Will India always be mediocre?

[vvk]

With such a touted improvement due to the emergence of a battery of seam bowlers, a world class batting line-up, and as always - quality spin bowlers India have been tipped as potential successors to the Australian crown.

But today's disgraceful capitulation at the hands of the county-level Pakistani attack leaves people thinking if India has the attitude and committment to step up from it's current state of sporadic victories and individual brilliance.

What do you all think?

I think some drastic changes need to be made, and individuals held directly accountable for defeats (just like in any professional sport, just look at European club football for example). I dont see a anything wrong in a horses for courses selection policy, especially with so many waiting in the wings for an opportunity.

 

[SJS]

With such a touted improvement due to the emergence of a battery of seam bowlers, a world class batting line-up, and as always - quality spin bowlers India have been tipped as potential successors to the Australian crown.

But today's disgraceful capitulation at the hands of the county-level Pakistani attack leaves people thinking if India has the attitude and committment to step up from it's current state of sporadic victories and individual brilliance.

What do you all think?

I think some drastic changes need to be made, and individuals held directly accountable for defeats (just like in any professional sport, just look at European club football for example). I dont see a anything wrong in a horses for courses selection policy, especially with so many waiting in the wings for an opportunity.

Why is it such a disaster to lose a test match to Pakistan ??

 

[shankar]

Typical Indian over-reaction.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

How great must India's attack be if Pakistan's is County level. Yes, I know India boasts the great Wasim "64+ average" Pathan, but still...

 

[Anil]

Why is it such a disaster to lose a test match to Pakistan ??

it's not...but the pakistan team over the past 2 years have been at their weakest since probably their early years of inception into test cricket and our team is supposedly at a high...add to that the fact that we won the series in pakistan....i can understand why the average fan is disappointed...

 

[neutralguy]

Yes i think so mate.INdia is the mediocre team.dont worry it will soon come close to zimbabwe and bangla.

 

[vvk]

OK the county level comment is a bit of an exaggeration, but still it must be recognized this pakistani attack pales in comparison to Pakistani teams of previous years. Arshad Khan is a gentle, almost monotonic off-spinner at best. Sami was all over the place today, and Abdul Razzaq hardly qualifies as front-line bowler. Afridi, a part-timer, was made to look like a world beater today.

 

[vvk]

The previous posts contain the typical desi mentality, the very ACCEPTANCE of mediocrity. This is where the attitude of "no harm" in losing a test to Pakistan stems from.

This is why India will never be the world's greatest side. We need to take the appropriate action after each defeat and make known that we do not accept complacentcy and consistent failures.

 

[biased indian]

The previous posts contain the typical desi mentality, the very ACCEPTANCE of mediocrity. This is where the attitude of "no harm" in losing a test to Pakistan stems from.

This is why India will never be the world's greatest side. We need to take the appropriate action after each defeat and make known that we do not accept complacentcy and consistent failures.

and what will be the appropriate action that u will take after this defeat

remove pathan,ganguly,Dravid from the team as far as i am considered these ar ethe players who failed to perform in this test match

 

[Sudeep]

Afridi, a part-timer, was made to look like a world beater today.

Ever since making his comeback, he has looked a different cricketer. His bowling might not be worth a place as a front-line spinner, but surely he's not just a part-timer.

 

[tooextracool]

Why is it such a disaster to lose a test match to Pakistan ??

you have to be kidding me, if you accept losing to a half decent pakistan side with a second string bowling attack at home, where india have been so strong.
but then again india have wasim akram, the greatest indian captain of all time(who will go down as an all time great), and are the 2nd best team in the world, because they challenged australia.

 

[Sudeep]

The fact is - we're inconsistent. We're not mediocre, we're just inconsistent.

Not every side in the world can be Australia. Not every captain in world can be Steve Waugh. The fact that in the past five years, we've accomplished feats never before done, proves that we're not mediocre.

The problem with our cricket is hype. It's a clear-cut fact that we're not the best team in the world, not even the second best. Yet, considering hypothetically, if we win one match against Australia in Australia, and we'll discuss of the next being for the World Championship. And vice versa, one loss against Australia in our backyard, will result in discussion of us being mediocre, and players that need to be axed.

Gaining consistency isn't child's play. Already in the last five years, we might have increased it by a little. Fans should have patience. Australia's case is different. Waugh was an exceptional captain. Sourav Ganguly, despite his dismal batting performances since a long time, should be commended for what he has helped this team achieve. If there's a loss, he should be made aware of his mistakes, rather than providing demotivation in this way.

 

[Sudeep]

you have to be kidding me, if you accept losing to a half decent pakistan side with a second string bowling attack at home, where india have been so strong.
but then again india have wasim akram, the greatest indian captain of all time(who will go down as an all time great), and are the 2nd best team in the world, because they challenged australia.

It's got to be considered that Pakistan batting was exceptional in this Test match.

And not many sides score 350+ in the fourth innings to win, that too in a single day, no matter how poor the opposition bowling, or how good the batting line-up.

 

[tooextracool]

It's got to be considered that Pakistan batting was exceptional in this Test match.

And not many sides score 350+ in the fourth innings to win, that too in a single day, no matter how poor the opposition bowling, or how good the batting line-up.

i doubt it, the pakistan batting was made to look exceptional by some rubbish bowling by india. certainly any team that lets pakistan score 261 from 50 overs in the 3rd inning of a test match must be poor, let alone any side that lets afridi score like the way he did. there isnt much getting away for it, india's bowling is extremely extremely poor, their batting well relied pretty much on sehwag and dravid. dravid had one mediocre test and they lost.
for me i really wonder how long they are going to go along with this pathan is the next wasim rubbish, you cant expect to be playing 20 tests with such awful performances. balaji isnt much better.

 

[Sudeep]

i doubt it, the pakistan batting was made to look exceptional by some rubbish bowling by india. certainly any team that lets pakistan score 261 from 50 overs in the 3rd inning of a test match must be poor, let alone any side that lets afridi score like the way he did. there isnt much getting away for it, india's bowling is extremely extremely poor, their batting well relied pretty much on sehwag and dravid. dravid had one mediocre test and they lost.

Agreed, Indian bowling wasn't anything to be proud of. But still, it was good Pakistani batting performance. Kumble was not his best, but it's difficult to tackle him even then, which Inzamam and Younis did well in the first innings.

 

[Sanz]

India lost this game because of its batsmen not because of its bowlers. India lost the match in the first inning itself when Dravid & Tendulkar threw their wickets in the first innings .

 

[tooextracool]

Agreed, Indian bowling wasn't anything to be proud of. But still, it was good Pakistani batting performance. Kumble was not his best, but it's difficult to tackle him even then, which Inzamam and Younis did well in the first innings.

personally i went to bed last night, fairly confident that india would save this game,given their usual performances at home and the fact that they were 80 odd for no loss. what worries me even more is that if they play like this at home in conditions that suit them,what are they going to do when they play away?

 

[Sudeep]

India lost this game because of its batsmen not because of its bowlers. India lost the match in the first inning itself when Dravid & Tendulkar threw their wickets in the first innings .

Too many runs given in the second Pakistani innings?

Sides have won even after trailing by more than 100+ in the first innings.

I'm not saying that only the bowlers are to be blamed. The batting performance today was abysmal.

But let's not make this loss look like a matter of life and death. As I said, we're a good side, we just need better levels of consistency, which can be achieved by improving the attitude.

 

[tooextracool]

India lost this game because of its batsmen not because of its bowlers. India lost the match in the first inning itself when Dravid & Tendulkar threw their wickets in the first innings .

really so 261 from 50 overs is anywhere near the standard is it? they lost the game because of both, but the bowling was simply appalling.

 

[Sudeep]

personally i went to bed last night, fairly confident that india would save this game,given their usual performances at home and the fact that they were 80 odd for no loss. what worries me even more is that if they play like this at home in conditions that suit them,what are they going to do when they play away?

I went to bed thinking there's a 50/50 chance of a Pakistan win/draw. There was something about the way the openers batted yesterday, which suggested a negative attitude. Not often do you see Sehwag's partner out-score him, no matter what the amount of time to play. That suggested a protective attitude, which wasn't just right.

And BTW, it was 25-0.