The Grand Old Men of Indian cricket are back… same Grand Old results… the people who were talking about the “New Indian Team” are back talking about the lack of mental toughness etc etc…
Now the Big 3 are going to be recycled… Each one is going to be rested while the other two play… I think by the end of the series all 3 will be rested… really feel sorry for Dhoni that hes saddled with this burden.
I dont know how many people remember what happened after India won the ’83 world cup. The West Indies came immediately after and beat us to pulp.. I hope history wont repeat itself this time around…
Bangalore Blues 
Do u mean to say that w/o the grand old 3 men, we would win against the present aussie team?
Well… at least we’ll have an excuse 😉
haha..yes..excuse and consolation for diehard fans
Yep, I was mentioning the 83 cup and WI tour to my wife….man, it’s a cycle…and a vicious one!!!
d.s.:
at least the first game was an n.r.! 😉
vijay:
i was trying to think … had our grand old men played through their prime for other test playing countries, how many/which of them would still be in those nations’:
a) test squad
b) odi squad
c) tik20 (whoops, i mean twenty20) squad
i am pretty sure they would’ve been out of the aussie test squad too a good couple of years ago. but what about the rest of the nations? anybody for an analysis with or w/o examples?
somehow, i think that dravid has learned team politics pretty good now. his next odi knock will definitely be a classic – i looked through and found that his last decent knock was in the second odi vs england.
– s.b.
Let’s all just find tapes of the T20 matches and replay them over the next month. One match against Australia, followed by one replay of a good T20 match. Heck, forget picking matches, we can just replay the final over and over again. Would be like the pills I would swallow as a kid, powdered in honey.
BPSK
@SB: In Oz all of them would have been put out to pasture by now… I guess you have a point about other countries…
@BPSK: My son gets tense even when he watches highlights.. like he expects them to somehow lose even matches they have already won 🙂
@ SB:
And, I hope we have two more n.r’s 😉 We need one more win to equal.
My wife and I have discussed the topic which you have here. As you have mentioned, we always agree that none of them would be in AUS team. That’s an easy one. But what about teams like WI (and even Pak) where you need binoculars to search for talent.
My point is simple. I agree that we may not ahve better players than the big 3 in today’s India. But, I am sure a team without these three can do ‘equally’ good’, if not better. Given that equation, the sensible option is to try youngsters. If the big 3 somehow magically help in altering the result of the game, then I agree that we need them. But, if they are as good as the rest, then it’s better we bring in new blood and groom them.
Symonds says :
SINCE winning the Twenty20 the Indians have been very chirpy. Our
first one-dayer was a verbal affair and the third game was the same.
It was nice to give them a real thumping (in game five).
Symonds has added fuel to his simmering duel with the Indians by
describing the ongoing tour as “hostile” and warning the team of a
backlash when it tours Down Under this year.
Hostile & Monkey’s verses…:)) are of your own making
Symonds!
Hmmm, nothing to say.