Bring some balance to the game !!

[Captain of Bhangra]

...If Sri Lanka had won today. Don't get me wrong, I was in agony, thinking we were about to be shamed (to some extent, we still were), but it would have been extremely fitting, and typical to have a funny record where we had our highest ever total, and we still lost. I know Australia have this record, and maybe some others have, but there's just something so frustratingly Indian about it... India finished batting just before I got in the shower to get ready for work, and all I was thinking of while I washed, was that knowing our team, even this score could be got at. It was more disappointment than surprise, when at work, 2-3 hours later, Cricinfo showed me what a fantastic (sarcasm) job we were doing of defending the total. There's something not right about a grown man in an office, on the phone to his wife, shaking like a leaf, practically on his knees, while she talks him through the last over of an ODI (because his Cricinfo crashed), when that man's team batted first and made over 400. I'll hold further criticism until I catch our bowling highlights...

[vvvslaxman]

Indians bowled "in the highlights". Why are you surprised? Look at this score card. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/366627.html Look at the 8th wicket partnership between Mills and Southee.

[Sachinism]

Indians bowled "in the highlights". Why are you surprised? Look at this score card. http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/366627.html Look at the 8th wicket partnership between Mills and Southee.

9th wicket. I think it would have been fitting only because they did the chasing, which is a lot harder. The pitch was good but the pressure is something different. On the other hand, India didn't really create any pressure

[vvvslaxman]

9th wicket. I think it would have been fitting only because they did the chasing, which is a lot harder. The pitch was good but the pressure is something different. On the other hand, India didn't really create any pressure

Our Munna bhai was giggling after getting beaten to pulp. As a fast bowler you either need pace or variation. Praveen got variations. The rest of the bowlers are not good at executing their variations.

[cowboysfan]

is Sreeshant coming back for the nagpur match?

[champ]

Bring some balance to the game !! We have had an unbelievable match with both teams scoring 400+ without breaking a sweat . Its time the BCCI stop producing these flat pitches and become a laughing stock of the world and ultimately our batsmen carrying obscene averages and strike rates . bring some balance into the game. full credit to likes of sehwag dilshan and sangakkara , but these kind of pitches are not on. TBH i think every game in the series is capable of producing a score like this. another one resulting in these scores, this is insane. crowds love 4s and 6s but a low scoring game can be equally thrilling with a sporting pitch.

[Celeste]

ODIs & 20/20 are supposed to be run feast. I like it.

[Guest Gunner]

Janta doesn't understand thrilling, sporting etc. They understand mindless slogging and sixers so that's what they will get. You and me can only write letters to the editor.

[vvvslaxman]

After T20 they have realized they can get past totals like 350 with ridiculous ease if you keep wickets in hands. I mentioned this after T20 win. I just felt flat because of imbalance between ball and bat. Regardless of the pitches this is going to continue unless you make it overly bowler friendly. Look at the shots they play. Diliscoop, switch hit what not. That is why i am always against ideas like free hits, batting power play and all those craps. Just keep 15 overs power play and be done with it.

[fineleg]

After T20 they have realized they can get past totals like 350 with ridiculous ease if you keep wickets in hands. I mentioned this after T20 win. I just felt flat because of imbalance between ball and bat. Regardless of the pitches this is going to continue unless you make it overly bowler friendly. Look at the shots they play. Diliscoop' date=' switch hit what not. That is why i am always against ideas like free hits,[b'] batting power play and all those craps. Just keep 15 overs power play and be done with it.

Batting powerplay sometimes produces wickets and may be detrimental to the batting team. Interesting from that point of view. (But maybe 10 PP overs + 5 batting PP - no need for 20!) But, yeah - stop the "Free Hit" etc. and we need better pitches where bowlers get assistance. This 800+ runs in one day is just :yawn2:

[Pak_Forever]

or maybe it was just the bowlers. tbh when 20 overs produce 200+ runs then whatelse will you expect in 50 overs. Cricket is quickly turning into a boring run fest game and lame pitches of sub-continentare are seriously killing the game.

[lonestarranger]

We have had an unbelievable match with both teams scoring 400+ without breaking a sweat . Its time the BCCI stop producing these flat pitches and become a laughing stock of the world and ultimately our batsmen carrying obscene averages and strike rates . bring some balance into the game. full credit to likes of sehwag dilshan and sangakkara , but these kind of pitches are not on. TBH i think every game in the series is capable of producing a score like this. another one resulting in these scores, this is insane. crowds love 4s and 6s but a low scoring game can be equally thrilling with a sporting pitch.

Well I'm the eternal pessimist as well (like you), but nobody questioned the Wanderers' pitch when the 434 run riot happened. Is that fair? :hitler:

[saneindian]

I did a small exercise to find out which are the countries where 300 plus totals are being scored the most 1. Table for 300 plus totals out of all ODIs played in each country( only top 8) Country--Total ODIs---300+ scores--%age Ind----------- 656-----------55----------- 8.4% SA----------- 546-----------43----------- 7.9% Pak----------- 412-----------27----------- 6.6% WI----------- 444-----------28----------- 6.3% NZ----------- 456-----------27----------- 5.9% Eng-----------610-----------33----------- 5.4% SL----------- 414-----------16----------- 3.9% Aus-----------1018--------- 34----------- 3.3% As can be seen, flat tracks are being produced all over the world for ODIs. Now refining the stats further, I tried to find , how many times has the home team scored 300 plus out of all these high totals in the respective countries. 2. Table for 300 plus totals scored by the home team out of all 300 plus totals in the country COuntry---300 + total--by home team-----%age Aus-----------34-----------20----------------------58.8% Pak----------- 27-----------15----------------------55.6% SA----------- 43-----------22----------------------51.2% NZ------------27-----------13----------------------48.1% Eng-----------33-----------15----------------------45.5% Ind----------- 55-----------23----------------------41.8% SL-------------16-----------6------------------------37.5% WI----------- 28-----------8------------------------28.6% These numbers will tell you that Aus have taken advantage of flat decks in Australia the most. On the other hand, flat tracks in India have helped the opposition more than the home team as indiacted by a 42% instance of India scoring 300 plus out of all 300 plus totals in India. So the myth that only India produces flat decks and that too for its own batsman stands no ground at all and is only used by the western media to defame the quality of our batsmen.

[Gambit]

I did a small exercise to find out which are the countries where 300 plus totals are being scored the most 1. Table for 300 plus totals out of all ODIs played in each country( only top 8) Country--Total ODIs---300+ scores--%age Ind----------- 656-----------55----------- 8.4% SA----------- 546-----------43----------- 7.9% Pak----------- 412-----------27----------- 6.6% WI----------- 444-----------28----------- 6.3% NZ----------- 456-----------27----------- 5.9% Eng-----------610-----------33----------- 5.4% SL----------- 414-----------16----------- 3.9% Aus-----------1018--------- 34----------- 3.3% As can be seen, flat tracks are being produced all over the world for ODIs. Now refining the stats further, I tried to find , how many times has the home team scored 300 plus out of all these high totals in the respective countries. 2. Table for 300 plus totals scored by the home team out of all 300 plus totals in the country COuntry---300 + total--by home team-----%age Aus-----------34-----------20----------------------58.8% Pak----------- 27-----------15----------------------55.6% SA----------- 43-----------22----------------------51.2% NZ------------27-----------13----------------------48.1% Eng-----------33-----------15----------------------45.5% Ind----------- 55-----------23----------------------41.8% SL-------------16-----------6------------------------37.5% WI----------- 28-----------8------------------------28.6% These numbers will tell you that Aus have taken advantage of flat decks in Australia the most. On the other hand, flat tracks in India have helped the opposition more than the home team as indiacted by a 42% instance of India scoring 300 plus out of all 300 plus totals in India. So the myth that only India produces flat decks and that too for its own batsman stands no ground at all and is only used by the western media to defame the quality of our batsmen.

Great work! Sri Lanka in my opinion have the best ODI tracks in the subcon. 250 totals are defended there with amazing regularity.

[champ]

Well I'm the eternal pessimist as well (like you)' date=' but nobody questioned the Wanderers' pitch when the 434 run riot happened. Is that fair? :hitler:[/quote'] i am not questioning even this match .. but we need to if the trend continues in the next matches.. SA and AUS was a one off game ..

[Sachinism]

I did a small exercise to find out which are the countries where 300 plus totals are being scored the most 1. Table for 300 plus totals out of all ODIs played in each country( only top 8) Country--Total ODIs---300+ scores--%age Ind----------- 656-----------55----------- 8.4% SA----------- 546-----------43----------- 7.9% Pak----------- 412-----------27----------- 6.6% WI----------- 444-----------28----------- 6.3% NZ----------- 456-----------27----------- 5.9% Eng-----------610-----------33----------- 5.4% SL----------- 414-----------16----------- 3.9% Aus-----------1018--------- 34----------- 3.3% As can be seen, flat tracks are being produced all over the world for ODIs. Now refining the stats further, I tried to find , how many times has the home team scored 300 plus out of all these high totals in the respective countries. 2. Table for 300 plus totals scored by the home team out of all 300 plus totals in the country COuntry---300 + total--by home team-----%age Aus-----------34-----------20----------------------58.8% Pak----------- 27-----------15----------------------55.6% SA----------- 43-----------22----------------------51.2% NZ------------27-----------13----------------------48.1% Eng-----------33-----------15----------------------45.5% Ind----------- 55-----------23----------------------41.8% SL-------------16-----------6------------------------37.5% WI----------- 28-----------8------------------------28.6% These numbers will tell you that Aus have taken advantage of flat decks in Australia the most. On the other hand, flat tracks in India have helped the opposition more than the home team as indiacted by a 42% instance of India scoring 300 plus out of all 300 plus totals in India. So the myth that only India produces flat decks and that too for its own batsman stands no ground at all and is only used by the western media to defame the quality of our batsmen.

Great work. I'm sure people will come out with stuff like but Aus have been a superior team. But look at India's batting line-up hardly short of talent. And our crappy bowling and fielding allows the opposition to score as much, so people begin to feel its a road of a wicket

[Fontaine]

I did a small exercise to find out which are the countries where 300 plus totals are being scored the most 1. Table for 300 plus totals out of all ODIs played in each country( only top 8) Country--Total ODIs---300+ scores--%age Ind----------- 656-----------55----------- 8.4% SA----------- 546-----------43----------- 7.9% Pak----------- 412-----------27----------- 6.6% WI----------- 444-----------28----------- 6.3% NZ----------- 456-----------27----------- 5.9% Eng-----------610-----------33----------- 5.4% SL----------- 414-----------16----------- 3.9% Aus-----------1018--------- 34----------- 3.3% As can be seen, flat tracks are being produced all over the world for ODIs. Now refining the stats further, I tried to find , how many times has the home team scored 300 plus out of all these high totals in the respective countries. 2. Table for 300 plus totals scored by the home team out of all 300 plus totals in the country COuntry---300 + total--by home team-----%age Aus-----------34-----------20----------------------58.8% Pak----------- 27-----------15----------------------55.6% SA----------- 43-----------22----------------------51.2% NZ------------27-----------13----------------------48.1% Eng-----------33-----------15----------------------45.5% Ind----------- 55-----------23----------------------41.8% SL-------------16-----------6------------------------37.5% WI----------- 28-----------8------------------------28.6% These numbers will tell you that Aus have taken advantage of flat decks in Australia the most. On the other hand, flat tracks in India have helped the opposition more than the home team as indiacted by a 42% instance of India scoring 300 plus out of all 300 plus totals in India. So the myth that only India produces flat decks and that too for its own batsman stands no ground at all and is only used by the western media to defame the quality of our batsmen.

Sorry, nice research but who the hell cares about other countries? The point is why do India have to have these wickets that allow 300 plus totals to be scored so easily? Yes Indian bowling and fielding needs to improve but that might save what 20-30 runs at the most? The problem comes directly from even tailenders and new batsmen at the crease being able to cleanly hit through the line any time they want. That's not cricket, that's a glorified net session. The only way the batsmen then can get out is if they make a mistake from not picking up the line/length of the ball, being run out, or just mistiming the ball rather than any skill or guile the bowler uses. THE BEST the bowler can do is keep the economy down by bowling a lot of yorkers. So you decide. IF you want these kind of slog fests where 600 plus runs is easily achieved then STOP criticizing the bowling. In that case it's entirely up to the batsmen and fielders to make the catches and take the run out chances.

[Fontaine]

Great work. I'm sure people will come out with stuff like but Aus have been a superior team. But look at India's batting line-up hardly short of talent. And our crappy bowling and fielding allows the opposition to score as much' date=' so people begin to feel its a road of a wicket[/quote'] But Australia also have a lot of grounds where there is a lot of seam movement, pace and bounce. Same with SA. In other words overall they have a balance of grounds. Our grounds for international test/odi have ultra fast outfields, and mostly are batting friendly. Very few grounds provide genuine help for the bowlers.

[cowboysfan]

i actually think flat patta wickets are a detriment to this current indian team in odis.we have spin advantage over teams barring sl and the pakis and we are effectively neutraliziing them by preparing flat decks.we saw how the aussies took advantage of it and will see the same in the world cup.talk about shooting yourself in the foot.

[saneindian]

Sorry, nice research but who the hell cares about other countries? The point is why do India have to have these wickets that allow 300 plus totals to be scored so easily? Yes Indian bowling and fielding needs to improve but that might save what 20-30 runs at the most? The problem comes directly from even tailenders and new batsmen at the crease being able to cleanly hit through the line any time they want. That's not cricket, that's a glorified net session. The only way the batsmen then can get out is if they make a mistake from not picking up the line/length of the ball, being run out, or just mistiming the ball rather than any skill or guile the bowler uses. THE BEST the bowler can do is keep the economy down by bowling a lot of yorkers. So you decide. IF you want these kind of slog fests where 600 plus runs is easily achieved then STOP criticizing the bowling. In that case it's entirely up to the batsmen and fielders to make the catches and take the run out chances.

Can you please read the post again? Am I defending the flat decks? No, all I am saying is flat tracks are being prepared every where and singling out India for that is unfair. BTW I am all for sporting tracks like any other cricket fan. Watching a match on a track with balance between ball and bat is always more fun than watching these slugfests.