The Official Bharat Army Thread

[Colourful Chaddi]

Salaam-Namaste

Akagar is a good choice in my opinon. Zaheer Khan can be very in-consistant and has been sufferring from many injuries such as his hamstring. In the practice match against Pakistan A he didn't impress me, and also I would like to see variety in the attack of right/left hand combination of Pathan and Agakar. Also Agakar can bat, im sure every Indian fan can remember his hundred at Lords.

India's main seamer is Irfan Pathan who is also capbale of scoring tons but has been unlucky not to do so. Pathan can be very dangerous with the ball in the air which will be vital as he is unlikely to get any asisstance from the pitch.

At the end of the day everybody knows that it is not the pace which wins India matches it is spin. Apart from Pathan the other pace bowlers are used only for removing the shine off the new ball.

Jai Hind.

[DomainK]

I will also stick with the original 11....same as Waseem's team-

1. Virender Sehwag
2. Rahul Dravid
3. VVS Laxman
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Saurav Ganguly
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. MS Dhoni
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Agit Agakar
10. Anil Kumble
11. Harbhajan Singh

Currently, Dravid should open with Sehwag for the next few matches till we get another good opener back into the side.

Agarkar can be useful if the ball starts reversing. I think he is the best India has when it comes to reversing. Going by Rashid Latif's recent article, Pakistan will get another flat pitch where the ball will reverse. If that happens, Agarkar will be more useful than Zaheer.

Now lets wait and watch...

[Uham]

No I just dont think Aghkar is the right choice. He is not there main bowler. I think Zaheer because who made the Asian XI against Africa. Zaheer is a good bowler Aghkar I think is ver expensive. And he also bores me by his slowness. He is there strike bowler YOU NEED PACE. Pakistans strike bowlers SHOAIB AKHTAR Worlds Fastest Bowler Mohammad Sami at times and even Rana is quicking up his pace. You need to have good pace to be a stirke bowler.

o m r w
Agarkar 24 3 122 2 (2w)


Shoaib Akhtar 16.2 6 46 0 (4nb, 1w)

He is expensive as well. His two wickets were Shaid afridi and Rana Naved. Not bad for a prime time bowler

[DomainK]

TOI had reported that the pitch for the next match looks like the last one.

[Colourful Chaddi]

Salaam-Namaste Bharat Army

Your are right DomainK, Pakistan have again prepared a flat batting track, the report from the BBC is here.

It is saying the weather is to blame as it is making the groundsman work hard. The groundsman is trying to prepare a hard picth which is similar to the ones seen in Australia but if the weather is wet and cold won't it be wise to make a green seaming pitch? The seaming track can help the Pakistani attack more than it would the Indian seam attack which only consists of Agakar and Pathan, compared to Pakistan's Akhtar, Sami and Naved-ul-Hasan.

If these batting pitches are seen again in this series the only positives I can take from this series for India is that it has been a good batting practice ahead of the England series. I can't wait for Sehwag and co. to destroy the "best attack in the world".

Jai Hind

[DomainK]

Very true Waseem. And this is not the first time we are playing a match in cold weather on subcontinent pitches. Never before we saw such a dead pitch.

[Colourful Chaddi]

DomainK this really says alot about the Pakistani board. There has been countless blame on the curator but I think the blame must go on the Pakistani board for scheduling the series at this time of the year and in this region. It would have been more wiser from the PCB if the series was scheduled away from such weather.

Also there is a report on cricinfo that says that India might be planning to play five bowler to take the 20 wickets in the match. Ganguly is most likely to miss out if India opt for an extra bowler.

[DomainK]

RP singh has been impressive in this game.

[Colourful Chaddi]

Originally Posted by DomainK

RP singh has been impressive in this game.

Yes he diffinatly suprised me with his bowling. He looks to be a good bowler who can get wickets on dead picthes with his bounce. He hasn't got express pace but im sure he makes it up with bounce and accuracy. I just checked his bowling record in domestic cricket his bowling averages are all below 23 which is excellent and is a good sign for the future of Indian cricket.

This is his figures in Pakistan first innings:

PHP Code:

Bowling                      O      M      R      W
Pathan                      19      4    106      0 (1nb)
Singh                       25      3     89      4 (1nb, 2w)
Khan                        32      7    135      3 (3nb, 1w) 


By far the best fgure out of the lot. I was also pleased with Zaheer Khan, he bowled well on his comeback. Irfan Pathan was dissapointing, he got to make a good score with the bat now.

If he can carry on bowling like this, Pathan and him can make a solid opening partnership something which India haven't had for years. He must play regulary in the team now, if he has a off game we should still persist with him because if he gets dropped his confidence will be affected greatly.

[Doink]

Salaam namaste guys and thank you Waseem for letting me in the Bharat Army! Zaheer was always a good bowler, the only thing which he could do without is his attitude towards fitness. The long lay-off seems to have taught him a good lesson and I'm sure he'll sail along without any problems now. Same is with his one-time partner Nehra. I am very happy to see Irfan anbd RP do well. They will put a lot of pressure on the others and the level of competiveness will rise. Miss Balaji a lot! Irfan and he bowled well in tandem.