Discussing the 2nd test between India and SA at Kolkata, 2010

[Karan114]

Bring in Botha for Harris' date=' despite his 3 wickets. ( Based solely on personal preference & the irrational fact that I want to hit Harris whenever I see him. )[/quote'] :cantstop:

Drop Prince & bring in Alviro Petersen. There is absolutely no use keeping Alviro in the squad if he's never going to get a game. Prince isn't performing so we have nothing to loose there.

To be fair, Prince got a bad decision at Nagpur. I realize that he has been out of sorts recently, but he has 11 centuries and averages 43, so he is a decent player and I think will come out of this rut pretty soon. That said, if there was an experienced alternative, I think it would have been reasonable to drop him, but Petersen doesn't really present a compelling case to drop Ashwell, at least to my mind.

[Lord]

This will always be disadvantageous to the side batting second so God forbid' date=' if India loses the toss, prepare to lose in a big way as the pitch will crumble and Steyn and Co will make good use of the bounce[/quote'] i think we won in Mumbai batting second n thats our best chance.

[Riley's Girl]

i think the better option for SA would be to drop Duminy n bring Ashwell down the order

Still, nothing to loose. Just give Alviro a go.

[Lord]

Still' date=' nothing to loose. Just give Alviro a go.[/quote'] yes

[Riley's Girl]

:cantstop: To be fair, Prince got a bad decision at Nagpur. I realize that he has been out of sorts recently, but he has 11 centuries and averages 43, so he is a decent player and I think will come out of this rut pretty soon. That said, if there was an experienced alternative, I think it would have been reasonable to drop him, but Petersen doesn't really present a compelling case to drop Ashwell, at least to my mind.

Then drop Duminy as Lord suggests.

[Karan114]

^^ Yeah Duminy can be replaced by him

[Riley's Girl]

yes

Just want to point out, regarding your signature Lord: It's just a game.

[spectre]

Gambir Sehwag Vijay Sachin Badri Laxman (if not fit) / Raina Dhoni Mishra Zaheer Ohja Sreesanth / Tyagi

[Lord]

Just want to point out' date=' regarding your signature Lord: It's just a game.[/quote'] :two_thumbs_up:

[diegovegaz]

now that the squad has been announced gambhir sehwag vijay sachin badrinath dhoni raina mishra zaheer bhajji sreesanth if laxman is fit, raina will have to miss out minefeild expected at the eden, so one last chance to bhajji

[saneindian]

The stands at Eden on the side of Hooghly have been razed to ground and the whole area is being rebuilt. What that means is more breeze throughout the match which could aid swing and seam that much more. Also the Kanpur test was played in the month of April in temperatures touching 40. Kolkata around this time of the year is a lot more cooler, so will be interesting to see how the pitch plays at eden.

[achilles]

Whatever we prepare, we need to make sure we don't give any kind of opportunity to the SA pacers, given the fact that we don't have any "pacers" apart from Zak.

[Karan114]

Curator rules out turner at the Eden Gardens Nikhilesh Bhattacharya, Hindustan Times Kolkata, February 09, 2010 First Published: 23:17 IST(9/2/2010) Last Updated: 23:19 IST(9/2/2010) The curator at Eden Gardens says he is preparing a good wicket that will last five days for India's must-win second Test against South Africa starting on Sunday and ruled out laying out a strip that will overtly assist spinners. Cricket is meant to be played on good wickets, curator Prabir Mukherjee said. Asked if the wicket he is preparing will last five says, Mukherjee said: Sure. Asked if it's possible to prepare a turning track in such short notice, Mukherjee said: No. We'll have to go for an under-prepared pitch in that case, which is not possible for us. The curator denied getting instructions from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) to prepare a spinning wicket. There has been no official instruction. I was talking to some BCCI officials and it appeared that the team management wants a spinning wicket, but that was it. Mukherjee added that usually curators do not get specific instructions from the board before international matches. Also, the BCCI grounds and pitches committee was disbanded after the abandonment of the Sri Lanka ODI at Kotla because of a wicket deemed dangerous for batsmen. India come to Kolkata 0-1 down in the two-Test series. Worryingly for the hosts, a good wicket at Eden usually means a featherbed for batsmen, at least for the first three-four days before the usual wear and tear starts to have an effect. International matches at the Eden are always played on the main strip in the middle of the square because that is the only one that can be covered by television cameras looking down the ground. The last match played on the strip was an ODI against Sri Lanka in December last year. India chased down Sri Lanka's total of 315 for six to win by seven wickets with nine balls to spare. India have won three of the last five Tests at the Eden and drawn two. http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/cricketnews/Curator-rules-out-turner-at-the-Eden-Gardens/Article1-507157.aspx

[Lord]

:wall:

[sm332]

We need to do whatever gives us home advantage ... Smith can complain all he wants. But Mickey Arthur instructed the curator for the last match against Poms to prepare a green mamba. He got what we wanted - so we shouldnt cow in to the lecturing from the Saffies. As far as I am concerned - a turning track is to our advantage but not unless there is decent bounce in the track.

[achilles]

Why can't I stop laughing at our team's uncompetitiveness home advantage going for a toss? :fisheye: Rather than working on our team's competitiveness, BCCI is busy playing pitch-pitch

[Mr. Wicket]

VVS must bat at 3 at Kolkata Vijay is a decent player, but Laxman is the sort who can really take the attack to an opposition and disrupt any plans when batting at that position. Not to forget his fantastic record at that position, and that he can really take advantage of a newer ball and more attacking fields if he's in early. That is all.

[cowboysfan]

it sounds good on paper but i really dont want 2 new comers at 5 and 6.

[Cricketics]

it sounds good on paper but i really dont want 2 new comers at 5 and 6.

But then you want your best bats to bat early and in that way we should have Laxman back at no. 3. If laxman goes on to bat at 3. There is a possibility that Vijay and players following him later might not get to bat, and that is great. I would love to see that happen.

[Mr. Wicket]

You would rather risk exposing one of the newcomers to the new ball against the best opening attack in the world?