Re: New Zealand v India, 1st Test, Hamilton, March 18-22

by HH_pink Sat 21 Mar 2009, 04:59

And this is Dhoni's first win overseas as captain. His record now stands: P6, W5, D1, L0. Nice start!

by The One Sat 21 Mar 2009, 05:25

i'd have bhajji over vettori in tests. vettori keeps it tight but hardly ever takes wickets. would pick him over bhajji in odis

33 years between test wins. is this a record for india overseas?

by HH_pink Sat 21 Mar 2009, 05:32

I know, their respective records suggest that Harbhajan would be the better pick, but somehow I've never been impressed by him. I couldn't say exactly why.

by doremi Sat 21 Mar 2009, 05:37

Harbhajan goes through entire sessions sometimes in tests looking clueless and absolutely unpenetrative. That may be one factor. But he's a better bowler than Vettori and not a mug with the bat either.

And why did Dravid open again?

by The One Sat 21 Mar 2009, 05:49

maybe sehwag forgot where he put his box

by doremi Sat 21 Mar 2009, 06:48

So far batsmen played to imaginary one-day fields and looked to hit big, innovate, and played shots that would get them singles, while the bowlers tried to contain them. The Test intensity today was summed up by one exchange. Sachin Tendulkar padded up first for India, to face Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji and a few local net bowlers.

After facing two balls from Ishant, Tendulkar went up to the bowler and asked, "Are you trying to get it to move in?" The first two deliveries hadn't actually moved in. Ishant replied in the affirmative and Tendulkar went on to tell him he was making it too obvious. "It seems you are trying too hard to move it in," Tendulkar said, and went on to show him the release that was required - not a big jerk of the wrist, but a smooth push just before letting the ball go. "You might over-pitch for a while, but keep trying it. First get the release right, the rest will come automatically."

Ishant over-pitched for a while, slowly getting the inward movement going until he beat Tendulkar with one that nipped in sharply. "Ye achcha tha [This one was better]," came the acknowledgment. The exchange was as much as an acknowledgment of how well Tendulkar knows the game (he could see, while trying to focus on his batting, what was wrong with the bowler's wrist at the time of release) as also the fact that containment was not the key here. Ishant was ready to bowl loose deliveries just to get back his No. 1 delivery.

The next batsman in the same net was Virender Sehwag. The first ball he faced from Ishant jagged back in, got the inside edge, hit the thigh and took the leg stump. It's good that the Tests are around.

Legend. Beat that BCL.

Dhoni and Kirsten seem to have worked how best to use Munaf. Short, sharp spells where he's told to bowl all out and then plenty of rest in between. He really bowled well in this match (though not as well as he can). Still gives me hope. Gambhir is fast changing my opinion about him. And Dravid seems to have recovered some form since the England series. Looks assured, though still gets out in ways the Dravid in his prime would never get out in.

by taipan Sat 21 Mar 2009, 07:56

doremi wrote:Legend. Beat that BCL.

I see that you are still pissed off that Lara was a better bat.

by JGK Sat 21 Mar 2009, 08:52

HH_pink wrote:
JGK wrote:Neither would get in ahead of the opposite numbers though.

I dunno, I'd prefer to have Vettori in my team over Harbhajan, the latter's performance today notwithstanding.

I'd prefer Vettori in my team because he's not a qunt but I think Harby is a better bowler.

by freddled gruntbuggly Sat 21 Mar 2009, 08:56

Except for certain deliveries, where he's a better chucker . . .

by jim rich Sat 21 Mar 2009, 11:23

JGK wrote:
HH_pink wrote:
JGK wrote:Neither would get in ahead of the opposite numbers though.

I dunno, I'd prefer to have Vettori in my team over Harbhajan, the latter's performance today notwithstanding.

I'd prefer Vettori in my team because he's not a qunt but I think Harby is a better bowler.

Agree. How dare that innocuous weed p1ss on an Aussie icon. Smile

by furriner Sat 21 Mar 2009, 12:54

doremi wrote:
So far batsmen played to imaginary one-day fields and looked to hit big, innovate, and played shots that would get them singles, while the bowlers tried to contain them. The Test intensity today was summed up by one exchange. Sachin Tendulkar padded up first for India, to face Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji and a few local net bowlers.

After facing two balls from Ishant, Tendulkar went up to the bowler and asked, "Are you trying to get it to move in?" The first two deliveries hadn't actually moved in. Ishant replied in the affirmative and Tendulkar went on to tell him he was making it too obvious. "It seems you are trying too hard to move it in," Tendulkar said, and went on to show him the release that was required - not a big jerk of the wrist, but a smooth push just before letting the ball go. "You might over-pitch for a while, but keep trying it. First get the release right, the rest will come automatically."

Ishant over-pitched for a while, slowly getting the inward movement going until he beat Tendulkar with one that nipped in sharply. "Ye achcha tha [This one was better]," came the acknowledgment. The exchange was as much as an acknowledgment of how well Tendulkar knows the game (he could see, while trying to focus on his batting, what was wrong with the bowler's wrist at the time of release) as also the fact that containment was not the key here. Ishant was ready to bowl loose deliveries just to get back his No. 1 delivery.

The next batsman in the same net was Virender Sehwag. The first ball he faced from Ishant jagged back in, got the inside edge, hit the thigh and took the leg stump. It's good that the Tests are around.

Legend. Beat that BCL.

Dhoni and Kirsten seem to have worked how best to use Munaf. Short, sharp spells where he's told to bowl all out and then plenty of rest in between. He really bowled well in this match (though not as well as he can). Still gives me hope. Gambhir is fast changing my opinion about him. And Dravid seems to have recovered some form since the England series. Looks assured, though still gets out in ways the Dravid in his prime would never get out in.

He was sitting next to Amir Khan in an IPL game when he was predicting, based on what he could see from the stands of the bowlers hand position, the type of ball that would be bowled.

Khan says he got it right every time.

by JGK Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:29

jim rich wrote:
JGK wrote:
HH_pink wrote:
JGK wrote:Neither would get in ahead of the opposite numbers though.

I dunno, I'd prefer to have Vettori in my team over Harbhajan, the latter's performance today notwithstanding.

I'd prefer Vettori in my team because he's not a qunt but I think Harby is a better bowler.

Agree. How dare that innocuous weed p1ss on an Aussie icon.

Huh?

by freddled gruntbuggly Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:32

I'm glad I'm not the only one to have trouble with the reasoning behind that statement.

by doremi Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:42

Oh and the pitch was really good. Makes you wonder why these stoopid NZ curators make roads when they come to India.

by freddled gruntbuggly Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:44

Teams touring India bring their own groundsmen to make the pitches? News to me . . .

by doremi Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:46

We have NZ 'consultants' for pitches. All that has achieced though has been making the pitches lose all their character and a lot more boring bat dominated matches.

by freddled gruntbuggly Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:47

Yes, dear.

by doremi Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:48

What? :?:

by The One Sat 21 Mar 2009, 13:59

the bcci had hired kiwi groundsmen in the late 90s early 00s to re-lay all pitches at indian test grounds

by Ash Sat 21 Mar 2009, 14:56

clinical. how many MoM does SRT now have?

by The One Sat 21 Mar 2009, 15:25

12. he now averages 86 in test wins away from home, which is the 3rd highest of all time

by Ash Sat 21 Mar 2009, 16:42

just caught the highlight for last couple of days. haven't seen sachin bat with such efficiency for some time. batsmanship at its purest. aye-aye

by Batman Sat 21 Mar 2009, 17:00

SRT seems to have turned the clock back a tad. 3 100s from 4 tests last.

Bhajji pulling off a Kumble v2.0 overseas. Pleasantly surprising results. How the tide turns. A couple of years back when Aus were on their second 16 test winning streak, Sachin struggled nearly a whole year for scoring a 100 while Punter was scoring tons at will and was just a couple of 100s awayf rom overtaking SRT. It was presumed it would be Sachin playing catch up from that point on and suddenly the gap has widened between the two again with Punter stuggling for a long time now barring a couple of knocks against SA and India.....

Cricket can be so damn unpredictable!

by Batman Sat 21 Mar 2009, 18:04

After SA, India is now the only team to have won a test in each country it played this decade. Has Aus won a test in Lanka this decade? Can't recall? if so, India might be the third test team to do so.....

Towards the end of Azhar-Sachin captaincy era, who could have foreseen this?

by The One Sat 21 Mar 2009, 20:34

aus won 3-0 in lanka

aus is the only team to have won test series in every country they have played in in this decade

by Sponsored content