Discussing into Nagpur test

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Everyone seeking a result in the third and final Test between India and New Zealand, starting in Nagpur on Saturday, can take heart from the brief history of Test cricket at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha, in the city's eastern fringe. Atreyo Mukhopadhyay reports. More... Dry crust points towards spin punch Atreyo Mukhopadhyay, Hindustan Times Nagpur, November 18, 2010 Everyone seeking a result in the third and final Test between India and New Zealand, starting here on Saturday, can take heart from the brief history of Test cricket at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Jamtha, in the city's eastern fringe. Both Tests played at the swanky venue, which hosted its first five-day match just over two years ago have produced results, one going in favour of India. The distribution of wickets among pacers and spinners is unusually even with bowlers of both varieties having an exactly equal share in the 62 wickets taken by them. Bowlers of visiting teams have returned remarkable figures here, with Australia off-spinner Jason Krejza taking 12 wickets in 2008. In February this year, South Africa's Dale Steyn inflicted an innings defeat on India by claiming a total of 10 wickets in an extraordinary display of reverse swing. If there is bad news for India in Zaheer Khan, their best bet in reverse swing, being ruled out with a groin problem, there is a hint of good news too. Pitch curator Praveen Hinganikar said on Wednesday that the strip chosen for the Test is dry and has not been watered for the last three days. There is no point in reading too much into it because predicting pitch behaviour is risky business, but the crust of a dry surface usually becomes loose as the match progresses thereby assisting spinners. In Zaheer's absence, Indian hopes rest on Harbhajan Singh & Co, who should enjoy the prospect of bowling on a dry strip. Hinganikar didn't commit whether the pitch would be watered at all before the Test, saying that a decision would be taken on Thursday. Apart from that, Hinganikar, in charge of the pitch for all international matches played at this stadium, promised a hard surface, which will stay firm fromthe base for five days. Mahendra Singh Dhoni defended his bowlers after the two drawn Tests in Ahmedabad and Hyderabad, saying that the pitches were loaded in favour of batsmen, even on the last two days. In Hyderabad, New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori supported his Indian counterpart. Neither went to the ground after arriving here on Wednesday. Teams batting first have emerged winners in both Tests here after putting up big totals. Although Steyn stole the spotlight, South Africa's left-arm spinner Paul Harris took three wickets in the second innings in the win against India. In 2008, Harbhajan and Amit Mishra shared seven second-innings wickets. Even though all that is history, the people concerned in both teams will still have an eye on what happened in the past before starting to plan how they want things to unfold this time.

[straight.drive]

Good start. Let us ground these over-performing kiwi's.

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Weather a major factor in final Test at Nagpur More... Weather a major factor in final Test S. Dinakar Persistent rains and the water-logged outfield have cast a shadow over the third and deciding Test between India and New Zealand at Nagpur. The sight of covers over the square and super sopper buzzing around in the arena did not augur well for the third Test. New Zealand practiced in the morning, but persistent rain prevented the Indians from coming to the park for training at the Vidarbha Cricket Association ground on Thursday afternoon. The weather could don a crucial role in a winner-take-all contest. From a cricketing perspective, the series desperately needs a result. Much focus will be on the surface. The host would, predictably, seek a turning track. Given the limitations of its attack, such a pitch represents the best chance for India to win the series. However, a wicket of this kind would also set Indian cricket back. The World No. 1 should strive to clinch the series on a sporting track. Will the host choose the right path by putting cricket ahead of result? In any case, the weather will be critical in determining the conditions. If a cloud-cover persists, then the pacemen could achieve swing. And the lack of sunshine might prevent the pitch from breaking up. On the other hand, bright sunshine could, if the track turns out to be dry, open up cracks on the pitch. In this scenario, the spinners will come into play. Contrasting results The two Tests on played on this state-of-the-art stadium have thrown up contrasting results. India outplayed Australia by 172 runs here in 2008. That was a duel where there was a fair amount of assistance for the spinners. Debutant Australian off-spinner Jason Krejza prised out 12 batsmen in the Test; the Indian spin combination of Harbhajan Singh and Amit Mishra scalped 12 between them. It was a very different story here in early 2010. Dale Steyn, fast and furious, proved the destroyer on a pitch with seam movement and carry. The South African paceman returned a match-haul of 10 wickets enabling his team blow India away by an innings and six runs. This Indian team-management would certainly not want a lively surface for the match even if the Kiwi attack is without someone with the firepower of Steyn. Lanky paceman Ishant Sharma, expected to return to the eleven in Zaheer Khan's absence, could extract lift from such a pitch but India would prefer a slower track assisting spinners. Should the side play an additional bowler instead of Suresh Raina? The left-hander did his cause little good by perishing to a reckless lofted stroke in the Indian first innings at Hyderabad. That was a stage in the match where he needed to display greater application. Viable option If the Indian team-management believes the pitch will favour the batsmen, then a fifth bowler makes sense. In that scenario, leg-spinner Amit Mishra can add greater variety to the struggling Indian spin attack. This is a viable option with Harbhajan Singh coming up from back-to-back centuries in the series. Given Harbhajan's batting form, an extra bowler can be accommodated. However, if the team-management thinks the surface will be a bowler-friendly one, then it could well go in with four bowlers. The logic being, if four bowlers cannot finish the job on a favourable surface, then the fifth is hardly going to make a difference. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is inclined towards the four-bowler theory. However, India cannot afford to enter a vital match with a fixed mind-set. India needs to be flexible strategically, even if this forces the host to change the nature of its eleven.

[cowboysfan]

a big f you to S.Dinakar.we have a right to prepare any kind of track we want to force a result.this is not a charity tournament.

[Dravid]

fook our test pitches and their curators in the ass

[jusarrived]

why the *** do we keep playing in Nagpur ?

[Cricketics]

why the *** do we keep playing in Nagpur ?

It's a new stadium, until we play 10 games in 10 years, the motive of the ground won't be fulfilled.

[Raghav_12]

Good. Give any thing which could produce a result - fast or spin. If there is any result in test match, it's more likely to be in favour of India.

[ringo16]

a big f you to S.Dinakar.we have a right to prepare any kind of track we want to force a result.this is not a charity tournament.

We are pretty blatant about preparing pitches in our favour when India comes to NZ. I think it is expected, and silly if you don't.

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Showers keep India players indoors, clouds preparation The focus shifted from speculating on the nature of the pitch to weather forecasts following a sharp afternoon shower, which cancelled India's plans for nets here on Thursday. New Zealand had finished their session before rain arrived. Atreyo Mukhopadhyay reports. More... Showers keep India players indoors, clouds preparation Atreyo Mukhopadhyay, Hindustan Times Nagpur, November 18, 2010 The focus shifted from speculating on the nature of the pitch to weather forecasts following a sharp afternoon shower, which cancelled India's plans for nets here on Thursday. New Zealand had finished their session before rain arrived. Although there is no serious threat yet to the match, scheduled to start on Saturday, being affected by the elements, uncovered pitches and bowlers' run-ups at the practice arena outside the ground put a question mark over chances of the teams warming up at full throttle on Friday. They may have to move indoors. Dark clouds hovering above the magnificent Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, situated in the eastern suburb of the city called Jamtha near here, symbolised how two of this three-Test series have gone for star-studded India. The world's top Test team will not be knocked off the perch if they fail to break the barren deadlock against the eighth-ranked visitors, but it will dent their pride and could leave them low on confidence ahead of the much tougher challenge in South Africa next month. Apart from the resistance they have put up, mostly with the bat and partly with the ball, New Zealand have also shown positive intent. Some of the knocks played by Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder or Kane Williamson have been characterised by the will to dominate. And even though on a lesser scale, the way they stuck to plans and kept things tight at crucial periods when the Indian stalwarts batted demonstrated that this New Zealand team is trying to make things happen instead of letting them drift. The Kiwi captain Daniel Vettori said after the second Test that he was happy with the performance but not satisfied. "We are still looking for ways to improve. No New Zealand team has won a series here. Although we have done well so far, we would like to push harder and go for a win," was how Vettori assessed the situation. From the leader of a team with so little experience of playing in India, those were brave words. But then, Vettori's boys have played with courage and made things much tougher than expected for the hosts. India looked like breaking free at times only to be pulled back by some disciplined execution of plans. There was no letup in intensity when the New Zealanders batted and bowled at the nets on Thursday. They showed the kind of verve that comes from a good collective effort and there was also a spring in their stride suggesting that this team is high on confidence. The Indians must raise their game to overpower this sprightly bunch in the third and final Test.

[TheWall]

If the pitch is assisting the spinners then Vetori will kill us..

[The Dark Horse]

I dont think the match will happen at all(for most part), heard its raining there.

[ZodiaC]

If the pitch is assisting the spinners then Vetori will kill us..

Vettori won't do jack unless we do him some charity.

[hari504504]

Vettori won't do jack unless we do him some charity.

That is cruel. Vettori is an extremely intelligent bowler - may not be the biggest spinner, but makes up for it with air,drift and outhinking batters. Vettori and Swann are the two best spinners in World cricket currently. In all formats.

[Ranjha]

Rain is better than another embarassment.

[Ranjha]

Rain will pack the biggest punch unfortunately.

[Ranjha]

Discussing into Nagpur test rain will ruin the nagpur test...good for us I guess..saves us the embarassment.