India tour of New Zealand - Jan to Feb 2014

[SaiSrini]

It seems as if the 2nd ODI was almost a carbon copy of the first ODI. Except for a few, more importantly Kohli and Dhoni, we couldnt find guys who could win us the game with the bat. People like Rahane and Raina did better this game, but still we fell 15 runs short. And if we do like this vs New Zealand, imagine what would happen against more stronger teams like Australia, South Africa, England, Pakistan, etc in the World Cup?

India seriously need to change their bowling combination. Shami is a sureshot right now and has to play every game possible. Bhuvi probably could be retained but should be kept on his toes. Ishant Sharma surely needs to go. His economy seems to be very bad in recent times, constantly hovering around 8 runs an over. And I have lost hope in Ashwin overseas. He has now gone without a wicket in international cricket for 88 overs. And all of them have been overseas. Mishra or Ojha need to replace him. Even if we lose his batting skills, it would be OK. With this bowling attack, we might get away in the subcontinent (that's how we won the 2011 WC inspite of our bowling being mediocre to bad for most of that tournament). But in Australia/NZ with this kind of bowling, we would most definitely not get past the quarterfinals.

 

[abhi_jacko]

While bowling is obviously the biggest concern, we need to address Rohit. While he worked very well up the order for sometime, I don't think he is an ideal ODI opener. He really seems to have issues with scoring when the field is up and gaps are narrow. Mills and McClenaghan bowler superbly, but Rohit wasn't able to put away a couple of overpitched deliveries from Mills either.

I think Rahane is a better foil for Dhawan as an opener. He is adept at rotating and strike.

Rahane and Rohit should switch places IMO

 

[playkid12]

Rohit is going to fail outside of the subcontinent, he is a flat track bully. He had two letdowns this match in the first four overs of the match - the drop and the lbw not given, and he still didn't capitalize.

Both Sharmas need to be dropped. Pujara needs to be given a chance again for ODIs. And replace the tall lanky Sharma with Varun Aaron for now.

 

[CG123]

Absolutely pathetic from Guptill, hes done this all summer so far. Starts off 5 off about 30 balls builds the pressure on Ryder to score who then gets out. Its pretty selfish batting if you ask me, you can't afford to have someone bat like that in ODI cricket these days.

I still disagree with you here. Ryder plays like that because he wants to, he'd just hit a boundary and our RR was five an over, it had nothing to do with pressure. We saw with the Indian openers as well that against good bowling it can be hard to rotate the strike with the field up.

What a catch in the crowd, I suppose you're always in with a chance when Ishants bowling.

What a legend. I've watched it a few more times this morning and I can't help but feel good re these catches, just the reaction in the crowd etc. It never came near me at the T20I, but hopefully Saturday's my day.

Wow, really disappointed how many Indian fans I see saying they lost because of D/L (not here btw on cricinfo and other forums). How hard is it for people to grasp that we were awarded the extra runs because we batted for 33 overs as if it were a 50 over innings.

Facebook as well, yes it's a strange concept (scoring more runs and losing) but it's a bit disappointing that some of my Indian mates who follow cricket closely and should realise that it makes sense are blowing up about it.

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Here's the crowd catch btw if you missed it, like I said above it's hard not to feel good watching it:

 

[Mr Snrub]

I'm pretty confident that if India had won in the same circumstances as New Zealand did, those same Indian fans would be claiming it as a legitimate win.

 

[grkrama]

As you guys are doing it now.....pretty sure if you guys had lost the way we did you would have trashed DL..and how lucky india were

 

[asprin]

Cmon, let's not get into petty fights here just because of some unknowledgeable fans. We have had 2 good games which could have gone either way.

Yes, it's frustrating to be on the losing side, but credit where credit's due. I strongly feel the right team won in both games.

 

[Aalay]

Hah look at the people around him, they are so happy for him. That catch was definitely worth $100,000.

 

[surendar]

I'm pretty confident that if India had won in the same circumstances as New Zealand did, those same Indian fans would be claiming it as a legitimate win.

I don't think anyone would have cursed this DL better than Brain McMillan of SA!

Anyways, it's not the DL method - it's just we failed to take responsibility over the shoulder as a team except Kohli, Shami & the skipper by himself. Though I hate the tactics of Dhoni in keeping Ishant in playing line up, am still a fan of him leading from front!

 

[grkrama]

Cmon, let's not get into petty fights here just because of some unknowledgeable fans. We have had 2 good games which could have gone either way.

Yes, it's frustrating to be on the losing side, but credit where credit's due. I strongly feel the right team won in both games.

Nope not fighting just pointing out all fans behave the same way mostly when their teams lose and pick up excuses......

actually im glad we are losing this way were both sharma's are exposed totally and hope they get kicked out soon... yadac /aaron/pandey should replace ishy and pujara for sharma
Pretty sure and team would become stable as rock with those changes...
for extra measure ashwin can be probably be given one more game but he continues this form some thing has to be done, either replace him with binny this being overseas or some genuine spinner.. mishra/ojha

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i feel binny can be our correy anderson though not in the same scale but someone who can actually tonk the ball a bit after dhoni...

 

[Mr Snrub]

As you guys are doing it now.....pretty sure if you guys had lost the way we did you would have trashed DL..and how lucky india were

No I wouldn't of trashed DL over this result. It was more or less fair, due to a few factors.

A) New Zealand had to bat from the start as though it was a 50 over game.
B) It was not a huge number of runs added on.
C) India had the benefit of chasing a score knowing that it was actually a 42 over game.
D) New Zealand and India both were playing with the same amount of batting aggression and it wasn't as though India had this huge target and New Zealand had been pushing it about.

I actually believe India have a better team more often than not. It's just that when New Zealand has it's day (less often than not), they are capable of competing with anyone.

I'm a realist and I think India will win all three remaining games. The first two have been close, exciting affairs and I'm not sure how much more New Zealand have in them.

The Indian team (much like ours) has some great fans, but some very wishy-washy fair-weather followers too. A mature fan of cricket in general doesn't get overly upset, full of excuses and try to belittle another team for winning. They tend to applaud a good performance as some Indians have (good on them) and wait until their turn to celebrate, which could be very soon.

I also have little time for New Zealand fans who gloat and act rudely over a couple of wins against a world class team. Pride in your teams performance isn't too bad a thing, being happy is fine, but an over-indulgence in it and a bad attitude inevitably comes before a fall.

 

[grkrama]

agreed 100%....

 

[asprin]

Just read this piece on espncricinfo:

• If Aus lose tomorrow, India become ODI No. 1.
• If India lose on Saturday, Aus will regain No. 1.
• If Australia lose 5th ODI, India again No. 1.

I mean what the fish is happening? I can't recall the last time rankings being affected with each game result.

 

[ferg512]

The rankings system is a joke anyway, does anyone actually know how it works? I saw the table yesterday and it said India has played 59 games and we have played 39, how can you have rankings when there is such a large difference between how many games each team plays?

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What a legend. I've watched it a few more times this morning and I can't help but feel good re these catches, just the reaction in the crowd etc. It never came near me at the T20I, but hopefully Saturday's my day.

A really great idea from Tui, it definitely adds something extra to the game. I have a mate who doesn't really like cricket at all but went to the T20 last week because of the Tui comp and ended up enjoying it. I hope they continue to do something similar in the next few summers as well.

 

[scratch978]

India has played 59 games and we have played 39, how can you have rankings when there is such a large difference between how many games each team plays?

Playing more number of matches than others, doesn't really affect the rankings. Instead, it affects a the team point. India has got the most points as it has played most number of matches.