[shashant]

How do we decide final's venue. Its been happening in UK, which gives an advantage to non-asian teams.

[landcruiser123]

Originally Posted by Fx14

Isn't it strange that none of our current batsmen seem to be interested in bowling part time?

Earlier we used to have Sehwag, Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj, Raina etc. who would regularly turn their arm over and pick up a few wickets too.

There are a lot of injury concerns with batsmen bowling these days. IIRC, Rohit Sharma has a finger injury that prevents him from bowling.

But yeah, I think 2 bowlers ("Pie chuckers" as KP used to call them) bowling 4-5 overs each would allow front line bowlers some rest too.

[AtheK]

Originally Posted by Acharya

Sorry to say this, when you make entertainment out of the game(read ipl), the real game will make entertainment out of you.

The heros of IPL are falling flat infront of red swinging ball. In the end, why would BCCI care about consistent failure of Indian team in international tournaments, as long as they are able to pocket 40-50k Cr in tax free income every year.

There is no hero of IPL in this team from batting POV, except gill and to some extent kohli.

Mr. Captain - Was an absolute No show in IPL with bat, continued his touch.
Gill - Got runs in IPL and Looked in nice touch.
Pujara - Not a part of IPL
Kohli - Did well in IPL and looked good here as well, but got a jaffa.
Rahane - Did OK in IPL, and doing OK here also.
Jadeja - Played his part.
Bharath - Did not Play IPL.

IPL or No IPL, our top order has been absolutely out of form from few years now, it's lower order that has kept things in check (Axar, Ashwin & Jadeja) and ofcourse Pant.

With Axar and Ashwin missing we are missing the backbone of our batting.

[DetectiveMiles]

Thanks to Rahane and Shardul, we crossed 269. Wish Ashwin was playing, he could contribute some with bat as well.

[SoumenD]

Rahane played a good knock, was lucky to get a couple of lives but it eventually ran out. As usual the bowlers had to do the batting duties(Jadeja & Thakur) as well and our superstar studded top/middle order enjoyed the show from their favorite position(stands). Thanks to Australia's sloppy fielding(3-4 dropped catches) & Cummins' over-stepping on wicket deliveries we somehow reached close to 300.

A lead of 173 is a lot on this wicket. I mean we lost 6 wickets within that score in first innings. Unless our bowlers do some magic now & top order bats out of their skin in 2nd innings, saving this match is impossible let alone winning.

[NomadSK]

Originally Posted by shashant

How do we decide final's venue. Its been happening in UK, which gives an advantage to non-asian teams.

With the championship cycle ending in April, ICC had to get the WTC final match done before the next cycle starts, which is before the Ashes starting from 16th. And with this setup mostly the matches would be happening in northern hemisphere only. Hence the grounds of England, which can be any of them.

[khanmaj]

This is Rohit Sharma in test matches. Ideally he should not be in the 11 based on his performance in away test matches.

[Bhargav7]

I remember the outrage (and rightfully so) we had in the last WTC final when both Ashwin and Jadeja were picked for the team. I thought the team made the right call this time in choosing Shardul ahead of Ashwin. But the outrage remains the same - this time in favor of Ashwin. Considering Lyon bowled four overs, and Shardul performed exceedingly well both with bat and ball, I hardly see why it is a bad decision to have him in the team.


As it appears, we will lose this match. And that is not because of Ashwin, Shardul, or Umesh. It is mainly because the top order has failed - and it is only so many times that you will be bailed out by the lower order.


Ultimately, I believe it is fans rooting for their favorite players, and probably venting frustration for subpar performance overall.

[harry10]

Originally Posted by shashant

How do we decide final's venue. Its been happening in UK, which gives an advantage to non-asian teams.

It can only happen in June because IPL ends by May end. Can't play in India cos of heat for 5 days. Australia has off season at this time and their cricket grounds are used for Rugby. Everywhere else there won't be any Revenue generated so England remains only place to play in June.

Rahane looked good even after being lucky with LBW no ball. Thakur is a fighter and once again played a fighting knock. If only we had Ash playing instead of Umesh another 40-50 runs could be managed.

Much better bowling and effort by Indian bowlers in 2nd innings. Lead is already good but if Australia collapses before lead reached 400 which is a possibility as they looked quiet nervous at the end this match can still be saved of Indian top order remembers how to hold a bat for longer periods.

[NPV]

Day 3 saw 2 bonuses for India - lower order coming good yet again to help avoid the possibility of a follow-on and secondly take the game at least to Day 4 or even Day 5

However, with a 173 run first innings lead, Australia will get to 423 if they manage just 250 in their second innings and they've already managed to get half of that at 123/4 and lead by 296 runs! Only a (rare) miracle can get us a draw from this stage.

[NPV]

India need 444 to win the WTC mace, but how many sessions/overs will the batting last ?

[SoumenD]

Originally Posted by NPV

India need 444 to win the WTC mace, but how many sessions/overs will the batting last ?

Feel we will be done by tomorrow lunchtime at best. Anyways our last specialist batting pair is on now. Hereon all rounders/bowlers start coming in.

Rohit Sharma is just caught in the wrong job. Test remains the purest form of cricket and it’s obvious why he has played only 50 till now. Just be done with him already BCCI atleast in Test Cricket.

These guys are only good for Indian wickets. Even here our bowlers (Jadeja/Ashwin/AXar) need to bat for us to win. Without bumrah our fast bowling is just toothless. Siraj can fake that made-up-aggression as much as he likes to, but fact is they are just toothless. The fear Zaheer/Bumrah inculcated in opposition is just not there anymore with the current attack.

Still hoping Kohli/Rahane with some support from Jadeja/Shardul can bat out of their skin and do a miracle.

[AtheK]

All said and done it’s been an intriguing match, if not for a game changing partnership between head and smith, teams have been equal. A worthy final.

[NPV]

A draw is enough to be considered victory (and share the WTC mace) from the jaws of defeat, but very highly unlikely. Australia have played too well throughout the 4 days to allow India to escape from this position.

[Revvatron]

Boland pretty much sealed it in first hour with those two strikes. Only hope for draw is that the pitch still seems good enough to survice and not doing much apart from the odd ball.