After Sachin, the deluge??

[Sir Alex]

lol... At least chennai has good bounce and carry, unlike some of the other pitches in the country. I think Badri and Vijay will come good. Vijay seems to be the sort of guy who gets carried away...


And about the short ball issue, as I remarked in the T20 WC thread, it is one thing getting out of the way and being able to survive but another to have to score of quick and short bowling... Most of our batsmen (and dare I say, most batsmen around the world) cannto do the latter but can do the former.. I still think Gambhir, Vijay, Rohit and Kohli can get around to become decent defensive players of the short ball... It is when you have to hit those balls that it becomes an issue. Dinesh Karthik, Yuvi and Badri are blokes I think can become good pullers of the ball... So I wont be worried about the short ball weakness for tests and to an extent, ODIs.. T20s are different though.. I think we are gonna suck at it for the foreseeable future..

Bounce and carry? I disagree, unless you're referring to the path of the ball from the bat to the fence lol.

Nothing in the past four five suggests it has been anything but a slow low bowler killer pitch. We even saw that in this year's IPL. Either it makes for batting displays like Sehwag's 309, or it becomes slow and low and deflates the bowlers making both scoring and taking wickets dull, unless they have inherent pace to beat batsmen through air like Steyn.

 

[honestbharani]

Bounce and carry? I disagree, unless you're referring to the path of the ball from the bat to the fence lol.

Nothing in the past four five suggests it has been anything but a slow low bowler killer pitch. We even saw that in this year's IPL. Either it makes for batting displays like Sehwag's 309, or it becomes slow and low and deflates the bowlers making both scoring and taking wickets dull, unless they have inherent pace to beat batsmen through air like Steyn.

You don't get lateral movement there because it is covered from all sides, but that is being changed now.


And reg. that test, yeah it was a poor wicket but it still had the bounce. Chennai always has good and true bounce which is good batsmen always enjoy it here and yet at the same time bowlers can have their say. Kumble and Harbhajan have had great success here because along with the spin, they also get good bounce and decent pace so that batsmen cannot adjust their shots... The Chennai soil is pretty hard being near the beach and all that and it always has decent bounce.


The rest of the games you are talking about were ODs or T20s and obviously, I expect the wicket to be even more well prepared for these games for big run scoring... I have watched every game here (every international game almost) since 1987 and I think it has always had decent bounce and pace...

 

[Sir Alex]

You don't get lateral movement there because it is covered from all sides, but that is being changed now.


And reg. that test, yeah it was a poor wicket but it still had the bounce. Chennai always has good and true bounce which is good batsmen always enjoy it here and yet at the same time bowlers can have their say. Kumble and Harbhajan have had great success here because along with the spin, they also get good bounce and decent pace so that batsmen cannot adjust their shots... The Chennai soil is pretty hard being near the beach and all that and it always has decent bounce.


The rest of the games you are talking about were ODs or T20s and obviously, I expect the wicket to be even more well prepared for these games for big run scoring... I have watched every game here (every international game almost) since 1987 and I think it has always had decent bounce and pace...

Hopefully the demolition of some stands has led to some fresh air coming into that with it bringing that lateral movement, because that would make it such an interesting pitch then.

I hope the area opened up is facing the sea and not Buckingham canal

The successes you attributed to spinners have largely been due to the uncertain bounce and sharp turn they get, which is pretty common for all grounds. Of late, curators have taken special effort to not let it become the dust bowl it usually becomes by end of Day 3. This has only made it even more bat friendly. Even on Day one you hardly get the ball to rise neck high unless you bang it in your area of the pitch in which case it just plops up and gives the batsman enough time to negotiate with it.

 

[honestbharani]

Hopefully the demolition of some stands has led to some fresh air coming into that with it bringing that lateral movement, because that would make it such an interesting pitch then.

I hope the area opened up is facing the sea and not Buckingham canal

The successes you attributed to spinners have largely been due to the uncertain bounce and sharp turn they get, which is pretty common for all grounds. Of late, curators have taken special effort to not let it become the dust bowl it usually becomes by end of Day 3. This has only made it even more bat friendly. Even on Day one you hardly get the ball to rise neck high unless you bang it in your area of the pitch in which case it just plops up and gives the batsman enough time to negotiate with it.

suffice to say a lot of cricketers who HAVE played on the ground will and have disagreed with that line of thought... We ll leave it at that.

 

[Cevno]

1st Test: India v England at Chennai, Dec 11-15, 2008 | Cricket Scorecard | Cricinfo.com

The last test match played at Chennai was this.
Hardly a flat wicket.

In the last 12 test matches played at the Chepauk only 1 has been a draw which has not been curtailed by rain.That South africa test with a Sehwag triple.
So it is safe to say it is not the flattest of wickets at that level.
I think Sir Alex your judgement is being cloudied by that one test match and the ODI and T20'S.

Chennai Pitch as HB said has good bounce and carry compared to other pitches in the country This helps the Batsmen play their shots, helps the fast bowlers get some help from the wicket and also the spinners like Harbhajan and Kumble who like some Bounce and spit from the pitch later on.

And even if you seen the Ranji results this past season,many other grounds in the country like Kanpur and others have had more high scoring matches than Chennai.

 

[Xuhaib]

I am still Unsure about Kohli and Vijay being consistent batsmen at the top.Specially at the test level.

I am more convivnced by Rohit and Raina than them ,specially Raina .Rohit though looks good is still to show his effectiveness and his mental strength is a doubt .
Though i think he would be better suited in the test level ,though his ability to get big scores even in First class level is a doubt.

I disagree with you on Pandey completely.The lad will be a star sooner rather than later .Even Dravid spoke very highly of him which is a excellent and hard compliment to get.
And if you saw his innings in the Ranji Trophy Final you would realise where i am coming from. Better than any of the above has played in a first class match on a last day ptich.

I am confident on Badrinath coming good too.He may not look good and be aesthetically pleasing as Vijay or Rohit ,but he is effective.
And despite getting criticism for his first two tests ,people tend to forget he scored 50 in his debut innings in a innings where the team was struggling. against arguably the best pace attack in the world on not the easiest of pitches.
More than what Murali "i look good better" vijay has done in his 5 tests.
He also showed a different attacking dimension this IPL.

In terms of test batsmen for the short term ,not write off Mohammed Kaif as well.Scoring big runs in FC cricket and was harshly treated the last time at the test level due to his ODI form. He scored a very good knock in his last match against Australia.Though he may not be glamorous he could be effective in the short term.

Keep your eye ON Cheteshwar Pujara too .Has been promoted to the Position of India A Captain and is being readied for international cricket hopefully.Very Impressive Batsmen. Been the top scorer for a couple of season now in the second league in the Ranji Trophy.

Among others there are Abhinav Mukund , Shikhar Dhawan, Manoj Tiwary, Saurabh Tiwary, Tanmaya Srivastava and Even Ambatti rayudu could be a dark horse.
Anhinav Mukund stands out in this bunch and for me was unfair when Vijay was selected ahead of him from the Tamil Nadu team.

Cevno,
from little I have seen in IPL apart from Kohli and to an extend Manoj Tiwari none really impressed me ofcourse we are not counting Raina and Rohit here who are almost semi regulars now.

Panday seems to crap himself at any thing above 130kmph and few others have dirty sloggers look (maybe it was 20/20 effect) while on the subject of Kohli he has that Sachin/Dravid smoothness to his game this kid will go far I reckon.