Sreesanth expected to play against Pakistan in semi-finals

[Shakthi]

Mohali: Will Shantakumaran Sreesanth come back into the playing eleven for the semi-final? The news emerging from those close to Team India is that a move is on to include him in the eleven for the match against Pakistan on Wednesday. The wicket in Mohali is known for its pace and bounce, so there are chances that Sreesanth might come in place of Munaf Patel. When Gulf News met Sreesanth on the flight from Mumbai to Chandigarh, he said: "Pray for our victory. Let us hope for the best." Players are under strict orders not to speak about team selection or chances of being included in the team. Patel's fielding has also been unimpressive and India will need an aggressive attacking pacer. India is hoping that if Sreesanth can pick up a few early wickets, then they can put pressure on the Pakistan middle order. Another factor that has gone in Sreesanth's favour is that Mohali is known to assist swing bowling, and Sreesanth has the ability to move the ball better than any bowler in the team. Intikhab Alam, the Pakistan team manager, who knows the conditions well since he was coach of the Punjab state team, has said that the pacers will get a lot of help from the wicket, especially during the start of the match. Under pressure When Sreesanth arrived at the Taj Hotel, a few fans crowded around him for autographs. As he was walking towards the lift to his room someone called out "Break dance". Sreesanth, who is known for his talent as a dancer, stopped, smiled at the fan, and said: "Come to the disco tonight." Team India management also feels that Zaheer Khan is under too much pressure following lack of assistance from other pacers. However, the plan of opening the bowling attack with R. Ashwin is expected to continue. http://gulfnews.com/sport/cricket/sreesanth-expected-to-play-against-pakistan-in-semi-finals-1.783797

[asterix]

Hope Sreesanth plays... Bye Bye Munna..

[Switchblade]

do well Sree if u play

[b555]

for christ sake , we dont need him :mad:

[Shakthi]

for christ sake ' date=' we dont need him :mad:[/quote'] He is better than Nehra and Munna munna just laughs when ever he misfields

[Sachin=GOD]

I hope and pray that he does not play :pray:

[kabira]

nothing to lose for India. Munaf is giong to bowl for 5 or 6 overs max. Sreesanth if goes for rusn, can only ball same nubmer of overs. so we don't much to lose

[achilles]

C'mon Sree. I'll sure your home stint with Kings XI Punjab will come useful. May you live up to your Semi-final heroics, for you always seem to have store your best for the last, as was the case in the WT20 '07

[jaggadaku]

hope this is true that joker munna doesn't deserve to play international cricket what a pathetic attitude this guy has

[bihutoli]

Its a risk worth taking. Don't see it happening though! The last place Dhoni et all will take team formation recos from will be newspaper analysis.

[Sachin=GOD]

Now we know why Sreesanth is expected to play :

India races to get Nehra, Munaf unfit in time for semi-final With only days to go before their high-pressure semi-final game against Pakistan in Mohali, team India is desperately battling to get seamers Ashish Nehra and Munaf Patel unfit in time. "Yes, the lack of injuries to Ashish and Munaf is a major concern," said skipper MS Dhoni to bewildered reporters at a press conference. "We're doing our best to get at least one of them out of action, ideally both, to maximise our chances of victory against Pakistan on Wednesday." Explaining further, Dhoni said "If we can successfully injure one of our seamers other than Zaheer, we can bring in Praveen Kumar as an emergency replacement. Surely you'll agree that it's our best bet now. "They're both thorough professionals, fully committed to the team's cause. In fact, even as we speak, they're both working extra hard with the physio to make sure that they get completely unfit as soon as possible, so we can start the paperwork to bring Praveen in. All it takes is a lovely strained groin, or a delightful pulled hamstring, or perhaps even an epic cracked rib, and Navjot's your uncle. Replacement player!" chirped the Indian captain, adroitly using adjectives to describe things they've possibly never been used to describe before. When a journalist pointed out that a similar strategy could be implemented for Piyush Chawla as well, Dhoni replied, "I only said that Piyush isn't mentally strong. Physically, he's right up there. In fact, you could call him the R Ashwin of physical toughness. In fact, I just did." Team coach Gary Kirsten has been requested by the BCCI to put a proper injury coach and unfitness trainer in place before he leaves at the end of the World Cup. "You have to agree that, fairly often, international cricket teams are faced with situations where they'd be happier if one or more of their selected squad members weren't available to play," said Kirsten. "As a professional unit, you have to be prepared to make sure that you're not stuck with a fully fit squad at the wrong time - such as in this very World Cup. Look at the way Australia and England handled it with Hussey and Morgan coming in. That's the kind of level we need to be at."

Cricinfo page 2 :hysterical::hysterical:

[NareshK]

Sreesanth got Misbah run out in T20 World Cup and ended the match in a tie and he again took the catch to get Misbah out to win the cup. So he will be an important player for us against Pakistan psychologically. If he gets his rhythm going, he will be dangerous and can pick some wickets.

[Shakthi]

Sreesanth got Misbah run out in T20 World Cup and ended the match in a tie and he again took the catch to get Misbah out to win the cup. So he will be an important player for us against Pakistan psychologically. If he gets his rhythm going' date=' he will be dangerous and can pick some wickets.[/quote'] excatly what i thought anna

[cowboysfan]

i am not sure dropping munna for sree is a good idea.i would rather play both and drop ashwin.muna is steady and will be a fail safe incase sreeshanth is very wayward.I also dont like sreesanth bowling in the PPs.

[BERGKAMP]

Rather him than Munaf or Nehra. I would even bring in Pathan for Munna bhai MBBS. These will roughly be the figures for each one if they play Munaf / Nehra 6 0 0 48 Sreesanth 8 0 3 45 Pathan 7 0 1 37

[Shakthi]

Rather him than Munaf or Nehra. I would even bring in Pathan for Munna bhai MBBS. These will roughly be the figures for each one if they play Munaf / Nehra 6 0 0 48 Sreesanth 8 0 3 45 Pathan 7 0 1 37

Dada munna is too predictable just like nehra nehra costed us t20 2010 in the final over he did the same against saffers munna just laughs when ever he misfields i wud rather have sressanth than these jokers.

[achilles]

Sree's chance is overdue now. If MSD still prefers Munna or Ashish over Sreesanth, there's gotta be something drastically wrong with Dhoni.

[Sachin=GOD]

Sree is a very very big gamble to take at this stage of the tournament. He has'nt played any match for quite some time, has a tendency to almost always go for lots and lots of runs and thereby undo all the good work done by other bowlers and also has the problem of his temperament - its very easy for opposition batsmen to make him lose the plot because of his temperament..

[Pak_Fan_4_Eva]

:nervous::nervous::nervous:

[Sir john]

hud hud hud dabaang