ICC Champions Trophy 2017

[Till Valhalla]

I thought we have the "BESTEST FINISHER EVER" he should have scored at a strike rate of 300%.

 

[Velocity]

This has to go down as one of SL's best ODI victories. Great batting and ice-cool captaincy from Mathews. They have to be considered contenders.

They could only be considered as contenders if their bowlers fire. Even with Malinga, Sri Lanka have a very weak bowling attack. Perhaps the only advantage they have over Pakistan (who they are playing next) is batting. I find it still highly unlikely they will win this competition.

 

[Velocity]

I see Pakistan making it to the semifinals, if they can continue their bowling performance like how they did against SA. As far as India or South Africa is concerned, its going to be a lottery. I am currently inclined to say South Africa just to be conservative and pessimistic and also for the fact that SA should feel more closer to English conditions than India, but I also know that India will also feel hurt after this show and have the batting and bowling arsenal to challenge.

It will be interesting to see how both team''s bowling attacks will do. Morkel shined yesterday, but no other Protea bowler didnt perform very well. I would also say South Africa to win, because I think they hold an edge over India in the bowling department and their ability to attack in the middle order. I would play at Shami because it's clear we need a wicket taking bowler for this match, but that is not to say Bumrah has done an awful job. He is only a death over specialist and India need someone who can take those breakthrough's and attack. Even though Shami can be expensive in the death, I think he should play due to his ability to bowl well with the new ball.

 

[SaiSrini]

It will be interesting to see how both team''s bowling attacks will do. Morkel shined yesterday, but no other Protea bowler didnt perform very well. I would also say South Africa to win, because I think they hold an edge over India in the bowling department and their ability to attack in the middle order. I would play at Shami because it's clear we need a wicket taking bowler for this match, but that is not to say Bumrah has done an awful job. He is only a death over specialist and India need someone who can take those breakthrough's and attack. Even though Shami can be expensive in the death, I think he should play due to his ability to bowl well with the new ball.

Maybe we might need to think of Ashwin for Pandya and Shami for Bumrah. I know Pandya did well in those 3 balls against Pakistan to give India a boost. But in very helpful batting conditions, his bowling does not inspire confidence. Today Kohli and Jadhav had to fill out for Pandya and Jadeja's overs (Jadeja had an off day). Ashwin is not exactly a hitter like Pandya but he is no muck with the bat and offers a stable/steady batting option. And with South Africa being a non-Asian side, it makes sense to go with an extra spinner. I dont think dropping Pandya will weaken our batting. It will just bring down one lower order hitter. I think India can manage that by giving more responsibility to Jadhav/Karthik and push Yuvraj Singh down the order as Yuvraj is able to bring the big hits better than Dhoni. Dhoni should move up to 4.

I can easily see 3 changes to the XI for our game against SA if we have to pick the ideal team (but I am confident Kohli won't make so many changes at once - I wish he atleast makes the bowling changes of Ashwin/Shami):

Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
Dhoni
Karthik
Yuvraj
Jadeja
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Umesh

 

[Velocity]

Maybe we might need to think of Ashwin for Pandya and Shami for Bumrah. I know Pandya did well in those 3 balls against Pakistan to give India a boost. But in very helpful batting conditions, his bowling does not inspire confidence. Today Kohli and Jadhav had to fill out for Pandya and Jadeja's overs (Jadeja had an off day). Ashwin is not exactly a hitter like Pandya but he is no muck with the bat and offers a stable/steady batting option. And with South Africa being a non-Asian side, it makes sense to go with an extra spinner. I dont think dropping Pandya will weaken our batting. It will just bring down one lower order hitter. I think India can manage that by giving more responsibility to Jadhav/Karthik and push Yuvraj Singh down the order as Yuvraj is able to bring the big hits better than Dhoni. Dhoni should move up to 4.

I can easily see 3 changes to the XI for our game against SA if we have to pick the ideal team (but I am confident Kohli won't make so many changes at once - I wish he atleast makes the bowling changes of Ashwin/Shami):

Rohit
Dhawan
Kohli
Dhoni
Karthik
Yuvraj
Jadeja
Ashwin
Bhuvi
Shami
Umesh

I don't believe much of Yuvi being down the order because he is usually that sort of batsman to play a few dots, and I am afraid that he will waste balls out there in the middle in the end overs. Even today, he scored only 7 of 17. I am not a big fan of sending him down at 6 I would rather keep him at 4. I doubt Karthik will play, if he were to play then it would have to be at 5, with Dhoni pushed to 6, which is not a great thing as he played quite well today. I agree Ashwin should play. Jaddu seems to miss a spinner at the other end, and it would benifit him and India if there were to be another spinner. I think Jadhav still deserves another chance. He batted well today at the death today and it was only his first inning of the tournament.

 

[zwarrior]

Why didn't kohli bowl yuvi yesterday ? He is obviously better than jadhav and kohli. I miss MSD's captaincy.

EDIT-

NVM. Just found out about it.

 

[Villain]

They should really bring in Shami for Bumrah, he bowled really well getting those key wickets against NZ in the warm-up. Bumrah is doing fine but Shami is much more experienced and better in comparison, we definitely require depth in our batting vs RSA as they are a pretty good bowling unit so I won't really replace Pandya or Jadhav. But if we have to replace one of them then I believe Ashwin can be a decent replacement for Jadhav, he can give us another option in spin as we can't always rely on Jadeja. His batting is questionable though.

Toss will be very crucial, we have very high chances of winning if we get to chase.

 

[Rehan_24]

What a great performance by Srilankans, Tremendous Win! I watched the they bat against SA in their first game, Though SL is an inexperienced side and is in re-building stages but their determination and eagerness to take SL back to top has been worth the watch over the past months. It is a reality check for India specially their bowling line-up which has always been poor to worst, minus Ashwin. I felt that they took SL quite easy and paid the price.

PS: As far as Sehwag talk goes, Probably He forgot how he got bowled a Golden Duck against Junaid Khan. The entire first three including Kholi were clueless. I can understand about the Joke but his fool talks are not hidden from anyone

 

[Rehan_24]

GAME ON Hai will be a bunch of idiots high on meth after this!!

There is Ian Chappel, Lara and Sir Viv Richards there, Are you calling them bunch of idiots? I heard not that much but some analysis and it was good right on Cricket.

 

[SaiSrini]

I am sure atleast two of Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman will reject Sehwag. They might be friends off the field, but these three should have Indian cricket's best interests in mind. Also with Kumble in the official coach race again (by virtue of re-applying), it would be impossible for these three to pick Sehwag.

News is emanating that Kohli has not specifically said that he does not want to work with Kumble. Which tells that Kumble might likely be retained and even be given the contract till 2019 World Cup. Maybe Kumble might slightly change his style of communication, but I think Kumble will stay on.

 

[ParkedTheBus]

The best part about yesterday's game wasn't the splendid innings from Dhawan or the youthful exuberance of Sri Lanka, it was Sangakkara's commentary. Every bit as classy as the man's cover drives, an absolute pleasure to listen to.

 

[Bigby Wolf]

PS: As far as Sehwag talk goes, Probably He forgot how he got bowled a Golden Duck against Junaid Khan. The entire first three including Kholi were clueless. I can understand about the Joke but his fool talks are not hidden from anyone

Well i am certainly not in favor of what Sehwag said about Pakistan (even if it supposed to meant as a troll or something ) but if you talk about cricketing terms i am here all day to defend Sehwag who averaged 91 in 9 test matches against Pakistan.So you telling a single performance of him is an absolute lame.

 

[Na Maloom Afraad]

So, I guess this marks the end of Bangladesh's first ever CT campaign.

 

[Umair7]

Bangladesh Fans are heading back to earth

 

[Perfect Square]

So, I guess this marks the end of Bangladesh's first ever CT campaign.

Bangladesh Fans are heading back to earth

One solid 150+ partnership can get them back in the game and it seems like it is happening. Saying cause in the last game Sri Lankan players also outplayed India with one big partnership, but still its difficult for them to recover.