Opening has been a major worry on this tour and though it seems that team management has settled for Jaffer at #1, I am not at all convinced by him. In his case, chief selector Vengsarkar's assumption has been proved totally wrong and he denied Gambhir another opportunity in ODIs. But that we can discuss later. In tests, openers are a cause for concern .
I don't agree with Dravid opening the batting. So what can be the solution? Why didn't selectors try Akash Chopra? I hope team management have not toyed with the idea of Pathan opening the batting!!
So do you agree with the idea of wasting one precious slot on either Gambhir or Jaffer, who in all probability would be sitting ducks against SA pace attack?
So do you agree with the idea of wasting one precious slot on either Gambhir or Jaffer, who in all probability would be sitting ducks against SA pace attack?
No. And thats is the dilemma for me!
Many people have suggested Dravid to open. But have you forgotten the Karachi test where we had lost Dravid early in both the innings? Why would you take that risk again?
Secret to Ganguly's comeback knock: A middle-stump guard BOBILLI VIJAY KUMAR| TIMES NEWS NETWORK
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POTCHEFSTROOM, Dec 8: For the last 20 days or so, as the Indian team meandered from one collapse to another, there was only one common refrain: the players need time to adjust and adapt to the extra pace and bounce.
On a bright and sunny afternoon, Sourav Ganguly all but literally walked off the airplane and scored a near-brilliant 83. There was no problem with pace, bounce or anything else; it looked like he had been batting here all his life.
True, the pitch has been more benign than malignant; true, the bowling attack has been a lot friendlier than Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel as well. But he still had to go and take advantage of the conditions which the others anyway had failed to do on Thursday. He did.
So how did he manage it? Ganguly explained the secret of his success to his mates just after the day’s session on Greg Chappell’s invitation. “ Back home in India, I take a leg-stump guard. Here, I decided to take a middle-stump guard ,” he is believed to have told at the informal session.
Ganguly had clearly come well-prepared. “It was a smart move,” Chappell later revealed. “It showed that he had applied his mind and come up with the right method to overcome the conditions,” he added.
He was nice enough to explain the advantage of adopting this approach to TOI too.
“ Back home in India, you try and get to the side of the ball so that you have room to play your strokes on the off-side. Here, you need to get right behind the ball, get on top of it to play through the off ,” he said.
There was another very significant thing that Ganguly did which was different from what the other Indian batsmen have been doing: he didn’t commit himself to the backfoot too early. Rather, he kept trying to play off his front foot as much as possible.
“That was very important too. It allowed him to take his decision just that much time later. By leaning forward, he was able to judge the length of the ball accurately, which also allowed him to leave the right balls. That’s why he could also play his shots without too much of a problem,” Chappell explained.
Of course, Ganguly has also worked a lot on his fitness and his game while he has been away. He has always been mentally very strong anyway. The horrid last few months may well have made him that much more stronger.
Sehwag: in SA: 149 runs in 3 innings @ 49.67; yet to play a test at Jo'burg,
Dravid in SA: 379 runs in 10 innings @ 42.11; at Jo'burg: 229 runs @ 114.50 in 2 innings,
SRT in SA: 636 runs in 16 innings @ 42.40; at Jo'burg: 156 runs @ 39 in 4 innings,
VVS in SA: 190 runs in 6 innings @ 47.50; at Jo'burg: played 1 innings here, scored 0*,
Ganguly in SA: 292 runs in 10 innings @ 32.44; at Jo'burg: 133 runs @ 66.50 in 2 innings.
So, as per stats, Dravid and Ganguly have very good records at Jo'burg. But last time India played at this ground, was way back in early '97. So its been quite a while that we've played a test here.
But have you forgotten the Karachi test where we had lost Dravid early in both the innings? Why would you take that risk again?
Sadly, I haven't.
But it surely works both ways. I mean he'll still be a vritual opener in any case, as none of Sehwag or Jaffer/Gambhir are expected to stay at the crease much longer, pretty much the story of Indian opening batting for most of our cricket history on helpful pitches, apart from brief periods here and there.
I'm all for settled and recognised opening pair in test cricket, but you got to be realistic as well. At present, we don't possess anyone technically sound enough to open for us in test cricket on helpful pitches, apart from Dravid and Sehwag as we all know is a freak. Not everyone can succeed in test cricket by using his approach to opening.
Selectors committed a crime in ignoring Chopra for this series. It should have been horses for courses policy. But Vengsarkar isn't one of the brightest, is he?
Originally posted by *Chandan*: Selectors committed a crime in ignoring Chopra for this series. It should have been horses for courses policy. But Vengsarkar isn't one of the brightest, is he?
You have your Vengsarkar, we have our Haroon Lorgat...
I was watching a program featuring Courtney Walsh yesterday, and he said that a team that doesn't have senior bowlers like McGrath etc around in the team should have a 'bowling coach' ! I think that applies to India as well. Australia do not need a bowling coach because there are greats like McGrath in the team. But England and Pakistan do have bowling coaches.
he was talking on how he became the bowling spearhead after the retirement of Michael Holding, Malcolm Marshall, Andy Roberts, and Curtley Ambrose.
Yes, and I agree with Chandan that Chopra would have been a good choice in this tour. Was he not a member of the Australian tour, he did well for the team then.
Originally posted by *Chandan*: [QUOTE] But Australia has the best bowling coach in the world--Troy Coolie and he seems to be guiding the youngsters quite well.
India will take decision on this this topic on 23th Dec. What a joke!!
Walsh offered his services to be a bowling coach to the Indian team.
We already have 2 white caucasians in the team in chappel & frazer...now we need a brotha
