2019 Cricket World Cup

Srilanka were having chances before the match, but their performance came crashing down to earth at once. I was, at one time when Srilanka scored 203 thinking that may be the pitch is slow and Malinga will make it up. But this Srilankan team can only fight with minnows, not team like South Africa, though they are out of form. South Africa played maturedly in batting.

The Sril Lakans failed to show their bowlign magic in yesterday match. They took an early wicket but then they could not do much later. The match slowly went one sided and it was an easy cake walk for South Africa. The last two days matches had the same fate and it did not add up much thrill to watch.

I was expecting the Srilankan bowling unit to put up a fight, but it did not come at all. Very sorrow situation of Srilankan cricket. They have some gutsy players but they are not putting up that determination and grit especially.

Ashvika is a revelation, but lacks patience. Kusal Mendis, Thisara Perera, Angelo Mathews. There are still good names but still they haven't put up a team performance yet.

Previous players like Jayawardene, Muralitharan, Ajanta Mendis, Jayasurya, Kumar Sangakara were some excellent players.

I think Indian middle order needs a revamp where Dhoni comes in at No.4 after Virat, then Kedar, then Pandya & Shankar or Shankar & Pandya depending on situation.

We have already seen in the Australia series or some other foreign series where Dhoni batted with Kedar in a match winning partnership in 2 matches consecutively.

Dhoni, if he comes in at 4 can face more balls, reduce the loss of middle overs wickets which India is losing right now and get a strong finish either from Dhoni's willow or from the likes of Pandya & Shankar.

Dhoni should bat with Kedar as they are having a good understanding with each other & Kedar listens to Dhoni's advice.

If after 42nd or 43rd over, a wicket falls then Pandya can come first, otherwise Shankar can come in after Kedar.

I think this is the ideal line up which has worked successfully.

Also Shankar batted better in the lower order as a pinch hitter, though he did not hit many lusty hit but he made a useful contribution in the context of the matches he was part of as No.6 or 7. Shankar.

If he is coming as No. 4, he is consuming more number of balls and getting out, also he is not bringing that calm situation in the game where wickets are not being lost and hence Dhoni should be given the No.4 batting.

epraneeth77 wrote:

I think Indian middle order needs a revamp where Dhoni comes in at No.4 after Virat, then Kedar, then Pandya & Shankar or Shankar & Pandya depending on situation.

We have already seen in the Australia series or some other foreign series where Dhoni batted with Kedar in a match winning partnership in 2 matches consecutively.

Dhoni, if he comes in at 4 can face more balls, reduce the loss of middle overs wickets which India is losing right now and get a strong finish either from Dhoni's willow or from the likes of Pandya & Shankar.

Dhoni should bat with Kedar as they are having a good understanding with each other & Kedar listens to Dhoni's advice.

If after 42nd or 43rd over, a wicket falls then Pandya can come first, otherwise Shankar can come in after Kedar.

I think this is the ideal line up which has worked successfully.

Also Shankar batted better in the lower order as a pinch hitter, though he did not hit many lusty hit but he made a useful contribution in the context of the matches he was part of as No.6 or 7. Shankar.

If he is coming as No. 4, he is consuming more number of balls and getting out, also he is not bringing that calm situation in the game where wickets are not being lost and hence Dhoni should be given the No.4 batting.

Not a bad idea at all with Dhoni coming at number four. I am sure the think tank of the Indian cricket team have also considered it at some point of time. However, what I feel the only thing why this strategy is still not implemented in this tournament is because of Dhoni's reputation over the years as a finisher of the game. It also gives comfort to the fans and the Indian batting line up that Dhoni is still to come. The opposition also stays under pressure thinking that a batsman of Dhoni's caliber is waiting to bat, and hence, the game can change direction any moment.

That may be there, but when there is already a tried and tested formula and in the current scenario middle order is not playing well they can use the tried and tested formula.

The big match day of India and England has arrived ! I expect England to come hard at India as they would be desperate to win this match to keep their hopes alive in this competition. On the other hand, India would look to seal their semis birth in this match.

I just hope Indian batsmen manage to stay injury free as England have two extreme fast bowlers in the form of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who are capable of clicking 150 kph at ease.

Hope we successfully bag the cup this year, though it's difficult to predict at this time. Our players are still capable enough amidst the escalating tensions as witnessed in the previous match with  Afghanistan. 

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

The big match day of India and England has arrived ! I expect England to come hard at India as they would be desperate to win this match to keep their hopes alive in this competition. On the other hand, India would look to seal their semis birth in this match.

I just hope Indian batsmen manage to stay injury free as England have two extreme fast bowlers in the form of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who are capable of clicking 150 kph at ease.

England came hard as expected, however Indian batman managed to stay injury free. Tough match. Roy's absence was clearly felt by their losses. Now that he came back, they won thunderously.

epraneeth77 wrote:

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

The big match day of India and England has arrived ! I expect England to come hard at India as they would be desperate to win this match to keep their hopes alive in this competition. On the other hand, India would look to seal their semis birth in this match.

I just hope Indian batsmen manage to stay injury free as England have two extreme fast bowlers in the form of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer, who are capable of clicking 150 kph at ease.

England came hard as expected, however Indian batman managed to stay injury free. Tough match. Roy's absence was clearly felt by their losses. Now that he came back, they won thunderously.

India lost this match. During fielding Rahul got injured so we could't play well. He was out is third over with making any run. Although India struggle to won match. In this match performance of Indian bowler, except Shammi was not effective one. Now Pakistan have little chance to qualify for semi-final.

Today's match winner is not easy to expect as a semi final chance is still there for Bangladesh up for grabs.

Bangladesh has vastly improved in all departments, especially the way Shakib has played for his team is heart warming. He is set to become Man of the tournament for sure.

I am having my doubts about an Indian win today seeing the growth of Bangladesh especially in this tournament. We have witnessed some nerve wracking encounters between these 2 sides & it must be the same today.

A battle of equals on the cards I guess unless Shakib is played well & he is got out early.

I am curiously looking forward to today's match as Tigers are ready to challenge lions in Birmingham. I am not predicting the result as it will be for everyone to see in few hours from now!

India have won the toss and opt to bat first with Bhuvi & Dinesh in for Kuldeep & Kedar. Advantage India I guess by batting first on a deteriorating pitch.

The chances are that India will play England and Australia will take on NZ. England is pretty tough competitor taken into consideration their current form.  

suni51 wrote:

The chances are that India will play England and Australia will take on NZ. England is pretty tough competitor taken into consideration their current form.  

Yes, in that case I feel Australia will enter the final at Lord's Cricket Ground for sure given the way they played against New Zealand in their last match. And India can beat England this time provided they have learned from their defeat.

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

suni51 wrote:

The chances are that India will play England and Australia will take on NZ. England is pretty tough competitor taken into consideration their current form.  

Yes, in that case I feel Australia will enter the final at Lord's Cricket Ground for sure given the way they played against New Zealand in their last match. And India can beat England this time provided they have learned from their defeat.

This world cup I have been very skeptical about team India's performance and have always felt it cannot win and I still feel it that way.

However with all the injuries and team selection, India has done pretty well as a team. However I still feel that India lacks that killer intent which is possessed by Australia and England.

I think India & New Zealand are in the same bracket of play and that Australia & England may play the finals.

India's middle order has been the main cause of concern and it has always been the bowlers standing out for our team this time.

Only if Virat, Rohit & Rahul fire in unison, India has a chance at final.

One more thing may be England chasing and succumbing to the scoreboard pressure or the World Cup pressure as they have failed in chases. That is a light of hope.

True, if India can learn from it's defeat, it can beat England.

I think Indians will do their best if they have to go into finals. Do not take England lightly as they have the most devastating openers and two good batsmen to follow them. India will miss Dhavan at this point in this match.   

suni51 wrote:

I think Indians will do their best if they have to go into finals. Do not take England lightly as they have the most devastating openers and two good batsmen to follow them. India will miss Dhavan at this point in this match.   

Yes absolutely. Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma together form such a devastating opening pair in the ODIs. So, India will badly miss the power hitting of Dhawan in the knock out phases ! However, on the flip side, it's the opportunity in front of the other players to step up and make up for the loss of Shikhar.

Unfortunately other players have not stepped up much. K L Rahul has been the anchor and has fulfilled that role reasonably well, but the fact that he is a right technique player and has good cricketing shots in his books mean that everybody does expect a big knock from the man.

However he has played only a sheet anchor role and hence the run rate is not so good for the team.

epraneeth77 wrote:

Unfortunately other players have not stepped up much. K L Rahul has been the anchor and has fulfilled that role reasonably well, but the fact that he is a right technique player and has good cricketing shots in his books mean that everybody does expect a big knock from the man.

However he has played only a sheet anchor role and hence the run rate is not so good for the team.

Yes Rahul's strike rate has not been impressive in this edition of the world cup so far. Interestingly, now that Mayank Agarwal is in the team, it remains to be seen that if he gets an opportunity straightaway in the game against Sri Lanka today. Mayank is an opening batsman known for his elegance and stroke play at the same time. He is also pretty solid with his technique. So, he can be a perfect replacement for Rahul if not for Dhawan.