Ultimate_Game Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Hats off to Harmeet. The guy has a good temperament :hatsoff: Link... http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc-under19-world-cup-2012/content/current/story/578502.html Excerpt from the article... "When I hit it [the winning shot], I knew it was two runs," said Harmeet, still trembling with exhilaration half an hour after he had sent the spirited group of Indian fans at the Tony Ireland Stadium into raptures. "When I ran the first run, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't cry, I couldn't laugh. It was something in between. The emotion was tremendous." ........... "I backed myself and I knew Sandy [sandeep] could play. The ones who had got out, they could also play," Harmeet said. "It was just about pressure, the balls they got out to were not that great. So it was just pressure that we got under." Two balls after Sandeep came to the crease, Harmeet played the left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar on the leg side for a single. Nine to get. There were shouts from the dismissed Indian batsmen on the sidelines. Perhaps they were cheering the run, perhaps they were imploring Harmeet to farm strike. Sandeep, striding forward and defending, kept out the remaining four balls of the 42nd over,. In the tensest of situations, Harmeet was astute enough to read the game, and know that Azizullah, who had taken two wickets in his previous over, had only one left - the 43rd. "I decided that I'll play that over," Harmeet said. "After that there were only spinners, and there wasn't much spin [in the pitch]. So that's what I did, I just played that over and nudged around." Off the fourth ball of that Azizullah over, with only nine to get, Harmeet refused a single to long-off. "That fast bowler took two wickets in his last over. I didn't take a chance there and after that I knew Sandy could play all the spinners. I had confidence in Sandy. I knew he could stay there and not play a shot for maybe the whole day. I played with him in the Cooch Behar [indian domestic Under-19 tournament]. He has got patience, that's why I backed him and took singles again after the fast bowler had finished." Harmeet's faith was not misplaced. Despite every fielder coming in to the 30-yard circle to keep Sandeep on strike, he did not try and hit the ball over the top. He defended the whole of the 44th over from the other left-arm spinner Mohammad Nawaz. "I was just concentrating on the ball," Sandeep said. "Harmeet was playing really well, he was telling me to 'just play with a straight bat, the ball is doing nothing, so just play with a straight bat.' I was just focussing on saving my wicket." With so few runs to defend, and majority of the fielders saving the single, only a tremendously confident and mature spinner will slow down his pace and flight the ball to tempt the batsman into indiscretion. Gohar and Nawaz bowled defensively - quicker and flatter - and Harmeet, being a left-arm spinner, realised they were no threat if handled sensibly. India were in no hurry whatsoever. Harmeet took two off the first ball of the 45th over - seven needed - and blocked the rest. The Indian fans, who had fallen silent, found voices again, most of them hoarse by now. Sandeep had defended 12 balls with a calmness that would have reassured thumping hearts in the Indian camp before driving Nawaz to long-off for a single. He would finish on 2 off 22 deliveries. Drip by drip India crawled closer. With two runs needed, Harmeet decided the time was right and played his first airborne shot, chipping Nawaz over square leg to bring an end to the ordeal. The partnership was worth a match-winning 10; it had taken seven overs.
carnish Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 If zimboks loose this they will end on playing for 15th spot :giggle:
Square Drive Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 What PNG?? :hitler: The only PNG I know about is Portable Network Graphics.
Crookbond Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 India have one decent swing bowler and thats about it. Dont know anything about Pak but they should fancy their chances. Serani pawned once again! :hehe:
MCcricket Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 India tried hard to loose the game against Pak, batting is very inconsistent, bowlers did not bowl as well as first few games but bowled with a plan although pace was down, good thing is the team has talent, Harmet is impressive also he seems to have batting talent, Chand, Chopra look good, Aparajit as well.
jind Posted August 20, 2012 Posted August 20, 2012 Man, what a game that was. Watched it from start to finish... Amazing. When India had that collapse and were 9 down, wow, those were nervous times.. my heart was pumping at 100 miles per hour.. Kept on saying to myself "It's just a game" just to relax myself and was checking the comments here on ICF as well. What a roller coaster ride it was..almost like the 2007 t20 WC finals. Amazing to be on the winning side...bruaaah :yay: Gotta give credit to Sandeep Sharma. The guy kept on blocking without any fuss. Don't think he missed a single shot. And Harmeet also kept his 'cool' in his own way by playing a shot every ball..lol. When the winning runs came, wow what a relief and flurry of emotions.. Bruaaah chak de phatte!! Ok, now onto some scrambled thoughts: Sandeep had a brilliant first taking out both the lefties with great deliveries enticing the batsmen to play. However, after that the bowling radar was off in the first ten or so overs..either too short and erring in line. A lot more damage could've been done by the Indian pacers, however, they did keep it tight as far as the scoring rate was concerned. Babar Azam and Umar played well in that rebuilding phase - not over anxious to hit out. Ravikant Singh, while bowling some wide and no balls, pitched the ball in the right areas and eventually got quick wickets and made a big dent in the Pakistani batting lineup. He's got a easy flowing action (may I say somewhat similar bowling action to a Tyagi/Ishant Sharma) which can be handy as he strengthens himself in the upcoming years. Harmeet Singh, who is playing in his second u19, bowled really well - confusing the batsmen with guile and loop. Ended up with a solitary wicket but displayed good skills. Also missed a return catch of Babar Azam. Apart from that cameo by Ehsan Adil, who by the way was hitting sixes at will, India did well to restrict Pakistan to 136. Looked like an easy target to chase if the Indian batsmen could go unscathed in the first 10 overs. How did India reply 8/3 - Chand, Chopra, and Vihari back in the pavilion. Btw, Vihari hasn't clicked at all in the series. Then Aparajith and Zol did a great job at stabilizing the innings and India was in cruise mode before the unfortunate run out of Zol. Both Aparajith and Zol look like good players and played some good shots. Akshdeep came and went with a nervous looking 7. Then Smit Patel and Aparajith built another good partnership and once again India was in cruise mode and looked like winning comfortably. Aparajith played a loose shot after completing his half century and Patel followed. This was where the Indian batsmen failed to read the situation. The spearhead Pakistani bowlers were bowling their last overs and the batsmen could have easily just played these couple of overs and it would have been an easy ride after that. Anyway, India collapsed and it came down to the last partnership of Harmeet and Sandeep to see India through. One one end, Sandeep was blocking everything and on the other hand, Harmeet attempting a scoring shot every ball. It worked, a mix of emotions, comical and at the same time nerve-wrecking. The Pakistani coaches/support staff were so tensed and saw one of the Pakistani players crying at the end. Reminds my me of an old Punjabi saying: ajj nateeja nikluga, koi hassuga koi rouga (The results will come tonite, some will smile, others will cry) :hatsoff: Oh yeah one more thing, great slip catching by Aparajith. What a game Bruaaah...chak de phatte
Haarkarjeetgaye Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 did their captain say anything about big hearts? heard some rumours on that.
Haarkarjeetgaye Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 just wait till the next world cup we will take our revenge. or earlier in t-20 wc. Even if you win, how will you convert that day to an EID day though:hysterical::hysterical:
Tiger80 Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Gurinder Sandhu is 6 feet 5 inches tall and bowls upto 136 kmph
rkt.india Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 I think Sandhu should book his ticket to India ASAP. With fast bowlers riches in Australia, he may or may not get chance their as soon as he can get that in India with scarcity of fast bowlers in India.
rkt.india Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 Looks like Savage from South Africa is chucking.
Tiger80 Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 I think Sandhu should book his ticket to India ASAP. With fast bowlers riches in Australia' date=' he may or may not get chance their as soon as he can get that in India with scarcity of fast bowlers in India.[/quote'] If he is born in Australia then how much time he needs to spend in India to qualify for playing in Ranji or team India?
rkt.india Posted August 21, 2012 Posted August 21, 2012 If he is born in Australia then how much time he needs to spend in India to qualify for playing in Ranji or team India? :dontknow:
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