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

[flamy]

SA has been so terribly pwned in this test. But to give *some credit* to them, they are facing us on pitches we "tweaked". Having said that, no one stopped them from picking 2 spinners. So, like Paul Harris did, :aetsch: to their bowlers.

fixed

[achilles]

What Kepp said was a shrewd dig at the India's successful attempt to doctor the pitch prepare a pitch for home advantage. Can't disagree with him much. Having said that, he is being a hypocrite coz his side did the same thing to save the Test series against England. But, to Kepp's credit, he wasn't exactly a person with as much of a clout in that series, as he does now.

[flamy]

PJ' date=' I am serious when I say I didn't mean the above comment to be taken like that.[/quote'] so in all those other places u werent serious :hmmm:

[vvvslaxman]

Steyn bowled brilliantly yesterday. They have a potent opening pair. Morkely despite running fever bowled with lot of fire. I think they rely largely on Steyn bursts. I will give more credit to our batsmen than taking away credit from SA bowlers. On evidence their bowlers bowled okay.

[davidcooper]

Kepler wessels's Quote:They're a very good team under their own conditions. We certainly expected them to put up this sort of fight. http://www.cricinfo.com/indvrsa2010/content/current/story/448552.html Wtf this mean India is not a very good team in other conditions, India need to beat this chokers back in SA next year to shut these guys up.If Sachin and Sehwag were in some sort of form in 2006, we could have easily won that series 2-1. Why is this SA team gets extra credit for beating England in England, we did it too,Only thing this SA team has done better than Indian team is beat Australia in Australia.But they lost to them at home in return series.India has always beaten Aussies at home even in their hey days. SA with all their fast bowling resources( Donald & Pollock) have never been a dominant side, they frigging won one match and they behave as if they have won World cup three times.With Smith and Kepler advising India how to pick our team and what our bowlers should do. Hope they beat their sorry As*ses tomorrow.

i agree a pathetic attempt by wessels to be honest, anyway feck him, hopefully SA will be thrashed in this test :giggle:

[Fontaine]

I think they're going to miss Ntini especially. Kallis, unless there's lots of swing about, isn't a menacing bowler any more and Parnell doesn't do much with the ball. Their spin is only a holding option so that leaves the bulk of the work on Steyn and Morkel. Ntini deserved to get dropped ofcourse but even a year ago he was still an effective bowler. Now the don't really have options apart from Steyn and Morkel. Still those two are a very very good opening pair but as we've seen in the past if you're new ball bowlers don't get support from others they tend of wear out.

[patriot]

Unfortunately' date=' SA aren't even that.[/quote'] http://http://stats.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/stats/index.html?class=1;filter=advanced;home_or_away=1;orderby=won;spanmin1=01+Jan+2000;spanval1=span;template=results;type=team OK.

[King]

Home or abroad, you need to win enough to be at the top. There will be plenty of those comments and you can't please everyone. Even Bangladesh reckons India don't deserve to be no.1 :-)

[kabira]

SA chocked Mr. Batting Consultant. Don't you teach them Not to Choke lesson during your stint. They were on top 200 for 1. They should blame themselves. They could not finish England twice when they were 9 wickets down, that too at home.

[putrevus]

Home or abroad, you need to win enough to be at the top. There will be plenty of those comments and you can't please everyone. Even Bangladesh reckons India don't deserve to be no.1 :-)

it is not question of pleasing everyone,question is respect from so called peers of the game. Indian cricketers somehow don't get enough credit , JP duminy was hailed as second coming of Gary Sobers on basis of one innings of 166, if you take out that innings his average is in low 20s which is quite pathetic for a player in one of best sides. Gambhir who has much better record never got that publicity of JP Duminy. Sehwag till recently was classified by many idio*ts as a slogger who is FTB , overlooking his accomplishments of scoring runs all over the world.

[King]

it is not question of pleasing everyone,question is respect from so called peers of the game. Indian cricketers somehow don't get enough credit , JP duminy was hailed as second coming of Gary Sobers on basis of one innings of 166, if you take out that innings his average is in low 20s which is quite pathetic for a player in one of best sides. Gambhir who has much better record never got that publicity of JP Duminy. Sehwag till recently was classified by many idio*ts as a slogger who is FTB , overlooking his accomplishments of scoring runs all over the world.

Why should India look forward for comments from Aussie or for that matter any other players/commentators/writers? To be honest when India was in NZ, they were treated like cricketing gods. You often hear in the cricketing clubs, circles, they talk very highly of Indian cricket and Indian players. Sehwag was hailed as great and so was every India player by the Kiwi cricket writers/followers. Tendulkar gets a lot of accolades from Aussie and English media all the time. Sehwag is well complimented by the Aussies, they like his sort of cricket. Rahul Dravid is well respected around the world and so is VVS. Gambhir was hailed as the best batsman by a lot of observers. If you are referring to some comments emanating out of Cricinfo, you are best advised to ignore those. Cricinfo is the dumbest cricket portal around and if not for live commentary they are an absolute waste of time. They still have 60s cricketers such as Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Chappell commenting on current day’s cricket. They hardly have anyone from the current era making observations. BBC and ACB is good that way, they have employed current and old players to provide different perspectives. As for South African oldies like Barry Richards, they are best left to be senile. Robin Jackman is fantastic, he is very balanced. Don’t know about Kepler as he must be hurting and at times when you are hurting you could slip in a few words that you don’t really want to say. It’s just disappointment showing in his words I guess.

[Karan114]

Don’t know about Kepler as he must be hurting and at times when you are hurting you could slip in a few words that you don’t really want to say. It’s just disappointment showing in his words I guess.

I agree with this, it does look a put down of India on its own, but reading the whole article, he has tried to make sense of SA's poor performance, criticized SA's lack of focus too and that line sounds more like an acknowledgment of India's strength as a good side amongst a series of many points then a deliberate attempt to rubbish their away performances. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one. What I can't stand is people like Atherton and the other Eng/Aus/SA journalists who deliberately look to denigrate our achievements in Test cricket.

[Fontaine]

Why should India look forward for comments from Aussie or for that matter any other players/commentators/writers? To be honest when India was in NZ, they were treated like cricketing gods. You often hear in the cricketing clubs, circles, they talk very highly of Indian cricket and Indian players. Sehwag was hailed as great and so was every India player by the Kiwi cricket writers/followers. Tendulkar gets a lot of accolades from Aussie and English media all the time. Sehwag is well complimented by the Aussies, they like his sort of cricket. Rahul Dravid is well respected around the world and so is VVS. Gambhir was hailed as the best batsman by a lot of observers. If you are referring to some comments emanating out of Cricinfo, you are best advised to ignore those. Cricinfo is the dumbest cricket portal around and if not for live commentary they are an absolute waste of time. They still have 60s cricketers such as Geoffrey Boycott and Ian Chappell commenting on current day’s cricket. They hardly have anyone from the current era making observations. BBC and ACB is good that way, they have employed current and old players to provide different perspectives. As for South African oldies like Barry Richards, they are best left to be senile. Robin Jackman is fantastic, he is very balanced. Don’t know about Kepler as he must be hurting and at times when you are hurting you could slip in a few words that you don’t really want to say. It’s just disappointment showing in his words I guess.

I'll add Tony Greig to this list of respected commentators. He's very astute and in the last India tour to Australia was very even handed in his analysis of the Bhajji incident, sledging and so on. I like Boycott as well because he's very fair in his analysis. He routinely praises and criticizes players not based on nationalities but on skill or lack there of. So much so that's he's routinely criticized in english media about his brutally honest criticisms of players like Harmison and so on. That and he always refers to Ganguly as "My Prince of Calcutta!" :cantstop:

[King]

I'll add Tony Greig to this list of respected commentators. He's very astute and in the last India tour to Australia was very even handed in his analysis of the Bhajji incident, sledging and so on. I like Boycott as well because he's very fair in his analysis. He routinely praises and criticizes players not based on nationalities but on skill or lack there of. So much so that's he's routinely criticized in english media about his brutally honest criticisms of players like Harmison and so on. That and he always refers to Ganguly as "My Prince of Calcutta!" :cantstop:

They are unbiased, surely or maybe but they have no fresh ideas. Even Gavaskar sounds pretty boring. It's the same old record all the time, it's time for some young blood to come in.

[Equinox]

Is he implying that they suck in other conditions lol?

[Deleted_User_1]

Aussies are only ones with lots of option in the phaasht bowling dept.

[Feed]

"MS world's 'most destructive' batter" : Laxman VVS Laxman feels his skipper MS Dhoni is the "most destructive" batsman in the contemporary world. More... Tuesday 16th February 2010 "MS world's 'most destructive' batter" VVS Laxman feels his skipper MS Dhoni is the "most destructive" batsman in the contemporary world. An elegant Laxman shared undefeated 259-run seventh wicket partnership with Mahendra Singh Dhoni to help India secure a 341-run lead against South Africa in the second Test on Tuesday. Laxman, who cracked an unbeaten 143, and Dhoni (132 n.o.) helped India amass 643 for six before the hosts declared their first innings on third day at Eden Gardens on Tuesday. Laxman, Dhoni put SA on backfoot South Africa had made 296 in their first essay. "I think, he (Dhoni) is the most destructive batsman in the world at the moment. He is like an all-rounder and is such a destructive batsman, who can put the opposition under pressure," Laxman told reporters after the third day's proceedings. "You can see the body language of the bowlers whenever Dhoni gets in. They become very defensive in the way they bowl and field. We are really happy that he is coming at number seven and doing the required job," he added. Laxman, who has produced some of his classy knocks at the Eden, was also impressed with the temperament of his skipper. "It's also good that he is converting those fifties into big hundreds. It's also good that whenever he gets a hundred, he gets it in quick pace. It's great when a number seven batsman comes and destroys the opposition," he said. "Everyone in our team has specific role. it's important that we play to our strength. We don't try to copy or emulate, that's the beauty of our team which has an unique style. But our ultimate aim is to deliver for the team," he added. Laxman also made special mention of leg-spinner Amit Mishra, who chipped in with valuable 28 as a nightwatchman, and said it was him who brought the momentum back to the side after some quick losses. Indian team's excellent feat "It was crucial in the morning as we had lost three quick wickets on Monday. Mishra really played well and got the momentum back into the side with some of his attacking shots. "Then my partnership with MS (Dhoni) took the game away from South Africans. I am always happy to take the team out of such tough situation," Laxman, who shared a quick 47-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mishra, said. Asked to compare the bowling attacks of Australians and South Africans, Laxman said, "It's very difficult to compare. Both the attacks are very good. It's always good to get runs under such quality attacks. They have got bowlers who bowl at more than 145 kmph." Laxman also said that with Eden pitch fast deteriorating, it is encouraging for the Indian spinners as they will get a chance to clinch the match. "The pitch is definitely deteriorating. There will be lot of assistance to the spinners without doubt. I am sure our quality spinners will able to exploit the condition," Laxman said. "Any Indian track on the fourth day becomes slow. There is a lot of help for spinners which is really encouraging. Especially from the far end, there will be help for our spinners," he added. "There will be a tough fight without doubt. But we are quite confident that our bowlers will do the job like they did on the first day. We are not looking to finish off tomorrow. There is enough time to bowl them out," Laxman said. "No BCCI directive to prepare turner" He also praised curator Prabir Mukherjee, who had been hogging the limelight with some controversies over the pitch. "The wicket has played really true. There was really value for shots and for spinners there were help. For medium pacers also on the first day there were some assistance. The curator has done a tremendous job," he said. Asked how tough it was to make a comeback after a defeat in the last Test in Nagpur and what was the team strategy, Laxman said, "We were quite positive when we went into the Test. Yes, everyone was quite disappointed with the way we lost the Test in Nagpur. "We just regrouped and wanted to do the things which we have been doing in the last two years. That's what we did. It was important to score a lot of runs in the first innings to put pressure on SA," he said. On South Africans dropping catches, especially in the event that Graeme Smith had a finger fracture and could not field at slips, Laxman said, "These are part and parcel of matches. "We should not take away the credit from our batters for the way they stuck in there and delivered the goods. The partnership between Gautam (Gambhir) and Viru (Virender Sehwag) set us up nicely yesterday. Then Sachin and Viru dominated the bowling." "We stuck to our plans and we just wanted to bat as long as possible and put pressure on South Africa. We are really happy to do that." Laxman hails Eden Gardens crowd On whether he misses playing Twenty20 and one-day cricket for India, Laxman said, "For me, Test cricket was always very very important. Representing the country was a great motivation for me right from the younger days. I am really glad to play Test cricket and consistently do well for the country. I don't really miss playing T20 or the ODIs and am quite happy that I am an important member of the Test side. "Also I am quite lucky to play first class cricket, the IPL. There is not much of gap even though there was a gap of six to eight months between the New Zealand tour and the Sri Lanka series, I was playing for Lancashire, which really helped me keep my fitness going." Making a comeback here after an injury lay-off, Laxman said he worked very hard on the way to a recovery. "I was training well in Nagpur or even before the Test series. (Trainer) Ramji (Srinivasan) was working really hard in terms of fitness. During the last three days of the Nagpur Test, I had long net sessions and batted long using the bowling machine. I was pretty confident that when I came to this Test." Laxman was also confident that India have a talented crop of youngsters who will come good with a mental transition. "Every youngster who plays for the country knows the responsibility to consistently deliver for the team. It's just about applying themselves. The transition definitely is not so easy from domestic to international cricket. "But I am glad that lot of youngsters are coming up, especially they are winning matches in the one-days. Now they are coming into Test cricket as well," he said.

[vvvslaxman]

Yup.. he is very destructive compared to very boring Sehwag

[Guest DeveGowda]

VVS is giving statements like some of ICF'rs...Some one will going to pick this line and start a Thread comparing diffrent players... But the Guy is very good as a player and as a person..but may be not Media savy..

[riya]

Lol then what is sehwag?