Indian Cricket Dhaba

[OverratedSanity]

That six off Sami about a minute in is one of the best lofted shots I've ever seen.

 

[srbhkshk]

Balaji was such a likeable guy too and a very decent bowler by our standards those days, shame he had to suffer that injury.

 

[honestbharani]

Yeah, he was never the same post that but he showed good batting skills. Ganguly loved him for it. Always mentioned his batting and fielding when discussing him making the side.

 

[_00_deathscar]

Since it never got answered in the other thread - how did Siddhu average anywhere near as much as Azhar, cheat and all (although apparently not confirmed?). Azhar was a top, top batsman as I remember him.

 

[srbhkshk]

Siddhu was a great player of spin and made merry on Indian pitches.

 

[srbhkshk]

For context, he averages 60 at home in the 90s, Azhar averages 53. They were both quite a bit worse away but Azhar was still capable of random moments of greatness, Siddhu was more of a grafter + sudden 3 sixes in an over against random spinner guy.

 

[vcs]

Sidhu probably cashed in at home against SL and the likes, don't remember him doing much against any decent attacks like SA or W. Indies even at home (apart from the assault on Warne in '98).

 

[ankitj]

Siddhu scored a double hundred in West Indies in 1997 series.

 

[ankitj]

Also scored a hundred at Kingston against WI pace quartet of 1989 (Marshall, Ambrose, Walsh, Bishop). https://www.espncricinfo.com/series...ia-4th-test-india-tour-of-west-indies-1988-89

 

[vcs]

Well, what do I know.

Azhar was definitely the far more gifted batsman, though both would generally struggle against quality pace attacks. Azhar's knocks against SA home and away in '96 had some brilliant strokeplay. Also remember his 180-odd in the first Test vs. England at home in '93.

 

[kingkallis]

Navjot was one level lower than Azhar but he was a pretty effective opener at home. He was very aggressive against the spinners and it did play a role in making things easier for the middle order during the 90s.

 

[ankitj]

TBF Sidhu did nothing outside of subcontinent outside of those 2 hundreds in Caribbean. That is decent though given the kind of openers we used between Gavaskar and Sehwag.

 

[CricAddict]

Yeah, Sidhu was very clearly our best opener till Sehwag came. Slightly feeling that he is under-rated here. He was a poor man's Sehwag and Dravid, being too defensive or too aggressive in his innings. Not sure if I remember correctly but I think he got dropped after the 200 for batting too slow.

His batting against Warne was so much fun to watch though.

 

[SillyCowCorner1]

How many games did Ajay Jadeja open in?

 

[CricAddict]

How many games did Ajay Jadeja open in?

Not sure how many, but he was terrible as an opener. Never succeeded in tests, just like Yuvraj.

 

[ankitj]

Not sure if I remember correctly but I think he got dropped after the 200 for batting too slow.

Not really. He played his famous innings against Warne (1998) after that double (1997).

He did get dropped after he took flight home mid tour from England in 1996 which meant he was not available for our 96-97 tour to SA where we put up possibly the worst ever opening pair of WB Raman and Vikram Rathour.

 

[vcs]

Not really. He played his famous innings against Warne (1998) after that double (1997).

He did get dropped after he took flight home mid tour from England in 1996 which meant he was not available for our 96-97 tour to SA where we put up possibly the worst ever opening pair of WB Raman and Vikram Rathour.

Think we had MSK Prasad and Deep Dasgupta or someone in the '99-'00 massacre in Australia. Don't think either of them crossed single figures in 6 innings.

 

[Arachnodouche]

Whatever good Siddhu did as a batsman is rendered null by his stint as commentator (and as a glorified laughter track on that comedy show)

 

[ankitj]

Think we had MSK Prasad and Deep Dasgupta or someone in the '99-'00 massacre in Australia. Don't think either of them crossed single figures in 6 innings.

Just checked. Devang Gandhi, S. Ramesh, Laxman and MSK Prasad were the openers used. In 96-97 tour of SA openers used were WV Raman, Vikram Rathour, Dravid and Mongia.

So pretty similar experiments in both tours -- 2 below par openers, one makeshift and one wicket-keeper.

 

[srbhkshk]

Indian openers averaged 4.5 in the NZ 2002/3 series.