Why doesn't Virat do something about his weakness against the ball out side offstump?

[sensible-indian]

Bhuvi would have indeed done many things with the new ball. However' date=' Kohli's urge to select Binny may yet backfire and land him with... egg on his face.[/quote'] After last game, everyone would have gone with Binny. Can't use hindsight to attack Kohli reg this.

[Vijy]

Going by his interviews, it sure isn't the case. BK sure does fight harder. He has a very effective defense technique. Mishy and Ishant give it all they got. Ashwin has more ability and is more clutch. The way he can get in front to defend spinners and smother the spin...its better than any batsman in the team (except Pujara and Vijay). Plus he can cover swing very well too. But he doesn't want to leave balls, wants to hook everything, wants to get bat on ball no matter how much it swings. Sadly he is a bit of an idiot. :(( If he genuinely is serious about his batting, he has it in him to be a No 6 and average 40 properly. But he may never do that. The fact that he gets out so many times in the 30s after getting set is pretty revealing of what his temperament is (he has a batsman's temperament but not a good batsman's temperament).

I think it's more a case of... has the attacking ability (shots-wise), has a mixed defense (very good in some aspects against pace and spin, not-so-good in others). Above all, more than technique or ability, I find his temperament - the willingness to dig in for the long haul, not throw wicket away, etc. - lacking compared to the past. Ashwin's interviews, like most interviews these days, are very polished. However, I believe that it's undeniable that his bowling has progressed significantly and batting regressed almost equally in recent times; I don't think these two are uncorrelated.

[Vijy]

After last game, everyone would have gone with Binny. Can't use hindsight to attack Kohli reg this.

I was not happy with Binny's selection even in that match. Bowled well (18 overs, 44 runs, 1 wkt) but I reckon that BK may have done roughly as well... provided he had new ball (1-2 wkts in the beginning). Batting-wise, I am sure he would have contributed more. So, it's not so much hindsight. Besides, both BK's batting and bowling records are much beter than Bunny's - did you have a look at his Test bowling avg? Even his FC record, with less than 2 wkts per match, is ordinary.

[sensible-indian]

I think it's more a case of... has the attacking ability (shots-wise), has a mixed defense (very good in some aspects against pace and spin, not-so-good in others). Above all, more than technique or ability, I find his temperament - the willingness to dig in for the long haul, not throw wicket away, etc. - lacking compared to the past. Ashwin's interviews, like most interviews these days, are very polished. However, I believe that it's undeniable that his bowling has progressed significantly and batting regressed almost equally in recent times; I don't think these two are uncorrelated.

True bro.

I was not happy with Binny's selection even in that match. Bowled well (18 overs, 44 runs, 1 wkt) but I reckon that BK may have done roughly as well... provided he had new ball (1-2 wkts in the beginning). Batting-wise, I am sure he would have contributed more. So, it's not so much hindsight. Besides, both BK's batting and bowling records are much beter than Bunny's - did you have a look at his Test bowling avg? Even his FC record, with less than 2 wkts per match, is ordinary.

It would be very hard to pick Bhuvi as the 5th bowler and 6th batsmen after we lost the 1st test due to our horrendous batting. It could be Binny is going through a rough patch with the bat cos he did seem quality in England. But anyways, very sub par performance.

[Vijy]

True bro. It would be very hard to pick Bhuvi as the 5th bowler and 6th batsmen after we lost the 1st test due to our horrendous batting. It could be Binny is going through a rough patch with the bat cos he did seem quality in England. But anyways, very sub par performance.

I don't think Binny will really ever be Test quality with bat or ball- his game is better suited for ODIs, and that too, against the weaker teams (his record against Bangs and Zims is pretty good). Wrt Bhuvi, I think, if he regains full fitness and adds a bit more pace (bowling in low-mid 130s consistently), he may become Test quality with ball; and his sensible, solid batting will be a bonus.

[Gollum]

Vijy, I now agree with your observations about the BK vs Ashwin batting comparison we had a few days back. sensible-indian, spot on analysis about Ashwin's batting bro. His appetite for batting seems diminished the way I see it. Technically he is pretty decent but he wants to put bat on everything. He is prone to lapses of stupidity and here we are. Vijy, Ashwin's batting and bowling are indeed correlated as you noted. Mostly when he flops with the ball(Eng 2012, Aus 2011-12 etc) he bats like a man possessed and vice versa(Aus home series, here, etc). That is a very worrying sign, he looks like a complacent person who is just happy to book his spot for the next game. For a man of his talents he should aim much higher. This is a very worrying sign and proof that he cannot be considered as a true all rounder like Mankad. Frustrating to see, he needs a good motivator/mentor to sort his ****, as do most players in this squad. Unfortunately Shastri won't do jack.

[dial_100]

^ I like that guy BK. but he is too weak. He needs some pace, with 5k more speed, he would be very handy. But I agree, the bowlers who can hardly bat must be very good bowlers.

[Vijy]

Vijy, I now agree with your observations about the BK vs Ashwin batting comparison we had a few days back. sensible-indian, spot on analysis about Ashwin's batting bro. His appetite for batting seems diminished the way I see it. Technically he is pretty decent but he wants to put bat on everything. He is prone to lapses of stupidity and here we are. Vijy, Ashwin's batting and bowling are indeed correlated as you noted. Mostly when he flops with the ball(Eng 2012, Aus 2011-12 etc) he bats like a man possessed and vice versa(Aus home series, here, etc). That is a very worrying sign, he looks like a complacent person who is just happy to book his spot for the next game. For a man of his talents he should aim much higher. This is a very worrying sign and proof that he cannot be considered as a true all rounder like Mankad. Frustrating to see, he needs a good motivator/mentor to sort his ****, as do most players in this squad. Unfortunately Shastri won't do jack.

Although I'm glad to see my hypothesis vindicated, I'd have been even happier to have been proven wrong, i.e. seeing Ashwin develop in both depts of the game.

[Anitha]

^ I like that guy BK. but he is too weak. He needs some pace' date=' with 5k more speed, he would be very handy. But I agree, the bowlers who can hardly bat must be very good bowlers.[/quote'] Binny is even slower than him

[CG]

He is basically a front foot player and his strengths are driving and working the ball to legside,he even pulls of the front foot.His nature is aggressive and always looking to score so he is always going to be attacking.Everybody has weakness outside offstump .With time he will gain more control.

[rkt.india]

Binny is even slower than him

No, both bowl at the same pace but BK as a bowler is miles ahead because him able to move the ball both ways in helpful conditions even Steyn doesn't have that.

[Vijy]

No' date=' both bowl at the same pace but BK as a bowler is miles ahead because him able to move the ball both ways in helpful conditions even Steyn doesn't have that.[/quote'] Why would Steyn need that when he has other skills in his repertoire? Same goes for pomp Waqar - he didn't have the variety of an Akram but he did pretty well regardless.

[vayuu1]

I was listening to manjula and sunny bhai, saying that most of the Indian players have open stance and a wide positioning of legs, unlike tendulkar, dravid and Laxman, which gives you less time to counter a delivery, the only player some what who don't have this is ojha.

[Vijy]

I was listening to manjula and sunny bhai' date=' saying that most of the Indian players have open stance and a wide positioning of legs, unlike tendulkar, dravid and Laxman, which gives you less time to counter a delivery, the only player some what who don't have this is ojha.[/quote'] I wonder how exactly they woudld view Sehwag's stance

[MCcricket]

Kohli needs to get to the next level in test cricket as far as batting, just needs to show patience initially as he is very strong on the off side, also new ball moves a bit more n when openers fall early he has to go to bat at 4. To me he is the best odi bat we ever had ,and could be the all time great if he just shows a bit more patience initially in tests, once he gets to the next level we will see 200 n even 300?

[vayuu1]

I wonder how exactly they woudld view Sehwag's stance

Sehwag was more of hand eye coordination, it's lesser footwork compared to tendulkar and co.

[cricket.fan]

Again..gone in the same way

[fineleg]

Poking and fishing outside offstump...

[sm332]

disappointing no doubt - given how the fire burns in Kohli I cant imagine him not doing something about this soon enough

[rkt.india]

Why would Steyn need that when he has other skills in his repertoire? Same goes for pomp Waqar - he didn't have the variety of an Akram but he did pretty well regardless.

I didnt say that. Steyn is is master at what he does and not many can him in that regard. It is better to be an expert at what you do rather than being a jack of all trades.