Day 2 Post Mortem

[Gambit]

We frittered away a golden chance to bat Pak out of the test because of some silly running and silly strokeplay. No worries though as VVS and MSD brought us back well. The weakest aspect of Laxy's batting is his inability to bat well with the tail. He needs to farm the strike as much as possible tomorrow and has to bat positively. Tuk tuking is going to get us nowhere. Best case scenario is us taking a 100 run lead and getting 3 Pak wickets before end of play. IMO it's 50-50 right now. PS - Laxy shows his importance once again with a very good knock. So who wanted him out of the team?

[Yuvraj4Captaincy]

Decent batting down the order after a top order collapse but we could have got more but 4 wickets still left....should push for 300.

[MundaPakistani]

IND should get a lead of 50+ which will be very useful on this pitch so IND have the slight edge.

[Gambit]

Lead of 50 or thereabouts will do nothing as YK and MoYo are not going to fail twice in a row against their favourite bowling lineup. Atleast 80 or 90 to put some pressure on Pak top 4.

[Chandan]

We frittered away a golden chance to bat Pak out of the test because of some silly running and silly strokeplay. No worries though as VVS and MSD brought us back well. The weakest aspect of Laxy's batting is his inability to bat well with the tail. He needs to farm the strike as much as possible tomorrow and has to bat positively. Tuk tuking is going to get us nowhere. Best case scenario is us taking a 100 run lead and getting 3 Pak wickets before end of play. IMO it's 50-50 right now. PS - Laxy shows his importance once again with a very good knock. So who wanted him out of the team? :)

Here, hoping that Laxman scores a big one tomorrow. As for post mortem: Pak bowling was not that threatening apart from Shoaib Akhtar. India simply threw the wickets and hence the initiative. Dravid underestimated Tanvir a lot and instead of trying to play with a straight bat, he once again tried to play on the onside and getting bowled. Sachin's dismissal--well I'm just speechless! What was the need to rush for the second run? We were not playing an ODI for heaven's sake! Ganguly was dismissed exactly in the manner in which Tanvir dismissed him at Kanpur. Dhoni played well, but he doesn't seem 100% fit and just after reaching 50 he was taking some treatment to his ankle.

[Guest HariSampath]

What silly strokes gambo ? 1. Karthik was beaten by his technical deficiency ( once again off stump line) and caught behind, on defence 2. Jaffer was beaten by technical deficiency, played from his crease and was beaten by angle and length, LBW....on defence. 3. Ganguly was beaten and bowled because of long standing tendency to play around the ball, Tanveer produced one that sneaked in thru slightest gap btwn bat-pad, beat him both for movement and pace. 4. Dravid read both the line and lenght wrong, played across a ball that he thought will be straighter on leg, but it cut back from leg stump to take off, a beauty to bowl at one of the most technically correct batsman playing on 38. None of these batsmen played a rash shot or anything, or went for a boundary. All were effectively beaten by very good deliveries, full credit to bowlers

[Chandan]

What silly strokes gambo ? 1. Karthik was beaten by his technical deficiency ( once again off stump line) and caught behind, on defence 2. Jaffer was beaten by technical deficiency, played from his crease and was beaten by angle and length, LBW....on defence. 3. Ganguly was beaten and bowled because of long standing tendency to play around the ball, Tanveer produced one that sneaked in thru slightest gap btwn bat-pad, beat him both for movement and pace. 4. Dravid read both the line and lenght wrong, played across a ball that he thought will be straighter on leg, but it cut back from leg stump to take off, a beauty to bowl at one of the most technically correct batsman playing on 38. None of these batsmen played a rash shot or anything, or went for a boundary. All were effectively beaten by very good deliveries, full credit to bowlers

I think the shot selection of both Dravid and Jaffer was wrong. They tried to play towards the onside a lot where they should have tried to play straight!

[Guest HariSampath]

I think the shot selection of both Dravid and Jaffer was wrong. They tried to play towards the onside a lot where they should have tried to play straight!

More than shot selection, judgement was wrong in both cases. Jaffer misread both the angle as well as the pace and was caught on his crease. Dravid "expected" the ball to go on straight down the leg stump , and hence played across the ball as it turned out, because it was a terrific delivery pitching almost outside the leg stump, squared him up and took off stump. Even he was left looking bemused. The fact is shot selection is an issue of discretion in batsmanship AFTER judgement of the ball. Both these batsmen were made to misjudge the ball and played according to their judgements and were beaten by the bowler doing that crucial bit extra. So, both were 100% bowler earned wickets

[Guest dada_rocks]

What silly strokes gambo ? 1. Karthik was beaten by his technical deficiency ( once again off stump line) and caught behind, on defence 2. Jaffer was beaten by technical deficiency, played from his crease and was beaten by angle and length, LBW....on defence. 3. Ganguly was beaten and bowled because of long standing tendency to play around the ball, Tanveer produced one that sneaked in thru slightest gap btwn bat-pad, beat him both for movement and pace. 4. Dravid read both the line and lenght wrong, played across a ball that he thought will be straighter on leg, but it cut back from leg stump to take off, a beauty to bowl at one of the most technically correct batsman playing on 38. None of these batsmen played a rash shot or anything, or went for a boundary. All were effectively beaten by very good deliveries, full credit to bowlers

Gangulky needs to go back to the guard he took while on reutnr to test cricket.. The one day format again has screwed his technique playing away from body he didn;t do those things in south africa.. He sud watch the footage of those innings he will be fine.. no need to force things let them bowl at you

[Predator_05]

I was really disappointed by the middle order's collapse, especially since it was on a pitch which had no demons in it whatsoever. Tendulkar's run out was simply careless, god knows what he was thinking. He knew Yousef was about 8 yards away from him and still took off for that second. That said, a 100 run lead is still possible since the Indian tail is stronger than most and they have demonstrated their ability to wag on numerous occasions. Hell, the only reason India beat SL at home in '05 was because of the tail. It can be done.

[Chandan]

I was really disappointed by the middle order's collapse, especially since it was on a pitch which had no demons in it whatsoever. Tendulkar's run out was simply careless, god knows what he was thinking. He knew Yousef was about 8 yards away from him and still took off for that second. That said, a 100 run lead is still possible since the Indian tail is stronger than most and they have demonstrated their ability to wag on numerous occasions. Hell, the only reason India beat SL at home in '05 was because of the tail. It can be done.

Kumble just had problems negotiating Akhtar. So, Laxman will have to help him out while Akhtar is on. Otherwise, apart from early morning swing, rest is okay. But I'm afraid of that crucial period in the morning.

[Cricketics]

Chandan not only Akhtar was threatning, but also Tanvir.. though we scored a bit on tanvir's bowling but still he was producing some good overs in patches and those good overs he got wickets for pak.

[MundaPakistani]

PAK bowlers would do well to attack both Laxman and the tail enders because Kumble in particular has the defense to play a M Sami like innings.

[MundaPakistani]

Chandan not only Akhtar was threatning' date='[b'] but also Tanvir.. though we scored a bit on tanvir's bowling but still he was producing some good overs in patches and those good overs he got wickets for pak.

TBH M Sami was equally impressive.He bowled some very fine balls to Dravid in particular.

[Ram]

Its not 50-50, Its 60-40 Pakistan.

[Bumper]

This is what makes Ind-Pak series so exciting, isnt it ? Both teams either manage to lift their performances to each others level or if not, lower their performance to ensure a dead even series. Our lead depends a lot on Laxman-Kumble partnership. They must see off Shoaib's 5 over spell in the morning (Methinks, Shoaib is one or two spells away from his next injury) and look to add atleast 40 more runs. The last three (Bhajji, Zakky, Munaf) cannot be counted up on. They are good for an average of 30 runs if they turn in their average performance, but can also be bowled out cheaply. I think we can expect to get a lead of 50, which isnt much, as Gambit correctly points, Moyo-YK combo may not fail again in the 2nd innings. Besides, India have to bat last & we are notoriously poor at that. Overall i think if we end up with anything less than a 80 run lead (which doesnt look likely), we are toast. IMO, Pak is slightly ahead of India as the favs to win the test match, at the moment.

[Cricketics]

TBH M Sami was equally impressive.He bowled some very fine balls to Dravid in particular.

i second ur comments but i thoughyt tanvir and akhtar produced more variationz then sami.. hence they both were a bit more threatning to take any wicket..

[The Outsider]

It was a good day for Pakistan and India are certainly on the backfoot here. Chasing anything above 200 in the last innings here will require a special effort from one of more batsmen and in their current form I don't think the Indian batting line up is capable of it. There best chance was to take a good first innings lead which is still possible if the tail supports Laxman. A 100+ run lead is the only chance I see of India chasing a reasonable 150 in the last innings. Laxman's innings was sublime. Completely in control and at ease. A century from him tomorrow will put India in control again, but it will require a special effort to get there. Kumble was lucky to survive the leg before appeal against Kaneria and can hopefully build on that luck to score 30 odd runs. Harbhajan and Zaheer are capable of smashing quick 20 runs, but a lot needs to fall in place together to make up for the poor show by the top order.

[theguyinallblue]

This Laxman innings has confirmed his spot for aussie tour..me thinks.. now pressure is on Ganguly...and Bhajji..so save their spot...for the enxt match...

[The Outsider]

Why is there pressure on Ganguly. He provides a useful 3rd bowling option, has made a superb 50 in his previous test innings, and has generally been in good form for one year. Harbhajan is the dead weight we are carrying and a poor series for Jaffer and Karthik will put their spots in jeopardy.