Somethings never change..

[Ram]

I slept last night after the Australian inning. Woke up this morning to check the cricinfo scoreboard. Saw the result of the match as " Aus won by 18 runs", clicked on the full scoreboard link , scrolled down to the Indian innings scorecard and found that,

• Sachin scored a 50+ at a SR of 100
• Ganguly scored an 75+ at a SR 75
• Dravid scored single digits
• Uthappa made a valiant attempt
• Hogg took 4 crucial middle order wickets
• Johnson took 2
• Lee went for plenty...

Some things never change dont they ? Just went through some of the threads and totally shocked to find the amount of negativity about our Indian team. An one-day match won with a difference of 18 runs means just one thing- there isnt a lot of difference between the two teams. Just a stroke of luck would have decided who would have ultimately won. I dont know how many teams chasing 300+ against Aus will score so much. Down will the negativity ! Well played India , you made us all proud. I dont care whether you won or lost , you competed, gave the world champions a run for their money and thats what counts ! :isalute::isalute::isalute:

[beetle]

>>> An one-day match won with a difference of 18 runs means just one thing- there isnt a lot of difference between the two teams. Just a stroke of luck would have decided who would have ultimately won. I dont know how many teams chasing 300+ against Aus will score so much. :two_thumbs_up:

[Chandan]

:wtg: Australia saved upto 40 runs with their unbelievable fielding. Many a times I felt like breaking down when a sure-shot 4 was converted into a 2. I just couldn't believe how the player reached there from nowhere to cut many a strokes short. A time had come when 4 was not an option. If you wanted a boundary, you only had to clear the the rope through air, ie, hit a six!! Australian fielders are just unbelievable!

[beetle]

Agree chandan....the biggest difference between the two teams is the fielding........ It was quite unbelievable!

[Ram]

Frankly, i didnt give the Indian batsman a chance at all. It is clear as daylight who the better team is. Sometimes it better to accept the truth. The Aussie one-day team is miles ahead of our one-day team and winning against them would be very difficult for any team. That established, we as fans should expect our team to only put up a good fight. If that happens , absolutely no complaints !

[Mandrake]

"I dont know how many teams chasing 300+ against Aus will score so much." MM...that's not the right attitude...you gotta believe you can beat them....having won only ONE freakin match in a 7 match series,I'm afraid its just too late for brownie points to be won for almost making 300 against the Aussies.

[Ram]

"I dont know how many teams chasing 300+ against Aus will score so much." MM...that's not the right attitude...you gotta believe you can beat them....having won only ONE freakin match in a 7 match series,I'm afraid its just too late for brownie points to be won for almost making 300 against the Aussies.

Mandrake , would you have expected Zim to have won the match against Aus chasing 300-odd ? Sometimes we can miss the obvious truth and the obvious truth is - the aussie team is miles ahead of any other team. Once we are comfortable with that FACT , we can surely put things in perspective.

[Mandrake]

Mandrake , would you have expected Zim to have won the match against Aus chasing 300-odd ? Sometimes we can miss the obvious truth and the obvious truth is - the aussie team is miles ahead of any other team. Once we are comfortable with that FACT , we can surely put things in perspective.

I hope our team sincerely believes they are better than Zim.....Look at it this way,We are a team capable of beating the Aussies specially in home conditions.We are NOT playing to our potential.That is what hurts.

[Ram]

I hope our team sincerely believes they are better than Zim.....Look at it this way' date='We are a team capable of beating the Aussies specially in home conditions.We are NOT playing to our potential.That is what hurts.[/quote'] I dont think so , we played as well as we could. Some pure bad luck( Gilchrist and Symmonds dropped early on) , some bad selection ( Sreesanth) , key players out of form ( Dravid) , key players not delivering at key moments ( Yuvraj and Dhoni) hurt us. These things are part and parcel of one-dayers, yet the important thing is - we competed. Thats what counts. There is no harm losing when you know you ran the opposition close, because you know the next time you play the same opposition ,you can win.

[Chandan]

Dhoni did his best, MM. He tried superbly and had he stayed till the end, we could...just could have seen a different result. But he tried to hit a six which was the only option. You can't always succeed in that, can you? I have no problem with Dhoni.

[prateik]

why is it so hard to accept that Australia are a much better side than us . we were lucky in the first ODI . lost the 2nd by 84 runs 3rd by 47 runs won the 4th by 8 runs .. ( hardly convincing) lost the 5th by 9 wickets lost the 6th by 18 runs , didnt do too badly , but we were never close enough to win it they are clearly a much better bowling and fielding side .. batting can be comparable on paper , but they are far more consistent . we need a stable team , with a few good bowlers ..

[Ram]

Dhoni did his best' date=' MM. He tried superbly and had he stayed till the end, we could...just could have seen a different result. But he tried to hit a six which was the only option. You can't always succeed in that, can you? I have no problem with Dhoni.[/quote'] I am not blaming Dhoni for our defeat Chandan, not at all. As indian an supporter , we would have all expected Dhoni to take us to the target, he tried his best but failed. Hard luck , thats all !

[yoda]

Dhoni did his best' date=' MM. He tried superbly and had he stayed till the end, we could...just could have seen a different result. But he tried to hit a six which was the only option. You can't always succeed in that, can you? I have no problem with Dhoni.[/quote'] I disagree. Dhoni played rather poorly. He simply couldn't find the gaps and boundaries whereas Uthappa was doing that with regularity from the other hand.

[Chandan]

Basic mistakes cost India dear Anand Vasu in Nagpur October 14, 2007 To blame Tendulkar or Ganguly for India's loss, however, would be churlish, given India desperately needed a solid start, and they had provided this © AFP Hindsight is always perfect vision, and the errors made by a losing team seem glaringly obvious, but when India fluffed their lines in the final stages of the sixth ODI in Nagpur, it was hard to even put the loss down to one particular aspect of the game. There was the costly dropped chance against Andrew Symonds. There are some unanswered questions about the batting order. There is the issue of India's fast bowlers struggling to provide early breakthroughs ... Where exactly does one start? Well, a good place to begin is the toss, which in this case India lost, and immediately put themselves in a position of disadvantage. When Australia chose to bat - and this is a staggering statistic - they would have known just how poor India's record is when it comes to chasing against the world champions. The last time India successfully chased a target against Australia was way back in 1998, in Sharjah, in what came to be known as Sachin Tendulkar's 'Desert Storm' series. Since then, India have attempted the task, either willingly or otherwise, 18 times, and failed on 15 occasions, with three matches, including the first game of this series in Bangalore, having no result. The difference between the two teams, in the end, was only 18 runs, but in one-day cricket that's a lot. And India just made some basic mistakes that they were forced to pay for by a ruthless opponent. To start with, India should not have conceded 317, and in a big game like this, gaining the momentum as early as possible is crucial. Sreesanth, who replaced RP Singh for this game, did the exact opposite, spraying the ball around liberally in his first three overs, which cost 26 runs. Two other patches cost India dear. The first came when Mahendra Singh Dhoni chose to use Yuvraj Singh in the 21st over - which went for 15 - in the middle of a period when Murali Kartik and Harbhajan Singh were doing their best to tighten the screws. And the third passage of play in India's bowling that would prove damaging, was the end overs. After the ball was changed things got easier for a well-set Symonds and 102 runs came from the last 10 overs, with 57 coming off the last five. If Desert Storm was the last time India chased successfully, they needed a similar effort from Tendulkar and they nearly got it. Looking in as good touch and form as he has in any innings in the recent past, Tendulkar's innings was a masterclass, barring one early top-edged pull and an outside edge in a Brett Lee over. His powerful driving straight down the ground, against bowlers of varying speeds and varieties, in the company of Sourav Ganguly, who had sussed out the wicket perfectly, was just what India needed. Both batsmen drew on a large well of experience and showed the poise needed to bat on a surface that was on the slower side, waiting long and playing late. In crucial moments, India slipped up, albeit in small ways, but it was enough to allow Australia to press on and seal the series With Tendulkar and Ganguly adding 140 for the first wicket, in 25 overs, India were in touching distance of the required rate. After Tendulkar fell, smartly stumped down the leg side off James Hopes, there was still a passage of play where the runs came, with Irfan Pathan using the third Powerplay well enough, and hitting a run-a-ball 29. The fall of Ganguly's wicket, to a tired shot to long-off, for 86, put the skids on the Indian chase. To blame Tendulkar or Ganguly, however, would be churlish, given India desperately needed a solid start, and they had provided this. Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj, who came in with India still needing only 7.5 runs an over, consumed 24 balls between them for 13 runs, and neither was able to achieve any fluency. By the time Yuvraj had fallen, the task on hand was a much harder one, with India needing to score at almost 10 an over from as many overs. Robin Uthappa and Mahendra Singh Dhoni battled hard for a time, but getting bowlers of the quality of Nathan Bracken and Mitchell Johnson away at that rate is a high-risk proposition, and neither could sustain their heroics long enough. Against most teams, a start like one Tendulkar and Ganguly got off to, would have been enough to secure victory. Against Australia, however, you have to be playing at your best for all 100 overs if you want to come out on top. In crucial moments, India slipped up, albeit in small ways, but it was enough to allow Australia to press on and seal the series. -------------------------------------------------------- I think Vasu has summed up things nicely here.

[yoda]

Putting Uthappa and Dhoni's knocks in the same breadth is incorrect, IMO. One was flourishing while the other was barely able to eeke out singles. At one point Dhoni was 20 off 22 deliveries.

[bigdhoni7]

i concur 100% with everything you just wrote, marirs. Great comeback by the indian team. :isalute:

[The Outsider]

Rubbish. The gap between the two sides is enormous and reflected most in fielding.

[HouMac]

I completely disagree with the original post. While I can see some fans taking positives out of a close loss, I don't see what's there to be "proud" of. You were proud of our sloppy fielding? Poor bowling? Lazy running? Another middle order collapse? Complete inability to cope with pressure while chasing? Losing another one day series?? I think the NEGATIVITY today has everything to do with the fact that we were given this great platform by the openers to win the game, but still managed to blow it. Also, given our history against Australia over the past decade and how this series has gone I don't see how somebody can say there isn't much of a difference between the two teams. YES, THERE IS. Difference is that they are A LOT better than us at every aspect of the game. Which is why with the exception of tonight's game they have dominated us in EVERY game of this series and have been doing so for a decade. And them being so obviously superior is THE reason why today's loss in particular hurts so much because when we do get that RARE opportunity(and a good one to boot!) to beat 'em, we somehow BLOW IT.

[fineleg]

I disagree. Dhoni played rather poorly. He simply couldn't find the gaps and boundaries whereas Uthappa was doing that with regularity from the other hand.

The reason Dhoni got out, was that he was not able to pierce the field as much and find boundaries. Uthappa was doing it brilliantly. Dhoni's timing was also not that great yesterday (you could see the differnce when RU and MSD were together), so he tried to resort giving it raw power. He got a few power shots for boundaries, but then perished in the end trying one more six, but under edge of the bat.

[fineleg]

I completely disagree with the original post. While I can see some fans taking positives out of a close loss, I don't see what's there to be "proud" of. You were proud of our sloppy fielding? Poor bowling? Lazy running? Another middle order collapse? Complete inability to cope with pressure while chasing? Losing another one day series?? I think the NEGATIVITY today has everything to do with the fact that we were given this great platform by the openers to win the game, but still managed to blow it. Also, given our history against Australia over the past decade and how this series has gone I don't see how somebody can say there isn't much of a difference between the two teams. YES, THERE IS. Difference is that they are A LOT better than us at every aspect of the game. Which is why with the exception of tonight's game they have dominated us in EVERY game of this series and have been doing so for a decade. And them being so obviously superior is THE reason why today's loss in particular hurts so much because when we do get that RARE opportunity(and a good one to boot!) to beat 'em, we somehow BLOW IT.

You make a good point, HouMac.