[Shumi_21]

Originally Posted by saket77

Well, boards looking to mint money through mindless cricket should ponder upon this. Not even a week has passed when Australia became the world champion after a month and a half of cricketing battles- and now we have T-20 starting today. What message are the organisers trying to send out?

Initially I thought, the T-20 series against Australia would be a welcome distraction from the unending & painful discussion of our loss in the finals barely 4 days ago. But now watching the game for barely 20 minutes, the blue jersey is triggering all those memories again. Maybe it would have helped if India switched the colour of their jersey like the Aussies have done

Originally Posted by saket77

Or we need to understand that Cricket is no more a sport- just a form of entertainment like WWE.

I think all professional sports need to have an entertainment quotient to keep fan interest going. No sport including cricket will survive without fans.

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

PS: The entire stadium for today's T20 match is sold out today. I don't know what to make of it.

We love cricket man, what else would you expect? I think it's heartening to see a full house, despite the absence of superstars like Kohli.

Meanwhile it looks like Australia have picked up from where they left off on Sunday. Inglis is on fire.

Edit: I am going to start pulling out my hair if I have to hear Murali Kartik scream "he goes into-out" everytime a cover drive is played.

[harry10]

Mukesh was brilliant at death. Massive improvement in his bowling since his stint with DC in IPL. Arshdeep is an idiot, kept bowling same outside off line even after being hit again and again. He has played so many matches on this level and learning nothing of note. Why is he so scared to bowl at stumps.

Bishnoi was terrible with ball and absolutely rubbish in fielding. Can't do that on this level. Prasidh was equally bad with ball. Both don't look like fit for the format.

Good to see Axar back. I hope he stays fit till world cup. We need him in this format.

I am excited to see Yash and Rinku bat. Let's see.

[Revvatron]

I don't think they will drop Rohith and Kohli from T20 world cup because that would result in loss of viewership. Also there might be pressure from stakeholders too to keep the big name players in the mix as they are the crowd pullers. Not saying that people will completely tune out but remember when likes of Dhoni/Virat come out to bat the viewership jumps and tv guys capture it into headlines, that effect will be missed. When these guys play even non-indian fans tune into watch in.

[AtheK]

What entire world cup could not do in 1 and a half month we get that excitement in first Game of T20 itself, scrap the ODI please.

Rinku Singh seems to have a very stable head on his shoulders.

And yes please drop Kohli and Rahul I am 100% sure we would have lost if both of them were playing today.

[NPV]

Originally Posted by AtheK

And yes please drop Kohli and Rahul I am 100% sure we would have lost if both of them were playing today.

It’s a good idea to keep our top players out of T20I cricket and build a new team with budding and talented youngsters. But it will impact revenue in the upcoming T20 World Cup, so I don’t see this happening!

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by NPV

It’s a good idea to keep our top players out of T20I cricket and build a new team with budding and talented youngsters. But it will impact revenue in the upcoming T20 World Cup, so I don’t see this happening!

I highly doubt revenue will be impacted, what will be impacted will be ego of the players and chance of winning world cup. Remember how we won in 2007.

Look at today's match no superstars and we have a house full and even viewership number was very high, high time we stop considering cricketers gods. If it is India playing crowd will turn up. That said there will be more then enough superstars still in the squad.

We need Kohli in Test and ODI squad, hopefully he continues till champions trophy.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by AtheK

What entire world cup could not do in 1 and a half month we get that excitement in first Game of T20 itself, scrap the ODI please.

Rinku Singh seems to have a very stable head on his shoulders.

And yes please drop Kohli and Rahul I am 100% sure we would have lost if both of them were playing today.

Like I keep saying.
These boys will play all these games, some will do really well like Rinku today and then by magic we will see Rohit, KL and Kohli playing the T20 world cup and these guys on bench or not even in squad.

[Eddy]

I will watch the matches only for Jaiswal and Rinku. Maybe Gaikwad to a certain extent.

Nobody else interests me. Bishnoi looked good a couple of seasons ago, but has faded away being too predictable. Same with Arshdeep. I was mighty pissed at his lack of intent in taking that second run. Mukesh bowled well today, but does he have a future in T20s?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by Eddy

I will watch the matches only for Jaiswal and Rinku. Maybe Gaikwad to a certain extent.

Nobody else interests me. Bishnoi looked good a couple of seasons ago, but has faded away being too predictable. Same with Arshdeep. I was mighty pissed at his lack of intent in taking that second run. Mukesh bowled well today, but does he have a future in T20s?

Same.
Ishan too was playing for his spot and only started hitting later. He was batting on 18 from 20 balls at one point. Can't have that attitude in t20 on a flat deck while chasing 210. Arshdeep and Bishnoi were the biggest disappointment. Mukesh bowled well at the death and even at start he was decent. Can be a backup bowler as Prasidh is absolutely rubbish with his line and length. Bumrah and Shami have to be the main pacers in t20 World cup. 3rd pacer needs to be someone who can bat a bit which I can't see in current squad.

Jaiswal irrespective of his selfish run out of Gaikwad showed great Intent. This is what is needed from an opener.

[deathwalkr]

Meanwhile, I keep wondering what happens to SKY when he goes from ODI team to T20?

[harry10]

Originally Posted by deathwalkr

Meanwhile, I keep wondering what happens to SKY when he goes from ODI team to T20?

Quite a few things.
In ODI when he comes ball is older. Harder to hit behind the wicket as it doesn't comes on bat as smoothly.
In t20 he comes to bat with a relatively new ball itself. Easy to play those lofted shots at fine leg.

ODI needs patience and planning. You can't go beserk every ball as it's a 50 over long game. Especially when wickets fall.
T20 you can keep hitting as time is less and even if wickets are falling you can continue slogging due to less overs.

Most importantly he isn't a finisher. He is an opener, no.3 and no.4 batsman. Shouldn't bat lower than that. Finishing is a specialist job like Rinku Singh did it yesterday or MSD used to do. Not everyone can do it.

And why do we need him in odis. There is no dearth of talented batsman. Let him be just for t20 where he can play freely all his fancy shots.

[PreludeSH]

Our bowling looked like some IPL team and not a national team. Batting was different and good to see no fear. But not sure what the games are being played for.

Dont understand why Smith is playing, staying back and that too in T20 games

[ValarMorghulis]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

...Dont understand why Smith is playing, staying back and that too in T20 games

Smith had a lackluster ODI WC. His place in the team for ODIs or T20 WC is not sure either. He is trying to present his case for the Aus T20 WC team.

[PPS]

Originally Posted by harry10

Bumrah and Shami have to be the main pacers in t20 World cup. 3rd pacer needs to be someone who can bat a bit which I can't see in current squad.

Shami wasn't an automatic selection in the last WT20 WC, he only came in once Bumrah was injured. He's definitely improved in T20 format but I'm not too sure about him, it would depend on his IPL performance also. Ideally nos.7-8-9 in the T20 setup should be Axar, Sundar, Shardul/Deepak Chahar. 10 & 11 can be Bumrah & Shami/Siraj/Arshdeep. Kuldeep can be kept in the squad but some sacrifices will have to made in the spin bowling department inspite of the slow pitches in WI.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by PreludeSH

But not sure what the games are being played for.

T20WC is just 6 months away and India only plays around 10 International T20I before the WC, Australia I think is playing even lesser.

We though should get some practice in IPL.

Though yes timing is absurd with WC getting over just 3 days back.