***Official*** New Zealand in India 2012

[straw man]

Some quotes from John Wright about our batmen on stuff website:

"You have to have self-responsibility and be accountable for your actions in the middle and you just can't come off and wave it away with phrases like ‘That's the way I play' and ‘I didn't quite execute' etcetera, etcetera," Wright said.

"You have to be very brutal in your self-analysis and very honest and the other aspect is that it's very helpful if your team-mates are brutally honest with you and if you play an inappropriate shot, at any stage, then you know that if you go back into that dressing room you know that you're going to not exactly get a welcome."

Strong standards and peer pressure were definitely "an area we can grow in", he added.

 

[SteveNZ]

One of the best four quicks in the country though yeah? Especially if Martin is on the way out.

At the moment, he's probably 4th-5th. Bracewell, Martin (in my opinion, still) Boult, Southee, Wagner.

Obviously Gillespie slips in there somewhere when fit. Then you've got guys like Mitch, Milne, Wheeler who have the talent and need to prove it over an extended time. Don't expect to see Bennett put his name back in Test frame any time soon, his back is a mess. There was talk of him shelving four-day/five-day cricket altogether.

 

[Flem274*]

I reckon Bevan Small will be the goods - provided he stays fit.

Jeets!!!

Rapidly becoming the Sinclair of spinners. Really hope he does ok.

That would imply Jeets has done something in the Plunket Shield.

 

[BackFootPunch]

At the moment, he's probably 4th-5th. Bracewell, Martin (in my opinion, still) Boult, Southee, Wagner.

Obviously Gillespie slips in there somewhere when fit. Then you've got guys like Mitch, Milne, Wheeler who have the talent and need to prove it over an extended time. Don't expect to see Bennett put his name back in Test frame any time soon, his back is a mess. There was talk of him shelving four-day/five-day cricket altogether.

Wagner's greatest value to the team may well be shown in his ability to stay on the park. I don't remember him missing a lot of cricket for Otago over the years so if he can stay fit he'll stay in the team.

A lot of those young guys have shown plenty of evidence that they've got the goods but just can't stay on the park. How many FC games has Wheeler played in the last couple of seasons?

 

[Jono]

Is this tour being advertised in NZ as the Kiwis visiting the Rockstars of cricket?

 

[Flem274*]

Will probably be advertised/built up as Buchannan is a **** **** itbt

 

[Mike5181]

Personally nah, I don't think Wagner is ahead of Southee. The general feeling around the domestic scene is that finally the rest of the country is going to find out how quick Wagner isn't, and how he's just another OK bowler who got caught up in the hype.

Look how Trent bowled in the last Test, he was probably consistently quicker, swung it more and also had the variation of the one that straightened without any discernible change in action. Difference between him and Wagner - amongst other things - is Trent isn't a South African 'oke' who huffs and puffs, 'runs in hard' etc.

Also if you look at the strike rates from last year's Plunket Shield, I would wager Wagner isn't top of the pops, and doesn't stand out from the rest. He bowls a lot of overs for Otago, and benefits from that to an extent. Clearly he's a good bowler, but the hype does not equal the substance

You're overdoing the anti-Wagner thing a bit. Attacking his speed and strike rate, really? The latter is a non-issue as there's nothing wrong with a strike rate of 48. You can't selectively forget his 2010-11 season where his SR was 33 either. His speed was hyped up by the media a few years ago, but that's largely died down.

 

[straw man]

Is this tour being advertised in NZ as the Kiwis visiting the Rockstars of cricket?

Yeah, and India are these guys

 

[straw man]

We're still young and cool, honest

 

[Jono]

 

[straw man]

Haha yes NZ Cricket - "Rockstars of Cricket" - YouTube

 

[SteveNZ]

You're overdoing the anti-Wagner thing a bit. Attacking his speed and strike rate, really? The latter is a non-issue as there's nothing wrong with a strike rate of 48. You can't selectively forget his 2010-11 season where his SR was 33 either. His speed was hyped up by the media a few years ago, but that's largely died down.

I'm not really overdoing anything, I'm just telling you what the sentiment is. A strike rate of 48 is very good.

 

[SteveNZ]

Jamaican medal winner's shout out to Black Caps | Television New Zealand | News, Sport, Weather, TV ONE, TV2 | TVNZ | OLYMPICS News

Probably the funniest, most awfully written article I have ever read.

My favourite part:

"New Zealand, I want to say a big up to you guys. You know, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor, you guys have been amazing," he told a television reporter.

The Black Caps were soundly beaten 2-0 by the West Indies in the two-test series. The second test was in Jamaica.

 

[nsniks]

India's test squad was announced for the series. Rohit Sharma has been dropped after his dismal showing against SL in ODI series


Test squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma

Surprised at the bolded selection, I thought Ishant wasnt fit till October and Chawla, Raina hasnt done anything to get selected in test squad.

India also announced their squad for T20's against NZ and T20 World Cup


T20 squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Irfan Pathan, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji, Piyush Chawla, Harbhajan Singh, Ashok Dinda

Good to see Yuvraj back, hoping we are not rushing him back without proper match practice, surprised to see Harbhajan in the squad as he didnt have a good IPL and his county performances are not that great also

 

[Cevno]

We don't have a t20 WC thread/forum yet, so might as well post here, but not sure about either of Yuvraj or Harbhajan's selections.

 

[Cevno]

India's test squad was announced for the series. Rohit Sharma has been dropped after his dismal showing against SL in ODI series

This is so stupid considering he didn't get a chance in Australia either. I am not his biggest fan here by any means, but dropping him from the test squad for Raina is so bizarre based on ODI form. And morons will keep selecting him for ODI's.

Good to see Pujara back and Rahane making the test squad though. Both should get oppurtunities, i guess.

 

[BeeGee]

I'm not so concerned about Van Wyk's lack of runs - I think he would be a decent contributor if we stick with him.

Agreed.

I'm a firm believer in picking your keeper based on keeping ability first, not their batting. For a start a good keeper will save you 20 or more extras per innings, not to mention dropped catches or missed stumping opportunities.
You can get away with a part time keeper in limited overs games, but a good specialist keeper is essential in a Test match.

 

[AndyZaltzHair]

India's test squad was announced for the series. Rohit Sharma has been dropped after his dismal showing against SL in ODI series


Test squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Suresh Raina, Ajinkya Rahane, R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Umesh Yadav, Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla, Ishant Sharma

Surprised at the bolded selection, I thought Ishant wasnt fit till October and Chawla, Raina hasnt done anything to get selected in test squad.

Pujara and Rahane both were expected but surprised to see Raina, Chawla and Ishant. Think Raina's selection was purely based on ODIs; he didn't also feature in West Indies A tour. But I suppose if Raina is to be a part of India Test set up, home series is the right place to start things over again

 

[TT Boy]

Jamaican medal winner's shout out to Black Caps | Television New Zealand | News, Sport, Weather, TV ONE, TV2 | TVNZ | OLYMPICS News

Probably the funniest, most awfully written article I have ever read.

My favourite part:

"New Zealand, I want to say a big up to you guys. You know, Daniel Vettori and Ross Taylor, you guys have been amazing," he told a television reporter.

The Black Caps were soundly beaten 2-0 by the West Indies in the two-test series. The second test was in Jamaica.

 

[nsniks]

This is so stupid considering he didn't get a chance in Australia either. I am not his biggest fan here by any means, but dropping him from the test squad for Raina is so bizarre based on ODI form. And morons will keep selecting him for ODI's.

Good to see Pujara back and Rahane making the test squad though. Both should get oppurtunities, i guess.

Hard to see both Pujara and Rahane getting opportunities as Laxman will retain his place and there will be one vacant spot in playing XI and that will be Dravid's spot which will be awarded to Pujara (Hope so).

Selectors also announced India's A squad for NZ tour

India A squad: Abhinav Mukund (capt.), Naman Ojha (wk), Mandeep Singh, Anustup Majumdar, Unmukt Chand, Ashok Menaria, Ambati Rayudu, Suryakumar Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Akshay Darekar, Vinay Kumar, Shami Ahmed, Jalaj Saxena, Rahul Sharma, Rituraj Singh and Jaydev Unadkat

Some baffling selections here also, Robin Bisht who was the highest run getter in previous Ranji season have been dropped after just getting 1 innings in A tour to WI, Parvinder Awana dropped after getting just 1 match on that tour and Saha getting dropped for Naman Ojha