[rks]

India 72-4 after 18 overs. Yuvraj, Uthappa and Dhoni need to play very well for India to get a decent score on this fast, bouncy track. Uthappa's technique will come under severe scrutiny on this pitch. India have just 2 fast bowlers -- absurd team selection. Look at England; they have 4 pacemen, with Flintoff, Broad and Mascerenhas being all-rounders. Collingwood has justified his position too as all-rounder.

Indians apparently got two bad decisions against Tendulkar and Dravid. I predict an English win.

[tifosikrishna]

england - 3
india - 3
aleem - 1

[Surprise]

Originally Posted by rks

Indians apparently got two bad decisions against Tendulkar and Dravid. I predict an English win.

These two decisions had taken away the fun in the match. Both these poor calls will have a big big impact in india's scoring rate.

It seems Aleem Dar needs to settle scores against little master, very very bad decision . Third umpire needs to be given full power for correction of poor decision.

[khaadu75]

Originally Posted by Surprise

These two decisions had taken away the fun in the match. Both these poor calls will have a big big impact in india's scoring rate.

It seems Aleem Dar needs to settle scores against little master, very very bad decision . Third umpire needs to be given full power for correction of poor decision.

Not 1 but 2 HORRIFIC decisions has taken the sting out of the match . I know that maybe its time for Dhoni and Yuvraj to play out of their skins and set up a huge target but lets get real , Aleem has upset a lot of things with two finger lifts -- upset things like Mallyas coffer not filling up as I was about to start opening the chilled beers but seems I aint anymore .

Anyways , with Utthapa also gone to an over confident shot its down to Dhoni and Yuvraj -- Dhoni could do something to his stats for this summer with another responsible hurricane knock so lets see !!

I just hope we manage a 250+ score so atleast we can make a match of it !!

Cheers

[rohan_fonseca]

187 all out and things ain't lookin' good.

[mclaren1885]

Show goes as expected. Nothing great to harp about once you realize that the two of the better performers of this series got bad decisions. But such is the game. 7 batsmen and we still just managed 187. This is why Rahul always preferred the composition. No point in blaming him when our batsmen play so well.

Let us see if we make a fight out of this or just gift away the win.

[Surprise]

England won the match with 7 wickets in hand and 82 deliveries remaining. Did watched the match for first few overs & our fielding is getting worse day by day.

Aleem Dar played a big role

Complaint against Aleem - The Hindu News Update Service

[esteem_lover]

Why blame just aleem dar ? I understand sachin was in the form of his life, but weren't there another 5 batsmen, prominently a big hitter in dhoni ? What's he doing these days, scrapping around ? Is he finished ? This was a golden chance for him to smash the bowlers for a few overs.

[mclaren1885]

Two down thanks to Aleem Dar. But like John says what happened to the rest 5? 20 20 should be fun to watch. Specially how Australia copes with the change in the game.

Btw, coming back to India I loved the question asked to Dravid "It is still the same players playing to save the game just like it was 5yrs back. Have we progressed?". Loved Dravid's reply that youngsters need to crack the door open and make their presence felt and not just by merely knocking at the door. Couldn't have summarized it better. I hope we will see Robin & Piyush bred well over the next couple of years and turn them into great assets. Now can we have Sehwag, Harbhajan, Irfan, Kaif back in the team please?

A balanced team for me would include:
1. Sachin.
2. Ganguly.
3. Dravid.
4. Sehwag.
5. Robin.
6. Yuvi.
7. Irfan.
8. Zaheer.
9. Piyush (train him to bat well).
10. Bhajji.
11. RP Singh.
12. Kaif.
13. Karthik/Dhoni (retain the one in form for keeping & batting.)

Based on the conditions pick up the team from the above combo. But in the coming home series I would love to see Piyush put up against the Aussies. He should be a handful for them.

[rks]

Look at this article:

Cricinfo - Dravid apprehensive on technology assisting umpires

The technology (Snick-o-meter) showed Dravid to be out. And so it seems that the umpire was right after all in Dravid's case. Note that Dravid opposes the introduction of technology to make such decisions. It is this backward thinking that has plagued ICC for decades now.

Presently available technology is *obviously* superior to human umpires, even in LBW and caught-behind decisions. Furthermore, everybody is guaranteed to get uniform treatment and we can all *see* the rationale for the decisions, so there will be no disputes. Yet Dravid (and in the past, Gavaskar, Ponting, Lillee, Waugh and Co.) oppose the introduction of technology. Irrational, backward thinking that can only harm cricket.

Here is another article that gives food for thought:

Cricinfo - Weaknesses catch up with India

It was a struggle to get out of St. Johns Wood station this morning, with a frenetic scramble for tickets clogging Wellington Road. Spectators were willing to pay ten times the actual amount and Lord's was the place to be in London. [...]

If this was the one match you watched in the series, you'd have wondered how India had managed to win three games before today. Credit to India for overcoming their weaknesses to setup a classic finish but the weaknesses were so evident that they ultimately caught up.

Hmm... paying TEN times the actual amount? Talk about cricket crazy. The English cricket board obviously made a killing. And in the end the obviously superior team won. All's well, that ends well, as far as England is concerned.

On a fast, bouncy pitch, our batsmen (especially Ganguly) were badly exposed and our bowling was pathetically inadequate, with only two pacemen selected and spinners getting no assistance from the pitch. How can Dravid justify dropping a bowler like RP Singh in the previous games? Tendulkar showed signs of defiance before he was done in by the bad umpiring decision, and Dhoni stuck it out. Dhoni did not do too badly in this series. In the previous game also he got almost a run a ball and made a valuable contribution to the Indian victory.

[normally_crazy]

Well - another final - same result. Yawn.

Anyways - I simply loved the spell from Piyush Chawla. Absolutely brilliant. This kid has a very bright future. Period.

RP and Zaheer bowled well - in fact Zaheer should have had Prior with his 2nd delivery of the match but......

Powar I felt was brought in too late. I would preferred to attack with Powar instead of getting in Ganguly.

Anyways - all that is past. Its now T-20 time. Roll in your favourites gentlemen.

[khaadu75]

Off to SA for the quickie of cricket .. Should be really exciting with 3 matches lined up in a day so if one is boring then you can still look forward to the next !!

Well , I think England have a good side as they have some BIG hitters and are also used to the scheming and strategising of the 20 overs . For us its a totally new experience and hope the likes of Pathan & Sehwag are back with a BANG ..

Lets just sit back and enjoy the fireworks .. coz this is the new form of Cricket which is here to stay wether we like it or not !!

[mclaren1885]

It is this backward thinking that has plagued ICC for decades now.

Technology does not guarantee you 100% results. Even in case of run outs at times the frames clearly will not indicate if it is out or not out. So it is really not full proof. There should be a reason why they all opposed too much of technology.

Btw, all those who say Dravid deserved the right decision in the end what do you have to say about Karthik's decision? The snicko showed no nick, yet Karthik knowing that he had nicked it walked off. Like I said it is not full proof. And 99% of the time a batsmen WILL know if he has nicked the ball or not.

with only two pacemen selected and spinners getting no assistance from the pitch.

Seems like you didn't see Piyush's spell? Because it looked like having two spinners was the obvious choice. Yes, provided we had runs on the board to defend. Infact, I hope a 3rd spinner is got into the tests at India. It will be a treat to watch Anil, Bhajji, Piyush bowl in tandem. When had India a stronger spin line up? Not since the spin quartet I guess.

A well deserved break for the guys who have returned home and the beginning of a new era in cricket for those who went to SA.

So who will win the T20 Cup? Start your predictions.

Note to NC: Can you name this thread the "Cricket thread" rather than emphasizing its a discussion about only India? Because a lover of the game doesn't necessarily have to talk only about the matches his country plays.

Talking about other countries play, which is the match you would pay to watch. I mean which two countries is the most fun?

[snaronikar]

No wonnder guys.....In T-20 we will be shot down in the first round itself with the fielding atheletes we have. With Dhoni at helm in the tour, he has forgotten how to hit the ball......Robin (if selected) is too inexperienced and if he does not play well, he will be rested on benches again.....Sehwag (do not know)....Gambhir wastes too many deliveries before settling in......only hope will be Yuvraj.......Bowling and fielding the less spoke the better.........

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Talking about other countries play, which is the match you would pay to watch. I mean which two countries is the most fun?

Immediately off the top of my head - has to be Australia v/s South Africa.