ICCCT2006: Group A

[surendar]

Well at least it has made our path easier.

Thing is Australia have never won a single match against India in Knock out Tournaments

This will be some mental advantage like Lara said " we dominated India in recent series & that will be added advntage "!!!

Inspite of this, any one of them (Sachin, Dravid,Yuvraj or Sehwag) should get a big score and bowlers especially Pathan must be in consistent line..... Yestrday they were showing pitch maps of Pathan,Munaf and Agarkar.... Except Munaf others really struggled to be consistent in their line n lengths!!!

So it all depends majorly on bowlers how they do atleast their basics right!!!

 

[aussie_ben91]

Thing is Australia have never won a single match against India in Knock out Tournaments

Whose saying that history won't be made?

Jerome Taylor is also quite some bowler. He might be the next Curtly Ambrose or Courtney Walsh.

 

[Dare]

yea hes really impresed in champs trophy, same thing with Bradshaw but hes old and windies have a good pace atack for the future with Edwards, Taylor, Bravo, Collymore.

 

[sohum]

Bradshaw is one of those bowlers who is really annoying to watch as an opposition supporter. He looks dibbly dobbly and easy to get away but his accuracy is befuddling to the batsmen. I really do hate him.

I don't think India will beat the Aussies. In fact, I predict a pretty convincing victory by the World Champions. India has looked pretty out of touch, from what it seems, in the last few series. No one is getting big runs and everyone is delegating the responsibility of playing a core innings to someone else.

As for the bowlers--it's getting to me that we can't find 3 pace bowlers in a country of billions, who can't perform for more than a year or two consistently. Pathan needs to be dropped. His batting was the thing keeping in him the team earlier, but now that is failing and I think we have given his bowling enough chance to improve. He can go battle it out in the domestic leagues (where no doubt he will get plastered). Agarkar's new life is looking good. Sreesanth is looking good (though he wasn't selected for the CT squad, right?) and Munaf is looking good in ODIs, too, something I didn't expect.

As for our batting, Sehwag is becoming hopeless, Tendulkar is stuck in two minds, I feel, Dravid is lacking support and Yuvraj is elegantly inconsistent. Kaif is being overlooked for Raina. I think this team is really muddled up now and it would take a brave, given unpatriotic, person to say that India are serious contenders for the WC.

 

[surendar]

I don't think India will beat the Aussies. In fact, I predict a pretty convincing victory by the World Champions.

For a change, I predict India will have close win against Australia!!!

Sehwag is becoming hopeless

well, yestday against Windies i expectd him to fire but that was an quick delivry swinging in towards him suddenly that decievd him... Lets see... He has talents but some triggering has to be done to bring it out

Tendulkar is stuck in two minds

Sachin is the only player having a great average in last 11 innings around 60+ !!! Infact 35 against England in those conditions was a great one and yestrday he could have done more than he did & once again that was an unfortunate dismissal !!!

If Sachin settles especially against Aussies, then its definitley going to be good entertaining cricket!!

Dravid is lacking support

yeah,Also Dravid looked better yestay after a long time...Still i feel he has to be in his solid position i.e as No3 batsman!!!

Kaif is being overlooked for Raina.

This is the same question , " is Raina better than Kaif " was asked by Geoffrey, but the experts there cleverly changed this topic and no one answered infact!!!

 

[MUFC1987]

India are trying to call up Sreesanth to replace Agarkar who broke a thumb.

 

[angryangy]

That would be against the rules, wouldn't it?

 

[MUFC1987]

I don't know, it's going to an appeal so I take it there's nothing in place to deal with it. It's an injury though, so perhaps they'll allow it, rather than say Pakistan wanting to bring Inzi back for the final.

 

[sid_19840]

For a change, I predict India will have close win against Australia!!!

Id be really happy if India can get a 250 score against Australia,win or lose.Our batting suprisingly seems to be the weak link these days.

 

[aditya123]

Having watchd the game yesterday, I have quite a few things to say.
Though the performance was nothing short of pathetic yesterday, our batting looked decent.
We had batsmen getting starts (around 30) for the first time in some matches.
Dravid looked in great touch . So, I`d play Dravid at No.3 on Sunday .
My No.4 would be Yuvraj

A report on Cricinfo suggests that Agarkar is out for the Australia game.
I`d play D.Mongia in his place , since he would be a decent left arm spinner as well.
Powar in place of R.P.Singh who was just terrible bad yesterday.

If at all India want to try a pinch-hitting option, I would rather go with Dhoni at No.3 and not Irfan.
Dhoni can tear attacks apart and virtually decide the game in 20 overs which Pathan cannot.

Pathan only scores at a run a ball which any batsman should be able to do in the powerplays.
It is only for scoring at 8r.p.o that u need a pinch-hitter .

It is high time that we have Sehwag firing .
A partnership of even 50 between Sehwag and Sachin would set it up.
If you analyze the difference between th last season and this , our opners haven`t been able to put up even 50 together.

My lineup ,

Sachin
Sehwag
Dravid (c)
Yuvraj
Kaif
D.Mongia
Dhoni (Wk)
Pathan
Powar
Harbhajan
M.Patel

That lineup will be great for Sunday`s game.

and as I type , Pakistan seem to be the second side from the subcontinent who will be knocked out in a tournament where all three were considered big favorites.

India are the only team left from the 3 and the Mohali wicket looks seamer friendly.
not looking great at all for India.

 

[sohum]

At least it would somewhat defy myths that the subcontinent is a paradox for foreigners--now it is confusing for us, too!

I don't know about your line-up. The reason we play a third seamer is because Pathan doesn't really add anything these days. Without a decent medium pacer like Ganguly in the team, I think it would be foolhardy to go in with just Pathan and Munaf as the Aussies are almost certain to target Pathan at the start.

 

[ZoraxDoom]

I'm completely agreeing with both of you. India have gone mad experimenting, they have no idea what role to play.
And Viral, I think he ment two minds as it either to attack or defend. it isn't his fault, every else around him keeps falling.
Yuvi, Yuvi. So sad. Looking in such good touch, and then throws it away. Viru is just flailing about, but then, he always does. Irfan, needs to be dropped. But I fear he may just fade away and never return, like talents such as Sodhi or Tinu Youhannan.
Munaf, Sresanth and Aji should be our pace attack for the WC. Powar and Bhajji the spinners. If they want a pinch hitter, as said above, Dhoni is the man. Kaif and Yuvi/Raina alongside Dravid, Sachin and Viru to open. Still cracks in the batting lineup, but who else do we have to replace them? We can't very well go ahead and recall Laxman and Ganguly, now can we?

 

[SaiSrini]

Zorax, if India are eliminated from this Champions Trophy after the game against Australia, the chants of 'Bring back Laxman and Ganguly' will gain even more momentum!

Anyways coming back to the game, here would be my lineup

Virender Sehwag - Has to fire, how long can he go without firing?
Sachin Tendulkar - The pillar of this team! Got to get a big one tomorrow! Remember the 141 against Australia in the 1998 edition of the ICC knockout trophy!
MS Dhoni - Ideal No.3 ahead of Pathan! If India lose a wicket too early, Dravid would be the better option
Yuvraj Singh - Dont know what has striken him! Come back Yuvi!
Rahul Dravid - Same as Yuvi! Dont know whats happening to him! if he plays well, we win!
Md.Kaif - I would pick him over Raina coz he has done better than Raina in recent times and is a better fielder than Raina
Irfan Pathan - I thought he bowled well against England, but he is back to his usual ways! Has to redeem himself soon or could find himself out of the team soon!
Harbhajan Singh - Currently India's best bowler. Bats above expectations these days!
Ramesh Powar - Good back up spinner, India misses Kumble! Bring back Kumble!
Sreesanth - I thought he bowled very well in the Challenger! He has good pace!
Munaf - Our second best bowler right now after Harbhajan! Should continue his good work!

If the wicket is as the one that we had for Pak-SA today, India should go in with an additional batsman in Dinesh Mongia instead of Ramesh Powar. India can turn to Sachin, Yuvraj and Sehwag for the fifth bowling options. Sachin can bowl handy medium pace!

 

[sohum]

I think Laxman may very well warrant a place in the ODI side. His problem is getting starts of about 30 and then throwing it away. Some of our top order batsmen aren't even getting there, so that would be an improvement!

Kumble, anyone? Our bowling is looking good on these pitches but Kumble may well warrant a comeback. I would pick him in the next ODI series just to see how he fares. There's no harm. If he does well, we might as well pick him. Moving forward is one thing, but ODI cricket really boils down to the world cup.

I used to support experimentation but it seems that in the current team everyone is confused. Sehwag wants to attack but it's just not working. Sachin has added pressure because Sehwag keeps failing. It seems to me like Sachin wants to get back to his old ways but is prevented from doing so. If Dravid always comes in at situations where India are a few wickets down for less than 50, we cannot expect him to accelerate. Dravid can push the singles and get runs at a fair rate without boundaries, but he's being prevented to do so.

Yuvraj, Kaif, Raina are all players who simply play really well on their day. They need to build on their consistency. Raina started off flashily and now has died down. Irfan Pathan should be slotted in at number 7. We have enough strokemakers to deal with the good first and second-change bowlers that the top teams in the world give us.

My two cents, I think we should become slightly more conservative. This is a testing ground for the World Cup but I think getting wins is just as important as losing and figuring out the perfect combo.

 

[icyman]

Did anyone read the Times of India today ?
Bobbilli Vijay Kumar has written an excellent article which states that most of our batsmen are over-hyped.I think that is apt for Yuvraj Singh.
Also can anyone please tell me what is Raina doing in the team if he is not contributing with the bat ? He is alos not fielding upto his standards and neither is he being used as a bowler.Why not have Kaif in his place ?

That would be against the rules, wouldn't it?

Well the rules state that "If the player is injured during the tournament,he can be replaced."
I believe the technical committe has already approved the move.