World Cup Group B - Pool Matches Discussion Thread

[grkrama]

im not talking about line and length but consistent performances over a span of time which we havnt had, but i do hope they maintain this level of performances over a time!

 

[SaiSrini]

Tendulkar's English was still pretty fluent and better than the average Indian person can speak. Also, Ishant Sharma's English is pathetic I just needed to mention that.

No doubting that. I was just saying that among those four, he would be the second weakest after Laxman. I think Laxman has improved.

Disclaimer: This is just a fun/humor discussion about players and the way they speak. This is not in anyway a discussion about if these players deserve to play for the team based on their speaking skills.

 

[War]

Alright you need to calm down with the negativity. People didn't even expect India to win against South Africa and come out on top in the group, which will now take place. This Indian team is looking really determined and Dhoni means business so far. He is really serious about the cup and you can tell he wants it again badly. The energy level while we are in the field is incredible, I think that was missing while we were playing the test matches against Australia and in the tri series. Everything is slowly coming together. I sense a Kohli special is around the corner maybe in the semis when we will need him the most. He's been pretty quiet since the 1st match but he has still made good contributions. I think this team will be in the final and everyone will be proven wrong once again about India's chances.

Did oxford change the meaning of the word negativity? ha

point being nobody is claiming them to be steyn or mitch but simply they were pretty good on the given days in the tournament, which a lot of bowlers can be despite inconsistent careers and not much to do with luck or fluke!

I don't think i ever suggested they to be good as steyn or mitch or whatever you else you said my friend.

 

[icyman]

Don't rave about our bowling too much. Remember that against Pakistan and South Africa we had the cushion of a 300+ score. The rest of the matches came against fairly weaker sides. South Africa , on the other hand are bad chasers and had they batted first our bowlers could have been in the firing line.

Ireland proved that the other day when they got off to a flyer. India's best bet in the knockouts has to rest on batting first. We definitely have one of the best batting line-ups,but any team can crumble easily in a pressure scenario.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Hmm .. ABD's recent comments. I just gives a strange vibe like there is a bit of over-confidence and false self-belief. Or maybe its just me reading too much into it

I 100% believe we are the best team in the tournament here," de Villiers said. "Those two losses in the group stage did hurt us a bit but we are past that now. We know where we could have won those games and we weren't that far off. We know we are very close... three games away from taking that World Cup home. The most important game is tomorrow but we know we are not far off so it's important to be positive and still believe we are the best."

'We're the best team in the tournament' - de Villiers | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

 

[SaiSrini]

Hmm .. ABD's recent comments. I just gives a strange vibe like there is a bit of over-confidence and false self-belief. Or maybe its just me reading too much into it

'We're the best team in the tournament' - de Villiers | Cricket | ESPN Cricinfo

He is just pepping his boys up. I am guessing the usual C word reference (after that Pakistan loss) is maybe entering their territory and ABD probably wants to keep it away from himself and his team.

 

[abhi_jacko]

I totally understand the pepping up. But not a very smart thing to say out loud lol, especially since he has a recent history to make silly comments ("we were the better team" after losing 4-1 to Aus in ODIs :P)

 

[Satan666]

Hmm .. ABD's recent comments. I just gives a strange vibe like there is a bit of over-confidence and false self-belief. Or maybe its just me reading too much into it

Would bode well if he can transfer that confidence when he is captaining his team on the field of play! Pretty much a failure as a captain.

 

[SaiSrini]

South Africa don't seem to have good captain choices right now. Graeme Smith was a wonderful captain for them, with a very aggressive body language/personality. After De Villiers, no one else seem to give the confidence that they can replace him. Amla is too laidback in personality/body language to inspire confidence as captain. Steyn is one guy who can do it (with the personality/body language he has) but it could put additional burden on him (already he has a lot).

If you have to replace ABD as captain, it would have to be Steyn.

 

[abhi_jacko]

If you have to replace ABD as captain, it would have to be Steyn.

One issue with that is that Steyn is already 31, will be 32 in a couple of months. If he is hoping and willing to play the world cup in 2019, then he is definitely a candidate. If not, then maybe SAF would be better off investing in someone younger, don't you think ?

 

[SaiSrini]

One issue with that is that Steyn is already 31, will be 32 in a couple of months. If he is hoping and willing to play the world cup in 2019, then he is definitely a candidate. If not, then maybe SAF would be better off investing in someone younger, don't you think ?

Till they find some new guy who can take over as captain, Steyn can do it. SAF obviously need to find a new and better guy who can take over as a long term captain. None of the current guys inspire that confidence apart from Steyn.

 

[Aalay]

Steyn is not a leader, it has to be Faf. AB de Villiers is a bad captain and there is just no excuse to that. He is a brilliant batsman but captaining is just not his thing. Faf looks a natural leader and he should have been captain instead of AB de Villiers. That would have also taken some pressure off AB.

 

[Satan666]

Amla is too laidback in personality/body language to inspire confidence as captain.

Correct me if am wrong but Amla was appointed the test captain last year, had his head steady in the series against the WI.

 

[shravi]

yep, faf looks like a real leader. i would make him captain.

that being said, the world cup is not over.

 

[abhi_jacko]

Tell you what, Bangladesh is staking proper claim on the quarterfinal spot. This has been superb batting against top quality bowling in initially helpful conditions. Mahmudullah has been brilliant

India, watch out (unless BD win this, then SAF watch out ?)