that its not only mendis...you have to master...there are other bowlers too in srilankan team...
that the moment you slackens a bit...cricket will come and bite you hard...
contrary to the perception...pak bowlers did fine job even with gul being off color and it was the strong batting which caved in meekly...but despite all the harakiri they still had chance to win the match but i guess misbah's penchant for finding different ways of getting himself out came in way of pakistan win...waste of a talent actually...
now with murli coming in next test match it will be very difficult for pak to make a comeback...making this series even more interesting...
on the other hand it will be interesting to know who will make way for murli...and i have this feeling that it will be poor herath who, despite his marvelous effort, will have to sit out...
ps:
miandad sir...hope you watched this match to learn that match is not necessarily fixed to surrender it from winning position...or you still think the same way...?!
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there have been discussions with our pak friends of late...about the lack of options for pak team captaincy candidate...
i would like to stuck my neck out even before i have seen him captain...
think its miss-bah pakistan?
why? why not?
i am waiting...
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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...
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some batsmen look forward to i.e.
after another fighting innings from misbah and especially Kamran...i wondered how, we have a history of resurrecting so many careers that otherwise would not have enjoyed that much longer run than they did...
how there are some batsmen, when not in good form and career in shatters...they pray to god to please arrange a tour with india...
so many players come to my mind (mainly from pakistan though)....
Shivnaraine Chandrapaul (barring good outing lately in england tour, he would get the top cake amongst all other players for being the kind of batsman i am talking about)
Andy flower (the sight of him coming in mid of collapse and you know that now its going to be long before we get him out)
Izaz Ahmed (i am yet to recall him playing innings of substance elsewhere, of course india were exception)
Shahid Afridi (he has hurt india than any other country he has played against...had 'india' not happened to him, wonder where he would have been...)
Kamran Akmal (would have been a goner had this series not happened in time for him...)
Misbah? (q mark is bcoz, although its early days, but after SA series bad outings here would have been enough to put doubts in selectors mind that whether he is good 'test' match material)
Saeed Anwar (very fond of our bowling...if you wake him up midnight to play match against us would almost sleep walk through his innings)
Since i am not statistician type (to search for data) i leave it to you...how many batsmen you can add?
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