Tribute to our dancing Sree!

[Fontaine]

Well done Sreesanth. Once again, he has proven why he's a world wide joke of a bowler. So far this series this "bowler" has managed to once again be the most inconsistent, and useless of new ball bowlers. Here are some FACTS about his bowling so far this series: 48 overs, just 3 maidens, only 3 wickets with an average of 60 and economy of 3.75 against one of the WORST test batting lineups in the world. Here's just a small sampling of what makes Sreesanth such a joke: Once again bowled a beamer in a series. Bowled 9 no balls, 1 wide. Gave away 23 fours! When you're giving away no balls, fours then ofcourse you're economy is going to suck, you're not going to put any pressure on the batsmen and look generally pathetic. What's even MORE shocking is that Sreesanth has had FULL support from Zaheer in this series so far. Zaheer Khan averages just 20 in this series, joint highest wicket taker, and has the best strike rate of any bowler this series. When you've got your bowling partner bowling so well, it SHOULD make your job that much easier especially against a weak batting lineup. Instead Sreesanth, apart from a few overs, has been absolutely useless. Even Bangladesh wouldn't have this loser in their side. I hope this guy never plays for India ever again.

[b555]

perfect thread fontaine :hatsoff:

[kabira]

I guess you did not watch him bowl on 1st Morning session. He is wicket taking bowler, and will give away boundaries as he tends to pitch the ball up. So its fine if goes for runs for me, provided he is bowling those wicket taking deliveries. With better luck he could have had 3-4 wickets.

[saneindian]

Some of the criticism is OTT here. he bowled decently in this test. Was unlucky not have picked more wickets. to

[Fontaine]

I guess you did not watch him bowl on 1st Morning session. He is wicket taking bowler, and will give away boundaries as he tends to pitch the ball up. So its fine if goes for runs for me, provided he is bowling those wicket taking deliveries. With better luck he could have had 3-4 wickets.

Except he's not. In the past three years Sreesanth's srike rate has been almost 80. Anyone who says Sreesanth is a wicket taking bowler really doesn't know what he's taking about. I don't really know you dude, but it's pretty obvious when someone doesn't understand the basic concepts of bowling. If you're strill struggling with the basics of bowling concepts then maybe this thread isnt' for you kabira.

[CSK Fan]

Some of the criticism is OTT here. he bowled decently in this test. Was unlucky not have picked more wickets. to

I still think Ishant would have done better and he did quite well in the tests he played. Certainly better than Sree

[saneindian]

I still think Ishant would have done better and he did quite well in the tests he played. Certainly better than Sree

I believe he's being preserved for the SA series. Simmons said he Is working with Ishant to overcome his no ball problems and its all looking good. So the team management will perhaps get him in for the 3rd test to give him a good workout and get him perfectly ready for SA.

[urbestfriend]

I also feel Ishant is better bowler to have in 11 though sree is more talented..! But name calling our own cricketer is OTT. :headshake:

[yoda]

How about cutting out the personal abuse and using normal words in the thread title? I can't believe this site has come down to calling one of our own players a donkey.

[Nova]

^ You are allowed to report the post if you find it offensive. Donkey made me chuckle...but that's just me.

[Guest Gunner]

How about cutting out the personal abuse and using normal words in the thread title? I can't believe this site has come down to calling one of our own players a donkey.

How about you grow a funny bone. I can't believe that this site has come down to not being able to understand basic infantile jokes.

[dial_100]

How about cutting out the personal abuse and using normal words in the thread title? I can't believe this site has come down to calling one of our own players a donkey.

++, Padosis support druggies, beastly and fixers. SS is an improved guy. He deserve some respect as well. He bowled very well in the first season. We have seen that NZ pacers hardly managed anything. They were hammered by our openers. The personal abuses should be avoided even if he was a crap player. But I personally see him bowling very well compared to others. He will be very handy in SA along with IS.

[Fontaine]

If we were the 4th/5th test side in the world, with potential and young players then fine, you can tolerate a bowler like Sree in the side. But we're not. We're the #1 ranked team in the world and every side from England, SA to Sri Lanka are looking to take us down. With that level of responsbility we can't afford to keep giving chances to inconsistent, poor bowlers with questionable work ethic. I can understand why Sreesanth was picked in the squad. I can understand giving him a chance against a weak NZ team at home to try and get him into some sort of form. But what I won't tolerate is Sreesanth getting chance after chance after chance based on what he did 4/5 years ago. This is series is the absolute last opportunity for Sreesanth and if he continues to bowl rubbish then it's time he's dumped and the team go a different direction. Stick with Ishant and pick another young promising bowler to groom in the squad.

[Fontaine]

++, Padosis support druggies, beastly and fixers. SS is an improved guy. He deserve some respect as well.

I'll give him respect when he's earned it. So far he's not.

[nballa]

young sreesanth is a wicket taking bowler, if you show enough patience and are willing to wait long enough to the tune of 60-70 runs or 100 balls whichever comes last you might just catch him in the act of taking one.

[Sooda]

I did not watch any of it but from what I read he bowled well yesterday, not so sure about today though. And Im not sure how much just stats say. It was about eaxctly a year ago that he took a pretty good 5-fer vs SL at Kanpur (I think?) and he has not played that much since Moreover apart from the first choice trio there are no real options are there? Is Mithun much better ? Unadkat made the last test squad but he is far too young. Vinay Kumar is not really test class. Munaf Patel cant bowl a spel longer than 5 overs I dont think I think Tyagi might be one for the future-ish but he needs a good few Ranji matches...

[jusarrived]

If we were the 4th/5th test side in the world, with potential and young players then fine, you can tolerate a bowler like Sree in the side. But we're not. We're the #1 ranked team in the world and every side from England, SA to Sri Lanka are looking to take us down. With that level of responsbility we can't afford to keep giving chances to inconsistent, poor bowlers with questionable work ethic. I can understand why Sreesanth was picked in the squad. I can understand giving him a chance against a weak NZ team at home to try and get him into some sort of form. But what I won't tolerate is Sreesanth getting chance after chance after chance based on what he did 4/5 years ago. This is series is the absolute last opportunity for Sreesanth and if he continues to bowl rubbish then it's time he's dumped and the team go a different direction. Stick with Ishant and pick another young promising bowler to groom in the squad.

chance after chance ? is that why hes only played 19 test matches in 5 years compared to Ishant whos played 27 in just 3 years ? Sree avgs ~33 as against Sharmas ~37 .... no whos more deserving here ? I like Ishant Sharma , but there is no way he gets into the team ahead of Sree .

[jusarrived]

I did not watch any of it but from what I read he bowled well yesterday, not so sure about today though. And Im not sure how much just stats say. It was about eaxctly a year ago that he took a pretty good 5-fer vs SL at Kanpur (I think?) and he has not played that much since Moreover apart from the first choice trio there are no real options are there? Is Mithun much better ? Unadkat made the last test squad but he is far too young. Vinay Kumar is not really test class. Munaf Patel cant bowl a spel longer than 5 overs I dont think I think Tyagi might be one for the future-ish but he needs a good few Ranji matches...

hes bowled well all through the series , you can only expect that much from pace bowlers on these flat pitches ..hes not picked wickets , but most bowlers would struggle here ...even Zaheers learnt the art with experience . its laughable some of them counting maidens , no balls to judge a pace bowler . we have one bowler who bowls o take wickets , consistently attacks the stumps ..erratic , yeah ...but how much would another line and length bowler help our cause now ? Sree is a must in SA .

[Fontaine]

chance after chance ? is that why hes only played 19 test matches in 5 years compared to Ishant whos played 27 in just 3 years ? Sree avgs ~33 as against Sharmas ~37 .... no whos more deserving here ? I like Ishant Sharma , but there is no way he gets into the team ahead of Sree .

If Ishant was still bowling rubbish after 5 years in international cricket would you keep giving him chances? Then why with Sreesanth? The problem is I've yet to hear a SINGLE argument about why Sreesanth DESERVES to be in the side.

[Ram]

I can sense the frustration and anger in the OP. I even identify a little bit with it, but honestly, I think Fontaine's critique is a little too harsh. Sreesanth is not your usual run-of-the-mill, first day-first session, 7-1-18-0 first spell type of bowler. He is unpredictable and thats the nature of the beast. He will either wow the opposition team with some stunning exhibition of swing bowling (like he did on the first session day 1), or spray it all over the place even while the bowler in the other end is trying his best to bring India back into the test (like on first session on day 2), but here's the slam dunk guarantee - HE WILL MAKE THINGS HAPPEN. And honestly, I think thats what the team expects from our pacers. They understand that you cannot expect our pacers to bowl 10-2-26-6 wicket spells in India. All they want our pacers to do is to be the sniper, i.e, snag out a couple here and there, before the spinners come in and engage in their war of attrition. And Sree is perfectly capable of doing that. If anything, had he not taken Guptill's wicket of a no-ball, we could have very well bowled NZ out for 280 and already be ahead by 50 runs by now. But, its for this precise reason (unpredictability) that I would rather play Ishant than Sreesanth, especially at home, when we're playing only 2 seamers. If it were a 3 seam attack, Sree is an automatic pick, but at home, for only 2 pacers, my pick would be Zak and Ishant.