Can we comeback in the series after this thrashing?

[CG]

I did not mean so and neither am I interested in what a player is doing outside the field.

I know yaar .Just joking.

[The Outsider]

Sachin's retirement is imminent.

Well, it's not happened till now. How can the team expect stability with a walking wicket at number 4?

Yuvraj has a case of being selected and hence was brought in

And what's the case? 40 test matches of averaging 35 is not enough to tell you that there is no case here? He is 31 years old, what's he going to learn about playing test matches now which he hasn't in the last 12 years?

and that too for Raina.

What is Raina's case? Has never scored consistent runs in First Class cricket throughout his career and has a glaring weakness against the short ball to go with his shoddy defense.

The other 3 have been bloopers really. But, when I said rebuilt, atleast middle order and bowling to an extent are being rebuilt and that's where Harbhjaan's inclusion was sad.

Middle order is being rebuilt because Laxman and Dravid chose to retire. And it's because the middle order is being rebuilt that Pujara was able to come in and score those runs.

[vvvslaxman]

I like to believe so. But opposite is going to happen. England is growing stronger. First match they just had 2 batsmen to stand up for England. In the 2nd test couple more. In the third others will also step up gradually.They have also found the perfect combination. By the time we get to 4th test we will be under dogs.

[R.D forever]

I think Panesar is overrated. Do you remember how Gilchrist smashed him at Perth?

We need a good left hand batsman to play panesar with the spin . We dont have any .. oh wait ... ojha is thr :two_thumbs_up:

[Tendulkar_Bhai]

We are still STRONG favourites to win the series, it looks like no match will be a draw so we will win 3-1 or 2-2 will be worst case scenario. Our players react well to pressure and media backlashes and all it takes it dropping 1/2 batsman and getting rid of Bhaji and we are a better team. Bring in Yadav, Rahane and Tiwary. (for Bhaji, UV and Kohli)

[Trichromatic]

Lol, Raina has worst figures among all contenders at FC class and he was given chance before everyone else.

[Number]

Our batting has lost mental strength. No batsmen apart from 1-2 who believe in their defense. Dadaji batting at no. 4. No. 6 is booked by Glorified slogger quota. Ideally we should lose.

[indiefan]

We need a good left hand batsman to play panesar with the spin . We dont have any .. oh wait ... ojha is thr :two_thumbs_up:

Gambhir is supposedly a good player of spin. And for the comment on Panesar being one dimensional, shows the problem in our batting than his bowling!

[SLICKR392]

Gambhir is supposedly a good player of spin. And for the comment on Panesar being one dimensional, shows the problem in our batting than his bowling!

Exactly. There wasn't anything in Monty's bowling that we couldn't counter. Talk about pace, haven't we faced a much faster spinner as Afridi? He turn and usually bowls over 105Ks. Out of form, underestimation!!

[Trichromatic]

Look at the bright side. We won't whitewashed this time around. :D

[CG]

Lol' date=' Raina has worst figures among all contenders at FC class and he was given chance before everyone else.[/quote'] Rhiti sports .:hysterical::winky:

[Cricketics]

Let's not make a mountain of this. We were not prepared for this kind of bowling from English spinners. English spinners have set the standard really high now and are bowling wicket to wicket and didn't give much room for batsman to score. They tested the patience of our bats who gave away wickets. Our bats would have focused more on the English seamers uptil now, and I think this will change as we go in the 3rd test. Little adjustment is needed from our 4 better players of spin and team will be in good shape - TENDULKAR-SEHWAG-GAMBHIR-KOHLI. All need to be more wary now against spin. Panesar's action allows him to bowing wicket to wicket stuff. and that type of bowling puts pressure on the bats. Some patience against that kind of bowling instead of exposing the stumps and making a room to hit four and get out, will help better. I think we will be well prepared for the 3rd test. Just slight adjustment required.

[vamos_rafa]

Well, it's not happened till now. How can the team expect stability with a walking wicket at number 4? And what's the case? 40 test matches of averaging 35 is not enough to tell you that there is no case here? He is 31 years old, what's he going to learn about playing test matches now which he hasn't in the last 12 years? What is Raina's case? Has never scored consistent runs in First Class cricket throughout his career and has a glaring weakness against the short ball to go with his shoddy defense. Middle order is being rebuilt because Laxman and Dravid chose to retire. And it's because the middle order is being rebuilt that Pujara was able to come in and score those runs.

Well for all the talks of Sachin being a walking wicket, the fact is that he was the lone one to score in Oz till the Sydney test. since then his form has taken a dip which makes it 6 tests now. So, realistically, even when someone fails for 4 tests, keeping ages aside, do you expect that player to be dropped? I am not denying that he should not retire but prior to the England series, even though he failed for 4 tests, he was bound to get the place. And as he has said, he would wait till November to see how it goes and pretty soon we would have a decision. For UV, well past is past is not it? He showed form in the domestic tournnaments and hence that is the case that he presented. So, prior to the England series, inspite of his poor test record, he was given a chance. There is no case of Raina. What I meant there and which I could not articulate properly, was that he UV was brought in the place of Raina. Moreover, the management wants to have a left hander at #6 and hence the recurrence of these 2. Well, Pujara was in the scheme of things before as well was not he? He made his debut when both RD and vVS were there. He got injured which opened the gates for Kohli. Also, was not this news also spread that the selectors had decided to give Laxman the ulitmatum and hence his retirement. So, in a way, there was some though put behind rebuilding the middle order, albein in a totally screwed up way.

[vamos_rafa]

Exactly. There wasn't anything in Monty's bowling that we couldn't counter. Talk about pace, haven't we faced a much faster spinner as Afridi? He turn and usually bowls over 105Ks. Out of form, underestimation!!

Credit where it's due. Afridi might be faster but he is not this insistent on bowling on the stumps all the time. This kind of bowling ideally suited the wicket and coupled with the natural variations from the pitch, it became difficult to play him. Panesar the bowler may not be special per se' and may not be of the class of Swann, but on THIS type of wicket, he can be a handful to any batsman.

[vvvslaxman]

Credit where it's due. Afridi might be faster but he is not this insistent on bowling on the stumps all the time. This kind of bowling ideally suited the wicket and coupled with the natural variations from the pitch, it became difficult to play him. Panesar the bowler may not be special per se' and may not be of the class of Swann, but on THIS type of wicket, he can be a handful to any batsman.

But it was still not a 119/5 or 117/7 pitch. We made a meal of it.

[vamos_rafa]

But it was still not a 119/5 or 117/7 pitch. We made a meal of it.

I agree but the kind of bowling that was delivered, made our batsmen lose their A game and looked to do all hanky panky things. We panicked yes, but it was more because of the bowling.

[CG]

Gavaskar says there was a sense on complacency in the indian team at the nets,General mood was after ahmedabad on turning track in mumbai india will win.Also he says the team had lost in today even before match started they came just 45 min to the game to ground and strolled with no care and he says it was sad to see that. On ndtv sports

[The Outsider]

Well for all the talks of Sachin being a walking wicket, the fact is that he was the lone one to score in Oz till the Sydney test. since then his form has taken a dip which makes it 6 tests now. So, realistically, even when someone fails for 4 tests, keeping ages aside, do you expect that player to be dropped? I am not denying that he should not retire but prior to the England series, even though he failed for 4 tests, he was bound to get the place. And as he has said, he would wait till November to see how it goes and pretty soon we would have a decision.

What 4, 6 tests? You are saying as if he was scorching the turf before that. He is averaging 32 over the last 15 test matches now. Even if you remove his last 4 tests he was averaging 37 over 11 tests. A batsman of his class is bound to get the odd scores here and there, but the fact is that he has been a continuous failure since the World Cup across all formats. The excuse during the other tours was that well everyone failed except Dravid and Kohli. Well Laxman retired and Pujara has made runs. Sehwag has got a few decent scores. Even Dhoni and Gambhir managed a couple of decent innings. Tendulkar has done nothing. Anyhow, hopefully he will not carry on for another series after this even if he gets a couple of decent scores.

For UV, well past is past is not it? He showed form in the domestic tournnaments and hence that is the case that he presented. So, prior to the England series, inspite of his poor test record, he was given a chance.

What about Rahane? Why can't he play before Yuvraj? Everytime Yuvraj gets a decent score in domestic cricket, he'll pip everyone else to a spot in the team? His double hundred came on a flat track against an ordinary attack and he was dropped first ball. Shouldn't selectors consider these kind of factors rather than reading off stats? If selectors are not going to look at these subjective criteria, what's the point of having them? And when does Yuvraj go to the back of the queue? How many test matches of failure is enough?

There is no case of Raina. What I meant there and which I could not articulate properly, was that he UV was brought in the place of Raina. Moreover, the management wants to have a left hander at #6 and hence the recurrence of these 2.

I don't see the team's point in picking these ODI specialists at the number 6 slot when you have someone like Rahane on the bench. I know it's not a point you are making, but it's baffling to select someone inferior in skills just because he is left handed.

Well, Pujara was in the scheme of things before as well was not he? He made his debut when both RD and vVS were there. He got injured which opened the gates for Kohli. Also, was not this news also spread that the selectors had decided to give Laxman the ulitmatum and hence his retirement. So, in a way, there was some though put behind rebuilding the middle order, albein in a totally screwed up way.

Yeah, but suppose both Dravid and Laxman were playing. In that case Pujara would not have played because Kohli would surely have played after his runs in Australia and against NZ. He would have been in the squad but not in the final XI.

[indiefan]

Gavaskar says there was a sense on complacency in the indian team at the nets,General mood was after ahmedabad on turning track in mumbai india will win.Also he says the team had lost in today even before match started they came just 45 min to the game to ground and strolled with no care and he says it was sad to see that. On ndtv sports

You could hear Ganguly going mad when Sehwag was yawning and an edge from Cook(?) hit his foot.

[Executioner]

Play rahane and murali kartik though he is unavailable