The Cricket World Cup Thread

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 16 Jan 2011 22:36

Mention-e-not

But I am a bit confused about who the youngistanis in the team are, apart from Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Jadeja and Ishant

Kohli seems to have a realistic chance of a long test career if he keeps his head.
Raina will have to work extra hard and hope to do better than his peers to get another chance.
Rohit Sharma looks like a cross between Dravid and Laxman when he bats but unfortunately his brain seems to be of the same variety as Yuvraj Singh. He seems content to play IPL.
What Ishant has lost in pace, he has gained in arrogance, sadly it seems India has lost one of its most promising fast bowling talents. I don't see for how long India can afford to pick him on reputation alone.
I ain't saying anything about Jadeja out of fear of Rahul baba's taser gun.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 16 Jan 2011 23:12

Yusuf Pathan is a rich man's Afridi.
We have far too many batting match winners.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 16 Jan 2011 23:36

err martenullah, lambu is the most hardworking of our pacers, dunno why you think he works less than others.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 16 Jan 2011 23:46

Yuvi has been around for 11 years now, he is a youngistani?

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 16 Jan 2011 23:47

Marten wrote:Chap that we know said he spends less than a couple of hours including warm up. Not sure if he's got it right or if that was during some period of recuperation, but that is what I was told.

Chaiwaala? Net bowler waala? baal boy? Greg e Chappal? who is your source?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 17 Jan 2011 00:09

I think I'll take venky's very strong commendation of IS' work ethic.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 17 Jan 2011 00:26

I have huge respect for the commitment towards the game shown by Karnataka players Dravid and spinners Kumble and Venky.
If Venky says IS works hard, then IS works hard. Perhaps a county stint will help his confidence

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 17 Jan 2011 08:00

imo he has been overworked to death in tests and ODI - there is hardly a match he has not played for TI in last 3 yrs. imo he needs rest, coaching and careful handling.

BhairavP · Post by **BhairavP** » 17 Jan 2011 09:22

Marten wrote:Chap that we know said he spends less than a couple of hours including warm up. Not sure if he's got it right or if that was during some period of recuperation, but that is what I was told.

Apparently he had a slight niggle in the last test, decided to push himself in the first 2 ODIs, and because it didn't come off, he decided to rest. He's been telling people himself that it is a slight hamstring pull, nothing serious, and he is just resting as a precautionary measure. He will be ready to play BD at Dhaka on the 19th of February for sure.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 17 Jan 2011 13:27

Ishant sharma not selected for world cup.....munaf has been picked? what gives

BhairavP · Post by **BhairavP** » 17 Jan 2011 13:51

GG, God, Sehwag, Praveen.. all are carrying injuries..

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 17 Jan 2011 13:54

Feel a bit sorry for Ishant however he's still young and could have another 2 or even 3 world cups ahead of him. And I'm sure if there are injuries to any of the seamers then he'll be the first replacement to be called on.

Re Nehra vs Ishant, well the former had a great 2010 playing almost all of our odis and picking up dozens of wickets at a healthy average. However his economy has been close to 6 rpo which is a worry.

I think the team pretty much picks itself now.

Sachin
Viru
Gambhir
Kohli
Yuvraj
Raina
Dhoni
Bhajji
Zaheer
Kumar
Nehra/Munaf/Ashwin

Pathan will be reserve batsman. If God needs to rest for some of the group matches Gambhir can open and Pathan come in at 7.

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 17 Jan 2011 13:58

BhairavP wrote:GG, God, Sehwag, Praveen.. all are carrying injuries..

Don't want to jinx things but the tournament is still a few weeks away and then the whole thing takes 6+ weeks. We're pretty much guaranteed a quarter final place so if we rotate the team wisely then the injured players will have lots of time to rest and be close to full fitness for the business end of the tournament.

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 17 Jan 2011 14:15

26th march 2011.....I will be watching Ireland playing kenya in quater final

SandeepA · Post by **SandeepA** » 17 Jan 2011 14:34

Why R Ashwin?

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 17 Jan 2011 18:31

I didn't mean your source is a fake, just that perceptions can be wrong. I do agree that he needs a county season to mature him, like zaheer did.

p.s. left arm spinner does turn it the other way to the offie.

negi · Post by **negi** » 17 Jan 2011 19:52

I think Pranthan should have been there he gets the white ball to outswing consistently and on any given day when compared to Munaf he has more chances of taking a wicket, obviously on a bad day there is little to choose between the two.

krishnan · Post by **krishnan** » 17 Jan 2011 20:11

Could be MSD who favoured him out

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 17 Jan 2011 22:56

well pranthan definitely ahead than munna imho.. he gets smacked from bhajji on the field, and from dhoni off the field. poor fella.

Rohit sharma is another notable exclusion. oh my gaawd!

Hope countries have two teams for world cup.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 18 Jan 2011 00:16

My sources tell me that MSD put his foot down and got Pranthan excluded from the side

Munaf has been picked as an all rounder, 0 in batting, 0 in bowling, 0 in commitment and 0 in fielding. rabid Youngistan fans don't dump on me, I consider Munaf bhai an Oldistani.

Tough one between Ishant and Nehra, perhaps Nehra's experience of playing 2 WCs counted in his favour.

Not many teams have top class bowling attacks so I guess it helps to pack the side with batsmen and batsmen who can bowl and hope that the batting carries the team through.

Rahul M · Post by **Rahul M** » 18 Jan 2011 00:31

people know I'm no fan of munna but I do consider him a better ODI bowler than sree. his basics are much more suited to ODI, bowling straight, wkt to wkt etc.

nehra is obviously a better choice, he has been very good in ODI recently and even won us a few games with his bowling in the death.

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 18 Jan 2011 00:52

Rahul M wrote:people know I'm no fan of munna but I do consider him a better ODI bowler than sree. his basics are much more suited to ODI, bowling straight, wkt to wkt etc.
.

You can't compare a spinner to a fast-medium swing bowler

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 18 Jan 2011 00:57

Problem with both Nehra and Sreesanth is that they give away too many runs. Their line and length is wayward for 80% of the time, but both have the ability to come up with wicket taking deliveries. I am afraid they are going to get carted around on Indian pitches.
As for Munna Bhai, I agree completely with our Mahdi and his "all-rounder" theory.

No, the last match has not changed my views about Munna Bhai. He doesn't bowl fast anymore and doesn't swing the ball. Expect some matches to be delayed because all available balls disappeared outside the stadium off Munna Bhai's bowling.

nachiket · Post by **nachiket** » 18 Jan 2011 01:20

Looking at the bowling "gems" India has produced over the past 17 odd years that I've been following Indian cricket, I am reminded of a humourous piece I had read a while ago. The author was basically wondering what would have happened if SRT had been born outside India. Just imagine the number of runs he would have milked against Indian bowlers considering that any two-bit batsman used to look like a world-beater against Indian bowling attacks. SRT would have probably ended up with 150 centuries and 50000 runs in international cricket.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 18 Jan 2011 01:53

^^and 1/3rd of gawd's grace showered on munna [well just a counter hypothesis].

--

where is our munna loving Raju?

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 18 Jan 2011 08:37

our top order is the most vulnerable with consistency.. but, never know since the pitches here are tailor made for them. Their consistency is only hampered in bouncy and fast wickets, and thus proving a point there. Should they face similar pitches or capable bowler, the weakness can be exposed.

Where Sreesanthan failed was not concentrating on his line and length. He can't lose focus especially when he has many factors to defend from being a SDRE to tabloid character for silly reasons.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 18 Jan 2011 10:32

I think in order to check alternatives in case of any injuries to Fab 15, the selectors should try Prathiv Patel, Rohit Sharma, M Vijay, Ishant SHarma and Sreesanth in the next 3 ODI's in SA.

manish · Post by **manish** » 18 Jan 2011 17:11

Dang, we lose the toss again. SA will bat first and going by history, this pitch too will favour team batting first. I don't get the point of Day/Night matches in SA where the toss seems to be the deciding element.

This had been criticized during the WC also.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 18 Jan 2011 18:02

Zak strikes. Amla out. (31/1 6.5 overs)

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 18 Jan 2011 18:03

Zak gets Amla:

31/1

sunnyP · Post by **sunnyP** » 18 Jan 2011 18:08

Rahul M wrote:people know I'm no fan of munna but I do consider him a better ODI bowler than sree. his basics are much more suited to ODI, bowling straight, wkt to wkt etc.

nehra is obviously a better choice, he has been very good in ODI recently and even won us a few games with his bowling in the death.

+1

Sree's economy rate is almost 7 an over this year and he was almost as expensive last year too. Munaf is consistantly around the 4.5/over mark. I don't think India could afford to have both Nehra and Sree in the same XI - they would leak runs left, right and centre.

Dhoni made the right call imo - Sree is such a liability. He's 28 years old yet still acts like a petulant, spoilt kid. With a Windies and England tour coming up I hope he takes note of this and sorts himself out because when on form, he's a great bowler.

SaiK · Post by **SaiK** » 18 Jan 2011 18:16

Pranthan must talk less and work more.. He is in the peak of his career to cause any further damage. Else he would be gone like many fast bowlers of India pretty soon.

If Nehra can take up some few tips on his right foot before delivery just by copying zak, he could work wonders. he is losing the pace at the last moment by the angular body he makes himself to deliver.

Dilbu · Post by **Dilbu** » 18 Jan 2011 21:35

They were 200-4 at one stage. Crashed to 220 allout. Real chokers.

archan · Post by **archan** » 18 Jan 2011 23:34

Dilbu wrote:They were 200-4 at one stage. Crashed to 220 allout. Real chokers.

We are 95/5. Well on course to win!

AoA, Yindia will win onlee.

James B · Post by **James B** » 18 Jan 2011 23:43

Who ever bats second loses onlee

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 18 Jan 2011 23:57

Botha is a chucker but he should not be reported as he gives a lot of free runs and bowls at least one 6 ball every over

KJo · Post by **KJo** » 19 Jan 2011 01:18

Bhajji = match winner

archan · Post by **archan** » 19 Jan 2011 01:18

archan wrote: AoA, Yindia will win onlee.

What he said. Oh wait.... not again...

anishns · Post by **anishns** » 19 Jan 2011 01:28

48.2

Botha to Nehra, FOUR, India have won, Nehra plays a stylish lofted on-drive to clear the in-field and get the boundary that confirms the victory

Balle Balle!!!!

India wins onlee

amdavadi · Post by **amdavadi** » 19 Jan 2011 02:07

SA choke again......credit goes to YP & bhajji