Sportsfreak takes a look through the series.
So the Indians will be boarding their jumbo about now, and for the final piece of excitement will be undergoing a take-off into a Wellington gale. Their fans will be cleaning their whiteboards in preparation for more normal use, and the rest of us look back on our brief time in the same playground as the big boys.
Obviously, there was going to be a lot of hype surrounding this tour; after all the test batting line-up boasted something like 107 test centuries before the series started, and constantly added to that over the last 3 weeks.
And we got to see first hand the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid for the last time, and Dhoni and Ishant for the first time, and were able to notice the difference in attitude and swagger between the two.
So we look at some of the theories that were floated before and during the series and see if they are fact or some hybrid of Indian Myth and Lord of the Rings special effects.
Tests in NZ in April do not work
Myth actually.
People will point to the fact that the April test ended with rain, but that only kicked in with 3 hours left in the match; that’s not bad for New Zealand. April, comparatively, is reasonably reliable.
And the tests were certainly less affected than the ODIs in February/ March.
Light was clearly an issue after the daylight saving change, but that was more of a management issue.
Dhoni is an attacking captain
Well some of his bowling changes are inspirational, and no more so than bringing Tendulkar on during the last day at the Basin.
But that declaration in the same test can always be held up as the perfect example that he can be as cautious as a shell-shocked Ponting.
He lets Harbhajan talk him into defensive field placings too.
Ryder is too fat for test cricket
Ha ha. Myth. A big fat myth too Adam.
He does have a weakness against top quality spin early on, but he’ll sort that out soon.
Yuvraj is rubbish outside of the Sub-continent
Absolute fact.
He was miserable here, apart from a couple of meagre cameos with the pressure off.
And remember this was on placid pitches against an ordinary attack.
Ishant Sharma is the Real Deal and the Final Product
Not yet he’s not. Despite what last year promised.
He had one good spell in Hamilton, and then roughed up Vettori at the Basin.
But in between times he looked more sulky than anything else. He perfected the act of hiding in the outfield in Napier when things got tricky, and he certainly didn’t seem to take to the Wellington wind.
Totally outplayed by the underrated Zaheer all series.
McCullum isn’t the batsman he was a year ago
Myth.
That was probably his most consistent series as a test batsman. A shocking dismissal in the first innings in Hamilton was followed by composed knocks afterwards. His maturity in batting with O’Brien in the second innings of that match was class, and he held his head well in Napier.
At the Basin he got stuck with O’Brien again, and was sawn off in the second innings. Will probably be tried at #6 in the near future, which is about the only spot in the order where he has not been used yet.
Superb keeping too.
Taylor needs time to adjust from ODIs to tests.
Fact. Fact. Fact. Contrast the push across the line on the first morning in Hamilton with the 2nd innings resistance at the Basin.
Imagine what he could do in a 5 test series.
Harbhajan is a wind-up artist
True. And a very good one at that.
He didn’t get under the skin of the New Zealanders like he did with the Australians last year, but he sure wound the commentators up.
Note how he does well in the questionable umpiring decision stakes too. Not a coincidence.
Sehwag plays all forms of the game in exactly the same way
Myth. He bats for longer in T20s and ODIs.
Vettori is not the test bowler he used to be
Fact. And a pretty old fact at that.
If you want proof, get a video of him bowling on the 4th morning in the Basin, and then watch Tendulkar bowl 24 hours later.
It’s toe-curling stuff, and it’s even worse to hear certain radio commentators air the myth that he is a world-class spinner.
The World will miss Tendulkar
Fact.
Sad but true.
God need mind tuned for TEST. I really believe Sehwag did n’t respect NZ in Test. That is the reason for his low scores. When you do not respect the oppositio that is what happens when you are not lucky.
Yuvraj is a blackhole in the batting line up outside subcontinent. I do not why india keep selecting him in TEST. I would pick murali vijay and he has that X factor in fielding
Dhoni is not good in player selection. he support wrong players. He is great on field captain. He could have declared yearly but pitch so flat , and india is afraid off Ryder. Mainly because Ishant sharma bowled real bad to Ryder. Actually ishant sharma had off tour. he does n’t like windy condition it seems.
India really need another wicket keeper. Parthiv patel and dinesh karthik are worse in wicket keeping and even in battings. two Midgets.
India desperately need next Kapil DEV.
Vettori is playing as a batsman and handy part time leftie.
They now have the mighty J Franklin as their true allrounder.
oh JAMIE lol.. u were kiddin right! :|
The Kiwis have an issue with the batting order, with Oram not playing at 6! even wen he’s around i prefer prince Brendon takin lil more responsibility at comin at 6 after Ross + Jesse. Tat will really stack them up good. The Kiwis had jus one good long batting innings and tat was in Hamilton, but they couldn bowl Ind out even with Patel + Dan on 2 last days of a test.
that game was surely the one the Kiwis could hv won.. p.s: the pitch was a beauty of a highway!!
As far as Ind is concerned the only thing they were and shud be concerned is the third seamer. They hv won the series yes! but wat will they do against bigger better opponents. Indians are still 3rd in the test rankings.. Yuvraj is the way forward unfortunately, cos once laxman moves on then Dravid will soon as so will Tendulkar sometime (20 yrs perhaps :) ) then surely u need some experience in there… Yuvraj has the potential, no denying it. He just has to apply now! Until tthen if the team still feels the pain of playing him overseas.. then go ahead ! The only way to learn to swim is to throw them in deep waters.. They’ll either learn to swim or drown!
Also to be seen is that, the likes of M.Vijay or Rohit Sharma or Raina have also not played test cricket overseas. The team needs to build accordingly.
Sid – India has been trying Yuvraj since years, everyone has been talking of his potential for almost a decade but he has not delivered. How many more chances should he get. Especially when we have M Vijay, Raina and Rohit Sharma – even Badrinath waiting to get a game. All of them are intelligent and much more down to earth and hardworking than Yuvraj.
If we gave those three players a chance now, I am sure within a year they will be really good in tests and it won’t hurt when laxman / dravid / tendulkar retire.
Ryder is going to be “KP”( i.e the batting mainstay) of new zealnd in the next few years.
Fact – India still play too defensively against crap opponents to be the No1 ranked test side
Fact – Not winning the 3rd test because of some ridiculous need to be 600 ahead/improve tour averages deserves to be lambasted. That attitude will never lead to world domination.
Fact – India, a team overly talented with bat and ball, are still the worst fielders in world cricket
Fact – Taylor will never have a better series
Sorry, forgot one
Fact – The Indian media-proclaimed best bowling line up in the world could not dismiss Chris Martin once, not even once!
Poopsie,
Question:
What makes you think Taylor will never have a better series?
Well spotted on the Martin front.
LB – nothing more than hunch. I just dont trust his temperament and ability to concentrate. I hope I am proved wrong because I love watching him bat.
Martin did only face 12 balls for the entire series, still impressive none the less