[Shreyans_Jain]

The less we speak about the bowling and fielding efforts of today, the better. The coaching and support team is clearly intent on showing zero initiative and spunk.

Let’s not get carried away by the batting performance and that score of 209 either. The slogs that go for sixes here in these small grounds with their ropes pulled further in. They will all be catching practice for the deep fielders in the large Australian grounds. Contrast our hitting with that of the Aussies - their sixes were all much bigger and cleaner. Direct result of playing competitive T20 in proper sized grounds. 65 meter hits get you 6 in India. They get you caught in the deep in Australia. Every chance our IPL hero hitters will be found wanting in the World Cup T20.

Really believe that all international level matches should be played with a minimum boundary length of 75 meters in any direction.

[joslicx]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

Let’s not get carried away by the batting performance and that score of 209 either. The slogs that go for sixes here in these small grounds with their ropes pulled further in. They will all be catching practice for the deep fielders in the large Australian grounds. Contrast our hitting with that of the Aussies - their sixes were all much bigger and cleaner. Direct result of playing competitive T20 in proper sized grounds. 65 meter hits get you 6 in India. They get you caught in the deep in Australia. Every chance our IPL hero hitters will be found wanting in the World Cup T20.
.

Don't you think batsmen will consider the size of the ground in their shot making and adjust accordingly? It seems natural to me that they would.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by joslicx

Don't you think batsmen will consider the size of the ground in their shot making and adjust accordingly? It seems natural to me that they would.

Our batsmen have been consistently found wanting in this regard in limited overs cricket down under. A lot of shot making is instinctive. Muscle memory honed over years of playing (and being rewarded) on small grounds does not change at will. More so in the shortest format, where every ball counts and batsmen have to have a go.

Over the past 3-4 years, most of our limited overs wins have been fashioned by individual acts of brilliance, especially by the bowling department. The batting has been found wanting time and again. No points for guessing that Virat Kohli’s superman period played an oversized role in the successes prior.

[deehunk]

What is going on inside NCA? Where are the talents hiding? It was good to see Axar getting wickets, but Aussies will work him out in the next two games. Umesh was a scapegoat to save Harshal Patel in the power play, but eventually he got thrashed for predictive bowling. There is some reluctance to play Ashwin, Samson by Rohit Sharma.

[PreludeSH]

I think we should accept that we dont have great match winning talents. Even in IPL, it was mostly overseas batsmen that have been playing great.

With limited numbers they were in, when they failed, the team failed or the other team had best Indian bowling

[AtheK]

This team is built on reputation alone, except for Bumrah, Pandya and Surya everyone else seems to be playing on reputation Quota. I have no hopes for us to do any good down under, only thing is since it will be a bit bowler friendly we might be able to do a little better.

Chahal, Bhuvi are absolutely worthless, Bumrah though good has been consistently struggling with fitness, why did he not play yesterday?

Deepak chahar seems to be another injury prone player

"If you look at all the top Indian teams over the years, there is youth and experience. I find the youth missing here and hence the fielding. If you look at the last five-six years, fielding wise, I think this side is no match to any of the top sides when it comes to fielding. And that can hit badly in big tournaments," Shastri said on Star Sports after the match.

Aptly put, now that you think back and the way Shastri handled the team in Australia when we won that historic series, I have nothing but immense respect for the man, so far to say he along with Kirsten is probably the best coach we ever had.

[PPS]

Problems aplenty for Team India. 208 was an above par score but our bowling is a real worry. Bumrah & Harshal are I suppose the designated death bowlers in WT20 but Bhuvi during death overs has been terrible & not at all reliable considering his experience. Arshdeep did decently well in Asia Cup during death overs. Chahal has been inconsistent & leaking runs more than usual. I think team management should seriously consider Ashwin as our frontline spinner. He's a very good defensive bowler, a tool which is very important in T20 format. It is imperative now with the way India was beaten yesterday that Axar play as our 6th bowler. Not saying this because Axar bowled a good spell yesterday but anyone among the 5 bowlers can have a bad day. Yesterday each one of them had a bad day except Axar!
Also since Pant isn't in greatest form in T20s & Dinesh Kartik comes into bat only after 15-16th over, I feel team management should think out of the box & make KL Rahul the keeper.
Also, really fed up of our players repeating the same thing over & over again about process,etc & making a positive spin out of it!

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

The slogs that go for sixes here in these small grounds with their ropes pulled further in. They will all be catching practice for the deep fielders in the large Australian grounds.

Mohali is a fairly large ground. I do not know why the boundary ropes were pulled so far in! Not sure who decides this? Whether its BCCI or the local cricket board.

[deehunk]

India won the series against Australia with players like Shardul Thakur, Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Hanuma Vihari, any other cricketing nation would have backed them to become regulars in the squad. I think it is purely Rohit Sharma's decision to constantly play few players. If NCA cannot develop talents since 2018, what are they doing? SKY is now such a rare player in India who can destroy any spinner on his day

[redCherry]

Originally Posted by PPS

Mohali is a fairly large ground. I do not know why the boundary ropes were pulled so far in! Not sure who decides this? Whether its BCCI or the local cricket board.

I am not certain, but I always thought it's because of the influence of some TV Broadcasters to make it a high-scoring game, meaning batsmen-friendly
Shorter boundaries results in more fours' and sixes', and keeps the mass crowds happy

[harry10]

If batting works bowling doesn't. When bowling works batting doesn't. Both haven't worked together since long. Fielding has gone down the drain. Every match dropped catches and misfield have become common. With Jadeja out only bright spot in fielding is Kohli alone and rest are just making numbers.

Our best spinner in form is Bishnoi and he isn't even in World Cup squad. The Ultra mediocre Chahal is always finding spot in the team. He can't bat, he can't field, his only skill bowling is always getting thrashed. If Coach doesn't have faith in Bishnoi atleast play Ashwin who can bowl in powerplay and is always less than 30 runs in 4 overs, plus can bat too for bat deep. Axar and Ashwin together can be quite good.

Harshal is back from injury so will be given benefit of doubt. Bumrah I guess isn't 100% so he wasn't played. Arshdeep is in World Cup squad and should have played this series. Bhuvi is spent force. Time to discard him.

If DK can't bat before 17th over then what's the point in playing him. Rather play Pant who can bat anywhere. Again team management can't make up their mind and playing around with both players career.

And if God forbid Hardik gets injured I will lose the 10% hope of India atleast making semis in World Cup.

Atleast KL showed some intent yesterday. SKY again is our best batter. 208 was anyday defending with Warner not playing but bowling and fielding was absolutely pathetic.

[deathwalkr]

My wife slept off while watching Aus go hammer and tongs at the supposedly tough total. When wickets fell, i woke her up so that she can see India win.

She made my regret that!

[PPS]

Originally Posted by deehunk

India won the series against Australia with players like Shardul Thakur, Natarajan, Washington Sundar, Hanuma Vihari, any other cricketing nation would have backed them to become regulars in the squad.

The names that you mentioned only got into the XI due to injuries to other regular players. Sundar has been injury prone since last 1yr & same is the case with Natarajan I believe! Sundar can be a very useful player if he can work on his hitting prowess, he already is a decent off-spinner.

Originally Posted by harry10

Bhuvi is spent force. Time to discard him.

Bhuvi should have been junked from the side after the last WT20! But the team management persisted with him & through some decent performances in between he'll get to play another WC now. This is more or less the same side which played the last WT20. The Selectors are allowing some players the privilege to play another WC which in turn is hurting the teams chances. In T20s, your batting just cannot end at no.7 ! The Asia Cup was a disaster & should have been a warning sign. Instead, we have a situation where Umesh Yadav (who hasn't been part of India's white ball setup since years) played ahead of Arshdeep & Chahar!

And if God forbid Hardik gets injured I will lose the 10% hope of India atleast making semis in World Cup.

Hardik & Bumrah should be wrapped in cotton wool & play directly in the warm-ups before WT20.

[Bhokal]

Team management has taken some bizarre decisions recently about team selection, not sure how much Dravid is involved in it because it surely does not look good. Why is WC team announced before this series (where is the motivation for those selected and rest who were not). Whole team looks lethargic in contrast to how they play in IPL.

[sixersiddu]

I think Ravi Ashwin is too good a bowler to be left out. He is an intelligent bowler with many variations and can keep the run-flow in check. Scores useful runs with the bat too. We should try Ashwin/Axar spin combo for few matches leaving out Chahal. Pace bowling dept will look much better once Bumrah walks in. Wonder why our pacers cant nail the yorkers. Batters these days read the slower balls well and even mis-hits will go the distance. Good old yorkers are the way to go in the death overs.

[Dieseltuned]

Bad bowling aside, the number of catches dropped is also a big eye opener on the standards of our fielders these days.