mm yea im hoping for a really good series after the disappointment of the test series (although it has been fun rubbing it in to all my indian friends)
rahul sharma is a really economical legspinner and jadeja is a very useful all rounder. i think india will definitely be more competitive in the one dayers. and sri lanka look decent atm too. they have some new guys who are doing well.
Nah he's the chief culprit. He doesn't care about test cricket, he's more interest in the versions of the game that will make him more money so he jam packed his schedule with them, then demands that he gets some time off so you get situations like this series where they end up playing like three and a half days total of tour matches with players being rotated etc instead of what they should be doing which is coming down a month in advance and playing two or three hard games of first class cricket. Dhoni demanded a hands off coach that would give absolute authority to the captain, then he proceeded to dick around once he got the captaincy. He's been playing across the line and slashing at wide ones when he's team is desperate, he has no temperament for test cricket.
I would also add that Laxman is age challenged - the man cannot run at all hahaha.
Laxman never could run, he's always been pretty ill disciplined, he was next on Chappell's hitlist after Chappell sacked Ganguly but then the BCCI sacked Chappell first. The point is I was defending in particular Dravid but also Tendulkar, saying they haven't batted like they don't care, they looks like players struggling but giving their all, just lacking the magic of previous days. Laxman on the other hand has been cavalier and reckless a lot of the time like a player who earns his money elsewhere and doesn't really care that much about test cricket anymore.
Dravid's reflexes are going I think, you'll also notice he's dropping more catches at slip where he once was described as the greatest slips fieldsman in the world. On subcontinent pitches and even good true hard wickets he is still formidable but on faster pitches he is getting increasingly vulnerable and it grieves me to say it. He has been one of the greatest ambassadors the game has had for such a long time. I watched a bit of Dravid's batting this year too and he's not the same batsman, he is getting into position a lot later than he used to and his timing is not what you'd expect. He scored those runs because he is such a disciplined, professional who avoids risks, gets the ball to ground etc but now its coming unstuck for him.
Manoj, Saurabh is a solid player but he isn't shattering records or anything.
yeah manoj is the more reliable and consistent player. saurabh is more of a t20 player.
most probably, considering its his home ground. and also it is a batting pitch so there really isnt much point to playing 4 seamers.
