Are we really going to pretend that Murali Vijay....

[morgieb]

You'd have to take Vijay for a one off match starting next week. If I was asked to pick a team to play several matches in different conditions over a 12-month period though I'd definitely back Cook to come good and add more than Vijay overall in that time, so it depends how you view the question. Cook is in awful touch but I don't think he's actually declined per se; I think he's still the second best opener in cricket.

I don't think Cook has declined, but I think he's been worked out.

 

[fredfertang]

Cook doesn't seem to me to be able to maintain his concentration like he once could - I'd like to see him take a spell back in the ranks

 

[GIMH]

I don't think Cook has declined, but I think he's been worked out.

He was worked out years ago. He'll come good again

 

[Cabinet96]

Cook doesn't seem to me to be able to maintain his concentration like he once could - I'd like to see him take a spell back in the ranks

Yeah, as GIMH said his technical faults have been known since the O6/07 Ashes pretty much. He's been getting out to some pretty poor strokes and when set though.

 

[Jono]

Didn't have anyone, much less you in mind when I created the thread tbh. Cbf with all the 'tasting' posts filling up the forum. Wasn't thinking of calling you out for a "taste" or anything. Find that tiring. I was reminded of the Tom Southee thread and the "Moeen is a perfectly fine bowler" posts and both sentiments seemed to apply to Vijay.

If anything, Vijay has made us Indian fans eat humble pie far more than anyone else. No one thought he'd succeed when he was picked in the australia series at home last year. When he did score runs, everyone then reverted to "Oh, he'll obviously suck overseas". Then when he gunned it in SA, some said it was a one off. Now the excuses have just run out.

It's pretty amazing, because his initial return to the squad went against everything we here like to talk about as the proper way to select someone for tests. He didn't score in the domestic too heavily, he played ipl, and was generally seen as an ipl only commodity.

Other than Dan non-Indian fans have never had a strong opinion of Vijay. People who has has proved wrong are mainly certain Indian fans who kept calling for him to be dropped every now and then.

 

[Teja.]

Other than Dan non-Indian fans have never had a strong opinion of Vijay. People who has has proved wrong are mainly certain Indian fans who kept calling for him to be dropped every now and then.

Pretty sure Cribb thought he was terrible when I debated it with him before the last Australia in India tour.

 

[hendrix]

I definitely thought he was rubbish.

 

[Jono]

Ok I take it back you're all **** too like Dan

 

[Prince EWS]

I don't think I called for him to be dropped, because I believe in performance-based selection process and he simply hasn't deserved to be dropped since he was recalled. However, I definitely did hold the opinion that he wasn't very good and would deserve to be dropped sooner rather than later. I've admitted I was wrong since.

 

[Uppercut]

Yeah, as GIMH said his technical faults have been known since the O6/07 Ashes pretty much. He's been getting out to some pretty poor strokes and when set though.

International cricket has gone through periods of bowling very badly to him since then, though. I thought the last Ashes in England was a bit of a watershed. Sort of got bowled out of form, and now he can't even punish attacks that aren't targeting him so well.

 

[Cabinet96]

Don't know why it would be more of a watershed than any of the other times teams bowled well to him and he struggled. Happened to him four years before that then 12 months later went full run machine mode for two years. Guess the captaincy might not be helping, but that's pretty much all I can think of as a viable reason.

 

[Contra]

Cook doesn't seem to me to be able to maintain his concentration like he once could - I'd like to see him take a spell back in the ranks

This is what I feel about Cook as well. Cook is a bit like Dravid in a sense where he has massive powers of concentration to play those big innings, but as he takes more stress and gets older that will start to diminish. He might still score runs, but probably won't do it with the regularity that he did during the 2011-2012 period imo.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Yet another 50 for the great man. It really has been a remarkable season. Has stood up and delivered in the most difficult conditions for Indian batsmen with fantastic consistency.

 

[eroticfishcake]

time for a real daddy hundred to end a good year for him

 

[Dan]

He still sucks tbh

 

[Arjun]

While a lot of people are always quick to dismiss the IPL, I think facing quality fast bowlers regularly at T20 level does help to a large degree. You have Steyn playing and then so many other bowlers who are rapid even if their lines may not be the best. Compare that to the dibbly dobblers bowling in the 120s and 130s and it is a big boon for upcoming Indian players.

What I have said all along. IPL provides that experience which Ranji Trophy doesn't, but somehow hasn't been tapped by the BCCI as efficiently as it should be.

Gold thread, by the way.

 

[Woodster]

Just to add my views on Cook, I agree that it isn't anything new how teams have worked him out, he's pretty much always had a vulnerability in that channel just outside his off stump but maybe now his decision making is somewhat cloudy and the powers of concentration may not be what they used to be. I wouldn't say Cook is a natural captain, it doesn't' seem to be something that comes easy to him like it does a Michael Clarke or a Brendon McCullum, so much of his mental energy must be being spent on this aspect rather than his batting which is affecting his focus in the middle.

This isn't an excuse just a theory as to why his form has tailed off, the technical problems have always seemed present but his mental strength has generally been enough to overcome these.

 

[OverratedSanity]

Having those concentration issues at his age is pretty strange though. This is generally when batsmen hit their purple patch.

 

[Woodster]

Having those concentration issues at his age is pretty strange though. This is generally when batsmen hit their purple patch.

It's not his age that I'm suggesting is contributing to his concentration issues though.

 

[honestbharani]

I think you need to look at the number of years someone has been playing International Cricket too.. Everyone kept talking about how Sachin seemed shot during his rough patches in the mid 2000s. I honeslty believe it was those breaks he took from the game now and then that helped him remain at that level... I think Lara suffered a bit because of that, captaining the side quite a bit during his career... Dravid always says that all captains have a shelf life and maybe the years of ODI captaincy coupled with the kind of form his test team went through in Australia are playing on Cook's mind... As others have pointed out, it will be good for him to hand over the test match reigns too and get back to being a player at some point, maybe after the next Ashes.