[neel385]

Good to see Yuvi back with a bang. The six off Vettori was effortless!! While the match was lost, I think that the Indian team has quite a few takeaways. Death bowling continues to haunt us; on the batting front, Yuvi will certainly help improve things.

The Kiwis bowled really well as well!!

[sgiitk]

I think the biggest takeaway is for MSD. Do not play to the gallery and leave everything for the end. This was a won match lost by the capo.

[snkjr]

3rd ball of the final over (after the wide) when Yuvraj Singh wasn't too eager for a 2nd run when it could have been taken - that was what lost India the match.

[esteem_lover]

I am simply amazed by the maturity displayed by Kohli. No, I am not talking about the wonderful way he setup the match, I noticed that when yuvi came out to bat and was struggling a bit, Kohli blasted the first ball from a new over for a 4 and then took a single off the next ball (thereby easing the pressure) and gave the strike to Yuvi. Yuvi played down a couple of balls and then squeezed one past the slips for 4. Very nice head on those young shoulders, hope he stays on like this.

[msdivy]

The players have been asked to wear the jersey they wore during the 2011 World Cup

BCCI making all efforts to win T20 World Cup - For luck's sake, stick to old jerseys, BCCI tells Ind players

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by msdivy

BCCI making all efforts to win T20 World Cup - For luck's sake, stick to old jerseys, BCCI tells Ind players

Think they should start by strengthening the poor bowling department rather than hoping for luck and superstitions to work. All the bowlers except Ashwin looked listless today against Pak, even the ever dependable Zaheer. Hope they learn from this bashing.

[Eddy]

Reality is that we do not have a death over bowler ! Not even one, in the squad or waiting in the wings !!

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by Eddy

Reality is that we do not have a death over bowler ! Not even one, in the squad or waiting in the wings !!

Forget death overs, do we even have a proper bowler?
Our bowlers are known to create careers of folks like Shoaib Malik.

[sam_boy]

Any one saw the SL vs ZIM yesterday ?

Ajantha Mendis just wrecked the Zim Ship by taking 6 for 8.

OT: If you need a good laugh, look at the Sri Lankan cheer leaders. There are a dozens of them with absolutely no coordination.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Forget death overs, do we even have a proper bowler?
Our bowlers are known to create careers of folks like Shoaib Malik.

And then we've got players like Sehwag who finish careers of certain bowlers too. *cough Saqlain cough*

[selfdrive]

Originally Posted by suhaas307

And then we've got players like Sehwag who finish careers of certain bowlers too. *cough Saqlain cough*

is that why people like James Franklin have turned into batsmen?

[Vancho]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

is that why people like James Franklin have turned into batsmen?

Absolutely . I feel our weakness is not in the bating department. Our bowling woes are well known. Pathan did well in the first practice match but was all over the place in the second. We need our bowlers to be more consistent.

[normally_crazy]

Phew !! Managed to scrape through against a top rated Afghan team yesterday !

[esteem_lover]

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Forget death overs, do we even have a proper bowler?

Very well said. We have only one bowler for T20s, Ashwin. I was very upset seeing the way Zaheer bowled, is that all he's got ? I hope not. I hope he lifts himself for the game against England, I am a big fan of Zaheer. Pathan is always a mixed bag since his return. He is one that can be smashed or with some pure luck, he picks up some very useful wickets, so he is not to be relied on. Balaji, well like many Indian players, he is fit only for the IPL. And the rest are part timers, I think Yuvraj did very well considering the way the other bowlers bowled. Thanks to Yuvi and Ashwin, we managed to scrape through against Afghanistan.

Originally Posted by sam_boy

Any one saw the SL vs ZIM yesterday ?

Ajantha Mendis just wrecked the Zim Ship by taking 6 for 8.

OT: If you need a good laugh, look at the Sri Lankan cheer leaders. There are a dozens of them with absolutely no coordination.

Yes. Ajantha is good only against those kind of batsmen who just cannot bat. And the cheerleaders in SL, the less said the better. They were 'wonderful'.

Originally Posted by selfdrive

Our bowlers are known to create careers of folks like Shoaib Malik.

Originally Posted by suhaas307

And then we've got players like Sehwag who finish careers of certain bowlers too. *cough Saqlain cough*

I think we made more careers of paki batsmen that Viru finished careers of paki bowlers, start with Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, the list is endless.

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

Phew !! Managed to scrape through against a top rated Afghan team yesterday !

Yes, they should rank above this sorry Indian side, I have no hope of India reaching the last 4 unless some superlative performance happens which does not seem likely at all, everyone in this team is in a comfort zone, very difficult to get them out of it.


Did anyone notice that there is very little interest for this tournament with the BCCI and the local media ? Is the BCCI not keen about this one ? I see too many ads for CLT20 and the forthcoming Eng tour of India than anything for this WC T20.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

I was very upset seeing the way Zaheer bowled, is that all he's got ? I hope not. I hope he lifts himself for the game against England, I am a big fan of Zaheer. Pathan is always a mixed bag since his return. He is one that can be smashed or with some pure luck, he picks up some very useful wickets, so he is not to be relied on.

It was upsetting indeed.

Full tosses after full tosses. I was getting frustrated watching that. The way the Afghans bowled was a treat to watch.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Thanks to Yuvi and Ashwin, we managed to scrape through against Afghanistan.

And let's not forget Kohli. He has hit a purple patch. The last time I saw such brilliant stroke making was when Dravid / Tendulkar were in their prime, over 10 years ago.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

I think we made more careers of paki batsmen that Viru finished careers of paki bowlers, start with Salim Malik, Ijaz Ahmed, Saeed Anwar, Aamir Sohail, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Imran Nazir, the list is endless.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Yes, they should rank above this sorry Indian side, I have no hope of India reaching the last 4 unless some superlative performance happens which does not seem likely at all, everyone in this team is in a comfort zone, very difficult to get them out of it.

They play hardly a handful of matches all year round. They have nearly zilch match-practice. The wicket-keeper was a fat fellow and had to leave the field after sustaining a knee injury. They dropped 5 catches, I think.

If you ask me, Afghanistan deserved to win that one.

India will not make it to the Semis. Everyone is taking it easy. Gambhir is completely out of form. He needs some time off. Sehwag is back to his lethargic ways. And Raina, well, he needs to spend some more time in the nets.

Originally Posted by esteem_lover

Did anyone notice that there is very little interest for this tournament with the BCCI and the local media ? Is the BCCI not keen about this one ? I see too many ads for CLT20 and the forthcoming Eng tour of India than anything for this WC T20.

Someone had mentioned earlier that the BCCI insisted that the players stick to their old WC winning jerseys for the sake of 'luck', even though there was a fancy new one that was revealed to the public several weeks before this tournament.

Maybe they stopped telecasting the advertisements after we lost the practice match to Pakistan.