Monday, November 22, 2010

Nagpur Test: Random Thoughts III



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  1. You take out Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Suresh Raina; well not exactly in the same league; for just 32 runs. And yet at the end of the day you are looking at an innings defeat. For New Zealand, where do you start extracting positives from this?
  2. India finally batted like India in this series. Rather put up the kind of score this batting line up is capable of. Technically the middle order has still not clicked but with 550+ on the board the collective batting delivered without having to live with the horror of seeing Harbhajan excel at his part time job
  3. For Suresh Raina the honeymoon is getting sour. I hope he can compartmentalize and not let it affect his LOI output. Cheteshwar Pujara must start as a favorite in the first Test but we know how Dhoni operates, he will probably give Raina one more chance to click in South Africa. But I don't think he should bother. When it comes to compartmentalizing, India can do well to hire a Pakistani coach. Not a whistle blower like Haider, please.

6 comments:

The Cricket Couch said...

Southee royally screwed up any plans Vettori may have had (it was so bad he should be called a Northee).

Dhoni's positive intent was refreshing to see and wrested the momentum back.

Golandaaz said...

CC, Thanks for stopping by!

Yes, he bats ugly as hell but many times creates time for Indian bowlers to take wickets.

The Cricket Couch said...

Gol - His counterattacking innings of 92 in 2008.. worth its weight in gold. Turned the tenor of the series.

Vidooshak said...

Raina is worth persisting with. He has reinvented himself in ODIs and realized his talent. I think he's in the Gambhir pattern. He is finding himself in multiple situations and will slowly learn to figure out his approach in these situations. Honeymoon is getting close to over. Pujara will get his due. Let's not recommend that we rob Peter to pay Paul. Plus, it's nice to see Rohit Sharma getting big runs in Ranji Trophy.

Golandaaz said...

Vidoo, Raina has Pujara and Yuvraj breathing down his neck. Plus he is suspect on SA pitches. With Sehwag returning to the place that almost cost him his career, we probably want a more confident man at #6. I think Pujara will play the first test.

The poor guy probably needs to rest but will be playing all 5 ODIs and showing up for the first test exhausted

Golandaaz said...

CC, Absolutely he had even promoted himself up the order