Good Signs

[CoverDrive]

- Mukund looks a compact player and would give VInay good competition for backup openers slot - Dravid the most out of form batsmen of last few tours compared to Viru, Gauti, Sachin and Laxman looked the most solid bat out there - so our first line up is still very strong - Raina really applied himself and played straight - Bhajji has some serious batting talent and has many more test centuries in him We need to quickly shake off the rustiness we always show in the first test and start dominating

[kabira]

Mukund looked nervous more than anything else. So I don't want to judge him as of now. Vijay, with all the experience he has got playing as reserve opener, played horrible shot. It seems he is still in T20 mode. Dravid looked solid alright, but we need big ones from him.

[Sooda]

^ Good points. Raina innings especially was encouraging from what I read Add to that Mishra spinning it big on admittedly a good track for spin, Ishant bowling consistently at 85+ though not always on radar. Praveen getting good movement, is what we expect I guess, but again did not always bowl the right lines and get the batsman to play enough...and remains to be seen how he does with the older ball...still bearing in mind it was his debut he was decent

[Karan114]

^ Praveen improved as his spell went on. Initially he wasn't making them play enough, but towards the end of his spell most of his deliveries were on target. But you could only help wishing he was even a tad quicker. Despite his movement, batsmen have just about enough time to adjust because of his lack of pace. But yes, it was a decent start. Ishant was his usual wayward self - a few good deliveries but the vast majority off line, which were testing Dhoni's athleticism more than the batsmens' techniques. But he did at least get that wicket and bowled at good pace.

[Number]

Mukund looked at least more determined compared to vijay. Don't know how many will agree on this but Vijay is not gonna make it, this attitude in the age of 27 is not gonna work well (I won't change my opinion even if he scores well in 2nd inning or 2nd test) , what I feel is we need another brave decision from captain and coach to convert an aggressive middle order batsman to an opener , like what dada and wright did with sehwag. may be thats how we will find a potential replacement for viru. otherwise we have seen we are clearly lacking specialist test openers who can replace current one.

[saneindian]

Rightly captured the good points. Ishant's rhythm looked good and he was working on a plan and looked to be enjoying his bowling which was not the case in SA. Another plus factor was MSD's captaincy who looked proactive and was on the attack all the time. Hope we continue to see more of that today. Major worry for me was VVS's physical shape. He looked restricted in his movements. IIRC he was out of the IPL due to a chronic back injury which has affected him for so long. Not sure whats the state of that injury right now. But that definitely looked like hampering his movements. Another issue was the batting order. VVS should have remained at 5 letting Kohli comein at 4. That ways we don't get Kohli and Raina to battle a tight situation together. THey will have more chances of either RD or VVS batting with them.

[King Tendulkar]

Mukund looked awful. Was his 1st game so may be nerves but has to show something in 2nd innings otherwise he is out and Patel is in. He reaaly looked bad, hopeless when banged in and when went to drive was crooked bat and constantly inside edging it.

[King Tendulkar]

Vijay is way better the Mukund and worth perservering with. Their is touch of class with Vijay

[kabira]

^Yes agree, But Vijay seems not as motivating as he was before. He has started to play lazy shots.

[Sidhoni]

Raina playing a brilliant innings when India were 85/6 was absolutely fantastic. :congrats: And Bhajji played really well too. But there are some bad signs too in terms of VVS and Dhoni's batting.Would like to see if Mukund sheds the pressure a bit and plays well in 2nd innings.

[King Tendulkar]

^Yes agree' date=' But Vijay seems not as motivating as he was before. He has started to play lazy shots.[/quote'] He played a lazy shot. Does not mean he is not motivated etc. This is a fallacy that goes with elegant, relaxed stroke makers. Same things are labelled at Rohit but thats just their batting style, nothing to do wether they are up for it etc

[kabira]

^not really. If you had watched Vijay in SA ODI series. He got to play most of the games as we did not have regular openers. And it seemed like he thought he does not belong there. He should still have fought it out. Lazy elegance does not mean you go and gift your wicket. If you cannot be consistent, then F&&K your lazy elegance.

[King Tendulkar]

^not really. If you had watched Vijay in SA ODI series. He got to play most of the games as we did not have regular openers. And it seemed like he thought he does not belong there. He should still have fought it out. Lazy elegance does not mean you go and gift your wicket. If you cannot be consistent, then F&&K your lazy elegance.

It maybe because he is not good enough. But I refuse to believe he is not motivated or not wanting to do well

[Sooda]

Replacing Mukund after one test is probably not the right thing to do. Two at the very least matches would be a fair opportunity. Parthiv is not a long term genuine opening contender. It will be fantastic if Vijay can really come good against a decent pace attack away from home, give him a good boost.

[Fontaine]

Ishant did bowl really well in his first 5 overs. Very good pace, accurate and mostly was on target and made the batsmen play a lot. He became off target at the end of his 5th over when his in swinger just went wide down leg side and that continued in his last (6th) over where he lost his radar completely, even when he went around the wicket. Still, it was a far better bowling effort than what we've seen from him. I think he'll be okay today. Maybe it was just the pressure of having the new ball in his hand where he was expected to lead the attack after a long break from test duties. All himself and PK need to do is not get carried away but stick to that tight line and hold up their ends because the spinners will have to get the majority of the wickets now that there's not much there for the fast men. They already did that last night, just keep doing the same.

[saneindian]

One depressing sight yesterday was that of a fat and grumpy looking Fletcher instead of a fit and confident Kirsten :((

[mishra]

WTF... Why are we talking about Mukund and Vijay... Bhajji is the new batsman to our team..:giggle:

[tatters]

Hmm...Harbhajan made some important runs but I was very unimpressed by the way he got out. He had a responsibility as a man who was set at the crease. Fidel Edwards bounced him in his previous over, he ducked, and Edwards laughed at him and had a few words. Harbhajan lost his concentration and played a silly shot when all that was needed was just to keep rotating strike which he was doing after his initial flurry of runs. Raina was very set and didn't look like getting out once. They both could've worked their way to 100s. But Harbhajan is a child and couldn't control himself, and although he gave the team 70 runs, he also cost them about 60 at least. We were well set at around 230-6 to get to 300+. The only plus from that was Raina. He played very well. Biggest worry was Laxman. Looked about as comfortable as a ****ing tailender and could easily have been out 3/4 times before he actually was. But I'm not worried too much about him. Second innings is usually when he wakes up.

[King Tendulkar]

Hmm...Harbhajan made some important runs but I was very unimpressed by the way he got out. He had a responsibility as a man who was set at the crease. Fidel Edwards bounced him in his previous over, he ducked, and Edwards laughed at him and had a few words. Harbhajan lost his concentration and played a silly shot when all that was needed was just to keep rotating strike which he was doing after his initial flurry of runs. Raina was very set and didn't look like getting out once. They both could've worked their way to 100s. But Harbhajan is a child and couldn't control himself, and although he gave the team 70 runs, he also cost them about 60 at least. We were well set at around 230-6 to get to 300+. .

What a ridiculos analysis of a number 8 who came in launched vicious counter attack and recued the team. The hate goes on strong:--D

[mishra]

Laxman is second innings bat.... He will live to his expectations