India tour of New Zealand - Jan to Feb 2014

[Cricketman]

I may be an idiot for thinking this...but I think we can win the match.

 

[SaiSrini]

I may be an idiot for thinking this...but I think we can win the match.

Absolutely. India can win this if they apply themselves and bat to their talents. They batted well recently against the world's best bowling lineup in SA. Nothing to say that they can't do it again, against a much lesser potent attack of NZ. And conditions are good enough for batting (from what we've seen)

 

[abhi_jacko]

My heart says 'yea' (as always) :P

 

[used2bcool]

It's still New Zealand's game to lose. There's nothing in the recent history of this team to suggest that they can score over 400 in the last innings of a Test match. If New Zealand somehow fail to win this it will have been a major disaster as far as they are concerned. In order for us to feel anywhere near safe, we need to be 300/3 - ish. I'd be surprised if New Zealand let this go to a fifth day. It's been their game, and I count on them to shut the door.

 

[ferg512]

Great ball that from Southee, this partnership now will probably be the difference. Pretty big innings for Dhoni as well, hasn't got a 50 for almost a year now.

 

[surendar]

Absolutely. India can win this if they apply themselves and bat to their talents. They batted well recently against the world's best bowling lineup in SA. Nothing to say that they can't do it again, against a much lesser potent attack of NZ. And conditions are good enough for batting (from what we've seen)

If they don't throw away their wickets & be patient - yeah they can. But am skeptical as we don't have that 'reliability' factor in our line up to finish the job though we have got lot of talents.

 

[shravi]

Virat Kohli is an artist. That was one of the most beautiful cover drives I have ever seen. Virat Kohli doesn't score runs to win. Virat Kohli scores runs to teach.

Masterclass in the art of batsmanship.

 

[Leggie]

One feels India would have to be 350/2 to win this match, definitely worth sending in Jadeja ahead of Dhoni as well. I'd rather have someone who plays his strokes confidently rather than someone who just prods at balls to no avail.

 

[ferg512]

India are definitely favourites right now, we are basically playing with 3 bowlers. Playing Sodhi is really a waste of a spot, hopefully he proves me wrong and takes a couple of wickets but there is no way he is ready to play international cricket. Still almost bowls one full toss every over..

 

[SaiSrini]

I am very disappointed that the wicket we had to lose this session was that of Pujara, but India have just taken even bigger steps towards a historic victory here with an excellent partnership between Dhawan and Kohli. Dhawan is batting superbly well, and in a very "unDhawan" fashion. Great innings! Hope he keeps this up for the next 3 sessions. Kohli is a magician, and minus his drama, he is a champion.

For NZ, the new ball is going to be key. If they can break into India with the new ball, they will still win this test. I would say, Kohli and Dhawan should use Session 2 of today to the best possible extent. Score as much as possible, because the new ball is coming in Session 3. If we can bring the target down to 130 odd runs to win by the time the new ball comes (which is possible considering we still have 26 overs for the new ball), maybe we can withstand minor damages caused.

 

[Aalay]

Playing Sodhi is really a waste of a spot, hopefully he proves me wrong and takes a couple of wickets but there is no way he is ready to play international cricket. Still almost bowls one full toss every over..

I haven't seen much of Sodhi before but what I have seen so far in this test, he certainly looks talented. He can turn the ball and gets that extra bounce because of his height. However, as you said, he still needs a bit more time in domestic cricket because he has to work on his line and length. He needs to be much tighter with his line and length to do well at this level.

 

[SaiSrini]

One feels India would have to be 350/2 to win this match, definitely worth sending in Jadeja ahead of Dhoni as well. I'd rather have someone who plays his strokes confidently rather than someone who just prods at balls to no avail.

What makes you think Rahane and Rohit can't bat in these conditions, when they batted pretty well in the first innings where conditions were far more bowler-conducive?

 

[Aalay]

Virat Kohli is an artist. That was one of the most beautiful cover drives I have ever seen. Virat Kohli doesn't score runs to win. Virat Kohli scores runs to teach.

Masterclass in the art of batsmanship.

Do you see a shadow of Ricky Ponting in him? I mean the way he bats, its like he goes out there to absolutely hammer the opposition and loves to dominate the game. I am happy to see that he has improved his test batting. He was struggling earlier against Southee but he was ready to fight it out.

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Overall, a decent session for India. Pujara's wicket was a big one but Kohli and Dhawan has played well afterwards to make sure we are still in the game. I loved the way Dhawan is playing. This is probably the first time I have seen him showing this type of discipline. He is not even touching any deliveries outside the off stump and forcing the bowlers to bowl to him. He has shown incredible patience which is always a good sign for a player that has been out of form for a while. Kohli has supported him very well. If we don't lose any wickets in the next session, than we are well on our way.

 

[Epic]

Seeing some posts, I think there's a slight problem with people piling up the two away whitewashes on this team, this team has played 2 full Tests away, 2, there is no history or enough of one for any of you to have preconceived notions about this team, but you've got them anyway...

 

[shravi]

Do you see a shadow of Ricky Ponting in him? I mean the way he bats, its like he goes out there to absolutely hammer the opposition and loves to dominate the game. I am happy to see that he has improved his test batting. He was struggling earlier against Southee but he was ready to fight it out.

Definitely. He is so imperious. He just has no respect for bowlers. I loved how after his century vs South Africa, he just came out and said Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel, and Vernon Philander weren't "threatening at all". It was basically just a giant slap in the face to the best bowling attack in the world (by some distance), and to his teammates.

He is easily the best batsman in world cricket at the moment, in my eyes. The stats aren't there to back it up just yet (at least in tests, because it's patently clear in ODIs), but ability wise, I don't think anybody else even comes close. He is totally just going to dominate world cricket for the next decade and obliterate every single bowling attack. He is that fishing good.