don_corleone840 Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 HISTORY is very important to cricketers. It tells us what we did wrong and what we did right in the past. There have been nine World Cups and those World Cup champion teams do not lie about the composition and skills required to win. The three main common denominators consistent with all World Cup champion teams are: ■Your top four batsmen must be of a high quality. They must have the technique to play the new ball, as well as have the power and stroke play during powerplays. They also must have the fitness to bat through the whole 50 overs. Advertisement: Story continues below ■Your top four bowlers must be of high quality, able to absorb pressure and bowl defensively in powerplays. ■If you can't field, don't bother turning up! All this taken into account, I do not believe India will win the World Cup with its current form. Everyone here has a huge regard for the Indian team. They have the batsmen, no doubt. Tendulkar and Sehwag can rip any attack to shreds. But that alone doesn't win the World Cup. Captain M.S. Dhoni has admitted some of his fieldsmen are very slow. But Dhoni believes he will win the World Cup with this bowling line-up: Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Piyush Chawla and Harbhajan Singh. He is dreaming. Dhoni must turn to history to see that this bowling attack will not win a World Cup. Consider each winning World Cup team, each attack and their top four bowlers: ■1975, West Indies: Bernard Julien, Andy Roberts, Keith Boyce and Vanburn Holder. ■1979, West Indies: Roberts, Michael Holding, Colin Croft and Joel Garner. ■1983, India: Kapil Dev, Balwinder Sandhu, Madan Lal, Roger Binny and fifth bowler Jimmy Amarnath, who took three wickets in the final. ■1987, Australia: Bruce Reid, Craig McDermott, Steve Waugh and Simon O'Donnell. ■1992, Pakistan: Imran Khan, Waqar Younis, Mushtaq Ahmed and Aaqib Javed. ■1996, Sri Lanka: Pramodya Wickramasinghe, Chaminda Vaas, Muthiah Muralidaran and Sanath Jayasuriya. ■1999, Australia: Glenn McGrath, Damien Fleming, Paul Reiffel and Shane Warne. ■2003, Australia: McGrath, Brett Lee, Andy Bichel and Andrew Symonds. ■ 2007, Australia: McGrath, Shaun Tait, Shane Watson and Nathan Bracken. Now does the Indian bowling line-up of Khan, Nehra, Chawla and Harbhajan look as good as any of these champion line-ups? Simply, no! Dhoni wants seven specialist batsmen and four specialist bowlers. Having seven batsmen tells me that India doesn't trust its ''engine room'' to make the runs required. By having four bowlers, it means that everything must go right or they are in deep trouble. What happens if one is injured? Or one gets smashed? India has struggled to bowl out Bangladesh and England. Ireland troubled them, but Dhoni won't budge. India's main weakness is the form of Chawla and Harbhajan. Chawla is being smashed and was brought in by the strong backing of Dhoni after two years in obscurity. There are three leg-spinners who have won World Cups: Mushtaq, Warne and Brad Hogg. Is Chawla as good as those three? No, he isn't. The Indian skipper has other problems in Harbhajan's form. Harbhajan has struggled in all World Cups and has only take six wickets in eight matches against the Test countries at an average of 58. His 10 overs are going for around 50. So does Dhoni go in with two quicks and three spinners? Sri Lanka was successful with this formula in 1996. But its spin bowlers were of a better quality in Muralidaran, Jayasuriya and Aravinda de Silva. Chawla must be replaced by Ravichandran Ashwin. Harbhajan needs to get in opponents' faces more. India's best line-up is Khan, Nehra, Harbhajan and Ashwin, with Yusuf Pathan and Yuvraj Singh splitting the fifth bowler duties. The team needs the attitude to get wickets and not just defend. Getting wickets always stops the run-rate. Its fieldsmen must look for run-outs and want the ball in the field. Australia does not seem to command respect from anyone at the moment. Even Lord Jeffrey Archer doesn't rate us. As if it matters. One thing is for sure: no one is an out-and-out favourite. It has been an interesting World Cup so far, but let's hope India does OK because it will be a nightmare for all concerned if it got bundled out in the first quarter-final. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/india-to-win-the-world-cup-tell-dhoni-hes-dreaming-20110312-1bs76.html
HowardRoark Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 India has struggled to bowl out Bangladesh and England. Ireland troubled them, but Dhoni won't budge. India's main weakness is the form of Chawla and Harbhajan. Chawla is being smashed and was brought in by the strong backing of Dhoni after two years in obscurity. http://www.theage.com.au/sport/cricket/india-to-win-the-world-cup-tell-dhoni-hes-dreaming-20110312-1bs76.html I do not agree with Dean Jones' assessment of the chances of our team. But our captain's 'to prove his point' decisions seems to be catching everybody's attention off late. Earlier Sharda Ugra and Harsha Bogle had pointed it out and now him.
Ultimate_Game Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Let's see what he says when we get Ashwin in place of one of the pacers and our batting doesn't have the kind of brain fart we had against SA. Especially when the pitches will get slower as the tourney progresses.
Sid Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I cant understand this,most of the ICFers ,all the cricket analysts I have heard during the WC, and now Dean Jones think that Ashwin should be given a game,but our Kaptaan is adamant in giving confidence to Chawla
DomainK Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 With due respect, Dean Jones has defined a perfect team. A perfect team wins a world cup in a perfect world. IMHO in a tournament like this, once the KO games start, it's the team that holds it's nerves that goes on to win. Each KO game is a lot more about nerves and temperament than about talent and reputation (Most teams at that stage come with plenty of good players). The best of the players can snap, the average ones can still sail through. I believe India has the players with nerves. Yes, our bowling is not as good as some other teams, but we have proved time and again in recent past that they can deliver under pressure. They may not be individually great, but as a team, they have delivered when it mattered. No team with weak bowlers makes it to the top of the test rankings. ZAK, Bhajji can co and hold their nerves and deliver when it matters. It's all about performing under pressure. Fore example, South Africa qualifies by the standards set by Dean Jones and how many times have we seen them choke when it comes to the world cup? It's not a perfect world and we dont have the perfect team. But guess what, just like we reached the top of test rankings when everyone wrote us off because of our bowling, we will also go and lift that world cup with same bowling.
asterix Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I cant understand this' date='most of the ICFers ,all the cricket analysts I have heard during the WC, and now Dean Jones think that Ashwin should be given a game,but our Kaptaan is adamant in giving confidence to Chawla[/quote'] He needed a variety in the bowling attack..With 2 offies already in place (Bhajji & YP), there's not much variety in playing Ashwin..Now YP will be dropped for Raina to play. Hence possibility of Ashwin to come in.
Andy Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Cant agree more with him, Leadership, Bowling , Catching skills (Previously we used to be good catchers) have been absolutely poor.
Little_Master Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 what Dean Jones is saying might be true...however it is important to IGNORE what any Australian GURU states simply because 1. When their team is not upto the level expected by them, the GURUs start talking ill about other teams trying to break their confidence. 2. Most Aussie players both past and present do not have any regard for India or Indians except for a chosen few such as SRT 3. They know very well that this world cup will be dictated by batsmen for the most part and Indians have the best batting line up on paper. If they click during KO, no teams can stop us. Even the genuine aus fast bowlers will be smashed all around the park. 4. Mind games is what the aussies are good at and they will do anything required to have an edge over other strong teams. I do not care a tiny rats @$$ what Ian, Greg or Dean thinks about team India. We are a good team and will show our caliber during the KO stages. So here's my official :finger: to Dean Jones and every other Aussie Guru who has nothing better to do than talk trash about team India. Go India Go !!!! :isalute:
Sid Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Cant agree more with him' date=' Leadership, Bowling , Catching skills (Previously we used to be good catchers) have been absolutely poor.[/quote'] Hey you forgot the middle order batting B->
veer Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I see dean jones is right.. but I trust Dhoni.. he will deliever goods when it will matter.. let the fun begin.
Ultimate_Game Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I cant understand this' date='most of the ICFers ,all the cricket analysts I have heard during the WC, and now Dean Jones think that Ashwin should be given a game,but our Kaptaan is adamant in giving confidence to Chawla[/quote'] I think Ashwin was hidden to be brought at the right time so ppl don't have too much time to prepare for us come knockouts. I think Ashwin will get a game in Chennai and will be in the team for knockouts. Mark my words, Dhoni will use the same tactics he did so successfully in IPL when he only had Bollinger and a bunch of spinners to work with and he ended up more fancied teams like Mumbai who had bowlers like Zaheer, Malinga, Bravo, Harbhajan. As the pitches get slower Dhoni will rely on spinners more and more. He already has a pretty good idea what Ashwin brings to the table as he has seen Ashwin often and that's why he gave so many games to Chawla just to see what he can do. Come the windies game in Chennai we will see the tactics to be used in the knockouts :--D
Ultimate_Game Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I see dean jones is right.. but I trust Dhoni.. he will deliever goods when it will matter.. let the fun begin. :two_thumbs_up: Never bet against Dhoni.. the guy is a winner.
Sid Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 I think Ashwin was hidden to be brought at the right time so ppl don't have too much time to prepare for us come knockouts. I think Ashwin will get a game in Chennai and will be in the team for knockouts. Mark my words, Dhoni will use the same tactics he did so successfully in IPL when he only had Bollinger and a bunch of spinners to work with and he ended up more fancied teams like Mumbai who had bowlers like Zaheer, Malinga, Bravo, Harbhajan. As the pitches get slower Dhoni will rely on spinners more and more. He already has a pretty good idea what Ashwin brings to the table as he has seen Ashwin often and that's why he gave so many games to Chawla just to see what he can do. Come the windies game in Chennai we will see the tactics to be used in the knockouts :--D Hope your words are proven right :--D,well I can visualize Zak playing the role of Bollinger,Bhajji playing the role of Murali,Yuvi anydays better than Jhakati and Ashwin himself :woot:
zen Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 While he has said that Ind can't win it based on his observation, he hasn't definitely said which team will which is strange because if no team has what he is talking abt then what's the point in writing all that :giggle: .... Though he seems a little upset as Aus is not being rated highly by some (even mentioned Archer) :P
vvvslaxman Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 :two_thumbs_up: Never bet against Dhoni.. the guy is a winner. He has made everyone eat humble pie time and again. But at the ICC trophy events his team has been a failure. CT, 2 T20 leagues et al. Going by the trend i am not very confident.
Ultimate_Game Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 Hope your words are proven right :--D' date='well I can visualize Zak playing the role of Bollinger,Bhajji playing the role of Murali,Yuvi anydays better than Jhakati and Ashwin himself :woot:[/quote'] :two_thumbs_up: That's the scenario I envision :smiley: Dhoni is an extremely street-smart cricketer and he WILL come up with something.
Ultimate_Game Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 He has made everyone eat humble pie time and again. But at the ICC trophy events his team has been a failure. CT' date=' 2 T20 leagues et al. Going by the trend i am not very confident.[/quote'] He generally wins every tourney ONCE. He won the T20 cup, Asia Cup, CB Series in Aus (the last world series tourney they used to have in Aus), IPL, Champions League. It's only the Champions Trophy he failed in but that tourney was affected by rain - we lost one game and the other was rained off. Tough to hold that against Dhoni. If we win the world cup, I say replace Dhoni as he would have won everything once and as we know he doesn't do repeats well - case in point subsequent T20 cups after winning the first one :--D
Little_Master Posted March 13, 2011 Posted March 13, 2011 :two_thumbs_up: That's the scenario I envision :smiley: Dhoni is an extremely street-smart cricketer and he WILL come up with something. I used to think that Dhoni is street smart...sadly not anymore:nono: I hope he proves me and all his critics wrong.
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