2003 Team V/S 2011 Team

[ravishingravi]

Imo, 2003 was the best cricket ODI team we have produced in my life time. Definitely the best bowling attack. Ofcourse, would like to chuck Mongia out and put in Dhoni. Dravid could have avoided keeping. It also dosn't help that they faced one of the greatest teams ever in finals. But I can't help but think that this current team played at 60-70% of its capacity. Maybe because of the intense pressure. But the big difference is Dhoni's calmness as suppose to Ganguly's team's over eagerness in Finals. To me India's success was more about their self belief and mental strength rather than the strength of the squad. I believe 2003 squad was younger, more inexperienced and not used to the big match pressures like this one.

[vvvslaxman]

India played Australia on a patta pitch in 2003. But Brett Lee was on top of his game. Not even Mcgrath everyone was worried about. Brett Lee. He was one of the reason India opted to field first. There was always a chance our top order could be blown away. That was a blunder. Second of all. We wilted under pressure. And also there was no example set those days for how to chase 350 plus totals. If you look at it India was bowled out inside 40 overs. We made 231 runs. India's strategy was plain wrong. Even if you play out Mcgrath and Lee, we had crappy bowlers like Lehmann, Brad hogg, Bichel, Symonds to target. It was a pakka flat pitch. India wasted a golden opportunity.