***Official*** Australia in India 2012/13

[Jono]

Also, name me when India played for a draw,

[Arachnodouche]

Good wins, these. Now the trick is to keep the momentum going - win the next game, then chuck out ALL dead weight from the squad. Tendulkar and Ishant Sharma should not be seen in India colours again (I hope Sachin has the good sense to call it a day after this series). We might not be too hot on bowling talent, but there are young people out there waiting their turn. Throw them into the cauldron; at least we'll get a non-jaded, approaching 100% effort from them.

[Prince EWS]

Also, name me when India played for a draw,

I honestly think the only little period of the entire Test in which India were overly or unjustly defensive was the beginning of the Kohli/Bhuvi partnership in the first innings. And I certainly don't think they were playing for the draw; they just weren't forcing the pace when they perhaps should have been. Everything that happened today was fine.

[Arachnodouche]

I honestly think the only little period of the entire Test in which India were overly or unjustly defensive was the beginning of the Kohli/Bhuvi partnership in the first innings. And I certainly don't think they were playing for the draw; they just weren't forcing the pace when they perhaps should have been. Everything that happened today was fine.

Oh I watched that phase, and it did feel like we were closing shop. Understandable too. Kumar's three at the end opened up the game for India.

[Teja.]

I reckon the importance of Dhawan's knock cannot be overstated. The match did not deserve to have a result really after Starc's 99 - as evidenced by an Indian win going to 9.00 with the bookmakers - Just changed the dimension of the game completely. Would have been radically different if he played a 'normal' 187 (342) innings.

I promise this will be the last post I annoyingly bring that bet up, just too happy right now.

[Jono]

Good wins, these. Now the trick is to keep the momentum going - win the next game, then chuck out ALL dead weight from the squad. Tendulkar and Ishant Sharma should not be seen in India colours again (I hope Sachin has the good sense to call it a day after this series). We might not be too hot on bowling talent, but there are young people out there waiting their turn. Throw them into the cauldron; at least we'll get a non-jaded, approaching 100% effort from them.

Haha when Sachin is being put in the same boat as Ishant, it probably is time for him to call it a day.

**** Ishant Sharma is ****. The biggest definition of dead weight. Amazing India have been so dominant with 10 men. Shows how bad Australia have been I guess.

[Teja.]

**** Ishant Sharma is ****. The biggest definition of dead weight. Amazing India have been so dominant with 10 men. Shows how bad Australia have been I guess.

Dhoni's single biggest management failure has been Ishant Sharma, IMO.

Fair enough, some players play more tests than they deserve but the ridiculous amount of trust and the fact that he's a cert in the side whenever he is fit is extremely harmful to the growth of Indian pace bowling when you consider the fact that we play only two pacers a significant amount of time.

Also, Bhuvi's done his job very well. He'll never be a consistently penetrative spearhead but when he gets it right with the new ball, he usually takes a bunch of wickets and when he doesn't get it right, he still doesn't leak that harshly anyway. 6 wickets @ 31 in 3 games with all of his wickets coming from bowling out the top order twice is pretty much exactly his niche role.

[doesitmatter]

Give Sreesanth a go please..yes he is a DB but a good bowler though atleast better than Ishant..

[Teja.]

Give Sreesanth a go please..yes he is a DB but a good bowler though atleast better than Ishant..

Sreesanth's down on pace, early-mid 130s at max on a consistent basis. He also has been outperformed by at least a dozen pacers in Ranji this season including people in his own team.

Let's play him.

[doesitmatter]

Sreesanth's down on pace, early-mid 130s at max on a consistent basis. He also has been outperformed by at least a dozen pacers in Ranji this season including people in his own team.

Let's play him.

It's the ability to land the ball with an immaculate seam position and swing it makes him a dangerous customer plus he comes across as somebody who needs a larger platform to showcase his antics good or bad so i wouldn't look too much into Ranji records..Yes let's play him i.e play him for Ishant

[Dissector]

Presumably Umesh Yadav will be back after this series. Yadav,Kumar, Ashwin, Ojha and Jadeja is a bowling lineup that could consistently win series in India.

As for Sachin I have a feeling he will be picked for his experience and mentoring role for the SA tour. There is no way we can send a batting line-up with 6 inexperienced bats to face Steyn and Philander.

[social]

Dhoni's single biggest management failure has been Ishant Sharma, IMO.

Fair enough, some players play more tests than they deserve but the ridiculous amount of trust and the fact that he's a cert in the side whenever he is fit is extremely harmful to the growth of Indian pace bowling when you consider the fact that we play only two pacers a significant amount of time.

Also, Bhuvi's done his job very well. He'll never be a consistently penetrative spearhead but when he gets it right with the new ball, he usually takes a bunch of wickets and when he doesn't get it right, he still doesn't leak that harshly anyway. 6 wickets @ 31 in 3 games with all of his wickets coming from bowling out the top order twice is pretty much exactly his niche role.

It's pretty simple - India will not win a test series away against Oz, SA or Eng until they find a fast bowler and Ishant has the most potential of any in the last 10-20 years so that is why they have stuck with him

[social]

Also, name me when India played for a draw,

IMO, never

India were never going to draw this game once they bowled Oz out

Anyway, Dhoni's biggest fault as a captain lies in his belief that it is better to save a 4 than a single but it generally works for him in India

[Cevno]

It's pretty simple - India will not win a test series away against Oz, SA or Eng until they find a fast bowler and Ishant has the most potential of any in the last 10-20 years so that is why they have stuck with him

Yep, i agree with this plus his fitness has been good compared to other bowlers so he doesn't break down as often.

The likes of Yadav, Aaron, Sreesanth, Zaheer amongst others have gotten injured more often and regularly so it's not a surprise the fit bowler has played more tests than others.

But the problem now is that he hasn't improved much as a bowler despite this long rope and it's time to let him go back to the domestic scene and improve his game to come back. Actually, it's been time for a few series now and he was dropped for a while but then selected for a ODI squad and made his way back to the test team based on that IIRC.

I've been his biggest backer for a while on this site atleast, but there are others now who deserve a run.

[Cevno]

It's the ability to land the ball with an immaculate seam position and swing it makes him a dangerous customer plus he comes across as somebody who needs a larger platform to showcase his antics good or bad so i wouldn't look too much into Ranji records..Yes let's play him i.e play him for Ishant

Nah, there are others like Shami Ahmed, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma, Siddarth Kaul and the sidelined Pankaj Singh who deserve a go first instead of the same recycled rubbish. Fletcher has apparently personally recommended Srikanth Wagh too.

But the problem is that the backup they've selected in the test squad is pretty much rubbish too in Dinda. (Cue him to play and take a 5fer next test with the way the aussies are playing.)