MITHALI RAJ !!! (again)

[Sloane84]

 

Mithali Raj !!

We already know she is a VERY VERY GOOD batsman.

But I have to give her credit for learning as a captain.

Remember a week or so ago when she put in the South Africans and Von Niekerk proceeded to destroy India.

Then she batted like a snail against the Australians and then Meg Lanning gave a strong imitation of Ricky Ponting in the 2003 World Cup Final.

Fast forward to Saturday’s match against New Zealand  - Mithali actually said at the beginning of the match THAT -  In any IMPORTANT MATCH, putting  RUNS ON THE BOARD produces its own kind of PRESSURE !

Yes, Mithali did indeed say those prophetic words , agreeing with former Australian captain Ian Chappell who said – 99.9% win toss bat first, and the other 0.1% think about it then bat first !!

Obviously she deeply regretted the decision not to bat first against the South Africans and ALSO, she looked back at the tape of Virat Kohli’s disaster against Pakistan the other day,

Plus she made some very good captaincy decisions while in the field, especially with the fielders closer to the wicket.

Obviously, apart from Mithali’s superb game, we had a vital innings from Veda Krishnamurthy as well.

And why was Rajeshwari not playing earlier instead of the very slow off the wicket Bisht ??

However there are good signs coming off the NZ game and Mithali must plan how to get Lanning and Perry out early.

If India beats Australia on Thursday, I believe they will win the Championship.

And Mithali and all of us can laugh some more at Virat Kohli who has gone into the record books as the first Indian captain to lose to Pakistan in an ICC championship tournament.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Sloane84

[Sloane84]

 

A couple more thoughts on this Indian women’s team -

 

Deepti Sharma - good cricketer in the making and could be a future captain. However she needs to learn to float and loop more deliveries.  Her bowling action tends to be flat. Both her wickets against Suzy Bates NZ team came from slightly slower deliveries which were given some loop.

 

Smita Mandhana – a young and exciting batsman. She needs to concentrate more after a very good start to the tournament. The concentration problem showed in the field when she was caught on her heels and dropped what should have been an easy catch.

 

Poonam Yadav – needs more variations as a leg break bowler. However, her fielding at point in the NZ game is what got my attention. She is NOT a point fielder. There was a clear run-out chance where she should have picked up one-handed and under-armed to the keeper. Instead she chose to field with two hands, transfer ball to throwing arm all the while wasting precious milliseconds and allowing Amy Satterwaite ( I think) to regain her ground.

 

Jhulam Goswami – excellent player. And her catching is superb.

 

I hope the coach is reading this board and rectifies these problems.

 

 

 

[Sloane84]

 

AWESOME, INCREDIBLE  AND OUTSTANDING INNINGS FROM HARMANPREET KAUR !!!

Reminiscent of the great Viv Richards !!

India are on their way to the final !!

And, notice that Mithali won the toss and elected to bat.

Virat Kohli must again be feeling like an idiot right now.

He could have played a Harmanpreet  Kaur innings against Pakistan if he had only said the magic words “Win toss bat first” !!

 

 

[Jamadagni]

Make sure you have got it all right before you criticize someone, or else you would look stupid. Kohli wasn't the first captain to lose to Pakistan in ICC tournaments. India had already lost 2 games against Pakistan Champions Trophy prior to the 2017 CT. It's in World Cups where we have dominated Pakistan. 

 

Most Indian fans, including on this forum, wanted to bowl first if won the toss in the CT final. I thought Kohli and management would not be as stupid as most of us and would elect to bat first as that's how India had defeated Pakistan in all WC matches barring one in 2003(due to Sachin's special). But Kohli proved he was dumb and can't even think a little out of the box; add to that, the less we talk about his captaincy during the innings, the better. 

[Sloane84]

 

Good to see you got the main point - batting first and putting runs on the board always creates additional pressure on the team batting last.

 

Australia will now proceed to lose this match.

 

In the same fashion as Mr Kohli and company in the CT final.

 

 

[Sloane84]

Australia 25 for 3

 

And Meg Lanning gone for a duck.

 

Does anyone believe that this would have been the score line had Australia batted first ?

 

No way.

 

The word is Pressure.

 

 

[bihutoli]

Mithali is a pretty poor captain and a very timid batsman though. Yesterday's match was won by the brilliance of Harmanpreet Kaur and the good initial bowling spell of Jhulan and Shikha. Mithali was a net negative contributor yesterday, that too by a long shot.

[Sloane84]

Yes, you are right. Mithali is limited tactically and sometimes fails to take control of situations in the field.

 

Why was Pandey so long off the field so that she couldn't bowl at a crucial point ?

 

I think Deepti Sharma has a good cricketing brain and is a future captain.

 

I also think that Smriti Mandhana's performance with the bat will be a key factor if India are to win in the final.

[gattaca]

23 hours ago, Jamadagni said:

Make sure you have got it all right before you criticize someone, or else you would look stupid. Kohli wasn't the first captain to lose to Pakistan in ICC tournaments. India had already lost 2 games against Pakistan Champions Trophy prior to the 2017 CT. It's in World Cups where we have dominated Pakistan. 

 

Most Indian fans, including on this forum, wanted to bowl first if won the toss in the CT final. I thought Kohli and management would not be as stupid as most of us and would elect to bat first as that's how India had defeated Pakistan in all WC matches barring one in 2003(due to Sachin's special). But Kohli proved he was dumb and can't even think a little out of the box; add to that, the less we talk about his captaincy during the innings, the better. 

Loosing to a rookie Pakistan team is worse I am sure Dhoni would have batted first. If you win against them in first match why change things.

Edited July 21, 2017 by gattaca

[G_B_]

hope she does not do a virat in the final if she wins the toss and bats first....

 

 

[lanka-girln]

Only one world to describe Mithali Ra "Goddess of Cricket".

 

No other word justify what She is ..... 

[bleaf27]

Well she takes me respect for standing by her team after the loss instead of jumping around like an idiot like Kohli did post CT loss..

[RAZPOR]

Better captain than kohli tbh but thats saying nothing

Edited July 25, 2017 by RAZPOR

[Sloane84]

Yeah, I am very impressed by Mithali's composure and unwillingness to blame any team-mates. 

 

However, I thought that India gifted the Cup to England. 

 

The one glaring mistake India made was not batting Deepti Sharma higher up, before Sushma Verma and possibly even before Veda Krishnamurthy.  Deepti is the most technically proficient batsman in the side and I think India would have won had she batted earlier.

 

There were other mistakes as well - opening with Smriti Mandhana with no confidence and form (Deepti was a candidate to switch with her). and of course Mithali's lazy running between the wickets - where was the dive and out-stretched bat from this experienced cricketer ?

 

Bottom line - Indian ladies threw away a chance in a lifetime to claim the World Cup.