2019 Cricket World Cup

Good news all the way for Team India ! Dhawan and Kohli back in tremendous form with the bat. A thumping victory for India over the much fancied Aussies, and Bhuvi shines with the ball as well. India next faces New Zealand on Thursday 13th June.

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

I believe Australia are the favorites in today's match against India. This is mainly because of their recent form and their convincing victories in the last ODI series played between the two nations on Indian soil itself. Australia came back from being 0-2 down to eventually clinch the series 3-2. To beat India on their home turf and that too without the services of key players like Smith, Warner and Starc, will give Aussies enough confidence going into today's match. However, I am sure India have their own plans to blunt the Aussie threat.

I also felt the same way. But India played very professionally right from the beginning.

While India were batting good, I expected them to score 350 or about 370 though the commentators were saying 280 was a good score as I felt the pitch was better than told by the commentators.

But still it would have been good had India chased a target. That would have been a big boost for them.

suni51 wrote:

In my views if Australians have an upper hand the only reason is that our openers are in uncertain form. While Rohit hit a good century in previous match Dhavan's form is not in the best of his form lately. He is going through a bad phase which is matter of concern and so is Virat who is not playing his usual self for some time now. Maybe his his confidence level has gone down after IPL thrashing.

Thankfully Dhawan has come back to form, or atleast played a great knock for India in the match.

Even I felt that Virat is not playing his usual self from some time now. Even the knock of 82 is not showing that class which he used to show sometime back. He doesn't look that dangerous or invincible for the time being. 

India batting delivered the goods at all stages which was the highlight of the match. Knocks from Pandya, Dhoni & Rahul were the knocks which are required everytime for India in the final statges.

India never batted like that in the final overs for some years now. But yesterday Batting performance was a treat to watch.

In the next match, New Zealand is facing its first real test while India is facing it's 2nd real test.

I think New Zealand have an upper hand because of their all rounders and good bowling. But since they have played not that good teams till now India may win.

Winning this match against New Zealand means more or less India has confirmed its semi finals birth as it can win against Srilanka, Afghanistan and one other team.

epraneeth77 wrote:

suni51 wrote:

In my views if Australians have an upper hand the only reason is that our openers are in uncertain form. While Rohit hit a good century in previous match Dhavan's form is not in the best of his form lately. He is going through a bad phase which is matter of concern and so is Virat who is not playing his usual self for some time now. Maybe his his confidence level has gone down after IPL thrashing.

Thankfully Dhawan has come back to form, or atleast played a great knock for India in the match.

Even I felt that Virat is not playing his usual self from some time now. Even the knock of 82 is not showing that class which he used to show sometime back. He doesn't look that dangerous or invincible for the time being. 

It is right that Kohli is not playing his usual game but it is my believe that his bat will not remains silent for more days. In last match with Australia all batsmen give their contribution. 

Now the World Cup is at the mercy of Rain God. Now any team can top the leader board depending on rain interuption. We have already seen three No Result match so far and many more to come.

suni51 wrote:

Now the World Cup is at the mercy of Rain God. Now any team can top the leader board depending on rain interuption. We have already seen three No Result match so far and many more to come.

I completely agree with you. So far three out of sixteen matches has been abandoned. This is becoming extremely frustrating for both the cricketers and fans. The world cup comes once in four years. Therefore, it's hard to believe why the organizers have not taken into account of reserve days, especially, when the world cup is being played in a country like England which is prone for intermittent rains throughout the year. I feel reserve days are a must for a big and a long tournament like this, and the organizers must not think about their own hassles only.

Now Rain is in the top position with 8 Points from 4 matches, next come New Zealand, Australia & India.

Rain is looking ominious at the moment and it will not be a surprise if it usurps the Trophy this year!

Ah well said !!! Rain may very well end up as the champions of this edition of the world cup. I cannot recall any world cup where so many matches have got abandoned because of rain. And still it's only the first phase of the tournament that is underway. So, obviously we can expect more and more rain hit matches as the tournament progresses.

epraneeth77 wrote:

Now Rain is in the top position with 8 Points from 4 matches, next come New Zealand, Australia & India.

Rain is looking ominious at the moment and it will not be a surprise if it usurps the Trophy this year!

Yesterday I finished my on line work before 3 PM because I want to watch full ,match. I wait for it till the match aborted. It disappointed me. Now India have match with Pakistan on Sunday. It is hottest match of tournament. I am praying that there will  no rain on Sunday.

anil wrote:

epraneeth77 wrote:

Now Rain is in the top position with 8 Points from 4 matches, next come New Zealand, Australia & India.

Rain is looking ominious at the moment and it will not be a surprise if it usurps the Trophy this year!

Yesterday I finished my on line work before 3 PM because I want to watch full ,match. I wait for it till the match aborted. It disappointed me. Now India have match with Pakistan on Sunday. It is hottest match of tournament. I am praying that there will  no rain on Sunday.

Let's keep our fingers crossed as the weather forecast for June 16th is also not good. There's forecast for an overcast sky and intermittent showers on Sunday, the match day between India and Pakistan at Old Trafford. Interestingly, if the match takes place, it's going to be the first match of this tournament at this venue.

I think it was a bad decision to organize this premier tournament in England in the first place. The ideal places for this tournament during this season are Australia and New Zealand where weather is pleasant and very little or no rain. India is too hot and other countries have no infra structure. Even England is not fully prepared for providing facilities to teams. The grounds have not enough covers or facilities to dry or drainage system. England is a totally useless place for such a tournament. 

It has been raining for the past few days in Old Trafford. Even the logos to be painted on the grass are not yet painted. However the forecast on match day is better. Hope there will be a match.

suni51 wrote:

I think it was a bad decision to organize this premier tournament in England in the first place. The ideal places for this tournament during this season are Australia and New Zealand where weather is pleasant and very little or no rain. India is too hot and other countries have no infra structure. Even England is not fully prepared for providing facilities to teams. The grounds have not enough covers or facilities to dry or drainage system. England is a totally useless place for such a tournament. 

The last Cricket World Cup in 2015 was hosted by Australia and New Zealand. So, these two countries were automatically out of contention for the next edition of the world cup being played this year I guess.

Yes I agree with you completely that the organizers in England are not at all well-prepared this year to host a big cricketing tournament like this.

In the meantime, Australia take on Sri Lanka today at the Oval. Sri Lanka have already complained of green pitches being dished out their way deliberately in every match that they have played. So, we will have to see how it goes today. In an another match, South Africa take on Afghanistan today.

Saurav Banerjee wrote:

anil wrote:

epraneeth77 wrote:

Now Rain is in the top position with 8 Points from 4 matches, next come New Zealand, Australia & India.

Rain is looking ominious at the moment and it will not be a surprise if it usurps the Trophy this year!

Yesterday I finished my on line work before 3 PM because I want to watch full ,match. I wait for it till the match aborted. It disappointed me. Now India have match with Pakistan on Sunday. It is hottest match of tournament. I am praying that there will  no rain on Sunday.

Let's keep our fingers crossed as the weather forecast for June 16th is also not good. There's forecast for an overcast sky and intermittent showers on Sunday, the match day between India and Pakistan at Old Trafford. Interestingly, if the match takes place, it's going to be the first match of this tournament at this venue.

If there is rain tomorrow it will disappointed us but peoples who are reached there to watch match disappointed much more than us. Price of ticket of this match is 800-900 pounds. I read is newspaper that little country Sri Lanka have facility of covering whole ground and drying ground with in an hours. It is sad that a rich country UK have not this facility.

I totally agree with Sunil.  It's a wrong decision to have it in UK.  It is so unpredictable with rain there.  And rain has already ruined few matches.  Tomorrow match is so much sought after by Cricket lovers.  If there is rain and points shared,  Pakistan would be in advantage.  Let's keep our fingers crossed. 

If it rains tomorrow and the match gets abandoned, Pakistan would definitely feel lucky to steal a point from India. This is because their record against India in the world cups is pathetic.

However, I feel the team that has been the most lucky in this edition of the world cup so far is New Zealand. This is because their matches against the relatively weaker teams in the tournament didn't get abandoned due to rain. As a result, New Zealand didn't have to share points with teams like Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. So, this has definitely put the Kiwis in great advantage going ahead in the tournament.

We can say the same about Australia too. They haven't lost any match due to rain but I would say if the match today is called of or shortened today, it will be a great loss for Indian team. India will remain in 4th position but Pakistan will go up at 5th or 6th from its 9th position right now.

I think this tournament should get a new name  World Cup>>>> Rain Cup  

Indians are rain-dancing in India for rain here but Indians are reverse rain dancing in England.

I heard India were able to practice yesterday as the weather was somewhat okay. However, the absence of Dhawan in the playing XI remains as a big worry. It's also still not very clear whether India will go with an additional pacer or two spinners in the match. Moreover, it's almost impossible to predict how a team like Pakistan will perform on a given day.

One good thing for India though is that Pakistan would definitely feel more pressure as their chances of reaching the top four in the tournament depends a lot on this match.

My best wishes for Team India !!!

India has outclassed Pakistan in all facets of the game on Sunday, recording their 7th victory in world cup against Pakistan to Zero wins of Pakistan, that too despite Bhuvi not able to bowl early into the innings with tight hammy, Virat declaring himself out even as Umpire did not give and Virat did not edge the ball. Also Shikar was not playing.

One of the biggest thing of this match was that it happened in the first place as rain was predicted throughout the second half as showers. But it stayed away for most part thankfully.