Sport Today

Consider the human, Rakesh Gupta.

First, he was ***ly anti-Robin during his initiation into the Indian
ODI team.

Then, as he turned in a few sterling performances, he became Robin's
biggest fan.

Next thing, a couple of failures, and he calls, not merely for his
dropping from the team, but for the absolute END to his entire CAREER.

Now that Robin Singh has taken 5 wickets, will the chameleon change
colours once again?

If he does, it will only serve as justification of the valuable award I
personally bestowed on him (most Mercurial Poster on RSC, for those of
you who missed it) only last week.

- Chan [can't wait to see...]

ps. Now all that remains is for Sidhu to be top-scorer in India's
winning reply.

pps. I already predicted India 2-1. Let's hope it won't be a whitewash.
I can already hear the daggers being sharpened for the next thread:
"Look what happened to the so-called World Champs". What *is* it with
this word "so-called"? Why can't you just come out and SAY it, moron?
That your definition of World Champions is that they remain unbeaten in
every series till the next World Cup (like all the previous WC winners).

By moron I am not referring to Rakesh, btw. Just to those cretins who
are so jealous of SL's recent good fortune that they're just waiting for
any opportunity to cut them down. And yes, I'm a little sensitive on
this issue.

On Sun, 21 Dec 1997 23:38:52 -0900, "C. Fonseka"

problems with robin:

1.  will play 5 dots balls and then will try to hit the sixth one out of
the ground......and get out.  or try to hit the first one out of the
ground and get out.

2.  a lot has been heard about his fielding but i have still to hear/see
a run out from him or a blinder catch like jadeja has done so many
times.

3.  his average still is probably in 20s (can someone confirm this?) and
i am sure what is his strike rate.

plus points:

1.  keeps his cool at the tense situations
2.  can bowl well in ODIs

but overall he will never be in my ODI team.

rg

robin - 39 matches, avg. ~25, one hundred and only one fifty
        27 wickets at 4.82 average

jadeja - 110 matches, avg. 33.4, two hundred and SIX*** fifties, one  
record parternship with azhar
        14 wickets at 5.23 avg.

certainly jadeja's batting average is much better than robin's.  the
problem is that jadeja has not been utilized fully.  if he had been
utilized as a bowler also then robin probably was not needed.  also, i
think, jadeja is a much better fielder than robin and jadeja is a good
team person who can motivate the team whereas robin seems to be a quite
person.  

rg

Slowhand

Anyway, a comparison of their strike rates (avg. runs per 100 balls faced)
is revealing, and Robin Singh's is much better.

 Bottom line is that both are `bits and pieces' cricketers, and should
be utilized as such. There is no use pretending that either of them is
a specialist batsman (or bowler).

 Ciao,
Sreedhar

................................
Ajay Jadeja
TESTS (including 09/08/1997)
                M    I     Runs     Ave    100  50
Batting    11   16   473       31.53      -   4          
Bowling  None  

ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS (including 16/12/1997)
                  M      I     Runs       Ave   100  50  
Batting     111   99    2839      33.01    2   16  
                                         ^^^^^^^^^^^^
                    O         R    W    Ave  Best   5w  SR*   Econ
Bowling    197.2   1033  14  73.78  2-16   -    84.5   5.23
                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

...........................................
Robin Singh
ONE-DAY INTERNATIONALS (including 14/12/1997)
                  M    I    Runs       Ave 100  50  
Batting      40   34  720        24.82   1     1
                                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  
                O         R     W    Ave   Best   5w  SR*   Econ
Bowling 217.4   1048  32  32.75  5-22    1   47.2  4.82
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Couldn't calculate the new strike rate after Guwahati as I don't know
what ingredients go into it;))
I suspect its not that much changed.

I hate to go over this again, but...
* Robin has the highest ODI strike rate among all active ODI players. (Compare his 87.X to Ajay's low 60's). So when you say Robin defends too many balls, imagine what other Indian ODI batsmen do. If you ask me, I don't care how Robin gets his runs. 87 % is a darned good S/R and I will take it for what it's worth. Also, don't you think 63 S/R is a tad low for a guy who is touted as India's best "pinch-hitter"?
* In high-scoring ODI's S/R is as valuable as the average. At #4 and #5, you are not expected to score 50's and 100's. Your role is to get those 20's and 30's in quick fashion. I think Robin does this as good as Ajay, if not better.
* Robin Singh has perfomed in more potential match-winning or match saving situations than our hero of the WC QF. Robin has had some part to play in all of the  whard to come-by wins we've had. The Zimbabwe tie, Karachi win, the Guwahati game etc..
* Rounder Robin happens to be one of the most economical fifth ODI bowlers right now. Ganguly is ok when seaming conditions exist.. Jadeja can never fill Robin's bowling slot. The few times he's been given a bowl, he's got the stick.
* Robin Singh might not be as flashy or spectacular as Jadeja is, but he is a safe and consistent fielder. Jadeja's fielding can be inconsistent too ( Ind-WI at Sharjah ). Bottomline: You are not a bad fielder if blinders don't come your way or if you can stop a ball by your quickness rather than show off your diving ability.

I agree that AJ motivates the rest of the team and youth is on his side. But until we find a good fill-in all-rounder ( I hope Kanitkar fulfills his promise), we have to cede these "bits-and-pices" cricketers a place.
--
Karthik