3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

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cleazer

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3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

India won the first test, and the second one was a draw.
They can't lose the series, but they can still win it. Unfortunately for them, they're without Tendulkar and Dhoni.

India won the toss and will bat




India
W Jaffer, G Gambhir, R Dravid, SC Ganguly, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, KD Karthik, A Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, I Sharma, IK Pathan


Pakistan
Salman Butt, Yasir Hameed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Faisal Iqbal, Misbah-ul-Haq, Kamran Akmal, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Yasir Arafat, Danish Kaneria
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

India 65-4 at lunch!

Gambhir, Dravid, Jaffer, and Laxman are all out, with Yasir Arafat picking up three wickets.

Pakistan completely dominated the first session of the test match, and Ganguly and Yuvraj are going to have to put together a long partnership after lunch just to get India to a bad score. (They're heading towards an abysmal score right now, and Ganguly or Yuvraj will need to do something impressive just to elevate them from abysmal to simply bad.)
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Ganguly and Yuvraj are still going. They've gone straight past bad and are now on the verge of good.

India 271-4 after 70 overs.
This partnership has been good for 210 runs so far, with Yuvraj on 124 and Ganguly on 82.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

5/365 at the end of Day 1. Yuvraj Singh was out close to sumps for 165. Him and Ganguly combined for exactly 300 runs, Ganguly is still there on 125 not out.

Pakistan had the ascendency there but they've let it slip. The advantage is firmly with India now after such a brilliant batting disply from Yuvraj and Ganguly. Pakistan will be after some quick wickets tomorrow.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

I've personally admired Yuvraj's contributions like crazy during ODI series against Pakistan as well as Twenty20 World Cup. I think Yuvraj is solid material who should be future captain of India, maybe even for tests. But he has been getting overlooked for test selection for long. I understand that the Pakistan bowling they were facing was not the best quality on 1st day. However, to me it is incomprehensible that a guy of Yuvraj's calibre could potentially be overlooked for tests when India visit Australia in few weeks.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Super job by Ganguly.
About half-way through the day, he's up to 169, and India is up to 461-6.
After that horrible first session yesterday, they're now closing in on 500.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Ganguly finally out for a gigantic 239!
And to think India dropped him at one point!

India 605-7.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

That's Ganguly's highest test score ever, and it's also the highest test score by anyone of the entire calendar year. The previous high was Pietersen's 226 against the Windies back in May.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

cleazer;196208 said:
Ganguly finally out for a gigantic 239!
And to think India dropped him at one point!
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Same with Yuvraj, as I said too.

The thing though is, this Pakistan side and its bowling is rubbish. I don't know how much to read into India beating up on these hapless bunch.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Irfan Pathan hits a big six to get his maiden test century, and then is out on the very next ball.

India all out for 626

Now we'll see if Pakistan's batsmen can put up some big scores too.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Pakistan finishes the day at 86-1. Not a bad score at all, but they still have a ton of work to do.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Not really inspiring cricket to be honest. Everyone likes to see some high scoring but it looks as if this game will be another draw despite the match only having completed two days.

India batted for 150.2 overs at 4.16 runs per over. Surely 120 overs would be enough? I don't see the point in batting for almost two days although I suppose it doesn't really matter to them as they can draw the game and still win the series. But still, if they want to win the game, they aren't doing themselves any favours. It is more than likely that Pakistan will bat for all of tomorrow which gives India little opportunity to bowl Pakistan out a second time.

Pakistan will be furious they didn't capatalize on having India in trouble so early on. To let them get 626 after having them 4/65 is a really poor effort, something which should be looked at in detail. Danish Kaneria and Yasir Arafat bowled well in the circumstances,but Mohammad Sami was ordinary and I think he needs to be dropped. His bowling average currently sits at an embarassing 51.28, surely an Umar Gul or Rao Iftikhar Anjum would be of more value?

Anyway, Pakistan with a lot of work to do tomorrow, they'll need to get to 427 just to avoid following on, something which won't be easy. India will be looking for early wickets to increase the pressure on their opponents.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Ljp86;196250 said:
India batted for 150.2 overs at 4.16 runs per over. Surely 120 overs would be enough? I don't see the point in batting for almost two days although I suppose it doesn't really matter to them as they can draw the game and still win the series. But still, if they want to win the game, they aren't doing themselves any favours.
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I feel there wasn't a whole lot India did wrong. I mean, they put up a big score with plenty of time to spare on 2nd day. You can criticize them for taking only 1 wicket during that time, but I wouldn't. I think there is plenty of time left.

There is very little to fault India so far for how one-sided it was. It's not their fault the other side had an uninspiring selection and uninspiring bowling. Especially when their supposedly "star" bowler has psychological problems of his own, and is spending most of the time going back and forth to hospital for unrelated physical problems, things were really bad for Pakistan bowling. What more was India supposed to do? Would putting up a score of 800 by end of 2nd session on day 2 give them enough credibility? I think they did OK under the circumstances. If they fail to capitalize on poor team morale and poor team chemistry of the opposing team and fail to win, then they'll be subject to criticism.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Chandu;196283 said:
I feel there wasn't a whole lot India did wrong. I mean, they put up a big score with plenty of time to spare on 2nd day. You can criticize them for taking only 1 wicket during that time, but I wouldn't. I think there is plenty of time left.

There is very little to fault India so far for how one-sided it was. It's not their fault the other side had an uninspiring selection and uninspiring bowling. Especially when their supposedly "star" bowler has psychological problems of his own, and is spending most of the time going back and forth to hospital for unrelated physical problems, things were really bad for Pakistan bowling. What more was India supposed to do? Would putting up a score of 800 by end of 2nd session on day 2 give them enough credibility? I think they did OK under the circumstances. If they fail to capitalize on poor team morale and poor team chemistry of the opposing team and fail to win, then they'll be subject to criticism.
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I just think that they should have declared maybe 20 or 30 overs earlier rather than get bowled out. India will need to bowl Pakistan out today if they want to win the test match. The state of the pitch has shown so far that is very conducive for batting and if Pakistan bats into Day 4, then India's chances of winning are greatly reduced. Pakistan showed in the last game that they have fight after being in a pretty bad position and if they bat well again, the game will probably be a draw. A draw isn't going to matter as much as India will win the series if that happens but if it was a pressure situation where they needed to win then I would say they'd have a few problems.

This isn't so much about Pakistan's less than fantastic line-up, it's about having the right tactical strategy. We'll find out today what happens in this game and if batting for so long is going to have an influence on the game.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Ljp86;196356 said:
I just think that they should have declared maybe 20 or 30 overs earlier rather than get bowled out.
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You may probably end up being correct in the end, but right now it is a contentious point.

So far, Ishant Sharma's (who himself is a young kid) bowling isn't proving to be very inspiring for India. He was selected because of problems to Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel, but hasn't been doing too well.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Younis and Salman Butt are doing just fine on Day 3.
They've taken Pakistan to 141-1 after 42 overs.
A draw gets more likely every minute.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Salman Butt was out for 68.
That leaves the more than capable pair of Younis and Yousuf in there,
and so far they've added 31. Younis is up to 62.
Pakistan 180-2 at lunch on day 3.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Ljp86;196356 said:
...if it was a pressure situation where they needed to win then I would say they'd have a few problems.
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Once again, you're totally correct on that statement. Kumble is new to test captaincy. And as is obvious, Australia will be a much more formidable opponent for India than this Pakistan side. If put in a must win situation against Australia, such strategy could expose Kumble's lack of experience, as well as general chinks in India's armour.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Chandu;196373 said:
You may probably end up being correct in the end, but right now it is a contentious point.

So far, Ishant Sharma's (who himself is a young kid) bowling isn't proving to be very inspiring for India. He was selected because of problems to Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel, but hasn't been doing too well.
Click to expand...

No room for RP Singh? What about Ashish Nehra, whatever happened to him?

Chandu said:
Once again, you're totally correct on that statement. Kumble is new to test captaincy. And as is obvious, Australia will be a much more formidable opponent for India than this Pakistan side. If put in a must win situation against Australia, such strategy could expose Kumble's lack of experience, as well as general chinks in India's armour.
Click to expand...

And just like that, India gets two wickets in two overs. 4/227 with two new batters at the crease.

Now is the time for India to press on, they can't afford to have Misbah-ul-Haq, Faisal Iqbal and Kamran Akmal rescue them from this position. More wickets will be needed before the tea break.

India won't be able to do this against Australia because they simply won't be able to bowl them out in time to achieve victory.
 
Re: 3rd Test: India v Pakistan at Bangalore

Pakistan are up to 5/369 at stumps on Day 3. Misbah-ul-Haq is 54 not out while Kamran Akmal is on 32. Faisal Iqbal fell to Sharma for 22.

Misbah and Akmal were the ones that hurt India in the previous test and so far they've formed a pretty useful partnership. India will be very keen to break this up early tomorrow to salvage any chance of them winning this match. Pakistan trails by only 257 runs now, meaning they'll only need another 58 to avoid following on. Something drastic would have to happen for them to not reach to follow on target.

India really haven't helped themselves out today either. Their fielding and bowling at times has been nothing short of terrible which is highlighted by the fact they've conceded a staggering 70 extras which includes 31 byes, 25 leg byes and 14 no balls!!! Those 31 byes are the most ever conceded by an Indian wicket-keeper in a test match and the extras total of 70 is just one run away from equalling the world record of 71 which is held by the West Indies. It's actually quite astonishing to think that an international line-up can actually give away 70 free runs, it's like having an extra batsman and something almost unheard of for such a high level of cricket. I can't imagine Dinesh Karthik playing for a while after this performance, Dhoni might play on one leg if he has to. ;)

But seriously, India will need to take a good hard look at that before start their tour of Australia this month. Australia will tear them to pieces if they concede that many runs.
 
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