[rohan_fonseca]

India's main problem in the one day series was that the team picked was not a balanced one. 2 seamers in the team were not performing at all. i.e. Agarkar and Munaf. And how can someone leave Bhajji out of the side and pick Pawar in his place? They have got to find a way to getr pathan back in.

[normally_crazy]

Originally Posted by rohan_fonseca

And how can someone leave Bhajji out of the side and pick Pawar in his place?

In fact I would prefer Powar over Bhajji anyday. Unless Bhajji really puts his head down and starts working his way back to bowling at his best, I would not take him in any of my squads.

They have got to find a way to getr pathan back in.

As the new No. 3 batsman maybe

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

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

IMO, the best rivalry is when Australia play New Zealand. Its always like India V/s Pakistan. I guess mainly because of the rivalry that exists between the two nations in Rugby. Even the Ashes series is quite exciting.

And off lately, though Bhajji is not picking up wickets he has been bowling very tight overs. He is been very successful in keeping the RR down. And he has the canny ability to score runs behind the wickets, which no one else in the team can do so convincingly (or rather). In one dayers that is what matters. The number of runs you get behind the wickets in those last few overs, places where no captain can set a field. IIRC, there was one match where he got some 20 odd runs quite quickly and not one run came in front of the wicket. Though I must admit that he does add a lot of character to the team.

[MaserQ]

Originally Posted by normally_crazy

In fact I would prefer Powar over Bhajji anyday. Unless Bhajji really puts his head down and starts working his way back to bowling at his best, I would not take him in any of my squads.

(Pathan) As the new No. 3 batsman maybe

I second that without hesitation. Bhajji has been out of his element for a couple of seasons now. Ditto with Irfan. Infact I think Powar has done well in Bhajji's absense. Maybe he will do a Zaheer Khan and bounce back with a bang. I sure hope so.

But I worry about Irfan Khan Pathan. Getting whipped by Zimbabwe reserve batsmen is not exactly encouraging news for someone looking to make a comeback. And he is adamant that he is bowler first, batsman next.

Will someone knock his head and ask him to re-consider? He should draw inspiration from bowler-turned-batters like Jayasuriya, Saeed Anwar and Chanderpaul to an extent. Hell, even Ravi Shastri started out as a bowler. Of course, easier said than done!

[rahul_intlad]

Is somebody keeping track of the 20-20 world cup,when is India playing.

Did see a few county 20-20 matches but felt it is not my cup of tea,feels like some of our indian action movies[too much mirch-masala],too much artificiality.Feels completely in favour of the batsmen,bowlers poor guys.It should have been a better contest between bat and bowl[intentional spelling mistake]


PS: Sorry guys,no offence meant to anyone.

[mclaren1885]

T20 is actually quite interesting. What it can do is change the whole perspective of the 50 over game with all the jazz that T20 brings with it. Maybe we could see more of matches like the one that happened between Australia & South Africa. Australia scored 434 and SA chased and won it. Yes, this is an international game. Shocking, but after watching T20 its believable.

I did watch the inaugural match yesterday between the WI & SA. Gayle played the innings of his life scoring 117 or 57 ***** which included 10 sixes & 7 fours. WI ended up with 205 at the end of 20 overs. SA skipper Smith took a blow to the wrist on the first ball of the innings and looked like he fractured his hand. But, he refused to go off. Took some pain killers and fought it out. His innings was very inspiring, specially when he was going through so much pain, yet wanted to play and lead from the front. Guess what? SA did successfully chase the score and won the match thanks to the gutsy Gibbs.

I am imagining world XI team consisting of only hard hitting batsmen who are part time bowlers or can also bowl should be able to chase any score. Say like a team consisting of:
1. Jayasuria.
2. Gilchrist.
3. Sehwag.
4. Gibbs.
5. Sachin.
6. Gayle.
7. Symonds.
8. Flintoff.
9. Pieterson.
10. Mascharenhas.
11. Afridi.

Amongst these 11 they should be able to bowl pretty decently, but the fact that they could chase almost any score is appealing. Hope there is a batsmen XI V/s bowlers XI played.

India is playing Scotland on Thursday. And Pakistan too in the group matches on Friday.

Also, there is another series that has cropped on TV now. Its beach cricket. With former greats playing cricket on beaches. This included Mark Waugh, Ambrose, Walsh, David Jones and many more. Complete fun event I must add.

[diabloo]

Hey, the game would be decided on the pitch. On a bowler friendly pitch, bowlers win. On a batsmen friendly pitch batsmen win.

Note: I would like to see T20 being played on a seaming pitch, which has swing, bounce & nip off the wicket.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Hope there is a batsmen XI V/s bowlers XI played.

[mclaren1885]

Originally Posted by diabloo

Note: I would like to see T20 being played on a seaming pitch, which has swing, bounce & nip off the wicket.

Did you see yesterdays game? The wicket had bounce, swing in the air, movement off the pitch everything. And I am purely talking about wickets outside the sub-continent. Mostly in England, SA or Australia.

[shuvc]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Say like a team consisting of:
1. Jayasuria.
2. Gilchrist.
3. Sehwag.
4. Gibbs.
5. Sachin.
6. Gayle.
7. Symonds.
8. Flintoff.
9. Pieterson.
10. Mascharenhas.
11. Afridi.

Maybe a Jacob Oram instead of Dmitri ? I see you've not included any of the Kiwis !

[rahul_intlad]

Did not get a chance to see the match but Zimbabwe just beat Australia and that too requiring 4 of the last two,hats of to them well played.

[iraghava]

Oh I got to watch it, what a fantastic match! Wonderful display by the minnows to beat the arrogant b@stards! Loved every moment of it! Now if only England would also beat them & throw them out of the tournament in the first round itself!

[mclaren1885]

sadly I got held up with work and couldn't watch the whole match. But Zimbabwe were bowling brilliantly to restrict the mighty Aussies to 138? T20 is surely unpredictable. Should be really interesting.

Infact, Scotland bowled brilliantly against the Pakis. Salman Butt was looking like a bamboozled monkey out in front of the stumps. I won't be surprised if they send India to the cleaners today.

[diabloo]

I think otherwise. With Sehwag in the team, Scotland will be battered. I won't be surprised if he becomes the 1st Indian to score a century in T20.

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

Infact, Scotland bowled brilliantly against the Pakis. Salman Butt was looking like a bamboozled monkey out in front of the stumps. I won't be surprised if they send India to the cleaners today.

[diabloo]

Their attitude is disgusting. See this video Free Videos of Worst Cricket Moment Ever - Underarm Bowling - dekhona.com

Originally Posted by iraghava

Oh I got to watch it, what a fantastic match! Wonderful display by the minnows to beat the arrogant b@stards!

[kpzen]

Originally Posted by mclaren1885

I am imagining world XI team consisting of only hard hitting batsmen who are part time bowlers or can also bowl should be able to chase any score. Say like a team consisting of:
1. Jayasuria.
2. Gilchrist.
3. Sehwag.
4. Gibbs.
5. Sachin.
6. Gayle.
7. Symonds.
8. Flintoff.
9. Pieterson.
10. Mascharenhas.
11. Afridi.

I dont think any bowler in the world would like to bowl to such batting lineup.