ind-v-nz...first test

the tour practice game started and pandey ended up being the most potent and successful bowler.

Jadeja and Shami didn't play. I Assume they both should be joining Zaheer in the bowling attack. Ishant Sharma picked up a couple of wickets, but thankfully, he went at over 4 an over (not that it might be enough to keep him out), and Umesh Yadav wasn't able to take more than a wicket and also gave away runs. Pandey took 3 wickets, a good start from him as far as putting forward his claims for a test place.

Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan batted out 14 overs to score 41. Vijay on 19 of 52, Dhawan on 16 of 34.

Bloody Ishant bowled as many as 10 no-balls in his 14 overs. What a waste!.

msp83 wrote:Bloody Ishant bowled as many as 10 no-balls in his 14 overs. What a waste!.

the ones that did not come to play the side game are the ones who are certain.........shami, Bhuvi, Jadeja are certain as bowlers.
The remaining 2 positions will go to most likely Zaheer who should show his fitness....and the otehr one was designed to go to Ishant...but Pandey threw water over the best made plans.

the continued failure of the openers is worrying.....as they failed to convert their starts into anything meaningful against a bening attack

Atleast Vijay did well in SA....this is the make or break series for Dhwan...if he doesn't get runs in two tests here....I doubt if he will make it to UK

Ajinkya Rahane scored a half-century before retiring, so did Rohit Sharma. Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ambati Rayudu also made some runs.
As for the make up of the bowling unit, Zaheer would be the first name, Shami and Jadeja should also make it. It is the 4th bowler position that has to be filled. Pandey has made a strong case for himself. I won't mind if its anyone other than Ishant.

It seems with Dhoni's logic....ishant is the one certain of his spot already

Ishant was the third seamer alongside Zaheer and Shami in South Africa. Ishant averages less than three wickets a Test, but Dhoni said as the third fast bowler his role was to not let the opposition get away when the ball stopped moving around. "More often than not we have used him as a one-change bowler," Dhoni said. "That again becomes a very crucial slot. At times with the Kookaburra ball, you don't get a lot of swing after 25-30 overs. It is important you keep hitting the same length, and try to get the batsmen out with his extra bounce. It will be crucial for him to keep it tight, keep bowling in the same areas, keep repeating the action, keep hitting the length we want him to, and build on pressure.

So OK. The wicket taking expectations are already down to 3 bowlers. The no-hoper is set to play....... The selectors will have to take the call and not pick him in the squad, that is the only way he's not going to play.

Even the cricinfo preview seems to think that the 3rd seamer call is between Ishant and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ishwar Pandey doesn't even seem to be in the mix.

msp83 wrote:Even the cricinfo preview seems to think that the 3rd seamer call is between Ishant and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Ishwar Pandey doesn't even seem to be in the mix.

it's appalling that Ishant is ahead in reckoning of Bhuvi, Yadav and Pandey...truly appalling

Shall watch at 10pm. Won't be easy for India. Since BM took over NZ have been playing much better and Taylor looks world class at the moment.

Not the best of news, some bad weather to mark the start of the series. The toss delayed. Looks like bad light rather than serious rain at the moment.

India won the toss and are bowling. There is lot of grass on the pitch, and it is not very hard reckons Simon Doull. There should be some movement but not too much pace.
India have gone in with Ishant Sharma. He better not continue to exasperate, but not betting my house on it!.
NZ
Fulton
Rutherford
Williamson
Taylor
McCullum
Anderson
Watling
Southee
Sodhi
Wagner
Boult.
India
Vijay
Dhawan
Pujara
Kohli
Rohit Sharma
Rahane
Dhoni
Jadeja
Khan
Shami
Ishant Sharma.

Is Ishant having an affair with Dhoni's wife?

How's this clown always in the starting XI?

India's miserable tour of NZ continues with a dropped catch already.

Pretty poor standard of cricket they are playing these days, isn't it? In fact the word "hopeless" springs to mind.

PLEASE GIVE MORE WICKETS TO ISHANT NEW ZEALAND TA

23-2 Fulton goes LBW to trundler Zaheer

Olly wrote:PLEASE GIVE MORE WICKETS TO ISHANT NEW ZEALAND TA

Ross Taylor knows   

McCullum gets his ton.

NZ 225/3

Now its a century for Kane Williamson.
The 200 run partnership is also up between him and Brendon McCullum.

Great show byNZ, I qent to bed with 24/2, good recovery

from 30 for 3 to 329-4.......I didn't watch...but can infer that Dhoni went to sleep after first 15 overs of the match..

I concluded quite some time back.....dhoni is not cut out to captain test matches outside India

sad to see such denial by the Indian team on the state of affairs:
from wisden india

Ishant picked up a wicket with his fifth delivery, Hamish Rutherford becoming his 150th victim in Test cricket, and followed it up with the huge scalp of Ross Taylor, also in his first spell. But having bowled well, he somewhat blotted his copybook by slipping into denial and insisting that India’s bowlers hadn’t gone off the boil after their excellent start.

India fed a generous diet of loose deliveries in the second and third sessions, allowing New Zealand to not just rally but also counter-punch in spectacular fashion through Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson. India leaked 125 runs in 27 overs in the second session and conceded 150 in 39 in the third, as New Zealand finished the day clearly the stronger of the sides.

Ishant rebutted suggestions that the Indian intensity had dropped through the day, seeking refuge in the mistaken theory that they always had the rate of scoring under control. “I don’t think so,” he said. “You can see that we did not let their run-rate go high at any point. It was always under control. Even as the wicket got flat and the ball got old, we kept bowling in the right areas. What is in our hand is that when the wicket goes flat, you have to be patient and see how to create pressure.”

The denial spilled over to the overdose of short stuff India dealt in. “I don’t think so,” Ishant repeated when asked if India overdid the short ball. “We bowled in pretty good areas. They played good shots. We bowled enough bouncers and they kept on playing the pull over the top of the keeper and the slip cordon. You can’t control all this. We were still bowling in the right areas but you have to give credit to their batsmen. They played really well. The wicket got better as the day progressed. On these kinds of wickets, you need to be patient and keep bowling in the good areas. That is what we did.” Right areas? For the batsman or the bowler, one was tempted to ask.

Hope those balls in the right areas continue on day two. I fear though some bad balls might trouble the NZ batsman and India will be encouraged to deteriorate their play...

Jesus are New Zealand this good or Indias bowling this bad? Suddenly the West Indies and England have an excuse.

I can only imagine KPFans continued absence is due to a stress induced illness bought on buy this and the news that Cook won something.

I was starting to wonder where KPF is as well!

Superb first day for New Zealand, carrying on well from the ODIs and the Tests at home last year to England.

KW has been in Poopie hot form recently, five fifty+ and a ton in his last six knocks. NZ are a quickly improving team.

But Indian bowling away from home  

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Hope those balls in the right areas continue on day two. I fear though some bad balls might trouble the NZ batsman and India will be encouraged to deteriorate their play...

Yeah, we'll have to wait and see how India bat and NZ bowl.

The pitch started off with a definite green tinge... so at 30/3 it did look ominous for about 30-45 minutes. McCullum then started to break up the Indian bowling (playing some forceful shots) and the pitch from then on looked fine for batting. A few dropped catches were costly for NZ. It could easily have been 50/5 or something like that.

I'm slightly more confident that the Kiwi bowling will have more focus and they didn't seem to be intimidated by India at all in the recent ODI matches.

Duty281 wrote:I was starting to wonder where KPF is as well!

Superb first day for New Zealand, carrying on well from the ODIs and the Tests at home last year to England.

what does the brown writer's emblem under your name means  

KP_fan wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I was starting to wonder where KPF is as well!

Superb first day for New Zealand, carrying on well from the ODIs and the Tests at home last year to England.

what does the brown writer's emblem under your name means  

It means just what you think it means, KP_Fan.   

Have I alarmed you somewhat?

Brown moustache ?

SS KP fan, but i was expecting you to be having multiple orgasms over the KP story?

Maybe you agree this time with the ECB  

skyeman wrote:SS KP fan, but i was expecting you to be having multiple orgasms over the KP story?

Maybe you agree this time with the ECB  

It is a hopeless situation now for England........ECB have to show they can win...and all will be forgotten.
Else the ghost of KP will haunt them forever.

Duty281 wrote:

KP_fan wrote:

Duty281 wrote:I was starting to wonder where KPF is as well!

Superb first day for New Zealand, carrying on well from the ODIs and the Tests at home last year to England.

what does the brown writer's emblem under your name means  

It means just what you think it means, KP_Fan.   

Have I alarmed you somewhat?

Yeah...you have...I was expecting your to turn into a Patriotic poet.......not   a sports writer

KP_fan wrote:sad to see such denial by the Indian team on the state of affairs:
from wisden india

Ishant picked up a wicket with his fifth delivery, Hamish Rutherford becoming his 150th victim in Test cricket, and followed it up with the huge scalp of Ross Taylor, also in his first spell. But having bowled well, he somewhat blotted his copybook by slipping into denial and insisting that India’s bowlers hadn’t gone off the boil after their excellent start.

India fed a generous diet of loose deliveries in the second and third sessions, allowing New Zealand to not just rally but also counter-punch in spectacular fashion through Kane Williamson, Brendon McCullum and Corey Anderson. India leaked 125 runs in 27 overs in the second session and conceded 150 in 39 in the third, as New Zealand finished the day clearly the stronger of the sides.

Ishant rebutted suggestions that the Indian intensity had dropped through the day, seeking refuge in the mistaken theory that they always had the rate of scoring under control. “I don’t think so,” he said. “You can see that we did not let their run-rate go high at any point. It was always under control. Even as the wicket got flat and the ball got old, we kept bowling in the right areas. What is in our hand is that when the wicket goes flat, you have to be patient and see how to create pressure.”

The denial spilled over to the overdose of short stuff India dealt in. “I don’t think so,” Ishant repeated when asked if India overdid the short ball. “We bowled in pretty good areas. They played good shots. We bowled enough bouncers and they kept on playing the pull over the top of the keeper and the slip cordon. You can’t control all this. We were still bowling in the right areas but you have to give credit to their batsmen. They played really well. The wicket got better as the day progressed. On these kinds of wickets, you need to be patient and keep bowling in the good areas. That is what we did.” Right areas? For the batsman or the bowler, one was tempted to ask.

Who send the clown to meet the press?

Couldn't follow much of the game after the Fulton drop. Pretty poor day for India, and already its all down to the batsmen to make something out of this test. I am expecting New Zealand to go pass 500 without issues.
It was a timely knock from the New Zealand skipper and it isn't over yet. Kane Williamson, can he do anything wrong? The only wrong he was committing was that he wasn't converting his 50s into 100s, and now he has addressed that as well.
Zaheer took 2 wickets but didn't seem to have bowled well and he went for plenty as well. Jadeja, the bowler capable of holding up an end, also let his captain down by giving easy runs and going at over 4. Shami couldn't take wickets though he kept a decent economy rate. The clown took a couple of wickets, and that is more agonizing news for India.

And oh, the fielding, it was substandard!.

msp83 wrote:Couldn't follow much of the game after the Fulton drop. Pretty poor day for India, and already its all down to the batsmen to make something out of this test. I am expecting New Zealand to go pass 500 without issues.
It was a timely knock from the New Zealand skipper and it isn't over yet. Kane Williamson, can he do anything wrong? The only wrong he was committing was that he wasn't converting his 50s into 100s, and now he has addressed that as well.
Zaheer took 2 wickets but didn't seem to have bowled well and he went for plenty as well. Jadeja, the bowler capable of holding up an end, also let his captain down by giving easy runs and going at over 4. Shami couldn't take wickets though he kept a decent economy rate. The clown took a couple of wickets, and that is more agonizing news for India.

Ishant appears to be like Jade, one game in thirty they may do well.  

skyeman wrote:

msp83 wrote:Couldn't follow much of the game after the Fulton drop. Pretty poor day for India, and already its all down to the batsmen to make something out of this test. I am expecting New Zealand to go pass 500 without issues.
It was a timely knock from the New Zealand skipper and it isn't over yet. Kane Williamson, can he do anything wrong? The only wrong he was committing was that he wasn't converting his 50s into 100s, and now he has addressed that as well.
Zaheer took 2 wickets but didn't seem to have bowled well and he went for plenty as well. Jadeja, the bowler capable of holding up an end, also let his captain down by giving easy runs and going at over 4. Shami couldn't take wickets though he kept a decent economy rate. The clown took a couple of wickets, and that is more agonizing news for India.

Ishant appears to be like Jade, one game in thirty they may do well.  

Mercifully, England limit the Dernbach torcher on the supporters to only limited over games!.

England really need Ishant to produce the goods on this tour and maintain his place


Any sign of any internal divisions in the camp? Has Kholi said " fluff what Fletcher thinks" yet? Any sign that Jadejas elbow will cause him to quit? Will Dhoni get in a huff because theres no jellybeans and be left out for a batsman to keep wicket in the next test?

Peter Seabiscuit Wheeler wrote:England really need Ishant to produce the goods on this tour and maintain his place


Any sign of any internal divisions in the camp? Has Kholi said " fluff what Fletcher thinks" yet? Any sign that Jadejas elbow will cause him to quit? Will Dhoni get in a huff because theres no jellybeans and be left out for a batsman to keep wicket in the next test?

There are reports that Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujara will be cut from India's plans for the future so that they could build a new team of philosophy lecturers.

If Anderson and McCullum make it through this first hour there could be absolute carnage here...

By God this is one terrible attack the Indians have got. 

Shami is very promising. As is Jadeja. 

Neither Khan or Sharma should be playing Test cricket. Khan's been a fine servant, but bowling 120-126kph ain't getting the job done. Sharma is pathetic. 150 poles at 38. It's laughable. 

They've got Yadav, a 147-155kph bowler, carrying drinks again. Pandey who was pretty good in the warm up match. 

India need to get some balls and pick 5 bowlers. 

Ashwin is more than good enough to bat at 6, IMO. 

Get rid of the wasteman Rohit Sharma.

Ishant keeping England happy here...

Anderson pinned lbw for 77. 

3-89 for Ishant. 

If he gets a michelle, will he get a haircut...???

Looked high to me that LBW

Olly wrote:Looked high to me that LBW

Poor decision

Gerry SA wrote:

Olly wrote:Looked high to me that LBW

Poor decision

Very poor, McCullum rightfully disgusted. God the ICC need to make DRS mandatory

Now getting this "it all evens up" guff from the commentators

Olly wrote:

Gerry SA wrote:

Olly wrote:Looked high to me that LBW

Poor decision

Very poor, McCullum rightfully disgusted. God the ICC need to make DRS mandatory

Now getting this "it all evens up" guff from the commentators

TBH Gavaskar didn't agree with Mark Richardson's 'it all evens up' nonsense. 

Shame for Anderson, he hasn't even extended himself yet, and was looking good for 100 and plenty.

Yeah Anderson was looking good, very promising player for NZ. Not got a bad side at all the Kiwis

Sharma really does bowl guff