with so many nicely put round ups...nothing left to add anyway...so here are my doosras...
those who still feel that kumble was not aggressive in declaration should read very nicely argued posts of fellow blogger kartikeya's discussing declatations...and friend soulberry's hope and hopelessness needless to say i totally agree with them...
at the risk of repeating myself (i have already commented this) i would say that don't get carried away by pak's 'india gate' kind of batting...the way they were getting out...and please uneven bounce was nothing to do with their dismissals...with bats at least a foot away from the line of bowl...would have embarrassed even club cricketers...
that result was possible irrespective of declaration timing but coz another team was hell bent on committing mass suicide...and surprisingly no one has uttered a single word on how pak batsmen started unfolding...
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everybody seems unanimous that the misbah was the find for pak in this series...while not taking away any credit from him...of how he batted and how he saved pak from precarious positions every time without fail...and people all over calling him another 'wall'...worthy replacement of 'ul-haq' etc etc...
i would wait for another series...just for the reason that in virtually every innings he gave clear and grabable chances to our fielders in very early stages of his innings and had we got some of them his averages (and dare say series result) could have been very different of what they are now...specially after not so good SA series...i know that its not the fault of misbah and he did not let these chances distract him and build upon that...but you can not expect other team to be so magnanimous in their approach...so lets wait for another series...
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i still don't know what harbhajan has done in this series to be on oz tour...i thought he has already seen sydney...isn't it??
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i should also give credit where its due...me included...some of us infact...no...many of us questioned the probables selection but it also takes courage to correct mistakes...they should be appreciated for that and by giving kumble more say at team selection coz ultimately he is the one who is gonna face the music... they deserve praise too...although i still feel that they are taking one too many rookie in bowling department...but who knows??? this pankaj singh could well turn out to be another ace in a pack of cards??
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theories were going on that dravid will be asked to open the innings to accommodate yuvraj...and going by some reports in media even team management started thinking in this line...and suddenly we (and yuvi) see sehwag coming in...by all probability he will play in boxing day coz you dont want to look fool by selecting him only to warm benches out there...
sehwags selection is 'googly' for everyone...without going into that this is another 'feather' in kumble's cap without even landing in oz...that what this selection means to sehwag coz he would be headless chicken if he doesn't know already...i would be interested in how yuvi see this selection...
random thoughts....
shared by straight point on Thursday, December 13, 2007
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4 comments:
Fair points those. In Misbah's kitty was also a fair amount of the rub of the green. But he's a good player and a steady influence, Didn't do as well against SA at home but i expect he'll be better with two centuries in the bag.
I was wondering about Harbhajan too... Harbhajan was a bit of a dud in this series irrespective of the five he took at Kolkatta. Maybe that earned him a ticket to Oz but how could Murali earn one when he didn't get the chance to do so?
And I'd appreciate your thoughts on this one SP.
One thing you cannot blame DBV for...he has been evenhanded - DK and Harbhajan's retention is a case in point - and his firm backing of instinctual selections. They have worked mostly.
My 2 cents :
1) Delaying declaration for DK s 50 was foolish, though AK knew Dk wont play in the starting XI now with Veeru back and YS in rocking form.
2) Misbah was good,but he isnt a positive player. seems happy to draw the game. kind of old era test player. misfit in modern day Test cricket.
3) DK s continual in the team stumps me. More about it I have blabbered about on my blog.
4)Sehwag s selection s good move. You need players who could counter attack Aussies, with jaffa being steady one, we need an attacking partner down the other end and Veeru s 2003 exploits are well known.
5) why dow we need to prepare dead wkts against pak ?
Nice to have a 6'5" bloke in the side. Let's see how he applies his lessons from athletics in cricket.
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