Difference Between todays Team India and the Australian team of the 2000's

When Australia were the leading team in world cricket (in the 2000’s) they did not only win their matches… They annihilated the opposition completely leaving them shell shocked and completely dispirited and deflated. It would take those teams, days to recover from the mental scars that the Aussies inflicted upon them!!

They could hold the favorites tag with a smile on their faces… they enjoyed it and all the attention. They played like real favorites… never got under any pressure (they had players who always gave their best under pressure). The teams played 200 percent of their abilities, gave everything that they had but still found themselves well short of the Aussies!!

On the other hand, India touted as overwhelming favorites due to various reasons (strong batting line-up, home conditions, spinners, etc, etc) have not even remotely played like that.

They have succumbed to the pressure, not beaten any major team (read games Vs England and Vs South Africa) 25 days into the tournament, struggled to win against minnows like Ireland and Netherlands, their spinners have been effective, pace bowlers have been hammered, fielding has been dodgy like always and the skipper who takes odd decisions and even justifies them in the post match conferences.

Just to add something more, Australia even with the so called weak team have not lost a single match till now. They may not be the same force as they used to be once but they still know how to win.

My review of Team India for the game Vs South Africa

Marks for the Indian Players for the match Vs South Africa

Virender Sehwag – 6/10 – gave a fiery start to the innings, like he always does, came off this time.

Sachin Tendulkar – 8/10 – got a magnificent hundred, his 99th ton overall, couldn’t ask for more from the little master.

Gautam Gambhir – 6/10 – got a 50, played well with Sachin after Sehwag was dismissed.

Yuvraj Singh – 2/10 – failed with bat and ball but he cannot win matches everytime.

MS Dhoni – 0/10 – idiotic captaincy, the team changes he makes are weird and the reasons he gives are wierder!! He has lost the magic that he had, once…

Yusuf Pathan – 0/10 – swung the bat wildly to make quick runs but got out for a duck, did not bowl well.

Virat Kohli – 1/10 – was good in the field and contributed 1 run...

Harbhajan Singh – 5/10 – picked up wickets this time but needed to be more accurate.

Zaheer Khan – 3/10 – did not get pasted by the batsmen, but where are the wickets???

Ashish Nehra – 0/10 – the new Chawla of our bowling, bowled a pathetic last over as in the whole match.

Munaf Patel – 1/10 – got 2 wickets but the economy rate was alarmingly high.

Overall Points

Batting – 3/10

Bowling – 3/10

Team – 2/10

India Vs South Africa – Match Review

India Vs South Africa – 12 March 2011, ICC Cricket World Cup, Jamtha, Nagpur

Piyush Chawla was finally dropped but it was not R Ashwin who made way for him but Munaf Patel was the man who MS Dhoni turned to!! So India, this time, against a team that they perceived to be weak players of spin at the beginning of the cup (remember Kris Srikkanth and Dhoni telling the world that they picked three spinners in the squad for teams like England and South Africa), decided to go in with just a lone spinner and 3 pacemen.

Sehwag and Sachin provided a blistering start, just the start that they would have hoped for at the beginning of the match. 87 runs came off the first 10 overs and SA appeared to be deflated… Steyn and Morkel were not spared either and both went for plenty!! Sehwag fell when the score was 142 but Gambhir started where his Delhi team mate had left it… At 267 for 2 India were looking at least 350… But then this is India, they had to do something that was out of the ordinary… They lost the last nine wickets for just 29 runs, did not bat the whole 50 overs, could not even touch 300 and were bowled out for just 296!!! Steyn ended up with a 5 wicket haul…

South Africa started the chase cautiously and though they lost Smith early but Amla and Kallis never looked in any danger. But they both got out (both scored 50’s) and De Villiers also made a 50 but could not carry on till the end. 13 were required off the last over and Dhoni handed the ball to Nehra who generously handed 16 runs off the first balls itself to seal the contest… It was again cameos from tailenders like Botha and Peterson that sealed the game for them…

Sachins 99th overall (ODI+Tests) hundred was left like a side note, Alas!!

India have a lot to ponder upon and I do not think that they will win the World Cup with this bowling lineup even if they have 7 Sachin Tendulkars in the batting line up!!!!

The Tigers Roar —The Bangaldeshi’s keep their hopes alive in the 2011 World Cup

What happens when two unpredictable teams walk out in the middle? Well, we get an exciting match of England vs Bangladesh going!

March 11 - England vs Bangladesh

The home team, Bangladesh walked out, with pressure-jaded shoulders carrying the burden of a horrific loss against WI, to prove their fans that they have it in them. England on the other hand has seen it all – drama, excitement, thrill - what next now? was the only question playing on everyone’s mind.

The minnows of the clash, Bangladesh started out pretty well clipping the key wickets of Strauss and Prior quite early. Trott and Morgan managed to hold their ends and built a good partnership. But the early setbacks led these two to tread very carefully and were ably restricted by the Bangladeshi spin trio of Shakib, Razzak and Naeem who bowled beautifully and managed to take 7 wickets amongst them. After this partnership fell apart, it didn’t take for Bangladesh to wrap the opposition up and had a challenge of chasing 225 runs ahead of them.

225 runs - Was it a safe total to defend? Couldn’t be said as it was England who was defending it!

In reply, Bangladesh started out pretty well losing out their prolific batsman Tamim Iqbal who made a good 52 run stand along with Kayes. Kayes carried on the inflow of runs making an important 60 runs before getting run out by Shahzad. The middle order couldn’t quite build up on the start except Shakib who provided some consolidation there with his contribution of 32.

Bangladeshi fans lost all hopes after the dismissal of their captain but little did they know that the real battle was about to begin… It all began with Mahmuddulah hitting a boundary off Swann in the 42nd over followed up by a six and a four by Shafiul. They bought a dead match to life from thereon - ticking the scoreboard, complementing each other well and above all playing with a steady head! A wicket at this point could have helped England’s cause but the 46th over from a very lost Anderson failing to find his length further slipped the game out of England’s hand to the dangerous point of no return.

In the end, Mahmuddulah hit a four, won the game for their team in style and the stadium burst in thunderous roars of joy and ecstacy! 

The tigers had let out a ROAR – loud enough for the world to sit up and take notice!

India Vs South Africa - Match Preview

India v South Africa, ICC Cricket World Cup 2011

After squandering the golden opportunity to experiment with the bowling against The Irish and the Dutch, India now face South Africa next.

Considering that India struggled to win their last two matches chasing against modest teams, the batsmen would be eager to put up a good show in this match. The bowlers too will be under pressure as the Proteas will surely look to attack the weak Indian bowling line-up. India has had their share of problems both in batting and in bowling (their fielding is also nothing to write home about) and this match will give them a stern test.

The South Africans, on the other hand, after losing to England (or was it choking???) will be looking to make amends and put in a solid performance against one of the pre tournament favorites. Their bowling has been exceptional in all the three games but they will miss the services of the talented mystery spinner Imran Tahir. The batting too looks in good form with all Amla, Duminy and De Villiers in run scoring mode.

All in all this promises to be a keen contest between bat and ball between the two pre-tournament favorites which everyone is awaiting…

Key Battles to look out for in the match between India v South Africa on this Saturday, the 12th of March 2011 at Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Jamtha, Nagpur

1. Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel Vs Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag

2. Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla VS Hashim Amla, Kallis, De Villiers

3. Indian fielding Vs South African fielding

My review of Team India for the game Vs Netherland

Marks for the Indian Players for the match Vs Netherland

Virender Sehwag – 4/10 – gave a fiery start to the innings but played a rash shot to get out.

Sachin Tendulkar – 4/10 – got out just when he was starting to look good, needed to carry on.

Gautam Gambhir – 3/10 – got a start again like in the previous three matches, looks too fidgety at the moment.

Yuvraj Singh – 7/10 – took 2 wickets and was sharp in the field, made a 50 and took India home in crunch situation just like in the previous match.

MS Dhoni – 5/10 – made some runs and finished the game off in the company of Yuvraj Singh.

Yusuf Pathan – 4/10 – swung the bat wildly to make quick runs but got out cheaply, bowled well.

Virat Kohli – 4/10 – was good in the field and contributed some runs.

Harbhajan Singh – 2/10 –as a senior spinner in the side failed to take even a single wicket, though was very stingy in giving away runs.

Zaheer Khan – 6/10 – started excellently, picked up 3 wickets… looked sharp, looks in good shape.

Ashish Nehra – 4/10 – bowled ok, picked up a solitary wicket, was his first match in this World Cup.

Piyush Chawla – 2/10 – bowled short balls and long hops... though he got wickets today but he was very lucky to get them!

Overall Points

Batting – 5/10

Bowling – 7/10

Team – 6/10

India Vs Netherland – Match Review

India Vs Netherland – 09 March 2011, ICC Cricket World Cup, Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi

India made just one change from the previous match (Ashish Nehra came in for Munaf Patel). The Netherlands won the toss and elected to bat first on the Kotla pitch.

The Indian bowling was tight but once again they did not look threatening, the first wicket fell after the Dutch had crossed 50 runs. Though Piyush Chawla took 2 wickets but there was nothing new that he dished out, the same long hops and short balls, just like he had against England and against Ireland. They managed 189 in the end with a few lusty hits to the boundary in the slog overs.

India came out blazing, trying to finish off the match in probably 20 overs, raced to 69 without loss in the 8^th over but then were in a spot of bother again at 99/4 just like they were Vs Ireland. Yuvraj Singh once again hit a steady 50 and MS Dhoni gave him company till the end this time around. India won the match by 5 wickets in the 37^th over, but not without a hiccup.

Indian batting has not looked comfortable at all in chasing down even small totals. They need to quickly iron out the flaws as now only big games are left and they seem to have one too many crease to iron at the moment!!!

And a word on Netherland – they showed glimpses of brilliance just like the Irish had a few days against India, they had their moments in the match, even though they ended up on the losing side.