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Stumps day 2... NZ 9-619 declared, India 3-79
India stumbling a little, but they still have you know who.
Ryder made 201, the third highest score against India by a Kiwi.
Looks like India is heading towards an innings defeat unless we get something special from the three giants of Indian batting line up. Yuvraj seems to be lost again after the brilliance in Sri Lanka. Dinesh Kartik seriously needs to work on his keeping. India is really missing it's Skipper.
I was again irritated by sehwag's careless behaviour, getting out when your team is staring down the barrel after an inept performance as Captain during the NZ 1st innings.
The poor fielding really needs to be addressed urgently.
For Gallifrey! For Victory! For the end of time itself!!
Indian cricket desperately needs to win this series if it wants to be taken seriously. Success against Australia in 2008 prompted some to suggest that India might be able to take the no.1 spot. Even before Australia's resurgence I thought this was overly optimistic. Why?
First - Sth Africa: The Springbok/Proteas have the best cohort of young talent in world cricket. Of their star players only Smith, Kallis, Boucher & Ntini are remotely close to retirement. The rest of the team are not only young, but very talented. This will be the team to beat for some time to come.
Second - Australia: The Aussies looked tired in 2008. They struggled with injuries, players in poor form, behaving badly or past their best. At times Ponting seemed utterly lost. Out of this have come some overdue changes. A series of newer players & improvements from some existing ones have revived that competitive spirit that kept them on top for a dozen years. Of particular concern to others is the depth in bowling stocks - fully fit we have another 4-6 quality fast/fast-medium bowlers ready to go (plus allrounder Watson). We currently lack a quality spinner & need to blood a few more young batsmen, but Australia won't be giving up no.1 without a fight.
Third (and most important) India: The good news is that India has unearthed some talented young players over the past few years - particularly bowlers. The bad news is that the generation of cricketers that should have taken India to the top are going or gone. Kumble & Ganguly are gone, Dravid, Teldulkar & even Laxman can't be far away. The holes they are leaving are not being filled.
I am impressed by Dhoni & Gambhir, but the rest of the batsmen do nothing for me. Sehwag should be maturing into a senior player, but he still bats like an 18 year old. Yuvraj Singh makes Sehwag look like Tendulkar. I don't know if it is the money, the adulation, too much T20 or something else, but too many young Indian cricketers seem to be all flash & attitude & too little substance. Compare with batsmen like AB De Villiers, JP Duminy or even Hashim Amla. Chalk & cheese.
India probably needs to find one more bowler & at least 2 batsmen over the next 18 months to be a serious competitor to Sth Africa & Australia. India also needs to do something it has never managed before - win consistently outside the subcontinent. India's young players may yet find their feet & help lead the way. If they don't, India may be consigned to another lengthy period of watching others from below.
Stumps day 4 India 252-2, Gambhir 102 not out, Tendulkar 58 not out.
A draw seems to be on the cards, but you never know with cricket.
If you ever wanted a road to bat on, Napier is the place, can't work out how the Indians failed in the first innings, but they're making up for it now.
The Kiwi's should have stuck to the tracks they had when India last toured, the greenest, meanest pitches I've ever seen [Ganguly took one look & said they were only fit to graze cattle]:)) NZ won two zip & no Indian player made more then 76 in both tests.
I am impressed by Dhoni & Gambhir, but the rest of the batsmen do nothing for me. Sehwag should be maturing into a senior player, but he still bats like an 18 year old. Yuvraj Singh makes Sehwag look like Tendulkar. I don't know if it is the money, the adulation, too much T20 or something else, but too many young Indian cricketers seem to be all flash & attitude & too little substance. Compare with batsmen like AB De Villiers, JP Duminy or even Hashim Amla. Chalk & cheese.
Sehwag and Yuvraj are extremely talented batsmen, it is only on consistency where they slack off. Sehwag has his periods of ups and downs, dangerous at times, useless at others, I guess some cannot tame their aggressive instincts like Dhoni; and Yuvraj is just one of those lads who is a very dangerous player when he gets cracking, but then easily looses concentration, either he is out partying when he should be training or trying to link up with bollywood gals. Not to say that it is a fixated team, the players are still coming in and out of the team. One very important player I believe you missed is Suresh Raina; I think he will be the next biggest Indian batsman to look out for; right now, he is still in his grooming process, yet has already left his marks on the international scene.
Sehwag and Yuvraj are extremely talented batsmen, it is only on consistency where they slack off. Sehwag has his periods of ups and downs, dangerous at times, useless at others, I guess some cannot tame their aggressive instincts like Dhoni; and Yuvraj is just one of those lads who is a very dangerous player when he gets cracking, but then easily looses concentration, either he is out partying when he should be training or trying to link up with bollywood gals. Not to say that it is a fixated team, the players are still coming in and out of the team. One very important player I believe you missed is Suresh Raina; I think he will be the next biggest Indian batsman to look out for; right now, he is still in his grooming process, yet has already left his marks on the international scene.
I love aggressive batsmen, but with a few caveats:
*The selectors need to balance them with more sturdy ones. At the moment the sturdy ones in the Indian side are about to retire. I hope for India's sake there are a few more sober types lurking in te first class ranks.
*They need to know when they can be aggressive & when to bat within themselves. My problem with Sehwag in particular is that he will soon be the senior batsman in the side. He needs to act like it.
I am not so concerned about Doni. Keepers can afford to be a bit cavalier, he just needs to be aware of the example he sets as captain at crucial times.
It might seem like I'm being a bit harsh on India, but I say the same things about Australia. I spent much of the summer screaming at the television about Australian batsmen batting like millionaires & getting punished for it. The Saffies put the ball outside off & let us get ourselves out. In the return series we didn't fall for it (except Hughes, who simply hit it too hard to get out). Australia built its success on aggressive batting, but we had 7 world class guys at any given time & a mixture of styles. We can't always bat like than now. We can afford one Hughes, but not three.
Some good solid and determined batting by Gambhir, Dravid and Tendulkar saved India. Laxman and Yuvraj helped themselves in the end with some batting practice and Test runs while the pie chuckers were on.
What India have now is a dynamite opening pair, with Gambhir getting better each test [average over 50] & you have to get Sehwag quick or he'll murder you [average over 50 also]
Those blokes will take the pressure off other bats, & although eventually losing Tenduklar & Dravid will no doubt leave a huge hole, I can hardly remember a period when India didn't have top class batsmen & spinners comming along, Upthappa & Raina could be a couple to watch out for.
But the big improvement India's made recently is the current crop of seamers.
Iv'e always thought that India's main problem [especially overseas] has been the lack of depth in fast bowling, due to their spin friendly pitches probably discouraging some guys from taking up seam bowling back in India.
But now they have a crop of young quicks such as RP Singh, Irfan Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Sreesanth & especially Ishant Sharma, backed up by Zaheer Khan, gives them more chance to knock over batting line ups away from home & not depend so much on their spinners.
The Saffies have a well balanced side, & have a chance of grabbing top honours but I bet they wont want to have to take on the Aussies to do it.
The Saffies win in Aus was their first series win ever in Aus, since their first tour in 1910/11 & they've won a total of three series in 107 years of contests, they had a golden opportunity in the last series to take top honours, but blew it big time.
But with the best quick in the World & good young bats, they can look forward to good times in the future.
As for the Aussies, well they have good batting, with young Hughes & North along with Jaques, Symonds & Watson etc etc waiting in the wings & Dave Hussey may take over from brother Mike if he doesn't pull his finger out.
Plenty of good quicks with Lee & Clark ready to join the current lot & one of the fastest bowler's in the world in Tait is raring to go.
But who the heck is going to end up being the spinner?
This test showed how exactly a draw can be worth watching.
I like the way all teams are shaping up, there is so much competition now, all the international tournaments (including the world cup) will be so much fun to watch, for the time the aussies were dominating the cricket scene it just got too predictable, hope it remains like that its better than a team just getting too far ahead of the rest.
Out of the fresh batting crop..I only rate Gambhir as an all-pitch batsman...
Yuvraj bats like a king on flat pitches..but looks like a lost kid when the ball begins to seam and swing.. I'm just hoping that Dhoni would look beyond Yuvraj and get the Rainas and Rahanes and BAdrinath/Murali Vijays a chance to cement a place in the middle order..
For now..we're in major trouble when the Tendu/Drav/Lax trio call it a day..and that could be within a shot span of time..
Not to say that it is a fixated team, the players are still coming in and out of the team. One very important player I believe you missed is Suresh Raina; I think he will be the next biggest Indian batsman to look out for; right now, he is still in his grooming process, yet has already left his marks on the international scene.
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