[harry10]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

Boss lets give the match fixing topic a break!! If thats the case imagine how many matches SA have lost in last few years after being in a good position, so thats also FIXED??? It was clearly a batting collapse ( rather over ambitious by batsmen to touch 350+) which is totally not acceptable from such a strong batting line up.

You will be amazed to know how many of them are fixed in reality.However lets give it a rest and back to the topic.


Sree has not been consistent but yes he does pick up wickets when required ,
I would still opt for Munaf and Zaheer though.

Munaf needs to go and Sree needs a chance. Munaf is clearly not a death bowler as been evident off late

Kohli has been quite consistent at No.3. I would still stick with Kohli inspite of his 'Attitude'. Though Raina should be given a chance for next match over Pathan.

But when is he batting at No.3? With the kinds of starts sachin and viru provide we need a Raina to finish it in the end as yuvi and Dhoni both can do the job which Kohli does. Also Gambhir at 3 wont go so Kohli at 4 is a waste.


If you are talking about the dropped catch of AB, replays clearly showed he had slipped when he had almost caught it.

My replies in bold.
Now i really doubt if we can reach semis also.

[rock18]

Remember Munaf patel helped India in winning the 2nd ODI against SA by getting two wickets for just 2runs, when SA required 4 runs from 48balls with 2 wickets in hand.
He took out morkel in the last ball to seal an one run win.he deserves to be in the team as we don't have any other quality options available.

I think Nehra can be replaced with Sreesanth or even Ashwin.
Nehra and Munaf are the worst cricketers in terms of their all round ability.
Almost zero batting and fielding.
Dhoni said " SA batsman specifically targetted Nehra,Munaf and Zaheer to pick up two's at will and that made a lot of difference."
Runs saved=Runs scored.

India should concentrate on their strength i.e batting by adding Raina to the lower order and aim for 350+ scores all the time.In sub continental pitches its very much acheivable.
These kind of scores are decent enough for our bowlers to defend.though it will be a close affair.
Gambhir or Kohli should go and Raina should be in.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by karanraheja

If you are talking about the dropped catch of AB, replays clearly showed he had slipped when he had almost caught it.

Catches win matches my friend. Had Gambhir caught that one 15 runs could have saved which AB scored before getting out. There was one catch which even Yuvraj dropped. Totally not acceptable for sitting catches. We have profesionals playing not amatuers.

See what damage Sehwag did when he was dropped in the second over of the match?

[AutoNoob]

Originally Posted by chevelle

This is a tight slap on Sachin's bashers who says Sachin's century can't win matches for India.

The 'myth' about Sachin ton and India losing | Cricket News | Cricbuzz.com

I guess any player would give an arm/leg to play and score like the way Sachin does.

Originally Posted by SilentEngine

Sachin, because he is so good, others simply give up when he does well.
My gut feeling is that as long as Sachin plays, India will never win the world cup. I will be happy if i am proved wrong.
Before the world cup started, every cricketer and his dog wanted to win the cup for Sachin. But after seeing 5 matches, it is clear that most of them are least bothered.

Absolutely . No one should question the class and the commitment of Sachin. He's the greatest and will always be the greatest of all time. And if India lost matches even after Sachin scored three-figure scores, that shows how 'committed' were the other 10 of team. And yes, on some occasions he got out early, but again that shows 'the God still has some human instincts'. I still remember those times when people used to switch off their TVs after Sachin was out.

This useless debate of India loosing matches even after Sachin scored centuries was started by 'Prince of Kolkata' when he couldn't match upto him either in class, composure or simplicity. He said something like this : What's the use of scoring 25 centuries when country can not win. At that time only one batsman had these many centuries, Sachin Tendulkar.

I sometime think if Sachin had been playing for any other country, even Zimbabwe or Bangladesh, these countries would have held to the No. 1 rankings in ODI's and Tests till he retired.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by srishiva

I think Praveen Kumar and his street smartness is really missed.

+1
Me too feel the same! He has been a regular member of the ODI team in the recent past & Dhoni does have faith in him just like he does in Nehra and Chawla, although he too gets clobbered around in the death overs but he bowls well with the new ball & is slightly more committed in the field.
Although our team initially did look charged up in the field in the last game but they soon lost the intensity. Sometimes i feel some players look more charged up in the IPL than in the Indian Team! e.g Dhoni literally punched himself in one of the crunch IPL games! How i wish Nehra & Munaf were dealt with the same way.

[karanraheja]

Originally Posted by harry10

You will be amazed to know how many of them are fixed in reality.However lets give it a rest and back to the topic.

Harsh Bhai, If most of the matches is fixed , then Why Watch it?? Yes match fixing is on i dont deny it. My point was why should we come to a conclusion that the match was fixed rather than we played horribly without getting paid

Originally Posted by harry10

Now i really doubt if we can reach semis also

Common Boss! We need to support our team, we still not out yet !

Originally Posted by ghodlur

Catches win matches my friend. Had Gambhir caught that one 15 runs could have saved which AB scored before getting out. There was one catch which even Yuvraj dropped. Totally not acceptable for sitting catches. We have profesionals playing not amatuers.

See what damage Sehwag did when he was dropped in the second over of the match?

Agreed it was a dropped chance, as i said he had SLIPPED ( maybe because outfield was wet because of dew(?) or whatever) . Against SA our fielding was a notch above compared to previous matches. Munaf and Nehra are the worst fielders in the team else its a decent fielding unit.

[harry10]

I still watch it mainly cos of Sachin. The day he retires my following of this team will be very less.
However i hadn't given up on India. I still wish and Pray we lift the Cup but the way things are going it seems highly difficult until we make some positive changes in the match against West Indies. We need to win it at any cost to get the momentum for th QF.

[Latheesh]

Originally Posted by harry10

I still watch it mainly cos of Sachin. The day he retires my following of this team will be very less.

+1 to that, I watch cricket just because of Sachin. Dhoni was good for some time but now the team do not look closely knit.

[sam_boy]

One line .. Play with 2 specialized spinners.

Ashwin is a much better bet than our so called fast bowlers Nehra, Sree and Munaf.

[Sunrise]

Originally Posted by rock18

Remember Munaf patel helped India in winning the 2nd ODI against SA by getting two wickets for just 2runs, when SA required 4 runs from 48balls with 2 wickets in hand.
He took out morkel in the last ball to seal an one run win.he deserves to be in the team as we don't have any other quality options available.

I think Nehra can be replaced with Sreesanth or even Ashwin.
Nehra and Munaf are the worst cricketers in terms of their all round ability.
Almost zero batting and fielding.
Dhoni said " SA batsman specifically targetted Nehra,Munaf and Zaheer to pick up two's at will and that made a lot of difference."
Runs saved=Runs scored.

India should concentrate on their strength i.e batting by adding Raina to the lower order and aim for 350+ scores all the time.In sub continental pitches its very much acheivable.
These kind of scores are decent enough for our bowlers to defend.though it will be a close affair.
Gambhir or Kohli should go and Raina should be in.

I agree that Nehra and Munaf have v little value to add other than bowling and a top quality side needs people to do little of all. Aus had lee and warne, who could bat decently even though 100% in the side cause of bowling.
Though Munaf did bowl a great last bowl against SA but he got hit for a six by a number 10 batsman in England match and then AGAIN got hit for a few runs in the last match , which is not expected from a front line bowler at all
I don't think a world class side can bank ONLY upon one aspect- batting and be world champs. They need to have a balance of both and right now with Bhajji getting nothing on our pitches( strange) we are lacking match winning bowlers. I feel still no single team has the "world champs" tag incl India. We are resting on a few shoulders only.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by PAVAN KADAM

I was looking at the points table, and was quite shocked to see the fates of certain teams.

England is not able to make a Big impact as they are supposed to

GROUP B
Team Match Won Lost Tied N/R Pts NRR
1) India 5 3 1 1 0 7 +0.768

4) Bangladesh 5 3 2 0 0 6 -0.765

5) England 5 2 2 1 0 5 +0.013

I remember reading in the papers, several English players saying that they will win the Cup. A certain individual went all the way by saying that England can beat India every week and at any venue.

I wonder what they'd have to say now.

[normally_crazy]

Playing with 2 spinners is a must - in Chennai atleast where Swann had fun in the match against SA.

Dhoni has to play Ashwin and Chawla - for me Harbhajan is a spent force. He cant take wickets, can't spin, no doosra ...nothing except chamchagiri to Dhoni to remain in the team.

[joslicx]

20-20 cricket has totally changed the complexion of ODI. Now chasing teams have a huge advantage. Basically the tactic is to keep the wickets for last 20 overs. Then you can chase any score. SA did the same. It is frivolous to blame Dhoni or Nehra for the last over. These days, thanks to T20, (and except Nehra and Munaf who are both totally hopeless at batting) every player has learnt to throw his bat at any kind of ball! So 30 odd runs in the last 3 overs were very much manageable as SA had wickets in hand and so were 13 runs in the last over when all you are playing for is a win. It doesnt matter if Bhajji had bowled the last bowler (as a slower bowler he might have been even easier to pick as at that time all you are playing for are shots and not worrying about your wicket and bhajji these days doesnt induce any sort of fear, even in tailenders!) They scored something like 170 odd runs in last 20 overs and therein India lost as we had failed to take significant early wickets.

Anyway, best of luck for the deciding game against WI. Hope we get a chance to chase this time.

[Sunrise]

Its amazing to see TOI today give a rating to our players. They have got most of it right but a few strange ratings. I do not see how sehwag can get 5/5? Though he is a very explosive opener, but i rarely have seen him play a big innings in crucial matches. Its always a 50 or so and then get out. Openers like glichrist, jayasuriya used to play a big one, which meant 100+ and finish the game almost. Not sure if i am forgetting something, but rarely seen that except the innings against Bangladesh.
Indian team is going to be under huge pressure, even though Aus lost the last game, they are the best team i feel still in many ways.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by Sunrise

Its amazing to see TOI today give a rating to our players. They have got most of it right but a few strange ratings. I do not see how sehwag can get 5/5? Though he is a very explosive opener, but i rarely have seen him play a big innings in crucial matches. Its always a 50 or so and then get out. Openers like glichrist, jayasuriya used to play a big one, which meant 100+ and finish the game almost. Not sure if i am forgetting something, but rarely seen that except the innings against Bangladesh.
Indian team is going to be under huge pressure, even though Aus lost the last game, they are the best team i feel still in many ways.

Actually, you are.

You see, those ratings were given based on the performances of the players in this World Cup Tournament. And numbers should be enough to prove Sehwag's 5/5 rating. Take a look at his average. He has done a wonderful job as an opener in this tournament. Hope he continues his form.