Can India beat Australia down under ?

doremi wrote:We have as good a chance now as we ever had in recent times. Strangely, the batting worries me more than the bowling nowadays. Sehwag must be picked, also Munaf Patel. That'll give us the best chance. And I won't have Kaif or Sharma aywhere near the test squad IMO.

The Pakistan series will be crucial, since we should be expected to beat them.

And Tiwary is fine because he is from the east is it ?

SG wrote:And Tendulkar was virtually out of form throughout the year before that series.

His scores before Gabba test were 8, 51, 9, 32, 8, 7, 55 and 1. '03 was his worst ever year in test cricket when he averaged just 17-odd in the whole year.

With those stats you are only strengthening my argument !!

Josh Carney wrote:

SG wrote:And Tendulkar was virtually out of form throughout the year before that series.

His scores before Gabba test were 8, 51, 9, 32, 8, 7, 55 and 1. '03 was his worst ever year in test cricket when he averaged just 17-odd in the whole year.

With those stats you are only strengthening my argument !!

What argument?

That India should take greenhorns like Tiwary and Rohit Sharma in place of Tendulkar to its next tour to Australia just because Tendulkar had his most terrible year in test cricket just before India's last tour to Australia?

Weird argument, I'd say!!!

Must admit all i remember was him batting forever at sydney.

Still overall india's batting was very strong in that series, they put up enough runs to win the series but the bowlers weren't able to finish the job which i guess was the case for both teams.

please don't yell wrote:Must admit all i remember was him batting forever at sydney.

Yep, that was due to SCG being a highway.

BTW, hasn't SCG been that way all throughout its history? I mean will you discredit all the scores made there just because of this? And what about Adelaide, Oval, Eden Gardens, Antigua, etc?

scg has only rarely been a road...adelaide has become less of a road in recent years...conversely the WACA seems to have lost its traditional bounce and zip...

True, but Tendulkar was in pathetic form throughout that series apart from that sublime 241* at SCG in which he didn't play a single cover drive.

He wasnt in pathetic form. He got a shocking LBW decision from Bucknor at Brisbane, made a pretty useful contribution in India's second innings run chase at Adelaide, and then got caught down the leg side at Melbourne, before that disciplined, leg side dominated double century at Sydney.

SG wrote:

please don't yell wrote:Must admit all i remember was him batting forever at sydney.

Yep, that was due to SCG being a highway.

BTW, hasn't SCG been that way all throughout its history? I mean will you discredit all the scores made there just because of this? And what about Adelaide, Oval, Eden Gardens, Antigua, etc?

I think you're reading something into my post that isn't there.

I was simply saying that his huge score in sydney meant i pretty much forgot how the rest of his series went.

Henry wrote:

True, but Tendulkar was in pathetic form throughout that series apart from that sublime 241* at SCG in which he didn't play a single cover drive.

He wasnt in pathetic form. He got a shocking LBW decision from Bucknor at Brisbane, made a pretty useful contribution in India's second innings run chase at Adelaide, and then got caught down the leg side at Melbourne, before that disciplined, leg side dominated double century at Sydney.

He just wasn't scoring any runs.

FIXED

please don't yell wrote:

SG wrote:

please don't yell wrote:Must admit all i remember was him batting forever at sydney.

Yep, that was due to SCG being a highway.

BTW, hasn't SCG been that way all throughout its history? I mean will you discredit all the scores made there just because of this? And what about Adelaide, Oval, Eden Gardens, Antigua, etc?

I think you're reading something into my post that isn't there.

I was simply saying that his huge score in sydney meant i pretty much forgot how the rest of his series went.

I think it was directed at Josh , pdy

Ahh fair enough.

Henry wrote:

True, but Tendulkar was in pathetic form throughout that series apart from that sublime 241* at SCG in which he didn't play a single cover drive.

made a pretty useful contribution in India's second innings run chase at Adelaide, and then got caught down the leg side at Melbourne

Thats pathetic, by his standards. I mean not even a single half ton, before the last test of the series.

One of his dismissals shouldnt have been out, and another one was one of the unluckiest ways to get out in cricket. Doesnt mean he wasnt seeing the ball well. Bit harsh to accuse Tendulkar himself of being 'pathetic' in those scenarios.

Okay, he wasn't pathetic in that series. He just wasn't scoring any runs, as embee said.

I think India will take all of the 'big three' to Aus, along with Laxman, Jaffer, Karthik, Sehwag, and Yuvraj as the batsmen.

Possible Indian lineup for the boxing day Test-

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh
Munaf/Sreesanth

embee wrote:

Henry wrote:

True, but Tendulkar was in pathetic form throughout that series apart from that sublime 241* at SCG in which he didn't play a single cover drive.

He wasnt in pathetic form. He got a shocking LBW decision from Bucknor at Brisbane, made a pretty useful contribution in India's second innings run chase at Adelaide, and then got caught down the leg side at Melbourne, before that disciplined, leg side dominated double century at Sydney.

He just wasn't scoring any runs.

FIXED

bit like tubby

Henry wrote:I think India will take all of the 'big three' to Aus, along with Laxman, Jaffer, Karthik, Sehwag, and Yuvraj as the batsmen.

Possible Indian lineup for the boxing day Test-

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh
Munaf/Sreesanth

VVS would play, come what may.

SG wrote:

Henry wrote:I think India will take all of the 'big three' to Aus, along with Laxman, Jaffer, Karthik, Sehwag, and Yuvraj as the batsmen.

Possible Indian lineup for the boxing day Test-

Jaffer
Sehwag
Dravid
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
RP Singh
Munaf/Sreesanth

VVS would play, come what may.

so gangles can do some sightseeing?

need a 3rd seamer

He'll definetly be in the squad, but I dont think he's guaranteed a place in the starting XI, especially if he has a poor series against Pakistan. Yuvraj is banging on the door pretty loudly.

Josh Carney wrote:

doremi wrote:We have as good a chance now as we ever had in recent times. Strangely, the batting worries me more than the bowling nowadays. Sehwag must be picked, also Munaf Patel. That'll give us the best chance. And I won't have Kaif or Sharma aywhere near the test squad IMO.

The Pakistan series will be crucial, since we should be expected to beat them.

And Tiwary is fine because he is from the east is it ?

Maybe. Or maybe because of his 99.something average in FC cricket last year, or I may just like the way he plays.

FFS Josh, not everyone has a personal agenda here you know. How many players have I supported from the east? Ganguly, Dhoni, ..... anyone else?

I'm glad Tendulkar is touring. I hope and expect he will do well. I don't expect him to tour Australia again.

The SCG has not always been a road. In the 1970's it was a paceman's dream, fast and bouncy, and later it became a spinner's paradise, where even the likes of Border and Murray Bennett bowled well. Since 1970, at least until the last few years, my impression is that it has had a high proportion of results, with few draws, certainly very few draws that were not due to rain.

lardbucket wrote:it became a spinner's paradise, where even the likes of Border and Murray Bennett bowled well

Murray Bennett. How shite were we back then, eh?

Well, all I can say is that he was better than Gavin Robertson or Johnny Watkins ... or Graham Beard.

India will fancy their chances at Sydney and Adelaide. Perth could be a struggle, although at least it wont be their first test of the series like it was for Pakistan 3 years ago.