DomainK Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 I think India will win. Though I wont say that NZ beating India is "Unthinkable":winky: Link to comment
DomainK Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 BTW who is opening the match thread? Should be someone with a good 100% record. Link to comment
Shane Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 BTW who is opening the match thread? Should be someone with a good 100% record. kooljatt will do the honours in that one .... has a pretty good record at that ... dhoni should thank him :giggle: Link to comment
Brainfade Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 History is not with us. Form is. That is all. Link to comment
fineleg Posted February 7, 2009 Share Posted February 7, 2009 History is not with us. Form is. That is all. concise :two_thumbs_up: super! Link to comment
Guest Hiten. Posted February 8, 2009 Share Posted February 8, 2009 India in NZ...this what I think :(( ... Link to comment
matma Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Watching NZ for the best part of 20 years, and India for maybe 15. This series is gonna be a cracker! Here is what I think. NZ conditions are not as bad as some people think. In saying that, it is remarkebly different from Indian/Sri Lankan picthes. Though it is not that different from say conditions in England. India's last tour of England, they done really well. One thing I will say, is that Zaheer Khan who I rate as currently the best paceman in the game right now, will be key to India winning. My thoughts have changed regarding our ODI team, here is who I think we will have: J. Ryder B. McCullum M. Guptil R. Taylor P. Fulton/C. Cumming G. Elliot J. Oram/N. Broom K. Mills D. Vettori T. Southee I. O'Brien If Oram is fit, Broom will be 12th man, if not Broom will come in. I would prefer that Cumming played instead of Fulton, he has 2 more games to impress and if he doesn't, Cumming will play against India. That is a very good ODI line up. 5 specialist bowlers, with 2 part timers in Elliot and Ryder. Ryder who jogs in casually of about 6 paces and is in the 128-132 range, and gun-barrel straight. Very handy holding bowler who can provide us with a break through. My issue though is the Indian batting line up. Very very special in ODIs. NZ really need to play within themselves if we are to bowl India out. My prediction: 3-2 and could go either way. Traditionally, NZ have always been a good ODI team - home and away. Its gonna be a good series. My line up for my test team is thus: T. McIntosh M. Guptil D. Flynn R. Taylor J. Ryder G. Elliot B. McCullum J. Oram/T. Southee D. Vettori K. Mills I. O'Brien If Oram is injured, Southee will play. This is where I could safely bet my car that India will win. India will clean up in Napier, that pitch is a belter and if India win the toss, NZ will be in the field for 3 days. This where I expect India to clean us up. Hamilton, can play like Napier and both are batting paradises so I expect the same result. Wellington I am guessing will be a draw. It is always overcast there and rains. I am predicting 2-0 to India in the Tests. Link to comment
Sachinism Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 It certainly won't be easy. The main concern is there are no warmup matches - Zilch, Nada! Without any acclimatization we will be thrown in new conditions considering we played mostly in India and SL over last some months. We have the firepower and certainly better team than NZ, they have the home conditions and pitches to which they are well acclimatized. We are on a high after SL win and Eng win etc. They will (hopefully beat Aus in current ODI series, make puppy and pappa pwnting cry) and be on a high as well. In short: Ind-NZ...Sweet series, delicipitilous, very interesting to follow B-> (aka in flamyspeaque as "I excite!") thanks to the useless BCCI, send India (with many new young players) to completely different conditions and don't give them any practice games Link to comment
fineleg Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Thx for the update matma. Link to comment
sangrock Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Watching NZ for the best part of 20 years, and India for maybe 15. This series is gonna be a cracker! Here is what I think. NZ conditions are not as bad as some people think. In saying that, it is remarkebly different from Indian/Sri Lankan picthes. Though it is not that different from say conditions in England. India's last tour of England, they done really well. One thing I will say, is that Zaheer Khan who I rate as currently the best paceman in the game right now, will be key to India winning. My thoughts have changed regarding our ODI team, here is who I think we will have: J. Ryder B. McCullum M. Guptil R. Taylor P. Fulton/C. Cumming G. Elliot J. Oram/N. Broom K. Mills D. Vettori T. Southee I. O'Brien If Oram is fit, Broom will be 12th man, if not Broom will come in. I would prefer that Cumming played instead of Fulton, he has 2 more games to impress and if he doesn't, Cumming will play against India. That is a very good ODI line up. 5 specialist bowlers, with 2 part timers in Elliot and Ryder. Ryder who jogs in casually of about 6 paces and is in the 128-132 range, and gun-barrel straight. Very handy holding bowler who can provide us with a break through. My issue though is the Indian batting line up. Very very special in ODIs. NZ really need to play within themselves if we are to bowl India out. My prediction: 3-2 and could go either way. Traditionally, NZ have always been a good ODI team - home and away. Its gonna be a good series. My line up for my test team is thus: T. McIntosh M. Guptil D. Flynn R. Taylor J. Ryder G. Elliot B. McCullum J. Oram/T. Southee D. Vettori K. Mills I. O'Brien If Oram is injured, Southee will play. This is where I could safely bet my car that India will win. India will clean up in Napier, that pitch is a belter and if India win the toss, NZ will be in the field for 3 days. This where I expect India to clean us up. Hamilton, can play like Napier and both are batting paradises so I expect the same result. Wellington I am guessing will be a draw. It is always overcast there and rains. I am predicting 2-0 to India in the Tests. At the present moment, I think the kiwi and Indian batting lineup are "somewhat" equivalent in kiwi conditions (Indian batting lineup is way better on subcontinent pitches). They have explosive players like McCullum, Ryder who can match the explosiveness of Sehwag and Gambhir (he's on a roll). I think the likes of Yuvraj, Raina, MSD should not be heavily depended upon on non-subcontinental pitches. Tendulkar going to be a major factor in the Indian batting lineup if India has to win in NZ. I also believe that in ODIs, Praveen Kumar if going to be the pick of bowlers for India and will determine if India wins the series - he can swing the bowl both ways, has a slower one and is the most intelligent Indian bowler for overcast conditions. As per my prediction, Ishant and Zaheer will not measure up to Praveen's brilliance. Although, Zaheer is all set to outperform all everybody in Tests. It is important to observe few other points - the best spinner in ODIs and Tests (from Indian and Kiwi team) belongs to the Kiwis - Daniel Vettori. He is a very smart bowler and India have to watch out for him - esp Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who are naturally aggressive. Virender is an exception who can smack anybody around but can also get out for a golden duck. Lastly, even though NZ does not have big names - it has players who tend to perform way above their natural talent (we have seen this with Scott Styris, Tuffey, etc.) I expect the same kind of over performace from them, esp. their youngsters and JACOB ORAM. Link to comment
Chandan Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 At the present moment, I think the kiwi and Indian batting lineup are "somewhat" equivalent in kiwi conditions (Indian batting lineup is way better on subcontinent pitches). They have explosive players like McCullum, Ryder who can match the explosiveness of Sehwag and Gambhir (he's on a roll). I think the likes of Yuvraj, Raina, MSD should not be heavily depended upon on non-subcontinental pitches. Tendulkar going to be a major factor in the Indian batting lineup if India has to win in NZ. I also believe that in ODIs, Praveen Kumar if going to be the pick of bowlers for India and will determine if India wins the series - he can swing the bowl both ways, has a slower one and is the most intelligent Indian bowler for overcast conditions. As per my prediction, Ishant and Zaheer will not measure up to Praveen's brilliance. Although, Zaheer is all set to outperform all everybody in Tests. It is important to observe few other points - the best spinner in ODIs and Tests (from Indian and Kiwi team) belongs to the Kiwis - Daniel Vettori. He is a very smart bowler and India have to watch out for him - esp Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina who are naturally aggressive. Virender is an exception who can smack anybody around but can also get out for a golden duck. Lastly, even though NZ does not have big names - it has players who tend to perform way above their natural talent (we have seen this with Scott Styris, Tuffey, etc.) I expect the same kind of over performace from them, esp. their youngsters and JACOB ORAM. Can we discuss the test team here? I read an interesting blog piece today about how the players for the test squad will be chose: Subramaniam Badrinath has a less convincing claim on the slot vacated by Sourav Ganguly. Despite being picked for every possible first class side this season except the Test team - Badrinath has played for India A, Board President's XI, Rest of India, his Ranji side (TN) and his Duleep side (South Zone) - something no other first class cricketer has done this season, Badrinath (852 runs at 65, having reached atleast 50 in 6 of his 16 innings) has not produced the sort of stand out batting efforts which would see him walk confidently into the India dressing room. At best, he finds himself standing at the door, knocking timidly. Both Cheteshwar Pujara (1049 runs at 66, having reached atleast 50 in 5 of his 19 innings) and Ajinkya Rahane (1390 runs at 66, having reached at least 50 in 11 of his 22 innings) have outshone him this season. Rohit Sharma also has a very strong claim on the middle order spot, having made 880 runs in first class games (he spent a lot of time touring with the ODI side), having reached at least 50 in 7 out of 13 innings. The other batting slot is that of the third opener. Wasim Jaffer has responded with a vengeance to being dropped from the Test team and produced 1549 runs this season at 68, reaching at least 50 in 12 of his 24 innings. Jaffer has been the most prolific run getter in domestic cricket in 2008-09, with his Bombay teammate Ajinkya Rahane second in the list having made 1390 at 66. Murali Vijay, the opener who showed such promise against Australia at Nagpur has not reached scored a century since that Test Match early in the season. Vijay seems to have no trouble reaching 50 (he has 5 fifties in 13 innings this season), but has made it a hundred only once this season. What these records reveal is the limited opportunities available to our first class cricketers in a single season. Wasim Jaffer has played 24 innings this season, and that is only because he played the Ranji Trophy final as well as the Duleep Trophy final, and thus played 14 first class games in the season. It makes absolutely no sense to me that the BCCI seems to tinker endlessly with the Ranji Trophy format (to be fair some of their tinkering has been well thought out), but make absolutely no effort to increase the number of games available to the average Ranji Trophy player (and not just to the finalists). Of all these players, if i had a vote, i would pick Rohit Sharma and Wasim Jaffer as the additional batsmen for the New Zealand Tests. It is a hard choice, what with 6 good options (8 if you count Robin Uthappa and Akash Chopra - both strong performers in 2008-09) available for 2 spots. Especially in the case of Rohit Sharma, his 881 runs have come in only 8 games, at a strike rate of 70, which suggests a dominance in the first class game which is all the more impressive given the fact that he has been in and out of the Bombay side thanks to his selection for the Indian ODI side. Wasim Jaffer has simply out-batted every other contender for the slot. It will not be unexpected however, if the selectors should stick with Murali Vijay for the NZ tour. The wicketkeeping slot is an easier choice, and will in all probability go to Dinesh Karthik. He has been very prolific this season, and should he score 22 runs more on Day 5 of the Duleep Trophy, he will become the 4th batsman this season to reach 1000 runs. Amongst the bowlers, the second spinners slot will be contested between Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha in all probability, and Amit Mishra should retain his spot in the Test team. The fast bowlers present a more interesting picture as usual. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma are a settled new ball pair, but India will pick at lest 2 more fast bowlers. These are likely to be picked from Munaf Patel (fitness permitting), Santhakumaran Sreesanth, RP Singh and L Balaji. Munaf Patel played only 1 first class game this season (he took 6/121 in that game), and given his current injury, this may not be enough to put him in consideration for a Test slot. The fast bowling picture is far from clear when it comes to the third and fourth fast bowling slots. West Zone should win the Duleep Trophy barring a miracle from Badrinath and Karthik. Barring such a miracle, the Test squad to New Zealand will in all probability be as follows: MS Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag (vc), Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Rohit Sharma, Murali Vijay, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Santhakumaran Sreesanth, L Balaji. That fast bowling attack looks thin once you get to bowlers 3 and 4. Update: Thanks to anonymous for pointing out that i missed Yuvraj Singh. Given that Dhoni is Captain, what are your thoughts on the second wicketkeeper? Unless India take 16 players, they will have to leave out the additional middle order batsman (a risky proposition given Rahul Dravid's poor form). This presents an interesting conundrum for the selectors. It might come down to a choice of two out of 1. the second wicketkeeper, 2. the third opener 3. a 5th middle order batsman take your pick. The selectors could choose to go another way and take only 1 specialist spinner to New Zealand, but that would be too risky in my view. What do you guys say? In my opinion it'll be: Sehwag Gambhir Vijay Dravid Sachin Laxman Yuvraj Sharma Dhoni Bhajji Mishra Zaheer Ishant Sreesanth Munaf Irfan/Praveen It is going to be tough for our players there without a single practice match! Link to comment
Sachinism Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 ^^ good article, but the writer seems to have just looked at stats and forgotten about P Kumar Link to comment
Chandan Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 What has Praveen Kumar done in the longer version, ie, FC cricket this year? Link to comment
Sachinism Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Forget FC Cricket, he has a great ability to move the ball around, which would be extremely handy in NZ Link to comment
Chandan Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 How can I forget or anyone can forget the ability of the player in that particular format? Yes he has the ability to move the ball. But what'll happen when the ball becomes old? Does he have the ability to move an old ball? If yes, where has he shown it? A bowler can't be chosen for a test to bowl first 5-8 overs and then sit idle for the rest of the inning. Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Agree. Praveen should be taken for the ODIs. But not for the tests. Even in first class cricket he's only really useful with the new ball, and turns into a non threatening stock bowler when it stops swinging. Link to comment
Shane Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Its good we have the ODI's before .... coz then PK can be judged, i must say i will be terribly dissappointed if PK fails on this tour, coz the conditions prevelant in Kiwiland can get the best out of his bowling. P.S. Rain Interruptions might be a possibility on this tour too Link to comment
Sachinism Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 How can I forget or anyone can forget the ability of the player in that particular format? Yes he has the ability to move the ball. But what'll happen when the ball becomes old? Does he have the ability to move an old ball? If yes' date=' where has he shown it? A bowler can't be chosen for a test to bowl first 5-8 overs and then sit idle for the rest of the inning.[/quote'] Sorry I was talking about ODIs, should have been clear Yeh maybe he still needs to wait for a place in the test team Link to comment
cowboysfan Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 does anybody know if rp is going to be fit?-atleast for selection. Link to comment
Mr. Wicket Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Its good we have the ODI's before .... coz then PK can be judged, i must say i will be terribly dissappointed if PK fails on this tour, coz the conditions prevelant in Kiwiland can get the best out of his bowling. P.S. Rain Interruptions might be a possibility on this tour too I don't see why PK's in contention for the test team even. Pick him for ODIs, but his performances with a new ball there have no correlation on his performance over 5 days with old and new balls. He's an outstanding new ball bowler, but when you weigh up abilities with the old ball as well, Balaji may still be the better pick. Link to comment
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