Now who's in form and who's out of form?

[King]

Going into the World cup it has been massive change in form of some teams over the last few weeks. New Zealand, India, England and South Africa seems to be the team in form. They all have won few games recently and more than anything have the key players firing just at the right time. Australia, West Indies, Pakistan, Sri Lanka seems to have lost a lot of ground recently. It could be momentary and short term or owing to injuries to key players but the losses have been pretty bad both in terms of they way they have been beaten as well as lack of form of some key players. Now this is good for cricket as any country can win the world cup. This sets up the world cup very nicely and for once there are no sure favorites going into the world cup.

[Chandan]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form?

Now this is good for cricket as any country can win the world cup. This sets up the world cup very nicely and for once there are no sure favorites going into the world cup.

Perhaps the best WC as we approach it.

[Chandan]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? Don?t take out-of-form Aussies for granted, cautions Ganguly Kolkata, February 19: He led the Indian team that was beaten to pulp by the Aussies in the World Cup final four years back. So, Sourav Ganguly must have meant it when he sent out a clear warning today ? don?t read much into the recent slump in form of the world champions ahead of the Caribbean World Cup. A day after New Zealand converted an astounding 336-run chase at Auckland to dislodge mighty Australia from the top of the ICC?s ODI rankings, Ganguly reckons that it will be a mistake to take them lightly in the World Cup. ?I am sure there will be no effect of this (Australia?s loss of form) on their chances in the World Cup. They are a good side, and they will get over this current phase when the World Cup comes in a month?s time,? the former Indian captain told mediapersons this afternoon. -------------------------------------------------- Hmmm... so how many of you think that Aussies will be back to their best by the WC cup commences? I think they won't be invincible but won't be a bad team either!

[chanakya]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? they will be back. Now where is the piece where gangs was saying england is a good ODI side and everyone was calling that a brain fart ?

[King]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? Ganguly a Nostradamus :hic: To be honest you could say that to any losing team that they will be back. Even West Indies are back and can't be taken lightly in the WC. I guess you can't take anyone lightly but what has been exposed is the Aussies bowling. Aussie bowlers will still do well on pitches that will aid bowlers but will certainly struggle on flat or slow pitches. On a slow pitch bowling short pitch is not an answer. I think that part of the attack has been exposed. Also none is going to be shaking in their boots having to face Hogg the spinner.

[omf52]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? Form never carries into WC. SA's WC03 performance for example was a huge dissapointment. Then theres India who got hammered in NZ but were the 03 runners up.

[gabbar]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? I don't know about form - but SA, NZ, and england haven't done well recently in WC - and england with 3 finals have never won it - so too much pressure on all 3 - whereas team like india, sl, pak can get hot anytime and win it - WI has good odi record recently - and never count out aus - aus may have lost recently but these guys never give up

[jf1gp_1]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? Even though i expect SA to be in semi's but if you look at what they have done in past few months they won against India and Pak at home going by same logic India beat SL and WI why arent we Fav. Yes they reached semi's at CT but it was more because they got pitches which helped there bowling attack. As soon as they got a typical sub continent pitch (similiar to ones they will get in WI) they were knocked out.

[Chandan]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form?

I don't know about form - but SA' date=' NZ, and england haven't done well recently in WC - and england with 3 finals have never won it - so too much pressure on all 3 - whereas team like india, sl, pak can get hot anytime and win it - WI has good odi record recently - and never count out aus - aus may have lost recently but these guys never give up[/quote'] Count out Australia?? Only a fool will do that. I'm worried that they might come back with vengeance. Many of the Aussies think that there is nothing wrong in the bowling or batting. Its just that the captain was new, so many players were new and nobody knew what exactly his role was. In other words, no strategy was jotted down, plan A, plan B and so on. Plus many of the seniors who were playing were too tired at the fag end of a loooong summer. So they think that Aussies will be back on track since the first or second match. And I think so too.

[Mr. Wicket]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? New Zealand probably are the scariest team in the world to face right now. After a poor CB series, they've come back incredibly and whitewashed Australia. Whitewashed. Yes, it's at home, yes, Australian players may be missing (but so were Oram and Mills, and in the last game, Bond and Vettori), but they've shown that they've learned how to play with absolutely no fear of failure. They copped serious backlash after the CB series elimination, where they were outplayed, outmarshalled on the field and underperformed. After that, they've taken an approach of everything to gain, nothing to lose, and have done the impossible. Teams don't bowl Australia out for below 150 too often, and nobody's beaten them by 10 wickets in an ODI before. NZ did. Chases over 330-odd aren't common - NZ did it once, SAF did it once. Yet these were rarities - but the Black Caps pulled it off twice. Once can be called a fluke, one of those days when everything just seems to click perfectly for a couple of batsmen. New Zealand have been set 320+ targets five times in the last year and a half by Australia. Twice they've come painstakingly close; thrice they've won. It's a record no other team possesses, and it shows the strength of character of these Black Caps. They can take a pounding, go all over the park and concede 350, but they do not fear defeat, or backlash from their home press and fans. They'll hit back hard, and that's why they're a frighteningly dangerous team. They're not consistent enough to win the World Cup IMO, particularly with the fragility of so many of their players - yet I get the feeling that the semi finals could see some surprise names in, and some expected names out if the Black Caps pull off a few more stunners like this.

[Chandan]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? Salil, Its unlikely that we'll get those pancake-pitches in WI. One of the local there was not even sure of few pitches as they've been newly laid. Grounds aren't big there in WI but they are not as ridiculously small as those in Kiwiland. Still, pulling off 330+ scores twice is indicative of a great mental strength.

[chanakya]

Re: Now who's in form and who's out of form? let see when south africa played india in india last year the scoreline was 2-2 and India was in prime ODI form at that time. They can play well (not great) in the subcontinent these days.