India vs Australia QF : Pre-match talk

[Watson87]

Not the same pitch... it's Ahmedabad and not B'lore. Btw in a practice game held in B'lore Aussies couldn't chase 215 - the same ground where Eng scored 338 :giggle:

Let the game begin and we will see who wins :thefinger:

[Ultimate_Game]

Yes, that is why I am worried. Our batting line up is indeed very predictable. Our batting line up should be 1) Virender Sehwag 2) Gautam Gambhir 3) Virat Kohli 4) Sachin Tendulkar 5) Yuvraj Singh 6) Dhoni 7) Yusuf Pathan 8) Bhajji 9) Ashwin 10) Zaheer 11) Munaf or Shreesanth If the first 3 click very well and are at 230+ with 15+ overs left then India should take batting powerplay. We need someone like Sachin in the powerplay to score as many runs as possible. The problem has been that by the time we take powerplay, the top and even middle order batsmen get really tired and start hitting brainless shots. We have to avoid that in quarter finals against Australia.

Don't make the same mistake Chappell made in 2007 by bringing Tendulkar at 4. Let Tendulkar open where he has been the most successful odi batsman of all times. Our top order batting is one thing that's clicking and you want to change that as well? And that too in a must win game against Aussies? As per your definition every team's batting lineup is "predictable". I think you mistakenly used "predictable" instead of "stable". Our batting lineup is quite stable and productive and whenever we have tried to experiment we had a batting collapse. Look at SA - everyone knows Amla and Smith will open followed by Kallis and AB DeVilliers but it doesn't make them any less dangerous. You pick batsmen to perform certain roles and you can't change the roles in the middle of the tourney this confusing everyone. As the saying goes "Don't fix what ain't broke".

[WC2011INDIA]

I dont care about anything but I just want SRT to win one WC :wall: Its making me too nervous. I am almost scared of watching it

That is exactly why I don't feel like watching the match. I will be really sad if SRT's world cup ends on a sour note. Before retirement I wanted him to reach his 100th 100 in ODI and win a world cup. But I guess things aren't looking in his favour.

[asterix]

Don't make the same mistake Chappell made in 2007 by bringing Tendulkar at 4. Let Tendulkar open where he has been the most successful odi batsman of all times. Our top order batting is one thing that's clicking and you want to change that as well? And that too in a must win game against Aussies? As per your definition every team's batting lineup is "predictable". I think you mistakenly used "predictable" instead of "stable". Our batting lineup is quite stable and productive and whenever we have tried to experiment we had a batting collapse. Look at SA - everyone knows Amla and Smith will open followed by Kallis and AB DeVilliers but it doesn't make them any less dangerous. You pick batsmen to perform certain roles and you can't change the roles in the middle of the tourney this confusing everyone. As the saying goes "Don't fix what ain't broke".

I'm getting a BAD VIBE about Viru getting out quickly...I hope it's turns out wrong..

[fineleg]

India need a 100 (127) from this man to be competitive against Aus India need a 100 (127) from this man to be competitive against Aus in Quarter finals. Since Aus will have clearly done their homework against each and every Indian batsman. Viru will have chin-music and they'll tuck him up cleanly. They can frustrate and get his wicket. And each batsman will have set fields and a plan laid out, and their bowlers are disciplined to execute to that plan in knock out matches. The only one who can defy such plans is this guy, and he has to get a big score even if it is at a 70-80 Strike Rate. That's ok, we need that platform to get a decent shot at Aussies. Of course, our bowling has to be decent too, that's a given requirement.

[Ultimate_Game]

That is exactly why I don't feel like watching the match. I will be really sad if SRT's world cup ends on a sour note. Before retirement I wanted him to reach his 100th 100 in ODI and win a world cup. But I guess things aren't looking in his favour.

Why do you say that? He's only 3 games away from winning the cup. Let's see how things turn out this Thursday. You gotta remember this is not the same old Aussie side and if India plays to potential they should win the game.

[Ultimate_Game]

Let the game begin and we will see who wins :thefinger:

As Yuvraj said after the WI game "Bring on the Aussies"

[Anakin]

The best thing to do is to let Aussies handle Tendulkar and Sehwag. Those guys would be sh*t scared and planning to get Sehwag. I suspect they would be so antsy that they will give a few loose deliveries and Sehwag will make them pay. Lee will be accurate and will bowl as per plan but I see Sehwag taking a shine to Tait. In the tourney Tendulkar & Sehwag partnership has worked beautifully - would hate to change the one thing that has gone right for us so far.

That's exactly why you disrupt their planning, so that, genius :punter: has to think off his feet on the field. And the fact is Veeru is still waiting to come out and he's even deadlier against spin would make :punter: distracted more than his broken finger. BTW, may be make another thread on batting.

[Cricket Tragic]

Tendulkar is due for a big one...he will bring up 200 most likely. Who thinks we should bring back Sreesanth..I think he would thrive against Australia!

Wtf? He scored a century 1 game back. How is he due for a big one? Talk about crazy expectations.

[WC2011INDIA]

India need a 100 (127) from this man to be competitive against Aus in Quarter finals. Since Aus will have clearly done their homework against each and every Indian batsman. Viru will have chin-music and they'll tuck him up cleanly. They can frustrate and get his wicket. And each batsman will have set fields and a plan laid out, and their bowlers are disciplined to execute to that plan in knock out matches. The only one who can defy such plans is this guy, and he has to get a big score even if it is at a 70-80 Strike Rate. That's ok, we need that platform to get a decent shot at Aussies. Of course, our bowling has to be decent too, that's a given requirement.

But Brett Lee won't allow this. He always prevents Sachin from getting to either half century or full century. Virender needs to play with discipline rather than slogging. I am really hoping we don't collapse from get go against Australia.

[Ultimate_Game]

I'm getting a BAD VIBE about Viru getting out quickly...I hope it's turns out wrong..

In that case it doesn't matter whether Viru bats 1 or 3. Let him bat the way he does and have faith in his ability. I think he's due a big one after sitting out today's game. He simply needs to be careful against Lee and he should be able to take Tait to the cleaners. I hope Tendulkar takes first strike against Lee when we play against Aussies and let Sehwag handle Tait. Tait is all speed with not great control which plays into Viru's hands as Sehwag has a great hand-eye coordination to go after Tait.

[WC2011INDIA]

As Yuvraj said after the WI game "Bring on the Aussies"

You shouldn't take Yuvraj's words very seriously. He is just a funny guy who tries to be as positive as possible.

[asterix]

That's exactly why you disrupt their planning, so that, genius :punter: has to think off his feet on the field. And the fact is Veeru is still waiting to come out and he's even deadlier against spin would make :punter: distracted more than his broken finger. BTW, may be make another thread on batting.

Yes, that's what I was thinking. Viru can take Krejza and Smith to cleaners so much so that they'll start singing "Krajzy Kia Re..". Viru is deadly against spinners but the problem is that he doesn't stays that long..

[WC2011INDIA]

Why do you say that? He's only 3 games away from winning the cup. Let's see how things turn out this Thursday. You gotta remember this is not the same old Aussie side and if India plays to potential they should win the game.

That is the keyword. India has so far not played to their full potential and I don't know if they will in quarter finals. Some players in our team just don't care.

[Cricket Tragic]

Sehwag will get bounced for sure after seeing how he played vs Australia on the recent test tour. If he plays sensibly and takes his time, he can come through. Tait bowls only 3-4 overs to start with. Johnson won't be a huge threat for Sehwag unless he throws it away. Lee is in great form though.

[Cricket Tragic]

India needs to play out the overs from Tait and Lee, even if the runs don't come freely. Australia's bowling is poor in the middle overs but you need wickets to take advantage of that.

[Ultimate_Game]

That's exactly why you disrupt their planning, so that, genius :punter: has to think off his feet on the field. And the fact is Veeru is still waiting to come out and he's even deadlier against spin would make :punter: distracted more than his broken finger. BTW, may be make another thread on batting.

Not quite. You try to disrupt the planning or come with a new plan/strategy in case things are not working for you or there is a lot of scope for improvement. But in our case our top order and opening partnership in particular has been one of the few bright spots. In fact if not for our openers and top order we wouldn't be 2nd in our group. Let's stick with what's working for us than try something we have never tried before. Remember too much cleverness sometimes hurts oneself by trying to be to clever for one's own good.

[Ultimate_Game]

That is the keyword. India has so far not played to their full potential and I don't know if they will in quarter finals. Some players in our team just don't care.

All the better for us. That means we haven't peaked till now and there's lot of scope for improvement

Sehwag will get bounced for sure after seeing how he played vs Australia on the recent test tour. If he plays sensibly and takes his time, he can come through. Tait bowls only 3-4 overs to start with. Johnson won't be a huge threat for Sehwag unless he throws it away. Lee is in great form though.

That's where I see Sehwag taking on Tait. Lee would be accurate but Tait would be too primed not to bowl at Sehwag's strength and end up giving loose deliveries, same way he did against Pak. Tait can't take pressure well and we need someone like Sehwag to put that pressure back on Tait and Aussies.

[WC2011INDIA]

The Aussies batting strategy includes getting settled in by playing very cautiously...If Ashwin can manage to grab someone at the end of the first powerplay' date=' it could do real damage for Australia if this strategy is employed at Motera. That carrom ball is key...[/quote'] He is make or break deal for India.

[Watson87]

Gambhir needs to steup his game and Bhajji needs to deliver his best performance ever against the Aussies or else no chance, bowlers need to do their job, it's not west indies it's Aussies the world champions. All these yuvi talk is nonsense, I remember in 1999 world cup commercial when Jadeja said "tera kya hoga Australia" the end result Aussies mauled India.