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August 22, 2002 | 1443 IST
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India's chances at Headingley

Chat transcript

Prem Panicker | Faisal Shariff

Faisal Shariff : Hi guys!
superstarksa : Hi Faisal
Faisal Shariff : Hi! So what's your take on tomorrow's Test?
superstarksa : superstarksa says, Prem/Faisal.... Yohanan for Nehra then... now that Agarkar has "cemented" his place ?
Faisal Shariff : Not a bad choice really. Yohannan is a tidy and disciplined seamer. Nehra seems to have lost his swing and now that Agarkar has cemented his place -- for the moment -- it makes sense to have Yohannan play tomorrow. Let Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh attack. Kumble and Agarkar can fill the toher two slots.
PPTisback : Faisal, What you have to say about Jaffer now, last time around you said he has sound defence & la bla bla.. he could not bat even against the thired class atack. I am in strong view of bringing Das or else call Ramesh this jafar guy is no good. I believe Jaheer and nehra bat better than him. Your comments please.
Faisal Shariff : What Jaffer lacks is not talent....he needs to reorganise his temperament. He has all that it takes and just the way Das struggled despite a 40 plus average before the West Indian tour Jaffer has yet to come to terms with Test cricket. It is only a matter of time. Jaffer will come good but yes he has disappointed by not taking the opportunity he was offered.
srikant : hey prem/faisal.........what do u think of Shastri being a spokesman of indian players...afterall he's involved with worldtel....
Faisal Shariff : Shastri's appointment as the spokessperson for the team has been according to a senior member of the team ' showing the red to the raging bull Dalmiya'. It has peeved Dalmiya no end that Shastri has assumed the spokesperson's role despite having a vested interest. The BCCI has refused to accept him as the players' spokesperson.
rahulnair : dear faisal, love yr match reports do u think jaffer should continue as opener for 3rd Test?
Faisal Shariff : After Das scored a 250 ---irrespective of the nature of the wicket-- it makes sense to give him a go at the Englishmen. Coach Wright has immense faith in the little Oriya opener and neither you nor I can argue his observation as coach. Jaffer needs to realise that chances in Tests are too few. Either you grab them or wonder 'what could have been'
merecritic : Prem / Faisal,How come you guys know so much about the game? How much do you have experience playing it -- at what level? Did you even play at the University level? Or are you one (or two) of the typical lazyboy critics. Especially some of Faisal's obsrevations during his match reports are borderline ridiculous...
Faisal Shariff : I am the typical lazyboy critic and do not even have the credentials to boast not having played even at the University level. But then don't we all have an opinion on the sport. I just happened to be the right guy in the right place. Cheers
cricinfo : Prem/FS what do you think about this batting order..Sehwag laxman dravid sachin sourav das parthiv agarkar and then the tail-end....does it make sense to have laxman with sehwag or are we putting too much risk here ?
Faisal Shariff : Why would you send a specialist opening batsman down the order and send the most consistent middle-order batter up the order --- after he has publicly stated his dislike for the opening slot.We must insist on finding specialist openers. In Sehwag we have found one...let us hope Das or Jaffer take the other spot. Not to forget S Ramesh.
aru : i think it will be a blessing in disguise if the big 3 are not selected for the ICC trophy. taht way, we will know what a second string team can achieve ina major competition. and the if they come out with some benefits then ICC would have doe Indian cricket a big favor
Faisal Shariff : That is a good thought. I would love to see India reach the finals atleast without the threesome. Great time to test our bench strength!
kumar : Dont think that the indians rely too heavily on boundaries to make a big score . This unwantedly builds up pressure with Hussains negative tactics . Its hightime india realised the importance of singles
Faisal Shariff : I thought the argument is that India gives off way too many boundaries. That to my mind is the main worry. A few fours releases the pressure and gives the skipper few chances of attacking.
cricinfo : FS, your reply...."Why would you send a specialist opening batsman down the order and send the most consistent middle-order batter up the order --- after he has publicly stated his dislike for the opening slot.We must insist on finding specialist openers. In Sehwag we have found one...let us hope Das or Jaffer take the other spot. Not to forget S Ramesh"why we send specialist top order down...because Das or Jaffer havent done one sh1t up ther and have caused moe pressure on the middle order....sending Laxman up the order gives him more coverage...after all sending laxman way down at 4 down doesnt justify his talent too...so I guess we dont want to change dravid from one down..then send laxman up the order...
Faisal Shariff : But my dear friend, Laxman has categorically said that he does not want to open. How can you expect a guy to give his best when he isn't comfortable in the slot. Isn't it unfair? Anshuman Gaikwad once said that INdia's problem as been to send their best player of fast bowling up the order. It is high time we changed the trend.
vijayrajan : Faisal, Do you think Nehra and Khan deserve 3 slips? It appears that they are not bending their backs enough.
Faisal Shariff : All opening seamers deserve three slips and a gully atleast. It is important that we TRY to take advantage of the new ball. Khan has bowled well but Nehra has just lost his swing. It is not about beding your back.....imbibing some level of discipline and bowling the right channels is equally im portant.
Padmanaban : Dear Prem/Faisal,Don't you think India needs a fast-bowling coach, a slow-bowling coach, a psychologist, a person to teach Yoga, one spokesperson and a comedian to keep them jovial?
Faisal Shariff : You know what too many cooks do to the broth....I think we need to go one thing at a time. The fast-bowling coach is the most important aspect we need to add to the support team. The rest can wait for a bit. WEll talking about comedians, the BCCI has plenty ;)
tej : Is Ramesh's carreer over? Inspite of his limitations of foot work, he had his own ways of tackling the pace attacks well, I thought..What's happening to them..Faisal/Prem..?
Faisal Shariff : Ramesh is still one of the best openers in the country. He will need to do well in the Ranji season to lay claims again.
PPTisback : FAISAL ANSWER MY QUESTION DAMM IT!!!
Faisal Shariff : Please ask me again boss! Sorry i missed your post.
cncoold : Faisal, Do you think it is right for the selectors to ignore Srinath for the Onedayers ?
Faisal Shariff : It is unfair to snub him the way they have. They should have taken him into confidence. After all he has served India for 10 years. Being a pace bowler and surviving for a decade is no joke. Agreed that Sri is slow and not the best lower-order batsman we have but the selectors need to realise that in SOuth AFrica last year he was our best bowler.
kool : Faisal, DO youthink India should play a defensive game here right from the begining and try to force a victory in oval? It will be more like the Gavaskar approach. If winning in dificult look for a draw and be offensive where you actually stand a chance. Because if they lose this then series is gone
Faisal Shariff : 'Be Positive' is the mantra this Indian team has adopted in England. Let us stick to that and hope that our bowlers get their lines right. Being defensive is not the way to be.
krt : Faisal, what adhesive has been used to stick agarkar to the indian team?? all his efforts to move out seem to be failing!!!!
Faisal Shariff : Yeh fevicol ka JOD Hai...tootega nahi! ;)
PPTisback : FAISAL IF YOU DON't WANT TO RESPOND MY QUESTION SAY SO SO THAT I DON"T POST THEM AGAIN AND AGAIN?
Faisal Shariff : My dear pal, Whee on earth is your question? im sorry but i can't see your question.
cricketmama : FAISALLL WHO R U ????????
Faisal Shariff : Im nobody really!
cncoold : Faisal, question about contracts ? I know that such contact problems are in other sports too, like your report indicated. But the pay scale for the cricket players are so so small compared to Professional Soccer, Basketball, Golf etc. Do yuo think it is fair to extrapolate and use the same analogy for different sports ? The cricketers do deserve the endorsements more than other sportsmen because they make lower salaries. Don they ?
Faisal Shariff : I think the players have a point when they demand their individual rights of sponsorship. No cricketer gets his due once the spotlight is snatched from them. It is a rather sad tale and it is only natural that the cricketers tread more diplomatically rather than take a high moral ground and refuse the BCCI proposals outright. Dalmiya is a huge and shrewd man. He rarely loses in these face-offs.
krt : FAISAL,WHY NOT PICK SOMEONE WHO CAN CHUCK AT 100mph AND SAY HE HAS A DEFORMATION IN ARM BY BIRTH?? IT IS A SUCCESSFUL AND TIME TESTED IDEA!!!
Faisal Shariff : Boss, that is a rocking idea. After all aren't so many in world cricket today getting away with it? ;)
Frantix : Prem/Faisal ... Bangar for Agarkar, Kumble for Nehra and Das for Jaffer. What say you? .. THIRD TIME!!
Faisal Shariff : I think it is a good choice but maybe Yohannan for Nehra is a better choice. But I am sure the team think-tank will pick both spinners in the playing eleven.
superstarksa : Prem/Faisal... Will Srinath figure in the "secret" list of proabables for the ICC trophy.. now that Khan and Co. are not in the list....
Faisal Shariff : The grapevine has it that he has been made an offer. But it is not confirmed and not official. Some other players like Murali Kartik, MSK Prasad and Venkatesh Prasad have been given contracts to sign on --says the rumour mill.
PPTisback : FAISAL HERE IS MY QUESTION and i have posted it at least 20 times ..Faisal, What you have to say about Jaffer now, last time around you said he has sound defence & la bla bla.. he could not bat even against the thired class atack. I am in strong view of bringing Das or else call Ramesh this jafar guy is no good. I believe Jaheer and nehra bat better than him. Your comments please.
Faisal Shariff : My dear friend I have answered your question in detail long ago. please check in the transcript which will be posted tomorrow. Cheers
tiltinWindmills : Faisal/Prem, I would argue that we should play harbhajan and kumble both spinners, irrespective of the conditions, quality bowlers will at least have some discipline and cant do much worse than the uninspired toothless excuse for a seam attack. what do u think???
Faisal Shariff : I agree with that thought. If Kumble can stem the flow of runs and Harbhajan can attack from the other, the Englishmen could be in for some threatening Indian spin attack.
pppappy : Faisal dont u think in test kaif should replace sachin????
Faisal Shariff : That's a joke pal! Kaif or for that matter any player hs a long way to go before he can draw comparisons with Tendulkar. Kaif is a great Test player in the making and we can only hope that he comes good soon in the longer version of the game.
Frantix : Faisal .. true but picking Yohannan over Nehra is like picking between the devil and deep sea! Why don't they blood a youngster like Irfan Pathan who is right there playing for India U19. He can't do worse can he? And I hear at 18 he is the fastest bowler in India already.
Faisal Shariff : We must strike the right balance between the tried and the tested and young blood. Just blooding these greenhorns will not serve the purpose. By not picking Yohannan we are saying that he is not fit for international cricket and his selection was a mistake. Not fair on the part of a young player who has immense potential and not enough opportunity.
havefun : Faisal, can you get the probable list from selectors for us ?!?!?!Last I heard from you..Srinath,V. Prasad, Kartik are in that list. True ?
Faisal Shariff : Sure thing. It will be up here soon. Check this space.
trnandakumar : Hai Faisal/Prem, How do you rate the current Indian Time. Are they capable of winning test matches and as well One day matches
Faisal Shariff : It is a very good one-day side but has a long way to go before it can be labelled a dangerous opponent in Test cricket.
cncoold : Faisal, Can you please write a report on how the 390 million pounds that ICC gets for these contacts from sponsors gets distributed ? I am curious. The players get payed so little and there seems to be so much money in the coffers. ( I got the 390 million figure from Jonathan Agnews BBC report). Thanks .
Faisal Shariff : Will surely have it up on the site soon. Cheers1
SaveIndianCricket : FAISAL/PREM, YOU GUYS SEEM TO PICK EASY QUESTIONS AND GIVE LENGTHY ANSWERS TO THEM?? YOU DON"T SEEM TO ANSWER MY QUESTIONS
Faisal Shariff : Here we picked a tough one!
PPTisback : Faisal what you say about Patel. It may be too early to form an openion about him but please comment on his technique and all. I haven't seen him playing that is why I want to have your expert comments.
Faisal Shariff : The boy is young and fresh. But is light on his feet and has good anticipation. His collection down the leg-side is pretty sharp and though he dropped a catch off Bajji down the leg-side in the first innings he has all the makings of a long-term wicket-keper for India.
PPTisback : FAISAL Why you have not posted last chat script on rediff.. I could find it only after lot of effort in rediff.. I ASKED PREM AND HE SAID TO CONTACT YOU
Faisal Shariff : Please check tomorrow morning. It will be up!
superstarksa : hey Premmm/Faisal.. before u go.. u lineip for Headingly ??
Faisal Shariff : Virendra SehwagSS DasRahul DravidSachin TendulkarSourav GangulyVVS LaxmanAjit AgarkarParthiv PatelZaheer KhanHarbhajan SinghAnil Kumble
Faisal Shariff : Time for good bye again guys! Ctach you after the third Test again.
Prem Panicker | Faisal Shariff