My take on Day 5

[dial_100]

I follow my formula for 4th innings if target is close to achievable. Going by that, any target beyond 330 with 80 overs to get is not gettable. Even Aus gave us target of 348 or something in a day. we eneded up losing few wkts in the process. So I dont expect us to bat more than 7-8 overs tomorrow to get one final look at a ptch and give them target of 340 in 80. YoYo and YK will be key if they want to save the game. SB, MUH hold the key if they try to win it. Going by the law of avg, MUH will fail (more likely) that leaves them with 1 player to score faster than 5 RPO which makes it impossible for them to win. As for saving the game, YoYo and YK as usual will come handy in playing long innings. Akmal, MUH wont be able to play long innings. IMO, 80% chances that Pak will lose this game tooo. Butt, and the other openers wont last against spinners. YK will resist lot but he can only survive if he scores runs against spinners. only YY can play spinners very well. If MUH failed in this innings that leaves them only Anmol ratan, Hutmal to play some crucial part in saving the game. Very good game is expected. Kumble will not let this one go. They will fight to get this one..:thumbs_up:

[Guest BossBhai]

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[Ram]

Pitch is still good for batting ..... I suspect this has a draw written all over it.

You would be very naive to jump to that conclusion. I agree with Dial, this will be a good game and we have good chance of winning it.

[zubinpepsi]

Sriram its not like the pitch is turning square.. still this pitch is conducive for stroke making.. so we cant be sure about that.. anyways i want kumble to take a bold step and declare... thts the way to learn n b aggressive n attacking

[dial_100]

Bossy.... Kumble always has few tricks in his hat which he leaves for D-day plus 2-3 wkts and Pakdukcoo will be under treamendous pressure. We can always go defensive if wkts are not coming by. But scoring at 4.5 on the last day is next to impossible with only 2 aggresive batsmen.... If pitch was good to bat on day 4(not day 5 mind you), why was dhoni not playing few shots??

[Guest BossBhai]

-- Removed on request of the user --

[SachDan]

I totally gree with Zubin. We have to respect the unpredictability of the Pak team.

[dial_100]

I totally gree with Zubin. We have to respect the unpredictability of the Pak team.

unpredictability of losing????well they are slowly becoming predictable these days. They almost all the time lose when it appears a tie...:giggle:

[chamatkar]

My take ... India 375d, Pak 250/4 EOD.

[zubinpepsi]

My take ... India 375d' date=' Pak 250/4 EOD.[/quote'] thts sad really.... if it happens, this team attitude wont lead anywhere.. these chickens ll b roasted for their dinner by OZs..

[apocalypse]

My take ... India 375d' date=' Pak 250/4 EOD.[/quote'] That would be really a chamtkaar

[coffee_rules]

India will not give less than 375 in 75 overs. Pak might be able to save the game if that's the case. I don't see Kumble going for the jkill with something like 340 in 80 overs. There is no need to take that risk at all. Why do you want any option of losing the game after putting on 616 in the first innings, besides being 1-0 up in the series. Result ko goli maro. I dont see Pak taking 20 wkts in a test, so B'lore might as well go to India or another draw. We will still win the series 1-0.

[Dravid]

india set target of 375 pak all out 198

[Online]

Pitch is still good for batting ..... I suspect this has a draw written all over it.

agree 100%

[fineleg]

Boss Bhai, Good read. Pak can easily bat out a draw. This is not a square turner, nor is it crumbling. Fast bowlers ZK and MP can't do squat either.

[Gambit]

I follow my formula for 4th innings if target is close to achievable. Going by that, any target beyond 330 with 80 overs to get is not gettable. Even Aus gave us target of 348 or something in a day. we eneded up losing few wkts in the process. So I dont expect us to bat more than 7-8 overs tomorrow to get one final look at a ptch and give them target of 340 in 80. YoYo and YK will be key if they want to save the game. SB, MUH hold the key if they try to win it. Going by the law of avg, MUH will fail (more likely) that leaves them with 1 player to score faster than 5 RPO which makes it impossible for them to win. As for saving the game, YoYo and YK as usual will come handy in playing long innings. Akmal, MUH wont be able to play long innings. IMO, 80% chances that Pak will lose this game tooo. Butt, and the other openers wont last against spinners. YK will resist lot but he can only survive if he scores runs against spinners. only YY can play spinners very well. If MUH failed in this innings that leaves them only Anmol ratan, Hutmal to play some crucial part in saving the game. Very good game is expected. Kumble will not let this one go. They will fight to get this one..:thumbs_up:

Good analysis dial. :top: Obviously, I hope you are right but I don't see us winning unless Harbhajan does well. Kumble will get his customary 2-3 but won't be able to run through like he did earlier. If Bhajji doesn't do anything, then Pak will draw this easily.

[The Outsider]

The pitch has not crumbled as expected but the pressure of batting an entire day when there is nothing at stake except salvaging a draw with a vociferous crowd, close in fielders, appeals every over, Kumble and Harbhajan swooping in for the kill with every delivery will be huge. One wicket can lead to a bunch in these circumstances and I would still say we have a 60-70% chance of pulling this one off if we give ourselves 75-80 overs.

[sachin_fan]

Looking at stats, batting on the 5th day is very tough. Here's what i filtered from cric info I Bat R/W Ov Tar R Match 4 Pak 179/6 63 265 D 6th Test v Pak in Ind 1979/80 at Kolkata [871] 4 Ind 170/3 83 306 D 4th Test v Eng in Ind 1981/82 at Kolkata [916] 4 Pak 179/5 87 356 D 2nd Test v Pak in Ind 1986/87 at Kolkata [1067] 4 Ind 82/2 29.2 79 W 1st Test v Eng in Ind 1992/93 at Kolkata [1211] 4 Ind 137 53.3 467 L 2nd Test v SA in Ind 1996/97 at Kolkata [1341] 4 Ind 232 79.1 279 L 1st Match v Pak in Ind 1998/99 at Kolkata [1444] 4 Aus 212 68.3 384 L 2nd Test v Aus in Ind 2000/01 at Kolkata [1535] 4 Ind 120/2 39.4 117 W 2nd Test v SA in Ind 2004/05 at Kolkata [1724] 4 Pak 226 91.3 422 L 2nd Test v Pak in Ind 2004/05 at Kolkata [1741] No team has chased succesfully 300 in the last day. Last time we played pak, we took 91 overs to bowl them out,with them starting at 95/1. So we can actually declare guys, and give it a fighting chance either way.

[The Outsider]

As I said, it's not always the pitch. The pitch wasn't too bad even in the '01 match against Australia, and they went to tea 3 down. It's that magical amalgamation of the pitch, crowd, fielder, and bowlers which makes the cauldron too hot to stand in at times.

[Guest dada_rocks]

I am wary of misbah he looks so unperturbed