Laxman made Vice Captain

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

Ganguly is back cause he never should have been dropped in the first place. It was gregc/moron politics which got him thrown out from tests.

Arent you changing your stand ?? I thought you wanted ganguly dropped from both the teams.

[yoda]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain I would play Rao, Ganguly, Badri or Gambhir ahead of the useless Kaif.

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain Suffice to say, Ganguly does not deserve a spot on his own performance. He just pips our useless middle order pretenders, based on experience & history, esp, in South African conditions, where u even expect a Tendulkar to struggle.

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain kaif averaged over 50 in the test series played at WI how confident are you that ganguly will average 35 in SA test series ?

[yoda]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

Ganguly is back cause he never should have been dropped in the first place. It was gregc/moron politics which got him thrown out from tests.

Arent you changing your stand ?? I thought you wanted ganguly dropped from both the teams.

No. Even on the Ganguly shrine I always maintained that he was unfairly dumped from the test team. In fact I think he should have stayed on as test cappo while took over the ODI team.

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

kaif averaged over 50 in the test series played at WI how confident are you that ganguly will average 35 in SA test series ?

Check Kaif's avg, in the only tricky pitch (last test) in WI. SA wickets are gonna be like that for him. His vulnerability to short stuff is shocking. If he cant handle Taylor's pace, what is he expected to do against the SA quickies ?

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

Check Kaif's avg, in the only tricky pitch (last test) in WI. SA wickets are gonna be like that for him. His vulnerability to short stuff is shocking. If he cant handle Taylor's pace, what is he expected to do against the SA quickies ?

and what makes you think ganguly will do a better job ??

[The Outsider]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain A brief look at Kaif's test career: 1. Drafted in as a 19 year old against SA. Made 12 and 23 as the entire batting lineup barring Azharuddin crumbled. Dropped. 2. Brought back one and half years later in SL. Played all 3 tests with scores of 37 & 14 in the first test where the entire lineup crumbled, 17 and 19* in the second test win, and 14 & 5 in the third test. Dropped. 3. Brought back 3 years later against the final frontier conquering Aussies. Made 64 at Chennai to setup a potentially matchwinning position. 55 & 7 at Nagpur, being the only batsman to show some grit. 2 & a crucial 25 in the low scoring Mumbai test. Dropped. 4. Brought back 1.5 years later against SL. Scored 4 & 9. 5. Made a vital 91 against England saving India from defeat at Nagpur. Dropped. 6. Brought back against the WI. Scored 13 and a useful 46* in the first test. A superb 148* in the second test to set up a matchwinning position. 0 in the third test followed by 13 & 6 in the final test where no one barring Dravid scored. Dropped.

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

Check Kaif's avg, in the only tricky pitch (last test) in WI. SA wickets are gonna be like that for him. His vulnerability to short stuff is shocking. If he cant handle Taylor's pace, what is he expected to do against the SA quickies ?

and what makes you think ganguly will do a better job ??

No guarantees. This is not about picking the best. This is about picking the better of the worst. Beggars are not choosers. We are stuck with some very mediocre bats for a while. Just that going with experience ahead of youth, would likely yield better results. We already saw our youth crumble in the ODIs.

[Predator_05]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

Check Kaif's avg, in the only tricky pitch (last test) in WI. SA wickets are gonna be like that for him.

The Kingston pitch was a spinner's wicket. SA pitches will be a different beast - ie; more bounce and lateral movement. How he would have done is anyone's guess, but on recent form he should be in the XI.

[The Outsider]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain What experience are you guys talking about: 1. Experience of averaging 30 in SA prior to the series? 2. Experience of appearing clueless against Pollock in SA? 3. Experience of being bounced out by the likes of Sami?

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain kaif has played 13 tests he is avr over 60 in the last 5. Ganguly, VVS are avr around 30. So even if we go on current form Kaif still deserved a spot in test side.

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain

What experience are you guys talking about: 1. Experience of averaging 30 in SA prior to the series? 2. Experience of appearing clueless against Pollock in SA? 3. Experience of being bounced out by the likes of Sami?

Experience playing all over the world vs a kiddo who has hardly played 13 tests. Last time, when we toured SA, his avg in the ODIs in SA pitches, IIRC, was the highest amongst the Indian batters (49). Sure ODI performances, dont have to count for tests, but IMO, we are desperate to find someone who can bat in these conditions (which is why Jaffer, Karthik, Laxy are all being considered for ODI XI atm). Ganguly does not have a Tendulkaresque resume, to put his selection beyond debate, but is worth the gamble ahead of Kaiphu.

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain I have nothing against ganguly. If in playing Xi i want him to score a 100 but given his current form i dont see that happening. But i am glad he is in the team cause after this series we will know how much his presence changes teams performance.

[The Outsider]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain In the last 5 tests Kaif has played, he has played one matchsaving and one potentially matchwinning innings. Ganguly, on the other hand has not been able to buy a run at the FC level since being dropped. What must be going through the minds of Rao and Badrinath- that scoring runs is not worth anything, all you need to do is write emails to the right people, have dinners with the BCCI president, have a brother in an influential position? ODI performance should not be even considered. The restriction on short bowling in ODIs puts a completely different perspective in the version specially when you are considering someone like Ganguly who has been bounced out by Sami.

[Dhondy]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain I have already posted stats on why Kaif should be in the team ahead of Ganguly. Let's talk figures please, gentlemen. Now that Kaif's gone, due to no fault of his own, I'd play Pathan ahead of Ganguly as the 6th batsman. Better batting stats over last 10 Tests, much better bowler and fielder, and as we saw in the last ODI, one of the few Indians who have some inkling about how to play pace. I know it won't happen, though. What a bloody shame!

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain If we talk only figures, why is Tendulkar in the team ? Perhaps for his experience & history ?

[Dhondy]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain Good point, Bumps. I believe that if he fails in this series, he won't be able to stay on. There's only so much you can feed off goodwill.

[The Outsider]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain Tendulkar has performed well on SA pitches in the past so there is more chance that he'll succeed there than someone who averages 30 there.

[Bumper]

Re: Laxman made Vice Captain Quoting Dhondy's stats:

Dravid 1046 @ 74.71 (no minnows) Tendulkar 392 @ 28.00 (no minnows) Laxman 584 @ 38.93 (no minnows) Ganguly 408 @ 31.38 (3 innings against Zim & BD, scored 205) Kaif 502 @ 35.85 (no minnows) Yuvraj 414 @ 29.57 (no minnows) Pathan 476 @ 34.00 (no minnows)

SRT is the worst MO batter according to figures. And mind u, this aint a small sample. If someone needs to be dropped based on figures, its Tendulkar. But it would be foolish to do so in these conditions. Something beyond numbers tell u that SRT likely would be a better pick than Kaif & Pathan ?