NZ v/s SL Day 2

28 wickets in 2 days at Christchurch, with the match headed towards an early finish on Day 3. If Sri Lanka lose, will Mahela Jaywardene say this and Sri Lanka do this?

Oh dear !!!

Indian media boycotts team briefing... Someone needs to makes this book mandatory reading for the Team Management.

South African Team announced

The squad

two spinners in along with the usual suspects.. Interesting!!!

A round of applause...

for Saurav Ganguly, Irfan Pathan and Harbhajan Singh for helping the Indians reach316/7 after being 69/5 at one stage.

Here is the scorecard

Can we please win the toss for a change?

7 outings, 3 captains, and they still cant get the call right!!!!

This explains Englands dramatic loss :-)

Freddie is a Sagittarian, not a born leader

Stunning!!!!

This and this...

More Twit Speak

Dileep Premachandran, again..

Ultimately, no one else can bat, bowl or field for you, but the loss of Dravid was a big blow, given Virender Sehwag's appalling run of form in the one-day game. Question marks over his commitment and attitude led to him being removed as vice-captain of the Test side, and combined with his lack of runs, there was no question of leadership from the front in the final two games. Dravid himself could do little at Durban or Cape Town, and it was clear that morale wasn't what it should be.

- agreed Dravid was not much of a factor in Durban, but guess who was at the helm when South Africa moved from 76/6 to 274/7 at Port Elizabeth?
-If morale is not what it should be, then surely, surely the captain holds some responsibility for this ? and doesn't his job description includes raising the morale?
- Whats with the hatchet job on Sehwag anyways? And the kid gloves with which Rahul is treated?

Since the tour began, there have been constant whispers of a couple of players not exactly contributing to the building of team morale. By this time, board officials should have had a word with the offenders, but it's not a healthy sign. Not everyone is a model professional like a Dravid, a Tendulkar or a Kumble, and some of the younger players have been treated shabbily by those who should be mentoring them. Halfway through such a crucial season, it remains to be seen if the disgruntled elements fall into line, or whether they pay the price.

rofl..Dileep Premachandran, your biases show ..

On Greg Chappell

At the end of the World Cup, India will need to make a decision on its controversial cricketing coach.. Here are my two cents

• Irrespective of how deep we go into the WC campaign, India needs to rethink Greg's role in the Indian cricketing establishment.
  
• While a great cricketing brain and a super skills coach, Greg obviously has not tapped into the pulse of his players and has had a lot of issues with motivating them. Run-ins with ex-captains haven't raised his stock either
• My vote for India's next coach will be either Darren Lehmann ( another South Australian, but with a lot more pizazz and cricketing savvy) or Ravi Shastri ( tactically astute, a shrewd cricketing brain).
• 
  
• Greg has a role in the Indian cricketing establishment because of what he brings to the plate.He should, if he is willing, be moved to the NCA, or some arrangement must be put in place between the NCA and Chappellway to leverage the skills as well as mental fortitude of the next generation of India's cricketers, because this is where he adds value, unlike coaching the national team
  

Some Thoughts on the Test Series ( India v South Africa)

The test series between India and South Africa kicks off at Jo'burg on the 15th. It will be an interesting contest, not least because India, in the extended format of the game, can go toe to toe with the Proteas.

The South African Team

The Proteas have a potent bowling attack, and I wont be too surprised to see Dale Steyn drafted into the squad only for the shock value he provides. A bowling line up of Ntini, Pollock, Steyn, Nel and Kallis is pretty potent under any conditions, and the Proteas are playing at home, so BEWARE!!
The batting lineup will pretty much be the same as in the ODIs, with Rudolph coming in place of Kemp and Prince coming in the middle order. Smith, Gibbs, Kallis, Rudolph, Prince, DeVilliers and Boucher are a pretty good front 7.

The Wickets

The Proteas have sensed that the Indians are uncomfortable with the bounce and so I do not expect any freebies on the wicket front. Expect to see bouncy wickets, though I doubt they will be green tops.
I think the Proteas will be exposed if green tops are provided, only because the South African batting, while deep, is surprisingly fragile and India has the bowling to expose this fragility.

The Indian team

This is going to be the most contentious section of this post, and I will be flamed for this ( if anyone does read this blog :) ), but here is my lineup for the first test ( given fitness)

Sehwag
Jaffer
Dravid
Tendulkar
Laxman
Ganguly
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
Munaf/Sreesanth
VRV Singh/Sreesanth

if Rahul is not available

Gambhir
Jaffer
Laxman
Tendulkar
Sehwag
Ganguly
Dhoni
Kumble
Zaheer
Munaf/Sreesanth
VRV Singh/Sreesanth

variations of the above ( by adding Harbhajan in the mix) can be used for the remaining tests. 2 spinners for Port Elizabeth and 4 pace 1 spin in the remaining 2 tests.

I do not know whether the Ganguly selection or the Pathan non-selection will raise hackles but here is my reasoning for this :-

Saurav Ganguly -
Now that Saurav has been drafted into the test squad, its a no-brainer that he will play. I mean, do we really want to have Saurav and Greg in the dressing room together for ALL 5 days of the match (j/k) ? That said,playing Saurav will put an end to the whole " he is the messiah"/ " he is past his sell by date" debate. If Saurav performs, he pushes his candidacy for the World Cup. If he flops, its "thank you very much, and here is your pension".

Irfan Pathan -
Pathan is, by all accounts, undergoing a major crisis of confidence. This has been a problem since the beginning of the 2006 season , and is one of the pivotal reasons for India's dismal performance in the ODI arena.
Given that he is not feeling his best, does it make sense to play him in the test series? Wouldn't it be better if he was made to train with Wasim Akram ( on tour as ESPN commentator and Pathan's early mentor) for the duration of the test series? A couple of hours everyday at the nets for the next month or so should do enuf to get some confidence back. And not being exposed to the Protean batsmen ( and getting mauled), should also soothe nerves and get the head straight. India has enuf in the pace bowling department to cover for Pathan the bowler unless the other bowlers drop like flies ( highly unlikely) and so Pathan on the bench is not such a bad deal.

Season 2007-2008 looms as a significant one in the Indian cricketing calender, one that offers both crisis and opportunity.
There is the World Cup, the 20/20 World Cup, a test series in England, an away series in Pakistan and a home and away series against Australia.
It is imperative that we have our spearhead in proper working condition for this.
Short term expediency ( read the SA series) at the cost of the long term will hurt us and hurt us badly.
Opportunity lies when India plays BD in an away series and this is where the next generation of India's middle order can be identified and tested. Ditto for a leggie and a left arm orthodox spinner.