The last group game: Ind vs WI pre-match talk

[jpkonline]

Bat 1st in CHENNAI then

easy to say but can dhoni win the toss :nervous:

[zen]

personally what do you think paaji? how far we will go? :isalute:

It is difficult to think rationally on Ind's chances because of the emotions involved. The emotions would usually over-ride rationality and tell you that Ind will win and somehow we will overcome the problems and challenges we face We know that Ind is one of the better teams in this competition. And it has good chances of winning this tourney. So we take that as the base and work on solving our problems and better equip ourselves to handle the challenges we are likely to face In KO games, players know that this could be their last game in the WC. That knowledge builds enormous amount of pressure on you, esp. since this is the world cup. This pressure somewhat blurs the line b/w good players and avg players with many playing above their potential while many playing below theirs. Our batting is solid but if it doesn't deliver in pressure situation, it means little. On the other hand, our bowling is weak but if it delivers under pressure, it means something. One of the keys to Ind winning this world cup is playing players who excel under pressure situations I think we have got some good players who can play well under pressure. If the players manage to up their confidence level then we can go the distance. This is a delicate situation as too much criticism can create doubts in players minds (something that Ind media needs to understand), which is the last thing we want to happen. The game against WI should be used as a confidence building measure. That game is not about being out-played or put playing WI but about backing yourself to deliver that punch despite being on the back-foot. Once yo come out of that kind of situations, you build confidence to deliver under pressure. In short, Ind is still good enough to win if it irons out a few things :isalute: My 2 cents!

[Ultimate_Game]

easy to say but can dhoni win the toss :nervous:

Shouldn't really matter against the windies. In fact bowling first should suit India as due won't be a factor while bowling for Indian spinners.

[Switchblade]

Think pitch is going to get more slow so better to bat first

[Ultimate_Game]

Think pitch is going to get more slow so better to bat first

Windies don't have bowlers to exploit that and our batsmen should be able to chase against the Windies.

[vvvslaxman]

Chennai in heat.. always bat first. Dew won't be a huge problem in chennai.

[coffee_rules]

So much analysis, everybody and their chachas have opinions about what they should do. But after a week of all that, Indians come and do the same old thing and don't seem to learn. When all others are playing 2 spinners, we go with 3 trundlers (well Zak is not). It's is so frustrating to watch Indiia matches in this WC. Chawla was nowhere with the Indian team in the last 2 years and all of a sudden he gets confidence building exercises in the middle of a world cup. Pathan gets promoted each time during PP and he shafts a pole behind Dhoni/Gary Kohli is proven to be useless down the order and he gets to do that 2 times already Seems like SA has the right combination of all teams.

[Ultimate_Game]

So much analysis' date=' everybody and their chachas have opinions about what they should do. But after a week of all that, Indians come and do the same old thing and don't seem to learn. [b']When all others are playing 2 spinners, we go with 3 trundlers (well Zak is not). It's is so frustrating to watch Indiia matches in this WC. Chawla was nowhere with the Indian team in the last 2 years and all of a sudden he gets confidence building exercises in the middle of a world cup. Pathan gets promoted each time during PP and he shafts a pole behind Dhoni/Gary Kohli is proven to be useless down the order and he gets to do that 2 times already Seems like SA has the right combination of all teams.

You are spot on with your comments... we simply didn't have any plan or strategy in place for the world cup. 1. If Chawla, or a leg spinner, was considered so important for our chances in the world cup why weren't the leg spinners like Chawla, Mishra etc. tried before the cup. We had 2 series just before the tourney - against NZ and SA where we rested our stars and had plenty of replacements. For crying out loud we even gave Parthiv Patel a chance in those games so how come we missed out on including a leg spinner? Seems like Dhoni or selectors had a dream just before finalizing the team where Chawla was hoisting the trophy and they picked him up for the tourney! 2. Against SA going with 3 pacers simply didn't make any sense. On a flat track a decent spinner will go for less runs than a medium paced trundler, which is what Nehra and Munaf are. Even a team like SA only played 2 specialist pacers against us and we picked 3 pacers! And that too against a team like SA which are traditionally more adept at playing pacers than spinners! Replace Nehra or Munaf with Ashwin and we would have won the game. Against a sub-continental team I could understand playing 3 pacers but not against teams like SA, Aus or NZ. 3. We messed up the batting order for no reason flouting the maxim "Don't fix what ain't broke". Pathan was in great form at 7 as his innings against Ireland showed where he came in and smashed the bowling around right from get-go. He understands his role at 7 and all his major innings have come from that spot. Why confuse him and other batsmen? Ditto for Kohli. Kohli should bat at 3 or 4 as he's not a lower order batsman. Even for his IPL franchise he bats at 4 so don't see any point in changing his spot either. We never needed to change the batting order in any game as we were comfortably placed in all the games with our regular batting order and now this muddled thinking has put seeds of doubts in Kohli and Pathan's minds. I say tell them their spots are safe and they will play at their respective spots in the future.

[Praveen M]

being in chennai i can assure u that it vil b a batsman friendly pitch,spinners have a sharp turn and stiff bounce, the big gap between stands means pace bowlers too enjoy in new ball:--D

[vvvslaxman]

Chawla got 4 wickets against OZ only in chennai. So he might even play :(( .

[Ultimate_Game]

being in chennai i can assure u that it vil b a batsman friendly pitch' date='spinners have a sharp turn and stiff bounce, the big gap between stands means pace bowlers too enjoy in new ball:--D[/quote'] Chennai should have hosted the quarter final as well with Bangalore as semi-final venue (the same pitch where practice game was played). These are the pitches that help India gain some home advantage. Batting tracks like Ahmedabad (quarter finals) or the one with bounce but no great soin (Mohali) play to the strengths of teams like Aus and SA. I wonder whether BCCI put any thought into selecting the venues while finalizing the fixtures

[Ultimate_Game]

Chawla got 4 wickets against OZ only in chennai. So he might even play :(( .

That was B'lore

With so much of these Ashwin threads. It looks like Ashwin is The Saviour He is good but not like..he will win us ever match..Its the whole team which will have to play out of their skin to win this world cup, out of their comfort zone. They wont get this world cup on a platter. They will have to earn it by fighting for every run and every wicket. Its not as simple as it looks though. They will have to work very hard. We only had one good game out of 5 till now and that was against Bangladesh...they have struggled since then in every match and that is good for them.

Compared to Munaf and Nehra he is like a saviour. I can assure you that he will perform much better than 1/65 or 2/70 sort of figures our so called "fast bowlers" are returning right now.

[Serani]

Benn has been very impressive this world cup, could back fire on India if he gets big turn as he will already get bounce

[Ultimate_Game]

Benn has been very impressive this world cup' date=' could back fire on India if he gets big turn as he will already get bounce[/quote'] I back Indian batsmen to handle Benn much better than the windies batsmen's handling of Harbhajan, Ashwin, Yuvraj and Pathan on a turning track :smiley:

[asterix]

Very pleased to see the Kolkata crowd tonight. It's a shame that Eden Gardens has not got any business end matches..

[Ultimate_Game]

Very pleased to see the Kolkata crowd tonight. It's a shame that Eden Gardens has not got any business end matches..

It's good for India though. India's record at Eden Gardens in world cup knockout games isn't too great. We were knocked out by Eng in 1987 and lost to SL in 96 at Eden Gardens. I would prefer to play the knockouts in Chennai and Bangalore.

[vvvslaxman]

Benn has been very impressive this world cup' date=' could back fire on India if he gets big turn as he will already get bounce[/quote'] He didn't do that well against SA only non-minnow team he has played so far.

[Switchblade]

@ Serani same thing goes for England mate and Benn has to contend with Sehwag and Sachin brah

[asterix]

I back Indian batsmen to handle Benn much better than the windies batsmen's handling of Harbhajan' date=' Ashwin, Yuvraj and Pathan on a turning track :smiley:[/quote'] Well you can't rule out anything given the way Indian batsmen have collapsed in matches against good teams...Theyre quite capable of having brain farts..

[Ultimate_Game]

Well you can't rule out anything given the way Indian batsmen have collapsed in matches against good teams...Theyre quite capable of having brain farts..

That can very well happen but if India collapses it would be triggered by Roach or one of their pacers, not Benn.