The Cricket Thread

[Ankit 3,176]

Fucks sake

Gambhir is one of the best batsmen to have on your side in a chase. What an excellent player he has been.

Fucks sake

Gambhir is one of the best batsmen to have on your side in a chase. What an excellent player he has been.

Yup. No doubt about that. But some brilliant finishing job done there by Raina and Pathan. With Sanga out of the rest of the series, India now hold the advantage. I certainly hope we kick the hell out of Rohit Sharma and send him home.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Yup. No doubt about that. But some brilliant finishing job done there by Raina and Pathan. With Sanga out of the rest of the series, India now hold the advantage. I certainly hope we kick the hell out of Rohit Sharma and send him home.

Agreed, I think Gambhir will be an excellent replacement for Dravid medium-term. But the test team still looks in trouble in future, Zaheer and maybe Ashwin aside, the bowling does not look good. Also there's a gap in the middle order, and Sehwag is even more unreliable now than he was before.

The test line up should look something like this:

Gambhir

Sehwag

Tendulkar

Kohli

??

??

Dhoni

Ashwin

??

Zaheer

??

With the question marks being filled in by young players who have impressed in domestic cricket, not guys like Raina (who is a great ODI/T20 player but isn't suited for tests, IMO) or Sharma. There are still 2 fast bowler, 1 middle order batsman and one all-rounder places up for grabs and I hope India sort out their test future, test cricket needs a strong Indian team.

Sri Lanka, I fear, are going to go into a period of poor performances. The test line up should look like this:

Tharanga

Dilshan

Sangakkara

M. Jayawardene

??

Mathews

P. Jayawardene

Kulasekara

??

??

Herath

Chandimal is like Rohit, great player in the domestic tournaments but can't translate it to the international level. Lakmal, Randiv, etc. are not good enough, and Perera is like Raina, great short form player but not suited to tests.

[Ankit 3,176]

Dravid's retirement would hurt real bad. One of the rare proper No.3's left in the world(only ponting and kallis comes to my mind) and now we dont even have him! Regarding the middle order, you forgot VVS. He had a pretty dismal last year but i think he may have a year or two left in him. Yuvraj could make a recovery after his cancer survival,other than that some young players in the domestic scene who i think can make it into the squad are Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane. But yes, there will be uncertainity in that middle order.

Coming to the bowling dept, It all depends on where the team is playing. If we are at home, we will go with 2 spinners and since Dhoni likes to have an away going spinner in the squad,i am presuming Ojha would be a starter. Bhajji might make a comeback after his stint in the county season.

If we are in Australia/South Africa, you need a seamer who bends his back and bowls quick and puts an extra effort. You might remember Ishant Sharma's spell in perth. He is one guy who is recovering from an injury and would add lot of zip to the attack,Umesh Yadav got some rave reviews after his debut in Australia. He has pace and a pretty clean action, i sense a very good future for the lad if all goes well.

If we are in England, where you require more swing than pace,Praveen Kumar comes to my mind. Also Irfan Pathan is getting back into his groove of bowling those beautiful in swingers to the right handers.

So all in all, i wont say the pace attack is all sorted up or anything like that but i guess we can field some quality players according to the needs. It all depends how they perform.

I am a huge test cricket fan. I am pretty sure Indian test team will be back to where we were in 2010. To the top and fighting for the No.1 position.

[Ankit 3,176]

Sri lanka i feel are too dependent on Sanga and Mahela. I dont thing dilshan is capable enough of carrying the team on his shoulder like Mahela and Sanga do. They do have problem for the future.

[KonohasOrangeFlash 2,607]

Gambhir? He got ripped apart by Australia's bowling...

[capriccioso 2,545]

Gambhir? He got ripped apart by Australia's bowling...

He's weak against the short ball, that'll only really trouble him in Australia and South Africa. If he adopts a Steve Waugh approach and ducks every bouncer he faces, he should be fine.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Sri lanka i feel are too dependent on Sanga and Mahela. I dont thing dilshan is capable enough of carrying the team on his shoulder like Mahela and Sanga do. They do have problem for the future.

Dilshan is a shit Jayasuriya, basically. Not as explosive with the bat, not as dangerous with the ball, though a better fielder than Sanath.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Good start. Now all we have to do is get to over 25 without losing a wicket. Can't allow Chandimal to bat too early.

The problem with Dilshan is he struggles when he's the lone aggressor in a partnership. When Mahela opened with him in Australia he looked much better. Tharanga looks like a walking wicket at the moment.

[capriccioso 2,545]

There aren't enough facepalms around the world to describe that fuck up of enormous proportions we just managed

Delightful to see Herath and Malinga bat well though, they're probably the worst number 10s and 11s going around

[Strike 7,217]

Similar to Mario Gomez then?

except Mario Gomez is not immensely talented.

[Strike 7,217]

i had no idea india were playing a game today.

[capriccioso 2,545]

except Mario Gomez is not immensely talented.

He's just a shit Inzaghi.

There's a big wicket. Vintage Lasith yorker. Now to get rid of Kohli, Raina and Dhoni.

[Strike 7,217]

He's just a shit Inzaghi.

There's a big wicket. Vintage Lasith yorker. Now to get rid of Kohli, Raina and Dhoni.

that's the end of rohit sharma's international career. atleast temporarily

[capriccioso 2,545]

At least these early wickets mean India can't wrap it up by over 45..

[Ankit 3,176]

At least these early wickets mean India can't wrap it up by over 45..

Looks like it will finish by over 45

Kohli-you beauty!!

[capriccioso 2,545]

I think India are the best chasing team in the world right now. They should be sent in first more often by opposition captains. At 4/109 the game was nicely poised but I think Mahela made a mistake leaving Mendis and Herath on against Raina. He could have tried bouncing him out using Malinga or some other quick bowler.

[Ankit 3,176]

Series done and dusted. Brilliant start to the new season!

Virat Kohli is a LEGEND in the making. Allready 13 hundreds surpassing players like Hayden , Inzi, KP, Smith. All this at the age of 23.

[capriccioso 2,545]

Better than Hayden, Smith and Inzamam, already? That is incredible, the three of them were among the best batsmen the 50 over game has ever seen. I think he might even be better than Tendulkar by the time he finishes his career. Kulasekara has been a huge loss, he adds some stability and explosiveness with the bat low in the order, and he's a very good ODI bowler. He keeps it tight and usually gets a pressure wicket brought on from keeping the run rate down. Thisara looks out of his depth opening the bowling, Mahela could have been innovative and opened with Herath/Dilshan along with Malinga.

Also, regarding Yadav, he reminds me of how Brett Lee and Shoaib Akthar used to be when they were young (though a fair bit slower, of course). If he goes down the Lee route and gains some consistency and control of the ball, India can have a brilliant paceman. If he goes down the Akthar route of inconsistency and poor control that won't be the case.