Ashwin and Raina...

[yoda]

after warming the benches through 5 league games, they came in and delivered. Thank you Dhoni for not being stubborn. :two_thumbs_up:

[Show_stopper]

Yeah I hope M$D learns his lesson. NExt move- promote Raina ahead of himself. The shot that Dhoni played 2 balls before he got out to Lee when the ball reversed had me tearing my hair out. Clearly his batting isn't good enough for a #5.

[veer]

after watching this game, I see ashwin is a good bowler.. a good fielder and someone said he started his career as an opening batsman.. soo could be a great asset..

[Sid]

Finally everyone is confident :proud:

[vvvslaxman]

Finally everyone is confident :proud:

One guy is super confident.. That is Chawla :cantstop:

[yoda]

Yeah I hope M learns his lesson. NExt move- promote Raina ahead of himself. The shot that Dhoni played 2 balls before he got out to Lee when the ball reversed had me tearing my hair out. Clearly his batting isn't good enough for a #5.

Actually I liked the fact that we still had Raina as an insurance should Dhoni/Yuvi fail. That said, Raina's batting spot in this lineup is a little messed up.

[Sid]

One guy is super confident.. That is Chawla :cantstop:

By God's grace we have got a super confident 12th man :yay:

[DomainK]

Raina played well today. I liked to see him play two nice pull shots off short deliveries. But he still has the weakness. He played another one where he took his eyes off. He must he hidden from the new ball. His current position suits him I guess.

[vvvslaxman]

Raina played well today. I liked to see him play two nice pull shots off short deliveries. But he still has the weakness. He played another one where he took his eyes off. He must he hidden from the new ball. His current position suits him I guess.

If we start dissecting ... every batsman has one weakness or the other. Raina's weakness is his compulsiveness against short balls. Instead of getting out of the way he kinda has a go at it. Avoiding a short ball.. thats all he needs to do.

[Prakat]

Finally everyone is confident :proud:

:giggle:

[Sachin=GOD]

Finally everyone is confident :proud:

:giggle:

[yoda]

BTW, I did not see Chawla in the bench. I feel sorry for the guy, but the good thing is the team has it's combo right just in time.

[Ranjha]

Both done very well. I am happy to accept that Ashwin over Chawla is a masterstroke and I was wrong....well done

[Ranjha]

BTW' date=' I did not see Chawla in the bench. I feel sorry for the guy, but the good thing is the team has it's combo right just in time.[/quote'] I saw him..He looked happy.

[DomainK]

If we start dissecting ... every batsman has one weakness or the other. Raina's weakness is his compulsiveness against short balls. Instead of getting out of the way he kinda has a go at it. Avoiding a short ball.. thats all he needs to do.

No, I am not dissecting it. I saw a post above suggesting that Raina should come ahead of Dhoni. No one is free from weaknesses. In fact I think Raina has worked hard on playing short balls. We can expect the Pakistanis give him a generous dose of short deliveries. He is in the right slot at the moment. He will be comfortable in that position.

[Show_stopper]

Domaink... seriously mate I just suggested that he must come in at #5. I was hardly advocating pitting him against the new ball. Also Dhoni has been in dreadful form for sometime now. i hope you saw his innings today. Also are you telling me Raina is not good enough to bat anywhere above #7?? The one bouncer you referred was a slower bouncer bowled by Watson @ 123 kph. Any batsmen would find it tough with the change of pace. He handled bouncers at 146 kph from Lee and Tait well today (admittedly on an Indian pitch).

[vvvslaxman]

BTW' date=' I did not see Chawla in the bench. I feel sorry for the guy, but the good thing is the team has it's combo right just in time.[/quote'] They showed him towards the end. He is plumpier than when the world cup started :cantstop:

[fineleg]

Finally everyone is confident :proud:

Ashwin is affecting Bhajji's confidence :hitler: :giggle:

[asterix]

You can't depend on Dhoni now.. So let Raina come after him.. If only we can have YP also added in the line up against Pakistan for proper Jhingalala treatment..

[DomainK]

I saw Dhoni's innings and I know that he has not been in the best of form, but I would hardly advocate a change at this stage. Players lose form sometimes, but some players get it back when they face the challenge. Look at Gambhir. He had been struggling for sometime, but Dhoni not only continued to show trust in him, but also continued to play him at the all important no3 position. And it paid off as he rose in style to the occasion when he big challenge came. Dhoni is a good batsman, a fighter and a brave one. He will rise above this and will deliver. Hiding is not the solution. Raina is doing well in his position. I think they should play the exact same batting line up in the exact same order against Pakistan.