The Cricket Thread

[Ankit 3,176]

Irfan and Vinay are worse. Ishant is just the lesser of the 3 evils. Really should look into fast-bowling dept

Screw the fast bowling dept that Ishant supposedly fills. Yadav is enough for bowling fast. Irfan will give us some runs with the bat(atleast he can play some balls and may be give company to MSD or any other player when we have a batting collapse) or Vinay who will be better in the field, not jogging around and throwing like a girl! Ishant just doesn't bring anything to the table except his bowling which is shit!

[Strike 6,969]

Screw the fast bowling dept that Ishant supposedly fills. Yadav is enough for bowling fast. Irfan will give us some runs with the bat(atleast he can play some balls and may be give company to MSD or any other player when we have a batting collapse) or Vinay who will be better in the field, not jogging around and throwing like a girl! Ishant just doesn't bring anything to the table except his bowling which is shit!

I know it's unorthodox but I'd pick Mishra over all 3. Start with Umesh and Bhuvi, then continous spin till 40 overs and then Umesh/Bhuvi again

Nothing against fast-bowling or anything, those 3 are just shite. I was hoping for Ishant to do an average job atleast

[Ankit 3,176]

I know it's unorthodox but I'd pick Mishra over all 3. Start with Umesh and Bhuvi, then continous spin till 40 overs and then Umesh/Bhuvi again

Nothing against fast-bowling or anything, those 3 are just shite. I was hoping for Ishant to do an average job atleast

Could do the trick against the likes of WI/Aus/Eng. They can't play Spin that well and Mishra will provide the actual Spin. Ashwin and Jadeja doesn't really 'spin' the ball

[Drogzola 283]

That shot was brought down by the run out of Peterson! Duminy came and took few balls to settle and run rate just shot up!! AB had to be aggresive. Morkel out of the tournament is a big blow!

Regarding India, i don't see the reason why Ishant is played? He can't bat, he can't field and the only thing he does, he went for boundaries all over the park. i would want to play Irfan or Vinay in the next match. Ishant is useless!!

I know but it was still manageable, he didnt need to come racing down the track to a pace bowler. For me Tsotsobe was absolutely useless and so in Klienveld. If Philander was there this game would have been completely different. He is a natural wicket taker. Morkel is huge, we now will have a tough time to win the competition. Just feel we selected our squad incorrectly.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

Irfan and Vinay are worse. Ishant is just the lesser of the 3 evils. Really should look into fast-bowling dept

Screw the fast bowling dept that Ishant supposedly fills. Yadav is enough for bowling fast. Irfan will give us some runs with the bat(atleast he can play some balls and may be give company to MSD or any other player when we have a batting collapse) or Vinay who will be better in the field, not jogging around and throwing like a girl! Ishant just doesn't bring anything to the table except his bowling which is shit!

Vinay would be useless in place of Ishant. He may be better in the field, but MS Dhoni needs to take some slack for putting Ishant in positions that are a weakness to the fast bowler. Ishant is very hot/cold. If the pressure isn't on him, he can have a very good spell as he proved in warm ups, but apply a bit of pressure and he cracks. The BCCI has to also take some blame because the raw Sharma that could bowl in the 90mph range was reduced down to speeds of 80-85mph.

I know it's unorthodox but I'd pick Mishra over all 3. Start with Umesh and Bhuvi, then continous spin till 40 overs and then Umesh/Bhuvi again

Nothing against fast-bowling or anything, those 3 are just shite. I was hoping for Ishant to do an average job atleast

To be fair, that would work in a place like Cardiff where the pitch is more suited to the sub-Saharan conditions. We've seen it in the warm ups as well, there's nothing in Cardiff for the swing bowlers. Kumar got very little movement. So it's not a bad shout.

However I wouldn't use Mishra. Leg spin won't be effective in Cardiff either, it's a pitch that offers very little turn and you're more likely to get wickets in flight. Which is where I make my case that Harbhajan should have been here. Who else knows how to beat more batsman on flight than him?

& Strike - We'll never admit it, but our pace attack isn't the worst we've had. It's actually decent. Kumar's ability to swing the ball both ways will make him an Indian mainstay for a while, if he gets it right. Yadav is our best strike bowler, he knows how to control his line and length and he's also received plaudits from the likes of Glenn McGrath.

[Strike 6,969]

Vinay would be useless in place of Ishant. He may be better in the field, but MS Dhoni needs to take some slack for putting Ishant in positions that are a weakness to the fast bowler. Ishant is very hot/cold. If the pressure isn't on him, he can have a very good spell as he proved in warm ups, but apply a bit of pressure and he cracks. The BCCI has to also take some blame because the raw Sharma that could bowl in the 90mph range was reduced down to speeds of 80-85mph.

However I wouldn't use Mishra. Leg spin won't be effective in Cardiff either, it's a pitch that offers very little turn and you're more likely to get wickets in flight. Which is where I make my case that Harbhajan should have been here. Who else knows how to beat more batsman on flight than him?

Yeah. I would definitely keep Ishanth on a green top. Irfan's swing isn't of much use at 120 kmph and Vinay well...I don't want to rant about him anymore but Mishra can be considered against sides like West Indies.

& Strike - We'll never admit it, but our pace attack isn't the worst we've had. It's actually decent. Kumar's ability to swing the ball both ways will make him an Indian mainstay for a while, if he gets it right. Yadav is our best strike bowler, he knows how to control his line and length and he's also received plaudits from the likes of Glenn McGrath.

This is definitely better than watching Jayasuriya or Saeed Anwar bludgeon Venkatesh Prasad and Debashish Mohanty all over the park.

[Ankit 3,176]

Vinay would be useless in place of Ishant. He may be better in the field, but MS Dhoni needs to take some slack for putting Ishant in positions that are a weakness to the fast bowler. Ishant is very hot/cold. If the pressure isn't on him, he can have a very good spell as he proved in warm ups, but apply a bit of pressure and he cracks. The BCCI has to also take some blame because the raw Sharma that could bowl in the 90mph range was reduced down to speeds of 80-85mph.

To be fair, that would work in a place like Cardiff where the pitch is more suited to the sub-Saharan conditions. We've seen it in the warm ups as well, there's nothing in Cardiff for the swing bowlers. Kumar got very little movement. So it's not a bad shout.

However I wouldn't use Mishra. Leg spin won't be effective in Cardiff either, it's a pitch that offers very little turn and you're more likely to get wickets in flight. Which is where I make my case that Harbhajan should have been here. Who else knows how to beat more batsman on flight than him?

& Strike - We'll never admit it, but our pace attack isn't the worst we've had. It's actually decent. Kumar's ability to swing the ball both ways will make him an Indian mainstay for a while, if he gets it right. Yadav is our best strike bowler, he knows how to control his line and length and he's also received plaudits from the likes of Glenn McGrath.

If the team is chasing 330, there will be pressure! Ishant never looked like getting a wicket, infact the way Ryan Mclaren was hitting him for 4s, it looked like some novice was bowling to a seasoned campaigner!! While it was the opposite(well sort off). I would pick Vinay because a) He swings the ball or can make the ball move a bit in the air. Knows how to ball yorkers and finish the innings. He did that regularly in IPL , maybe he could reciprocate it on the actual stage! c) looks fitter than Ishant so will help in fielding.

I have nothing against Ishant and if he finds his rhythm , then he can be very handy for us but he never looked like a bowler with confidence in the last match or the practice matches! Hence, may be give Vinay a chance!

[Ankit 3,176]

The expression in my post above is not intended! I meant to write b ) as in my 2nd point! Hope i made myself clear!

[Mufassir08 2,400]

Jamshed is playing patiently. Great find for Pakistan

Agree he is a brilliant player but we have moved him from his natural position for imran farhat of all people

[Strike 6,969]

Love how Pakistan are building the pressure here. This game is definitely better than the 600+ run-fest yesterday.

[Ankit 3,176]

England vs Australia coming up, preview to the ashes? May be not with Clarke ruled out of this one!

Fantasy talk: Watson captain? Should i bring in Warner or Morgan?

[Strike 6,969]

England running through Australia now. Poor stuff from the Aussies. Should have accelerated a lot earlier.

England vs Australia coming up, preview to the ashes? May be not with Clarke ruled out of this one!

Fantasy talk: Watson captain? Should i bring in Warner or Morgan?

I think there will be a large contingent with Watson as captain

[Ankit 3,176]

England running through Australia now. Poor stuff from the Aussies. Should have accelerated a lot earlier.

I think there will be a large contingent with Watson as captain

And that contingent won't be happy with him today!!

[Strike 6,969]

Agree he is a brilliant player but we have moved him from his natural position for imran farhat of all people

I remember Imran Farhat opening in 2004 with Taufiq Umar. Haven't seen him much since then.

Meanwhile, AustraliHAHA

[BlueLion. 21,491]

I'll put this view out there - England and Australia are the two worst teams in the entire tournament.

[Ankit 3,176]

I'll put this view out there - England and Australia are the two worst teams in the entire tournament.

Australia, yes it seems as if they are now a mediocre side. England don't replicate their Test form to ODIs for some odd reason.

[LDN Blue 7,903]

I'll put this view out there - England and Australia are the two worst teams in the entire tournament.

I wouldn't count out England too much at this point. Your bowling attack - when it clicks - can do damage to the best of them when they're having a good day. But the batting. Well, let's just say you haven't quite replicated that old guard of Trescothik, Strauss, Vaughn quite yet.

[English Freak 456]

Brilliant bowling by NZ against Sri Lanka...

Really want to see NZ do well in the tournament.