Story ACC Asian T20 Cup - 2010.| India Vs Pakistan| 20 Overs| IND: 168 - 3|

[Varun]

So, finally they drop Jayasuriya! Though it's in a virtual story but still I'm happy!

 

[surendar]

No, we miss a star performers - Nehra & Jadeja! : Well, atleast in stories some sense happens in Indian selection.

 

[Prithvi]

Cant you include China :sarcasm

Well, if I wanted to get in associates, I'd have made Afghanistan, Hong Kong play ahead of China.

No, we miss a star performers - Nehra & Jadeja! : Well, atleast in stories some sense happens in Indian selection.

Yeah, we do miss our star performers, but they're rested (Dunno what is the work they did properly to be rested). soon they'll be back:crying.(:laugh:rtfl)

 

[Prithvi]

The selection of Bangladesh team was the one, which was as expected. Due to Bangladesh being named the only team with less experience in Sub Continent teams, They sent their best available strength. They were the ones who defeated West Indies in Inaugural edition of ICC World T20. So, they were in Asian T20 Challenge, ofcourse, not to win, but create some huge upsets to other teams. They had their team lead by the worlds best All Rounder, Shakib- Al- Hasan. The team din't had good World T20, losing to Australia and Pakistan, though, was named a good upset creator in Asian T20 Cup. Bangladeshi Selectors said that they had only one change from their ICC World T20 Squad, where Suhrawadi Shuvo was not selected as they just needed 14 players.

Shakib Al Hasan said:

Well, its a pretty good tournament to play. This types of Sub Continent (Asian) tournaments will help countries like us a lot. Inclusion of some other countries like Afghanistan, China, UAE, Hong Kong would have been good so that we would have had something to fight for. The way I see it, its difficult to beat Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan as they are lot well talented than us. It'll be a good experience to all our boys. We are looking to create early upset for some team, so that we'll get some place in first paper of news papers.

One of their players Mohd. Ashraful Said:

Well, the team looks good for me and we looks like odd man out in the four teams participating. We are looking to win atleast a match, which is our main aim at the moment. We are looking forward to Tanim Iqbal, who open well. Shakib, of course, is the all time best all rounder from Bangladesh. I'll be concentrating on my batting and fielding as my game in both the areas in not upto mark. I personally feel that we will have good conditions at Kolkata as its just half an hour from Bangladesh, and conditions would not change much. So, it seems that we're playing almost on our home ground. We're going to have more advantage than India excepting the crowd because India has not played many matches recently here. With only Ashoke Dinda being the local player, he is the one to watch out for.

So, all Bangladeshis were hoping if they could win one game and get some winning form. Although it looks bit uphill, but the format is making Bangladeshi's wait for a win.

 

[Prithvi]

Pakistan Cricket Board announced their 14 man squad for the T20 series in India, for which there were no nameable changes. They de listed Kamran Akmal & Hammad Azam from their T20 World Cup squad and named Shahzaib Hasan as replacement wicketkeeper. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said that he was pretty happy with the security provided by Indian government, which meant that he had no issues in hesitating to send the team to India. The team was looking pretty strong with the likes of Boom Boom Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Misbah- Ul- Haq, Umar Akmal.

Pakistani skipper Shahid Afridi said:

Well, its a good initiative by ACC, and we're not gonna take Bangladesh easily. This is the format, in which you require baseball skills more than cricketing skills. So, we can't underestimate even Bangladesh cause they even can cause upsets. I'm looking forward to the first match, India VS Pakistan as it has been long time since we had it. Undoubtedly, we'll be facing India in their home with about a 100,000 spectators supporting India, its a tough one and it'll be the greatest match I've ever played.

Pakistan player Abdul Razzaq said:

We're looking forward to win this tournament, but its not as easy as we say. We have to improve ourselves in many departments, and we won't be taking even Bangladesh easily as they create huge upsets in these kind of tournaments. India are undoubtedly the favorites, but at the same time, we can't predict how Sri Lanka plays. So this tournament gonna be a good one and the one to watch out for.

About 1 million people are Waiting for the first match, India VS Pakistan. And About 100,000 people are waiting for the tickets for the first match.

Expect more drama!

 

[Gorro_124]

I want one of the tickets!! Book one for me!!

 

[shaheer]

can't wait

 

[surendar]

Make sure that you reserve tickets for Sania & Sohaib for sure in pavilion

 

[Prithvi]

Sri Lanka, who were the runner ups of ICC World T20 2009, had a satisfactory T20 world cup at West Indies. They were knocked out by England in semi finals. Before that, in their first encounter with Kiwis, their bowling failed in depth overs, which confirmed Kiwi's victory. After which, Mahela Jayawardena's heroics with a century won a match against Zimbabwe. Mahela Jayawardena hit 100 runs just off 63 balls, after which he got out exactly on 100. Middle order failure meant that they could just score about 170, even after century by Jayawardena. Then followed a rain, which meant that Sri Lankan bowlers had to bowl only 5 overs, in which they restricted Zimbabweans to just 29 for the loss of a wicket. They were named in Group F of the Super 8 stage, where they faced off against the hosts, West Indies. Mahela Jayawardena almost hit another century, by remaining unbeaten on 98 off just 56 balls. Middleorder, this time supported, which meant that they scored pretty close to 200. Their bowlers did well and restricted the hosts for 138 for the loss of 8 wickets. Then, the Team Sri Lanka had a great shock, by getting all out for just 887 runs against Australia at Barbados. They were completely beaten by pace attack of Australia. Australians, batting first scored a good total of 168, for the loss of 5 wickets. In reply, Sri Lankan batting turned out to be Epic Fail. They got all out for just 87 runs, which was the lowest total of the total Sri Lankan T20 history. Then, they faced off against India, where India needed to win with more than 20 runs, in order to go to semi final beating Sri Lanka. But Sri Lankan batting at last stage was something to be appreciated, as they chased massive total of 163. Sri Lankan bowling failed for the first 10 overs, by giving off about 100 runs. But later in the game, Sri Lankans rocked with the ball, by just giving about 66 an over in the last 10 overs. Their batting in the last few overs was electric, which meant that they were into semi finals. In semi finals, they were to face against on form England. Excepting Angelo Mathews, no one batted well for Sri Lanka, which meant that Sri Lanka din't even score 130. In reply, English batsmen easily chased the target, which meant that Sri Lanka were out of World T20, 2010.

Their squad now will not see the regular skipper Kumara Sangakkara & Sanath Jayasuriya. Sri Lankan board officials said that they were rested as they had pretty tight schedule later this year. Mahela Jayawardena was the man to watch out for. His batting in world T20 made everyone in the world, who follow cricket shock of his electric performance with bat. He had a good IPL season recently before that. His recent form makes the opponent bowlers sleepless. At the same time, their main worry was the instand skipper, Tillakeratne Dilshan was not in form since couple of months. He had pretty lacklusture IPL & World T20. Now, with captaincy being handed, he has greater responsibility in the team. As per the available reports, Sri Lankan officials gave first preference to Mahela Jayawardena, the former Sri Lankan skipper, to lead the side. Mahela, who stood on his word, din't accept the captaincy as he voluntarily gave up captaincy last year as he was loosing concentration on his batting. Sri Lankan selectors named Tillekaratne Dilshan as the stand in skipper.

In this tournament, the men to watch out for (from Sri Lanka) are Mahela Jayawardena, Angelo Mathews, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis and Tillakeratne Dilshan. Mahela Jayawardena, who had two great knocks in ICC World T20, and the man on form, is on fire to blitz in ACC Asian T20 Cup. For Sri Lanka, in recent times, someone or the other takes up teh responsibility and delivers like a gem. This system started right from Indian Tour of Sri Lanka 2008. Ajantha Mendis started wrecking the opponents ship, which meant that Sri Lankan batting failure even won some matches for Sri Lanka. After Mendis lost his touch, Tillakeratne Dilshan came into glow. Even though failure of all other departments, Tillakeratne Dilshan won the matches for Sri Lankan single handedly. When Tillakeratne Dilshan lost his touch, Kumara Sangakkara came into glow. He won matches single handedly. Now, after Sanga lost his touch, its turn of Mahela Jayawardena. Not that the team totally depended on them, others even put a handful of effort each, which mainly was dominated by Angelo Mathews.

Lets wish Dilshan and his army good luck for the Asian T20 cup.

 

[Prithvi]

Team India, on the other hand is looking unpredictable. The format is making this thought even stronger. They had great start in the T20 World Cup, by defeating Afghanistan and South Africa. What followed was a fail show by team India, losing to Australia due to top order collapse, West Indies due to bowling failure and Sri Lanka due to failure of middle order. It was a tournament, in which India had a great start but miserable end. India, even after losing two matches in Super 8, had a chance to get to semi final by defeating Sri Lanka by atleast 20 runs as Australia won against Sri Lanka and were looking to beat West Indies (which they did). But Indian poor batting by middle order confirmed their exit from the tournament.

Looking at their squad, even experts say that its a difficult call on what they'll do. Many experts say something similar to "Indian Share Market and Indian Cricket team are same. They are unpredictable at all times." With the players like Virender Sehwag, Robin Uthappa, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Ambati Rayudu, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir Indian batting looks pretty strong. Each and everyone except Uthappa, Sehwag and Pathan are the players who could change their course on what the situation demands. The thee explosives Uthappa, Sehwag, Pathan look like RDX of Indian team, who can blast at opponent at any moment. Uthappa is expected to bat at no. 3 because Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag are regular openers for Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, India and even Asia XI. Middle order looks strong with the likes of MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli. All they need to do is play the game as per what situation demands, rather than playing their natural game. With Harbhajan Singh slogging like expert batsman, India has an extra surprise batsman.

On the other hand, Indian bowling looks as usual. Zaheer Khan is the only person who can be trusted. Ashoke Dinda will be having home advantage, as he's averaging nearly 15 in FC cricket at Kolkata. Indian spinners have a great job ahead as the track on which they play will have much spin on it. With match against Pakistan and Sri Lanka being 16:00 local time starts, spinners will have to extract something out of the track and destroy opponent's batting. Indians have handful of spinners with the likes of Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Ravichandran Ashwin and part time spinners like Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Suresh Raina & Virender Sewhag.


Lets wish Dhoni and his army good luck for the Asian T20 cup.

 

[Varun]

"Indian Share Market and Indian Cricket team are same. They are unpredictable at all times."

Rightly said!

I think Suraj Randiv can prove to be a emerging talent in T20 Cup.

 

[Gorro_124]

good presentation mate!! do the same with me!!(VM)!

 

[Prithvi]

As India, even their arch rivals Pakistanis are looking unpredictable. The format makes this debate even stronger. They had a good World Cup, but they ended up miserably by losing to Australia in a easy win game at semi final stage. Their bowling turned out to be epic fail & Saeed Ajmal's sky rocketing figures of 3.5- 0- 46 -1 makes the situation understand. Everyone confirmed that Pakistan will win the match, but Pakistani bowling helped Cameron White and Michael Hussey to blitz and win the game for Australia. Previously, in their first encounter of that tournament against Bangladesh, their batting helped in their win. They score about 170 runs and restricted Bangladesh for 151 runs. Then, they faced off Australia, where Aamer turned out to be on fire in his last over. He picked up 4 wickets (no hat tricks) and a run out in the last over and restricted Australia from going beyond 200 after an excellent start. But Pakistani batting failed miserably and they could just score 157 runs. They advanced to super 8, where they lost to England in their opening encounter. Then, they produced the same flop show against New Zealand, but it was a great cliff hanger. They lost by just a run. With that, their semi final chances were almost closed. But England winning all their three games meant that Pakistan needed just a win against South Africa to make it into semi final, which they got due to Umar Akmal's 50. But In semi finals, they had a miserable end by giving off about 57 runs in last 18 balls, which took them out of World T20.

Coming to their players, without seniors, the team looks an average team, but with the likes of Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Misbah- Ul - Haq, Fawad Alam, Umar Akmal, Hafeez, the team looks bit strong. Their bowling is pretty good with the likes of Aamer, Asif, Sami, Razzaq and Ajmal. They have a set of newbies, who are yet to make a mark for them to be identified as themselves. They have got about 4 new players, who are their permanent players. Overall, many say that a lot depends on the experienced players like Afridi, Misbah, Razzaq, Sami, Hafeez, & Akmal. Mohd. Hafeez being part of Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 1, has some knowledge on Kolkata and its surface. But many contradict that it has been like 3 years, and many things at Eden Gardens have changed along with pitch. So, only thing what everyone know is "Nothing in predictable in T20 format and that too, predicting Pakistan is predicting a coin toss".

Lest wish Afridi and his army good luck for the Asian T20 cup.

 

[Prithvi]

Bangladeshi's are looking good for nothing. They are named as "upset creators" in this Asian T20 cup. Their Captain said that they are on desire to win at least one game after poor performance in T20 World Cup. They lost to Pakistan by 20 runs due to their bowlers giving too many runs and they lost to Australia by about 30 runs due to their batting failure. They lost those two matches which meant that they were out of the tournament. Even in the previous edition of World T20 in England last year, they had disappointing tournament. They lost to India and then to Ireland, which meant that they had to get back after the group stage.

Their total performance depends on few names, but great names. Tanim Iqbal is one of those, who is having great cricket since few months. Skipper Shakib Al Hasan is impressing with his all round performance. Mashfare Mortaza's All round performance or failure is troubling them a bit. If he clicks, he wins the match. But if he fails to perform well, he gifts the match to the opponents. Abdur Razzak & Shakib Al Hasan have a great job ahead of them as a front line spinners. Rubel Hossain has capability to beat the opponent like India with raw pace and short pitched balls. All he needs to work on is on his pace, which can blow away teams like India, Sri Lanka easily. Mohammad Ashraful is out of form these days, but if he plays like what he used to play, and if everything goes as per plan, Bangladeshi's can win the tournament. as its T20 format, everything unexpected takes place. So who knows, may be Bangladesh can turn out to be winners.

Lets wish Shakib Al Hasan and his men good luck for the Asian T20 cup.

 

[WubbaLubbaDubDub]

Last line says lets with..
It must be wish?