[asdon]

Originally Posted by prince_pervez

And the after effects begin:

Fixing charges levelled against Pak cricket team - Rediff.com Sports

It should be against Misbah and Younush Khan, not the entire team, they are played their heart out to stop mighty indian batting at 260.

[neoonwheels]

So its India Vs SL. Man, I just hate to see Raavans playing "crikat". They disgust me second to nothing when they bat. Not even a hint of elegance. Its time for a new Ramayan on Sat

[jeevmenon]

@neoonwheels: I disagree. Dont tell me Dhoni, Raina, Pathan, Yuvraj are elegant. Sanga is classic in his batting style. My take on SL is that they are an arrogant side and their behaviour after a loss is pathetic - complaining, brooding. Pakistanis were very well behaved and graceful in defeat. Its a game and we need some sort of dignity maintained by all. SL - top 4 are fearless, go-getters. Dilshan/Tharanga can just take it away. SL has the edge. May the best team win.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by jeevmenon

@neoonwheels: I disagree. Dont tell me Dhoni, Raina, Pathan, Yuvraj are elegant. Sanga is classic in his batting style. My take on SL is that they are an arrogant side and their behaviour after a loss is pathetic - complaining, brooding. Pakistanis were very well behaved and graceful in defeat. Its a game and we need some sort of dignity maintained by all. SL - top 4 are fearless, go-getters. Dilshan/Tharanga can just take it away. SL has the edge. May the best team win.

I'm a fan of Sir Lankan Cricket. They have some fantastic players like Dilshan and Sangakara. They have an equally strong batting line-up and their bowling is slightly better than ours. The fielding has been okay, for both teams. India has shown improvement over the last few matches and we should take that positive into the Final.

However, I would not go to the extent by saying that SL has the edge. They just don't. The India team is brimming with confidence, especially after the last few matches. Our team looks more complete and balanced than any other. We have the batting fire-power right down till no. 7 and all of them have clicked in some way or another. The same can't be said about SL. Yes, their openers have done a wonderful job off late, but the middle-order looks very weak right now, with almost no pressure or WC experience backing them. That's a big problem for SL.

Add to that, SL will be playing against India in a high-pressure WC Final IN Mumbai, India. Having 50,000 fans cheering the home team will put a lot of pressure on SL. In Colombo, Sri Lanka would probably have the edge, but in India, it's we who have it.

[dre@ms]

^^ +1

SL middle order is not in form. If we get the openers real quick, we can clinch the cup easily.

And not in a mood to talk about the chuckers. Cricket god will punish them.

[bluevolt]

Originally Posted by low_bass_makker

Few pics from my side ...

Sorry to say but what these people are doing is not safe for them and also for others. We have other better ways to celebrate.

[PPS]

SL like Pak have a good bowling attack. And just like Pak they lower middle order is suspect and short of runs! Is Murali fit for the final ? I hope that Dhoni reads the Mumbai pitch well.

Pakistan's Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had promised 25 acres of land to Pakistani players if they had won the match against India, what the media did not report was if they lose they would be buried alive in the same land !

[asdon]

Originally Posted by dre@ms

^^ +1

SL middle order is not in form. If we get the openers real quick, we can clinch the cup easily.

And not in a mood to talk about the chuckers. Cricket god will punish them.

So you think our middle order is in Form? Gambhir is successfull in 2 suicide attempt, Kohli doesn't know what to do if he comes after 30th over, Dhoni is batting.. sorry is he batting or just avoiding the ball to reach him? Not every day Viru, Sachin and Yuvraj will sine, thats the main worry, thank god Raina saved 2 matches for us. I just wish our bowling and fielding remains like yesterday till Final.

[suhaas307]

Originally Posted by asdon

So you think our middle order is in Form? Gambhir is successfull in 2 suicide attempt, Kohli doesn't know what to do if he comes after 30th over, Dhoni is batting.. sorry is he batting or just avoiding the ball to reach him? Not every day Viru, Sachin and Yuvraj will sine, thats the main worry, thank god Raina saved 2 matches for us. I just wish our bowling and fielding remains like yesterday till Final.

Well, all of them have clicked in some way or the other. Kohli got off to a brilliant start in the beginning of the tournament and has performed well, but in patches. His fielding is a huge asset to the team.

Gambhir, has been out of sorts lately, and yet, has produced a few good knocks too. Yuvraj adds plenty of strength to our middle-order and it looks like Raina is determined to keep his spot in the team. We all know that his spot comes under threat if he doesn't perform.

Dohni hasn't performed well enough for us, and my guess is that he's due for a big knock very soon. Let's hope it happens against SL.

In comparison, the SL middle order looks absolutely pale. Apart from Sangakara, Dilshan and Upul, no one has really performed at all. Jayawardene hit a hundred in the begining of the tournament and then went into some sort of shell after that. Samaraveera, Silva, Mathews have been very inconsistent with the bat, and they will find it hard to face a reversing Zaheer delivery or a faster one from Harbhajan.

[hemanth.anand]

NEHRA RULED OUT OF THE FINAL.

Is this a good news or not??? IMO its not a big dent to the team

[CliffHanger]

I really have not understood the role of Kohli in this World Cup. He is not versatile as Raina, neither he is attacking as Sehwag.

Again, he doesn't bring any newness to the game and doesn't have any role to play in the batting line up. Pathan should have been playing instead of him. Unfortunately, Dhoni though a shrewd cricketer, shows a lot of favoritism towards certain players.

Again, unfortunately Sreesanth, Amith Mishra and a few others don't appear in that soft corner of his.

[Gandhi]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

I really have not understood the role of Kohli in this World Cup. He is not versatile as Raina, neither he is attacking as Sehwag.

Again, he doesn't bring any newness to the game and doesn't have any role to play in the batting line up...

Kohli's role comes into play when we are 25/2 in first few overs. Gambhir is not playing to his potential right now. We need at least 2-3 players who can build innings in middle overs. As Dhoni is also going through a rough patch, Kohli's importance is even more right now in the team.

[harry10]

If Nehra has indeed been ruled out its not a big dent as Mumbai pitch will suit the spinners so we can play Ashwin who is an asset indeed.

IMHO Kohli should sit out of final and Yusuf should be in. Reason- Kohli is not an attacker and we already have Yuvi and gambhir along with Dhoni in the middle so we need one more finisher with raina for that 20-30 quickfire runs in the end which actually makes the most telling difference.

Gambhir is a big match player. he scored against england,SA and Aus. Dont forget he made 75 in 20-20 world cup final for India. He can't and should not be dropped.

All we need to dois field well,no drop catches, see of Malinga and murli if he is playing, take Dilshan and Sanga cheap and reach the middle order which is nothing substantial to talk about. If we are able to do this well History will be made for a billion people > And i believe we are winning the Final!!

[PPS]

Originally Posted by CliffHanger

I really have not understood the role of Kohli in this World Cup. He is not versatile as Raina, neither he is attacking as Sehwag.

+1
He has held on to his place thanks to the hundred which he scored against Bangladesh! He has been in good form for the past 1 year though. For the past 2 years Raina has been batting in the top 5 but in the past couple of months before the World Cup he lost his form and hence was out of the playing 11 but now thankfully he's back and doing well. We can't afford to have him at No.4 because Dhoni is not in form in the lower order and Kohli is not too good in the last 10 overs.

[_chikku]

Randiv and Vaas called for Mathews and Murali