37 Responses to "India vs Australia; Does India Have the Balls to Win? Yes, India Chops Off Australia’s Balls"

1. 

   முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 5:50 am

   5:46AM ET – Australian captain Ricky Ponting

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   Fixed. Thank you, sweetie! 🙂

2. 

   முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 5:55 am

   3 CSK players.. hope they will bring good luck to the Indian team.

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   From your lips to Muruga’s ears.

3. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 6:20 am

   By the look of things, I am not sure India are favorites. They are struggling to remove BRAD HADDIN, who is a good player, but nowhere near the leagues of Gilchrist or even Hayden. Even an out-of-form Ponting is finding the going comfortable.

   God knows what is going to happen. If India even have the slightest desire to win, they need to remove Haddin, Ponting, and Hussey, and Clarke easily. No way they are going to contain Australia within 250 if they allow Australia to retain their wickets till the 40th over.

   Dhoni has to use his common sense and attack the Australian batsmen at any cost. For heaven;s sake, this is a DO-or-DIE match, we NEED wickets. I am not sure Yuvraj and Munaf are the ones we need to go in such times 🙁

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   1. God, Yuvraj is back again. 6.26AM ET His last over was expensive.

   2. You write: By the look of things, I am not sure India are favorites.

   We’re inclined to agree.

   Australia seems to be heading for a Big Score.

4. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 6:33 am

   “Australia seems to be heading for a Big Score.”
   Yes, unless some Indian Bowler bowls an inspired spell and picks up crucial wickets, India will have to contend with chasing down a huge score.

   People beware. Sachin’s record against Australia may be magnificent, but his record against Australia in World Cups while chasing has been anything but Magnificent. He scored 90 off 84 balls against Australia in the 1996 League game, 0 against Australia (Out to Mcgrath) chasing 270 in the 1999 Super Six game, and a single digit score against Australia chasing 360 in the 2003 World Cup Game (Again out to Mcgrath).

   But the good news is Aussies don;t have Mcgrath this time 😉

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   The runs seem to be coming with monotonous regularity for Australia.

   Time to start praying! 🙁

   Haddin Out. 🙂

5. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 7:10 am

   Finnnnnnnnnnaaaaaaaaaaallllyyyy Sachin comes to bowl. Let’s see what he can do. Sachin is a much better turner of the cricket ball than Yuvraj and maybe Harbhajan too. Let’s see if he can get us a wicket or too. As I say, Clarke is out to Yuvraj and Hussey’s in.

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   The cricket Gods are smiling on Yuvraj lately.

6. 

   logu   March 24, 2011 at 8:18 am

   lbw appeal turned down. they could have saved the referral for later instead of wasting for a dumb bowler like munaf.

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   Our reviews haven’t been good overall. 18% success rate.

   Australia looks like they may even reach 260-270. Solid score.

7. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 8:45 am

   Finally Australia get to 260, a above-par total at Motera, but by no means, an impossible target to chase. I remember that Sehwag got his First 100 against New Zealand while chasing 260 in a pitch similar to Motera. Boy, that was one great hundred. I wish Sehwag repeats that feat today and thrashes Australia.

   Great innings from Ponting today. Gotta say that he is a better “BIG MATCH PLAYER” than Sachin Tendulkar. Hope Sachin redeems himself. If Sachin needs a great occasion to score his 100th International Ton, this is the best one. Let;s pray we win.

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   As Zaheer Khan just told Ian Chapell (??), Indian batsmen have to keep their nerves.

   Let’s see if they can do it.

   We’re a little pessimistic considering the big total we’re chasing.

   • 

     kreacher   March 24, 2011 at 10:18 pm

     Gotta say that he is a better “BIG MATCH PLAYER” than Sachin Tendulkar.

     Pray tell, what led you to this conclusion? Here are the tournament finals stats for SRT and Ponting for tournaments with 3 or more teams. As you can see, Tendulkar’s average (55.54) is 40% higher than Ponting’s (38.42). If you raise the number of teams to 5+, Tendulkar still stays at 51.5, ahead of Ponting’s 49.4. Extend the criteria to semi-finals: 3+ teams – SRT 51.62, Ponting 38.26, and 5+ teams – SRT 39.81 and Ponting 42.41. Add quarter-finals to the mix: 3+ teams – SRT 46.73, Ponting 45.68 and 5+ teams – SRT 52.9 and Ponting 39.76.

     Feel free to double-check all numbers, but my understanding is whichever way you look at your “big match” stats, Tendulkar always comes out on top, except if you see Finals + Semi-Finals stats in tournaments with 5+ teams. Apart from that in each of the 5 other comparisons above SRT trumps Ponting. This whole talk of Sachin not being a big match player is hokum, because the truth is he strings in consistently good performances in the knockout stages (note that his average is almost always higher than his career average), while other players have the odd brilliant innings punctuating a bunch of mediocre innings.

     Your comment might have been prompted by Ponting’s 140* in the 2003 finals, where Tendulkar scored 4. It can be argued that this is an isolated incident – check the CB tri-series best of 3 finals in March 2008 for a counter point, where Tendulkar made 117* (chasing) and 91 in the two finals, while Ponting made 1 and 1 respectively.

     The other argument you might advance is that Tendulkar’s innings have rarely resulted in India winning. While that may seem right, a small look at the stats will tell you that Tendulkar averages a whopping 103.08 in tournament finals that India has won, while for Ponting the number is 46.29, when the number of teams is 3+. If the number is of teams is 5+, then indeed Tendulkar is at a disadvantage because India has only won 1 tournament of 5+ teams, and Tendulkar scored 28* there (thereby with no average), while Ponting has an average of 50.5. So it essentially comes down to how well the rest of the team played, which unfortunately India sucks at.

     You have also been pointing out Tendulkar’s failures against Australia while chasing in World Cups. As a stat this is impossible to dispute, because out of the 6 times India faced Australia in the World Cups (including today), India has had to chase 5 times, and none of the times was the chase easy, and Tendulkar averages just 31.6 there with 2 half centuries. Ponting on the other hand had to chase against India only once when India collapsed for 125 (2003). I must add, this almost seems like using a microscope to find fault in Tendulkar’s stats (which is probably the point of your assertion), because against a top team your bowling has to fire, which hasn’t happened. If you look at India’s history in the World Cups, prior to chasing down 272 against Pakistan in 2003, India had never chased down more than 222 in a World Cup, and each time Australia batted first in a WC encounter, they put up a lot more than that. This is where the whole point of Cricket being a team game comes to the fore – you cannot chase a high score against a top attack when your own attack has squandered runs. You cannot expect a team to win matches with one great player and a bunch of imbeciles. And I would seriously like to see Ponting chase a 300+ score against a good bowling attack. Lastly if you relax the criteria to just Tendulkar vs Australia while chasing (remove World Cups), his average jumps to 50.27 with some of the most spectacular innings ever witnessed in ODIs – his 143 and 134 in Sharjah 1998 and 175 in Hyderabad in 2009 were sensational by any standards, and his 117* in Sydney 2008 was the embodiment of the perfect innings in guiding a chase.

     Sorry for the long-winded comment, but it really grates when someone makes an opinionated comment without backing it up with stats.

     SearchIndia.com Responds:

     Aswin, please respond to Kreacher’s bouncer. 😉

     • 

       முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 11:09 pm

       I also wanted to submit a thesis, but was too lazy.. wouldn’t have done such a thorough job as creature anyway.

       The “Big Match Player” averaged 16.0 in the recently concluded Ashes series.. when he didn’t have Warne/McGrath/Gilchrist’s coattails to ride on. That’s probably an unfair assessment, but I don’t like that guy.. the 2003 final still grates me.
       This is probably the best time for Ponting to quit. well-praised fighting century in a very important match.. I don’t think he’d get a better swan song in the future. Ian Chappell is on Ponting’s case again.

       SearchIndia.com Responds:

       Aswin, more fan-mail. You’ve got a busy Friday. 😉

       Off-topic: Blue Moons are fast disappearing, just 5 4 left now.

     • 

       Aswin_Kini   March 26, 2011 at 4:02 am

       First of all, I would like to apologize to Kreacher for the late reply. I was so engrossed in the India-Aussie match that I forgot to see this comment.

       I would agree with Kreacher’s argument that Sachin has outperformed Ponting on many occasions. I may have been hasty in stating the fact maybe of the frustration that Sachin had failed on 2 occasions when India needed him the most (1999 Super Six game and 2003 World Cup game).

       I also remember that Sachin has always been a big match player for India
       For example:
       65 against Sri Lanka in the 1996 Semi-Finals
       141 and 134 against Australia in the 1998 Pepsi Cup tournament held at Sharjah, which won India the cup.
       100+ against Sri Lanka in the recently held Asia Cup final.
       100+ and a 90+ score in the 2008 Tri-Series Best of Two finals against Australia in Australia.

       Unfortunately, he has been struggling to score in the really BIG MATCHES (2003 Finals).
       if you remember properly, people always have a negative reaction towards Sachin’s recent hundreds, many of which have not resulted in an Indian victory. (None of them being Sachin’s fault).

       History has always been harsh towards great players for no fault of theirs. Botham was perhaps the greatest all rounder of all time. But people hold Imran Khan and Kapil higher than him purely because they captained their sides to World Cup victories. If I am not wrong, Kapil Dev’s 175 against Zimbabwe is still rated as one of the best World Cup hundreds. It;s strange that People still rate him as an all-time great purely because of that one innings (It also helped that he took 200+ ODI wickets and 434 test wickets along with 5000 test runs).

       Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell were one of the greatest batsmen of their times, but History will always rate Ponting and Steve Waugh as better cricketers purely because they won World Cups for their country.

       Sachin;s is a similar, but a tragic case (His career ain;t over yet, so I may eat my words soon). He has 31000+ runs in international cricket. 99 centuries in ODIs + Tests, and more fifties than most of the associate members combined. But what really counts is a WOrld cup win under his belt. I know it is stupid of me to say this. But I would always prefer a batsmen who is a part of a World Cup Winning team.

       To be frank, I always rated Sachin over Ponting. But when these two retire, Ponting may be rated as a better Big Match player purely because of his 140 against India in 2003 Final and solely because he was the captain of three World Cup winning Australian teams. I know this may seem strange, but at the end of the day, history judges you on your role in team’s wins not individual scores.

       If Sachin has to shut up his blind critics like me, he has to be a part of a World Cup winning squad. He would do no harm to his already excellent record by making MATCH WINNING knocks against Pak and the opponents in the final. If he does, he will forever remember not as the GREATEST ODI BATSMEN, but as one among GODS.

       I know you will be extremely displeased with this explanation. But you see, I always have this superstition that if I bash a player, he will always prove me wrong. Hope Sachin makes me eat humble pie soon. til then enjoy this Wonderful World Cup.

       • 

         kreacher   March 26, 2011 at 2:07 pm

         Unfortunately, he has been struggling to score in the really BIG MATCHES (2003 Finals).

         Writing something in all-caps doesn’t change the fact that this is an isolated incident. If you noticed, I did anticipate you would provide this as one of your two points of defence, because Tendulkar’s detractors cannot dig up anything other than this one failure in ODIs. It is almost like crucifying Roberto Baggio for missing the penalty kick in the 1994 Football finals against Brazil, when he clearly was the player responsible for getting Italy to the finals. It shows a petty mind and a lack of appreciation for the sport. Nonetheless I argued against your point upfront in my post above. I reiterate – this is an isolated incident (the only incident moreover), thrown in further relief because India has reached the finals just once during Tendulkar’s time with the team.

         Ian Chappell and Greg Chappell were one of the greatest batsmen of their times, but History will always rate Ponting and Steve Waugh as better cricketers purely because they won World Cups for their country.

         What next? Rate Romesh Kaluwitharane or Moin Khan or Darren Lehman as better players than the Chappells because they won the world cup? That is an argument without merit.

         If Sachin has to shut up his blind critics like me, he has to be a part of a World Cup winning squad. He would do no harm to his already excellent record by making MATCH WINNING knocks against Pak and the opponents in the final. If he does, he will forever remember not as the GREATEST ODI BATSMEN, but as one among GODS.

         Good that you concede you are a blind critic. That has a connotation of logic and reason not affecting you, in which case there is no way to convince you to think otherwise. The problem with people like you is that you totally fail to get the point that cricket is a game played by 11 players, which is why the term blind critics applies very well to you. The fact that in the ’11 India-Australia match Ponting was the best batsman will be conveniently overlooked by the likes of you, because the rest of his team (barring Lee) was incompetent.

         Tendulkar, in the 4 meetings against Pakistan in the World Cups has won the Man of the Match twice (92, ’03), with his 98 against them in 2003 being an innings for the Gods. In ’92 he was India’s top scorer and he took a wicket. If this isn’t enough and you still need him to make another contribution to establish his greatness, I frankly suspect double standards on your side. After all, why not brand Ponting as a big match failure because under his captaincy Australia lost the Ashes thrice (the only captain to manage this dubious distinction), and his team crashed out of the world cup without reaching the semi-finals for the first time since 1992? If you read Australian papers, there were far more calls for Ponting’s head when he lost the last Ashes, because to them the Ashes are the big matches, not the World Cup.

         One more thing: correct your facts. Ponting was the captain of 2 World Cup winning teams, not 3 (the ’99 team was captained by Waugh). And you can be sure of one thing – when they retire, Tendulkar is sure to be rated above Ponting because fortunately the qualified critics who judge these things look at career achievements and don’t lay much in stock by isolated achievements. If, for example, you strip away Ponting’s 140 in the 2003 final, he has no innings that comes to mind right away. The only player who will possibly be rated above SRT is Viv Richards. And nobody really cares that Richards was the reason that WI lost to India in 1983 – had he not hit an irresponsible shot to be caught by Kapil, India still might have been looking for its first World Cup.

         I know it is stupid of me to say this. But I would always prefer a batsmen who is a part of a World Cup Winning team.

         So let’s replace Tendulkar with Darren Lehman, shall we? Or bring in 36-runs-in-60-overs Gavaskar for that matter.

         I know you will be extremely displeased with this explanation.

         Actually the emotion I feel is pity. For, I believe you are a person who will never appreciate teamwork, or greats like Tendulkar or Lara or Dravid or Kallis or Hadlee because they were never a part of a team that could deliver the goods. It is akin to blaming you and you alone for your employer’s losses, never mind the fact that you might be the top performer on your teams.

         SearchIndia.com Responds:

         Aswin, your turn now.

         • 

           Naveen   March 27, 2011 at 1:14 am

           Seriyane Poti! (a good competition)

           It is odd that the greatness of the one who has played consistently well for over 2 decades, scored almost 100 100’s, 150 50’s, 200 wickets, won countless matches, made countless matches competitive, covered for 10 other non-performers with the bat for most of the 1990’s etc. etc. etc., is still questioned and debated repeatedly.

           If cricket were a religion then Sachin is definitely one of the Gods. As an avid fan of the game, I am truly indebted to Sachin for the amazing entertainment he has given me throughout my life till date. He is the real life Super Hero that common men often dream of becoming.

           SearchIndia.com Responds:

           You write: He is the real life Super Hero that common men often dream of becoming.

           Very true.

           We find Sachin a million gazillion times more inspiring and more worthy of admiration than all those two-bit Bollywood, Kollywood, Crappywood stars and starlets.

         • 

           boopalanj   March 27, 2011 at 5:36 pm

           To add up some spice to the conversation, here is a link talking about “the myth” about sachin’s centuries and yet india losing.

           http://www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news/38170/The-myth-about-Sachin-ton-and-India-losing

         • 

           Aswin_Kini   March 28, 2011 at 11:06 am

           First of all, I agree with kreacher and Boopalanj on Sachin being a better player than Ponting. Second, But when I dig into a few statistics using Cricinfo, I find that Sachin has been rather inconsistent as a performer and way below par in key tournaments.

           I was, and still am, a Sachin fan. But, the respect that I have/had for him has not remained constant throughout the years because of a select few reasons.

           1) For a man of his talent, he has been rather inconsistent as a Test batsmen over his career. Yes, he has scored the maximum number of hundreds and runs, (51+ and 13000+, respectively). But only one of his double hundreds have two of his half-a-dozen double hundreds have come in an Indian win. (Please do not bring that Winning is a team’s job again. Sachin’s double hundreds such as 241 against Australia and 213 against New Zealand could have been scored at a much better pace. But instead they were time-consuming affairs)Let’s remember that one of those match winning 200s was against Bangladesh, which I’ll discount because of their pedestrian batting attack.

           2) Failures in the 2008 Series against the spin trio of Murali and Mendis

           3) His batting during the period 2004-2007 was rather inconsistent and pathetic. If I am right, India didn’t win a single multi-national ODI tournament during this period. Mind you Sachin was playing in at least 16 of the 18 finals which I have counted and never once did he score a single hundred in those finals (Not even one hundred in a tournament final). This is what I stated as Big Match failures.

           3) A good player is not only judged by the amount of runs he has scored, but how consistently he has scored. Looking at Sachin’s record in World Cups from 1999 – 2007. Here is the list:
           1999 world cup:
           7 innings, 253 runs. 140 of those 253 runs came in a single innings against Kenya. Which meant that Sachin scored only 113 runs in rest of the matches. (To be fair, his father’s death had affected him badly, but nevertheless a failure is still counted as a failure)

           Ponting on the other hand had scored a meager 354 runs in 10 innings. But he still chipped in a useful 30 or 40 to add solidity to the Australian batting order.

           2003 World Cup: (Sachin’s best ever )
           Innings 11, Runs 673, centuries 1, Fifties 6.
           The stats tell the story, Sachin was yet again in the form of his life, looked like the vintage Tendulkar of the 90s and blazed away India to the finals.

           Ponting: 11 innings, 415 runs – Only good innings of 140 came in a most important match (2003 Finals)

           http://stats.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=865;type=tournament;year=2003;year=2003

           2007 World Cup:
           Ricky Ponting: 11 innings, 539 runs.

           Sachin scored hardly 100+ runs in this World Cup. He failed when India needed him the most in the match against Sri Lanka
           http://stats.espncricinfo.com/wctimeline/engine/records/batting/most_runs_career.html?id=2403;type=tournament;year=2007;year=2007

           Now, if I compare the great Sachin and the more humane Ponting over a span of 3 World Cups, I get these figures:
           Ponting: 30 innings, 1308 runs.
           Sachin: 22 innings, 1030+ runs

           While the average is favorable on Sachin’s side, Ponting has been the consistent scorer. Ponting was one of the top 10 batsmen in the 1999, 2003, and 2007 WorldCups. which speaks levels of consistency.

           Sachin on the other hand, like the great Brian Lara, has either blown hot like a Volcano and has failed to deliver in the 1999 and 2003 World Cups.

           Let’s take a look at Sachin’s performance in the next most prestigious BIG tournament – ICC Knockout Cup (Mini version of the World Cup)

           Sachin’s record over the 4 editions:
           16 matches: 441 runs, average: 36.75 (Almost 9 runs below his career average)

           Ponting’s record over the 4 editions:
           18 innings, 593 runs, average 39.53
           Ponting was the highest run scorer in the last version of the ICC knockout tournament too. (288 runs in 5 innings)

           And let’s take the now-defunct VB Series in Australia, a tournament played only between the top-ranked sides.

           Sachin’s record in VB series over the past decade and half:
           Tendulkar: 35 matches , 1234 runs, Average: 37.24

           Ponting:
           111 matches. 4030 runs, Average 39.9. Centuries 9.(3 centuries in all against India)

           http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/records/averages/batting.html?class=5;id=13;team=6;type=trophy

           Till 2008, Sachin had a very poor record against Australia in the VB Series. Thankfully, his 100 and 90 in the best of 2 finals have neutralized his earlier failures (A sign of rising confidence)

           With all due respect to Sachin, he is still the greatest ODI batsman. But in tests, even after scoring 51 test tons, people still rate Dravid and Laxman as better match winners because they scored their runs when the team needed them the most.

           Dravids double hundreds (England 2002, Australia 2003/04, Pakistan 2004) have been the Architect of Series wins. Yes, Sachin also scored 193 against England in 2002, 242 against Australia in 2004, and 194 against Multan, but Dravid still remains the better player.

           Sachin had a quite average batting form during the years 2004-2007. His mediocre performances were saved by the fact that he hit a few centuries in between 5-7 innings.

           Now, for the good ones. Sachin has however been correcting his failures one by one.
           1) He helped India chase an above-par total of 386 against England in 2008.
           2) He has scored 3 centuries in important finals, including 100s in the Asia Cup and CB series in Australia
           3) He scored 175 in a very crucial chase of 350 against Australia, surprising even his staunchest critics.
           4) Scored 163 (retired hurt) against NZ in India’s first ever ODI series win
           5 Scored 200*, the highest ever score in ODIs, at the ripe old age of 36.

           All these are encouraging signs of a legend, who is peaking at the right time.

           If my gut feeling serves me right, Sachin will add credibility to Kreacher’s fact by April 2. But that doesn’t still prove that he once lacked big match temperament.

           I leave it to Kreacher and SI to decide now.

           SearchIndia.com Responds:

           Aswin, thanks for the response to Kreacher’s response. It must have taken quite a bit of effort and time to gather all these facts and weave them together. 🙂

         • 

           kreacher   March 28, 2011 at 6:50 pm

           A good player is not only judged by the amount of runs he has scored, but how consistently he has scored. Looking at Sachin’s record in World Cups from 1999 – 2007.

           Now, if I compare the great Sachin and the more humane Ponting over a span of 3 World Cups, I get these figures:
           Ponting: 30 innings, 1308 runs.
           Sachin: 22 innings, 1030+ runs

           Now, this is what is misleading about selective statistics. Why pick only 3 World Cups and not 5? After all both of them played in 96, 99, ’03, ’07 and ’11. You can’t use the term “consistency” and then pick 60% of the sample set with a selective bias. Why deliberately include the two cups where Tendulkar was in poorer form to the exclusion of the ones surrounding it?

           So let me complete the picture for you. If you do expand the scope to 5 cups you will get:
           Tendulkar: 36 innings, 1892* (96: 523, 99: 253, 03: 673, 07: 64, 11: 379*), 6 hundreds, 11 fifties
           Ponting: 43 innings, 1743 (96: 229, 99: 354, 03: 415, 07: 539, 11: 206), 5 hundreds, 6 fifties

           That gives Tendulkar almost 1 score of 50+ every 2 matches (17/36), whereas for Ponting that stands at 1 score of 50+ every 4 matches (11/43). Even if you discount the current World Cup (though I don’t see any reason why you should), Tendulkar keeps a much higher 50+ rate. Sorry, but in the key big tournament you use as a benchmark, in the years that both of these players have played together Tendulkar’s good performances are almost two times as much consistent as Ponting’s.

           You could add 1992, in which case SRT’s consistency figures would dip (but only marginally – he had 3 50’s in 7 innings), but I chose to keep things common to the cups where both played.

           While the average is favorable on Sachin’s side, Ponting has been the consistent scorer. Ponting was one of the top 10 batsmen in the 1999, 2003, and 2007 WorldCups. which speaks levels of consistency.

           And if you add 1996 and 2011 to the mix Tendulkar will have been among the top 10 in 3 World Cups (I am assuming he will not drop out of the top 10 in this cup – only 5 players among the top 15 still have matches left). So in 5 World Cups that the two have played against each other, both will have been among the top 10 run-getters 3 times and one of them with a significantly higher 50+ score rate, in other words, a much more consistent top 10 player. Mind you, in 1999 Tendulkar played 3 matches less than Ponting and was still in the top 15. Moreover let alone finishing in the top 10, SRT is the only player to have topped the aggregates twice – talk about big match players!

           Saying that Tendulkar has “either blown hot like a Volcano and has failed to deliver” is only stating half the facts. Tendulkar has been in the top 15 in 5 of the 6 World Cups he has been in (the exception being 2007 when he played only 3 matches). Ponting too has made the top 15 4 times out of 5 (2011 is the exception), but the difference is while Ponting’s team almost always got to play the maximum number of matches without Ponting doing much (Steve Waugh and Warne were the stars of 99, Ponting had 275 runs in all in 2003 before the finals where several other players played well, Hayden was the star of 2007), India progressed far only when Tendulkar has been superlative (the cup’s top scorer in 96 and 2003, India’s highest so far in 2011). What does this indicate? The team fails to step up if Tendulkar has a bad World Cup – not so for Ponting. Consequently when India fails to strike big, Tendulkar is made the scapegoat by people like you. I don’t see you blaming Ponting for Australia’s failure this year, though.

           And let’s take the now-defunct VB Series in Australia, a tournament played only between the top-ranked sides.

           Umm – in 2003-04 the teams were Australia, Zimbabwe and India. While India could claim to be the second best team at that time (after the World Cup), Zimbabwe I am sure wasn’t a top-ranked team! Similarly in 2004-05 the teams were Australia, Pakistan and West Indies(!!). In the last 12 years of the series’ existence South Africa played only 3 times though they have been ranked among the top 2 teams since a long time.

           For the most part the CB series was played with filler teams. Australia’s reaching the finals was almost always assured, and in more cases than not it was a question of deciding who the second team would be. This is borne out by the facts that the only non-Australian players in the history of the series with more runs AND higher averages than Tendulkar are Richards, Lara and Greenidge. Nonetheless your stats are valid, though what must be pointed out is that like Tendulkar Ponting’s average in the tri-series is less than his career average too. So it isn’t that Ponting has been a spectacular player here – it is just that he has sucked marginally less than Tendulkar has here.

           people still rate Dravid and Laxman as better match winners because they scored their runs when the team needed them the most

           Not sure why Dravid and Laxman in Tests are relevant to a debate about Ponting and Tendulkar in ODIs. I wanted to keep this to the point, but since you brought in more comparisons and test matches, this is going to become a long debate.

           I really didn’t want to rate Tendulkar against other Indians particularly Laxman because he has been without exception the most outstanding match-winner in test matches for quite a few years now, pulling several Houdini acts. But please tell me that the reference to Dravid is in the past tense. No disrespect to Dravid (I am a major fan of his – in my previous comment I even called him a legend whom you will never give his due because he didn’t win a World Cup), but it has been a while since Dravid has been regarded as a match winner of any sort, let alone a better one than Tendulkar.

           You point out Dravid’s double centuries, but you forget that in the last 2 years alone Tendulkar has had more match winning knocks than all of those – 103* in the fourth innings chasing 387 against England and 214 and 53* against Australia are the match-winning knocks that quite easily come to mind, as do some great match-saving ones like 146 in South Africa and 203 in Sri Lanka. You can find a lot more, like the 160 in the series opener against New Zealand in early 2009, or a few more knocks against Australia and Sri Lanka (and Bangladesh, but let’s leave them aside). Simply put, he didn’t become ICC’s player of the year for nothing.

           Dravids double hundreds (England 2002, Australia 2003/04, Pakistan 2004) have been the Architect of Series wins.

           And again, not to demean the feats, but spectacular though they were, neither Dravid’s double hundred against England in 2002 nor the one against Australia in 2003 resulted in series wins. Both series were drawn 1-1. Moreover his double against England didn’t result in a match victory either (it was a draw) – it was his match-winning 148 in the previous match at Headingley that tied the series (after Agarkar had hit a century at Lords’ in a lost match), and that was the match where Tendulkar made 193. Of course, his 270 against Pakistan resulted in a remarkable victory. This is the problem – detractors choose to remember Tendulkar by his failures and everyone else by their successes.

           Yes, Sachin also scored 193 against England in 2002, 242 against Australia in 2004, and 194 against Multan, but Dravid still remains the better player.

           To use your arguments against you, since January 2007 Dravid has an average of 41.18. The only thing propping up his average are the series against Bangladesh and New Zealand (a team that was beaten by Bangladesh) in the last 2 years, when his average goes to 53.58. The only top team he has averaged well against is Sri Lanka. I will leave out SRT’s averages for this period, but rest assured, they are significantly higher.

           Sachin had a quite average batting form during the years 2004-2007. His mediocre performances were saved by the fact that he hit a few centuries in between 5-7 innings.

           What you forget is that those 5-7 centuries came against big opponents – like 241* against Australia followed by 194* against Pakistan. To quote Anand Vasu on the Multan match:

           While Sehwag’s savagery, executed with the smile and wink of an inebriated pirate, always appeared to give the bowlers a chance, Tendulkar’s mastery only reminded them of the heat and the dust.

           It is funny how Tendulkar-bashers pick these years to pull down his achievements, without making a mention of the fact that he suffered from various injuries in this time-frame: tennis elbow, a shoulder surgery and a groin injury. Most people actually termed his career finished before he recuperated to recapture his form in spectacular fashion. Also note that during these lean years he batted more like Dravid than Dravid himself. And in spite of his slump he managed some monstrous scores against good opposition, quite unlike Dravid.

           SearchIndia.com Responds:

           Aswin – Your turn.

           Kreacher – Done.

         • 

           kreacher   March 29, 2011 at 3:32 am

           Sorry, I wrote my last post after staying up the whole night, so I inadvertently missed reading through parts of yours:

           3) His batting during the period 2004-2007 was rather inconsistent and pathetic. If I am right, India didn’t win a single multi-national ODI tournament during this period. Mind you Sachin was playing in at least 16 of the 18 finals which I have counted and never once did he score a single hundred in those finals (Not even one hundred in a tournament final). This is what I stated as Big Match failures.

           As I stated, this was his injury period. What caught my eye upon a reread was your assertion, “16 of the 18 finals”. Here are the stats from 1st Jan 2004 to 31st Dec 2007: http://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/35320.html?class=2;filter=advanced;final_type=1;orderby=default;spanmax1=31+Dec+2007;spanmin1=01+Jan+2004;spanval1=span;template=results;type=allround. As you can see, he only played in 3 finals, not “16 of the 18”. In fact he only played in 23 matches totally in tournaments of 3+ teams (and this included the WC). So unless you are referring to a different set of statistics, what you have written above is wrong.

           1) For a man of his talent, he has been rather inconsistent as a Test batsmen over his career. Yes, he has scored the maximum number of hundreds and runs, (51+ and 13000+, respectively). But only one of his double hundreds have two of his half-a-dozen double hundreds have come in an Indian win. (Please do not bring that Winning is a team’s job again. Sachin’s double hundreds such as 241 against Australia and 213 against New Zealand could have been scored at a much better pace. But instead they were time-consuming affairs)Let’s remember that one of those match winning 200s was against Bangladesh, which I’ll discount because of their pedestrian batting attack.

           Given that during his innings of 248* against Bangladesh only two other Indians crossed 50 (Ganguly 71, Zaheer 75), I am inclined to ask, why should we discount it? Would you rather he had failed against them and India lost? This is another line of thinking I cannot digest: why do people insist on disregarding scores against lower opposition without context? Should we say Kapil’s 175 in the 83 WC was worthless because the opponents were Zimbabwe? Should we say that Ganguly’s centuries in the ’03 cup against Kenya were worthless? If you check the stats you will notice that India was tottering in their first Super 6 match against Kenya before Ganguly came to the rescue. Should we discount Ponting’s 118* against Bangladesh in a test in 2006 in spite of the fact that if he hadn’t scored those runs Bangladesh would have handed Australia a defeat? What about Inzamam’s 138* against Bangladesh, which just about managed to save Pakistan by 1 wicket? Or even Tendulkar’s own 105* against Bangladesh after Sehwag’s comment about Bangladesh being an ordinary side prompted an extraordinary collapse? I am not saying that you should regard Bangladesh and Zimbabwe as opponents of skill, but you do need to be fully aware of the context before going all judgmental.

           And while we are at it, why stop with saying that only 2 of his doubles resulted in victories? Why not mention that one of them (203 against SL) was scored facing a score of 642 and secured a draw? Or that his 241* against Australia was scored in the middle of a horrible slump and was more “in-your-face” than Ponting’s last WC century because he completely eschewed his scoring shot. Or that the match where he made 217 against NZ was actually drawn because India didn’t enforce a follow-on and had little to do with his scoring rate. His strike rate was 63, which is not bad at all for tests (it is higher than any of Dravid’s doubles, actually, and it is higher than all but one of Ponting’s doubles), and India declared on the second day itself and got a wicket before end of play. And of course I will talk about winning being a team’s job, because at least in the NZ match India didn’t draw because of his slowness as you erroneously claim.

           Why leave out the innumerable brilliant centuries (before 2004) that either resulted in fine victories, tight draws or fighting losses (136 vs Pakistan in Chennai, 155 vs South Africa at Bloemfontein, 169 vs South Africa in Cape Town, 114 vs Australia in Perth)? Were they not good innings? How can he be termed inconsistent if he has 110 scores of 50+ in 290 visits to the crease? If you dig deeper you will find that his performances against top teams aren’t bad either. You are the person who advocated consistent high scores, isn’t it? Of modern players only Kallis has a marginally higher rate of scoring 50+ in tests (http://howstat.com/cricket/Statistics/Batting/Batting50s.asp).

           Let’s face it – far from being inconsistent, if anything defines him in tests it is his consistency. Your statements are very self-contradictory. E.g. “He is the top scorer (14600+ runs), he has the highest centuries (51), he has the highest number of 50+ scores (110), he scores highly more frequently than almost any other player (38% 50+ scores), he converts at a fantastic rate (46% 50 → 100 conversion rate), he scores well both home and away (almost 57 averages for both) but all this is a lie and he is inconsistent”. You really need to define clearly what you mean by inconsistent, because it doesn’t agree with either statistical definitions (feel free to compute his standard deviation) or lexicographical ones. Your so-called better/more consistent players would probably kill to have his level of consistency (or they would have to be like Lara). For every lean period he has endured others have endured far worse – Ponting and Dravid have never gotten close to their form from a few years back (and this is without injury).

           At the end of the day my biggest complaint against you and other detractors is that a few exceptions aside (like the Champions’ Trophy stats), you either present unfounded statements with no statistics, or you present deliberately incomplete statistics (like 3 World Cups as opposed to 5), or you throw in incorrect ones (16 finals from 2004-2007), or you present the right statistics but draw incorrect inferences (you argue that the stats show he is “rather inconsistent” when they don’t).

           Anyway, I have given way too much time to this debate, so let me get back to work.

           SearchIndia.com Responds:

           Aswin, more Sachin fodder for you to chew on.

8. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 8:55 am

   “We’re a little pessimistic considering the big total we’re chasing.”
   Let’s be optimistic. To look on the brighter side, this pitch is more suitable for spinners and slow medium pacers. Batsmen would prefer facing faster bowlers as the ball comes to the bat much faster and easier. Considering that Australia have a heavy pace attack (Shaun Tait, Brett Lee, and Johnson), India may have a slight advantage.

   if Johnson or Tait are having a bad day, Ponting would look up to Lee and his spinner, Jason Krejza. Let’s not forgot that Aussies have only 2 part time spinners, Clarke and to an extent hussey. We have to keep out fingers crossed.

   If Sehwag and Sachin get off to a start against Lee and co and get to 10 overs without no loss, we might have a serious match on our hands.(That is if the pitch doesn’t support Reverse swing.)

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   The big question is whether (recent) history will repeat itself – the sudden, complete, inexplicable collapse of Indian middle-order batsmen for just a few dozen runs. That’s the scary possibility.

   • 

     Aswin_Kini   March 28, 2011 at 1:23 pm

     @SI: “Aswin, thanks for the response to Kreacher’s response. It must have taken quite a bit of effort and time to gather all these facts and weave them together. :)”

     It would not be far if I hadn’t replied after seeing Kreacher’s comment. Kreacher was almost right in every point he mentioned, including the one that I was a blind critic. But I had already accepted it in my previous comment.

     Kreacher was completely right when he said “Cricket is a team game, not played or decided by one individual”. It is mighty unfortunate that Sachin’s glorious tons, including some recent ones, have come in Indian defeats. I was WRONG to blame Sachin for that.

     But I still stay firm in my opinion, “Sachin WAS not as good a BIG MATCH player as people have stated.” When I say, “Not as good”, I say it keeping in mind, his inconsistency and tendency to choke in the Big matches.

     Adam Gilchrist was not as great a batsmen as Sachin. He scored only 16 ODI hundreds and 55 ODI fifties. But he will be forever remembered mostly for 1) Being the greatest wicketkeeper batsmen of all time and 2) The only batsmen to score 2 fifties and 1 hundred in World Cup finals and finish on the winning side in all of three.

     Aravinda De Silva, the classic Srilankan batsmen, scored only 11 ODI hundreds (Even Yuvraj has 13 now), but he will forever be remembered as the legendary batsmen, who scored a World Cup winning hundred against Australia, chasing under lights against a bowling attack comprising Glenn Mcgrath, Damien Fleming, and Shane Warne.

     Like it or not, Sachin will be celebrated as a legendary ODI batsmen. But if he goes without a WC win under his belt. There is every chance that 20 years down the lane, people might look at his record and ask “If he was so good, why didn’t his team win a World Cup?”

     All said and done, Sachin has one last chance remaining to establish himself as the greatest Indian cricketer. Unlike 2003 and 1996 where the whole team depending on him to win matches, he now has the company of Sehwag, Gambhir, Kohli, and Yuvraj. With his experience and talent, he should be able to complete the final hurdle of his career easily.

     Hopefully, March 30 and April 2 will end on a happy note for Kreacher and a million other Indians like me.

     SearchIndia.com Responds:

     Well, as of now there must be at least 800 million anxious Indians and NRIs.

     • 

       kreacher   March 29, 2011 at 1:41 pm

       But I still stay firm in my opinion, “Sachin WAS not as good a BIG MATCH player as people have stated.” When I say, “Not as good”, I say it keeping in mind, his inconsistency and tendency to choke in the Big matches.

       And not only me, but other readers have pointed out to you that if BIG MATCH means a tournament final, then the above statement is rubbish. I have given you detailed stats for his performances in knock-out level matches in tournaments involving 3 or more teams, breaking them down to Final appearances, F+SF appearances and F+SF+QF appearances over the years. If you choose to ignore them and offer just the 4 runs he scored in the 2003 finals as evidence (India reached the finals of the Champions’ trophy twice: ’00 and ’02. He scored 69 in 00 against NZ and India didn’t get to bat in ’02 against SL, so his performance there isn’t bad either), I well and truly have nothing more to say.

       Aravinda De Silva, the classic Srilankan batsmen, scored only 11 ODI hundreds (Even Yuvraj has 13 now), but he will forever be remembered as the legendary batsmen, who scored a World Cup winning hundred against Australia, chasing under lights against a bowling attack comprising Glenn Mcgrath, Damien Fleming, and Shane Warne.

       As the saying goes, “One swallow does not a summer make.” Check out Andy Zaltzman’s hilariously phrased Unpredictable XI (it is an article in two parts, so be sure to read the second part as well). As you can see, Aravinda de Silva makes this list with distinction. 10 or 20 years down the line if Aravinda is remembered as a greater legend than Tendulkar I will donate my laptop (or whatever is my most common mode of work at that time) to charity. Well, not really, but I hope you catch the drift.

       Like it or not, Sachin will be celebrated as a legendary ODI batsmen. But if he goes without a WC win under his belt. There is every chance that 20 years down the lane, people might look at his record and ask “If he was so good, why didn’t his team win a World Cup?”

       I am pretty sure the answer will be, “because his teams weren’t up to it”. Nobody ever asks the question of Lara, and very few will ever ask this of Tendulkar, though, or deny him the status of a legend. And frankly I am tired of people turning a blind eye to the fact that you cannot win if your team doesn’t play to its capacity. Even in this World Cup, take the South Africa match for example – once he got out, the remaining 8 collapsed adding just 29 runs, ensuring that India didn’t cross 300 when 350 was for the taking. Your match winners such as Kohli, Yuvraj and others just gave up (though this is being harsh on Yuvraj – he has been phenomenal in other matches).

       On a side note it will be interesting to see if Wisden / ESPN decides to make an all-time XI for ODIs, who will make the cut. Gilchrist will, thanks to his dynamic batting and wicket-keeping, and I am pretty sure Tendulkar will, whatever be the outcome of this world cup. Ponting might not get in, because he will have a tussle on his hands with Clive Lloyd, whose record in the World Cup is equally impressive. As you are probably aware, in spite of your (unfounded) protestations of inconsistency in tests, Tendulkar is in the all-time XI there, ahead of Lara, Ponting, Dravid, Gavaskar and several other greats.

9. 

   Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 9:25 am

   “The big question is whether (recent) history will repeat itself – the sudden, complete, inexplicable collapse of Indian middle-order batsmen for just a few dozen runs. That’s the scary possibility.”

   Answer is simple. If India desires to be the Next World CUp Champs. They need to play lik CHAMPS, not like CHUMPS. With such a strong batting order, if they fail to chase this one, they deserve to be knocked out of the World cup.

   I won;t feel sorry if they did either. For all the hype and crores provided to the Indian Team, they have come out a cropper everytime, save for the 2003 World Cup. But having said this, I am highly confident that India will win this.

   I pray that they do it to Shut the Aussies out of the World cup, make Ponting cry, make this World Cup a memorable one, and whatnot.

   Believe me, if Aussies win this one, they will go on to win this World CUp too. They have to be stopped and India is the one which can do it.

   To me the trio of Kohli, Yuvraj, and Raina are the key for India to win this one.

   Also, we can get little help from Ponting if he makes one of those horribly wrong decisions like taking Lee out of the attack when he is in “Wicket-taking mode” and giving Watson an over when Krejza should be ideally bowling it.

   Fingers crossed.

   SearchIndia.com Responds:

   Well, roughly two hours from now we’ll know if Indians played like Champs or Chimps. 😉

10. 

    Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 9:53 am

    Yeah, in three hours, I hope I will post a comment stating India WiN and BYE BYE MR.PONTING.

    Boy…….Am I an eternal optimist or what? 😛

    Coming back to the match, I am not planning to watch it till 9pm. Starting from office now, I will go home and take a small 30km cycling trip to get away from the ridiculous updates of the India-Australia match.

    This will be my last comment before 9pm.

    Hope my next one is about an Indian win 🙂 Enjoy the match. Go easy on that LITTLE BASTARD. Hey I meant your beer, not Ricky Ponting ;).

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Ah, you mean Arrogant Bastard. Too early to start drinking. Just 10AM on the East Coast

    Sehwag Out 🙁

11. 

    முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 10:05 am

    Narendra Modi is in da house..

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Allah-o-Akbar! Just saw him. 😉

    Unsmiling, grim face.

    What’s wrong with him? Constipation? Man needs some fibre in his diet!

    Or did Modi happen to see Yusuf Pathan & Zaheer Khan? 😉

    • 

      shadowfax_arbit   March 24, 2011 at 10:21 am

      Well, for some reason he never smiles. But still I admire him.

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      The only Indian politician we admire is Priyanka i.e. Priyanka Vadra nee Gandhi. 😉 She always smiles.

      Now, the CBI, IB, RAW, NSG, SPG, Delhi Police, Tamil Nadu Police, UP Police etc will come after us.

12. 

    shadowfax_arbit   March 24, 2011 at 10:23 am

    I wanna see Sachin score century in this one. Both Ponting and Sachin are masterclass. This would be one hell of a match if Sachin also scores a century.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: I wanna see Sachin score century in this one.

    Just you and a billion others. 🙂

    • 

      முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 11:04 am

      😳

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      We feel your pain. 🙁

13. 

    rakeshbaba   March 24, 2011 at 11:09 am

    sachin was not out,it was a front foot no ball.bad umpiring

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Triumph of hope over reality? 😉

14. 

    logu   March 24, 2011 at 12:40 pm

    india cant lose it from here. what u say SI?

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Yes, most likely India will win.

    India has to be Really, Really Stupid to Lose at this stage. 😉

15. 

    முனிAndy   March 24, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Modiji should be at all the Indian games. Especially the Pak game.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Modi just smiled!

    Twice in 10 minutes. Breaks a 50-year record. 😉

16. 

    Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 1:20 pm

    I am back. India win. INDIA WIN. INDIA BEAT AUSTRALIA FINALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLYYYYYYYYY.

    Ok. To be short and sweet. Good work India, bye bye PONTING 🙂

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    Now, to crush Terroristan aka Pukistan aka Pakistan in Mohali!

17. 

    Aswin_Kini   March 24, 2011 at 1:30 pm

    “Now, to crush Terroristan aka Pukistan aka Pakistan! in Mohali!”
    As they say in India, “Yellam Avan Seyal, Inshallah, Amen “.

    What a fascinating contest it is going to be. A great bowling side vs a great batting side 🙂

    India will go in as underdogs. If they hold their nerve, they will win this one too 🙂

    Just 2 more wins for India and we have the big one.

    Till then, enjoy with ARROGANT BASTARD.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    AB not in stock! 🙁

    But plenty of Blue Moon.

    Blue Moon with Chilli Paneer, here we come. 🙂

    MERA BHARAT MAHAAN!

18. 

    logu   March 24, 2011 at 1:47 pm

    wow im relieved now. yuvraj is in midas touch hope he carries this midas touch to tale India all the way to glory. Finally the Aussie juggernaut had been ended in worldcups. what a incredible record these baggygreeners had its very hard for any team to come even close to their incredible run. Lets bid a proper farewell to the 3rd greatest batsman of this generation the tough SOB of Australian team Ricky Ponting. Thanks Ricky for all the sweet memories.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You Write: wow im relieved now.

    You and 1.2 billion other Indians and NRIs. 😉

19. 

    Twig   March 24, 2011 at 2:15 pm

    “INDIA AVENGES KILLING OF INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA”

    WTH? Laughed my ass off. Funniest heading ever though in serious terms doesn’t make any sense. 😉

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: Funniest heading ever though in serious terms doesn’t make any sense

    Sweetie, when you stop to think of it, nothing in the world makes sense. Never did.

    We just delude ourselves in our futile effort to make sense of the universe.

    • 

      Twig   March 24, 2011 at 2:52 pm

      Iraq should win against America in Ice hockey to avenge the brutality of America on Iraq.
      That would be epic.

      SearchIndia.com Responds:

      Ha ha ha. Not Funny. 🙁

      By the way, we are in Iraq to bring Freedom and Democracy there not to inflict brutality on Iraqis.

      Here’s what our former Commander-in-Chief Idiot-in-Chief George W.Bush said:

      Our mission in Iraq and Afghanistan is clear to our service members — and clear to our enemies. Our men and women are fighting to secure the freedom of more than 50 million people who recently lived under two of the cruelest dictatorships on earth. Our men and women are fighting to help democracy and peace and justice rise in a troubled and violent region. Our men and women are fighting terrorist enemies thousands of miles away in the heart and center of their power, so that we do not face those enemies in the heart of America.

      Source: Wiki

      Ha ha ha. No wonder, the Iraqis are so grateful to us. 😉

20. 

    curiousboy   March 24, 2011 at 2:20 pm

    Ya, you said it! The Cricket Gods are smiling on Yuvraj Singh. What a performance! 🙂

    India might have avenged the Aussies, but I feel we were really lucky! 🙂

    And that sluggish Munaf must be kicked out of the team! Grrr…

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    As they say in German, Ende gut, alles gut (all’s well that ends well)

21. 

    curiousboy   March 25, 2011 at 2:06 am

    MAJOR AUSTRALIAN MEDIAS ABOUT AUSSIES DEFEAT AGAINST INDIA:

    THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD – Triumph of a ‘tragic hero’: battered Ponting exits World Cup with ‘innings of a lifetime’.

    THE CANBERRA TIMES – Aussies punted from Cup.

    THE AUSTRALIAN – Aussies crash out in India.

    BRISBANE COURIER MAIL – Aussies bow out to India.

    ADELAIDE NOW – Game over… INDIA turfs aussies out of WC.

    THE WEST – The end of a Cup Line.

    THE CURIOUS TIMES – Hang your head in shame, Punter! 😉

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    SI Morning Herald – India Turns Aussies into Pussies

22. 

    shadowfax_arbit   March 25, 2011 at 2:31 am

    What a match! The only useless guy in the team right now is Dhoni!! Thank God they chose Raina instead of Yusuf. Finally someone other than Australia to lift the cup.

    But I did not like Ahmedabad crowd booing Ponting during presentation. He’s a class batsman no matter what.

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    You write: The only useless guy in the team right now is Dhoni!!

    As long as India keeps winning, Dhoni is fine. Victory absolves all shortcomings.

23. 

    kd36939   March 28, 2011 at 4:41 pm

    “INDIA AVENGES KILLING OF INDIANS IN AUSTRALIA” really SI?

    For your blog of quality content and fine writing, this title sounds little juvenile and amateurish. Just my thought.

    Anyway, i understand – your (fine) blog, your rules!

    SearchIndia.com Responds:

    1. Juvenile and amateurish? Bet they said the same thing to Socrates about his teachings before forcing him to put his lips to the hemlock. 😉 Actually, if we remember our history right Socrates’ accusers charged him with corrupting the local youth.

    And for the record, we’re just a Coolie on this blog.

    2. Moving from the sublime to the ridiculous, what’s your take on:

    Did Oscar Winner Natalie Portman do Only 5% of the Dancing in Black Swan?

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