Cricket World Cup 2003 - India's chances, and more

by **vivek of themavericks** » Sat Feb 08, 2003 10:26 pm

Well, this is a great topic to start a board on. Anyway, lets get on. I have discused this over discussed issue. But lets face it, i think our pool is a tough one.We need to get through. The other pool seems a bit easier to pass through. Plus sachin is not very depenedable nowadays. On the other hand sewagh would be one the batsman to watchout for, then there Yuvaraj and Khaif. Harbajan is new to the SA wicket, so might take a while to \'learn\' the wicket and make his offspins work. Plus there is this \'dew factor\' in the weather. I think, it might take some real serious cricket for us to display quality cricket. We might make itto the super sixes. The match between India Vs Holland would be a breeze, i am worried about India VsAus. The march 1 match of Indo-pak would be a thriller but not a decisive one from the world cup point of view. Because, by that time super sixes entrants would more or less be decided. What do you guys feel. Inviting hardcore fans for a quality discussion throughout the worldcup

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 12:15 am

No hardcore Cricket fan here eh!. We are one match down and no messages yet!

by **Jkal** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 8:23 am

awesome ....let\'s see if we even reach the Super six , even then we await for miracles to happen to take us to victory but the Winning spirit has never been a part of us.. & maybe only astrology,prayers are our only answer becos we never play to win, and we play according to the opposite team ...meaning we play with australia according to that team level and also Holland or Nambia to their respective levels ....and i have nuthing against Sachin but sad part is he will make 100 or something with holland or nambia and Not with Competitive sports countries like Pakistan,Australia ,South Africa or West Indies.......Stars are born to perform miracles not wait for miracles to happen to quote to the end ...Aneeywayz may the best team win ...wat\'yall say...??

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 9:34 am

Ya,you are right. But how are going to compete with bookie Favs like Ausies. I mean by all means they are a complete team, their batting lineup is great. Plus, the Ind - aus match is going to be a great moral maker or breaker for India.If we loose India aus match, we might even loose the pak match. Then its agry fan and the tarot card reader in MAX has to be shot!

by **vij_cybee** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 10:02 am

Yes, it looks like we will not even be able to meet our last world cup performance (qualify for super six). Let alone big matches like Aus, Eng, & Pak. I doubt if our fabled batting line up would bat convincingly against teams like Netherlands & Namibia. Mind you they lost to Kwa Zulu team, just in the week prior to the cup. With such performances to back up and players like Sachin, Sehwag, Ganguly, Kaif deciding not to fire their cyclinders for reasons best known to them. I think the average cricket fan has to resort to prayers, poojas, etc for peace of mind. May god help the team!!!!

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 1:00 pm

Well, those were the warmup matches man and the reaosn for loosing those were experimental attempts as voiced by ganguly. We have this inate fear factor, that makes the others in the bating lineup fall with scores like telephone numbers once the top order fails. Plus its essential that we win the toss and decide to chase. We would win holland match, but the Australia would be crucial one to conquer

by RP » Mon Feb 10, 2003 8:18 pm

Do you want to believe when Ganguly says, \"those were the warmup matches man and the reaosn for loosing those were experimental attempts\"? Comeon, you perform the day of the match just as you would during practice. Ganguly can say whatever he wants to. But the fact is smart people should critique and ask the right questions. The bottomline is - they lost. Just as one of our friends mentioned, \"we play to the opposition\".. the next part is, \"and fail to meet or beat the winning score.\" May be the \'yagna\' in Kolkata will save these guys. May be not !

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 10, 2003 11:51 pm

hehe, you bet!. Well, i hope all the mature eyes are set on the India Australia match which would be a great moral booster.We should wait to see of Harbhajan\'s offspin does some trick. But if we get to see atleast half as mature cricket as the windies showed against south africa the other day, it would be total worth the watch.By the way how many of you think ofter today\'s match Jayasuriya is in the same form as he was in one the previous world cup, where he kept breaking records over and over again.

by **vij_cybee** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 4:28 am

Well looks like i have to eat my words that i said in the last post. Just look at how SL(Jayasuriya) and NZ(Styris)
have played. Let me remind you that SL and especially Jayasuriya were a debacle whenever they played in SA and today it is the same person who hit 15 fours for his 120. If these guys can score big runs why can\'t our players who are much better when hitting the ball on the up. I think like Sobers said we do have a chance of not only reaching the Super Six but also winning the cup (big ask hah)!!! provided they apply themselves and our bowlers bowl steadily nothing extraordinary just stick to the basics. Good luck team India.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 2:35 pm

India has always been a potential team to win the cup, we need some great bowlers and impovement in fielding. Plus we also need fielders who can throw the ball at the wickets. We all can assess the situation only after the India australia match. But for that we also should watch today\'s Aus - Pak match, just to see how the batting friendly pitchs work for the Ausies. India has a great batting lineup, but like i said, we fall like telephone numbers once the top order collapses. No one to keep the score board moving, well except dravid at times.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 4:54 pm

SO shane warne is out and with him goes Australia\'s moral. Atleast lets hope so, but then there are good enough players who would make India bite its dust. the Aus Pak match is going on now, and looking at it, Pak would give a great fight. Who are all with me?

by RP » Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:08 pm

Just as Duke University Basketball Coach the Great Coach \"K\" once said, \"Being potential and skillful is one thing, being successful is another. If the former elements cannot yield results leading to the latter, there is no point in having either \'potential\' or \'skill\'.\" India always had the potential. In fact who does not. As to whether we can translate that to victory .... the odds are slim to none - at least in India\'s cricketing world as of today.

by **vij_cybee** » Tue Feb 11, 2003 10:14 pm

So the Aussie juggernaut rolls on with or without Warne and as we saw it was again the lesser known player Symonds who made a whirlwind century 143 off 125. It only shows that thw pitches atleast for the league stage are tailored for batting and it only increases the pressure on India to perform well. What else could they have asked for; batter friendly pitches and we got`em. Now its upto our famed batting line up to fire all the cylinders and throw caution to the winds, atleast they can do that!!! Wat ya all say???

by **vivek of themavericks** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 12:18 am

Pakistan team fundamentally lacks disipline, which i think we have. You saw the Pakis running between the wicket, the understanding between the batsman and the runner is pathetic. This is the only reason that even the good stuff in that team like a comendable batting lineup of afridi, inzamam and the new guy yousuf gets blanketted. That does not make Ausies out of reach, but the trouble is Warne is gone. India was good at dealing with Warne particularly at batting pitches like SAs. Now we have to wait and watch if Dravid and Ganguly can deal with Brett Lee and Mcgrath cause we would have a bigger dose of them this time. Sewagh can manage and sachin can \"pull on\". Ind 0 Holland would be a breeze. No Imp matches today.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Wed Feb 12, 2003 3:47 pm

Slaughter begins for India .So here we are tying to repeat the New zealand matches. I wonder who gives so much money to Indian batsmen for creating cricket hysteria in india by advertisements when they are really lacking the consistency which even ranji trophy guys have?. Even if we win the India - Net match, we just can\'t afford to repeat this crazy cricket exhibition with australia, they won\'t let yuvraj or khaif play half of as much NET is allowing.

by **vij_cybee** » Thu Feb 13, 2003 10:26 am

Rightly said, if the same kind of cricket is played against the Aussies or for that matter against any of the other teams excepting Namibia, we are bound to get kicked in the back. If we want all this hype surrounding cricket to vanish, the best thing that has to happen is that India should get thrashed by all the other teams and should exit in the group stage, itself. No offense please as this is what every self respecting cricket fan desires if their team is performing this badly.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 5:02 pm

Slaughter again and this time its the Ausie bowlers. Well, what do you know, we have the best batting line up in the world, with the world\'s best batsman and the next u see is a repeat of Sharja match between India and Pak. We are 125 all out for heaven\'s sake, and this makes our worldcup\'s lowest total.Atleast we have one record to boast off. What do u say?

by **Ufsoos** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 5:18 pm

Its really a shame for Indian Team vivek, this shows the quality of Indian Team. 125 all out????? Disgusting. I hope austris openers will finish the match same like sri lankans did with banglas.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 8:06 pm

Yuvraj was NOT LBW Did u listen to how Kris srikaant was bashing the Indian team? Turns out that Indian batsmen perfom well on home grounds because the ground does not twist the ball much, so the ball in India comes straight to the batsman the way he wants. Foreign pitches have proved bad. Plus, out of 14 previous Ind - Aus matches played the latter won 11 (including today\'s). That speaks of the confidence man. I found Aus bowling normal, it\'s our batsmen who ruined the game. Brett Lee was bowling in line and a perfect timing would have clicked for indian batsmen, but NO.How many of u guys watched Yuvraj\'s LBW. Well watch that again in highlights or match replay, it was NOT an LBW.

by **popesmokesdope** » Sat Feb 15, 2003 8:59 pm

duh..vivek....the umpiring whether right or wrong is a part of the game (remember the test match with aussie, chennai \'96??). Even if yuvaraj wasnt given out..it wudnt have made a HUGE diff...we would have got 20-30 runs more on the board...and the match wud have taken another 15 minutes to get over. India sux man...thats it. Ganguly has lost his touch and Kaif was just a coupla match wonders.....mebbe laxman wud have made things look a tad better. You know what really reeks man.... the commentators.... they reek... venkatesh prasad... heh heh... sanjay manjrekar is still in 1940... and Kris Srikanth looks like he had a vada too much with his idlies....they maybe kooky but Boycs, Sidhu, Wilkins and the incomparable Bhogle made the game a lot more interesting.Want to see the Windies win the cup.period.The batsman is on his toes...like a midget at the urinals...sheeeesh...

by **vivek of themavericks** » Sun Feb 16, 2003 2:35 pm

You are kid of true, the \'bad decision\' of yuvaraj would\'nt have change the fate of the game much. Fine, India could afford to loose one match, but then pressure on the Indo -pak match might increase, where we are bad at managing it.

by **vij** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 11:39 am

Can anyone tell how come sachin
is \"great\" player .
I agree he is a class player But \"Great\" player no.
How can we say that Great players perform
under pressure and sachin succumbs under pressure .
Lara is one among great players ,viv richards is
other one. For great players it is they
versus 11 others .But sachin seems different
may be he is just a Media \"HERO\".
And he openining the WC matches don\'t u think
it has a commercial angle to it. Otherwise
when it clicked for India by sending sachin
down what on earth changes that startegy........
Money

by **Srinu** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 12:04 pm

i know enough has been said (is it really enough???) abt the abysmal performance of the indian cricket team. but a mail from one of my disenchanted colleague really puts in words the feeling of an average indian cricket fan. i am quoting what my colleague has put in his mail.. makes some good reading..
“spineless, mindless & hopeless ...That says it all! Actually there are no words left to describe the pathetic, pathetic display of the Indian cricket team. It was piss poor cricket. Period. Where in the world is performance so divorced from the rewards. Just imagine, this bunch playing in SA currently have shot for commercials non-stop in the 10-day break they got before world cup subsequent to the miserable Kiwi tour. The new set of commercials which portray the current set of nitwits as heroes since 1983 are so infuriating that the temptation to blast the TV screen proved almost irresistible. These fellas have become heroes by a combination of luck and circumstance than any real, real talent likes of Viv, sunny, kapil etc. Since this country of teeming millions suck up to cricket for good or bad reasons, just mediocre cricketers become heroes and millionaires almost instantaneously. First of all, the World cup itself is a parody considering only a handful nations play it. And performing miserably, abysmally(very consistently at that) in this minority is India\'s special talent. Maybe it\'s something to do with the psyche of Indians in general(in sporting arena)..........indifferent, individualistic and absolutely gutless. The word fighting spirit seems so alien.......my esteemed colleague xxx defends that Indians are subjected to tremendous pressure........agreed but don\'t you expect international/professionals to deliver under pressure at least 50% of the time if not all the time..............the shots played by Messrs Ganguly, Sehwag and Rahul betrays a scared/scarred mindset. It was traumatic watching to say the least! And I am sure just one good victory will make Indian fans forget all the bitter, pathetic performances..........that\'s the ultimate tragedy. As Indian fans we continue to fool ourselves that our team is world class while the reality stares in the face. And Indian cricketers know only too well that we lack sporting alternatives to bestow our fanaticism and one good performance(not by design but by accident) is enough for all of us to start clamoring again. Indeed this is a vicious circle, the more I think about it the more depressed I get. Why should I/we agonize when the men on the field do not? Time to remember Buddha...........

polemically yours

xxx”

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 12:35 pm

The match of SA -NZ was a class apart. Actually no one lost the match, New zealand won it.Get me?.306 was a geat total. But NZ brought the match to a stage that even the DL rule would have worked in their favour incase of rain. It was brillint cricket. Astel played for 53 mins and only 28 deliveries, u can then imagine the kind of coopeation that went between the players on the field. It was brilliant. We are pathetic in front of them. depite the target being reduced, the thrill of match did not die. It was so good that flemming\'s shots were text book cricket man.

by **vivek of themavericks** » Mon Feb 17, 2003 2:18 pm

SA performs well without jonty and Aus without warne, we have all the important guys and yet we getout for 125?. that too in fast wicket which favours batting first!.Gosh!, this thing is not leaving my head.

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