***Official*** India in Pakistan

[nehrafan]

Keeping wise, Akmal is definitely better from what I've seen. Batting wise, Dhoni is probably a bit better but Akmal is improving.

From what i've seen, Akmal can scores alot only on placcid pitches!!

 

[nehrafan]

THose who will do well in this series....

Pathan
Kumble
Dravid
Sehwag
Inzi
Afridi
Yousuf

the likely flops

Shoaib Akhtar
Younis Khan
Harbhajan
Tendulkar
Ganguly
Danish Kaneria

 

[vandemataram]

The article was taken from Indiatimes. It has been correctly mentioned in the article about Pak lack of quality swing bowlers & technically correct batsmen. AS such the move by Pak think tank to develop pacer friendly pitches is going to backfire (Just like last time in 2004) and Pak will end up losing to India on pacer friendly wkts

If they make turners then Hurb and Kumble will nail them, if they seamers than Khan and Irfan will get them!!

Pak best bet will be batting tracks so that they can play out 4 & half days for a draw (half day will be lost to bad light)

 

[TT Boy]

Pakistan best bet is to go with the pitches they had against England, the Indians didn’t look to pretty against the Sri Lankan medium pacers and the threat of Kumble and Singh would been numbed. Rana and Akhtar are the sort of bowlers who will get wickets on any surface something you could not say about Pathan and his mate, who only came to the party, when the conditions are great or are playing against Bangladesh. The pitches England played on required application and strong mental ability, something I think the Indians rather lack in certain areas. Should be a great series never the less.

 

[Xuhaib]

Originally Posted by vandemataram
if they seamers than Khan and Irfan will get them!!

LOLZ...they sound more like bhai's (underworld dons) from indian movies then a potent pace duo for a test playing nation.

 

[TIF]

Recently, we have seen that Pakistan players are praising Indian players and saying that Indian team is favourites. I cannot understand their motive behind saying this. Is it to put some extra pressure on the Indians?

The Indians on the other hand are not saying like that about Pakistan and they are saying to Pakistan to challenge them if they can. If what the teams and players have been saying about each other is to be believed, then India must be the favourites and Pakistan under-dogs in the series. But then this is not so.

Pakistan, are also as good as, if not better than India on the team as a whole.

Comparing the teams -

Batting - Although Indian batting is star-studded with Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Yuvraj, Ganguly, the Pakistan batting line-up isnt far behind. Their batting has improved and they have world class batsmen in Inzamam and Yousuf.

Wicket-Keeping - Here the teams are evenly matched as Dhoni is better than Kamran Akmal in the batting department and isnt a bad keeper either whereas Kamran Akmal is better in wicket-keeping, but can hit those big-hits and score runs freely. He played a match-saving knock last year in India, helping Pakistan to draw that match. Also, Dhoni is an explosive batsman who can turn around a match in just a few overs.

Bowling - Pakistan have a better pace-bowling attack in Akhtar and Rana, whereas India have a better spin-attack in Kumble and Harbhajan. The bowling, will depend upon the pitch conditions. If the conditions assist seam and swing bowling, then Pakistan bowlers will have the edge, but if the pitches are having turn or are flat pitches, then the Indian bowlers will have the edge.

However, I do not expect to see drawn matches in this series and all 3 matches will have results unless the matches are affected by rain or bad-light. Even in case of flat-pitches, the team which has the 1st innings lead, will ultimately go on to win the match.

 

[aussie]

Pak

Butt
Akmal
Younis
Inzi
Yousuf
Asim
Afridi
Akhtar
Naveed
Gul
Danish

highly unlikely that that Akmal will open, Pakistan will either retain Malik or Give Kamal or Younis a go up their.

 

[adharcric]

If I were Pakistan, I'd go with:
S Butt, S Malik / Y Hameed, Y Khan, Inzamam-ul-Haq, M Yousuf, S Afridi, K Akmal, S Akhtar, Naved-ul-Hasan, U Gul / M Sami, D Kaneria
*Shoaib Malik is getting chance after chance at the top of the order, Hameed deserves a run there but Malik is also a handy bowler
*If Gul is in full form and fitness, he should replace Sami as the third seamer

For India:
V. Sehwag, G. Gambhir / W. Jaffer, R. Dravid, S. Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, S. Ganguly / Y. Singh, M.S. Dhoni, I. Pathan, A. Kumble, H. Singh, Z. Khan
*Based on Jaffer's Ranji performance and Gambhir's practice match performance, the selectors can opt for whoever they feel is in better form for the 1st match, then make a switch or pair them up later
*Ganguly should be given a go right away to see if he can contribute for India, he also needs to be used as a bowler, he might seem useless but he keeps taking wickets on the domestic scene ... if he doesn't do well, time for Yuvraj
*Pathan, Bhajji and Kumble have been doing well of late and Zaheer is in roaring form ... we should keep faith in them and stick to 4 specialist bowlers for the first match, with Sehwag, Ganguly and Tendulkar as potentially handy part-timers (that we must try out)

 

[GladiatrsInBlue]

Player by player comparison of Indo-Pak team.


Sehwag >>> Butt
Gambhir > Malik
Dravid>>>> Younis
Tendulkar>> Inzi
Laxman < Yousuf
Yuvraj ------- Afridi
Dhoni >> Akmal
Irfan >>> Naveed
KHan <<< Akhtar
Agarkar= Sami
Kumble > Kaneria


India looks to be the far superior team

 

[deeps]

Player by player comparison of Indo-Pak team.


Sehwag >>> Butt
Gambhir > Malik
Dravid>>>> Younis
Tendulkar>> Inzi
Laxman < Yousuf
Yuvraj ------- Afridi
Dhoni >> Akmal
Irfan >>> Naveed
KHan <<< Akhtar
Agarkar= Sami
Kumble > Kaneria


India looks to be the far superior team

Gambhir > Malik? I'd say no, because malik has two strings to his bow
Current form, Tendulkar is not>> Inzi. Inzi is >> tendulkar
Afridi is >>>> Yuvraj. Afridi can be a match winner with bat and ball
Agarker is slightly better than Sami

 

[Arjun]

Shoaib Malik is getting chance after chance at the top of the order, Hameed deserves a run there but Malik is also a handy bowler

On skills, Hameed is a better opening batsman, but if value addition is the key, Malik has to bowl as many overs as a strike bowler.

If Gul is in full form and fitness, he should replace Sami as the third seamer

Tough call, since Gul is only effective in the early stage of the day, but once the pitch gets dry, he's not so effective. Sami is fast and if he gets reverse swing, he can be quite a handful. He's an enigma. So much pace, so much power, put to so little use.

Based on Jaffer's Ranji performance and Gambhir's practice match performance, the selectors can opt for whoever they feel is in better form for the 1st match, then make a switch or pair them up later

IDeally, the Indian selectors should give one of these two every match in this series, and play the other opener in all matches in the series against England. Like a parallel plan. It's better than serial chopping and changing, which rarely helps.

Ganguly should be given a go right away to see if he can contribute for India, he also needs to be used as a bowler, he might seem useless but he keeps taking wickets on the domestic scene ... if he doesn't do well, time for Yuvraj

The key word here is bowler. Ganguly is not one you would expect to play a long, decisive innings, at least not now, so if he can get two or three wickets an innings, that's good value addition, though fielding is also weak. He's a medium-pacer, so you can then play both Kumble and Bhajji in the side.

Pathan, Bhajji and Kumble have been doing well of late and Zaheer is in roaring form ... we should keep faith in them and stick to 4 specialist bowlers for the first match, with Sehwag, Ganguly and Tendulkar as potentially handy part-timers (that we must try out)

Stick to the combination you mentioned. However, part-timers are of little help in Test matches, when the bowlers need a lot more support. One of them has to bowl regularly, in every match, but a second spinner is not needed. They need a second seamer.

 

[Arjun]

...

• On skill, Gambhir may be equal to Malik, or if he puts his mind to it, a lot better. Malik may be equal only by value addition
• Sami's not THAT bad.
• Nor is Irfan that great.
• Laxman and Yousuf are equal. Both can play a gem of an innings, but both are inconsistent.
• Dhoni v/s Akmal is a question mark. Worth a watch

 

[Dasa]

Gambhir > Malik? I'd say no, because malik has two strings to his bow

His primary role is opening the batting (assuming he's selected as such) and he's simply not good enough to do that. Terrible technique for an opener...

 

[honestbharani]

Player by player comparison of Indo-Pak team.


Sehwag >>> Butt
Gambhir > Malik
Dravid>>>> Younis
Tendulkar>> Inzi
Laxman < Yousuf
Yuvraj ------- Afridi
Dhoni >> Akmal
Irfan >>> Naveed
KHan <<< Akhtar
Agarkar= Sami
Kumble > Kaneria


India looks to be the far superior team

Cricket is not player v player. It is team v team.

 

[TIF]

As for the team, it should look like -

Sehwag
Gambhir(Should be given a go in the 1st test ahead of Jaffer)
Dravid(c)
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly(Only if he bowls and plays as an all-rounder and not as a batsman)
Dhoni(w)
Pathan
Zaheer
Kumble
Harbhajan(Spin is our stronger point, so we should go in with 2 spinners and Ganguly as a 3rd seamer option. In the sub-continental tracks, even if they assist pace for the 1st few days, they later on break up and the spinners can exploit the pitches. We do need to go in with 2 spinners.)

 

[Arjun]

The Indian team management should try to cut out the dud overs, particularly when the ball gets old and the seamers are still operating. Once they find Irfan or Zaheer not getting a wicket for the last four overs or more (and they have bowled seven so far), they should throw the ball to Ganguly and get him to bowl a chunk of overs. Any wicket he takes is a bonus that wouldn't have happened in these dud overs. Sehwag as a third spinner can also be considered, but these have to be played as stock bowlers, not mere part-timers, if you're bowling them at all.

 

[krishneelz]

i agree that ifran is not that great. Just look at the stats. Pathan has picked up 39 wickets against the minnows averaging about 11.5 per wicked and against the top teams 34 wickets at an average of 33. More of a worry for pathan is that he averages 42 against pakistan with a strike rate of 84 and out of the 6 matches pathan has played against pakistan 3 of them have been at home. Keeping in mind pathan is india's number one strike bowler (in terms of pace bowling). On the flip side Akthar is generally world class against the top teams with the acception of australia where he averages 35. India clearly cant compete with pakistans pace attack. Where india has the edge is in the spin department where kumble and harbs excel with kumble picking up 54 against pakistan at an average of 28 and harbs picking up 15 wickets at 33 whereas kaneria is decent but his average of 30 is mainly due to his 34 wickets hes picked up against bangledesh and this is around 25% of the wickets hes picked up in his career but in saying that he also performs against the indians with 26 wickets at an average of 32. Also do not under-estimate pakistans batting as form can have a huge bearing in the middle as inzi has averaged 83 in the past year (2005) yousuf 52 salman butt 42 and younis khan a touch under 60 this compares with india's tendulkar 44 laxmans 46 gambhirs 31 gangulys 24 yuvraj 37 and dhoni's 37. But then you might be saying how did india win 5 out of their 8 tests in the past year well india's sehwag has had a good year maybe even unnoticed with an average of 60 and dravid has been at his consistant best at 53. So it looks to be a hell of a matchup
in my opinion which probably counts for nothing here is my ratings

Sehwag > Butt
Gambhir = Malik
Dravid = Younis at present form that is
Tendulkar = Inzi
Laxman < Yousuf
Yuvraj = Afridi
Dhoni = Akmal
Irfan > Naveed
Khan <<<< Akhtar
Harbhajan >> Sami
Kumble > Kaneria

looks fairly even to me

 

[Arjun]

i agree that ifran is not that great. Just look at the stats. Pathan has picked up 39 wickets against the minnows averaging about 11.5 per wicked and against the top teams 34 wickets at an average of 33. More of a worry for pathan is that he averages 42 against pakistan with a strike rate of 84 and out of the 6 matches pathan has played against pakistan 3 of them have been at home. Keeping in mind pathan is india's number one strike bowler (in terms of pace bowling).

Irfan has been unlucky. He's never bowled with the right partners. Zaheer has been unfit or out of form at times, when he's the best choice to partner him. Otherwise, Balaji has to bowl with a new ball (he struggles with that) and Agarkar has looked underpowered and inconsistent. When he's one of only two seamers in the team, a lot is expected of him and he can't fit the bill so early in his career. Frankly, Zaheer should have been promoted as the team's strike bowler, but instead, it's Irfan who is, and not surprisingly, he was not up to the mark. He's an improved bowler now, and he did well against the Lankans, who are by no means a minnow team.

 

[krishneelz]

you might think pathan has bowled well against the lankans but i beg to differ. Pathan dismissed D A Gunawardene 3 times out of his 7 wickets he also got tharanga dilshan bandara and sangakarra and sangakarra seems like the only decent batsman. last year he picked up 21 wickets vs zimbabwe that is 21 out of his 34 wickets last year.

 

[Arjun]

you might think pathan has bowled well against the lankans but i beg to differ. Pathan dismissed D A Gunawardene 3 times out of his 7 wickets he also got tharanga dilshan bandara and sangakarra and sangakarra seems like the only decent batsman. last year he picked up 21 wickets vs zimbabwe that is 21 out of his 34 wickets last year.

Gunawardene was the only opener the Lankans had fielded then, and he's scored runs in the past. Dilshan was scoring runs in bulk for his team, while the others flopped. Moreover, they just bowled him for the initial overs and the rest of the overs (and a major chunk) were bowled by the spinners. He hardly got to bowl and did well in the limited opportunites with virtually no support.