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10 years later, little has changed.
Showing posts with label 2011 World Cup. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2011 World Cup. Show all posts
My Thoughts on the first Anniversary of 2011 World Cup win, what a night it was - Yuvi
Welcome back champ.
And yeah, Yuvi did say Thank You Sachin!
5 reasons why we will see India playing the finals
1. Finally they have started to know their responsibilities and play well as a team (we saw that in the QF)… Now it is the added responsibility of the ICC and BCCI that it ends well too
2. Pakistan might play Akhtar... And a good part of the team wouldn’t want to win the match because that will mean Akhtar would leave on a high… Above all, Misbah wants him to play when Afridi doesn’t want to play him… So Afridi might just play him and not let him play his play… So they are a big mess
3. Dhoni has to get his opportunity to justify, “See I told you how good the team is, you guys didn’t believe us, but we believed in ourselves and the belief has paid off… And of course you now know how good captaincy was, how important it was for winning and how the bowlers, batsmen and fielders have to improve and play for the team rather than playing to the gallery… And, thank you Sachin for presenting us this opportunity”
4. You have the IPL coming and you don’t want the Indian public to shut themselves off… Stone the lovely properties of our cricketers, defecate in their backyards, avoid the lathi charging police in the stadium & spoil the fun and stop the big money flowing
5. BCCI wouldn’t want Modi tweeting, “See, those morons can’t even get their team play a final”
2. Pakistan might play Akhtar... And a good part of the team wouldn’t want to win the match because that will mean Akhtar would leave on a high… Above all, Misbah wants him to play when Afridi doesn’t want to play him… So Afridi might just play him and not let him play his play… So they are a big mess
3. Dhoni has to get his opportunity to justify, “See I told you how good the team is, you guys didn’t believe us, but we believed in ourselves and the belief has paid off… And of course you now know how good captaincy was, how important it was for winning and how the bowlers, batsmen and fielders have to improve and play for the team rather than playing to the gallery… And, thank you Sachin for presenting us this opportunity”
4. You have the IPL coming and you don’t want the Indian public to shut themselves off… Stone the lovely properties of our cricketers, defecate in their backyards, avoid the lathi charging police in the stadium & spoil the fun and stop the big money flowing
5. BCCI wouldn’t want Modi tweeting, “See, those morons can’t even get their team play a final”
With Every Passing Day, That Dreaded Question Approaches
"But what will you do now, Sachin?"
Back To School for U(niversity)DRS
An annoyed ICC thought MSD had his understanding of the DRS rules miles off target and his mouth open something like 2.5 m too wide. So the good folks there have gone ahead and complicated them even further. The relevant rule is now something like this :
If the ball pitches 2.5 m or more in front of the stumps and the distance covered by the ball between pitching and hitting the pads is 40 cm and the sine of the angle between the two as a factor of the cosine within 3 standard deviations of the tangent times pi such that relative velocity is maintained with an alpha coefficient of 0.3 and a cosmic constant of 0.297 on the log scale ceteris paribus , then the decision will be based on a combination of extrapolated determinants drawn from the relevant probability distribution and chi-square analysis.
Any wonder then that the very young and even more talented Mhd. Aamer has decided to go back to school for a , er , spot of education ? A literary-minded old wag was moved to quip the following lines - in quite poor taste one must add :
"O' young rookie !
Thou goest , as it looks
From your bookies
To your books"
Good luck Aamer , be back on the cricket field soon. We need you in the school of international cricket.
From which it appears young K.Akmal could be close to dropping out.
World Cup XV - why wait till tomorrow?
The World Cup might be weeks away with plenty of ODIs in the intl calendar still to be finished, but the ICC in their infinite wisdom wants the teams to announce their final XV next week. Clearly having worked their magic with the bungled FUDRS, ensured that all grounds will have patented designer roads instead of pitches, and designed a format that lasts longer than the IPL (we might have made that last bit up), the final squads need some special attention.
This edition more than anything else will be remembered as the WC where batsmen went medieval on bowlers. While in the past, a Lanka run through a Kandy shop was an exception, par scores of 325 and teams chasing down 350+ (goodbye England!) more than once will be the norm. India don’t have much a choice but select a lineup that is loaded on batsmen and viagra.
Openers: There are no ifs and butts…the baap-beta combo of Sachin and Sehwag gives India the edge. Given his recent form, Sehwag needs to chill. Sachin meanwhile has the license to milk.
Teesra: India have tried Irfan, Raina, Nohit, Uthappa and even Dhoni as a floater at the 3 spot but the only one that is not a Joker is Gotham City. Depending on the match situation (and whether Sachin is still around) his role will be equal measures carefree Bruce Wayne and clinical Batman.
Middlemen: This is where India have can shuffle the deck and each time land a trump card. Virat has the runs and temperament to cement a spot. Yuvi is the Oxford definition of a flat track bully and with Raina will use the crowd for target practice. Pathan is the probably the biggest hitter in the team and will enjoy the shorter grounds and slower wickets. Nohit needs more runs than shots of JD. More importantly he needs to prepare for IPLchar (Go Mumbai Indians!).
Keeper: If the selectors waste a spot on a backup keeper, call in the Mossad hit squad. Or get them to face Dale Steyn without protection.
Slow Arm Filth: India has the most spinners this side of Cricket Australia. There is value in Yuvi’s pie chucking and Raina, Pathan and Viru can be handy as well. They will also get us more wkts than Twatajhan. Don’t think there is much room for another specialist spinner here but if needed Ojha should get the nod over Ashwin. Both are complete muppets with the bat and playing either at the expense of Pathan seems a waste.
Medium Fast Bowlers: Every option in our pop gun attack is a liability: Zak with his anytime, anywhere injuries, PK Dubey with his slow yorkers and even slower bouncers, Ishant and his hair (only ever works for Pak cricketers) and Sreesanth…well…being Sreesanth. India really can’t get go much wrong (or right) with any combination but Nehra should get a look in.
Final XV: Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Virat, Yuvi, Raina, Pathan, Dhoni ©, Harbhajan, Zak, Sreesanth, Nehra, PK, Ojha, Nohit.
X factor: A chanceless knock from Yusuf Pathan will be the gamechanger for India. But has he wasted that innings already on NZ?
Cup Ka Mujrim: IPL?
by Sunny
You can follow Sunny on his twitter page @sehwagology and like him at facebook.com/sehwagology
Wikileaks: India’s team for the World Cup
On the back of some unexpected success from their part timers albeit against New Zealand, a document that reveals India’s starting XI for the World Cup has come to light. The thinking is obvious - pack the team with batsmen, though closer examination shows these are all batsmen who can bowl.
Apart from Gautam Gambhir, everyone who makes the final XI, including Dhoni will bowl. Gambhir himself made the team only after he bowled a few in the nets. With Rohit, Raina, Yusuf and Yuvi, India’s strategy is to stun the opposition into complacency. While more often than not, Yusuf takes a wicket in his first over, Raina is the partnership breaker, Rohit a relative unknown, and Yuvraj, the senior part timer. Together they will control the middle overs on the sub continent's slow and low wickets.
Plan B: In case the part timers are taken apart, there's Kohli or Sehwag, and when all else fails, there is Tendulkar.
India’s XI for the World Cup: Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Rohit Sharma, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan.
While Zaks and Bhajji will open the bowling with their medium pacers, Dhoni will be first change with his seamers. The back-up keeper will be Kohli.
Rahul Dravid: Living in the past?
I’m with a French girl in the Highlands. She’s with a Scotsman who’s dived for scallops. Jethro Tull’s “Living in the past” starts to play:
I’m thinking Rahul Dravid. His return to one-day cricket: what’s wrong with it?
In this piece SP talks about among other things, how Dravid’s selection is a one off thing.
In my opinion, it’s too early to call. Other than four slots – Sachin, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Bhajji, the others are up for grabs.
These four are the face of Indian cricket, and regardless of form dips will make it to 2011. Sachin will negotiate any dips with unavailability through injury or rest. He will play ODIs when on top of his game – the plan with Sachin is simple, target 2011.
MSD should be captain for 2011, who else is there? Yuvraj is the superstar, and Bhajji has found his own niche. Basically these players will make it to 2011 in spite of a bad run.
Now coming to Gambhir and Sehwag, our most attacking opening pair – doubt they will open in 2011. It could be either Sachin/Sehwag or Sachin/Gambhir, or who knows, Sachin/X.
Over the last year, in spite of their strong chemistry on top (in tests, T20, IPL), both Gambhir and Sehwag do not open when Sachin plays ODIs.
It is here the cracks have started to appear – both Sehwag and Gambhir, in spite of their brilliance can be fragile, and like any batsman, prone to dips in form. Also they’re no national icons like Sachin or MSD.
Injury or no injury, Sehwag was treated like a bellboy in the Twenty20 World. Now picture anyone treating the laadsahibs like that? Why does Viru always end up looking stupid – why is he vilified while the stars are continuously deified?
Gambhir too has had a remarkable dip in limited overs’ form, and without Viru’s comfort at the other end, is a totally different player.
Raina though in the form of his life, has far less equity than Rohit Sharma. Playing with CSK and MSD helps; Chairman of Selectors, Srikanth, if not help, will at least give him a fair run. But there's that short ball taboo.
Yusuf Pathan? Does even Yusuf know how long he will last? So there you have it, four batsmen, who on the face of it should make 2011, but then so can Dravid.
Finally what could swing it Dravid’s way is the ability to bat 50 overs – how many of the kids know how to score a hundred? Dravid’s done it 12 times, add to that, 81 half centuries.
As Sachin will vouch, ODIs, at least in the sub continent, you can play from memory. Now let’s see whether Darvid’s memory is that of an elephant’s.
On a different train of thought, you can also read: Has Rahul Dravid returned for Sachin Tendulkar?
KhufiaBaaz: Saurav should have scored more IPL runs
Rahul has gate-crashed the ODI party! How do you think he did it, boss? Scored all those IPL runs, simple as that. There’s nothing more, nothing less to it, so don’t go around giving me gyaan. Ganguly knew this too, he could have come of retirement had he scored more runs in IPL2. With the blessings of Lalit Modi, any player from any zone can stake his claim to the national side.
It’s still not over for Ganguly and the 2011 World Cup – there’s IPL3, and luckily for him it will be held in India. A good showing there, top of the order, and he could be in the running for 2011, also to be played in the sub-continent. This of course does not mean that VVS Laxman harbour hopes to play the World Cup. For right now he can’t even play in his IPL team.
It’s still not over for Ganguly and the 2011 World Cup – there’s IPL3, and luckily for him it will be held in India. A good showing there, top of the order, and he could be in the running for 2011, also to be played in the sub-continent. This of course does not mean that VVS Laxman harbour hopes to play the World Cup. For right now he can’t even play in his IPL team.
KhufiaBaaz: Chamipons Trophy or 2011 World Cup is already fixed.
Pakistan will win either the Champions Trophy or 2011 World Cup, revealed none other than captain, Younis Khan:
"The pool of players includes some talented players and if things go well and everyone including the board, selectors, team management and players fulfill their roles properly I am sure we can win one of the two big tournaments coming up,"
If only Younis had been more specific, other teams wouldn't have had to bother showing up for the fixed tournament.
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