If you were part of the team management ....

[sachin_fan]

Hey guys, i am sure such threads have come up before, but i want this thread in the context of the series. I see that a lot of strategists are all over ICF and I would like them to give their comments opinion on what the current team should do to perform much better. Any and all analysis is welcome. I will give my two cents here. 1. Batting order : I have always seen yuvraj as a finisher. In his current from uninhibited batting from him will surely help in the death. I would like him to come in around over 35-50, i dont care whether he is no 2 or no 5, but this is the range of overs where he performs best. The one other slot that i would give him is that of an opener. I think his range of shots would help the scoring rate in the first few overs too. RD 1 down - I think his game suites consolidation and he is ideal for 1 down. If we are 100 for 1 after 20 overs, RD would be my man to consolidate the middle overs. If we are 0/1 again we need the wall to step steady the ship. Either way he is the perfect 1 down and i wouldnt want him anywhere else. Steading the 1st 10 overs. India's victory is directly attributed to a strong opening partnership. A case to point is the recent 20/20 WC where we didnt loose a wicket for the 1st 5 overs in every match (almost) I think Sach ganguky should aim at setting up such a platform for the middle order to take over and fire from. I am not able to think much more about the batting, looking for opinion from other members Bowling Haydo needs to be controlled. I think opening with pathan would be a good idea rather than Zak. His swing would make it difficult for haydo to play thru the line and if necessary dhoni can stand up for pathan. This would prevent him coming down the track to counter the swing. RP is impressive in patches. One thing i see is that we offer a lot of width to the aussie initially. This should be avoided. Another major thorn in the series has been symonds. He has been deceived twice already by slower balls and considering his form he would go hard at all the balls. Hence a well disguised slower ball might just take his wicket. Sreesanth bowled it beauifully . Zak can bowl it as well. I think around the wickets left arm off cutter might trouble symonds a lot . Cutting down the runs. Aussies did a lot of innovative work. A case to point is the 6-3 field they had for hogg and asked him to bowl over the wicket. Murali karthick can also employ that if there is a need for containing the aussies. Especially at the death, the negative line bowling empoloyeed by jayasuria would surely stem the run flow. Dinesh kartick should be in the field . It doesnt matter which senior is substituted for, but din ku in the field helps our cause. So a strategy would be to ask the senior who hits the most to sit out. I hope this made interesting reading.. Looking forward to logical ideas.

[Gambit]

Haydo needs to be controlled. I think opening with pathan would be a good idea rather than Zak. His swing would make it difficult for haydo to play thru the line and if necessary dhoni can stand up for pathan. This would prevent him coming down the track to counter the swing.

Good point sachin_fan. IIRC SL tried the same thing with Vaas earlier this year in the world cup and it worked for them on occasions (Lara stumping). I would propose sending MSD at #3 if we are chasing. If not, he should bat at 5/6.

[Tugga]

Yuvraj shud b given the no. 3 position (1 down) coz he can pound the f-ing hell out of the opposition...will easiley replace SRT (post his retirement) as the best batsman in the side, and dravid shud follow him 2 down...!!! Dhoni shud b left in the middle-lower order coz he is turning in2 a mature bloke where he can play those crisis-managing innings....!!!

[simba28]

dravid should not be wasted at any cost... he is too good a player for that... and sachin should wake up and remember he is playing at home and should start dominating the aussies.

[simba28]

hayden and symonds should be given lucrative contratcs to join the new Indian kabbadi league..

[sachin_fan]

Good point sachin_fan. IIRC SL tried the same thing with Vaas earlier this year in the world cup and it worked for them on occasions (Lara stumping). I would propose sending MSD at #3 if we are chasing. If not, he should bat at 5/6.

Makes sense, sending MSD at #3, but again it depends on when the wicket falls and the match situation. if we are 100/1 after 10 overs chasing 300, i would rather consolidate in the next 15 then loose one of my major thrust providers. I would rather send in RD and if necessary pathan. But thts a wonderful thought to consider

[Ram]

Good post Sachin fan. Why dont you introduce yourself in the Introductions thread ?

[Bumper]

We should follow the same strategy that worked in our last 3 victories against the Aussies. Bat first and bat conservatively in the first 10 overs. Coast at 5 rpo till the 30th over with less than 3 wickets down. Get close to 300 after 50 overs. Bowling & fielding, wont improve too much. We have hit par on both. If we just continue our good batting, we can sneak another win or two

[sachin_fan]

Yuvraj shud b given the no. 3 position (1 down) coz he can pound the f-ing hell out of the opposition...will easiley replace SRT (post his retirement) as the best batsman in the side' date=' and dravid shud follow him 2 down...!!! Dhoni shud b left in the middle-lower order coz he is turning in2 a mature bloke where he can play those crisis-managing innings....!!![/quote'] Precisely why i wouldnt want yuvraj coming in 1 down. He can pound opposition mercilessly and i would prefer a yuvraj going all out to an yuvraj trying to consolidate. Either open or around 35 over mark