Ponting looks confident even in defeat

[King]

Any team who is seen to lack 'fire in the belly' - and this is RD & India - could learn from how the Zimmers played. I thought India should've thrashed the Poms in the one dayers but they lost 4 matches and simply capitulated/imploded in the decider. This is an Indian fansite. If I was posting in CaribbeanCricket, I would've used the Windies as the example because they also have the talent but not the mindset. Their loss to SA was just another example.

I don't reckon they lost because they were mellow in heart and mind but they lost because they weren't good enough. To be honest India has had terrible record in ODIs for a while now and that wasn't going to change quickly just because they were playing England. I think India still need another 6 months or a year to put together a ODI team that can beat the not so good teams consistently.

[Donny]

I think maybe you're missing my point, Ravi. There really isn't much difference in talent from Australia down to the Banglas and Zimmers. It's mental attitudes and team management that makes a difference. The Aussies (most cricket followers would say they have abundant talent) looked very ordinary against Zimbabwe but all their talented players were still there. Over the last 5 - 10 years (whatever), India has often 'looked' like the world's best team on paper but failed under pressure. One of the reasons Oz has done so well, roughly since the '87 World Cup and '89 Ashes series, has been their charismatic, strong leaders. AB, Taylor, Waugh, Warne, Gilly and Ponting have all been positive, confident, attacking captains. Leaders like RD and BCL are/were like black holes when their teams are in the field. Terrible body language. Both of them (there are others) look unhappy and worried. This is NOT what the other players (especially the younger ones) seek when they look to the skipper for inspiration. They nullify any early positivity around them. The great Dennis Lillee went into big time cricket thinking it was 85% talent/physical and 15% mental. He retired knowing it was the other way round. :regular_smile:

[King]

I'm not that generous to compare talent between Australia and Zimbabwe Donny. Australia hasn't had any cricket since the world cup and that showed in their game yesterday. I don't reckon they were mentally weak yesterday but were out of touch. It's all good to be mentally tough but cricket's quite a simple game IMO. You bowl badly you get hit and if you lack preparation batting can come a cropper at times. I believe captain is only as good as a team. The team makes the captain look good not the other way around.

[The Outsider]

I always wonder why a large section of cricket fan base is so interested in sound bytes as opposed to the actual cricket.:confused_smile:

[coffee_rules]

Some people believe that captains win matches in sound bytes itself. A few snarls, growls and a bravado statements is all it takes to win test matches.