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

[Papa_Smurf]

I'm not going to read through 60 pages of what seems like mostly childish fan-boy posts. Instead, i'll just post my thoughts on the match.

Pakistan, Pakistan, Pakistan Some things never change. God-awful fielding and piss-poor batting. I know most people will disagree with me, but India won because of Pak's incompetance rather than your own brilliance. Gave away an excellent start thanks to some brilliant bowling by Riaz. Then got back into the game thanks to a brain-fart by the Paki batsmen - especially Hafeez. None of the wickets, except by the beauties to UAkmal and Razzaq, were wicket-taking deliveries.

But you did deserve to win after putting a very professional performance. And sets up a gem of a final as the two co-host giants face-off. Murali and Tendulkar's final ODI. Can't wait

 

[jacobfelix]

Murali and Tendulkar's final ODI. Can't wait

Tendulkar still hasn't announced anything....and you are already making the Saturday's game as his final ODI ...Sachin will continue to play....One fine day you might see Arjun Tendulkar at the non-striker's end with him....

 

[Gurjot95]

If not final ODI, then final WC game.

It will be interesting to see which Legend took the World Cup in his final World Cup game. Batting Legend or Bowling Legend?

 

[BKB1991]

Poor Misbah, he was the only one who batted well, so of course he should have scored 200 and single-handedly won the game.

Fact is that Pakistan's batting is not their strong point and their best method of chase is to chase undersized totals. I mean, they can apply themselves, but at the end of the day, several teams just have way better batsmen.

If there was a villain for Pakistan, it was undoubtedly and unfortunately Umar Gul. He was struggling for line all day. Yes, he was bowling to Sehwag, but Sehwag was mostly just stroking the line. Raina also capitalised and even Harbhajan chipped in a little. His bad day cost Pakistan at least 20 runs. Fielding was definitely a problem too, don't get me wrong, but we've come to expect a few mistakes. Who knows what wickets Umar Gul would have taken if he was at his best (or even just at his average)?

I would also offer that given how much of the workload Umar Gul shoulders, it's a shame he still had to take the full beating when his bad day comes. A team with 3 all-rounders should not have to bowl its worst bowler out. Although Wahab Riaz picked up the slack, in both this game and in the NZ game, it feels as though Razzaq was dead weight. Pakistan need a third quick in their side, whether he bats or not is probably optional, but they need the functionality of having an option they can actually rely on. Their bowling is what makes them good, but that flaw stops them from being great.

It's either that or find three all-time great one-day batsmen. I have a feeling the former might be an easier task for Pakistan.

Gul was disappointing but surely the bowlers collectively did the job restricting India to a chaseable total. Come on, I think this is Indias lowest total in the WC batting first so surely the batsman should take that and put up a performance? Gul had a bad day but that played a less part in our loss and it was inadequacy of our batting that cost us the game.

Good display of ego!!! Keep it up!!

Whats the difference between "better team than Pakistan" and "Pakistan being worse than India"? Both are the same. You just dont want to say "India were the better team"? World Cup is all about playing well on the day it matters, and the team that wins the cup deserves to be called the better team

Lol, this is now getting annoying. Ask any neutral fan, and he will tell you Pakistan lost not that India won. I am not saying we deserved to be in the final but our lack of application at key moments cost us the game. Which other team drops Sachin Tendulkar 4 times? Which kind of team makes Nehra, Munaf look like good bowlers? Have a look at the wickets in the game man, you will see the skill our bowlers used to take your batsman out, and the level of skill it took yours to do take our batsman.

Any team with a decent batting order could take India out yesterday. We didnt have it and hence lost.


In substance, what you are saying means the same thing as what I am, but if you look carefully its not the same as well. Point is India beat Australia in the QFs, but in the SF Pakistan lost to India. To some it may seem the same, even the end result is similar but if you are a man who looks more than just the result you can figure that difference out

 

[AkshayS]

Lol, this is now getting annoying. Ask any neutral fan, and he will tell you Pakistan lost not that India won. I am not saying we deserved to be in the final but our lack of application at key moments cost us the game. Which other team drops Sachin Tendulkar 4 times? Which kind of team makes Nehra, Munaf look like good bowlers? Have a look at the wickets in the game man, you will see the skill our bowlers used to take your batsman out, and the level of skill it took yours to do take our batsman.

Any team with a decent batting order could take India out yesterday. We didnt have it and hence lost.

Well Pakistan lost means India won. Now move on.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

Lol, this is now getting annoying. Ask any neutral fan, and he will tell you Pakistan lost not that India won. I am not saying we deserved to be in the final but our lack of application at key moments cost us the game. Which other team drops Sachin Tendulkar 4 times? Which kind of team makes Nehra, Munaf look like good bowlers? Have a look at the wickets in the game man, you will see the skill our bowlers used to take your batsman out, and the level of skill it took yours to do take our batsman.

Any team with a decent batting order could take India out yesterday. We didnt have it and hence lost.

Well said, and as a neutral, I agree.

 

[harishankar]

Well, then, a few good teams seem to be performing poorly with the bat when facing India in this World Cup.

Yeah, right. India didn't win. The other team lost.

Now I don't mind one way or the other so long as the result is in India's favour.

Damn right, I'm biased. All neutral observers can take a hike. Your team got chucked out of the World Cup. Now sit back, relax and watch the final.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

I don't have a team - Poland don't even play the sport

Obviously India won, but it was more due to Pak's incompetence than your own brilliance.

 

[harishankar]

I don't have a team - Poland don't even play the sport

Obviously India won, but it was more due to Pak's incompetence than your own brilliance.

Brilliant or not, it was an efficient and professional effort with the ball that choked Pakistan out of the game.

And whatever mistakes the Pak batsmen made was the pressure of the situation as created by some tight bowling.

 

[STLIndian]

Who gives a ████ whether Pakistan lost it or India won it?

We're in the final, they're not, and that's all that matters.

5-0.

 

[Papa_Smurf]

More the situation and the importance of the game then the bowling. India didn't bowl superbly as compared to Pak.

Look, I'm not taking anything away from you guys. The outcome of the match was going to be on who would handle the pressure better. Hands down it was India. But you would be a fool to expect a similar result against the likes of Dilshan, Thranga, Sangakarra, Mahela and Matthews.

 

[harishankar]

Who gives a ████ whether Pakistan lost it or India won it?

We're in the final, they're not, and that's all that matters.

5-0.

True true.

And what is heartening is that India has won because of solid team effort, not because one bowler got 5 wickets or a batsman made a brilliant century (of course Tendulkar's half centuries made a big difference) but all the players in this team have put their hands up when it counted. Even when the batting was under pressure.

Even Nehra is putting _some_ effort in the field

There were some failures sure, but I don't think any one team dominates like Australia has done in the past 10 years.

 

[Rehan_24]

If Akhtar had played, then he probably would have played instead of Wahab, and we would probably have made more than 300.

I am saying Akhtar in place of a batsman, means u got to cut down a batsman which was very much possible. India would have got out under 200 if Pak have one more extra bowler.

Anywayz, You can't win big pressure games with defensive and fearful approach so lets move on. Pakistan lost and its a reality.

 

[jkartik]

I don't have a team - Poland don't even play the sport

Off topic : is that polish ? sounds very similar to german ?

 

[Papa_Smurf]

^ Yeah, that's nothing new. There have been a few clubs , especially in Warsaw for a years now. But the sport is hardly exsistent here.

Sucks.