Sehwag and Gambhir fell to over confidence and this is bad news for India. Despite India getting 338, I wish that Kohli and Raina were inter-changeable. If Sehwag is playing, then India should have Raina in the line-up over Kohli. But Kohli is India's most in-form batsman right now and can't be left out. But as was evident today, he isn't as versatile as Raina in terms of power hitting.
These are minor quibbles though because the team is consistently posting 300 plus scores. Including Piyush Chawla was a very good move. There's some variety to the attack now.
As is evident from the result, the bowling attack needs a lot of work. Every bowler got belted. Despite Zaheer retrieving the situation for India, this result should give India cause for concern. They are unable to take advantage of the pressure on opposing batsmen despite having 338 to defend.
Even without Bopara in the ranks, England comfortably hunted down India's total. The lower order non-batsmen were able to belt India's frontline bowlers for sixes. India escaped by the skin of their teeth.
8 comments:
I am Tongue Tied !
Whadamatch !!!
I am beginning to feel I saw a different match. Vidooshak, TMK, Even our matches at Shivaji Park used to be "exciting". It was that kind of match, devoid of quality (for the most part) and ended with a almost "fixed" last ball because neither side went for a win.
As for sending Yuvraj ahead of Kohil....in my view a very short sighted move....
I had said in an earlier pre world cup post. Kohli will work only at #3.
In this cup he is being used at #4 which is not too bad, but holding him down any further is plain stupid. We end up playing a 10 man team.
Yesterday he should have batted at #4. Yuvui had enough time to tonk for runs....we did not even last 50 overs
I had said the same thing about Kohli, but only if Sehwag is benched. I think Yuvraj is a better #4 than Kohli. Kohli works only if 2 of 3 top order chaps fail. At the 29th over with the potential for powerplay after over 34, Yuvraj is a better bet. With both Dhoni and Pathan in form, where is there need for another "tonker" if Yuvraj is the preferred part-time bowler?
Also, the match was a walk in the park as opposed to a roller coaster, but Zaheer's yorker to get Strauss and subsequent efforts in the field did raise the level of excitement.
Right now we are playing with 10 players. There is no utility for Pathan.
And if one of SRT, VS click (which is quite likely) no utility for Kohli either because then you could get Yuvraj at #4
But you need to decide upfront what your plan is. Right now Dhoni seems clueless what his plan is.
We were clearly one bowler short yesterday.
There isn't a need to bench Sehwag...
Plan A
VS, SRT, GG, YS, MSD, YP and 5 regular bowlers 2 spinners and 3 fast men.
Plan B
VS, SRT, GG, VK, YS, MSD, YP and 4 regular bowlers 2 spinners and 2 fast men. (But stick with VK @ #4 no matter what)
Well, your plan A is to cover up the "bench Sehwag" option. I was arguing for Plan A with SRT, GG and VK as top 3. I assumed that Kohli and GG were more consistent ODI performers at the top than VS.
Pathan's value is in the chase as is Kohli's. I'll be interested in seeing how the Plan B line up performs in a chase. Epsecially a big chase, which is likely with only 4 bowlers.
I was also somewhat disappointed with Chawla yesterday. He bowled decently but I felt that he left something in the dressing room. Is Ashwin a better option? Is variety really required?
Gol - Your level of "excitement" reminds me of our 1986 encounter with Hari after the tied test. Cheer up dude..you need to enjoy the game, not keep analyzing it.
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