Shewag's century was a treat but Sachin so close to world record and missing the Century was so disappointing ....

What you all say ? Will there be result from this match ? Or will wash out due to rain / end up in draw ?

Currently praying for a draw

Why ?

Hard to say due to the weather, but despite missing the century and the record by 6 runs, it's just great to see him in form after the elbow injury. But Sehwag stole the show with yet another blistering innings.

Because I doubt Pakistan can force a victory from thier current position.

Pakistan's bowling attack is weak, in fact it is the weakest they have ever sent on a tour to India. The Indians have too strong of a batting lineup, but all Pakistan can hope for is that they put up a good show in the second innings. Asim Kamal also missed a century in the first innings and batted really well. Good news for Pak, Shoaib and Shabbir are due back anytime.

From" "The Hindu":

I was competing for attention with Sehwag: Manmohan

NEW DELHI, MARCH 10. That an India-Pakistan cricket encounter holds the nation's attention more than anything else was underlined today by the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh.

Replying to the motion of thanks to the President's address in the Lok Sabha, Dr. Singh said that as he discussed bilateral relations with the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, on the sidelines of United Nations General Assembly, he was "competing for attention [of the nation]" with Virender Sehwag and Asim Kamal.

"How nice it would be if we conducted our affairs in the House in the same spirit of sportsmanship the young cricketers exhibited," Dr. Singh said.

He said that while the India-Pakistan discussion was moving forward on all aspects, nothing brought the people of the sub-continent together more than their love for cricket and Bollywood. He told the House that he had invited General Musharraf to watch the cricket match in India. He said that relations should be improved to allow people to visit family and friends whenever they wanted to. "India is proud to be an open society and an open economy." When the Indian cricket fans visited Pakistan last year, they came back with tales of hospitality and it was now time for India to reciprocate, he said.

Come on now Akhtar ... there are many matches yet to come...and nothing can be said till last ball of the game, especially when it comes to Ind-Pak games....always fun to watch them....

What I see in a game is not about winning or losing... as long it has some excitement built into .... and solid performance by both the teams... Due to timing its so unfortunate for me that cant stay up whole night and watch the game ... but from what I 've been following from the web and highlights... both the teams have put good performance so far , but in the end Shewag and Sachin did steal the show....

BTW I saw Musharraf was watching the match during the highlights... Seems like everyone is really excited about this whole series... Hope we get to see some results..... rather than matches washing out in rain ....

I had wished to decry the slow batting of pandit Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar and ustad Saurav Ganguly during the first test but I resisted the temptation. These folks should be retired, for they play for their personal records only.

As soon as a century was in sight, SRT slowed down to make sure that he completes his century and achieve that world record of 35 centuries. Ganguly has forgotten batting, even against spin, which he used to mutilate comfortably many eons ago.

Sehaw told us that SRT was sad to miss the century. Yeah? And, he was n't sad seeing how badly the team India scored?

This is what Dileep Premachandran wrote in cricinfo:

For India, the sins of the third afternoon when they wasted time and run-scoring opportunities had come back to deservedly kick them in the teeth, and thoughts of victory songs were rudely dismissed by the brilliance and tenacity of two men who refused to accept that defeat was an option.

Don't mind me, I am just livid over our performance.

i think sumwhere down the line our players conceded the match.
they thought they can't out the tail enders.

5th day bowling was poor.

Boss i am glad somebody else has spoken up too

I am sick and tired of this SRT adulation- he is a talented player but not a team player- this is not the first time he has done it.

I have written before but was a lone voice- i am glad u have spoken out.

The guy should not be in the team.

hope he never gets another century.

he has put his own records in front of the countries demands.

damn him

cinemaniac2

When India turned around the Kolkata Test against Australia, all praise went to Dravid and Laxman. I don't recollect Steve Waugh and his bowlers being crucified by the media.

In this instance, let's give credit where it's due: Kamran Akamal and Abdul Razzaq deserve all the praise. They played superbly, with courage and determination. It was their day in the sun, literally and figuratively!

Even Tendulkar's staunchest fans would concede that his innings reeked of selfishness. He as well as the skipper himself, and Laxman, have received flak for slow batting.

But, how much of a difference slow batting made is speculative. After all, Pakistan declared their innings. It's not as if India bowled them out and then were left with insufficient time to score the required runs.

Bottom line: Two 'bravehearts' thwarted all the efforts of the bowlers.

Congrats to the two batsmen, and sympathies for the bowlers.

SCOOP!

Not the pitch, not the slow batting, not the bowling/fielding, the "REAL REASONS" lay elsewhere!

Click to view attachment

1st of all tell me who does't play for his personal records.
i think if there is any player who always plays selfless innings is RAHUL DRAVID.

Badshahji- u get news on the net - so u percieve things differnetly-we see it live

i have seen this man trying to get his colleague run out (time and again) - when his colleague is getting to a landmark. Or He will Take a last ball run for overs and
frustrate his non-striker.

Talent

Humble rafi saab-

the whole australian team

all the other team barring SRT.

cinemaniac2

'Differently" kaise? Mein ne bhi wohi kaha na?

What did viewers in India feel? Was he just trying to build a long innings to recover form after the injury lay-off?

Also, why did Ganguly and Laxman also slow down the innings? Beat me!

'humble_rafi' mentioned Dravid being unselfish. Thinking back, Laxman in Kolkata against the Aussies, went for the runs instead of a triple century.

I am sorry I mixed up ur post with humble rafi saab

well i think u have to be selfish if u wanna get into TEAM but if u continue it after proving ur talent then ur impression on others is effected.


i have seen every player playing for persoal records but i may be incorrect DRAVID has never been selfish.

maybe he does't like to est fish


but i wanna make a point here that how many players have created history even being a selfish?

so if SRT is selfish it does't matter atleast he creats history

I'm SRT's no. 1 fan, but even I have to concede he's not much of a team player, especially recently. One incident which sticks in mind - funnily enough during the last series between Pakistan and India - is when Dravid, correctly in my opinion, declared India's innings when SRT was on the verge of a landmark (I think a double 100), because he was taking so long to get there! I appreciate he's returning from injury but if that's gonna cost the team, in terms of time as it did in this match, then maybe someone else should deputise! However, a telling commment was made by Sehwag who said that India were playing out time??? When teams adopt a safety first attitude like India did in this match it short changes us the fans who have been focusing on the match religiously over five days!

Check this from Cricinfo site:

"Virender Sehwag, in fact, told reporters after the third day's play that it was team strategy to "play out time", and to not bother about the pace of run-scoring. Such a safety-first strategy befits teams that struggle to compete, as India did for a few decades. It is unseemly now, for a team aspiring to be top of the heap. There are players in this team who epitomise the attitude that the entire side needs to get: Anil Kumble and Rahul Dravid. (Kumble didn't break through either on the fifth morning, but at least he tried his hardest on a pitch that offered him little.) But the entire team must imbibe that attitude, and the change has to come from the top.

If not, a change has to come at the top."

(Amit Verma Cricinfo)

In saying this, one can't ignore the the 6th wicket stand by Razzaq and Akmal which was a great match-saving performance. I just wish Pakistan had declared a little earlier and set India say 250 odd of 35 overs or so. It would've provided an exciting finish to the match for us the fans, as a result would've been possible for either side, but I know I'm asking for too much here, especially in a match between these two old enemies!

That was because Australians hardly put a foot wrong in that match. It was solely due to the brilliance displayed by RD and VVS that India won that match. In this case, Akmal and Razzaq did the same thing but as was the case in that Kolkata match, we are n't blaming our bowlers either.



Absolutely. They deserve all the praise.




I agree that in hindsight, it's hard to say what'd have happened but as a player for the benefit of the team, you put your best foot forward. After having dominated Pak bowling for 50 odd overs, it made no sense to start playing for time, as Sehwag said was the team strategy. When the opportunity was there to throw Pakistan out of the game by wrecking their bowling and demoralize them completely, our "ace" batsmen inexplicably decided to bring the opposition back in the game. Why? Let's look at the figures. Pak gave us a target of 250 odd runs in 35 overs. Pandit SRT, ustad SG, and to an extent VVS could have easily made another 100 runs but they played like worms moved. Assuming that Akmal and Razzaq "still" displayed the guts they showed in 3rd inning, even after having received a demoralizing blow from Indian team's carnage, it'd set a target of 150 in 35 overs for India.

Now, that does n't sound impossible or difficult for a star studded team like India. Does it?


What this draw has done for Pakistan is not just a mere "draw" in the first test. It has given them the belief that they can avoid defeat and Inzy was heard saying today that they now believe that they can win against India. I think we may have lost the initiative and the plot for this series.

Congratulations to Pakistan.

I think Pakistan knowing what the Indian lineup is capable of was trying to bat as long as possible in order to save the match. Setting up a total for a result, especially with the strong Indian batting lineup was a risk, so it was better to play out the draw from Pakistan's point of view.

Time shouldn't be the excuse in this case. The Indian bowlers simply could not put away the rest of the Pak bastman when they had more than enough time to do so. More than 80 overs in a day to get out four batsman and then chase down the remaining runs does not seem a very hard task. But Razzaq and Akmal showed guts and also showed they are not tail-enders and are batsman of merit.

The Indians played well throughout the match, I do not see why criticism should be put on them, especially when they had a golden chance to finish it off and go up one in the series. Their batsman played well and their bolwers did the job in the first four days, but in the end all praise should go to Razzaq and Akmal for fighting it out.

What India lack is a bowler who can wipe out the opposition both at the top and bottom of the order, someone like a Wasim Akram or Glenn McGrath, someone who knows how to use the "old" bowl and play tricks with it. The Indian bowlers were not bowling in line and Akmal and Razzaq were taking advantage of it, and scoring runs easily.

Pakistan has to get their bowling act together. Now it seems Shoiab might miss the whole series so they need someone to step it up and support Danish. I wish Shabbir had been fit enough for the tests, because it would have been interesting to watch him against the Indians, especially since he caused them a few problems last year in Pak.

Hopefully we will see some more good cricket in the remaining two matches.