Sanz
Hall of Fame Member
Another person with the WRONG point of view - Sunil gavaskar
India should have declared the moment Ganguly got out
But for a late declaration, India would have pulled off an astonishing win over Pakistan and ended the series 2-0 instead of 1-0. It would have been a great way to take on the Aussies with the super confidence of such a win under their belt. Why the declaration did not come earlier is a mystery, unless allowing Dinesh Karthik, a popular member of the team, to get to a half-century was a way of ensuring that he gets on the plane to Australia.
We keep hearing that the days when Indians played for individual glory and records is long gone, but is that really so? On such a pitch there was no way Pakistan was going to be able to get 250 even if they went hammer and tongs at the bowling and 374 was simply out of the question but by batting on for so long, India did not give themselves enough overs to get Pakistan out.
This is the difference between Australia and other teams, where they are simply not satisfied with a 1-0 win margin but are looking to win by as huge a margin as possible. They would have fancied their chances of getting any team out on a pitch like this and would have given themselves every chance of winning. In India there is a tendency to sit on laurels and be satisfied, not look for more glory and it was this attitude that was supposed to have changed by the new generation, but going by the last two Test series, it appears that we are still satisfied with the 1-0 win than strive for a bigger win.
This attitude comes from our first class cricket where teams are satisfied with the first innings lead and don't try for an outright win either through complacency or sheer laziness. The thinking is why go out and field in the hot sun again when one can sit back and bat for another day after having taken the lead. That adventurousness which is the hallmark of the new generation was missing. In the past, India hardly won any games. So it was understandable that they were happy to avoid defeat. But this Pakistan side has to be the weakest to have come to India for a long, long time and a 2-0 margin would have been an apt result.
The interest in the morning session's play was whether Sourav Ganguly would be able to get to a century and join the list of those who have got a double-century and a century in the same Test. That wasn't to be though he came agonisingly close. That seemed the right time to call a halt to the innings and give themselves a lot more overs than they eventually got and if they aren't ruing it but settling for the 1-0 win, then it is going to be a real battle in Australia, for they will be much tougher opponents than the Pakistanis and there won't be such pitches to help them.
Professional Management Group
Did sun rise in the west today ? SJS finally agrees with Sunny Gavskar..or wait it is Sunny Gavaskar that agrees with him, we must all agree with SJS else he is going to post every article from every newspaper that supports his opinion.
Yet another "WRONG" opinion - Pradeep Magazine - one of India's most respected cricket writers.
Kumble's 'safekeeping' took something special away
In the deluge of spoken and written words surrounding us nowadays, there is a danger of the mind becoming numb and the senses dull. And in the images of young men jumping around like there may be no tomorrow to celebrate, lies the danger of sanity getting eroded.
It is a new age, a new world and in this world, enjoying the beauty of sport in a simple, uncomplicated manner is seen as belittling the complex world that is being created around us. To live today means to find a hundred meanings where none may exist and to bombard a mind with as many theories as possible so that in the end, the best thing to do is to stop thinking.
India have won a series against Pakistan after 27 long years. Every Indian player has played like a team man. These are reasons enough to rejoice and to look forward to the tour of Australia with hope and expectation. But somehow the last day of the Bangalore Test rankles. There was something that just did not seem right to many of us. Something, which was not sport and not cricket. Anil Kumble is a man of few words, someone who weighs everything he says carefully. He may be changing a bit in the manner he carries himself, as the demands of captaincy are not easy.
He is far more expressive now, in words and in deed and also in the physical manifestation of his happiness. With his team doing well, he sulks and broods even less. He is a skilful manipulator of his resources on the field and knows how to keep his flock together. These are all hallmarks of a strong-willed man who knows what he is doing. These are also the hallmarks of a leader who can command.
Yet there was something that did not make sense on Wednesday afternoon. While the perky Dinesh Karthik was daring his fate and completing a miserable tour for Danish Kaneria, an interesting image flashed on the TV screen.
"Please declare and don't bore us," read a placard. The camera panned on the dressing room and before it could register his expression, Kumble immediately moved away to escape this scrutiny from the third eye. More images of bored spectators wanting a declaration flashed on the screen.
One wondered why a captain was being so irrational on a wicket that was behaving like a scorned beloved thirsting for revenge. When you see short-of-length deliveries keep so low that the ball, instead of sailing over the heads of a ducking batsman, hit their knee-rolls and elbows, you know that far from making runs, even surviving would be an ask.
There was even the danger of someone getting hurt. VVS Laxsman was lucky that he only bruised his elbow and did not break it. Does the modern-day obsession with safety stretch to such ridiculous lengths that you don't feel safe with a lead of over 300 runs with only two sessions remaining, especially on a track which was playing far more dangerous pranks than a poor journalist played in the press box and got banished from it for?
It somehow did not seem right and somehow, for a few of us, took the sheen away from India's admirable display and Kumble's undoubted ability as a leader of men.
India didn't deserve to win because they had shown no intent - in fact, after lunch Kumble seemed more focused on giving Dinesh Karthik an opportunity to bat than on forcing a win - and a result would have somewhat redeemed a pitch that was just not good enough.
-Sambit Bal - Cricinfo
Imran criticises late declaration
It is a mystery to me how subcontinent captains wish to win without risking a little losing it, says Imran Khan about Kumble's late declaration in Bangalore Test. He was talking to NDTV.
Since subcontinent mentality does not allow risking a loss, teams lose many opportunities of winning it, said the former Pakistan Captain.
Imran was emphatic that with ball going up and down so much, India could have declared much earlier
What did I say.
