New Zealand Tour of India 2012

[Spiderguy252]

should have invited sri lanka for the two tests series instead of nz

ARE YOU F(U)CKING KIDDING ME???

[carnish]

New Zealand vs India: 10 interesting facts

New Delhi: With New Zealand scheduled to play India in a Test Series later this month, here are ten interesting facts about the contest between the two teams: 1. Winless for a decade: New Zealand have not beaten India in a Test match since 2002. Their last win over the sub-continental giants came when India toured New Zealand in December 2002. The Kiwis beat them 2-0 including a 4-wicket win in the second Test at Hamilton. The match will be remembered as it was a rare instance when both teams were bowled out for less than a hundred in their first innings. Zaheer Khan's five-wicket haul and Daryl Tuffey's eight wickets were the highlights as New Zealand chased down 160 on a pitch that was breathing fire for the bowlers. 2. Last win in India: The last time the Kiwis beat India in their own den was way back in November 1988 at Mumbai. India were set a target of 282 to win after Arshad Ayub had demolished New Zealand with five wickets. But John Bracewell and Richard Hadlee shared 10 wickets between them and skittled out the Indians for 136 runs. Bracewell picked up six wickets in a match-winning performance. 3. Run Penalty: In the first Test at Ahmedabad in 2003, Sourav Ganguly was penalised two runs for running on the pitch. This was the first time the then Indian skipper faced such a penalty from the umpire. He, however, scored a century and with Dravid's double ton India piled up 500 runs in the first innings. The match, however, ended in a draw, thanks to a rearguard action by Craig McMillan and Nathan Astle. 4. Bundled out at home: During New Zealand's tour of India in 1999, the first Test in Mohali saw Dion Nash destroy India's famed batting line-up with 6 wickets as they collapsed for 83. India recovered and scored in excess of 500 in the second innings to force a draw. 5. Mount 200 for Sachin: Sachin Tendulkar was arguably the best batsman around as the nineties drew to a close but he had till then never got past 180 in a Test innings. The third Test in the 1999 series at Ahmedabad saw this monkey off his back as he hit 217 runs against the Kiwis. In company with centurions Sadagopan Ramesh and Sourav Ganguly, Sachin guided India to 583/7 that shut New Zealand out of the game. 6. Back to the whites: The first Test beginning on August 23, 2012 at Hyderabad will be India's first Test match after nearly seven months. It is also the first time Team India shall put on the whites since the retirement of Rahul Dravid. Knowing his value to the team and his excellent record against the Kiwis, India know they have a huge void to fill. 7. The Wall stands tall: India were down 0-1 when the two teams went into the third Test at Hamilton in January 1999. This was Rahul Dravid's game as he struck a valiant 190 in the first innings to give India a lead. But the Kiwis fought back and India had to play out for a draw. Again Dravid came to the party hitting an unbeaten 103 becoming only the fifth time that an Indian had scored a century in each innings. :hatsoff: 8. Umpire blunder: In the second Test at Christchurch on India's tour of New Zealand in 1976 Glenn Turner finally found form and was nearing his century. As he ran for his hundredth run school children stormed the ground to celebrate. This distracted both the umpires and while Kirmani dislodged the bails when Turner was short of the crease none of them saw it. The batsman got the benefit of the doubt and reached his century. 9. He's bowled but is he out?: Perhaps the best note of sarcasm used by a bowler on an umpire. In the first Test at Auckland in 1976 the umpires were refusing to give lbw and bat pad decisions in India's favour. It reached such a point that when Bhagwath Chandrasekhar bowled Ken Wadsworth in the second innings he kept on appealing. The umpire said "He is bowled". Chandrasekhar then posed the classic question, "I know he's bowled but is he out?" :hysterical::hysterical: 10. Age does matter: When Kane Williamson played the first Test against India at Ahmedabad he was playing against a man who made his debut before Kane was born. Sachin Tendulkar made his debut in 1989 while Williamson was born in 1990. A rare instance in international cricket and not one heard of too often.

http://sports.ndtv.com/cricket/features/specials/item/195235-india-vs-new-zealand-10-interesting-facts?pfrom=home-cricket

[Old guy]

this series is gonna be start of rebuilding process hope pujara is sent at 3 and is persisted with even if he fails

[vayuu1]

I wan kohli,pujara and rahane in playing 11

[Dhoni_fan]

We must play Yusuf Pathan he is an impact plaer can turn matches in the space of an hour or 2 and add to that he bowls a bit of part time spin, such a player would send shockwave down the spines of any team we can! England have an impact player in the same type of mould, explosive with bat in hand but also capable of turning his arm over for a few good overs. He smashed a double ton in a run chase of over 500 those are scary good numbers the sooner we get Yusuf into the test frame the better an we can re build our aura that way

[SLICKR392]

India's selectors pick populism over vision

After India's 0-8 rout in England and Australia in 2011, the BCCI took some measures to ensure the team doesn't face such a drubbing again. Among these were scheduling two India A tours every year and revamping the domestic structure to make it more competitive, with the aim to produce players who will do well in all conditions. These efforts may not form the complete blueprint for success, but we must laud the BCCI for taking the first few steps in the right direction.

The beginning of a new season was an opportune moment for the selectors to show their vision and intent. It was also their last selection (four of the five selectors will finish their terms in September), so the moment could not have been more appropriate to perhaps undo the errors of the past. Instead, they chose to bury their heads in the sand.

Where they could have taken a few radical, if possibly unpopular, decisions, they preferred to play it safe. Instead of showing vision by backing youngsters for the India A tour, they chose to please everyone by picking a completely different squad from the one for the A tour of West Indies a couple of months ago. This shows not only a dangerous incoherence in thought process, it also raises questions about the selectors' credibility

Chawla has now reclaimed his place without producing any earth-shattering numbers - 27 wickets at 40.62 from nine first-class matches.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/magazine/content/story/577474.html

[jairamesh]

It's not even selection by populism, but some fishy personal pet picks. Sometimes the problem might not even be all the issues we keep pointing, i.e. poor domestic structure, lack of fast bowlers, can't play bounce but as simple as having sane Selectors. F**k Shrikkant and his cronies!

[jairamesh]

Instead of showing vision by backing youngsters for the India A tour, they chose to please everyone by picking a completely different squad from the one for the A tour of West Indies a couple of months ago. This shows not only a dangerous incoherence in thought process, it also raises questions about the selectors' credibility

This is my biggest concern regarding the stupidity of the selectors.

[vvvslaxman]

Despite being a blabber mouth i had respect for CHeeka for his uprightness while playing. He stood up for players at the risk of losing his captaincy. He really ruined his reputation as a selector.

[Ultimate_Game]

Despite being a blabber mouth i had respect for CHeeka for his uprightness while playing. He stood up for players at the risk of losing his captaincy. He really ruined his reputation as a selector.

Well said. We knew what to expect of the likes of Srinivasans, Rajiv Shuklas, Sharad Pawars etc. but Srikkanth really lost a lot of respect due to lack of balls and nepotism. Selecting his son and calling it a "unanimous" decision when his son can't even get into his state team has got to be the lowest point for any selector. And his excuse later on was he didn't know the format for which the squad was being selected :omg: Other selections like of oldies, Chawla etc. along with cheerleading for Tendulkar continuously simply added to his legacy of being one of the worst and most gutless chief selector ever. Ironic this was our first "paid" selection panel :facepalm: Mohinder Amarnath's words of selectors being "bunch of jokers" couldn't be more apt in this case.

[Number]

How popular Piyush chawla is...

[SLICKR392]

I hope Dhoni doesn't pick Raina over Pujara :facepalm:

[cricketman]

Gautam Gambhir Ajinkya Rahane Cheteshwar Pujara Sachin Tendulkar VVS Laxman Virender Sehwag MS Dhoni R Ashwin Zaheer Khan Pragyan Ojha Ishant Sharma Thoughts? Soooo weird not having a certain batsman at number three :((

[adi B]

pk is pure crap..just leave the 6 test matches he has played.he doesnt even look like a test standard bowler..very mediocre with a pathetic attitude..

[Trichromatic]

pk is pure crap..just leave the 6 test matches he has played.he doesnt even look like a test standard bowler..very mediocre with a pathetic attitude..

Still better than test standard bowlers who come up with figures like 150-1.

[Crookbond]

Still better than unlucky test standard bowlers who come up with figures like 150-1.

Corrected

[deathmonger]

Who will Dhoni sleect for the vacant spot left now by Laxman's retirement - Rahane or Raina? Thoughts? Pujara and Kohli have the other two spots.

[SLICKR392]

If you go by Dhoni's logic...Raina is more likely to get a spot.

[Sid]

Raina,it will be sadly :facepalm:

[Spiderguy252]

Raina? You kidding?