pitch that seams will seam.Fine, it swings for a smaller amount of time in the 50-overs game but in that series, his strike rate was never much more than 80% which means he dealt with it pretty well. So I don't think seaming tracks are a problem - its rather playing your shots despite realizing its a seaming track and trying to get on top of the bowl as soon as you enter the field. Plus, I think he's shown that he's matured. What was bothering me was the fact that he kept saying he wanted to be a respectable test player but never showed that sort of grit or commitment or mindset [i.e. thinking on the field when the going was tough for you] previously. He was attacked by a few shortballs by Lee in Australia and then he bowled a fast one on leg stump and Yuvi just flicked it for a 4. Instead of realizing what Lee was trying to do, the next ball he shuffled and was out lbw (I might've gotten the order of things wrong but the basic point stands). As painful as Rahul Dravid's innings have been in the recent past (with like 10 off 58, etc.), an innings such as that would help Yuvraj realize that if he can stay longer at the crease, he can score more runs because unlike Dravid, he's got sheer power and can bully the bowlers into submission. I think he showed that (in a much smaller part) in Chennai and Mohali. He got out in Chennai 1st innings trying to win a verbal battle with Flintoff. 2nd innings, he went away to square leg when they were trying to talk to him. Swann might not be Murali or Mendis on that Chennai track but he was troubling Sachin and the other batsman and Yuvraj was able to handle him well. I think that confidence spilled over in the recent series against SL. Plus, I think we will all say that Yuvraj should be given a long run because unlike before, there is no Ganguly. There are very few alternatives and out of them, Yuvraj is probably the best. I will disagree that Kaif or Badri or whoever can attack the opposition like Yuvraj can if the team is reeling at 100/4 or 100/5 on a pitch that swung in the first session. Plus I think he realizes this is the best time for him to settle down as a test player [which shows why his recent innings in ODIs or Tests have been very good].

[Predator_05]

graphic baba, bear in mind that you are preaching to the choir here. I rate him as a [test] batsman, always have and always will. But no, you will NEVER, EVER convince me that someone can change inside 3 tests. IM-PO-SS-BLE. OK, if they were tests spread out over a few years or something then yes, you would have a point but that's not the case. He is still doing the same stuff. Maturity, my ass. Remember how he started at Chennai ? Got beaten a number of times, fished outside off-stump to a few Flintoff deliveries once the talking began. He could have gotten out a few times before he even crossed 30. He had Tendulkar with him at the other end to talk sense into him, but to say that he has SUDDENLY become mature is laughable. And in that match, he had to break the shackles by slog sweeping Swann for a boundary or two. Nothing has changed. Same player, same shots, same innings but different views ?

[graphic23]

I agree that Sachin being there helped him out but I think even when Sachin wasn't there in the 2nd innings at Mohali, he played extraordinarily well, when he had Gambhir with him (who was struggling to find gaps and wasn't able to score all that quickly). Slog-sweeping swann for a couple of times vs. using the sweep as your only shot are two different things. I have seen him get out to the same goddamn sweep shot [sweeping from outside off] so many times, its like a replay of the same dismissal every time. And regarding the Flintoff stuff, he made a conscious effort to go to squareleg when Flintoff began talking to him during the 2nd innings. It helped him a lot didn't it? As opposed to getting into a verbal banter and getting out for 14 or 15 runs in the 1st innings when he edged to the keeper. He's a human being - once you find something works for you effectively, you don't want to change it. I'm not saying that he won't fish around off stump in the future or that he will not engage in some conversation on the field but he knows what needs to be done to get the runs, and I think he will be successful in whatever conditions. Its not just the 3 tests but the circumstances surrounding the 3 tests. 2 legends of Indian cricket have retired (of course, he has nothing to do with AK) and now that the precious #6 slot is open, he knows that he has a captain who has tremendous faith in him, and if he can get a lot of runs in the first 5 to 6 tests in difficult conditions [i.e. ones in which he has failed to deliver previously], then he can cement a spot in the team.

[Dinx - the Jinx]

Why such a long thread and paragraphs of text.. Simply put... Singh is King... Matter finished...

[Dinx - the Jinx]

"chimera surrounding him was exploded" (your words, whatever they mean) and in JUST THREE tests

Awesome.. I'm loving it...:haha:

[diegovegaz]

the punjab da puttar answers his critics in known fashion

[The Outsider]

I find your (and others) sudden change of tune on Yuselessraj FIGJAM to be hilarious. Can you tell me what exactly has changed ? He has played just THREE tests since the Aussie tour in which the "chimera surrounding him was exploded" (your words, whatever they mean) and in JUST THREE tests, within a year, he went from being not good enough for Test cricket, crap against spin, pace and any other form of bowling imaginable, a dispensable ODI wonder given enough tests to prove himself, to someone who is suddenly a good player capable of replacing Saurav Ganguly. LMAO, that's ONE HELL of a transformation. My question is - what exactly has he shown in the last 3 tests that he DIDN'T show in his previous 23 ? MAYBE it's just stupid old me, but i think it's the same guy. Same style of batting, same strokeplay, same approach, same everything. He played innings similar to that 85* at Chennai, the 86 at Mohali vs England before too. And he STILL hasn't proven himself away from home. So what has changed ? WHY are you abandoning your old views on him ? He is still Yuselessraj FIGJAM ch[uthiya sher ka baccha Singh ? I'm not trying to be an ass, honest, but you could at least be a bit more consistent in your views. Nobody changes in just 3 tests, it's not possible in international cricket. Either he is a good player or he isn't. Which is it

Why do you find it hilarious? Yuvraj had three major limitations because of which he was a failure in tests : 1. His "when in doubt, sweep" philosophy against spin. He has rectified that immensely as witnessed in Sri Lanka and in both tests against England. He was playing a lot straighter in general and went for the big sweeps only when set. 2. His temperament for test cricket - the eagerness to feel bat on ball and not have patience in tough times. Even if you look at his earlier 3 centuries in tests they were all cavalier efforts when things fell in place for him. They were not well contructed test innings. His innings at Chennai was a well constructed test innings, where he was patient during the going was tough, let a lot of deliveries from Flintoff go, did not get ruffled by the sledging, and cashed in slowly but surely. 3. His weekness of hanging the bat outside off stump - this is something which will be tested in NZ - so I said if he does well there he would be a replacement for Ganguly. He has the tendency to play nothing shots outside off stump and he probably won't be able to get away with it in NZ. I don't know how you can say it was the same style of batting and same approach unless we were watching different matches. And yes, he still has to prove himself away from home but if he can do that in NZ he will be a good replacement for Ganguly, which was pretty much my statement. Don't know what you found to be so hilarious in it. He has played 3 tests, but it's been almost a year which is a long enough time for a batsman to hone is technique and approach which he seems to have done to an extent.

[Ram]

Yuvraj’s test spot claim is still a work in progress. The team likes, wants and backs him. But that doesn’t necessarily guarantee test success for Yuvraj. But, he is a lot closer to cementing his reputation as a reliable test middle order batsman now, than he was a year ago.

[Predator_05]

1. His "when in doubt' date=' sweep" philosophy against spin. He has rectified that immensely as witnessed in Sri Lanka and in both tests against England. He was playing a lot straighter in general and went for the big sweeps only when set.[/quote'] At Chennai, he brought out the big sweeps before he even reached 20, if i am not mistaken. I think he even got off the mark with a slog sweep. It's still his default method of scoring off spinners.

2. His temperament for test cricket - the eagerness to feel bat on ball and not have patience in tough times. Even if you look at his earlier 3 centuries in tests they were all cavalier efforts when things fell in place for him. They were not well contructed test innings. His innings at Chennai was a well constructed test innings, where he was patient during the going was tough, let a lot of deliveries from Flintoff go, did not get ruffled by the sledging, and cashed in slowly but surely.

He has played any equally well constructed and patient knocks before. Those fifties against SL at Ahmedabad and Delhi were not whirlwind knocks played when India had nothing to lose. He took his time to get set on both occasions and ended up playing some crucial knocks which went some way in securing the victories. And i have no clue how you can say that things "fell in place" for him when he scored hundreds. At Bangalore, he walked in at 61/4. Big pressure situation. At Lahore, he was in at 94/4. His start at Bangalore wasn't much different to the start at Chennai against England - very nervous batting in the beginning in both instances. He got hit on the helmet and was dropped before reaching 20 or 30, IIRC. And you already said that he can go fishing outside off stump. That's a big technical flaw. So in reality, nothing has changed. What i find hilarious is your sudden change of tune on him, despite the fact that he still bats the same way and is basically the same player he was before

[The Outsider]

^ There is very little for me to say if you think nothing has changed in Yuvraj's game - of course the commentators during the series and a lot of good posters here would disagree with the notion, but that's fine.

[SachDan]

Not as contrasting as this though.. 21 yrs back in his grandma's place.. From one of the poorest family's chair to the most powerful chair in the world. ....!!!

[Shane]

Not as contrasting as this though.. 21 yrs back in his grandma's place.. From one of the poorest family's chair to the most powerful chair in the world. ....!!!

Nice one Dan bhai :yikes:

[Guest BossBhai]

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