Sir john Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Ready to rule Asia again Nihal Koshie A torturous tour of Australia behind them, the India team, faltering world champions, will travel to a cricketing venue where they have mastered conditions in the past and for a tournament that has brought them success. On the Asia Cup roll of honour, the teamÃÔ name has been inscribed five times, the most in this quadrangular contest. The Sher-e-Bangla Stadium here is a venue at which India have registered record totals in Tests and One-day Internationals. The 375 for four, the highest ODI total at this modern venue, was posted by two rampaging centurions Virender Sehwag (175 in 140 balls) and Virat Kohli (100 in 83 balls) as the team trampled over Bangladesh in the early stages of their successful World Cup campaign. A year later, the contrast in career graphs of these two batsmen is stark. SehwagÃÔ plummeting average has been intertwined with IndiaÃÔ misfortunes over the past eight months while KohliÃÔ assured batting has been a beacon, most recently during a masterful unbeaten 133 against Sri Lanka at Hobart. The failure of MS DhoniÃÔ side to make the final of the CB Series coupled with the advancement of Sri Lanka as a capable all-round unit is bound to have a physiological impact during the seven games, which will also feature the Islanders, a team that has won the Asia Cup four times. Mahela JayawardeneÃÔ side will be brimming with confidence when they land after a long flight from the Southern Hemisphere. The Sri Lankans have lot of going their way the openers have fashioned wins, and so have the handy bowling all-rounders. A shuffling of the batting order and infusion of fresh faces has seen the formation of an effective middle-order. The bowling, especially strike option Lasith Malinga, havenÃÕ been effective enough but skipper Mahela Jayawardene has made them look better with smart bowling changes and attacking fields. Clearly, JayawardeneÃÔ style of captaincy has invigorated this side. Rumours of a rift Watching Dhoni finish off games at No. 6 should have had a similar effect in the early part of the CB Series but ambiguity over a rotation policy and rumours of a rift between senior players have seemingly left the team distracted and disjointed. The start of the Asia Cup will also witness a change in equations in the dressing room with Kohli taking over the reins of vice-captaincy from Gautam Gambhir, who hasnÃÕ been on the same page as Dhoni recently with regard to team tactics. There is also bound to be a fight for places, which can bring the best out of the competitors when a team is doing well but also breed uncertainly during bad patches like these. Among middle order aspirants are Manoj Tiwary, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, while the all-rounder slot at No.7 will have claimants on the form of Ravindra Jadeja, the incumbent, Irfan Pathan and Yusuf Pathan. Off-spinner R Ashwin will also be eager to bowl in subcontinental conditions after an average tour of Australia. For over eight months now under Dhoni the team hasnÃÕ played like a champion unit. In their last match Down Under against Sri Lanka, with nothing to lose India chased down 321 with 80 balls and seven wickets to spare but disheartening losses by 110 runs, 51 runs and 87 runs had already done the damage. Success can again be courted in Mirpur on a set of wickets more suited for the stroke-making stars conditions in which the team roared to become world champions little less than a year ago. Pakistan, equally adept at playing in the sub-continent, will be looking to avenge their Cup semi-final loss, hosts Bangladesh on their day can be tricky opponents and the Lankans are on a roll. Defending champs India wonÃÕ be ranked favourites in this edition of the Asia Cup. But if DhoniÃÔ beleaguered team starts enjoying their game again in these home-like conditions, the smell of success will return. http://m.indianexpress.com/news/ready-to-rule-asia-again/921881/
Swing_n_Speed Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 :hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical::hysterical: Magic words. Said before every series since the WC finals. Nopes not me. Prior to commencing I could never have predicted we'd win the CB Cup. But here we have more than a good shot. I stand by my original statement. We are winning this cup. On another note what's the deal with Waqar's commentary. He totally sucks the life our of it. He's forever cranky and pissed off. Less an international commentator he resembles a grumpy school teacher. Rameez Raja is fairly good.
Prakat Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Nopes not me. Prior to commencing I could never have predicted we'd win the CB Cup. But here we have more than a good shot. I stand by my original statement. We are winning this cup. On another note what's the deal with Waqar's commentary. He totally sucks the life our of it. He's forever cranky and pissed off. Less an international commentator he resembles a grumpy school teacher. Rameez Raja is fairly good. Fair enough. :regular_smile: As for commentary, I can't stand either of them!
SLICKR392 Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Nopes not me. Prior to commencing I could never have predicted we'd win the CB Cup. But here we have more than a good shot. I stand by my original statement. We are winning this cup. On another note what's the deal with Waqar's commentary. He totally sucks the life our of it. He's forever cranky and pissed off. Less an international commentator he resembles a grumpy school teacher. Rameez Raja is fairly good. Totally with that statement. India have a really great chance to defend that Trophy. And about Waqar's commentary; he is weak and obnoxious.
PriyankaSR Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 I don't ****ING care who the favorites are. Waqar younis can shut up. :finger:
Ammar1 Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Has Pakistan lost their killer instinct Has Pakistan lost there killer instinct last year and now i am seeing pakistan has lost the there killer instinct.when i see pakistan in odi and specially odi there is no hunger or power or self confidence.Batsman think i just score 50 and i am safe and blower pray to god just keep my Econ to 4 in over
Crookbond Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 One particular aspect I miss in the modern Pakistan teams probably post 2007 (around when Shoaib Malik took the captaincy), is their "comeback" factor/attitude. Earlier, pre-2007 there was never a game when I thought about that Pakistan couldn't comeback to beat any team. I loved that fightback gut or attitude. I do miss it.
vvvslaxman Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 I think with the advent of T20, ODI has cricket changed a lot. Teams back themselves to score 300 runs easily on a decent pitch. Guys like Younis, Misba are from the Miandad school. Preserve wicketrs upfront and then go boom boom at the death. It more often than not fails for them. Extremely conservative at the top and explodes at the end. Bowlingwise they are always decent.Batting they have to change their approach.
Khalpat Posted March 10, 2012 Posted March 10, 2012 Well to be frank, this was always the best part of seeing Pakistan team playing, somehow miraculously they used to come back in the game even if everybody had written them off. The exact opposite was with India during 90's even if they have taken 9 wickets of opposition while defending a big target was not sure whether they are going to win the match. Now tides have changed, wonder how much role of captains have in this aspect. Pakistan in the 90s had captain like Imran and Akram and India in 00's under Ganguly and Dhoni.
CSK Fan Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Just two years ago, Pakistan team was down and out. They had become the whipping boys of cricket. One should be glad that Misbah has brought stabilty back. It will take time for Pakistan to recover and be strong and have that winning confidence I hope Pakistan does not change captains again thinking of just short term goals. It will be a disaster. But knowing Pakistan, thats just what they will do
vvvslaxman Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Personally if i were Pak fan i wouldn't worry about ODI fortunes. They can lose everything as long as they win Tests. That is what matters.
CSK Fan Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Also, to have 'killer instincts' one needs to have the confidence which only comes with winning regularly. A team which is at the bottom cannot have killer instincts
Bumper Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Has Pakistan lost there killer instinct That's true. But that's to be expected when you lose Baitullah Mehsud and Osama Bin Laden in two back to back years.
adi B Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Personally if i were Pak fan i wouldn't worry about ODI fortunes. They can lose everything as long as they win Tests. That is what matters. cant understand why people underestimate odi`s... tbh both tests nd odi`s are important, dip in the form of one format can really hurt the team in the other format.. odi cricket has got the pinnacle of wc nd test cricket has always got its luxury both forms very important, but for pakistan, i dont see them as a very good test side as compared to an odi side
Crookbond Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 That's true. But that's to be expected when you lose Baitullah Mehsud and Osama Bin Laden in two back to back years. :hysterical:
adi B Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 believe mode on [i believe i believe i believe india will win asia cup ] mode off
Yoda-esque Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 Yes they have.. Used to be Terrified of seeing them play vs India in the 80s Not so anymore
vvvslaxman Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 cant understand why people underestimate odi`s... tbh both tests nd odi`s are important, dip in the form of one format can really hurt the team in the other format.. odi cricket has got the pinnacle of wc nd test cricket has always got its luxury both forms very important, but for pakistan, i dont see them as a very good test side as compared to an odi side It is not important from the fact it involves certain amount of luck factor,lottery factor. Also frankly i don't remember the results of many of the bilateral series results. They look pointless to me. Even Asia cup, championship trophy that happens every 2 years.
zen Posted March 11, 2012 Posted March 11, 2012 That's true. But that's to be expected when you lose Baitullah Mehsud and Osama Bin Laden in two back to back years. :hysterical:
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