Australia v India, 1st Test, Melbourne - Page 8 - World A-Team Cricket Forum

pie_chucker

I agree it is harsh to judge Dravid on one poor knock. Judge him at the end of the series...........

Before you further defend Dravids style of batting Sanjay Manjrakar gives an intersting interview on cricinfo. Cricinfo - Dravid symbolised India's diffidence

The gist of it is:

Code:

 "I spent quite a lot of time at the crease, and never once felt uncomfortable," 
he wrote in Wisden Asia Cricket. "My weakness was that I didn't have the game to 
score off good balls. So I'd spend two hours scoring 30 before a good ball would get me"......
 
...."The wait-and-watch approach is never going to be profitable in Australia. 
To succeed as a batsman, you should be able to create scoring opportunities, 
because there is little point in waiting for loose balls which never come."

Thats what happened to Dravid and will continue to happen if he bats in the same vein.

acker

The last Innings Dravid played at the MCG prior to this one was four years earlier.

Thats a long time to hold your form.

The Dravid I saw back then was a much better player than the scratchy Dravid I saw yesterday.

acker

Quote:

Originally Posted by pie_chucker

I agree it is harsh to judge Dravid on one poor knock. Judge him at the end of the series...........

Not if a change will give them a better chance at winning the series.

Rachael

The alarming bit in that statement is the negativity: "there is little point in waiting for loose balls which never come". Any side will get ragged eventually: it might take longer with some sides than with others... but loose deliveries do come along. In fact, had Dravid been at the other end he's have had quite a few opportunities to score.

Three other things that statement ignores are:

1. The temperament of the batsman: a batsman with a positive mindset will focus on the moral victories of frustrating the bowler rather than the negatives of not pushing the score along.... and I'm pretty sure Dravid's experienced enough to know that so long as he was at the crease he could help build significant partnerships.

2. It's a whole different ball game playing shots when the ball is soft: Dravid wasn't able to capitalise as he didn't quite make it that far... but that's the time to start thinking about what you can do to rotate the strike off good balls.

3. Dravid did flirt with forcing shots... and almost every time he gave a chance: that's a stark reminder that you can't score runs from the pavillion!

Patience is a virtue... and whilst it didn't lead to great things on this occasion, the innings should not be taken as evidence of a poor approach!

Django

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachael

The last innings Dravid played at the MCG was exemplary... but Dravid effectively opened the batting (Chopra fell on 1.3 overs) notched up just one boundary off his first 50 balls (and that might have been a thick edge or misfield for all I know). He went on to post significant partnerships with Tendulkar, Laxman and Ganguly and saw his team through to 253 before falling (probably to the second new ball). He played exactly the innings the side needed... briefly accelerating to a run a ball after passing 60.

....Dravid's first proper knock of the tour is a very poor basis for judging the guy harshly and he should get plenty of opportunities to go on before the series is out!

Match situation is very important here. 4 years back Dravid was batting to save the match for India. Yesterday the Indians were on top after dismissing the Aussies for a reasonable score. Dravid being the senior batsman, should have kept the momentum going with positive/aggressive cricket. Not only did he create pressure for himself and other batsmen to follow, but also allowed the Aussie bowlers to regain confidence and come out on top. As I have mentioned before, Dravid of 2007 is not the same as Dravid of 2003 - perhaps the burden of captaincy has affected his batting. I do not have his statistics in the last 2 years, but I am sure they are not as good as his overall career performance.

greg

I have had a crap day so watching this first session has cheered me up.

Computer went splat and lost lots of stuff i needn't have just because the wife had said she had saved it when she hadn't.

Been a fascinating session despite the Aussies being so on top as Harbhajan has bowled well and Kumble has too and the Aussies have been hanging on a little,it shows how tough it will be for India though in the 2nd innings.

Seamer

Quote:

Originally Posted by greg

shows how tough it will be for India though in the 2nd innings.

The 330 lead the Aussies have is plenty already. Unless it rains, you would have to say it is all over for India this test.

acker · 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachael

The alarming bit in that statement is the negativity: "there is little point in waiting for loose balls which never come". Any side will get ragged eventually: it might take longer with some sides than with others... but loose deliveries do come along. In fact, had Dravid been at the other end he's have had quite a few opportunities to score.

Watch some footage of the innings, and I think you will find he had ample opportunities to score. Lets not forget on the same pitch about 2 hours later Tendulkar brang up 50 in less balls than Dravid brang up 5.

Also noticeable other batsmen were able to score off Mitchell Johnson.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rachael

Patience is a virtue... and whilst it didn't lead to great things on this occasion, the innings should not be taken as evidence of a poor approach!

Seldom does or ever will in the overdosed proportions Dravid displayed yesterday. To win a test match you have to score more runs than the opposition, not necessarily occupy the crease longer than the opposition.

Plain and simple Dravid looked like a player in decline who just was not getting to the ball in time to execute the shots he formerly did in his hay days.

I just don't think this bloke or cult like batting followers of his, would make it in todays test cricket

acker

Quote:

Originally Posted by Django

Dravid of 2007 is not the same as Dravid of 2003 - perhaps the burden of captaincy has affected his batting. I do not have his statistics in the last 2 years, but I am sure they are not as good as his overall career performance.

It shouldn't Anil Kumble is captaining them and Dhoni is vice captain.
3 former captains out their as well (Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid) which usualy spells disaster.

8 on the offside and 1 on the onside feilds with the paceman bowling consistantly 1-2 metre outside offstump. Suggests India is primarilly interested in keeping the runs down.

Interesting the biggest succesfull 4th innings total scored to win a match at the MCG in test history is about 340 runs.

Zaheer traps Symonds plum in front LBW for 44

Aus 5/243 lead is 390.. no rain predicted for the next few days. India are in deep trouble.

Django

Quote:

Originally Posted by acker

It shouldn't Anil Kumble is captaining them and Dhoni is vice captain.
3 former captains out their as well (Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid) which usualy spells disaster.

....Aus 5/243 lead is 390.. no rain predicted for the next few days. India are in deep trouble.

I was refering to Dravid's relative poor run with the bat that started with him becoming the captain. Change in captaincy has obviously not worked for him.

India should start concentrating on how to survive the next test match - this is one is all but lost...

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