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February 23, 2001 		Feedback  
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Back to the Pavilion

The Pavilion.com's team of cricket writers responds to mail from rediff.com's readers.

Name: Venkatesh Varadan
Hi Looks like Indian think-tank is trying to pull some stunt by faking Tendulkar's calf strain injury. basically they dont want to expose their lineup too much by putting agarkar and tendul in the bombay team. What if suppose agarkar bags another pair of ducks or if tendulkar doesnt play well....??? Also the Oz have a fair idea now abt harbahjan/sanghvi. so hirwani is the only trump card. so i definitely see him playing the first test. what do u think abt these views of mine??

Sam: The bit about Tendulkar is possible. I think Sanghvi was held back in the second innings of the game against India A - he bowled only five overs - as his spin bothered the Australians a lot more. So my guess if that the four bowlers for India will be Srinath, Agarkar, Sanghvi and Harbhajan.


Name: KPMGAUDIT
i think that the aussies do not stand a chance against India and will loose 3-0.
ha ha ha

Sam:That would be the ideal outcome for an Indian fan. For an Australian supporter, the ideal outcome would be all three to the Aussies. Sadly, we do not live in an ideal world...


Name: Sudip Datta
Hi,
I am an Aussie fan though I am an Indian.Best wishes to Warnie ..I am sure he will be successful this time and bag 20 wickets in the series..Sachin has been uncomfortable with pulls ad cuts ever since he had undergone back treatment and it will be worth testing him with occasional flippers.
Best of luck once again..
Sam:I think the bowler who will test Tendulkar more (and the one he will want to master) will be McGrath.


Name:skonaraddi
ACC = Austrialian Corrupt Cricketers
ACA = Autrialian Crookes Association

Is anyone MAD to 20,000 $ for weather and pitch information ?
I can give you weather and picth information for evry match. Will you pas me $1000 only ?
NO. !!! Right. Why ?
Because you can get this on internet for FREE.
MARK WAUGH & SHANE WARNE admitted to taking money while JADEJA did not agree and there is no proof he took money but he is OUT. Thats good for cricket. WHY MARK and WARNE are still playing ? Because Austrialia wants to be known as WORLD CHAMPS.
BULL SHIT They are most corrupt and biggest cheaters in the history of cricket. Just to become WORLD CHAMPS they are not going to throw MARK and WARNE.
Austrialia doesn't have guts to throw MARK and WARN ?
History knows who the Austrialian are ? (Just reminder : They were prisonerS of England, serving their sentence.)
So its all but natural to cheat.
The Bubble is going to burst soon.
India stoPped the GREAT ALEXANDER (not great for Indians) so they will stop this Corrupt cricketers and this Titanic is going to sink.
Find out excuses for the this poor tour and be ready with the list of 100 excuses for the poor show ready for printing.
India always win when Shane WarnE is there. India heavily depends on Shane Warne to do well. He is India's man, India has bribed him.
Just watch out !!!!!
Sam:There are a few flaws in your reasoning but I would prefer not to point them out. This is a game of cricket and let us deal with it on that score.


Name:Bhushan chatnani
someone has rightly said,
if India may doctor pitches,
why may Australia not doctor umpires?

Sam:Pitches are generally prepared to suit the home team. Umpires tend to favour their own. Human nature, that's all.


Name:Datta, Pritam B.
Hi,
a) Other than the cricketers themselves who are the others who travel with the team and what are their roles ?
b) Is there some player in particular or some factor like pitches, weather etc that the general Australian cricket fan is wary of ?
c) What do you think would be the best 11 players that India could select for the 1st Test ?
d) Who do you think is the most vulnerable to sledging in the Indian camp ?

Sam:a. There is a coach, a physio, a detective, a manager, a physical performance manager and a scorer.
b. not really.
c. das, ramesh, dravid, tendulkar, ganguly, laxman, dahiya, srinath, zaheer, harbhajan and raju.
d. dravid.


Name:Lakshminarayanan R
What could be shane warne's best strategy(armoury) at this tour to get an Indian batsman out? 'cos Indian batsmen are very good in playing spin at their home!

Sam:Indian batsmen tend to lose patience these days. Apart from the top two or three, the others want to get on with things - perhaps a result of the overwhelming number of one-dayers that India plays. Patience and variety will get any of them.


Name:Vikramsimha Haravu
Hello,
Its a given that the present Aussie team is the World Champs. What errors can they be made to do, or what can India do so that India atleast draws if not wins this series?

Sam:The Australian team has not been sorely tested. They have won easily most of the time and 11 of the 15 wins have been at home. India has a good chance of upsetting the Aussies provided they play to a plan.


Name:Sonali Kapre
Just a short query - why is the Australian camp making so much about defeating India in India ? It ain't such a big deal after all ......the only reason why its being considered such a major possible feat is HISTORY.....all because Bill Lawry was the last Aussie captain to do it in 1969-70.
After all, wouldn't taking on Pollock, Donald, Kallis & Boucher on the tracks of Kingsmead, Wanderers & Newlands and coming up on tops, be a far greater achievement ? Also do not forget, that the much vaunted Aussie winning streak has not included a single win against the Proteas !

Sam:Point taken. The last time, Australia really fancied its chances but was hammered in two Tests and won the inconsequential third. Beating South Africa in South Africa has been achieved as recently as 1996.


Name:Rammohan Thallapalli
Hi ,
why is the current Australian the best side in the world ? In the fifteen matches they have won continuosly most of the matches have been headed in one direction and suddenly an umpiring blunder has cost the oppenents (Eg. Pakistan remember Justin Langer snick, Sachin Tendulkar LBW). On various occasions against India when the top oder of Australia collapsed and when last recognised pair were at the crease numerous straight forward LBWs in the bowling of Agarkar and Srinath went in favour of batsman.How can you compare two teams West Indies in late 70's and early 80's against the present australian side ? We cannot compare Mcgrath with greats of Malcolm Marshall,Andy Roberts and Michael Holding and who anyway will not come good on Indian pitches.
Last but not the least even if Aus wins against India, the only reason could be because other in experienced Indian spinners not performing in the absence of Anil Kumble.
Sam:There have been occasions when decisions have gone in favour of Australia and influenced a game There are an equal number of occasions when the Australians have decimated the opposition without any decisions being involved.
I do not think the present Australian team is as good as the West Indies teams of the 80s. However, in the present setting, the Australians are easily the best team - remember, team - and probably the only other team which comes close is South Africa. Remember, it is the unit that I am considering, not individuals.


Name:Tiwari, Jaideep
Why do Aussies involve so much in sledging??? Why do they believe in playing mind games against Tendulkars or Laras or whoever they think is going to be the trump card for the opposition??? Don't they have faith in their own cricketing skills?? If not, they have no right to call themselves a world-beaters!!
I only see the trend increasing in future and more teams getting involved in this type of behaviour..... which is certainly not good for the game!!!!!
Please answer honestly.
Sam:If you think that a great deal of cricket is not played in the mind, then you are mistaken.
This business of targeting key players was something that teams started long ago - think back to 1932 and Douglas Jardine's use of Harod Larwood to neutralise Bradman. It is nothing new. The West Indies did it very well with both Gower and Kim Hughes and we know the results.
As to the use of sledging, it has grown all over the world. The Australians, unfortunately, have been the leaders. Sad, but true.


Name:Raja
"..There are sinners on both sides - four Indian players are now serving bans for involvement in match-fixing isn't it?.."
About four Indian players serving bans for match fixing, the reason is obvious - we punished the guilty whereas you guys let Shane and Mark off with an "enquiry"; even Ajay Jadeja denies that he fixed matches - but the Indian board investigated the affair and rightly punished him. But what did the ACB do? They took Mark Waugh's denial at face value and let him off. (All this wasn't even made public for God's sake) So, no Aussie has the moral right to speak about the players serving bans - atleast they had the guts to admit what they did, rather than shamelessly playing on like Warne and Waugh.
"..I don't agree that Prasad's celebration was joyful - it was obscene and he deserved what he got. But Ponting should have got equal punishment, that I do agree. I don't think this is fixed; home teams tend to be favoured a bit..."
Agreed, Prasad's celebration was obscene - then so was Ponting,Warne,McGrath and the list goes on. Remember the recent "quote" by Warne? Why aren't they punished? I refuse to believe that it is a home team issue - the punishment is given by the match referee and he needn't be (he wasn't on all occasions) from Australia. There seem to be two answers:
1. The match referee didn't notice the incidents - This reason fails when you consider the swift punishment meted out the sub-continent players.
2. Racism - there cannot be any other reason.

Sam:I think it is good to remember that neither board - the Indian or the Australian - took a single step to do anything about suspicious practices. It was a journalist in Australia and the police in India who unearthed the dirt. Then people had no choice but to act. I feel that Mark Waugh and Shane Warne should both have been suspended for some time at least. Many cricket writers here too feel the same and have given voice to this in their writings. The board has done what it thinks is right.
About the lack of punishment, I think that if the Indian and other subcontinental officials assert themselves a bit more, then their playere will get the same treatment as players from other countries. But when officials from the subcontinent behave like babus, I think they deserve what they get. For your info, Arjuna Ranatunge is one of the most respected players here - ask yourself why. The answer is obvious.


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