So a good victory

[Cricketics]

Very easily we won in the end. Australia were looking good to win with Puner batting around 40 odd and Australia score 114-2 and all of a sudden Dhoni's excellent captaincy and some great spin bowling did the thing for us. Anyone saw Sewhag sitting around the boundary line having chips???:haha: he looked so cool when Aus score was 114-2 as if he knew we are going to bowl them out for next 50-60 runs. Good fight. I think our batting didn't do any great today, but most of the bats got decent start. Good to see Sehwag withh 50. All in all, Team India looks good.

[Ultimate_Game]

I don't know what match you were matching as I didn't feel too good as an Indian fan... 1. Our batting lineup is still out of form, specially the middle order (Yuvi, Raina, Dhoni) and top order still to be match-fit (Gambhir, Tendulkar). If we lose 2 wkts early I really don't have enough confidence in our lineup at this point to get us over the line. 2. Zaheer Khan suffering from groin strain. Do you recall what happened in T20 world cup with Zaheer not match-fit? He's our best fast bowler and with Praveen Kumar already out of the world cup I don't know how we are going to contain our opponents during the opening and power-play overs. 3. Our fielding is beyond woeful. I am sure you did see the effort put in by Nehra at mid-off where he couldn't even bend down to stop a 4. And with other players like Munaf, Yuvraj, Sehwag etc. who need to be hidden in the field the less said about the fielding the better. 4. We won't be able to play 6 specialist bowlers like we did today (Sreesanth, Munaf, Nehra, Chawla, Harbhajan, Ashwin) in the world cup. So pray tell me who the 4 bowlers we should play? Essentially there are lot of issues I see with the team and the only way we can win the cup is if we get to play on spin friendly/turning pitches and we play only 2 fast bowlers with 2 specialist spin bowlers (Harbhajan, Chawla) and with our part-timers chipping in as well (Yuvraj, Pathan, Raina, Sehwag).

[Cricketics]

2. Zaheer Khan suffering from groin strain. Do you recall what happened in T20 world cup with Zaheer not match-fit? He's our best fast bowler and with Praveen Kumar already out of the world cup I don't know how we are going to contain our opponents during the opening and power-play overs.3. Our fielding is beyond woeful. I am sure you did see the effort put in by Nehra at mid-off where he couldn't even bend down to stop a 4. And with other players like Munaf, Yuvraj, Sehwag etc. who need to be hidden in the field the less said about the fielding the better.

You remember last wc, but you don't remember in 07 wc victory, Zaheer wasn't even part of the team.Yes, he is still perhaps our best bowler, but I won't bring a big line gap between him and other bowlers in odi's. He can go for some heavy runs too. Our bowlers do decent job in odi's. I don't think it's that big a problem.

[kabira]

not a good warm at all for both the teams. Neither did Aussie batter have long stint...their middle order looks fragile just like ours We seriously need to think of 2+2 in bowling department, Chawla is an attacking option...

[DomainK]

Australia seriously panicked when the ball started turning. They have some serious issues in that area.

[Sachin=GOD]

This match has resulted in more questions than answers for India. Do we play 2 pacers + 2 spinners or 3 pacers+ 1 spinner?? If we play 2 pacers then do we play Munna or Sreesanth along with Zak?? Do we play Raina or Yuvi - the biggest question?? Can we depend upon Zaheer's fitness??

[Manny_Pacquiao]

yeah, pretty mediocre cricket from both sides. india look happy though, players were enjoying themselves and never showed any negative body language. good recoveries in both innings: from 136/7 to 214 and then bowling australia out for 176 after they were 114/2 batting should improve as the tournament goes on.

[Cricketics]

Actually the funny thing to note is, all i am seeing is praises for Chawla every where. Dhoni's this trick has worked too. He has won over all again. No one expected his name in the squad.

[Ultimate_Game]

@OP, I think you missed the point. The main objective of a warm-up is to finalize the playing combination and to get the first team players into form. I think we failed on both the fronts. With our pacers going for plenty and not looking impressive at all and with all the spinners performing well, we have to go to the drawing board and decide on the playing combination. Plus our batting lineup hasn't regained its touch. Now we are only left with one warm-up game to finalize our playing X1 before the first game and nobody has an idea whether we should go with 6 batsmen+5 bowlers or 7 batsmen+4 bowlers and in case of 7+4 combination, whether to go with 2 pacers and 2 spinners or stick to our preferred approach of 3 pacers+1 spinner. Now I'm leaning towards 7+4 and 2+2 option even though before the game I would have preferred to go with the 3+1 combination. And of course Dhoni would be having fits seeing the energy in the field and seeing the effort put in by our fielders and pacers such as Nehra and Munaf. In short, more questions than answers and only 1 warm-up to go before the opener.

[Ram]

I don't know what match you were matching as I didn't feel too good as an Indian fan... 1. Our batting lineup is still out of form, specially the middle order (Yuvi, Raina, Dhoni) and top order still to be match-fit (Gambhir, Tendulkar). If we lose 2 wkts early I really don't have enough confidence in our lineup at this point to get us over the line. 2. Zaheer Khan suffering from groin strain. Do you recall what happened in T20 world cup with Zaheer not match-fit? He's our best fast bowler and with Praveen Kumar already out of the world cup I don't know how we are going to contain our opponents during the opening and power-play overs. 3. Our fielding is beyond woeful. I am sure you did see the effort put in by Nehra at mid-off where he couldn't even bend down to stop a 4. And with other players like Munaf, Yuvraj, Sehwag etc. who need to be hidden in the field the less said about the fielding the better. 4. We won't be able to play 6 specialist bowlers like we did today (Sreesanth, Munaf, Nehra, Chawla, Harbhajan, Ashwin) in the world cup. So pray tell me who the 4 bowlers we should play? Essentially there are lot of issues I see with the team and the only way we can win the cup is if we get to play on spin friendly/turning pitches and we play only 2 fast bowlers with 2 specialist spin bowlers (Harbhajan, Chawla) and with our part-timers chipping in as well (Yuvraj, Pathan, Raina, Sehwag).

now, thats some sense. :nice:

[Manny_Pacquiao]

Now we are only left with one warm-up game to finalize our playing X1 before the first game and nobody has an idea whether we should go with 6 batsmen+5 bowlers or 7 batsmen+4 bowlers and in case of 7+4 combination, whether to go with 2 pacers and 2 spinners or stick to our preferred approach of 3 pacers+1 spinner. .

there is never going to be a fixed combination they are gonna go with horses for courses, picking the best XI depending on opposition and pitch conditions. they will also rest players whenever they can. so dont expect to see a set playing XI, thats never gonna happen. tournament proper doesnt begin until the QFs, until then india can afford to chop and change as much as they like and they just need to do enough to reach the knockout round. it doesnt really matter how convincing they are in the group stages, as long as they peak in the QFs/SFs, and if possible, final

[pensionplan]

now' date=' thats some sense. :nice:[/quote']Ditto.

[Sachin=GOD]

there is never going to be a fixed combination they are gonna go with horses for courses, picking the best XI depending on opposition and pitch conditions. they will also rest players whenever they can. so dont expect to see a set playing XI, thats never gonna happen.

this.

[Ultimate_Game]

there is never going to be a fixed combination they are gonna go with horses for courses, picking the best XI depending on opposition and pitch conditions. they will also rest players whenever they can. so dont expect to see a set playing XI, thats never gonna happen. tournament proper doesnt begin until the QFs, until then india can afford to chop and change as much as they like and they just need to do enough to reach the knockout round. it doesnt really matter how convincing they are in the group stages, as long as they peak in the QFs/SFs, and if possible, final

I understand that there will be a few tweaks here and there in the team combination based on the opposition and pitch condition - e.g., playing more spinners against SA, Eng, Aus & Windies and going with 3 pacers against sub-continental teams or minnows but my point is that all the players have to be match-fit before the knock-out stage. I don't want Tendulkar, Zaheer and others to play each and every match in the group stages but at the same time I do want to see them get a couple of games and be ready and in touch before quarters. I would hate to see a player get in the team for a must-win game after a long lay-off and not be able to deliver due to lack of match fitness.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

I understand that there will be a few tweaks here and there in the team combination based on the opposition and pitch condition - e.g., playing more spinners against SA, Eng, Aus & Windies and going with 3 pacers against sub-continental teams or minnows but my point is that all the players have to be match-fit before the knock-out stage. I don't want Tendulkar, Zaheer and others to play each and every match in the group stages but at the same time I do want to see them get a couple of games and be ready and in touch before quarters. I would hate to see a player get in the team for a must-win game after a long lay-off and not be able to deliver due to lack of match fitness.

u are worrying to much. india have been dealing with injuries for the last year, and they have continued winning almost single series they have competed in. the squad is more than capable of covering for the loss of one or two players. and india isnt the only team that is gonna have injury worries. so relax

[Ultimate_Game]

u are worrying to much. india have been dealing with injuries for the last year, and they have continued winning almost single series they have competed in. the squad is more than capable of covering for the loss of one or two players. and india isnt the only team that is gonna have injury worries. so relax

That's what fans do - worry :--D

[kabira]

You can't go into Q/F still experimenting, You need your combination working in the group stages.

[Ultimate_Game]

You can't go into Q/F still experimenting' date=' You need your combination working in the group stages.[/quote'] :two_thumbs_up:

[Sir john]

bowlers won for us

[Ram]

Our batting has looked out of sorts for a while now, which has been due to a combination of form, fitness and rhythm issues. We all know that Yuvraj, Dhoni and Raina havent been at the best of form for a while now. But what has also slipped under peoples' radar is the fact that it has been nearly a year since the first choice batting line-up for India actually took to the field and that was during the India-South Africa series in Feb of last year. Sachin opted out of ODIs after that, right till the series in South Africa, which he quit mid-way due to injury concerns. Gambhir made a comeback into the ODI team only late last year against New Zealand. While he did score 2 100s against them, he did look a little out of sorts against South Africa. Sehwag has been in and out of the ODI side for a while now, which has meant he has had little chance of settling into any rhythm whatsoever. What that also has meant is that we have never gone into a game a with a settle batting order. Apart from Kohli and maybe Yusuf, none of the batsmen in the Indian team can claim that their batting has actually gone uphill or even maintained any sort of form, in the last 2-3 months. This showed in the recent Saffie series, where we were routinely bowled out for low scores. We have to settle, buckle down and ensure our batting is in some sort of momentum, going into the Qtrs. Unless that happens, we have little to no chance of winning this cup. And we havent even gone to our bowling/fielding yet.