*Official* Sri Lanka in India

[G.I.Joe]

Originally Posted by Cruxdude

I have come to think that him being called the world's best keeper is more a case of everybody repeating the same thing whether it is true or not.

Badrinath, the next big thing, is a case in study.

[Cruxdude]

Originally Posted by G.I.Joe

Badrinath, the next big thing, is a case in study.

Badrinath is gone and dusted. We will never come to know if he was good enough. Even this year he has been pretty prolific in run scoring but sadly he was born 10 years early.

[Sir Alex]

Originally Posted by Cruxdude

Actually Prasanna's keeping wasn't all that great throughout. I hadn't seen much of him before this series and expected him to be a wall behind the stumps after hearing all the praise from each and every corner.

Was bitterly disappointed. I have come to think that him being called the world's best keeper is more a case of everybody repeating the same thing whether it is true or not.

He is not as great as made out to be but I am sure he had an off series in India. The way he kept with ease to Mendis and Murali who were bamboozling Indian batsmen back in 2008 was a masterclass in keeping upto the stumps. But yes, I think he has a problem when the pitch is of uneven bouce and had he kept to someone like Kumble he would have struggled more. Still I am prepared to give him another chance and believe he is the best in the world.

[Sir Alex]

Originally Posted by G.I.Joe

Badrinath, the next big thing, is a case in study.

I don't agree fully. He has the talent to be a better performer than Yuvraj any day even now but somehow Yuvraj got the kid glove treatment from selectors. Yuvraj is indeed exciting when he gets going and I like watching him but there is no way he could survived in a slighlty more bowler oriented era say early 90s. The problem with Badri was that he could perhaps have "replaced" a player like Dravid but could not necessarily "complement" him. Yuvraj brought in that element of dash and rapid scoring in the lower order and hence he is beneficial when the "overall team balance" is considered.

Originally Posted by Cruxdude

Badrinath is gone and dusted. We will never come to know if he was good enough. Even this year he has been pretty prolific in run scoring but sadly he was born 10 years early.

I hoped he would get his call in the coming series to Bangladesh. However with Tendulkar being focussed on keeping his record intact and his rivalry with Ponting, his chances of a debut look seriously slim.

[Cruxdude]

Originally Posted by Sir Alex

I hoped he would get his call in the coming series to Bangladesh. However with Tendulkar being focussed on keeping his record intact and his rivalry with Ponting, his chances of a debut look seriously slim.

Saying that Tendulkar is playing just to maintain his records is being pretty stupid. That he is motivated enough to play for India after 20 years itself is a marvel. Since when has a player good enough to get into any team at the moment deciding to take rest from a ODI series and play in the test series mean playing to keep his record intact?

[Sir Alex]

Originally Posted by Cruxdude

Saying that Tendulkar is playing just to maintain his records is being pretty stupid. That he is motivated enough to play for India after 20 years itself is a marvel. Since when has a player good enough to get into any team at the moment deciding to take rest from a ODI series and play in the test series mean playing to keep his record intact?

Perhaps you got me wrong there. I used "playing for maintaining his records" in a positive fashion. That is he is so motivated to keep on playing that he won't miss even Bangaldesh test matches. Records are indeed a major factor in any player's motivation to continue playing at even this age after so many years. I think his next target is 100 hundreds in International matches.

[G.I.Joe]

Interesting piece in the TOI a couple of days back. Apparently India played just 69 tests in the 90's, compared to 109 in the 00's. I'd never have guessed, what with the entire world vilifying the BCCI as T20 and ODI hungry monsters. What I'm getting at is, supposing India played those 40 more tests in the 90's instead of all those pointless ODIs, and Tendulkar kept at the rate of a century once every 4 tests, he'd have been on 200 tests and 55 centuries or so by now.

[Sir Alex]

Originally Posted by G.I.Joe

Interesting piece in the TOI a couple of days back. Apparently India played just 69 tests in the 90's, compared to 109 in the 00's. I'd never have guessed, what with the entire world vilifying the BCCI as T20 and ODI hungry monsters. What I'm getting at is, supposing India played those 40 more tests in the 90's instead of all those pointless ODIs, and Tendulkar kept at the rate of a century once every 4 tests, he'd have been on 200 tests and 55 centuries or so by now.

Good spot GI Joe.

In fact since 2007 when T20 cricket really took off, India has played 31 matches and is second only to England's 37. Team records | Test matches | Cricinfo Statsguru | Cricinfo.com

[Cruxdude]

Originally Posted by Sir Alex

Perhaps you got me wrong there. I used "playing for maintaining his records" in a positive fashion. That is he is so motivated to keep on playing that he won't miss even Bangaldesh test matches. Records are indeed a major factor in any player's motivation to continue playing at even this age after so many years. I think his next target is 100 hundreds in International matches.

My bad

[Uppercut]

Originally Posted by Cruxdude

Actually Prasanna's keeping wasn't all that great throughout. I hadn't seen much of him before this series and expected him to be a wall behind the stumps after hearing all the praise from each and every corner.

Was bitterly disappointed. I have come to think that him being called the world's best keeper is more a case of everybody repeating the same thing whether it is true or not.

It was by far his worst-ever series as a keeper though.

And yeah, keepers do seem rather weak standing up to the stumps these days. Matt Prior is one of the better ones, somewhat bizarrely, and that's how you know it's a problem. It's difficult of course, but when your side is so spin-heavy you pick a keeper who can do it. It's one area where I feel Gilchrist never got enough credit for his ability.

[Rant0r]

Prior has improved out of sight, it's unbelievable considering Alec Stewart is his mentor, no offence to Alec but he was anther Batsman first, keeper second.

Prasanna was hideous in the first test, but he batted for a long time which the commentators at the time felt could have impacted his ability to stay low on those low leg side deliveries. I have seen him keep previously and he looks very sharp normally.

[jbb]

Originally Posted by James

Play this series on Cricket Web Fantasy Cricket

Forum Fans User Competition Code - 1257380018

Wed Nov 11 - Fri Nov 13
Indian Board President's XI v Sri Lankans
Bandra Kurla Complex, Mumbai

Mon Nov 16 - Fri Nov 20
1st Test - India v Sri Lanka
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad

Tue Nov 24 - Sat Nov 28
2nd Test - India v Sri Lanka
Green Park, Kanpur

Wed Dec 2 - Sun Dec 6
3rd Test - India v Sri Lanka
Brabourne Stadium, Mumbai

Wed Dec 9
1st T20I - India v Sri Lanka
Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

Sat Dec 12
2nd T20I - India v Sri Lanka
Punjab Cricket Association Stadium, Mohali, Chandigarh

Tue Dec 15
1st ODI - India v Sri Lanka
Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground, Rajkot

Fri Dec 18
2nd ODI - India v Sri Lanka
Andhra Cricket Association-Visakhapatnam District Cricket Association Stadium, Visakhapatnam

Mon Dec 21
3rd ODI - India v Sri Lanka
Barabati Stadium, Cuttack

Thu Dec 24
4th ODI - India v Sri Lanka
Eden Gardens, Kolkata

Sun Dec 27
5th ODI - India v Sri Lanka
Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

thanks 4 info