"If there is a guy that's the same standard as me...

[rkt.india]

yeah they wont tour SA abroad in 2013' date='but why deny them a proper farewell at home.they have failed as have just about everyone except Kohli n Yadav in test[b']s.Gambhir's dismissals were as embarassing as Dravids' in tests.he also doesnt have a ton in Aus or Eng.he did better in Adelaide n Hobart ODIs coz of the flat pitch.our young ODI team also isnt doing all that well.to me almost everyone looked disinterested.so why single out these three alone?because they r old?that doesnt sound right to me?either u drop GG-Sehwag along with these guys or leave them alone to decide thier own fate,phasing out these three one by one like we would have done with them at this age,irrespective of thier failures

But you are forgetting Gambhir is not 39 and he has shown before that he can play in tough conditions as he did in SA. Gambhir was the higehst run getter for Indian in CB sereis 2008 against better attacks and harder tracks than this time around. Gambhir can be given more space t come out of his bad patch. LIke it was given to Dravid after 2006. Dravid's average between 2007 and 2011 before England was barely 40 in tests, but how much time you can give to 39 year olds. We can continue to give them time, but it will not take us anywhere. Regarding, fairwell, Dravid should had his fairwell after good England but it is greed which does not let these guys on a high and now he is again at his low, in fact at his lowest. If I tell you Dravid is my all time favorite cricketer and I ma following him since I was 10 years and Dravid was merely a Karnataka Ranji player and I am not sure how many people knew about him in 1994. But I cannot see him fail match after match that is why I want him to retire. The thing is these guys would wait for their suited farewell and we still play them and by chance, they can still have a good series in India, it will again raise the same question whether they should leave or not, while people forget how they did in Aus and England and will start taking their favors based on their runs scored in India. Even Raina scored runs in India against Aus at Mohali. Pujara scored a match winning 50 on his debut, Kohli scored 2 consecutive 50s in his first test in India. Regarding our young team not doing well in ODIs, we won ODI series in WI, forget England most ODIs were affected by rain, we thrashed England 5-0 with a young team, same with WI. Also remember, SA ODI series, in 2006, with all maharathies, we were thrashed 4-0, but look what happened in 2010, Kohli emerged and we went near winning the series and won 2 ODIs. Our Young team won last Aisa cup without SRT, Viru, etc. Our Young ODI team, won ODI series in SL 2 times, when our maharathies struggled facing Mendis and we lost 3-0, our young team helped them save some pride by winning ODI series, likes of Raina and Kohli showed Mendis his right place then. You need to give youngsters time and let them come of shadow of these mahaarthies. You cannot hold on them forever. I even include Sehwag in these Maharathies who has been very ordinary in both tests and ODIs for a long time now.

[The Outsider]

Easy for Boucher to say' date=' does he have 99 centuries? :secret:[/quote'] He does have 988 "international" dismissals though! :winky:

[Raghav_12]

but you dont have any difficulties finding cricketers who can play as good as SRT' date=' Dravbid, VVS are playing off late. Do you? We wont lose worse we lost in England in Aus in test. SRT and VVS do not have a single century on these tours. These two have 3-4 50s combined in 32 innings of these 8 tests. [b']I think we can find those young batsmen easily who can as score as much as these 3 have scored in those last 8 tests abroad and even if we lose we won't mind because we will already not have much expectations from those young boys. If you are to lose better to lose with young batsmen and give them exposure so that they can get better. We are not solving any purpose with seniors right now.

Other then these 3 there were 4 more batsmen who played in each of these 8 tests. Kindly enlighten me how many 50's they have. Your this post lose your credibility in first statement itself when you say it's not difficult to find cricketers like SRT, Dravid and Laxman. Do a simple exercise. Find runs per innings for these three batsmen over these 8 tests and find runs per innings for rest of the batting order. See what you find.

[Khalpat]

Well Said Mark Boucher, the key of his whole statement is If there is a guy that's the same standard as me... . Yes please now enlighten me what are we exactly discussing. Who is of the same standard in India? And why a batsman whose average is 30 in test and 28 in ODI is been compared to maharathis. He can say whatever he wants and its a good retiring speech nothing more than that.

[Number]

We will have to blame lack of long-term planning or whatever but if these seniors had retired before England and Australia they would have been criticized for being selfish. So they were not wrong on their part and I won't blame them for their decision. Though Dravid and Laxman should retire from tests now and Sachin from ODIs. They have been exposed badly that they are not good enough to play overseas so what's the point on keep hanging there just to play on flat tracks. Organizing a farewell game for them is okay , but dedicating a full series in which we can throw in some youngsters is completely unprofessional stuff.

[Lurker]

He does have 988 "international" dismissals though! :winky:

Thats phenomenal...No seriously it is. Wicket-keeping is perhaps the most thankless of all cricketing positions. One drop and you are crucified while you keep slogging day in and day out. Just one LOI game means a good 300 sets of deep ass to grass squats. Go ahead, try doing 10 of these and see how much it hurts. Now imagine these with pads on, pouncing every 2 deliveries full stretched, not knowing where next one will land etc. What makes it even more remarkable is that keepers typically take great care of themselves. Gilchrist, Boucher, Sangakarra and from past Bari, Dujon, Kirmani, Marsh all lasted forever. Generally speaking these guys were also the fittest of the bunch. So hats off to Boucher for playing as long as he did, with the returns that he got :hatsoff: Although if he was selfish enough, or "godly' enough we may have been looking at couple more series :hehe::hehe:

[ravishingravi]

............but he is ten years younger, then I understand that he is going to get the opportunity." ------Mark Boucher, March 4, 2012.

What a ****!! This the kind of mentality that keeps them chokers. You need the spirit of a 16 year old even if you are 38. "You need to keep fighting for your place and keep enjoying the game till you are unceremoniously thrown out." Guess who ?

[jairamesh]

Well Said Mark Boucher' date=' the key of his whole statement is [b']If there is a guy that's the same standard as me... . Yes please now enlighten me what are we exactly discussing. Who is of the same standard in India? And why a batsman whose average is 30 in test and 28 in ODI is been compared to maharathis. He can say whatever he wants and its a good retiring speech nothing more than that.

Well that's stupid, because the oldies have failed to keep up with the standards they have set themselves, all of them (Sachin, Sehwag, Laxman, Gambhir bar Dravid) have averaged sub-35 well well below their 50s averages. This is a period of over 10 Test matches or more!. And this collective failure is even more glaring that it boggles the mind what more signals are the incompetent selectors looking for! until one of them drops dead! The selectors had a golden opportunity to whip slate clean and start rebuilding in West Indies after the 2011 World Cup triumph. But alas the complacent ambitions of Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Zaheer and Sehwag and a lazy selection/management committee have let things run too far and made a mockery of Indian Test cricket. This plague is also infecting the ODI team as Tendulkar, Sehwag, and Zaheer phantom in and out of the team at will, whilst the rest of the players wonder what's the point.

[Lurker]

What a ****!! This the kind of mentality that keeps them chokers. You need the spirit of a 16 year old even if you are 38. "You need to keep fighting for your place and keep enjoying the game till you are unceremoniously thrown out." Guess who ?

:hysterical::hysterical:

[Raghav_12]

Mark Boucher has had a very wretched 12 months in year 2011 where there were Chris Martin-esque jokes around his batting. This declaration is a bit rich from Boucher as he is assuming that he would play two important complete overseas tour (NZ and Eng) before easing out in retiremnet. He is already out of plans for ODI's. To summarize, he has been out of form much longer than any of the oldies from Indian team and still he wants two complete series before going out. On the other hand Indian oldies have been out of form for two series and Indian fans clamour for their immediate retirement that too after setting Boucher as an example. I am speechless.

[jairamesh]

some info: The record of most dismissals by a wicket keeper in test match career is held firmly by Mark Boucher of South Africa who's the only gloveman to cross 500 victims barrier and frankly, none of current players seem to challenging him in near future, specially after Adam Gilchrist retired, breaking his fellow countryman Ian Healy's record. here's the list.. Most dismissals by a wicket keeper in test career 521 dismissals = Mark Boucher (SA) = 499 catches + 22 stumpings. 416 dismissals = Adam Gilchrist (Aus) = 379 catches + 37 stumpings. 395 dismissals = Ian Healy (Australia) = 366 catches + 29 stumpings. 355 dismissals = Rodney Marsh (Aus) = 343 catches + 12 stumpings. 270 dismissals = Jeffery Dujon (WI) = 265 catches + 5 stumpings. 269 dismissals = Allan Knott (Eng) = 250 catches + 19 stumpings. 241 dismissals = Alec Stewart (Eng) = 227 catches + 14 stumpings. 228 dismissals = Wasim Bari (Pakistan) = 201 catches + 27 stumpings. 219 dismissals = Ridley Jacobs (WI) = 207 catches + 12 stumpings. 219 dismissals = Godfrey Evans (Eng) = 173 catches + 46 stumpings. 206 dismissals = Kamran Akmal (Pak) = 184 catches + 22 stumpings. 201 dismissals = Adam Parore (NZ) = 194 catches + 7 stumpings. 200 dismissals = MS Dhoni (India) = 174 catches + 26 stumpings. 198 dismissals = Syed Kirmani (Ind) = 160 catches + 38 stumpings. In one day cricket, Adam Gilchrist has been the best wicket keeper to play ever, and his records show not just in runs charts but also what he did behind the wicket, raising the bar so high that no one may be able to tough him although Kumar Sangakkara of Sri Lanka, MS Dhoni of India and Brendon McCullum of New Zealand still have a chance. here's the list.. Most dismissals by a wicket keeper in one day career 472 dismissals = Adam Gilchrist (Aus) = 417 catches + 55 stumpings. 424 dismissals = Mark Boucher (SA) = 402 catches + 22 stumpings. 353 dismissals = Kumar Sangakkara (SL) = 275 catches + 78 stumpings. 287 dismissals = Moin Khan (Pakistan) = 214 catches + 73 stumpings. 248 dismissals = MS Dhoni (India) = 187 catches + 61 stumpings. 233 dismissals = Ian Healy (Australia) = 194 catches + 39 stumpings. 226 dismissals = Brendon McCullum (NZ) = 212 catches + 14 stumpings. 220 dismissals = Rashid Latif (Pak) = 182 catches + 38 stumpings. 206 dismissals = Romesh Kaluwitharana (SL) = 131 catches + 75 stumpings. 204 dismissals = Jeffery Dujon (WI) = 183 catches + 21 stumpings. 189 dismissals = Ridley Jacobs (WI) = 189 catches + 29 stumpings.

Please let's keep things in perspective, no doubt Boucher has been a top keeper, but playing majority of your games on green tracks makes it easier to set "the bar". And it also helps keeping to bowlers like Donald, Pollock, Morkel, Steyn etc. The best keeper technically I have seen play is Ian Healy. Also a mention for England's James Foster, seen some amazing stumpings and catches by him, probably the best keeper in the world i have seen.

[jairamesh]

Mark Boucher has had a very wretched 12 months in year 2011 where there were Chris Martin-esque jokes around his batting. This declaration is a bit rich from Boucher as he is assuming that he would play two important complete overseas tour (NZ and Eng) before easing out in retiremnet. He is already out of plans for ODI's. To summarize, he has been out of form much longer than any of the oldies from Indian team and still he wants two complete series before going out. On the other hand Indian oldies have been out of form for two series and Indian fans clamour for their immediate retirement that too after setting Boucher as an example. I am speechless.

Indian fans are clamouring for some change, but batting failure after batting failure and the only change was in bowling department! Maybe even send Dravid to open and Sehwag down the order, but nothing, nada, and that's what's pissed people off. And boucher is one player, it's impossible to carry five players as passengers.

[Lord]

But you are forgetting Gambhir is not 39 and he has shown before that he can play in tough conditions as he did in SA. Gambhir was the higehst run getter for Indian in CB sereis 2008 against better attacks and harder tracks than this time around. Gambhir can be given more space t come out of his bad patch. LIke it was given to Dravid after 2006. Dravid's average between 2007 and 2011 before England was barely 40 in tests' date=' but how much time you can give to 39 year olds. We can continue to give them time, but it will not take us anywhere.[/quote'] if u didnt notice Gambhir has been failing since last 2 years.his last ton came in Jan 2010 against BD.n that includes home ODIs.isnt that enough of a rope. all I am saying judge them by performance not by age,by performance GG-Sehwag,Dhoni,Ishant, all have been failing.why should these 3 be singled out just bcoz of thier ages?that seems unfair.thier time is near,but they r still experienced n can guide our youngsters,atm only Kohli has certain place in th test squad.if we drop them all at once,youngsters will be clueless. its easy to say in hindsight that he should hv retired after Eng series,but honestly would u have been happy with a youngster at no.3 instead of him,given the form he shown in Eng n WI.if u look at it,its has been just one bad Aus tour for RD. then why the hell should people decide?why not let them decide for themselves.if u followed them enough,do u really think they r selfish n money hungry n have anything but best interest of Indian cricket in mind?.if they scored runs in India n retired atleast they'd leave on a high with people asking why than why not.n against strong team like England,its good we have them.youngsters may score pretty 50s,but these guy will convert it into tons,which will only help us. I'm only talking present form.we also won the test series in WI with Laxman n Dravid doing well.we lost Eng tests,we lost Eng ODIs.we lost Aus tests,we lost in CB series.ODI are meant for youngsters but still not doing as well. nobody saying play them forever.these youngsters will learn only if somebody's there to guide them.Pujara,Kohli developed only because they were there to guide them.phase them out one by one.n let youngsters develop under them

[Raghav_12]

Indian fans are clamouring for some change, but batting failure after batting failure and the only change was in bowling department! Maybe even send Dravid to open and Sehwag down the order, but nothing, nada, and that's what's pissed people off. And boucher is one player, it's impossible to carry five players as passengers.

That's where we are looking for scapegoats. I say all 11 have been passengers with Dhoni leading from the front with odd performances here and there. You look at the numbers of these two tours and would realize how much passenger each one of them have been.

[Lord]

That's where we are looking for scapegoats. I say all 11 have been passengers with Dhoni leading from the front with odd performances here and there. You look at the numbers of these two tours and would realize how much passenger each one of them have been.

EXACTLY

[jairamesh]

That's where we are looking for scapegoats. I say all 11 have been passengers with Dhoni leading from the front with odd performances here and there. You look at the numbers of these two tours and would realize how much passenger each one of them have been.

Yes agree all 11 were passengers, but in the long term culling the likes of Kohli, Yadav, Ashwin, Ishant (though this noodle-leg fecker needs a brain transplant), Mukund is going to be detrimental to Indian Test Cricket. Better it be axing the failing oldies (mean age of 38!) and Raina.

[maniac]

Boucher will always be remembered as someone who was overshadowed by Gilly in the early part of his career and Dhoni in the latter part....very under-rated IMHO Anyways....Since It looks like I know where this thread is heading....Replacing a Boucher is not the same as replacing 3 guys with nearly 40,000 runs and hailed as trhe best batting line-up of this generation

[Laaloo]

Lol the guy hasn't even retired yet. He's just announcing his retirement. If he wasn't as "selfish" as our senior players that he claims to be, then he should have retired a year or two years ago. Why is he even playing the England series if he knows his time is up? If he wants to set an example, then he should retire.

[punjabi_khota]

What a ****!! This the kind of mentality that keeps them chokers. You need the spirit of a 16 year old even if you are 36. "You need to keep fighting for your place and keep enjoying the game till you are unceremoniously thrown out." Guess who ?

Kapil Dev ?:hysterical:

[Brainfade]

............but he is ten years younger, then I understand that he is going to get the opportunity." ------Mark Boucher, March 4, 2012.

The key is - "If there is a guy who is the same standard ..." Is there?