[Eddy]

Harshal and Arshdeep both have to play. There is no one else who can bowl at the death.

Third seamer is likely to be a choice between Chahar, Bhuvi and Shami - depending on who the team management thinks is the best to eek out powerplay wickets.

What I worry is that Bhuvi being given the death overs again. In that case, Harshal may have to sit out because he just cannot bowl in the powerplay. And Bhuvi is too predictable with his wide yorker strategy.

I had no hopes of us winning the Cup. Now, even qualification after round 1 is a challenge.

Well done Dravid!

[vamsi.kona]

Bhuvaneswar is having a bad time, especially at death. But his record as an opening bowler is still very good, especially away from home. Since 2014 till last match in neutral or away venues his record as is 45 matches 51 wkts at an economy of 6.6. So I wouldn't write him off yet.

[BrokenHW]

Jasprit Bumrah ruled out of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2022

[anivy]

A couple of interesting trivia:

1. Our retired cricketers can play more than one tournament sort of concurrently. While switching channels, saw the Pathan brothers playing the Road Safety Series with Sachin and team. Next couple of days, saw them turning out for another team (Bhilwara Kings) in the Legends League tournament. Only reason to mention the Pathan brothers was because they were easily recognizable to me. There should be other retired players who are playing both the tournaments.

2. Oreo, the biscuit company, had an ad in today's Times of India where the first page carried the printed matter from 3/April, 2011 and the next page explained that India won the World Cup in 2011 because Oreo was launched the same day. So they are re-launching again to give the Indian team some good luck from the re-launch of the biscuit. Not sure how it will work but it seemed somewhat similar to how we do not move from our places when watching matches in the hopes that something in our individual behavior will make the team win in crunch situations. You might know of other peculiar behaviors from family/friends around you when watching matches.

[libranof1987]

From not having a strong bench strength until last decade, we've gone to the problem of plenty, and completely bungled it up. Team selection, random player rotation, irregular breaks and so on - this has come to bite us. From having a fearsome bowling attack, we've gone to struggling to find a proper bowling combination. No one knows KulCha anymore. The middle / lower order has saved the team more often than the actual top order batsmen. The team plays three wicketkeepers - and yet, none are full time!

What a mess.

EDIT: just read that the Indian team for the T20I World Cup just departed for Australia. Right on the day we're playing a ODI series with South Africa. Amazing scheduling.

[WAM-4]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Harshal and Arshdeep both have to play. There is no one else who can bowl at the death.

Third seamer is likely to be a choice between Chahar, Bhuvi and Shami - depending on who the team management thinks is the best to eek out powerplay wickets.

What I worry is that Bhuvi being given the death overs again. In that case, Harshal may have to sit out because he just cannot bowl in the powerplay. And Bhuvi is too predictable with his wide yorker strategy.

I had no hopes of us winning the Cup. Now, even qualification after round 1 is a challenge.

Well done Dravid!

Our fragile Bowling unit is going to be exposed in Australia - I can't believe Harshal has made it to the squad. Now with Bumrah out of the WC due to injury we can kiss the WC goodbye.

Somehow, the Rohit - Dravid combo has not clicked so far (Yes we can always argue that we've almost all of the bilateral series). Here's to hoping for a miracle and we go on to lift the cup! The foolish Heart wants us to win but the logical brains states otherwise!

[saket77]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

EDIT: just read that the Indian team for the T20I World Cup just departed for Australia. Right on the day we're playing a ODI series with South Africa. Amazing scheduling.

So, the money minting BCCI has reached to a stage where we have more than one national team, playing at different venues with different oppositions?

[deehunk]

The series win against SA was probably due to Bovuma who denied a victory to his team by playing 7 dot balls in the second match.

[ranjitnair77]

Originally Posted by libranof1987

Just read that the Indian team for the T20I World Cup just departed for Australia. Right on the day we're playing a ODI series with South Africa. Amazing scheduling.

Originally Posted by saket77

So, the money minting BCCI has reached to a stage where we have more than one national team, playing at different venues with different oppositions?

The reason for this is Covid induced disruptions. The ICC has a Future Tours Program(FTP) for a 5 year cycle where each of the full members of the ICC need to play a home and away series with each other. The broadcasting rights are also sold based on FTP, so canceling a tour has huge monetary implications. Covid and the subsequent lockdowns threw the plan out of the window. I think the recent crazy schedules of a lot of teams (not just India) is a fallout of this. The new cycle begins in 2023 so it should get more normal then.

This is not necessarily a bad thing though. For instance, three of my favourite young batsmen, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad are playing today. And Lord is playing too

[ValarMorghulis]

Yesterday's match made me happy for the selected team for the WC T20

[mailbalaji]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

Yesterday's match made me happy for the selected team for the WC T20

Was that sarcastic? Or Am I missing something?

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

This is not necessarily a bad thing though. For instance, three of my favourite young batsmen, Shubman Gill, Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad are playing today. And Lord is playing too

Lord aced the game and Samson was good too. He should have played atleast couple of balls in 39th over. The tail enders were simply wafting and eating up deliveries.

[Eddy]

"I was just two shots short" - Samson. I didn't watch the end, but from whatever I read online had the tailenders shown some better judgement and rotated the strike, I am sure Samson would have gotten us over the line. He should have also done better in farming the strike, but a very good knock nevertheless coming in at 50/4 with virtually no batting after him.

I love that line. And its a tragedy that he is not in the reserves for the T20 WC. Anyway, the T20 lineup will be completely overhauled after the WC and I am sure he will be one of the first picks then.

[ranjitnair77]

I’ve been observing a general feeling of pessimism about our T20 Wold Cup prospects on this thread and on several other cricket discussion threads online. My opinion however is that the selectors have picked a reasonably good team . We could quibble about individual picks (Bishnoi vs Chahal or Pant vs Samson), but there is no glaring selection error. In DRS parlance, most of the borderline selections can be classified as Umpire’s Call. There isn’t a Vijay Shankar instead of Ambati Rayadu moment this time.

Each of the top teams have flaws going into the World Cup.

India: Wicket taking in the middle overs. Death bowling. Wrist spin.
Pakistan: Undercooked middle order. Babar and Rizwan’s strike rates.
Australia: Mitchell Marsh and Stoinis undercooked. Pat Cummins leaking runs.
England: Boom or bust style of batting with no anchor. Powerplay and death bowling.
SA: Specialist captain who is useless in T20s. Wrist spin. Ngidi and Nortje going for runs.
New Zealand: No X-Factor. Lack of a quality spinner. Captain with a strike rate issue.
West Indies: Chaos reigns in team selection. No Narine. No Russel. No Hetmeyer.
Sri Lanka: No X-factor beyond Hasaranga. Pace bowling. Top order batting.

Anybody could win this. Which brings us to randomness, chance or luck in T20s. A mistake knocks you out. A few moments of brilliance changes everything. Things that seemingly happen out of nowhere defines a tournament. It was Dhoni’s understanding of randomness and chaos that made him so special. This article is a fascinating read

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/l...alysis-1178276

In the IPL there are lots of games leading up to the knockouts to reduce chance. The top two teams get two chances to qualify for the final, so one of the top two teams usually wins. The World T20 with its Super 12 format is unforgiving and open to chance. Two bad moments and you are potentially out. This is what makes World Cups so much fun to watch. This also means that we need to be more forgiving of our teams when they lose.

I’m not suggesting that you only rely on chance to win. You need lots of skill as the main ingredient and chance is that tadka that elevates you to winning the tournament. It’s going to be a fascinating World Cup and I cannot wait for it to start. I would pick England and Australia as the favourites going in. Having said that, we can go all the way.

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by mailbalaji

Was that sarcastic? Or Am I missing something?...

That was a genuine sentiment. With the kind of bowling, fielding and batting displayed from this squad, none of them make a case for themselves in T20.

Originally Posted by Eddy

"I was just two shots short" - Samson....
I love that line...

It is just that, a line.
Samson could have taken a single of the last ball of 38th over but missed. Then he went on to run a double when Avesh was batting cluelessly. Why? That resulted in next 4 balls going waste in the 39th over. Till the 37th over Samson was batting at a strike rate of 114.
His inning yesterday was excellent but the difference between the teams was much more than what 9 runs show. And I don't think he is replacing Pant anytime soon

Originally Posted by ranjitnair77

...We could quibble about individual picks (Bishnoi vs Chahal or Pant vs Samson), but there is no glaring selection error. ...

Agree

[Eddy]

There is place for both Samson and Pant in every white ball game that India plays.

And Prithwi Shaw too, if he sorts out whatever issues there are keeping him from being selected even in the B/C India teams.