[andy4u]

Pakistan commited the cardinal mistake of playing Shoaib Akhtar.
You never carry an injured player to a match,doesn't matter how big a game it is or how big the player is.It becomes a liability.India had done the same mistake with Munaf Patel in the 3rd test(was it Durban or was it Port Elizabeth?) in South Africa early this yaer.The only time I have seen an injured player living upto the team's expectations in in the Champions Trophy final in Nairobi in 2000.Chris Cairns had then hit a match-winning century and bowled very critical 10 overs on the trot with a shortened run-up and at lesser pace.

In fact this is another very good thing about Dhoni's captaincy,he is never keen to pick an injured player,doesn't matter who it is.

[andy4u]

A sad decision by Cricket Australia

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They"ll not be hosting the annual tri-series next year.Instead,they"ll host a regular 5 match series with both the visiting teams.Very sad.Benson Hedges,Carlton Chapman,III were all a wonderful part of my cricketing memories from childhood.

As it is tri-series have become very rare these days and now even the most traditional of them is going to be shelved owing to cynicism.

[live_n_let_live99]

I knew this would happen

Cricinfo - 'I need more clarity before I commit' - Kirsten

On a serious note, he's quite right in stating this, also goes to show he aint the Whatmore types, who'd even murdered someone to get the 'India Coach' job...

I jus hope that for the BCCI's sake, things do get resolved...Else, as I'd written earlier, this could turn out to a Graham Ford-Part 2


Btw, I'm glad that ACB has scrapped that annual tri-series thing...Boy, to call it long would be the understatement of the century so far Thank God for what they did, should have been done long, long back...

[andy4u]

Well yes,the Kirsten affair is witnessing far too many twists now.

First,he says he can't commit full time till the end of tour down under.
Then,BCCI decides to unnecessarily review the comments he had made about India in a Protea magazine 10 years back.
And now,Kirsten comes out with this statement!!

P.S. - CA could rather have curtailed the 4 matches to 3 matches,but complete scrapping. OMG :satisfie:

[chetannarula]

Originally Posted by andy4u

A sad decision by Cricket Australia

espnstar.com - powered by ESPN STAR Sports: Cricket: News

They"ll not be hosting the annual tri-series next year.Instead,they"ll host a regular 5 match series with both the visiting teams.Very sad.Benson Hedges,Carlton Chapman,III were all a wonderful part of my cricketing memories from childhood.

As it is tri-series have become very rare these days and now even the most traditional of them is going to be shelved owing to cynicism.

cynicism????? i think it was a gud decision....for one...the players r nt robots who would go on playing endlessly....then there is the small matter of some dead rubbers being played out....

i mean cant u recall the matches we played against the zimbabweans on the last tour....:(

as far as tri-series r concerned....yes...they ll b missed...bt we hav to think forward....think abt the players....i support this decision....:satisfie:


p.s - gud to b back.... been long....

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by chetannarula

i mean cant u recall the matches we played against the zimbabweans on the last tour....:(
p.s - gud to b back.... been long....

I can recall that..and I can also recall Australia missing out on the finals just 2 years prior to it.There was no dead rubber in that tourney.Simple,if you call weak teams,there will be dead matches.
Is there any tri-series left now?

[justlikethat]

Kirsten has agreed
Kirsten to be India's coach, to go to Australia

Cheers!

[live_n_let_live99]

Yeah, nice that Kirsten has agreed

Meanwhile, kudos to the Pakis for holding out...Yes, jus as Kumble said in his post-match i'view that the concept of 'moral victory' is nothing less than sheer bunkum, this performance surely will give them some hope of performing a miracle at Bangalore...A venue where they have come out on tops on both the previous occasions that they played...'87 and then during their last tour...So history is on their side as well...Mind you, even on those occasions, the Bangalore Test had been the final match of the series So.....


Off the cuff...

GRAND SLAM

Nice

[andy4u]

Originally Posted by live_n_let_live99

This performance surely will give them some hope of performing a miracle at Bangalore...A venue where they have come out on tops on both the previous occasions that they played...'87 and then during their last tour...So history is on their side as well...Mind you, even on those occasions, the Bangalore Test had been the final match of the series So.....

That is where the similarity ends.Don't worry,there is no way Pakistan is going to win this time.No 1 as inspirational as Inzy in their team this time round.
Breathe easy

The trophy is ours.
India 2 Pakistan 1

Added Later -
And the reason Pakistan had won in '05 had more to do with the 3rd rate batting disaplyed by some of our legends than anything else.India couldn't bat less than 3 sessions on an unvicious pitch against a decent attack.That is probably the worst I have ever seen Sachin bat.He had made batting look too difficult and painful in the 4th innings.And Mr. Ganguly.He was in a wretched form in that period.I remember how he had got out to Afridi.Pathetic.

IMO,the period beginning from that test to India's tour to Zimbabwe later that year was the worst of Indian cricket in years.I repeat,the worst.

[live_n_let_live99]

India were by far the best team in the world in 1987, on par with the Pakis being led under the once-in-a-lifetime skip Imran Khan...And yet, we capitulated on that dustbowl...2005 was admittedly different, but Younis was as much a part of that victory as was Inzi...

All in all, the one thing that I've always been forced to admit is that factors such as form and team morale always go for a toss in Indo-Pak encounters...That 'extra' something always comes into play and influences these games and more often than not, makes a mockery of pre-match predictions...True, things were different under Imran and as stated before, no one can replace him but it still is an Indo-Pak Test Match and I'd be the last person to put my money on either team for that matter

Add to that the fact that both, Zaheer and Munaf (wonder how much longer are we gonna tolerate this great man's super-duper fitness levels ) have been ruled outta the playing XI Hope though, it doesnt make much of a difference as anyways its Anil and Harbhajan who'd be pressed to take most of the wickets...


Btw, Sehwag doesnt find a place even in the list of 24 probables...You know at times, I'm sure he'd be thinking of 'what might have been'...I mean, if things had gone as per script, he would have been the undisputed number 1 choice to lead Team India...(Not that he'd been the best choice, but on the basis of sheer reputation, he'd been the first choice; anyway he was the VC once Saurav was replaced from the top job)...Jus goes to show what casual attitude and a terrible patch can do to a player...Might sound childish to state this, but his is a perfect case of someone turning from 'Hero to Zero'