[VWAllstar]

Not sure if it is just me or every ardent Indian Cricket Team follower, dont see any kind of disappointment in our players when they lose a match. I have grown up watching cricket with lot of emotions and these days our players are getting devoid of the same. The way they laugh, have fun on ground even post a lost match is uncomfortable for me. Dont take me wrong, I am not saying the team need to be disheartned, depressed etc however there is an evident shift in emotions from the 90's or early 20's to today. The way our players make insta/twitter videos, actively promote products and are engaged with Bollywood, has touched extreme. Just saying, hope they bounce back soon and get us another reason to celebrate together as a Nation.

[ValarMorghulis]

I'll try to be the devil's advocate here but why do we keep harping about either Ashwin or Samson?
Ashwin's record has been pretty mediocre since 20129 in T20s. Chahal has 3x the wickets during the same time. That Chahal is currently wicketless is a matter of concern but Aswhin? No way. Bring in Bishnoi, may be.

Coming to Samson. His average since 2019 has been mediocre to say generously. His highest score during that period has been 77 against Ireland. He's got chances against Aus, NZ, SL & WI. Did not perform. So why the surprise on his exclusion?

We already have 3 WKs: Pant, DK & KL.

IMHO, get KL keeping wickets and have a genuine batsman instead of DK & Pant.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Not sure if it is just me or every ardent Indian Cricket Team follower, dont see any kind of disappointment in our players when they lose a match. I have grown up watching cricket with lot of emotions and these days our players are getting devoid of the same. The way they laugh, have fun on ground even post a lost match is uncomfortable for me. Dont take me wrong, I am not saying the team need to be disheartned, depressed etc however there is an evident shift in emotions from the 90's or early 20's to today. The way our players make insta/twitter videos, actively promote products and are engaged with Bollywood, has touched extreme. Just saying, hope they bounce back soon and get us another reason to celebrate together as a Nation.

You aren't alone.
I believe losses don't sting them anymore.
I remember the days when players like Sachin, Ganguly, Dravid used to have such dejected looks after losing a game. I even remember Kambli crying like anything when we lost 1996 semis to Sril Lanka. And now I see Rohit Sharma giggling like a school girl even when we are losing. And not just him most players looks chilled out even after a drubbing. What pisses me most is when someone drops a catch or gets hit for a six and still gives a smile as if nothing happened.

Is it the IPL money or the exposure or I don't know what. But, I know when I even lose my club match it stings me badly and I expect these players who are playing at the highest level to feel worse.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

I'll try to be the devil's advocate here but why do we keep harping about either Ashwin or Samson?
Ashwin's record has been pretty mediocre since 20129 in T20s. Chahal has 3x the wickets during the same time. That Chahal is currently wicketless is a matter of concern but Aswhin? No way. Bring in Bishnoi, may be.

Coming to Samson. His average since 2019 has been mediocre to say generously.

IMHO, get KL keeping wickets and have a genuine batsman instead of DK & Pant.

Great discussion points.

Sanju is a fine player and he is a modern T20 batsman who understands that a 15 ball 30 is far more important than a 50 ball 60. Where strike rates matter more than consistency. Unfortunately he hasn't got that extended run that he deserves. And in the few opportunities that he has got, he hasn't broken the door down like SKY. There is no better sight in batting than Samson in full flight and I'm hoping he gets an extended run after the WC. But it's understandable why he has not made the squad.

I think Ashwin has always been terrific in T20s and was unfortunate to be dropped in the first place. White ball cricket went through a phase where finger spinners were not in favour and Ash played the price. He has only played 10 T20Is since 2019 and has taken 14 wickets with an ER of a shade over 6. His power hitting has significantly improved. He is a GOAT against left handers. If you look at the WC squad, we have Chahal and Axar who will bowl into the hitting arc of the lefties, so Ash will play games where we need a favourable matchup. Or Hooda if we need an extended batting lineup with a option of offspin.

I think DK must play every game till the end of the WC. He and Hardik to a lesser extent are the only specialist finishers in the squad.We need to have two finishers for team balance and depth. You cannot have non-specialist keepers in T20s as a dropped catch or a missed stumping could mean a lost game so KL might not be the right option. DK needs to be our Mathew Wade.

Chahal is a big concern at the moment. He has looked flat in the last few games and seems to be losing that loop and drift that makes him lethal. Bishnoi, the Indian Rashid Khan, is the better choice. I suspect that the selectors looked at whether they wanted to put in a rookie or an experienced hand for the WC and took the safe option. They couldn't have picked both in the squad. Tough for Ravi B .

Now will the safe selections come back to bite us in the WC? We will know by the 9th of Nov, when the semi-finals roll around. But it does look like we need to build for the future, once the tournament is over.

[deehunk]

Samson is a gifted free flowing batsman with bad temperament, he has to be groomed like Ravindra Jadeja. Chahal is not our best spinner, but has been given an extended run from 2018. We have not seen any new talent from 2018, same old players getting chances is a question mark on NCA.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

Not sure if it is just me or every ardent Indian Cricket Team follower, dont see any kind of disappointment in our players when they lose a match.

Originally Posted by harry10

You aren't alone.I believe losses don't sting them anymore.

I have noticed that as well but I wouldn't really read too much into this. Many of us have criticized Virat Kohli for his on-field antics & said that he needs to control his emotions! And now we're saying they don't show any emotion. Maybe they are just moving on after a defeat. This generation is playing far more games than the Tendulkar era. There was no IPL back then & there used to be some kind of an off season also.

[VWAllstar]

Originally Posted by PPS

I have noticed that as well but I wouldn't really read too much into this. Many of us have criticized Virat Kohli for his on-field antics & said that he needs to control his emotions! And now we're saying they don't show any emotion. Maybe they are just moving on after a defeat. This generation is playing far more games than the Tendulkar era. There was no IPL back then & there used to be some kind of an off season also.

There is a difference in Kohli's on field antics and disappointment of a loss. Surely all of us, at some point of time had tears watching certain close/important games. I remember how terrible I felt when we lost by 12 runs against Pak in the 1999 Chennai Test & when Allan Donald was run out during the WC semis. I believe the pain of loss encourages one to do better. Lets take an example of Henry Olanga getting Sachin out of a well bowled bouncer. We all know what happened in the very next match.

Rightly said, loss does not sting the current team as much as it use to earlier. May be too much of cricket, cash flow is lot better and many other reasons.

[landcruiser123]

Is SKY India's version of Brad Hodge?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Is SKY India's version of Brad Hodge?

Come on. Nothing against Brad Hodge but clearly SKY is our Mr 360 ABDevillers. Whenever I see him bat he reminds me of ABD who was as effortless all around the ground.

Originally Posted by VWAllstar

I remember how terrible I felt when we lost by 12 runs against Pak in the 1999 Chennai Test & when Allan Donald was run out during the WC semis. I believe the pain of loss encourages one to do better. Lets take an example of Henry Olanga getting Sachin out of a well bowled bouncer. We all know what happened in the very next match.

Rightly said, loss does not sting the current team as much as it use to earlier. May be too much of cricket, cash flow is lot better and many other reasons.

That Chennai test still hurts. Sachin played with a bad back strapped fully and took us so close and then our good for nothing tailenders couldn't make 20 odd runs to win with 4 wickets remaining.

I still watch that Olonga onslaught on you tube sometimes. So much fun to watch.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by harry10

Come on. Nothing against Brad Hodge but clearly SKY is our Mr 360 ABDevillers. Whenever I see him bat he reminds me of ABD who was as effortless all around the ground.

No disrespect, the Brad Hodge comment was referring to how limited his opportunities have been (so far). I hope he gets all the chances possible now - he is India's X-factor player.

[AtheK]

India's pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah was on Thursday ruled out of the T20 World Cup with a stress fracture, dealing a massive blow to the team's chances in the ICC event.

This is not good news, already bleak chances are getting worse.

[ValarMorghulis]

Yesterday's match was another example of why Ashwin doesn't make it to the final XI in T20. Everyone got a wicket yesterday except Ashwin and T20 is all about taking wickets.

Originally Posted by AtheK

This is not good news, already bleak chances are getting worse.

I'd say the chances of winning are below 50%.

[Emvi]

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

Is SKY India's version of Brad Hodge?

Originally Posted by landcruiser123

No disrespect, the Brad Hodge comment was referring to how limited his opportunities have been (so far). I hope he gets all the chances possible now - he is India's X-factor player.

In this regard, I would say SKY is Indian version of Michael Hussey. Not that their game look similar, but for the fact that both the players debuted relatively late in international cricket. Although SKY may not play as many test matches as Hussey played or may not even play a single test, he will definitely play far more T20s than Hussey did. Mr.Cricket Hussey played quite a few incredible / important knocks in his career and was easily the Mr.Reliable for the Aussies back then. He always looked infallible, tenacious. SKY is exhibiting similar traits now.

[deehunk]

Tough phase for any Indian captain, similar to late 90's when Sachin was not having good bowlers in the team.

[tazmaan]

Bumrah not playing the T20 world cup is bad. But as a team if one injured player drastically reduces the winning chances means the team was never balanced or a winning team.

I feel India still has the bench strength of pace bowlers but most of them are swing bowlers effective in the first 6 overs if the pitch assists. My 3 pacers would be Shami, Patel and Arshdeep/Chahar. Hardik (if fit) will be perfect on bouncy Australian pitches. Axar is a default choice in absence of Jadeja along with a 2nd spinner which India is yet to decide on. I am not a fan of Ashwin and Chahal since both of them have become defensive trying to be economical.