India v SA, 1st Test, Nagpur, Feb 6-10

The One wrote:two innings as against a wide array of failures in multiple continents

ave in aus - 4.25
ave in nz - 31
ave in wi - 17

ave in asia - 46
ave oustide asia - 17

the ball had stopped moving around considerably by the time yuvraj started his innings in both those matches you mentioned. the second one came after pakistan made 599/7 in their second innings

besides you just need to see yuvraj bat against top class pace to see how out of depth he looks when the ball is moving around. no need for stats

Kerching!

As much as I hate to admit it, I think TO and furri are on the mark this time.

Great chance for Vijay to establish a place in the side and also stake a claim on the no.3 slot for the post-Dravid era.

I was looking at Indian top order batsmen who have debuted in Tests for India since Jan 2000 ('Top order' has been defined as anyone who comes in from numbers 1-7, a cricinfo definition).

Since 2000 we've debuted 19 players. Of these, the 'marquee' names are: Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj. So, of the 19 only 3 - Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni can be regarded as being successful in Tests.

I'm leaving aside Vijay, who's a comparatively recent debutant.

The 'possible Test contenders' are Jaffer, Kaif, Badani and Karthik. It is debatable whether any of these could have stepped up to the class of those already in place in the team.

I suppose it speaks to the stranglehold of the Big 4. The last 1-7 Tests debutant was Vijay in 2008.

3 successful test class batsmen in 10 years - I wish I had some comparative data (too lazy to do it) with other teams to see whether this is a norm, or whether we should start getting seriously worried.

See the list here.

Haven't had any other vacancies except the Keeper and openers.

Will Harbhajan maintain his place?

every batsmen struggles against top quality pace when the ball in darting around. yuvrajs struggles have been more against spin then pace. imo he is a good player of fast bowling - those two innings show he can do it. hes only just turned 28, still has time on his side.

Yuvraj = The New Agarkar. Time on his side always to prove his 'potential' that will never be! Yuvraj is history and the sooner the idiot selectors realize it the better! Seems to me the crap piece of batting called Yuvraj is only in the test team these days based on some flash in the pan performances in T20s.....

Fat Yuvraj's technique will not let him prosper against good seam bowling in tests. This was true 6 years ago and nothing has changed.
He gets away in the shorter form where there is a shortage of slips and bowlers don't focus on moving the ball. This has been proven time and again. He should have been slapped with a permanent "ODI and t20 only" tatoo on his forehead 3-4 years ago instead of prolonging the misery for all.
But his bigger problem literally speaking is his fitness primarily due to his bigness.

On the test itself I would say SA are favourites for this one. A four pronged pace attack from SA is likely to have the Indians on the hop. A spat between the local cricket association VCA and the BCCI will come in handy much like the time when a green top was laid out for the test against the Aussies, a few seasons ago.

furriner wrote:I was looking at Indian top order batsmen who have debuted in Tests for India since Jan 2000 ('Top order' has been defined as anyone who comes in from numbers 1-7, a cricinfo definition).

Since 2000 we've debuted 19 players. Of these, the 'marquee' names are: Sehwag, Gambhir, Dhoni and Yuvraj. So, of the 19 only 3 - Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni can be regarded as being successful in Tests.

I'm leaving aside Vijay, who's a comparatively recent debutant.

The 'possible Test contenders' are Jaffer, Kaif, Badani and Karthik. It is debatable whether any of these could have stepped up to the class of those already in place in the team.

I suppose it speaks to the stranglehold of the Big 4. The last 1-7 Tests debutant was Vijay in 2008.

3 successful test class batsmen in 10 years - I wish I had some comparative data (too lazy to do it) with other teams to see whether this is a norm, or whether we should start getting seriously worried.

See the list here.

Furry , ya lazy qunt you just had to take India out of your sort

Josh Carney wrote:A spat between the local cricket association VCA and the BCCI will come in handy much like the time when a green top was laid out for the test against the Aussies, a few seasons ago.

the head of the vca is the bcci president in waiting. you might be dissapointed if you were hoping for india to lose heavily

I think SA will nick off the first test as we will have too many greenhorns or struggling players to get any chemistry going and may only show some fight in the second test. Of course if we get an absolute spinning wicket first up I wouldn't complain.....

Pandey going crazy in the warm-up. The first 4 have failed though.

Was such a great opportunity for Rohit to show his talent against an attack as good as SA. I see Steyn and Morkel are playing.

But as expected, he threw it away. Considering this is just a 2-day game, he won't get another chance to bat again.

Pandey gone for 43.

Pujara too failed. Nayar and Dhawan though are batting very well.

Why the hell is Dhawan batting at no.8?