The Cricket Thread

[Spurslove]

I must admit the only one who's pissed me off so far is Siraj. He just can't resist giving the batsman he's just bowled out a bit of verbal and if you're a batsman who's just been bowled out, that's about the very last thing you want to hear from the guy who's bowled you. No need for that, but his captain seems not to care about it.

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[Nav420]

Sounds an awful lot like sour grapes in here this evening.

 

[JCRD]

I think theyre all ****s but to be a winner sometimes you need to be a **** so I see no issue. I just wish we used that ****ishness to win.

 

[midoshairband]

Kholi has occassionaly gone over the line in the past. but he's never, as far as I can remember, cheated, so he's not even close to being on the hateful level of Warner, Smith and co.

as for this series, can't think of anything he's done. he's passionate and sometimes it irks people, but i'd rather have his passion and personality as captain than our very own captain bland - perhaps Kholi's style brings out the best in his players, there's a thought.

as for the rest of the Indian team, I can't find much to hate. a relatively young, talented side winning in countries they've traditionally been poor in, they're allowed to celebrate and get a bit carried away.

 

[dondo]

Sounds an awful lot like sour grapes in here this evening.

It’s not sour grapes from my part anyway.
India played very well in this test and most of the series and deserve to be 2-1 up

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Sour grapes? lol

Do me a favour, we're England cricket fans. We're crap. We're completely used to losing and what about the journalists who write as much, is that sour grapes too?

I think the sour grapes is actually coming from the other side here. How dare anyone criticise Kohli

 

[Spurslove]

Sounds an awful lot like sour grapes in here this evening.

It's not about 'sour grapes' it's about conducting yourself like a professional sportsman and accepting the pain you've inflicted on your fellow sportsman. Siraj consistently fails to meet my standards on that score.

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[dellybelly]

It's not about 'sour grapes' it's about conducting yourself like a professional sportsman and accepting the pain you've inflicted on your fellow sportsman. Siraj consistently fails to meet my standards on that score.

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You don't know anything about Siraj's backstory. Why don't you Google it and then you'll understand why he puts his finger to his lips when he gets a wicket.

 

[Nav420]

Sour grapes? lol

Do me a favour, we're England cricket fans. We're crap. We're completely used to losing and what about the journalists who write as much, is that sour grapes too?

I think the sour grapes is actually coming from the other side here. How dare anyone criticise Kohli

Same applies to being completely used to seeing/hearing Kohli getting constantly bashed by everyone, but of course everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

There are plenty of positive articles about Kohli that are overlooked. Greats of the game like Williamson and AB Devilliers are very close friends of Kohli, I'm sure that speaks volumes of him a person?

So what if he tells a crowd to Shush or puts his ear to the crowd after kopping a whole days worth of songs being sung about him by the Barmy Army? If you can dish it out learn to take it.

He's taken this India test side who used to have a real snowflake mentality in test cricket to this never die attitude and quite frankly I think its absolutely awesome considering a middle order batting collapse is quite common with the side. I wish our Spurs side had a Kohli in it!

Look, like I said everyone is entitled to their opinions and that is absolutely fair enough but I have followed Indian cricket my whole life and what you read about probably the most followed/lucrative cricket player in the world shouldn't be taken word for word.

(I'll probably get pelters for the quote below from Warne but I think its spot on)
“They look up to him. He’s got the respect of all the players. They back him and they play for him. It’s important for a captain that a team plays for you. I think the way Virat conducts himself, we’ve all got to say, ‘Thank You Virat’,” Warne was quoted as saying to Sky Sports.

“He loves Test cricket and he’s made it a priority. India is a powerhouse in world cricket and you’ve got the biggest superstar in the planet, Virat Kohli, saying Test cricket is important, we’re going to Australia and win and we’re going to England and win,” Warne stated.

 

[dellybelly]

Michael Vaughan: "Today, it was a captaincy masterclass from Virat".
That's not bad praise for someone who's being spoken of as a spoilt brat, a prick and a ****.

 

[southlondonyiddo]

I think theyre all ****s but to be a winner sometimes you need to be a **** so I see no issue. I just wish we used that ****ishness to win.

There are ****s and then there are ****s, and then there are proper ****s

None of this lot fall into the proper **** category

 

[al_pacino]

Not speaking about sportsmanship but with Kohli I definitely see an understandable arrogance. What's his level of stardom in India? In football terms I'd guess only C Ronaldo is up there.

 

[Spurslove]

You don't know anything about Siraj's backstory. Why don't you Google it and then you'll understand why he puts his finger to his lips when he gets a wicket.

With respect, it's not the finger on his lips when he gets a wicket which I find unacceptable. It's the back-chat during his overs. The 'send-offs' to the fallen batsmen which I object to. There's absolutely no need for any of that, despite what ever his backstory may be. It's just a simple matter of professional curtesy and etiqette. I believe he's been spoken to by the umpires over this too on occasion, so there must be something to it.

He's a wonderful bowler and speaking purely as a cricket fan, I enjoy how he goes about his work, but this is a major failing on his part, in my view.

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[Spurs_Bear]

Bloody hell, you two are even less gracious winners than the Aussies. Keep it friendly, this is a cricket thread.

 

[Archibald&Crooks]

Michael Vaughan: "Today, it was a captaincy masterclass from Virat".
That's not bad praise for someone who's being spoken of as a spoilt brat, a prick and a ****.

We can play this game all day if you like but we'll get nowhere

Suresh Menon
Founding editor, Wisden India Almanack

I wrote in my newspaper column at the time: 'Do we want our cricket team to be seen as aggressive bullies who act as if the 22 yards and everything else belongs to them, or is there another way of winning that does not reach down into the lesser devils (as opposed to the better angels) of our nature?'

The reaction was immediate. A huge number of fans thought I was wrong to berate Kohli, but there were a significant number who believed Kohli had crossed a line

 

[Spurslove]

Bloody hell, you two are even less gracious winners than the Aussies. Keep it friendly, this is a cricket thread.

Not sure who you're referring to, but from where I'm sitting, everything's perfectly friendly.

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[LSUY]

Sam Robson's fallen for 253, 4 runs shy of equalling the highest score of the season. Middx now 494/3.

 

[Nav420]

Bloody hell, you two are even less gracious winners than the Aussies. Keep it friendly, this is a cricket thread.

I’m not too sure what I’ve said that is ungracious?

 

[dellybelly]

Bloody hell, you two are even less gracious winners than the Aussies. Keep it friendly, this is a cricket thread.

That's not fair. If you look through my posts over the last couple of days, you will not find a single one where I'm gloating.
I actually think that we were very lucky to get away with a victory. England should have been out of sight after India's first innings collapse.

 

[Spurs_Bear]

Not sure who you're referring to, but from where I'm sitting, everything's perfectly friendly.

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I think it's treading a fine line.

As for Kohli, I think he's great and have the utmost respect for him.

For Siraj, he's a bellend. Everyone has a backstory. But he's gone into Sheldon Cottrell territory.