Not for me to boast ‘Didn’t I tell you?’, but didn’t I post that winning the toss and batting first will be the winning formula in the India versus West Indies match?
Incidentally, I also posted that the pitch was not good enough for 100 overs, but will start acting up after about 75 overs. I am not going to go out and boast or even say that my blog is avidly read by people and is taken seriously by people in the know, but it was gratifying to hear both Saurav Ganguly and N.S. Sidhu rubbishing talks of ‘pitch is not good enough’ during the mid-match interregnum in StarSports. Saurav went as far as to say that ‘this is Chepauk of old’ and both of them almost called it a belter.
Even the mid-match write up in the ESPNCricinfo took up a similar line. It talked about how good the pitch was. Alas thus fall the mighty.
Here are the Fall of wickets when West Indies batted:
OK, let bygones be bygones and let’s have a look at the Quarter Finals. The line up (courtesy ESPNCricinfo) is
England are neither lucky, nor determined and are certainly the most predictable of the teams. Thus it is going to be curtains for England, especially if they choose to or asked to field first. The English might have a fighting chance if they win the toss and choose to bat.
The 3rd Q/Final between New Zealand and South Africa is a complete no brainer. Whatever the pitch does or however the toss goes or whichever way the New Zealanders turn, it is going to be Kiwi Kebab at Dhaka. The Kiwis may only escape total humiliation if weather intervenes.
The 1st Q/F between Pakistan and West Indies, is indeed the most unpredictable match. Not just because the cricket’s most unpredictable team is playing, there are couple of other factors in the pot too. First the pitch itself is crumbling as witnessed during the South Africa versus Bangladesh group match.
Crumbling pitches seem to be the order of the day in this World Cup. The West Indies team themselves have not appeared comfortable either with bat or the ball. They must be the worst crumblers in cricket today - even worse than the collapsing India. Even their bowling seems to lose its penetration when put under pressure, over after over. OTOH, Pakistan has lot of problems, the least of which is the mental Afridi or the fumbling Akmal. But any and all of those problems will not hamper them in this match.
Their only danger is the one quality still left over in the Caribbean team, from the team of yore - give West Indies a whiff of victory, they go all out - till something makes them crumble. Again, if West Indies win the toss and elect to bat, the match might go either way.
:-D
Which leads us to the 2nd Q/Final, which really should have been the Final. We can confidentially say that whichever team wins this match is the team most likely to hoist the Cup. And for this reason, irrespective of what anyone else says, my money is on Australia (though I don’t engage in betting). The Aussies with their huge number of wins and the habit of winning in big matches are certainly better off mentally. But their batting seems to be firing in bits and starts without any real battering ram effect of even two years back. And any combination of the top 5 Indian batsmen can take the Aussie bowling to the cleaners.
Team India is a real wonder. Their fielding must be the worst in this competition and the bowling is pathetic. As I had posted earlier, Zaheer Khan has been the lynchpin - rather, he has become more than the lynchpin - he is the only sharp pin in the box. Though with the inclusion of R. Ashwin instead of Piyush ‘sprayman’ Chawla and a surprisingly stinging bowling from Yuvraj Singh has added some semblance of an ‘attack’.
Otherwise the bowling was just tossing and hoping. The famed and feared batting engine is the true saving grace; even when the middle and lower order collapse, they manage more than 250. But this is a tendency which is going to come back and bite them in the back soon - only hope it is not so in the next 3 matches.
All the same, India would do themselves a favour by winning the toss and putting Aussies in the field under the hot Ahmedabad Sun. And bat through the full 50 overs. If they do that, they have a better chance at taking the next shot instead of taking a bow!
And last, not to tempt fate, but there is always lack of second rung leadership. If for any reason Dhoni is off the field, even for 10 or 12 overs while fielding - expect a bloodbath.
Incidentally, I also posted that the pitch was not good enough for 100 overs, but will start acting up after about 75 overs. I am not going to go out and boast or even say that my blog is avidly read by people and is taken seriously by people in the know, but it was gratifying to hear both Saurav Ganguly and N.S. Sidhu rubbishing talks of ‘pitch is not good enough’ during the mid-match interregnum in StarSports. Saurav went as far as to say that ‘this is Chepauk of old’ and both of them almost called it a belter.
Even the mid-match write up in the ESPNCricinfo took up a similar line. It talked about how good the pitch was. Alas thus fall the mighty.
Here are the Fall of wickets when West Indies batted:
- 1-34 (Edwards, 6.2 ov),
- 2-91 (Bravo, 16.6 ov),
- 3-154 (Smith, 30.3 ov),
- 4-157 (Pollard, 31.5 ov),
- 5-160 (Thomas, 34.2 ov),
- 6-162 (Sammy, 35.3 ov),
- 7-165 (Russell, 36.6 ov),
- 8-179 (Benn, 39.6 ov),
- 9-182 (Sarwan, 41.1 ov),
- 10-188 (Rampaul, 42.6 ov)
OK, let bygones be bygones and let’s have a look at the Quarter Finals. The line up (courtesy ESPNCricinfo) is
- Wed Mar 23 1st Q-F - Pakistan v West Indies (Match C)
Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur 24 - 31° C - Thu Mar 24 2nd Q-F - India v Australia (Match E)
Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad 22 - 40° C - Fri Mar 25 3rd Q-F - New Zealand v South Africa (Match F) Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur 24 - 33° C
- Sat Mar 26 4th Q-F - Sri Lanka v England (Match D)
R Premadasa Stadium, Colombo 26 - 31° C
England are neither lucky, nor determined and are certainly the most predictable of the teams. Thus it is going to be curtains for England, especially if they choose to or asked to field first. The English might have a fighting chance if they win the toss and choose to bat.
The 3rd Q/Final between New Zealand and South Africa is a complete no brainer. Whatever the pitch does or however the toss goes or whichever way the New Zealanders turn, it is going to be Kiwi Kebab at Dhaka. The Kiwis may only escape total humiliation if weather intervenes.
The 1st Q/F between Pakistan and West Indies, is indeed the most unpredictable match. Not just because the cricket’s most unpredictable team is playing, there are couple of other factors in the pot too. First the pitch itself is crumbling as witnessed during the South Africa versus Bangladesh group match.
Crumbling pitches seem to be the order of the day in this World Cup. The West Indies team themselves have not appeared comfortable either with bat or the ball. They must be the worst crumblers in cricket today - even worse than the collapsing India. Even their bowling seems to lose its penetration when put under pressure, over after over. OTOH, Pakistan has lot of problems, the least of which is the mental Afridi or the fumbling Akmal. But any and all of those problems will not hamper them in this match.
Their only danger is the one quality still left over in the Caribbean team, from the team of yore - give West Indies a whiff of victory, they go all out - till something makes them crumble. Again, if West Indies win the toss and elect to bat, the match might go either way.
:-D
Which leads us to the 2nd Q/Final, which really should have been the Final. We can confidentially say that whichever team wins this match is the team most likely to hoist the Cup. And for this reason, irrespective of what anyone else says, my money is on Australia (though I don’t engage in betting). The Aussies with their huge number of wins and the habit of winning in big matches are certainly better off mentally. But their batting seems to be firing in bits and starts without any real battering ram effect of even two years back. And any combination of the top 5 Indian batsmen can take the Aussie bowling to the cleaners.
Team India is a real wonder. Their fielding must be the worst in this competition and the bowling is pathetic. As I had posted earlier, Zaheer Khan has been the lynchpin - rather, he has become more than the lynchpin - he is the only sharp pin in the box. Though with the inclusion of R. Ashwin instead of Piyush ‘sprayman’ Chawla and a surprisingly stinging bowling from Yuvraj Singh has added some semblance of an ‘attack’.
Otherwise the bowling was just tossing and hoping. The famed and feared batting engine is the true saving grace; even when the middle and lower order collapse, they manage more than 250. But this is a tendency which is going to come back and bite them in the back soon - only hope it is not so in the next 3 matches.
All the same, India would do themselves a favour by winning the toss and putting Aussies in the field under the hot Ahmedabad Sun. And bat through the full 50 overs. If they do that, they have a better chance at taking the next shot instead of taking a bow!
And last, not to tempt fate, but there is always lack of second rung leadership. If for any reason Dhoni is off the field, even for 10 or 12 overs while fielding - expect a bloodbath.
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