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5 and 8 in the same match. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
13 wkts in a test match. You have already done once, one more to equal
'all time best indian record' of 2 10wm in 131 test by a bowler.

With this you have done something which Dr. 434 maharaj never did in his
life:- 5 wkts in both the innings of a test match.

Now it is upto our batsmen to score 279 runs.

RK- [ saluting Srinath for a lion hearted performance ]

Dr. 434 Maharaj            Srinath
                                  No of test

50th wkt                 16                       19
100th wkt                25                       30
150th wkt                39                       38 (143 wkts)
200th wkt                50                       ??

Srinath is catching up fast and I am pretty confident that his 200 will
be before 50th test. Both Dr. 434 maharaj and Srinath has little support
but during the times of Dr 434 Maharaj at least the indian batting was
not so spineless.

RK-

Srinath is the dad of all home wicket bullies. The batsmen played careless
shots and got out. Same was the case with Bahut Krap Prasad at Madras. Getting
wickets in tests against Pakistan is no big deal. What is important is getting
wickets in ODIs against Zimbabwe, Kenya, Bangladesh etc.

jagadish => who hopes this test doesnt go the way of Chennai
--
If at first you don't succeed, call it version 1.0

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if you think i'm rooting against srinath, you're barking up the
wrong tree, buddy. nothing gives me greater pleasure than seeing
a fellow son-of-the-soil kick severe butt.
 but unlike you, i don't let srinath's exploits diminish
434's value. btw, 434 once took 8/85 vs pak when another opener
(mudassar) carried bat for them. they managed 300+ even then.

***bowling. he could not get pak under 300.
see where i'm coming from ?

All the sarcasm aside, I find myself absolutely *delighted* by this
showing and would be all gung-ho with my wild celebratory dances,
but for the fact that I am deeply concerned that once again we let
them take the match just about away from our reach before we were
able to spark a collapse, and that once again we're likely to fall
(well?) short of getting to the target -- but for an innings of  
reasonably epic proportions, as was of course the case at Madras.

13 wickets in a game is nothing to scoff at at all, and if this
performance means that Srinath gains the confidence he desperately
needs to become a *truly* world-class bowler in the remaining
years to come, then I find myself well and truly chuffed.

Cheers,

Harish (quite ecstatic with JS)

I agree entirely. I said once before (after the Madras test) that in my
opinion we often let things go for too long, and some things were not
make-up-able. The Indian team seems to continuously test this theory, to try
and push the envelope :-) So far, they have usually dug themselves holes that
were indeed not make-up-able. We'll find out tomorrow if that was indeed the
case this time around as well.

I have seen better bowling from Srinath than yesterday, actually. But I dont
think Ive ever seen him give such a truly lion-hearted performance as he did
yesterday. It was brilliant.

He started off poorly. Early morning, when we all thought it was critical, he
bowled 4 overs for 12 runs in his spell, looking, I thought, very lackluster
indeed - not a patch on the Srinath of the first day. Pakistan were up to 48/1
by the time he went off after that spell.

He came back for 1 over before lunch, very soon after Saqlain had been
dismissed - mainly to have a go at Ejaz. And he promptly went for 10 in the
over - a very poor over, which even the commentators thought was handing the
initiative to the Pakistanis.

He came back after lunch, with Kumble at the other end (with Pakistan 113/2,
75 ahead). Gave away 7 runs in his first over. Then he steadied and bowled
much better - got tighter (despite a couple of no ball problems) and started
troubling the batsmen, particularly Ejaz. He got Ejaz outside off, and kept
up the hostility to the new batsman Youhana (who did seem to handle him
better than Ejaz had). The 5 overs he bowled after that first one cost him
only 9 runs, with the wicket of Ejaz - and this must have included 3 or 4 no
balls. He was quicker than in the morning, getting the odd one to bounce
sharply and troubling the batsmen. The score was 152/3 when he went off - 114
ahead.

He was then out of the attack for the rest of the session, having bowled most
of the first hour. Tea was taken with the score at 203/3, 168 ahead -
Pakistan had done a very good job of pushing the scoring along when they had
the chance. Thats a critical part of the game that India must do - Anwar was
set and he kept the scoreboard moving along quite quickly when the spearhead
of the attack was off - and despite the presence of a new batsman, they added
50 odd in just over an hour.

At tea, 70 overs had been bowled - so Srinath and Prasad would be held out
after tea as well, for the new ball, for another 10 overs. In those 10 overs,
Pakistan went from 202/3 to 252/3 - 50 runs added in those 10 overs. That was
very good cricket - they knew it would get harder with the new ball and the
pacers back on, so they took full advantage of the 10 overs immediately after
tea - Youhana especially opened out marvellously (hit Kumble for a four and a
six in one over - Kumble was quite disappointing with his bowling at times
yesterday). Thus Pakistan were already 214 clear when the new ball was taken
(3 balls after it was due).

And this is when Srinath did his real work, and gave his true lion hearted
performance. He had been middling-to-good the entire day until this point -
had bowled about 11 overs in the day until then (a little too few, I
thought). But when he got the new ball, he bowled with fire and effort. Got 2
wickets in his 2nd over with the new ball (and almost a hat-trick). Then got
Malik in his 5th over with the new ball. Didnt get a wicket in his 6th and
7th, and seemed to be quite clearly tiring by then. He cut down his run-up
and kept bowling, however. The balls didnt have quite the same pace as they
did earlier (every ball didnt, I mean), and the bouncers were not quite as
rapid or frequent. But he kept going, and started pitching it up more (hey,
thats an idea - maybe we should always bowl him when he's tired :-) He got
Azhar Mehmood in his 8th over of the spell, and Wasim Akram in the 9th. By
this time he was clearly running on fumes, but still plugging away and
pitching it up - far fewer short balls. When Akhtar came in, people called
for a bouncer to him :-) But Srinath didnt bowl a single short pitched one to
Akhtar - kept it up. And finally got him last ball of the 10th over of his
spell, with a genuine yorker that knocked out his offstump - a taste of his
own medicine :-)

In all, he bowled 10 overs on the trot with the new ball, at the fag end of
the day. And claimed 6 for 30. Apart from being good bowling, it was a
demonstration of true heart and effort from Javagal.

We'll find out tomorrow if it came in time - it would be just reward for him
if it did. Even though he wasnt great in his first spell yesterday, he really
doesnt have much blame - he bowled only 11 overs for a wicket yesterday (not
great overs, but still) until the new ball. Sometimes it is the job of other
bowlers to chip in as well, and help share the load. None did yesterday -
Prasad didnt claim a wicket till the 93rd over of the innings, Kumble didnt
claim one at all (in 24 overs I think), and Harbajan got just 1 - Anwar
played the spin excellently, using his feet to Harbajan every time Harby did
something special with the ball and beat the bat. A 3rd seamer would have
been hugely useful yesterday - if Agarkar was healthy, Iam convinced he would
have been played on this track. Srinath bowled excellently with the new ball
and deserved his 6 wickets in that spell - I just wish there hadnt been 6
wickets left to take by that time (and 7 to be taken after 90 overs of the
innings :-)

279 is never an easy target in the 4th innings - I'd like to see how many
times its been done on the 4th innings in subcontinental conditions, I'd bet
not too many (someone should ask Aslam - Iam sure he isnt reading this far
into this spiel :-) The pitch is in far better condition than Madras though -
that one had genuine nip for the spinners, and *huge* turn, as well as
variable bounce and some double-pace. This pitch is not bad - its been a very
fair cricketing wicket so far, true bounce and ok pace. The pace has slowed,
if anything. The bounce is still mostly true - there is some variable bounce,
but its nowhere near as often as Madras - and I havent seen any indication of
double-pace at all. There are some cracks and Iam sure the Pakistani bowlers
will use it better than ours did. In addition, they will use the old ball and
get reverse swing - our bowlers were totally helpless with the old ball
(Kookoburra balls are being used for this game, unlike the first 2 tests).
But there are still runs to be had on this pitch for good batting - and the
ball comes on for strokeplay far better than Delhi or Madras.

You could say, in fact, that if 271 looked do-able in Madras (and we fell only
12 runs short), then 279 should be do-able here. The problem with that is, it
took one of the greatest innings in test history (according to some experts)
for India to get within 12 in Madras - after being 80/5. And those kinds of
innings literally come once every decade or so - not twice every month :-)

Having given up 300 yesterday, it will require a strong concerted effort from
the Indian batsmen to get 275 more runs today against this attack. India needs
desparately for there to be a good start, and for contributions (even little
contributions) all the way down the line. There must be partnerships all the
way along - everyone needs to stand up to be counted, for at least a few. And
it will require at least 2 major-ish innings, and probably 2 sizeable
partnerships for India to be able to pull this one out.

It is still do-able, though :-) While there is life there is hope :-)

Sadiq [ *this* time, pray God, let me quote Southey tomorrow ] Yusuf

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:>
:>> With this you have done something which Dr. 434 maharaj never did in his
:>> life:- 5 wkts in both the innings of a test match.
:>
:>Srinath is the dad of all home wicket bullies.

: All the sarcasm aside, I find myself absolutely *delighted* by this
: showing and would be all gung-ho with my wild celebratory dances,
: but for the fact that I am deeply concerned that once again we let
: them take the match just about away from our reach before we were
: able to spark a collapse, and that once again we're likely to fall
: (well?) short of getting to the target -- but for an innings of  
: reasonably epic proportions, as was of course the case at Madras.

You forgot to add the mandatory disclaimer - you would of course
be happy if you're proved to be wrong.

samir

<very good description of Srinath's bowling deleted>

I will be very happy if it takes Pakistan 10 great deliveries like the one Dravid
and SRT got to win i.e. each one of the batsmen be it a Prasad or Ramesh needs to
sell their wickets dearly.  If after such a effort they come up short it is
understandable. This should specifically apply to our captain who is not merely
going through a rough patch but seems incapable of concentrating and giving a good
account of himself.  Hey BTW if the oft touted 6.6 innings per century holds, then
Azza is overdue for a century.  Its been eight innings since he scored a century
and afterall this Eden Gardens, hopefully something will click.

Balaji

<Lots of good stuff deleted>

With SRT, hope the great knocks would occur in quick succession:-)
That is, if his Sharjah ODI knocks are anything to go by. And I
suspect he must have marked Akhtar for special treatment. Let us
hope Lax is not so lax in the second innings. I am expecting a
decent half century from his bat. The ineluctable LOA might catch
up with Ramesh. RD should induce lethargy and somnolence in the Pak
bowlers rather than take that effect upon himself :-) Azzubhai had
better deliver or get the hell out. As Balaji has pointed out in
another post, it is time that "century in every 6.6 innings" takes
effect NOW. No point in clobbering the Sri Lankan bowling on March
24th (that is, if he indeed does that). In addition, he needs to
make amends for such a huge Pak total--dropping Anwar's sitter.
Gangs, what is the point of that useless second innings hundred in
NZ? Do it now.

Sundar [exciting evening on the cards] Subramanian

Yes, just when everybody thinks he has come up with a once-in-a-lifetime
innings he always comes with something better.

 >And I suspect he must have marked Akhtar for special treatment

He would have definitely done that. If he lets Akthar get away with it, then
Akhtar will be another bogey man for India who may wreak havoc for the next 10
years. This is a very important psychological battle which needs to be won
today for future battles, else add Akhtar character to india's nightmares
(Aquib Javed, Miandad, Imran, Malik.....)

Rahul never plays mental games like Sachin does, thus reducing his
effectiveness in pressure situations. In fact Sunny used to play a lot of
mental games with the bowlers even while defending. This is one area where
Rahul hasn't come close to Sunny. He seems to play within himself.  I somehow
think that his coolness & calmness doesn't irritate the bowlers (like Sunny or
even Arjuna).

Sometimes a wicked grin or a deliberate attempt to slow down things does a lot
of damage to the bowler's concentration. In a match against Pak all these
things count. Indians should do it. They should suddenly try to steal singles &
two's get on their nerves.

In fact if I were the captain, I would send Srinath one down to pinch hit.
Anyway he is useless when he comes at India needing 10 runs with 3 wickets in
hand. So why not maximize his utility. By pinch hitting I dont mean slogging,
but just the way he played those good test knocks in the recent times. That'll
surprise the opposition & if Pak doesn't get him out within 20 balls they'll be
frustrated & may start spraying & start losing things. If he gets a quick 30-40
runs the target will look so so smaller.

Basically India should play "Gully" cricket rather than test cricket out there

Cheers,
Roshan

Thats the key, I think - they have to fight hard every step of the way. I
dont think they did that in Madras, but for a handful. It has to be a
concerted team effort - 9 batsmen combining for 34 aint gonna cut it, just
like it didnt the last time around, no matter who the other 2 batsmen are.

I think the first innings of this test was the first innings Azhar has ever
played at Eden which didnt result in at least a 50 - he had, I believe, 7
innings before this at Eden for 5 centuries and 2 50s. His average at Eden
prior to this test was 137 - after the first innings its still 120.

Sadiq [ who will take 120 tomorrow, thanks very much ] Yusuf

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You mean by a pace bowler, the record is held by Kumble 2 in 51. Also Chandra
has 2 in 58.

Roshan

Maan this really takes the cake.  What is the resident shrink smoking when comes up
with such profound statements.

Balaji

Oops Pras has 2 in 49

Roshan