[Oxy]

^^ The only place where Rahane can be useful in T20s is at the top of the order.

We should ideally drop Dhawan and make Rahane open.

[VW2010]

We have played in teams, and some have probably captained some. This whole selecting team from outside to me is just hilarious. There is no logic post a point why Dhoni as a captain insists on a team because he is the captain and he is comfortable with a specific set of players even if they fail.

Its exactly like this reporter asking some

https://youtu.be/yFTtFkXPug8

I would say its a captains instinct and he has achieved with this instinct quite so much to question him. If he fails yes, we will always question him but his tactics, team selection and even on field decisions have always surprised every one with the result.

No one would have expected Pandaya to defend the last over. Any captain would have contained Bumrah to bown the last over knowing he can hit the yorker length and make it difficult to score 10 runs. But this is pure instinct that the captain carries and i am personally fed up with off the field suggestions of who should play. My rants continues!!!!

[msdivy]

Originally Posted by VW2010

There is no logic post a point why Dhoni as a captain insists on a team because he is the captain and he is comfortable with a specific set of players even if they fail.

Well, Dhoni doesn't select the team. Selectors select the team. Team management, of whom Dhoni is part of, select the playing 11. It is unfair to blame the captain that he gets the team he wants . Maybe Dhoni wants Rahane in the team but he cannot get him in

So NRR is out of the equation for India, just beat the Aussies and through to the semis. I feel Aussies still don't have the right batting line up. I would suggest this - Warner, Finch, Khawaja, Smith, Watson, Maxwell, Faulkner and so on.

[Eddy]

No posts, no comments ?

What a match this !!

We won a difficult match, and WI lost an easy one.

[saket77]

Probably everyone is mesmerised by VK's batting skills. This is great consistency. This time it was a tough situation to take India home but VK did it almost single handedly in the end without taking too many risks and that too comfortably.
Great display of skill.

Regards.

[PPS]

What a thrilling run chase! 40 odd needed from 19 balls it was getting a bit difficult but Virat was outstanding in that Coulter Nile over.

Now onto the unpredictable WI on a flat Wankhede pitch. Do not know what sort of a day Gayle will have.

[Sree73]

What a wonderful win. Congratulations team India !!! As usual, Virat made it easy and gave the chance for Dhoni to hit the winning runs

[mukul32]

I would say Kohli was the difference between this game and the NZ one. Had he batted till the end on that day too, this game would've been something of a dead rubber. The question is, how much more do we rely on Kohli alone?
As for the semi, seems like we may be through to the final unless Gayle wakes up. The Windies have done rather poorly against us recently, and players like Samuels, Sammy and Ramdin don't look really threatening. In fact Ramdin is useless with both bat and gloves in this format; and when Charles and Fletcher can both open and keep wickets, I don't understand why WI persist with him. The Indians would have to tackle the Windies spinners carefully though. Chasing against this team would be preferable. Defending against Gayle, Bravo, Sammy and Brathwaite may turn out tricky.

[amit_snk]

Who says T20s and IPL will destroy cricket, Kohli's inning today shows that 14-15 runs per over can also be chased with proper cricketing shots rather then slogs, reverse sweeps, switch hits etc.

Australia were not beaten by not 11 players but 1 superman VIRAT KOHLI. Mitchel johnson might have to eat his words on Virat after today's win, well played India and super congrats to all for semi final berth. Bring on WI now.

[carwatcher]

One of the most memorable wins.
Few thoughts that came to my mind...

1. Shane Watson could've remembered Clive Lloyd dropping Boycott who was playing slowly, and would've dropped Yuvraj which would have resulted in increased required Run-rate and Kohli taking more risks.
But Yuvi could've retired any time he wished.

2. I am remembering Sachin Tendulkar's back to back 143 and 134 against Aussies at Sharjah which were considered as of top-class, same can be said about Kohli's these two innings against Pak and AUS in T20s.
At the same time one of the Tendulkar's innings were in finals and India has yet to play SF and Final but these innings from Kohli are of same class.

[msdivy]

I think this was the match, which marked Kohli as batman & superman while chasing - Ind vs SL Hobart, where India chased 321 in 36 odd overs.

After this, the question is not whether he can do it, but whether can he stay till the end. The 6 of Faulkner in 18th over was just unbelievable shot.

This match marks the end of international career of one of genuine all rounders in the game today, Shane Watson. He had great career as batsman & bowler in limited overs cricket.

[Prafful_Rathod]

Dhoni rightly said after the match, that other batsmen (especially top order) needs to contribute as well. How long can we rely on Kohli to do the job. Shikhar, Rohit and Raina have been disappointing in the series. Rohit is as talented as Kohli, but look where Kohli has reached and where Rohit is. It is the lack of consistency that is bringing downfall of Rohit. Both our openers are non-reliable. They both can score runs by playing normal cricketing shots. Look at how Kohli has cut down considerably on number of aerial shots he plays nowadays.
Raina has been really struggling throughout. I hope Yuvraj gets well soon and is fit for the semis, ideally should come at no 4 ahead of Raina.

[srishiva]

We are almost playing with 3 batsmen short with Nohit, shikar and Raina. Since the team is doing well with their contribution, they should replace them with Rahane, Uthappa etc and have a solid team that performs all the time.

Hopefully Virat can now inspire his IPL team to win the event !

[NPV]

Wonderful game and very happy we won it
Hoping the momentum will be maintained and take us to the finals.
Virat Kohli had that intense look and confidence and did not do anything rash. As he mentioned later at the post-match presentation, Dhoni helped calm him down. Virat Kohli's class was seen in the 18th over bowled by Faulkner, awesome.
Kind of a script now when chasing - Kohli takes us close to winning total and then Dhoni whacks the winning run with a 4 or 6, not complaining at all.

What's with the balancing act of mens women's matches played on the same day ?
While our women's team lost to the West Indies, West Indies men lost to Afghanistan. Similarly, earlier when the Indian women lost to Pakistan, the mens team beat Pakistan the same day!

[antz.bin]

A lot has been spoken and written about Kohli and his innings but I felt that the role played by Yuvi was equally important. India was under tremendous pressure at 49/3 and had Yuvraj retired hurt at the time, India would have been 4 down for 50odd and in deep trouble, staring at a repeat of the New Zealand game.

The 45 run partnership, though slowed down due to his injury, was still an important one and Yuvraj still had a dot ball percentage of roughly 21%, which is actually lower than Kohli's at 25%. By the time Yuvi did get out with India at 94, Viraat had already got going and only needed Dhoni the runner to take India home. This was almost exactly the same pattern followed in the 2 recent games vs Pakistan.

I really hope Yuvraj hasn't hurt himself too badly or else there will be nobody to steady the ship with Kohli against WI after Raina & the openers fail for the umpteenth time.