[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by Eddy

.........It's upto the bowlers to stop 'em

True, except that the game is increasingly doing all it can to handicap bowlers. All I hope for is a level playing field between bat & ball (isn't that like the obvious unwritten law for all of sport?), but all we get these days are run-fests that aren't even exciting (how much slogging can one really get excited about anyway?) given the amount of T-20 cricket being played these days.

That's one reason why I respect the Sri Lankans of the late 1990s & early 2000s who pioneered early attacking batting, but they did it when cricket was still a relatively balanced game between bat & ball. Watching Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana go berserk was infinitely more fun than watching the cavaliers of today clobbering hapless world-class bowlers just because the rules are stacked in their favor.

[saket77]

And Aus have ousted Pak from WC2015. We will have to face them on 26th. Probably the toughest match of the tournament for India. Tougher than final I'd say!

[Turbo_asd]

Originally Posted by Marauder

Smith holds the key. I don't think Watson, Maxwell, Faulkner are capable of playing a long innings to chase down this target.

Well?

Shami and Umesh better begin preparing hard to finish the Australian top order, else we'll be in a fine mess. They have been brilliant off late, and will hopefully do the needful. Just wish the openers begin clicking in the same match. It's always Rohit Sharma or Shikar Dhawan who perform. Never both.

Let's do this, men in blue!

An India vs New Zealand would be in terms of good quality cricket.

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

Anyone else here think T-20 cricket is destroying 50-overs cricket?

In fact T20 is doing a favour for ODIs. Batmen like ABD have reinvented themselves and Maxwell, Miller have changed the way game is played. Test batsmen like Kallis, Amla, Dravid have or had discovered art of scoring freely, without any inhibitions. T20 fielding standards have been carried over to ODI. But bowling has been done in rather by ICC rules than T20 cricket.

That's one reason why I respect the Sri Lankans of the late 1990s & early 2000s who pioneered early attacking batting, but they did it when cricket was still a relatively balanced game between bat & ball. Watching Jayasuriya and Kaluwitharana go berserk was infinitely more fun than watching the cavaliers of today clobbering hapless world-class bowlers just because the rules are stacked in their favor.

The art of pinch hitting during fielding restrictions was started by Mark Greatbatch of NZ during 1992 world cup. SL adopted similar tactics and was one of the major factors that helped them to win 1996 world cup. ICC capitalized this and introduced field restrictions during slog overs (in the guise of power plays) to influx interest into seeming dying game of ODI.

Field restrictions were same for earlier & current batsmen. Earlier it was innovation now it is commonplace. But that doesn't make earlier batmen good and current batsmen bad. Today, we might take Maxwell's batting for granted. Tomorrow, there might not be a batman who can hit sixes like him.

[tbppjpr]

Don't worry guys, if India succeeds in maintaining their record of getting the opponent all out then we are going to play the finals

Anyway, feeling pity about collapse of Pakistani cricket. You don't deserve to even participate in world class contests with such terrible level of fielding, those two easy dropped catches could have turned the result. There was only one man who seemed to be fighting against Australia and that was Wahab Riyaz, brilliant spell he bowled today in an otherwise dead game.

And pity that we don't see such bat-bowl contests too often these days, thanks ti ICC for their constants efforts in the process of killing the cricket, its all turning out into a batsman favoring game and we come to see just easy one sided games these days.

[PPS]

Couldn't watch the match but i hope the Pakistan bowlers softened the Aussie batsman & they were left with some mental scars ahead of facing India, but that doesn't seem to be the case considering Australia won with more than 15 overs to spare!
Australia have already had their bad game in the tournament against the Kiwis just hope the law of averages doesn't catch up with Team India like it did the last T-20 World Cup.
Won't Give it Back!

[Chetan_Rao]

Originally Posted by msdivy

........Batmen like ABD have reinvented themselves and Maxwell, Miller have changed the way game is played. Test batsmen like Kallis, Amla, Dravid have or had discovered art of scoring freely, without any inhibitions.

There's no such thing as Test, ODI or T-20 batsmen (rather players), per se. It's all about talent, technique and temperament, those who have these attributes adjust to whatever situation/format they get thrown into. All names you mentioned are testimony to that and all credit to them.

T20 fielding standards have been carried over to ODI. But bowling has been done in rather by ICC rules than T20 cricket.

Better standards can only be a good thing, no debate there. Agreed again that it's the rules that are killing the bowling aspect of limited-overs cricket, so much so that it's sometimes not even a contest anymore.

The art of pinch hitting during fielding restrictions was started by Mark Greatbatch of NZ during 1992 world cup. SL adopted similar tactics and was one of the major factors that helped them to win 1996 world cup. ICC capitalized this and introduced field restrictions during slog overs (in the guise of power plays) to influx interest into seeming dying game of ODI.

Sri Lankans took it mainstream in the 1990s, to the point that it became a major weapon in their arsenal and led to a Cup victory.

Field restrictions were same for earlier & current batsmen. Earlier it was innovation now it is commonplace. But that doesn't make earlier batmen good and current batsmen bad. Today, we might take Maxwell's batting for granted. Tomorrow, there might not be a batman who can hit sixes like him.

I didn't intend to make any qualitative comparisons, just mentioned it's become so commonplace with the overdose of T-20 cricket that it's not exciting anymore, in my opinion.

All that being said, it's probably just me (and a minority like me) with a traditional approach to cricket, wanting it to be a gentlemen's game and an even contest. The popularity of the shortest format and unnecessary, misplaced aggression shows clearly where the majority's interests lie.

[pratyush6]

The match moved along expected lines really. But Wahab's spell was among the best you would ever see. Watson hopped skipped and jumped.

I wish Pak posted a better score, Australia can be challenged.

[naveenroy]

Originally Posted by Chetan_Rao

All that being said, it's probably just me (and a minority like me) with a traditional approach to cricket, wanting it to be a gentlemen's game and an even contest. The popularity of the shortest format and unnecessary, misplaced aggression shows clearly where the majority's interests lie.

Yes, I would just like the bowlers given an even chance. I'd hate to be a bowler against one of the top teams today. Thankless job more likely. But hey, they are all catering to the crowd and looks like more and more people want to just watch their teams bat. Whatever works. More likely why I hardly watch cricket these days.

[Gannu_1]

Just caught up with the highlights of the match. Watson was dropped halfway through and so was Maxwell. These 2 wickets would have been really crucial for Pakistan IMO. Watson's dropped catch at the fine leg was really really absurd - it went straight to the fielder's hands and he dropped it!

Watson and Wahab's duel didn't go well. Wahab was bowling extremely well but he was intimidating Watson unnecessarily. Pretty sure the ICC won't spare him. Heck, the umpires were intervening after each ball Wahab bowled! He bowled well, no doubt but unnecessary provocation could have been avoided. He was sledged by Maxwell when he was batting.

I am getting really tensed for India now! I really hope Dhoni prepares his men for an onslaught. We've come this far.

[Eddy]

Originally Posted by Gannu_1

Watson and Wahab's duel didn't go well. Wahab was bowling extremely well but he was intimidating Watson unnecessarily. Pretty sure the ICC won't spare him. Heck, the umpires were intervening after each ball Wahab bowled! He bowled well, no doubt but unnecessary provocation could have been avoided. He was sledged by Maxwell when he was batting.

Oh, c'mon...Aussies have bullied players for as long as I can remember. Some payback, even if from Pakistan, feels good.

That said, I haven't seen the incident yet. Only read about it on cricinfo

[Gannu_1]

I will only blame the Aussies here. It was Maxwell who started it when Wahab came out to bat. I really wish those catches weren't dropped.

Originally Posted by Eddy

That said, I haven't seen the incident yet. Only read about it on cricinfo

Check this out - http://www.icc-cricket.com/cricket-w...az-fiery-spell

Aussies' reaction:

[munchy_cool]

Just saw the highlights of the match.The way Australian batsmen were rattled by Pakistani bowlers I am pretty sure Shami and Yadav can pick some wickets against the Aussies.

Also, for a change Australians were not as good as they are supposed to be against the short ball, Mohit would do wonders with his well directed short balls against the Aussies as well.

All in all I am very hopeful of India beating the Aussies at SCG.

[y448]

Looking forward to the semi`s, if India can win it will be the perfect revenge If there is one win that could outweigh all the defeats suffered in the tri series this is the one.

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by Turbo_asd

Well?

As I said, Smith was the man who had to guide the chase. When he got out Australia only needed 50 odd runs for victory.

Also, as we all saw both Watson and Maxwell gave the Pakistanis chances but they failed to take them.
I think it shows that if India can get early wickets, then they may put the Australians under pressure as their middle order isn't capable of building an innings.

Originally Posted by munchy_cool

Just saw the highlights of the match.The way Australian batsmen were rattled by Pakistani bowlers I am pretty sure Shami and Yadav can pick some wickets against the Aussies.

Also, for a change Australians were not as good as they are supposed to be against the short ball, Mohit would do wonders with his well directed short balls against the Aussies as well.

I think Wahab Riaz's pace made the difference, other Pakistani bowlers weren't able to rattle the Aussies with the short ball as they couldn't bowl at 150+, and the same would apply for Mohit Sharma as well.