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so we lost this match... any team that can lose six wickets for twelve runs with not much on the board will always be chasing leather...
the pitch had no demons and it was pure brilliance of steyn supported well by all bowlers that made it possible for sa... having said that... had our two centurions not lapsed in concentration after reaching individual milestones things could well have been interesting in the middle considering we came as close as 6 runs to wipe sa total... but such is life...
i expect india to come hard at sa in the next match... we are not no.1 for nothing and one match cannot make us bad suddenly... tho it has exposed certain chinks in our armor for sure...
badri showed that he has the temperament to fight it out in the middle and vijay showed his class in second innings but both failed to press the matter further... i am particularly disappointed by vijay tho... he will have to learn quickly that nice 30s and 40s are not going to help him much and if he wants to look for inspiration he should look no further than a certain akash chopra...
having said that... i don't want selectors to make them bakra for this defeat... but at the same time i expect them to use horses for courses policy for next match... as this being two test series so we have only one match to retain the no.1 spot with next test match is not coming in a while...
so my team for next test match will be...
sehwag, gambhir, vijay, sachin, badri, dhoni, irfan pathan, ramesh powar, zaheer, mishra, ojha/ishant
irfan pathan and powar making a second coming... while last spot is depending upon the look of the eden garden pitch...
i have deliberately not included laxman coz first he is coming straight after injury... second even if he is fit to bat... he wont be standing at slip... so call me mean if you want but laxman not standing at slip isnt something i will sacrifice a spot for...
on this note i leave an open thread to invite your opinions... lets set the ball rolling...
update:
it seems selectors were in even more hurry than me to put up a post... and they have already announced the squad for the next test... probably they too didn't want to waste the extra day's rest this match has provided them... so here it goes...
MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra, Zaheer Khan, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Dinesh Kartik, Suresh Raina.
open thread: second test second coming...
open thread: what india could have done differently...
nothing much... except use their bats more... rather than allowing the ball to pass through like a car whizzes past on a toll free highway...
its very easy to cajole yourself with the argument that india were not playing full strength... coz just two tests back a relatively unheard of deshi attack bowled india to a 250ish score on a placid track... when we played with our best batting line up...
its been a long time since i saw this much relentless high quality seam bowling with unflappable intensity on indian pitches from a visiting team... so lets give credit where its due... sa bowled brilliantly... dale steyn in particular...
theoretically india can still save this test match... but practically it will be a monumental task and the batsmen at the crease and the ones to follow will have to bat out of their skins on a weary pitch... where the threat is not only from the new ball but from the reverse swing of the old ball as well...
the stage is set for fringe players like vijay and badri to stake an irresistible claim otherwise i am afraid they will have to pay the price of the defeat...
whatever happens in this match... i think selectors should bring irfan pathan in place of saha... he seems to be in good form and bringing him in the mix when his confidence is high will give team india much needed balance for the second test match... without compromising on the batting
on this note i leave this open thread to share rants... thoughts... about how india should go for the rest of this test match and beyond...
open thread: first test first show...
with laxman still in doubt... indian team management has no choice but to play all available batsmen, thanks to the foresightedness of our five wise men, rohit sharma in all probability will fill the spot vacated by laxman...
this is a series opener with still a match to go... so i won't rush laxman into this test even if there is an iota of doubt about his fitness...
the team india, in all probability, will be like...
sehwag, gambhir, vijay, sachin, badri, rohit, dhoni, harbhajan, mishra, zaheer, ishant
badri, rohit will be making their debut while vijay, mishra (and to some extent ishant) will be looking to give performances that will make their stock rise in the eyes of selectors...
but i think badrinath and rohit sharma will be under far more pressure coz i sense there is an air of skepticism or i dare say negativity about their selection and failure from both or either of them won't be taken kindly...
i like this nervy pressure situation coz this will keep them on their toes... they should look to spend first 15 minutes at the crease to ease the things for themselves after that it will be their temperament which will take them far... for the talent is never in doubt...
while badri is a long innings player if he gets going... rohit sharma is the kind of player, if given a good platform, can take the game away from the opposition very quickly... so, to me, he is a good replacement for yuvraj at 6...
in this light i leave an open-thread and invite you all to share your thoughts before the start of the first match...
