India in the West Indies

[cricket_lover]

India losing the way here, for 5 now. Two consecutive run-outs. They will need Pathan and Rao to stay there till the end.

Sehwag getting 96 is good but that doesn't mean he has a permanent place at the top order. He has failed to score a century since last feb. where he scored a hundred in the first ODI against Pakistan. He opens the batting, and there are no excuses. I hope he continues these big scores.

 

[ZexyZahid]

Well now they are seven down for 224 runs. And it seemed to be a good batting pitch.

 

[SaiSrini]

Horrendous stuff from the Indians here at St Kitts... 224-7 with 7 overs still to go???

If India doesnt get to 250, I would say the West Indies have the best chance of going up 2-1 in this series. And that would be terrible for India and it will be very hard for them to come back and win 3-2.

Anyways, this match is not over yet and lets see who wins. But I am really disappointed with the way Dhoni and Kaif got out. Very slack stuff from Dhoni. Didnt see how Kaif got out, but a run out is always bad for the batsman!

Pathan is failing big as a batsman here! Caught and bowled! Rao has to repeat his Abu Dhabi knock with the help of the tail to bail India out here!

And before I forget, fabulous job again by the West Indies! They are really being hot for this Indian side!

Well now they are seven down for 224 runs. And it seemed to be a good batting pitch.

Its a very good batting wicket. The wickets are caused by poor running by the Indians coupled with great fielding (again!) by the West Indies.

India need 250+ to be competitive in this match!

India losing the way here, for 5 now. Two consecutive run-outs. They will need Pathan and Rao to stay there till the end.

Sehwag getting 96 is good but that doesn't mean he has a permanent place at the top order. He has failed to score a century since last feb. where he scored a hundred in the first ODI against Pakistan. He opens the batting, and there are no excuses. I hope he continues these big scores.

Definitely! He is not permanent in the top order. Even Kaif who got another 60 is not permanent in the batting order. These two have failed for quite a long time to be permanent after these innings!

Edit: Fabulous stuff from Agarkar and Rao! Very good running by both! India now almost down in the dumps at 235-8 :

 

[ZexyZahid]

Actually I saw some part of the match. West Indies players weren't that great in the field. They missed a couple of run outs. The easiest was for Sarwan.

But after about the 35th overs, the West Indies players have been causing a lot of run outs.

And Venugopal Rao is run out also.

 

[cricket_lover]

lol
The lower order has let the team down. I don't think Rao was an ideal choice 5 or 6 down. You've got Kaif and Dravid who can stabilize the team, i don't know why they want to have another one.

Pathan's was a very tame dismissal. When you expected 300+, they're struggling to get to 250. Good comeback from WI.

 

[viral1991]

246/9, not a good score at all! The bowlers, especially the spinners must execute a huge task to win this one now, here is where Dravid's captaincy will be tested to its fullest!

 

[SaiSrini]

Its 246-9 now and the best opportunity for the west indies to win this match! at one point, i thought 275-280 would be good. but the way sehwag batted, 300 always was on cards. but as usual, whenever he scores well but falls short early, the fielding team pounces on the others and finishes things off early.

lara is due for a big one today, and as an indian fan, i sincerely hope that the indian bowlers and the fielders turn in a very tight performance because for this pitch, they are defending a very low total!

 

[gaurav_indian]

Don't tell me this Indian team can win the World Cup.The way they have performed in all three matches even if they win this one but one thing is for sure their batting lineup looks unstable.I think now its time that they should make a stable batting lineup otherwise they don't have any chance of winning the World Cup the way they are playing at the moment.

 

[SaiSrini]

lol
The lower order has let the team down. I don't think Rao was an ideal choice 5 or 6 down. You've got Kaif and Dravid who can stabilize the team, i don't know why they want to have another one.

Pathan's was a very tame dismissal. When you expected 300+, they're struggling to get to 250. Good comeback from WI.

rao is never a great ODI batsman! he is of the laxman & kaif type. what worse, he is not as good a runner as kaif is. uthapa might have been a better choice to replace yuvraj singh! rao will get you that odd 50 but unless he undergoes changes like dravid did in his career, he is not going to be a good ODI player!

why is it we always depend on a single player? whenever dhoni fails, the rest of the batters lose it all... whenever dhoni bats well, the team gets to a respectable or a total that is challenging for the oppositioN!

Don't tell me this Indian team can win the World Cup.The way they have performed in all three matches even if they win this one but one thing is for sure their batting lineup looks unstable.I think now its time that they should make a stable batting lineup otherwise they don't have any chance of winnning the World Cup the way they are playing at the moment.

Oh come on! The world cup is almost a year away. Who knows, the team might undergo a lot of changes (structure wise, physically, mentally, etc). There is a lot of cricket between this series and the world cup which is slated in march-april 2007. indians have been pretty decent in this series, but according to the standards to which they played in recent times, this is a below par performance. but i feel this series might make the indians put their feet on the ground after all the happenings in recent times which literally made them float in the sky!

and mind you, the team is still in experimentation mode. you cant predict the final outcome of a product when its just halfway through during the building process.

 

[viral1991]

Yes, I am sure that India will play better next year, or this series for that matter!

 

[cricket_lover]

rao is never a great ODI batsman! he is of the laxman & kaif type. what worse, he is not as good a runner as kaif is. uthapa might have been a better choice to replace yuvraj singh! rao will get you that odd 50 but unless he undergoes changes like dravid did in his career, he is not going to be a good ODI player!

why is it we always depend on a single player? whenever dhoni fails, the rest of the batters lose it all... whenever dhoni bats well, the team gets to a respectable or a total that is challenging for the oppositioN!



Oh come on! The world cup is almost a year away. Who knows, the team might undergo a lot of changes (structure wise, physically, mentally, etc). There is a lot of cricket between this series and the world cup which is slated in march-april 2007. indians have been pretty decent in this series, but according to the standards to which they played in recent times, this is a below par performance. but i feel this series might make the indians put their feet on the ground after all the happenings in recent times which literally made them float in the sky!

and mind you, the team is still in experimentation mode. you cant predict the final outcome of a product when its just halfway through during the building process.

I agree with that. Uthappa would have been a better option. Rao is more sedate, laxman and Kaif can get those singles and odd boundaries, but Rao is still making his mark in the team, so it would take him some time to get settled.

Dhoni is mere human, he can fail, sometimes fail for a long time. I hope the media don't get too much on him.

I did not get one thing. Why did Dravid send Raina 1 down? Kaif or Rao would have been a better option. When you have Sehwag going beserk at one end, you want someone who can hold on at the other end. Sending Raina would just mean India are looking to score very aggressively, but it won't happen all the time. Even Pathan would have been a better option.

 

[SaiSrini]

Yeah, when Kaif has succeeded at No.3, why restrain from sending him at that position? didnt he score that century in zimbabwe against new zealand at one down?

dhoni had to fail. sometimes, law of averages has to catch up with you!

Agarkar is again IMPRESSIVE! 3 overs so far for only 4 runs and he is troubling Gayle! We need to get Gayle early or he will punish us badly!

 

[cricket_lover]

Pathan is not in the best of form, i would go for Sreesanth and get Bhajji in early. The pitch isn't helping, no swing for bowlers, no pace in the pitch.

 

[SaiSrini]

Good start for India! 2 wickets, that of Samuels and Morton.

Agarkar bowling almost like when he was at the peak of his career - super tight... 6 overs for 14 runs and the wicket of Morton! Looks like Agarkar is coming back with a bang in international cricket and also he is proving his detractors wrong!

Pathan is not in the best of form, i would go for Sreesanth and get Bhajji in early. The pitch isn't helping, no swing for bowlers, no pace in the pitch.

I think Agarkar needs to bowl one more over and should be replaced by Bhajji or Powar. Sreesanth is bowling very well. He gave 2 runs off his first two overs. but as the commentators say, india need regular wickets. if they let the batsmen settle, it will be dangerous for the indians!

 

[cricket_lover]

Pathan's bowling poorly, and i don't know why Dravid is continuing with him. Its time to get Bhajji or Powar.