India in NewZealand

[kapdal]

Dhoni is excellent Caption, No Doubt. His problems with Sehwag seems quite old. During the Australian tour, Sehwag was asked to sit on the benches in best of three finals when Sehwag was in such a good form and provided a comeback fight in 3rd test match and avoided the defeat in 4th Test by his 152 runs single handledly. Even Australian media quoted "There was only Sehwag standing firm between India and the defeat".

Before that Sehwag missed few matched in T-20 world cup too curtesy Dhoni with escuse of resting a few players.

During Asia Cup, last year, Sehwag was again rested without any reason and in a match Seresh raina was awarded "man of the Match for his 88 instead of brillinat 124 by Sehwag. Here i believe that Caption always have a say in the declaration of the Man of the Match award.

Dhoni's attitude towards Sehwag somewhat softened after the 87 run blast against England in the first test match.

These days Sehwag is in such a destructive and dominating form that even idea of resting him can invite strong criticizm otherwise i believe Dhoni would still like to rest him for few matches.

I don't know what and where is the problem, but it is there.

Let me clarify- I DON'T think and I never meant that Dhoni has anything against Sehwag. He may or may not have, but none of these things indicate that.

Dhoni was not the captain during the test series in Australia. He was the captain during the ODIs. Sehwag played 5 matches before the final and scored 81 runs with a highest score of 32. So we can't say that Dhoni was unfair and biased in not playing him. As a captain he took the call, and well we did win the Cup. If I was the one taking the call, I'd have played Sehwag over Uthappa as Sehwag on his day is the most destructive batsman. But we should appreciate that it was Dhoni's call as the captain. The other thing is that captains have no say in Man of the Match awards. It is decided by the match refree. From T-20 world cup, I just remember that Sehwag missed the final as he was injured. If India had already qualified for a round, there is no harm in giving other players on the bench a chance.

Even when I mentioned that he is not bowling Sehwag, I didn't want to say that Dhoni is biased. I am just saying that in my opinion Dhoni should bowl him much more than he does.

[anilsinghd]

The other thing is that captains have no say in Man of the Match awards. It is decided by the match refree.

At max coachies of both team have a say and i guess they too only in man of the series. Else commentators also have a say i believe!

[vijay]

At max coachies of both team have a say and i guess they too only in man of the series. Else commentators also have a say i believe!

Captions have a say in the man of the Match Award and official commentators also plays a good role in that.

[kapdal]

Captions have a say in the man of the Match Award and official commentators also plays a good role in that.

Naah, do you have any proof? It is not something which is considered so important to make the whole gamut of commentators, captains, umpires, etc. involved. Just imagine the discussion. The match refree is there as a neutral adjudicator and he is the one who decides it.

[vijay]

Dhoni was not the captain during the test series in Australia. He was the captain during the ODIs. Sehwag played 5 matches before the final and scored 81 runs with a highest score of 32. So we can't say that Dhoni was unfair and biased in not playing him. As a captain he took the call, and well we did win the Cup. If I was the one taking the call, I'd have played Sehwag over Uthappa as Sehwag on his day is the most destructive batsman. But we should appreciate that it was Dhoni's call as the captain.

I am talking about ODI Series. Even Sehwag was little outspoken about his exclusion. As a senior member of the team ( even senior from Dhoni ) he must have taken in confidence before resting him out.

The other thing is that captains have no say in Man of the Match awards. It is decided by the match refree.

Caption and official commentators surely have a say in the man of the match and Man of the Series Award. Afetr that particular match ( when raina was given preference over Sehwag ) Arun Lal ( commentoator ) said that some guys were not in favor of Sehwag including Caption.

Even when I mentioned that he is not bowling Sehwag, I didn't want to say that Dhoni is biased. I am just saying that in my opinion Dhoni should bowl him much more than he does.

Totally agree. this is quite fair and obvious.

[vijay]

Naah, do you have any proof? It is not something which is considered so important to make the whole gamut of commentators, captains, umpires, etc. involved. Just imagine the discussion. The match refree is there as a neutral adjudicator and he is the one who decides it.

Yup, refree enjoys the liberty of having a final decision but the things are discussed or at least names are asked from the captions. While official commentators plays a good role.

[Nishantrathi82]

Naah, do you have any proof? It is not something which is considered so important to make the whole gamut of commentators, captains, umpires, etc. involved. Just imagine the discussion. The match refree is there as a neutral adjudicator and he is the one who decides it.

Yupp Refree enjoys the freedom of deciding MOM's

[kapdal]

Caption and official commentators surely have a say in the man of the match and Man of the Series Award. Afetr that particular match ( when raina was given preference over Sehwag ) Arun Lal ( commentoator ) said that some guys were not in favor of Sehwag including Caption.

If Dhoni did that, he is the biggest idiot in the world. He has a team to captain and he needs to have the confidence of the players. If he goes out of his way to make sure that an obvious man of the match award is given to an non-obvious person in the world, there is a huge risk of this leaking and becoming controversy AND spoiling the atmosphere in the dressing room. Why would he do that? What is a big deal in a man of the match anyways? I am quite sure Dhoni is not an idiot, so in my opinion he has nothing to do with it. I don't remember the match that clearly to understand why Raina got it over Sehwag (maybe he ensured the chase was finished?). And honestly, I never had any respect for Arun Lal's commentary.

[vijay]

If Dhoni did that, he is the biggest idiot in the world. He has a team to captain and he needs to have the confidence of the players. If he goes out of his way to make sure that an obvious man of the match award is given to an non-obvious person in the world, there is a huge risk of this leaking and becoming controversy AND spoiling the atmosphere in the dressing room. Why would he do that? What is a big deal in a man of the match anyways? I am quite sure Dhoni is not an idiot, so in my opinion he has nothing to do with it.

Yes, Dhoni is not an idiot and neither i am against him. His captaincy skills are excellent. I am just reminding some incidents where he seems somewhat biased to Sehwag and i might be wrong in interpertations. What i want to say is that in past i observed that Dhoni was lilttle bit uncomfortable with Sehwag and later he might have realized that it's not going to serve the team for good as well as for him. So, his attitude towards Sehwag changed later. Now, everything seems working fine between the two. So, all is well and good for Indian Cricket.

And honestly, I never had any respect for Arun Lal's commentary.

That's personal choice. Even i disliked Sidhu's commentry as he was so dramatic and over sarcastic. Sometimes he used to intimidate fellow commentators by his strong gestures. I remember once he was putting up his finger towards Jeff Boycott in a threatening manner while discussing. That was rubbish and hence he was kicked out by Star Sports commentory panel.

My point is that after that match in an formal interview Arun Lal commented about the Sehwag-Raina matter regarding Man of the Match Award. And that was official.

I don't remember the match that clearly to understand why Raina got it over Sehwag (maybe he ensured the chase was finished?).

In that particular match check the statistics :

V. Sehwag
119 run off 95 balls (5x6, 12x4) ( strike rate 125.26)

S. Raina
84 runs off 69 balls (3x6, 10x4) ( strike rate 121.73) + 2 catches

Now, i don't think that two catches is such a big advantage over a triple digit scrore as Sehwag was also brilliant in the field.

Chase was finished by the famous Yuvraj and Dhoni combo with 48 and 26 (respectively) in the end.

Here is the scoreboard of that particular match if you like to have a look :

http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/335351.html

[ygulia]

Yes, Dhoni is not an idiot and neither i am against him. His captaincy skills are excellent.

I do not remember but I read somewhere:
For every 25 runs there is one point and one point extra if you reach 50 or 100, there is one point each for run out, catch and wicket(extra point if three or more wickets are taken).
According to it both have 5 points each and Rain's score is more impressive because it has more boundries compare to their respective total score.
This is my personal analysis and I may be wrong.

[avinashprince]

:rockSunita ji well comment

Because people want to waste time on a game that they can watch with closed eyes and even sleeping and it takes long hours to do nothing just pretending that we are enjoying:p

[Nishantrathi82]

I do not remember but I read somewhere:
For every 25 runs there is one point and one point extra if you reach 50 or 100, there is one point each for run out, catch and wicket(extra point if three or more wickets are taken).
According to it both have 5 points each and Rain's score is more impressive because it has more boundries compare to their respective total score.
This is my personal analysis and I may be wrong.

Bhai g i think this tally is used for Cricket Rating not for MOM's but i m not 100% sure.

[Nishantrathi82]

So we end up with a historic win in One dayers in New Zealand.
Now its time for real test Test series is going to start in 2 days time with new team combination. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will going to make the place in the team. But i think we r missing one good pacer in the team i m not very sure about Praveen for Tests but let see if he got the chance he got the ball swing in both the direction.
Most probably the team combo is going to be
Sehwag
Gambhir
Dravid
Sachin
Laxman
Yuvi
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Ishant
Zaheer
Praveen/Amit Mishra

But i m still bit doubtfull about the Yuvi's performance in tests but lets see what he has in his mind otherwise he can be replaced by Vijay.
Good Luck team india go and grab the series by 3-0:rock

[satyeshwar]

Will they announce "man of the series" only after the tests are over? I was hoping that there would be one "man of the series" for ODIs and one for the tests. In any case, Sehwag seems to be a strong contender for that award.

[Nishantrathi82]

Will they announce "man of the series" only after the tests are over? I was hoping that there would be one "man of the series" for ODIs and one for the tests. In any case, Sehwag seems to be a strong contender for that award.

Even i was expecting two Man of the series but they said that NZealand have won three 2 20-20 match and one 1 day And India also 3 one day, So will going to announce after the test series. And Don't worry i m wating for another Triple hundred from Sehwag as the grounds are not big :rock
Surely he is leading the race for Man of the Series after tests hopefull New Zealanders will feel the same heat as like Shane Warne felt about the Sachin in dreams hehehehehe :rock

[andyjat]

i was also thinking man of the series ka kay hua Sehwag is the front runner for that

[kapdal]

So we end up with a historic win in One dayers in New Zealand.
Now its time for real test Test series is going to start in 2 days time with new team combination. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will going to make the place in the team. But i think we r missing one good pacer in the team i m not very sure about Praveen for Tests but let see if he got the chance he got the ball swing in both the direction.
Most probably the team combo is going to be
Sehwag
Gambhir
Dravid
Sachin
Laxman
Yuvi
Dhoni
Harbhajan
Ishant
Zaheer
Praveen/Amit Mishra

But i m still bit doubtfull about the Yuvi's performance in tests but lets see what he has in his mind otherwise he can be replaced by Vijay.
Good Luck team india go and grab the series by 3-0:rock

Praveen Kumar is not in the test team. It'd be a toss between Balaji and Munaf for third seamer. Though Dhawal Kulkarni is also an option. I think Balaji would be a good bet.

[Nishantrathi82]

Praveen Kumar is not in the test team. It'd be a toss between Balaji and Munaf for third seamer. Though Dhawal Kulkarni is also an option. I think Balaji would be a good bet.

Ohh then we will surely miss RP Singh he should have been better option but not i think yes Balaji will make it.

[anilsinghd]

In that particular match check the statistics :

V. Sehwag
119 run off 95 balls (5x6, 12x4) ( strike rate 125.26)

S. Raina
84 runs off 69 balls (3x6, 10x4) ( strike rate 121.73) + 2 catches

Now, i don't think that two catches is such a big advantage over a triple digit scrore as Sehwag was also brilliant in the field.

Chase was finished by the famous Yuvraj and Dhoni combo with 48 and 26 (respectively) in the end.

Here is the scoreboard of that particular match if you like to have a look :

http://content.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/335351.html

Still believe that MOM is not that big a deal really that captains are involved. and in any case the captains are on the field playing so their opinion should not really count!

Anywyas , thanks for the link. Tried the lil analyst in me to find out any reasons for Raina's preference. Pretty tricky and know that its kind of inconclus ive but lets look at the following facts and arguements:
1) Raina is at least as good as Sehwag on the field ( I and my friends call him "pankha" the way he just floats around in the field :D )
2) 2 catches in the match , not bad , right ?
3) Gambhir got out early , so Raina came in early at 1-down , and the out of the first 6 fours hit ( 2 were hit by Gambhir and 4 by Raina ) , yes those were followed by next 4 from Sehwag's bat but in a sense Raina started the assault.
3) Raina literally beat Sehwag in strike rate and runs scored all through till he was out.

Lets look at it over by over.

End of over 3 (4 runs) - India 15/1 (285 runs required from 47 overs, RR: 5.00, RRR: 6.06)
V Sehwag 0* (5b) Iftikhar Anjum 0.4-0-3-1SK Raina 3* (1b) Sohail Tanvir 1-0-5-0

End of over 4 (4 runs) - India 19/1 (281 runs required from 46 overs, RR: 4.75, RRR: 6.10)
SK Raina 7* (7b 1x4) Sohail Tanvir 2-0-9-0V Sehwag 0* (5b) Iftikhar Anjum 0.4-0-3-1

End of over 5 (7 runs) - India 26/1 (274 runs required from 45 overs, RR: 5.20, RRR: 6.08)
SK Raina 13* (11b 2x4) Iftikhar Anjum 1.4-0-10-1V Sehwag 1* (7b) Sohail Tanvir 2-0-9-0

End of over 6 (9 runs) - India 35/1 (265 runs required from 44 overs, RR: 5.83, RRR: 6.02)
SK Raina 21* (14b 4x4) Sohail Tanvir 3-0-18-0V Sehwag 2* (10b) Iftikhar Anjum 1.4-0-10-1



Raina is doing all the scoring , ofcourse he is getting more strike but he is really launching into Pak bowlers.

End of over 7 (11 runs) - India 46/1 (254 runs required from 43 overs, RR: 6.57, RRR: 5.90)
V Sehwag 13* (16b 2x4) Iftikhar Anjum 2.4-0-21-1SK Raina 21* (14b 4x4) Sohail Tanvir 3-0-18-0

End of over 8 (8 runs) - India 54/1 (246 runs required from 42 overs, RR: 6.75, RRR: 5.85)
V Sehwag 21* (22b 4x4) Sohail Tanvir 4-0-26-0SK Raina 21* (14b 4x4) Iftikhar Anjum 2.4-0-21-1

End of over 9 (7 runs) - India 61/1 (239 runs required from 41 overs, RR: 6.77, RRR: 5.82)
V Sehwag 21* (23b 4x4) Iftikhar Anjum 3.4-0-28-1SK Raina 28* (19b 5x4) Sohail Tanvir 4-0-26-0

End of over 10 (7 runs) - India 68/1 (232 runs required from 40 overs, RR: 6.80, RRR: 5.80)
V Sehwag 23* (26b 4x4) Sohail Tanvir 5-0-33-0SK Raina 33* (22b 6x4) Iftikhar Anjum 3.4-0-28-1

End of over 11 (6 runs) - India 74/1 (226 runs required from 39 overs, RR: 6.72, RRR: 5.79)
SK Raina 38* (27b 7x4) Shahid Afridi 1-0-6-0V Sehwag 24* (27b 4x4) Sohail Tanvir 5-0-33-0

End of over 12 (2 runs) - India 76/1 (224 runs required from 38 overs, RR: 6.33, RRR: 5.89)
V Sehwag 25* (31b 4x4) Iftikhar Anjum 4.4-0-30-1SK Raina 39* (29b 7x4) Shahid Afridi 1-0-6-0

Sehwag is less than run a ball thus far .... Raina is 140 SR. (remember we are chasing 300 runs).


It's now that Sehwag hits two monster sixes of Afridi and gets SR >100.


Yeah i know its kind of difficult but I would also be biased to give it to Raina for a coule of reasons:
young players need be motivated. No body of us knows whether Sehwag himself might have walked up to the captain and said that he want Raina to take the MoM.
Sachin has done that a couple of times to a few youngsters. Right ?

Its tricky i know but i would not be adamant on categoirising this as an bias against Sehwag ....

====================
Thanks,
Anil

[anilsinghd]

Again am not watching it , but from friends heard that Munaf did bowl at good speed so his inclusion was not bad , as he bowls good line and length stuff !

India could have wrapped NZ for 150 or so , but allowed them for a 280 score.

Stupid running costed Sehwag his wicket , but pleased to see all batsmen have a good knock in the middle , good sign for the series as Indians are always a lazy starter.

If we win this match , I would be biased towards including Mishra as the second spinner ahead of Yuvi for the next match( also provided wickets are the same that is are not very bowler friendly ) . Wrist spinner should have a say on flat tracks and NZ dismay a gainst spin should help Mishra!


India are in a good position and if Yuvi and Sachin get going tomorrow with Dhoni to follow , we might not have to bat again in this match!