Rate the India Team

[Mamu]

Viru - 5 Got starts in all games, and got himself out 4/5 times. Disappointing for me personally because I wanted him to prove Boycott wrong. He chose the wrong occasion to go all out. Gambhir - 9.5 Rock Solid. 137 with 10.5 hours and the more flamboyant 167 were terrific knocks and I really enjoyed them, and they came in the 2nd innings, and when the team needed it most. My pick for the Man of the Series Dravid - 8 Again, rock solid. Consistent. 4 out of 5 innings in which he was dismissed, he got a 50, with the lowest score he was dismissed for being 35. Superb stuff. 62.8 average - just what we needed from him. Superb stuff with holding the world record now as well. Sachin - 9 Started off with a brilliant 160. Then got a 49, 64, 62, 9 - with only the last being a little disappointing from him. Brilliant stuff. Super shots, awesome shots, and then just godly shots. And he gave the required breakthroughs yesterday with the ball after a disappointing outing with the bat. :-) 344 runs at 68+ average and 2 wickets. Nice stuff. VVS Laxman - 8.5 Started off not too well but came back with a controlled 76 and a superawesome 124* at Napier. He pulled, flicked, and drove with awesome elegance and it was great to watch. He got out soon in the 3rd test 1st innings but made up for it by scoring a very very nice 50 in the second innings. I really enjoyed watching him drive and pull. Anything resembling short was pulled with elan. (Yes Hyderabadi-bias) Laxman is overrated here. All his good innings have come in a time when there was no real pressure. When it was time for him to deliver like 1st innings in Wellington he failed miserably once again to the out side off waft. He is atbest a 6 Yuvraj Singh - 2 :P + 2 = 4 Apart from the chancy 50 and dropping catches at Napier, nothing to show. Scored a nice 40 yesterday with the only way he knows he can score. Wish he did that everywhere. Average to below average tour. MS Dhoni - 7 A 40 and 2 50s on the tour, definitely reliable at his slot, and had a nice partnership with Bhajji in the first innings at the Basin Reserve. Good keeping. Godly keeping compared to Karthik. Disappointed with his attitude that he thought 600+ was required. :orderorder: Wanted a 2-0 result. Bhajji - 9 Super stuff. Just awesome. I was too harsh at the beginning of the test series with his performance on the first day, but since then he's performed brilliantly, and he should've gotten a lot more wickets at Napier if we hadn't all touched butter that day before we came to the field, and he wasn't helped by a donkey standing behind the stumps. He used the wind brilliantly here at Basin Reserve, and deserves all the accolades, and showed what a great fighter he is by scoring that really important 60 in the first innings here. Zaheer - 8.5 Simply superb. Got us the early wickets in almost every match. The NZ top order didn't really have many tools to combat Zaheer, and was our standout pace bowler by a fair distance. Awesome stuff, and was good with the bat with the unbeaten 50 at Hamilton and an important 33 here at Basin Reserve. Ishant Sharma - 6.5 Contrary to what his figures show, he did bowl really well in patches, and Napier really ruined whatever rhythm he had. He was hit quite severely by Ryder and Taylor there. But he seemed to have recovered well enough in the 1st innings here at the Basin, because if he had a little luck going his way, he would've definitely had atleast 3 more wickets. Bowled really well to get Vettori out. But he dropped catches at Napier and here at Wellington, would really be great if he could concentrate while out on the field a little more. Apart from the last couple of days, where he looked tired and jaded, he gave it his all on the other 13 days. Come on man, he has a test average of what 35 now? And in a place where his counterpart was tearing apart the opposition -- he could not deliver. I dont care if he bowls well, i need wickets.. that is all that matters to me. You might as well bowl a long hop and get wickets -- if you think the batsman is going to go after your long hop -- rather than not doing it and not taking a wicket. Ishant was a disappointment -- let us not hide it. He could nt runinto the wind and stopping and making faces -- like "what the fuq is this -- i have to run into wind"? Yeah dude -- you have to -- that s your job. If you dont know how to run into the wind -- go home and bloody pratice it. Everything is not going to be hunky dory for you world over. He has a long way to go. At best he was 2.5. I dont know why you rate him 6.5. 6.5 should be given to a person who has done his job satisfactorily and Ishant was a failure, there are no 2 ways about it. I was going to post about Ishant after the 1st inn, but then I thoght may be I should wait to give him once more chance -- which I did and I was unimpressed with him. Munaf - 6 Was impressive as the third seamer. Apart from Napier, he bowled a fairly consistent line and length, and had a brilliant last over against Kyle Mills at Hamilton. He got 6 wickets there. Was shoddy at Napier - didn't care too much after getting hit a lot. He was good at Basin Reserve - controlled the run flow, and if he can be nurtured a little more, and given a kick up his ass for his crappy fielding, can be a settled 3rd seamer. Reached his highest score with the bat too, not too bad. To me i have had enough of Munaf. Bowling Well is not a criteria for him to occupy the team for ever. I need wickets. Period. Munaf should be kicked out or atleast have somebody like R P SIngh right behind him threatening to take his place. A big mistake that India did -- was take a couple more crappy bowlers -- so we did nor have a choice. Srikanth is turning out to be a bad selector. Dinesh Karthik - -4000 Should be sent to Peru where he can groom Llamas with his "yeah yeah yeah" and other constipated noises.

[fineleg]

Mamu, You are saying Laxman is overrated!!! WTH - Do you forget that in Napier 2nd Inn Gambhir and Laxman were key for us? If Laxman got out early it could have been real dicey. Instead what does VVS do, hit a classy century!

[Mamu]

Mamu, You are saying Laxman is overrated!!! WTH - Do you forget that in Napier 2nd Inn Gambhir and Laxman were key for us? If Laxman got out early it could have been real dicey. Instead what does VVS do, hit a classy century!

In that innings he scored most of his runs after tea when things ahd really settled down. And I do give him partial credit for that -- which is why i said he was 6. 8.5 is quite overrated for Laxman is what I said.

[fineleg]

regarding: he "scored most of the runs after tea" He was there to occupy the crease so we won't fold like we have done in many Tests in the past. He did that job really well. That was his main job to stay there at the wicket. By Tea he did that job, and then he opened up.

[Mamu]

regarding: he "scored most of the runs after tea" He was there to occupy the crease so we won't fold like we have done in many Tests in the past. He did that job really well. That was his main job to stay there at the wicket. By Tea he did that job, and then he opened up.

Yes he did an average job of doing that. I am not denying that. It is not like he pulled India out of the woods singlehandedly. So i gave him a 6 and not 8.5. Not to mention he did literally nothing rest of the series. And atleast on 2 occassions where some substance and solidarity was required he screwed up -- especially wafting outside off like a schoolboy , he does lose points there -- doesn't he? I wil give 8.5 out of 10 to somebody who has hand a quite an impact on the game and in the series. If I were to give 8.5 for than innings -- what should I rate the Sehwag Innings against England --- 11 ??

[graphic23]

Yes he did an average job of doing that. I am not denying that. It is not like he pulled India out of the woods singlehandedly. So i gave him a 6 and not 8.5. Not to mention he did literally nothing rest of the series. And atleast on 2 occassions where some substance and solidarity was required he screwed up -- especially wafting outside off like a schoolboy ' date=' he does lose points there -- doesn't he? I wil give 8.5 out of 10 to somebody who has hand a quite an impact on the game and in the series. If I were to give 8.5 for than innings -- what should I rate the Sehwag Innings against England --- 11 ??[/quote'] So scoring a 76 when the team total is 314 against an 8th ranked team means nothing? Then to follow that up with a brilliant 124*. If you find this average, find me something better in this series. He is a very very integral part of the team, and did his job quite well. 2/5 times he got out to a waft. The other 3 times, he had 2 50s and an unbeaten century, that too when the team needed it. When he came out on the fifth day morning, we could've still lost - we had Yuvraj and Karthik, and then the tail. I wouldn't trust them on any surface on any day. So in my eyes, he did have a big impact on the series. Again, he came in on the 3rd day when we lost Sachin early, and we needed to build a big lead. He helped with his 50+, didn't he?

[graphic23]

Come on man, he has a test average of what 35 now? And in a place where his counterpart was tearing apart the opposition -- he could not deliver. I dont care if he bowls well, i need wickets.. that is all that matters to me. You might as well bowl a long hop and get wickets -- if you think the batsman is going to go after your long hop -- rather than not doing it and not taking a wicket. Ishant was a disappointment -- let us not hide it. He could nt runinto the wind and stopping and making faces -- like "what the fuq is this -- i have to run into wind"? Yeah dude -- you have to -- that s your job. If you dont know how to run into the wind -- go home and bloody pratice it. Everything is not going to be hunky dory for you world over. He has a long way to go. At best he was 2.5. I dont know why you rate him 6.5. 6.5 should be given to a person who has done his job satisfactorily and Ishant was a failure, there are no 2 ways about it. I was going to post about Ishant after the 1st inn, but then I thoght may be I should wait to give him once more chance -- which I did and I was unimpressed with him.

Wow, so a 20 year old bowler who's touring a country that very rarely plays matches in April due to the wind and rain who didn't do as well as you would've liked, deserves a 2.5 ? WTF. So, you want every 19-20 year old to imitate a 114 on Perth then? He bowled well, and was unlucky. Quite a few catches were dropped at Napier. When Zaheer, who's toured here once before wasn't bowling into the wind - ever, Ishant took up that mantle. He did well, for all I care. He struggled, but that was expected. It almost seems as if you didn't watch the match at all. So, what should his test average be? 18 ? And please tell me how any Indian bowler can "practice" bowling into the wind at home. Turn on a mega-fan and run into it ? Your expectations are unreal and your solutions are impractical.

[fineleg]

My rating for Ishant would be 4.5 (not too bad, but below average this tour). Could have given 5, but taking his own fielding into account, 4.5

[Mamu]

Wow, so a 20 year old bowler who's touring a country that very rarely plays matches in April due to the wind and rain who didn't do as well as you would've liked, deserves a 2.5 ? WTF. So, you want every 19-20 year old to imitate a 114 on Perth then? He bowled well, and was unlucky. Quite a few catches were dropped at Napier. When Zaheer, who's toured here once before wasn't bowling into the wind - ever, Ishant took up that mantle. He did well, for all I care. He struggled, but that was expected. It almost seems as if you didn't watch the match at all. So, what should his test average be? 18 ? And please tell me how any Indian bowler can "practice" bowling into the wind at home. Turn on a mega-fan and run into it ? Your expectations are unreal and your solutions are impractical.

I gave him a 2.5 because he averages 41.5 in the tour. OK. And if you consider 41.5 is a good average for a bowler -- you must be smoking something. What has age got to with his rating ? To me he is national bowler who is supposed to be special over others and he got picked up. Bottom line he did not live up to the standards and expectations he had set. Catches were dropped against everybody and everybody suffered and here is something I will tell -- he is going to continue to suffer -- cuz catches will continue to be dropped. But that should be an execuse for him to average 41.5 -- and if that is the case god save us. Zaheer was given bowling into the wind because he was picking wickets from that end. You do not change a bowler who is picking wickets up. Wind should not be an excuse for him to not to be able to bowl well. BTW -- I did not think he was even bowling well, look at the number of runs he gave away. Come on don't hood wink yourself by saying he bowled well. He did not bowl well. To me he was bowling well below his standards. Regarding pratice -- you DO WHATEVER it takes to simulate the conditions PERIOD. There should be no excuses. Yes if that means 3 blowing mega fans on your face while bowling to simulate those yes -- f**king do it. How much will the mega fans cost? It would be a shame if you told me BCCI or (heck even himself) cannot afford to buy a couple of mega fans. Or pick a place in India like Shillong, Dharmsala or any other place that is windy and go and pratice there. Let me tell you shopping around on the streets of Auckland -- at 2:00 PM the day before a game -- does not help you -- I know that for a fact. Here is something you might want to know -- before the 2005 Aus Series -- knowing very well what conditions and food they were going to get in India-- Aus prepared a lot. McGrath (and possibly others) started going to Indian Restaurants in Aus and started getting used to the cuisine. On Match Nights in India -- McCgrath slept in his room with AC off to get used to the heat. That my friend is the level of commitment I require , heck I demand from the national players. In the USA -- the NFL teams do ANYTHING that is required to get used to the game conditions coming up. You will be amazed to see what they do. They even simulate Spectator Noise in Indoor Stadiums, If they are playing in cold conditions, put balls on ice and practice etc etc. That is what professional teams do and should do without any excuse. Not go shopping -- dining and wining on day before games and huff and puff your way into the wind -- stop mid-way through your run-up to the wicket and putting up a weird face as if the world was out to get him -- i mean screw that.

[graphic23]

I gave him a 2.5 because he averages 41.5 in the tour. OK. And if you consider 41.5 is a good average for a bowler -- you must be smoking something. What has age got to with his rating ? To me he is national bowler who is supposed to be special over others and he got picked up. Bottom line he did not live up to the standards and expectations he had set. Catches were dropped against everybody and everybody suffered and here is something I will tell -- he is going to continue to suffer -- cuz catches will continue to be dropped. But that should be an execuse for him to average 41.5 -- and if that is the case god save us. Zaheer was given bowling into the wind because he was picking wickets from that end. You do not change a bowler who is picking wickets up. Wind should not be an excuse for him to not to be able to bowl well. BTW -- I did not think he was even bowling well, look at the number of runs he gave away. Come on don't hood wink yourself by saying he bowled well. He did not bowl well. To me he was bowling well below his standards. Regarding pratice -- you DO WHATEVER it takes to simulate the conditions PERIOD. There should be no excuses. Yes if that means 3 blowing mega fans on your face while bowling to simulate those yes -- f**king do it. How much will the mega fans cost? It would be a shame if you told me BCCI or (heck even himself) cannot afford to buy a couple of mega fans. Or pick a place in India like Shillong, Dharmsala or any other place that is windy and go and pratice there. Let me tell you shopping around on the streets of Auckland -- at 2:00 PM the day before a game -- does not help you -- I know that for a fact. Here is something you might want to know -- before the 2005 Aus Series -- knowing very well what conditions and food they were going to get in India-- Aus prepared a lot. McGrath (and possibly others) started going to Indian Restaurants in Aus and started getting used to the cuisine. On Match Nights in India -- McCgrath slept in his room with AC off to get used to the heat. That my friend is the level of commitment I require , heck I demand from the national players. In the USA -- the NFL teams do ANYTHING that is required to get used to the game conditions coming up. You will be amazed to see what they do. They even simulate Spectator Noise in Indoor Stadiums, If they are playing in cold conditions, put balls on ice and practice etc etc. That is what professional teams do and should do without any excuse. Not go shopping -- dining and wining on day before games and huff and puff your way into the wind -- stop mid-way through your run-up to the wicket and putting up a weird face as if the world was out to get him -- i mean screw that.

Do you know why the Chicago Bears have a reputation of being near impossible to beat at home, dude - despite being an average team at best? Because it is impossible to cope with the cold and the very very heavy winds blowing at yourface, and in football, you can wear a mask too. Here, a bowler has to build up momentum running hard into the wind - he's a lanky, skinny guy, who's just begun his international career, and its not he predicted that there would be heavy winds and he'll be forced to go through that. Zaheer is the more experienced one, he should've been bowling into the wind because he was very good anyways. Ishant should've gotten more opportunities to bowl from the other end - not just 6 out of some 50 overs. And since when have we been given the right, nay the power, to "demand" or "require" things from 11 complete strangers? They play for our entertainment - its not you're paying them. Heck, the most power we have as fans is to stop watching. Thats about it.

[amits]

i cant understand y so many ppl hate dinesh kartik over here despite the fact that he is the best keeper in terms of keeping ability in india

[graphic23]

i cant understand y so many ppl hate dinesh kartik over here despite the fact that he is the best keeper in terms of keeping ability in india

Oh, yes. Neither can I. He only drops 4 catches per innings. I can't understand why so many people hate Dinesh Karthik over here and aren't about to go kill him despite the fact that he is the worst keeper India has had in the past 5 years.

[fineleg]

i cant understand y so many ppl hate dinesh kartik over here despite the fact that he is the best keeper in terms of keeping ability in india

Aishwarya Gurjar also hates Dinesh Karthik btw.

[bharat297]

i cant understand y so many ppl hate dinesh kartik over here despite the fact that he is the best keeper in terms of keeping ability in india

Yea except ... * He is not the best keeper in terms of keeping ability. He frequently drops catches and lets through byes. I dont care what he does in domestic cricket, in international cricket he has failed as a keeper so far. Remember that game against Pakistan in 2007, when he let through something like 50 byes in an innings ... something ridiculous like that. * He is no where near as good a batsman as Dhoni. Karthik had a few good months opening the batting in 2007, and well done to him for that. * In fielding, he is up and down. I have seen him take some absolute screamers and then drop some absolute sitters. With Dinesh Karthik, you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes ok, otherwise crap.

[fineleg]

Yea except ... * He is not the best keeper in terms of keeping ability. He frequently drops catches and lets through byes. I dont care what he does in domestic cricket, in international cricket he has failed as a keeper so far. Remember that game against Pakistan in 2007, when he let through something like 50 byes in an innings ... something ridiculous like that. * He is no where near as good a batsman as Dhoni. Karthik had a few good months opening the batting in 2007, and well done to him for that. * In fielding, he is up and down. I have seen him take some absolute screamers and then drop some absolute sitters. With Dinesh Karthik, you never know what you are going to get. Sometimes ok, otherwise crap.

Mostly the latter with KKD. Hopefully we have seen the last of him in Tests.

[Don Sharma]

i cant understand y so many ppl hate dinesh kartik over here despite the fact that he is the best keeper in terms of keeping ability in india

[Shane]

Aishwarya Gurjar also hates Dinesh Karthik btw.

nd Ashu lurves P P :winky:

[ViruRulez]

sehwag - 3 gambhir - 8 tendulkar - 7 dravid - 7 laxman - 7 yuvraj - 1 dhoni - 3 harbhajan - 7 zaheer - 8 ishant - 3 munaf - 4

[King Tendulkar]

India - Marks out of ten. How Cricinfo rated them Sidharth Monga 9 Gautam Gambhir He set up a win in Hamilton, saved a match that looked lost in Napier, and batted New Zealand out in Wellington - the three main jobs an opener is expected to do. Three ticks in three boxes. In the process, Gambhir also removed a few question marks over his temperament and doubts over his batting outside the subcontinent. He loses out on a perfect 10 because he had a century for the taking in Hamilton, and played a loose shot when on 72. 8.5 Harbhajan Singh The revelation of the tour for India. Harbhajan enjoyed being the lead spinner, taking wickets and also tying one end up for the fast bowlers to do their job from the other. Almost everywhere in New Zealand, one end tended to be more helpful to the pacers. Harbhajan bowled unbroken spells of 23 overs and 17 overs into the Wellington wind, and gave nothing away. The leading wicket-taker in Tests, he had the best bowling average and topped the wicket charts in ODIs too. Zaheer Khan He got early wickets every time. Hostility, precision, and intelligence all worked for him, resulting in 13 wickets in the Tests. Zaheer crossed 100 wickets outside India, at a better average and strike-rate than any Indian bowler. He promised a five-for in Wellington if the batsmen saved the Napier Test, and delivered, securing the series on the second day of the last Test. 8 Sachin Tendulkar Didn't disappoint the fans - who thought this could be his last trip to New Zealand - at all. Some of his fluent batting rolled back the years, and reminded of the Tendulkar of the old. He continued from where he left off in the Christchurch ODI - 163 retired hurt - with a 160 in the Hamilton Test. Big scores went uncharacteristically missing, but New Zealand did exceptionally well to escape with 49, 64, 62 and 9 in his last four efforts. 7.5 VVS Laxman Laxman missed out in Hamilton, where India had taken complete control by the time he arrived. But in Napier, all of his artistry was on show. He was disappointed to get out on 71 in the first innings, becoming a part of a collapse. But in the second innings, he scored a hundred that was a perfect blend of caution, fluency, and breathtaking strokeplay. Another half-century in the last Test took his tally to 295 runs at 73.75. Rahul Dravid Completely shrugged off his poor run of form. He was the most consistent Indian batsman with scores of 66, 8 not out, 83, 62, 35 and 60. It was very unlike Dravid to miss out on so many opportunities to score centuries. He played a poor shot once, which resulted in the collapse in Napier, but was the first to take the blame for it. He made up for it with a dogged half-century in the second innings, where an ordinary umpiring decision robbed him of another century. MS Dhoni What he brings to the side became glaringly obvious in the Napier Test that he missed. His wicketkeeping and batting at No. 7 were badly missed, apart from his captaincy. It's tough to put a finger on what difference he makes tactically, but there seemed to be a different level of energy to the team when he was the captain. 6 Virender Sehwag Missed out on explosive starts in Hamilton and Wellington and attracted criticism for shot-selection against spinners two evenings in a row in Napier. Nevertheless Sehwag kept the opening bowlers honest as some of the mental disintegration from the ODIs stayed with Test bowlers as well. He put bowlers off their plan on the fresh Wellington pitch. 5.5 Ishant Sharma Didn't live up to the high expectations leading into the tour. Ishant struggled in the Wellington wind, but was impressive in Hamilton. Eight wickets at 41.75 wasn't a fair reflection of the pace and discomfort he managed to create. He just wasn't consistent enpugh. 5 Munaf Patel The tour was representative of Munaf in general. When he got going in Hamilton, he took more wickets than any fast bowler in the match. When he started to go for runs in Napier, a dropped catch notwithstanding, he looked lethargic and disinterested. Munaf was underused in Wellington, but if he bowls like he did in Hamilton, he could solve the problem of the third seam bowler. 4.5 Yuvraj Singh Undid the good work from the Test series against England. Napier was a situation tailormade for him to make a Test name for himself, but couldn't survive the new ball. Dropped catches in the slips wouldn't have helped his confidence. Yuvraj will have to start a new Test innings all over again. Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo

[Dark Warrior]

@^^ agree with cricinfo