The big five watch

Tendulkar- Clearly not the player he once was, as he showed by completely falling for Australia's trap in the first innings, but in the second innings he showed how his experience and still prominent skill will be a vital cornerstone for India as they look to rebuild their test team in the next 12-18 months. 6.5/10

Dravid- Played a gritty knock in the first innings, but still nowhere near his best. Batting always seems to look such hard work for him these days. Questions remain. 5/10

Laxman- Showed in the second innings that he more often than not performs when india really need him. He really should be batting at three but India seem immune to the idea of dropping Dravid down the order. 6/10

Ganguly- Still looks in pretty good nick. The pressure is somewhat off him now that he has decided to retire at the end of the series. 6/10

Kumble- Worrying times for him. Can hardly buy a wicket these days, and has definetly lost some zip. At 38, you wonder whether Mohali may well be his last test if he doesn't perform and India don't win. 3/10

Member of the big 5 currently most likely to be axed- Kumble.

Henry,

Can you also provide the stats for the Big 5 starting from the SL series onwards and let us also keep a watch on this as the series evolves

Thanks

Josh,

I can't be bothered.

Sorry

Henry wrote:Josh,

I can't be bothered.

Sorry

That is two of us what a pity.

I still maintain that Tendulkar and Laxman are the 2 most likely to be still standing at the end of this series, regardless of whether India win, draw, or lose. I mean ffs, Dravid is averaging 35 in his last 20 tests. You surely have to draw a line at some stage and say,"Sorry, but great player that you once were, you just aren't good enough anymore."

Dravid's decline is somewhat puzzling to me. Technically, he remains sound, but he just keeps getting out after playing torturous innings'. It seems to be more of a mental problem than a technical one, and his slip catching remains outstanding, however he really seems to be in a hole with the bat.

His batting wasn't any lesser torturous in his first innings atleast for the initial part. He was comprehensively beaten many times, edged a few to the boundary, so much unlike him.

All Indians since July

Agreed regarding Dravid's position in the team.

If anyone that can possibly be axed after this series would be Dravid. VVS and Tendulkar have batted well for most part of last 2 years while Dravid has been very ordinary during this period. Hardly ever has he looked in good niche in most of his innings in this period.

Henry wrote:I still maintain that Tendulkar and Laxman are the 2 most likely to be still standing at the end of this series

i said that at the start of the year. dravid is quite clearly in terminal decline as is kumble. they have not had even one good series in over 2 years. ganguly is retiring at the end of this series

tendulkar and laxman will continue along with sharma and maybe yuvraj as replacements. india should hopefully play only one spinner henceforth, our pacers seem to be of some real quality now to go with three of them. hopefully some new exciting talent will be ready to take over from tendulkar and laxman when they are ready to go

Harbhajan needs to perform with the ball as well. It's fine him playing all these cameos with the bat, but his main job is to take wickets, and he hardly looks like doing that at the moment. Chawla, Mishra, and even Ojha are breathing heavily down his neck.

All five are goners for me, either form or fitness wise or a combination for both. As it is with Indian celebrities they are just prolonging the inevitable at the expense of the team and other talented younsters.

24 th best in the world, but fans still claim that there is nobody good enough to replace !

Josh

20 of those 24 aren't eligible to play for India ...and he still has a higher ranking than LB , UMB , Jaffer and Yuvi ... Tendy isnt as good as he was ...but until there is someone better he should still be picked

He isnt going to be dropped/retired/non selected until he passes BCL ...

It was not that long ago that the Indian big four used to be in the top 10 or around that.

No question he is better than guys like Yuvi, Jaffer etc. Much much better even now.

But he is not what he used to be, but gets treated like he still is by his fans and patrons.

The BCL record is a distraction and this is going the way when Kapil dragged on and kept guys like Srinath out. It is high time to bring in somebody like Robit Sharma, not to mention Kaif who has been canned around a few times to make way for bigger names.

If cricket becomes an Olympic sport then China will take it up quick smart.

It was not that long ago that the Indian big four used to be in the top 10 or around that.

So you mean to say any batsman who is out of top-20 rankings doesn't deserve to be selected in the team? Only you could've said that.

BTW if every team starts using that criteria for selection there would be only 15-20 batsmen available for selection for all the teams combined.

Try something else.

...or he could be saying the Indian batsmen are in decline ....

He wants them (Tendulkar) out of team from day 1.

I think thats crystal clear to everyone.

Josh wants to dump all of the big 5 at once, which would equate to something of a disaster for Indian cricket if that happened. The gradual phasing out will begin at the end of this series, with Ganguly already going, and Kumble and Dravid likely to follow soon after.

Henry wrote:Josh wants to dump all of the big 5 at once, which would equate to something of a disaster for Indian cricket if that happened. The gradual phasing out will begin at the end of this series, with Ganguly already going, and Kumble and Dravid likely to follow soon after.

No that is not correct, I have advocating to have them progressively replaced for over 2 years.

How come Sehwag isn't in the 'big' club?

He's been around for quite a while now, he's 30 years old and his record is far better than Laxman's or Ganguly's.

How come Sehwag isn't in the 'big' club?

Because he isn't an oldie.

SG wrote:

How come Sehwag isn't in the 'big' club?

Because he isn't an oldie.

When does he become an oldie? In 6 days time maybe?

Big 5 sounds like the big game "club" in southern Africa. From memory those 'big 5' animals are protected species as well.

Unless you have cash.

ten years after wrote:How come Sehwag isn't in the 'big' club?

He's been around for quite a while now, he's 30 years old and his record is far better than Laxman's or Ganguly's.

sehwag is not going to be retiring for a while

i agree about him being one of the main players in the team though. its just that these 5 were from the same generation and hence they are put together. actually big 4 would be more apt, laxman is also someone who came into prominence post 2001, but he's of the same age and up for retirement, so...