Feb 27 - India v England

[angryangy]

Both teams threw it away - England first and then India - but India should never have even been given the chance.

What put England in the hunt at all was that India didn't even bat out their overs. Just one run from that one un-bowled ball would have changed the game. I said at the time that they threw away a dozen runs with those last couple of overs and it would clearly have helped their cause.

England went into the 40th over with a 25 run lead and they successfully spent it during the batting powerplay; by the 45th over they were behind for the first time in their innings. It's utterly demented how teams still think that 3 men on the fence is a license to play bad shots, but for all their moronitude, they still left themselves with about 30 to get from the last 3 overs. Although it's not preferable in a chase, it's normal enough for teams to score that much at the end of a 1st innings and it can only really prevented if the batsmen manage just the 1 or 2 boundaries. It could have gone both ways from there and as it turns out, it did.

Both teams showed weaknesses and strengths, perhaps in equal measure, but India would have felt they had more strengths than England. England have been dealt worse hits in recent times and they're probably relieved to not be punched in the crotch just this once. It's also their best ever chase, while effectively being the highest total which India have failed to defend.

 

[Kabooka]

I think the Indian bowling is the worst bowling attack of any test playing nation & we really need to start playing 5 bowlers+Yuvraj/Pathan so that we dont look clueless when things start going wrong.

Talking of yesterdays game, I think that the Poms were the better side .


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Wait !!!! My vCash !!! Will none of us get our vCash back ? Dumb game indeed ....Grrrrr....

 

[shravi]

Okay, enough with these part timers. We need another bowler. Take out either Yusuf or Yuvraj and bring in Ashwin or Nehra. I think that Chawla can be a bit of a liability in a 4 man bowling attack as he is the most attacking bowler in our squad which has its advantages and disadvantages. I think it's worth keeping him in the squad for his wicket taking ability and his attacking intent because there's no point stifling the opposition batsmen when they can charge so easily in the death overs on these flat tracks. The best way to stop them is by taking wickets. Getting through the 10 overs of part-time overs seems very strained and forced at the moment. Dhoni wanted to get it over with as soon as possible, and it showed. He doesn't really have much trust in them, he just uses them because he has to fill in those 10 overs. Yuvraj looked quite circumspect in his innings today and I was disappointed that he never really kicked on even after getting his eye in. However, it may be what he needed to get his touch back- knocking it around and just middling the ball. If he went for the slog, he may have gotten out early and his touch and form would have been no better than they were at the start of the match. For that reason, I think that Yusuf Pathan should be dropped for Nehra or Ashwin. Our batting is clearly strong enough. Though the pitch, umpiring and excessive crowd noise did play their part, a total in excess of 330 should always have been defended.

Also, fielding. Atrocious. I can't blame Sachin because he keeps getting the runs and he would be tired after that 100 but even when he doesn't score big, he is a bit of a liability in the field. I don't think the outfield is the right place for him as he hasn't got the legs for it. Harbhajan and Sehwag are also pretty average. Yuvraj stepped his game up today and he looked a lot better than he has for a while now. Kohli blows hot and cold but he does have the ability to turn matches on his fielding alone.

Lots to think about for Dhoni.

 

[SaiSrini]

I would drop Yusuf Pathan and pick Ashwin, and drop Chawla and pick Nehra. This way we have 2 spinners + 3 pacers and that will give the team the needed balance. Bhajji and Zak can bat a bit, and anyway our batting order (the 6 batsmen) are already heavyweights.

Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Ashwin, Nehra, Munaf

 

[STLIndian]

Hindsight is 20/20. It's cute to say that playing 5 bowlers would be better, but what happens when you're 50/4 with 35 overs left and you're down to your last pair? You can't rely on Harbhajan at 7.

It's much better to play Yusuf at 7 and give up 10/15 extra runs rather than risk absolute collapse by playing only six batsmen.

 

[jkartik]

Hindsight is 20/20. It's cute to say that playing 5 bowlers would be better, but what happens when you're 50/4 with 35 overs left and you're down to your last pair? You can't rely on Harbhajan at 7.

It's much better to play Yusuf at 7 and give up 10/15 extra runs rather than risk absolute collapse by playing only six batsmen.

we are playing in the subcontinent. on roads and pancakes.
the chances of a batting collapse is very minimal as compared to our bowlers being taken to the cleaners.

i've always being an advocate for a 5 bowler attack and this match would've made a statement or two regarding that!

Mine ideal Lineup would be :

Sehwag, Sachin, Gambhir, Kohli, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Harbhajan, Zaheer,
"Chawla / Ashwin", Nehra, Munaf.

 

[angryangy]

Hindsight is 20/20. It's cute to say that playing 5 bowlers would be better, but what happens when you're 50/4 with 35 overs left and you're down to your last pair? You can't rely on Harbhajan at 7.

You obviously can't rely on the top 4 either

 

[TumTum]

Wait !!!! My vCash !!! Will none of us get our vCash back ? Dumb game indeed ....Grrrrr....

This.

I demand a refund because there was no TIE option.

 

[Gurjot95]

Glad I didn't put any my Vcash but there's a reason behind this because I didn't have any

 

[sami ullah khan]

I heard in news that Shane Warne had tweeted that the match will be a tie eight hours before the match started

 

[shravi]

I heard in news that Shane Warne had tweeted that the match will be a tie eight hours before the match started

Loved Strauss' reply in the interview about that.

 

[used2bcool]

It's dumb for the curators in India to prepare these so-called "sporting tracks." In Indian Curator-speak, "Sporting Track" translates to "featherbed." In any case, there's no point in making featherbeds, despite our jacked-up batting, because our bowlers don't have enough talent to defend on those wickets, as it evident by the result from last night.

If we really want to prepare pitches that actually aid our skills, make them rank turners, not unlike the pitch they used against Australia in the warm-up. We back our batters (supposedly the best in the world against spin) to counter the opposition's spin bowling and then spin them out with our plethora of spinners and army of part-timers. This is basic tactics; make pitches that suit you. If Dhoni's delusional about the perceived 'quality' (and I use the word 'quality' VERY loosely) of our bowling attack then I hope that performance opens his eyes.

Now bring on dustbowls for the rest of the tournament!

 

[Dipak]

Either you don't live in Mumbai or may be you just pretend to be anti-Indian and a supporter of the English cricket team!

One of the reasons that I am content with the tie was Sachin's knock not going down the drain. He is the only guy I like with Viru in the whole Indian team.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Loved Strauss' reply in the interview about that.

What did Strauss say?

 

[Gurjot95]

Moving back to DRS horrible decision, ICC needs to fix this rule. By that means if everyone starts standing forward no one will ever given LBW. I also heard that this happened between recent Eng Vs Aus ODI series where Trott was given out by UDRS even after he was standing forward 2.5 m. Is that true?

ICC really needs to improve their rules. sometimes I think why only India has to face these broken rules, first Sehwag 99* and now this