Dipankar:

Prem
 
What was the point in playing Kumble, and not Nehra? With Mongia replacing Ganguly (a good choice), we have four slow bowlers in Kumble, Bhajji, Sachin and Mongia, and only two quickies. If one quickie fails, it's curtains...
 
Also shouldn't Sachin and Bhajji have been tried earlier against Afridi? I mean Afridi played a terrific knock, but we should have been able to check him.

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Gautam Devlekar:

Hi Prem,

Appreciate your efforts in trying to get the picture to us. Guess everyone is entitled to an opinion on Ganguly. I still think Ganguly is not the problem. It is bigger than that.

The bureaucrats who run the game in the country. Few years back when the big 3 (Saurav, Rahul & Sachin) were non existent, we relied on Gavaskar and Kapil to carry the game on their shoulders. They did but unfortumately lacked the charisma these 3 had in the begining of their careers.

Here were 3 youngsters taking on the world and instantly got everyone in the country involved. They achieved what not one marketing guru could achieve. - changed the entire country into a focussed, hypnotised and disciplined target market. Thus opened the floodgates and money started pouring into this game and also brought a cricket board into black from red.  Now why would this board want to go back into red. Have you ever heard of a board starting a channel? ever in your life???? They have tasted blood and will stop at nothing to let this state continue.  Dalmia will die on a cricket field - hes not going to retire , they will keep creating new posts for him like they do here in Singapore for the former PM. Sehwag, Yuvraj and Kaif are probably the next trio that is being groomed to take up this role.

This makes the Board play God. Series could have been fixed but not for
money or by individuals but by governments and boards for the power they yield!!

Regards

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Nirbhay:

Mr.Panicker,
 
Firstly thanks for the ball by ball commentary : what sets it apart is the incisive detail and perceptive comments that you give  which is the USP and the edge as against the cricinfo one .Although as you have correctly said ball by ball segments could be difficult especially since you are also giving your good comments I see that some attempt is being made.
 
Now to all this Ganguly and other issues .Why is it that we always react so vociferously when an individual performs badly? all hell seems to break loose . I firmly beleive that the difference between Team Australia and Ours mainly lies BHEIND the scenes and not what we see .That is : if the Aussie think tank feel that a particular player is not good for the team ( read team as a whole unit) then regardless of his performance / star status he is not considered - he may have performed very well and stats etc may be excellent as a record but the ability to see the bigger picture ergo , the team as a whole unit and what is good for the team and shall contribute to it's sucess is excelled by the succesful teams and their support strucutre like, Australia.
 
Thus see that they dropped Steve Waugh despite him being what he is in Australia ,why ? He wasn't performing that badly in the ODI but what did the think tank do ? They realised that he is getting on in age and will contribute less and less in the LONG RUN and as a successful unit there was no postion for him - sure he would have flashes of briliances and would have saved Australia in tight spots as he had done previoulsy but and here is the difference for a need of constant /good performance he was not seen as one of the unit he was seen as misfit and thus shown the door.Consistency is the key here!
 
The important thing is that as in work so in sport the West has little time for sentimenatlity . cold , hard tough and at times cruel decsions are taken but it is for the betterment of the unit/team and to ensure it's success thus individuals are seen as links in the chain and measured for their strength dispassionately. Herein lies the difference : the individual link maybe very strong on it's own, however in the chain it may be the weak link ! Hence the abilty to see this is what sets a succesful team and it's support structure apart ( selectors, board etc) apart from the unsuccesful ones.I also feel becuas of this India does better in Tests than in ODI's individual strength has got much more scope to have an effect in this form whereas in ODI's the team and it's unit strength counts for much more ofcourse there are exceptions like Sehwag, Afridi , McGrath etc .
 
I think it's high time the Indian think tank thought about this and left the star power aside and measured the players in proper parameters of effectivenes in the unit medium long term potential etc ( there are lot's of parameters and they need to first do a proper analysis on what parameters they should set before starting to analyse/ judge each players' worth ) the ability to see the big picture by the men behind the scenes is critical and they are as much responsible for a teams' faliure or success.
 
Otherwise it would seem to me that this knee jerk reaction would continue and we would just oscillate between showers of rose petals and bickbats !! Like the confusion now over Ganguly ! Whether he play's or doesn't seems to make no difference confusion still reigns.
 
Arre baba set the parameters / criterion for each player if he fits in to the profile he plays if he doesn't then he doesn't irresepective whether he is Ganguly , Tendulkar ,Dravid or Kumble !! And once decision is made on sound analyses stick to it and forget about the past!
 
Look at Pakistan they seemed lost without the two W's and the likes of Saeed Anwar but are giving the Indians a nice run for their money and this is not even their first string attack ! Akhtar,Gul ,Shabbir missing - so my message is quite clear forget about India's succes in Pakistan / Australia and take a leaf out of Dravid's philosophy and concentrate on the NEXT DELIVERY !!
 
I don't know whether such a long mail will find a place in your already over loaded page but it would be great to hear what you think as I really look forward to the same!

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Radhika:

hi Prem,

Though i am watching the match, i am also reading ur commentary and enjoying it.

I am writing this mail after watching Zaheer Khan [Images] give an unnecessary four and Kaif miss out on a slightly difficult catch. Looks like some of them have already lost the match in their minds. Having said that i also have to add that Dravid is doing a great job of making the best of the situation. Inspite of that bashing by Afridi, Dravid is ensuring that India gives a good fight. Good luck to him.

------

Hi

I am Manoj from Mysore. Just Pakistan are playing very well, there is not matter concern to Ganguly. If Ganguly is there today, I think the same things will happen. Ganguly omission is very good decision.

Manoj

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Ivan Rodrigues:

"The mighty and proud shall be brought down to the dust by the simple and humble".It required this simple and humble PATHAN fronm Pakistan to teach Indian batsmen a thing our two about batting fearlessly and selflessly. HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS TO PAKSITAN GO AHEAD AND MAKE IT 4-2.

Warm Regards

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Dev:

Prem,
I dont know why, but still I am smeling an Indian Victory.All it need is 4 quick wickets to be shared among our 6 bowlers.Dravid at this moment can introduce Sachin as well, lets see whats there in the match left.......Cheers to Indian Team ........
Cheers

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Abhi:

hi
i have just one question to ask u if u  have enuf time to read it.
i just want to know how u manage to keep going on with ur commentary although knowing it india gonna lose it badly with tremendous enthusiasm.  is that u keep ur cool in adverse situation. or its just u are doing ur job keeping ur emotions aside to earn or u are also banging the things around  bt still manage to type.
 
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Mukund Naik:

Hi Panicker, As Ganguly is banned, when will Indian team be banned from International Cricket????????

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Dewakar Akilesh:

Hey dude, nice commentary there... Just needed to ask you something..Do you think Tendulkar shoud be made to rest for a few more series and train dhoni and other new comers? I didn't expect Pakistan to play like this... they are a young team and India calls it current team the best it has ever had!!!!

Whats happening!

Regards,

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Meera Paul:

Prem,
 
a) You are doing an excellent job with the commentary. Many thanks.
 
b) Regarding Ganguly. He had become a liability to the Indian team and was there for 1) 'historical' purposes, 2) contacts.
 
Ignore those who wish to think Ganguly has a place reserved in the Indian team till INFINITY.
 
He has obviously passed his 'sell-by date'.
 
Best wishes!

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Narasimhan Rangaswamy:

Hi Prem, if you look at the commentary, you have said that, because of 23 runs from Balaji's second over, the game is lost. That's not the reality. First of all, we didn't bat well in the earlier stage. Our batting is always weak against VERY GOOD bowling.

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Puneet Khunger:

Well, Prem,so much for your theory of slow-pitch-and Afridi-not-being-effective

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Madhav Deshpande:

India has won U-19 WC under Kaif's captionship. WE need to take some bold decisions. All these Sauravs/Sachins/Rahuls will not helkp India win WC--2007. In fact if unfortunately if Sachin and Rahul play in Wc-2007 india will not pass the step#2.

Cricket has changed a lot in last few years. RD cannot hit and cannot run. He sucks. Sachin is playing for self records. He is no more a match winner. He can score a few more 100s make be in Test+ODIshe make 100 of 100s but he will remain cause of defeats and a great underachiver. He is the cannon whic definately mis fires at the time of war.

Like pak dumped all the greats like Wasim,Waquars or Aussies dumped Seve , and bevens India needs to dump Sachin and Rahul and move on with people who can score 30 runs in 20 balls it does not matter how many centuries one has scored. How many of Sachin's 100 were while chasing? And how many of them resuleted in a win is what matters.

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Santosh:

hi prem, from the start of the match itself i knew that pak will go on to win the match b'coz it is all fixed, due to Mr. Musharraf coming to India , much hype is being created and that is all a part of making money at the expense ofnational sentiments and a normal man. what do you think about this? Regards

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Mehul Shah:

today what afridi did is not the shame to india team....every now and then people do play surprising innings......and this is one of them.
 
what i feel is that can any indian player do same to pakis...i think some india player has to take this as challenge and show that we can do better...there is no shame in loosing to some great innings but what i feel is that we should take this as challenge....i feel that if wanted some indian player can also do the same to rival teams.....
 
i seriously feel that we do lack KILLER INSTINCT...
 
well played afridi and dravid....
 
Regards,

------

Kabir Diwan:

India has always been critical of its strong leaders. Dravid doesnt have a clue about captaining the side. He should have got bhajji early on instead of Kumble. Since he is a finger spinner and is easier for him with the new ball. Ganguly is a true leader and has always shown can make the decisions that change matches. That is why he is the most successfull captain. Mr Prem you are nothing but a small commentator pls dont try and analyze the game too much. You will always be a loser so dont try and compare yourself to ganguly when it comes to decision making!!

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Srinath:

hello premji,
 
how do explain the fact that Indias so called great players sachin and sehwag got out to playing "indiscrete" shots but afridi manages to thrive playing ONLY indiscrete shots and gets a century?? didnt he have to "get his eyes in" or is that reserved for just the indian batters??
 
I was hoping Afridi would score 200 and Salman butt [Images] 30 and pakistan wld win by 10 wkts in 30 overs.....

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Sivaraman:

guys dont fret.. this series will now be 3-3.. and ind will bt pak in front of Mushie...

also... in this match we need not bother that india was shot out for only 249 even if they had made 299... the req. run rate after 13 overs would be just 4.35 instead of 3.35...

just sit back and enjoy some explosive batting..

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Kiran:

Hi Prem

Do you still believe it is not a fixed series. We won there , so you win here now. That's the motto. Everything else is hogwash.
How else can anyone explain the abject surrender of Indian batting (seeing unseen devils in the pitch)  and dare-devil batting of Pak (rather Afridi) knocking of half the target in just 11 overs!

Anyway, you are doing a great job with your live commentary. It's just fantastic.

Regards

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Diptiprakash Pradhan:

Hi Prem,

I guess enuff cricket.

Whats ur opinion about the way market has crashed today or on the news that Rajdeep Sardesai has quit NDTV.

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F.Tharola:

Dear sir,
 
The most hapiest man in this game will be Mr. Sourav Gangully.

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Faisal:

Hi prem,

It's really a great experience reading your commentary, I was used to read Cricinfo but since last three matches that's You to whom I am reading, Good work Keep It UP!!

I am fully agreed that Indian bowlers are not charging themseves back to their bowling mark, specially Zaheet he had a long run up and he walks back very slow, So it is not the fault of Ganguly or dravid but Bowlers should realise their responsibility towards the team, If I am write then do write a message for me in your commentary..

Thanks

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Prash:

Hello Prem,
You dont seem to give credit to Afridi. I cannot see the match. But is it true we are bowling so bad that he is able to play so good. Or he played wonderfully today? Let us also try to find some Afridis in India.

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Aniket Shah:

Hi Prem

Headlines in tomorrow's newspaper
"MURDER IN BROAD DAYLIGHT" 

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Anant:

Dear Prem,

Good job. By the way, what happened to the pundits' prediction about this being a bowlers' pitch ? They have been proved wrong almost throughout the ongoing series, specially about the second halves. It is so boring to hear experts talking about the first hour ! Congrats to Afridi. A truly breathtaking innings!!

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Narayan:

Sir,

Rahul Dravid [Images] obviously did not use his brains by not thinking about the Kanpur pitch's notoreity - favouring the team batting second in 5 of the 9 matches so far. What made him choose to bat first on such kind of slow wickets?

The result is Shahid Afridi's [Images] record-breaking number of sixes. This is one of the MOST shameful defeats for India anywhere in the world. With today's match, Rahul Dravid will join Sachin Tendulkar [Images] as the Indian captains to lose matches in a shameful manner.

Also, he was the cause of one more whopping defeat - to the West Indies [Images] at Vijayawada - when he asked them to bat on a beautiful batting wicket in overcast conditions. West Indies ran up a score of 315 for 6 in 50 overs and steamrolled India for a paltry 180.

Also, in the second test at Lahore [Images] last year, Rahul chose to bat on a bowler-friendly pitch and India were all-out for 287. Pakistan ran up a huge 1st innings lead and eventually India lost by 9 wickets. If Rahul had fielded first upon winning the toss, India would have won 3-0.

I hope someone will become the captain when Dada retires.

Regards,

------

Naveen Aysola:

HI Prem,

I would normally not have the time to send mails, but what I see here is pure mockery of the game of cricket. Its time we stop preparing pitches like these which will see average or inconsistent players come in and just hit through the line. I can bet that even a B league player can score 30 runs at run a ball!

Killing the game for the sake of money is not happening. I would prefer to watch Zimbabwe play Kenya in a seaming pitch in England [Images].

Regads

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Ajayan:

Hello Prem,

It's the agony of Indian cricket fan and nothing seems like changing it! The game has developed as I predicted this morning. We are now being punished for our foolish decision to bat first. If a do not know to write a word or struggle, the teachers and the parents give them more work and make him correct and capable of writing it correct. We are scared to chase and do not know how to chase! Remember, this debacle is existing there since we have worlds most prolific run machines ! If run machines cant make run when we need, we do not need them. Seems like getting toss and bating first is our Mantra. Our bowlers are making silly mistakes knowing how much damage a batsman like Afridi could plot.  Well now we have one more game left and Hopefully General Mushraff can go with a smile on his face this time.

With lots of frustration,

------

Saurab Basu:

Hi,

Dravid is finding out the hard way what captaincy is all about. We all remember how Ganguly got Afridi out cheaply in all the matches in the Pak series.  Dravid is an intelligent cricketer but has a long way to go before he comes near Ganguly's captaincy skills.

Thanks and Regards,

------

Balaji Ramaswamy:

Can some one call the Police ? A murder is being committed !!!

kind regards,

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Sathish:

Hi Prem

This is absolute disaster. Whenever India bats, blame the pitch for poor quality and then you find Afridi hitting sixers and comfortably putting Pakistan in a commanding position of winning.

The media had earlier had created such a hype that Pakistan was a weaker side and to say that India was a world class team. Leave alone Dravid who had played an excellent innings. Is this Indian team going to win any matches with the way the Indian Bowlers being plundered by the Paki batsman for many runs.

BTW, today it is the 100 th match between India and Pakistan and 60 have been won by the Pakis and just 35 by the Indians.

The Indians should be thinking of the earlier beatings by the Pakis and should take revenge on them. I am sorry if you misunderstood the meaning of "revenge". But this revenge only in the sports.

Request the Indian team to get their act together, work strategically how to bowl them out. If the Pakis hit a sixer of a ball, that's fine make sure they get out to the next ball, pls do not get upset by their thrashings.

This is the worst to say, is there any other word beyond the word "worst" which can be told of the Indian team?

Thanks

------

Saket:

Well Mr. Paniker

Ganguli to blame for this massacre too? I am sure you can assign this loss to him too?

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Pavan:

hi prem

If the indian team has to  show others that they have some fighting spirit then they have to snatch away the match from the opponents,from this point and win the game and the series..;-)

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Madhav Deshpande:

Indians now shhould be made to play qualifier for the WC-2007.  Hope Afridi will finish the match by 20 th over.
 
Sachin should change his last name to Aa.Ga.She. ( Which stands for Aaityavelela Gan..t Sheput)
 
Dravid once again proved to be a pathetic one day player. Does he even know how to score a six. He should be playing for Womens team.When it comes to batting he does not behavea PURUSH.
 
Yuvraj has got enough chances to prove himslef. After the natwest final he has not played great innings. The one in last match is what is his duty.
 
The records suggest that india has not won even 1/3 matches played against Pak And I guess it should be true for  all top countries.

Indian players should be paid Rs40/day. If a guy livingh in 10x10 feet room can get  Rs 5 corore within a seris, and then paly for years w/o performing. India will keep loosing. I am glad govt of India does not let them use Tricolor.
 
They should even ban playing the  RashtraGeet at any cricket match.

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Arindam:

I was big fan of you, but lately the overjealous Ganguly bashing has made me believe that you have regional bias too. How do you explain that he was kept out of the India team for three years after he first toured Australia, when he hardly played a match or two. I don't think this mail will be posted in your site, but anyway -
 
Dravid does not have the kind of leadership swagger Ganguly has, or Steve Waugh or Viv Richards [Images] or Alan Border had. Dravid can be an also ran captain like Gavaskar or Ajahar .
 
Look at Dravid's captaincy, first he brings Kumble in the side, who has been totally ineffective in the one day game for a while, and he brings on Kumble against Afridi with the field up! He elects to field today and creates more pressure in his batsmen indicating they have to score more than 315 , now that they lost scoring 315.  He hardly played any lofted shots even in the slog overs today. Zaheer khan in his place could have hit a few sixes, and taken the score to 275.
 
And when is the last time most of our players have been consistent, never ! Juyvaraj is having a string of low scores for a long time, Tendulker scored a century after an year, Kaif has played a long innings today after a long time. Lakshman is having a bad run in both test and one day for some time. The media created the unnecessary pressure on Ganguly, agreed he was in terrible form and he should have batted down in the order in some previous matches, but there should not have been any call for his captaincy being taken away.

------

Partho Ghosh:

I am biased and so are you guys. What difference does it make, if you throw S. Ganguly out of the team. You need a good author to write a satisfactory story. So are you going to take back whatever you wrote? Do not ever say something when you don't know what is happening around you....

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Anil Anand Pathak:

Dear Prem,

Don't you think that we Indians live mostly in the glory of the past or one-off better performances? Rather than working toward making a combined or team effort, we try to harp upon the individual brilliance that more often than not sees us down (case in point: the last one day at Ahmedabad).

As a result, we tend to look for a scapegoat for the loss. (case in point: "Match ke Mujrim" the program on Star News Channel).

When will our mindset of 'Individualism' change to 'Collectivism.' Unless it happens we will surely keep vacillating between wins and losses in a 'team' game (i.e. Cricket) that calls for collective effort.

Regards,

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Raj Mohan:

Hi Prem
 
Just after the Indian innings, was hving a chat with a colleauge. He talked about commentators opinion of this being a good score and I said (verbatim)" Thats all right. but ek paagal to hain unke team mein...before you know anything they might be 100 runs in 10 overs and the game is as good as gone" ...
 
i never wanted to be this accurate...i hope my friend is not searching for me to bash me up ;-))
 
------

Sabu John:

Hi Prem,

When will the team management and Indian cricket board understand that Ajit Agarkar [Images] is a far better bowler than any of the other in the team? His strike rate is far superior to all other bowlers and his Economy is far better than Balaji.

He should have been tried! After his 5-fors, both in test and ODI he has been completely ignored. He was very much instrumental in the Down under series Draw.

------

Kaushal:

Prem,

I appreciate ur efforts but i think we have to stop looking at cricket and making them hero, they don't deserve it.

Why blaming only ganguly......i think team has to resign collectively. when india is batting its a bowling pitch and when india bowls its batting picth. don't u think we fool ourselves??

------

Venkat:
 
Hi Prem,
Thanks for Live updations...

I am not getting why AGARKAR is not given chance to play? He has been in 14 members, but not in 11 members. I think he should give a chance.

India will lost...because Indian team can't play well in the first 15 overs. As well as can't take a single wicket in the first 15 overs. That is what INDIAN TEAM capable...

Regards,

------

Screen:

Dear Prem,
HI!
 
Looking at your commentary occasionally, while watching the game Live on Willow TV.
Good work! Keep it up!
 
Lets face it, since Jamshedpur, Pakistan have been a better side. After the first two games it looked as India will just walk away with the series, but the Pakis have come back superb playing exciting, entertaining and intelligent cricket.
 
I feel that the problem with the Indian team is not just Ganguly but the entire lot of players are not really good enough. I mean all the Indian players right from Tendulkar and Sehwag down to Balaji and Zaheer are great only on given days. This Indian team simply lacks consistency. All these cricketers are just blown beyond proportion. 
 
For Pakistan, I feel their Australia tour prior to coming to India really helped them discover their depth.
 
Going by past statistics, 250 seemed like a respectable total at Kanpur. But Afridi has just put the match out of India's grasp now.
 
What is your take on this Kanpur game? I bet Pakistan is winning this in less than 40 Overs without losing more than 5 wickets.
 
Afridi is playing some really entertaining shots, simply superb.
 
Bye and have a great weekend ahead

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Sagnik:

Hey Prem

What was the logic for getting Kumble in the 5th over? Any idea?

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Shiva:

Hi Prem,
so, the reason india will lose today:
1) Sehwag, Tendulkar and Dhoni [Images] still do not equal one afridi
2) Kumble, balaji zaheer do not match up to one rookie naveed
3) Its all ganguly's fault, because if the team wins its the team effort, if the team loses its ganguly's fault.
your comments? and please no BS about the pitch coz u've been saying the pitch will deteriorate, so its not the pitch.

------

Ayan Mitra:

I guess u were so excited about Kumble being there..But he is been chewed..Any comments ?
Does Dravid have an answer ?

------

Debanjan:

Prem,
Here I feel the absence of Ganguly again. Who can be kumble called to share the new ball............... starange enough.When the total is less u need to take some defensive measures.This blazing start is really drifting the game towards the Pakis.Lets me put my fingres crossed. 10 good overs of Zaheer can change the entire color of the match. Cheers to India..........Cheers to Perm once.........

Cheers

------

Amit Kunal:

Now everyone can understand the importance of the presence of Ganguly. It is the attitude that he brings which prevents the team to falter often and any run that he scores is a bonus

------

Natarajan:

Prem,
 
What is it with us indians that makes us sit at 3AM in the night refreshing the score every so often? What do we get in return for all our passion? A bunch of men with plastic in their bones. There is absolutely no reason other than the hara-kiri mode this Indian team goes in to for it to be in this position from 2-0. Yeah, but then what can you expect from an organization that has the BCCI at helm, these men who so graciously volunteer their time and "serve" the society.We are the real losers staying up and watching these jokers.

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Mahadevan:

Hi Prem,
How good do u really think Balaji is?
Not today but since a year i had a feeling that he is and will remain a mediocre bowler.
He has been lucky with a few wickets here and there,but otherwise he is just crap.
Our indian team is much hyped.I hope after this series better sense will prevail by giving tendulkar,balaji,yuvraj,ganguly another look.

Players like Sriram,Mongia and others who perform consistantly should be given a look.
Cheers and Good luck,

------

Lakshminarayana Krishna Murthy

Sir,

Didn't I tell you? Rahul's decision to bat first on this kind of wicket was absolutely a dodo!
 
------

Rakesh:
 
Hi Prem
 
The key to India winning today is not how we handle Afridi till he gets himself out, but how we stop the strong middle-order from seizing the initiative. It needs intelligent field placements, rotation of bowlers, fierce throws from far - all to bring about a doubt in the batsmen - so as to bring out forced errors. Aggression on the field according to me by Indian standards means all this - well only this much is required to win.
 
Good luck to Dravid !!!

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Subbu:

Prem,
For whatever it is worth, I agree with your analysis that the first overs are crucial
There was juice in the track and a couple of wickets fell. But then we saw some sensible batting from kaif, dravid AND mongia. People addicted to 300 + scores can crib their way to glory but fact remains India recovered well.

And should they follow it up with an honest EFFORT in the field, irrespective of the outcome, as an Indian fan, I would be satisfied.

This is good cricket!

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Dharmesh:

Prem,
I think the score of 250 is enough for India to beat Pakistan, if India bowls like Pakistan. Straight to the stump, not too many extras. A discplined bowling could put pakistan on their toes and they will commit mistakes....But important thing is line and lenght of the deliveries.

Sachin is a failure once he hit a century, Since he hit a century in last game, he is going to fail for next 3-4 games.
 
Good work Prem.

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Prashanth:

Prem,
 
The Pakistani body language suggested that they are pretty confident of chasing the target - 250 runs. Is this a challenging target.
 
Though, I thought, India recovered pretty well from being 4 down for 59, thanks to a captain's knock from Rahul, 249 isn't really a great total. Where do you think it really went wrong?
 
Did the Indian think tank mis-read the pitch, or the top order was a bit slack, or a geat bowling effort from Rana Naved-ul-Hassan?

------

Ankur Dhull:

This seems to be an ordinary performance after being treated to some flamboyant perfomances by indian batsmen.

But today, as all wickets stumbled, the Indian wall was back to bussiness. Good to see him getting among runs again.

This man looks like a captain already to me.

------

Anand:

Prem,

Looked at the ODI data for last 20 ODIs. And you know what -- Ganguly fares far better than Sehwag, Kaif, Yuvraj. If you take out the last 4 ODIs against Pak,  Ganguly actually almost leads the show, just behind Sachin but ahead of Dravid.

Wonder why there is hue and cry about Ganguly's batting. Is this only about the current series?

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Gaurav:

Hey prem,

dont u think that at low scoring venues it just makes more sense to bat
second as a rule of thumb. its always much easier to plan an innings when
you know you dont have too much to get and u need just one player to play a
run-a-ball.

while the opposite is obviously true at high scoring venues ?

comments?

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Srivats:

Once again Inzy's innings will be crucial, with his habit of cool collection of runs and driving the herd to do the chase.  It is very important to get him before he sets in.

------

Rishikesh Vaidya:

Hi Prem,

I have been a great Admirer of Dravid's game. However, I feel that his strike rate is a bit too low for a player of his caliber. In today's time when 300+ is scored every other day, don't you think playing at a strike rate of about 70 in oneday cricket is eating too many balls? True, he does play a role of an anchor but accelarating an innings only helps put a better score. In test too he has a strike rate of only 42. I think the reason we have more test results these days as compared to yester-years is because of increase in the pace of innings. Today's batsman pile a good score with a good pace giving bowlers enough time to bowl the opposition twice - no mean a task. I guess it is the strike rate where Australians have an edge over others.  Dravid should consider increasing the pace of his innings. Having said that, it is Dravid who has saved India many matches, definitely more than Tendulkar.

Regards

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Joseph:

Hi Prem,

I'm a total fan of your commentary. Absolutely delighted with the way you narrate. You've got me
hooked. And you deliver the news pretty fast too. Most of the times, I find the commentary much much faster than the live score card. Absolutely smashing work. Kudos. I'd like it even more if you could fit in some snippets and facts from erstwhile years, and also a few statistics, coz they make for pretty interesting reading too. But all in all, really great work. Love it. Keep it up.

Regards

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Ozzy:

Hey Prem,

Just wanted to tell you that your commentary on the indo-pak match is brilliant! Plus u must have mega-fast fingers: you were faster in typing your commentary than any of the scorecards ( www.cricinfo.com, included!).

It's about 3am in montreal right now and you have me on the edge of my seat. I have just one tiny suggestion though: it'll be really nice if you could put what happens at the start of your sentences and then your commentary on the ball after ( e.g. Malik to Dravid,no run, defended on front foot. As opposed to what you write which might be: 12 balls to go, truly slog time now, Malik to Dravid,deflected off pads to fine leg,one run).

Even though this method is perfectly fine, it takes longer to read and makes the reader a little impatient. She/he might not appreciate your comments no matter how accurate and insightful they may be.

Anyways, great job Prem, hope to hear from you some time.

Take care,

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Narayan:

Sir,

This is not enough... if India loses, the decision to bat on a bowler-friendly wicket after winning the toss is to be blamed. Rahul has a
history of doing like this:

24/11/2002 Vijayawada - Against West Indies - toss won and elected to field on a batting wicket - lost by 135 runs
01/11/2003 Mumbai - Against Australia - toss won and elected to field on a batting wicket - lost by 16 runs
18/11/2003 Kolkata - Against Australia - toss won and elected to field on a batting wicket - lost by 17 runs
06/04/2005 Lahore Test - Against Pakistan - toss won and elected to bat on a slightly bowler-friendly wicket - bowled out for a low total of 287 - lost by 9 wickets

Regards,

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Abhishek:

Captain's knock by Dravid!! what say Prem
i think it was a great knock . Kaif again proved his worth in the team. But it was definitely dravid who played sheath anchor role for India. I still can;t imagine what would have been the situation had ganguly been in the team too. It would have been a disaster today i guess.....

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Rajakumari:

Dear Prem

It's just wonderful, the way you are handling commentary.

Question for discussion:
As dravid said, " The crucial play of Kaif and Dravid is not noticed by anybody. But Kaif today made us recognize his performance. Why India fails in middle order batting if Top order also fails? Is it psychological imbalance as a teamwork?

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Venkatesh:

Dear Prem,

I always wondered if kaif should come ahead of Yuvraj if lots of overs are
left to be played. I feel kaif is much more suited for playing a longer
innings than yuvraj. Yuvraj is good at playing cameo like he did in the last
match. it would be ideal if he comes into bat when 15 or 10 overs left. If
more 15-20 overs are left i strongly belive kaif should be promoted. why
Indian think tank not ready to be flexible?

Please let me know your thoughts on these.

Best regards

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Moolemane:

Hi Prem,
What do u feel about the heroistic game of Dravid and Kaif today.
Will Indians win today though the Pakies won against us even after chasing 315 in the last match of the series.
Thanks

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Kiran:

Hi Prem,
I am not a big fan of any cricketer. I am just an enthusiastic follower of the game Cricket and appreciate good game no matter which country plays it. These are jut my views about this issue of Ganguly.
I think all this trash talk about Ganguly is a bit too much. I agree that he is not above the laws of the game and he should be facing the ban, which is a bit too harsh, if he deserves it. But regarding dropping him of the team. I guees that is a mistake. May be he can take an off for a series to get rid of al the pressure he took all these years as captain. Even Inzamam was not able to score a single run a couple of years back but now he is back to his prime and is to his best form. So this happens with every one. Even Sachin. So friends I guess help Ganguly out of this situation instead of getting behind him. Criticize in constructive way not in destructive way.

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