Mar 30 - Pakistan v India (Semi-Final 2)

[Gurjot95]

Also HAAAAA @ Afridi's reaction when he caught Tendulkar. I gotta find a picture of his classical raised hand celebration.

No need, it was his same celebration as for his every wicket. Got a old now, he needs to find a new one.

 

[Bear]

well i am really disappointed but one has to lose it is a game.but there was some mistakes....
1-if you drop 4 or 5 catches of a player like sachin then what can be more worst than that?
2-misbah played it like a test match in the start of his inning.the asking rate was increasing so younis tried to hit a boundry to release the pressure but he got out.
3-wrong time to take the batting power play.they had to take it when razzaq was there or when afridi was there....

but still well played afridi and company throughout the world cup.and good luck to india for the final
but definitely i will be supporting Sri Lanka

 

[Kabooka]

I don't know about the confidence of him but Indian ex-cricketers were also very confident and they also said some many proud things and we also said what we feel right.

I also got a friend messge it says

"Baap Baap hota hai yeh Beta Beta I think yeh uss waqt prove hoo chuka hai jab ham India mein aa kar India say semi-final kheally jo humein IPL mein daalney say bhee dar rahey thay" Humaree wohee bohat bari victory hai"

This is an extremely childish attitude and seems more like a case of sour grapes. What you are implying is that the IPL is more important to you than the World Cup itself. Just so you know the BCCI is owned by the Government of India & it does not employ Pakistanis, not anymore. So Pakistani cricketers can forget about getting their hands on Indian money. Plus we were gracious enough hosts to invite your players and even your PM to our country. Even in a 1000 years you could not come to India if it was not our will. And yesterdays match answered the question of "Who is your daddy?" pretty well.

 

[ballers101]

well i am really disappointed but one has to lose it is a game.but there was some mistakes....
1-if you drop 4 or 5 catches of a player like sachin then what can be more worst than that?
2-misbah played it like a test match in the start of his inning.the asking rate was increasing so younis tried to hit a boundry to release the pressure but he got out.
3-wrong time to take the batting power play.they had to take it when razzaq was there or when afridi was there....

but still well played afridi and company throughout the world cup.and good luck to india for the final
but definitely i will be supporting Sri Lanka

I think Misbah had to stay, he knew if he got out then Pakistan had NO chance. The reason being that Misbah will always stay and make sure one player is on at one side of the wicket and the other side is some like Umar Akmal who can hit the ball for boundries. The strategy is correct, one player to solidify the middle order and make sure wickets don't fall and the other is aggressive.

When Younus and Misbah were playing, they didn't do what they did in Sri Lanka, they didn't look for the ones and twos. They were looking to get set when they were in that partnership. They didn't try to relieve the pressure by getting singles and ultimately that is why Younus failed today.

 

[shravi]

India's win was all about mental strength. Pakistan were cruising when Akmal and Hafeez were at the crease. They looked so comfortable and were middling every ball. It didn't look as if they were going to get out. However, while India gave 5-6RPO in the first 10 overs, they never really let them get away. After that, India really tightened the screws and Pakistan lacked the patience and mental strength to get through that period. It was a war of attrition and Pakistan failed miserably. India didn't bowl brilliantly, but they executed their plans very well and their wickets didn't come from brilliant balls but from strangling the opposition and forcing the wicket out of them. There was nothing unplayable, but India never let the match get away from them.

That said, I was incredibly nervous throughout the game and I have never been so worried as I was when Dhoni got out the 42nd over. I really wasn't sure what a par score was after that and more importantly, if we would even get it. I was also understandably skeptical of our bowling but they performed brilliantly. Pakistan may have a better bowling line up but bar Riaz and Ajmal, they weren't all that spectacular. Even Ajmal, along with the rest, just thrived on Riaz's brilliance. Collectively, India was a better bowling unit today as evidenced by the fact that each bowler got 2 wickets. Zaheer's control wasn't great today though. Hopefully he can get it right in the final as he was on the expensive side today. Yuvraj continues to put in the performances with the ball, but to be honest, I really haven't a clue how batsmen keep getting out to him. Also, I'm not sure whether I want Ashwin back in the side now. If he did come back, in whose place would it be... You can't really drop any of the bowler's from today's match. He may just have to sit out, unfortunately.

 

[ballers101]

This is an extremely childish attitude and seems more like a case of sour grapes. What you are implying is that the IPL is more important to you than the World Cup itself. Just so you know the BCCI is owned by the Government of India & it does not employ Pakistanis, not anymore. So Pakistani cricketers can forget about getting their hands on Indian money. Plus we were gracious enough hosts to invite your players and even your PM to our country. Even in a 1000 years you could not come to India if it was not our will. And yesterdays match answered the question of "Who is your daddy?" pretty well.

Correction, the Pakistani players were not invited to the World Cup, they were SELECTED. A team that is a top 8 team in the world is guaranteed a spot of the World Cup UNLESS the denial by the ICC. True story. If the BCCI said, Pakistan will not be allowed in the World Cup you think the ICC would be fine with that. It's the ICC World Cup not the BCCI World Cup, get your facts straight.


Shravi, if you honestly think that India was a better bowling unit today then I have no idea what you've been watching. India really put the pressure on Pakistan by their fielding, they made sure that Pakistan didn't get easy ones and twos that would have been sooo crucial in the middle innings. Had Younus got into form and got some ones and twos here and there he would have got under pressure and played that stupid shot. There fielding was very aggressive which put India under a lot of pressure. Not one time did an Indian bowler give a delivery which was unplayable like the Riaz did against Yuvraj. If you look at every single wicket, you can see a stupid mistake for no reason. Hafeez paddle sweep for no reason, Kamran playing his dangerous cut shot like he always does. Asad Shafiq clearly just missing the ball, no spin, no bounce, no change in pace just absolutely missed the ball. Younus Khan just getting under pressure by fielding and trying to hit a four. Afridi not being able to hit a full toss against a spinner. Razzaq not using and foot movement at all. Really all of these wickets were due to utter stupidity. India's batting really struggled against our bowling, other than the one blemish in Umar Gul who bowled horrendous today, Pakistan's bowlers were fantastic. Mohammed Hafeez was extremely tight and keep India under pressure with consistency. Afridi, was just Afridi, deserved at least the wicket of Tendulkar. Ajmal was absolutely amazing, it looked like he was unplayable, his doosra was used at the correct time and made Harbajan look like a pre-school batsmen. And what can I say about Wahab Riaz, absolutely unplayable.

Umar Gul just bowled horrible and that's why Pakistan wasn't the best they could have been in this bowling innings however, they were still better than India's bowling attack today.

 

[sami ullah khan]

Congrats to Indian fans here. As for as Pakistan is concerned, our batters played like cowards and I am afraid to say no team with such attitude can win crucial matches. Bowlers barring Gul did a fabulous job but our batter made Nehra look like Akram and Munaf seem like MCgrath. They way openers got out and our so called experiences players gave their wickets away after ensuring required rate goes over 8, pretty much ensured we lost this rather easy chase. I hope our board throws out Kamran Akmal and Misbah Ul HAq for good. Also Younis should not play another ODI for Pakistan. Only bright spot in batting was Umer Akmal but pressure that Misbah brought about got Umer Akmal to lose his wicket.

 

[AbhishekS]

The likes of Younis and Misbah need to think about their future, and this 8 batsman theory was just a temporary solution not a permanent.

Misbah's age is the only issue. I still feel that he was the only batsman who fought it out for the Pakistanis till the last ball. I have immense respect for this guy, he just never gives up. A fabulous cricketer, unlucky that his career took off pretty late.

 

[ballers101]

Misbah's age is the only issue. I still feel that he was the only batsman who fought it out for the Pakistanis till the last ball. I have immense respect for this guy, he just never gives up. A fabulous cricketer, unlucky that his career took off pretty late.

Yeah, I think people aren't giving credit to Misbah. He fought really hard, I think he waited a little bit too long but still he fought something Younus never did.

 

[AbhishekS]

It's unfair the way the Pakistani fans are reacting towards Misbah. Whether it's the T20 WC Group match, the final or the 2011 WC SF, no batsman of Pakistan performed as good as Misbah against the Indian team. He is extremely unlucky to be the guy who is criticized all the time.

From next time, he should just be a part of the collapse and not even try because if he does but his side loses, he is the one who faces all the criticism.

 

[Kabooka]

Correction, the Pakistani players were not invited to the World Cup, they were SELECTED. A team that is a top 8 team in the world is guaranteed a spot of the World Cup UNLESS the denial by the ICC. True story. If the BCCI said, Pakistan will not be allowed in the World Cup you think the ICC would be fine with that. It's the ICC World Cup not the BCCI World Cup, get your facts straight.

I think that you are on some sort of an Acid trip & you cant think straight. I was talking about Pak not being invited to play in the IPL (about which your made up message was all about) .

Read properly , understand correctly & then answer.

"Baap Baap hota hai yeh Beta Beta I think yeh uss waqt prove hoo chuka hai jab ham India mein aa kar India say semi-final kheally jo humein IPL mein daalney say bhee dar rahey thay" Humaree wohee bohat bari victory hai"

Seriously, what sort of a Dumb, made up SMS is this ??? It doesn't even make any sense .

 

[jkartik]

did anyone else sense that mark nicholas was kind of rooting for india ?

 

[harishankar]

I have to say, a great win. Really India's fielding and disciplined bowling tightened the screws on Pakistan and made the batsmen play some desperate shots at times. Also what a crucial cameo knock by Suresh Raina. Proves how important it is to have a proper batsman at No. 7 in a crunch situation.

I feel India's job is tougher against Sri Lanka, but then it's a WC Final. What more can we expect?

Dhoni as a captain has a "Cup" winning knack and I think this is India's best chance of winning a World Cup for a while, playing in familiar home conditions and having a strong batting line-up and bowlers who're just getting into good form.

 

[crazyrahul]

This game was pure of unpredictability. The best bowlers gone expensive such as Umar Gul and Zaheer Khan. But on the other hand, unexpected spell bowled by 3 seamers with outstanding efforts such as Wahab Riaz, Ashish nehra and Munaf Patel. Harbhajan took 2 important wickets of Umar Akmal and Afridi who were looking dangerous. Pakistani spinners bowled well too, didn't allow Indians to take the score to 300.

Hats off to Sachin Tendulkar one more time for such an inning on such a pitch where rotating strike was not easy. All the best to him and Team India for Mumbai's Final battle against Lankans.

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But India's concern now is Batting and not bowling actually. Bowling and fielding has improved a lot as world cup goes on.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni has last chance to prove his worth as a batsman. Gambhir and Kohli still are not able to stay in the middle. Yuvraj and Sachin always gets the burden. That's not a good thing.

 

[used2bcool]

@jkartik: Yes, I had the feeling that Nichols was pulling for us.

I thought Pakistan made a couple of tactical blunders in their innings. They took the PP too late, that should've happened right after Afridi smacked Yuvraj's last over for plenty of runs. That would've given Misbah the license to go for his shots and put some pressure back on the Indian bowlers. The second thing was Misbah's innings - he was excellent, no dobut - but he left it too late. The big shots came only when the Pak were 8 down and the required rate was over 13. We all know what kind of carnage Misbah is capable of, especially against spin, and he just didn't show enough intent a bit earlier.

That said, I thought we bowled particularly well and seemed to have executed all our plans well despite horrible misreading the pitch. Yes, some of the Pakistani batsmen played hideous shots, but most of it was brought about by pressure. If we go wicket by wicket:
Kamran: fell to a full-and-wide slower ball - part skill and part bad shot.
Hafeez: worst shot of the day, but brought around by a spell of 8 consecutive dot balls when he was going fine and then just couldn't score all of a sudden - brain freeze caused by tight bowling.
Shafiq: played a bad shot, no two ways about it. He wasn't under particular pressure either, but Younis slowing it up on the other end didn't help.
Younis: fell trying to accelerate, trying to hit the ball too hard. Indians suffocated him, he was striking at only 40 or so.
Umar: Got a decent ball but his own bad technique played a part in getting him out.
Misbah: Played well but without the required amount of aggressive intent. Was just a bit too passive when he needed to take charge of the innings.
Razzaq: Got a good legcutter and played down the wrong line. Munaf was in the midst of a tight spell and it paid off.
Afridi: Was being Afridi. No idea why he didn't take the batting PP when he was at the crease.
Riaz: Played out four dot balls and then skied one. The ball that got him wasn't particularly great, but the four balls before that was excellent thinking from Nehra.
Gul: Had a bad day, and got out to a good delivery, one that he himself would've been proud of.
I count three batters who got out for no reason other than their own stupidity (Hafeez, Shafiq, and Afridi). Others were prized out. As an Indian fan, I'll take that - our bowlers "earning" 7 of their 10 wickets, because that represents a better performance than I have seen in quite a while.