So here we are into the knockout stages!!! The super eights are gone so now there’s no second reprieve. 3 Hurdles to jump across and only 1 will reach the finish line. The question is Can it be Team India?
After the loss to South Africa, I read a lot about India no longer standing a chance to win the WC2011 with several reasons. But a quick rewind to The ICC Knockout Cup 2000-01 will eliminate all talks of favourites at a Knockout Stage.
India wasn’t fielding its best side then that would look good enough to win the tournament. Let alone win they weren’t supposed to play more than 2 matches. The first being Kenya and the second being Reigning World Champions Australia. That Aussie side had everything yet they lost to India in the 2nd i.e. the QF stage and India went on to beat South Africa in the semis(again South Africa was carrying top players) and suddenly India went to the Final as Favourites as opposed to New Zealand who had for the first time seen what it is to be in final but there was a twist in the tale and NZ surprised everybody including themselves by beating India.
The point I wish to make is that from here onwards all 8 teams have a chance as in the K/O stage if one player of your team performs extremely well that might just be enough to upstage the opponent.
Similarities to that tournament and this tournament from the Indian Point of View:
1. India enter the game against Aussies as clear non-favourites (I don’t think so though!!)
2. The bowling attack again isn’t that strong. Obviously the then Zak wasn’t as good as the now Zak. Prasad was fading away and we had one experienced spinner then in the form of Kumble. Now Bhajji holds Kumble’s position and Munaf takes Agarkar’s place.
3. A non-instrumental keeper. We had Dahiya then and now the skipper Dhoni.
Now I come to what Team India must look to do if it has to win the WC2011
The Batting Order The batting order must not change now. The classic batting order must stand the way it is and there’s a reason to it. You want to mentally prepare yourself to play in that position right from the nets. So Kohli might be preparing himself to play at no.4 so he tries to practise in such conditions and against such type of bowlers. On the other hand Pathan’s setting himself up to play at no.7. On the match day, they are inter-changed and the team collapses.
The Batting Powerplay
A famed batting line-up refrains from taking the Batting Powerplay citing a collapse. Sounds funny!! If common sense prevails then any team will look to slog in the last 5 overs irrespective of it being a PP or not. So why not take a BTT prior to that and make the counterpart use up his strike bowlers then so you face the second string bowlers towards the end.
The Bowling Department
Now there cannot be any more changes in the bowling line-up. Nehra and Sreesanth have to sit out for the rest of the tourney. I still wouldn’t mind if MSD opts playing all 3 spinners in the QFs atleast citing the conditions. Ashwin started off with Zak against the Windies so we might persist with that and have Bhajji and Piyush bowl at changes. The reason is not that I’m a fan of Chawla. The point is that it will give that extra zing in the bowling. 2 offies and a leggie can make it troublesome. Mind you Chawla would be just a pawn. He may not get the wickets but the change of spin that he brings will not let the batsmen settle at the crease . The strike will come from the two offies. Sometimes playing with the opposition’s mind just does the trick. Also Aussies would be a bit vulnerable and play over-cautiously against Chawla with the memories of the practise game at the back of their mind.
MS Dhoni
It’s time for him to buckle up. He has been an utter disappointment and trust me I was expecting it. In my SWOT analysis of Team India I did mention him as a weakness which got me a lot of flak but after the group stages I sadly have been proved right by him. He needs to settle into a mindframe. Either you play like you played against NZ in the practise match i.e your natural game or you rotate the strike without eating too many balls. He has got shoddy footwork and to make up for that he must use his muscle power. But then he must do that in the nets. You cannot just come onto the field and start bashing. He must have realised that on his long walk back after being stumped last match.
Also it’s high time he stops experimenting too much. Harbhajan was the clear choice against SA for the last over but he opted for Nehra and that loss has indirectly landed us a tougher opponent in the QFs. I could somehow relate his decision to give Nehra the ball to his decision to give Joginder Sharma the ball in the last over of the T20 WC2007. 13 runs were needed then and again he has to choose between Bhajji and a seamer. He was lucky then that Misbah played a loose stroke to gift India the Cup. Also Sharma was hit for a six and so was Nehra.
With this I end my post hoping for good nail-biting knockout games and also hope that I will be able to write about what India needs to do to win the Semis next...
After the loss to South Africa, I read a lot about India no longer standing a chance to win the WC2011 with several reasons. But a quick rewind to The ICC Knockout Cup 2000-01 will eliminate all talks of favourites at a Knockout Stage.
India wasn’t fielding its best side then that would look good enough to win the tournament. Let alone win they weren’t supposed to play more than 2 matches. The first being Kenya and the second being Reigning World Champions Australia. That Aussie side had everything yet they lost to India in the 2nd i.e. the QF stage and India went on to beat South Africa in the semis(again South Africa was carrying top players) and suddenly India went to the Final as Favourites as opposed to New Zealand who had for the first time seen what it is to be in final but there was a twist in the tale and NZ surprised everybody including themselves by beating India.
The point I wish to make is that from here onwards all 8 teams have a chance as in the K/O stage if one player of your team performs extremely well that might just be enough to upstage the opponent.
Similarities to that tournament and this tournament from the Indian Point of View:
1. India enter the game against Aussies as clear non-favourites (I don’t think so though!!)
2. The bowling attack again isn’t that strong. Obviously the then Zak wasn’t as good as the now Zak. Prasad was fading away and we had one experienced spinner then in the form of Kumble. Now Bhajji holds Kumble’s position and Munaf takes Agarkar’s place.
3. A non-instrumental keeper. We had Dahiya then and now the skipper Dhoni.
Now I come to what Team India must look to do if it has to win the WC2011
The Batting Order The batting order must not change now. The classic batting order must stand the way it is and there’s a reason to it. You want to mentally prepare yourself to play in that position right from the nets. So Kohli might be preparing himself to play at no.4 so he tries to practise in such conditions and against such type of bowlers. On the other hand Pathan’s setting himself up to play at no.7. On the match day, they are inter-changed and the team collapses.
The Batting Powerplay
A famed batting line-up refrains from taking the Batting Powerplay citing a collapse. Sounds funny!! If common sense prevails then any team will look to slog in the last 5 overs irrespective of it being a PP or not. So why not take a BTT prior to that and make the counterpart use up his strike bowlers then so you face the second string bowlers towards the end.
The Bowling Department
Now there cannot be any more changes in the bowling line-up. Nehra and Sreesanth have to sit out for the rest of the tourney. I still wouldn’t mind if MSD opts playing all 3 spinners in the QFs atleast citing the conditions. Ashwin started off with Zak against the Windies so we might persist with that and have Bhajji and Piyush bowl at changes. The reason is not that I’m a fan of Chawla. The point is that it will give that extra zing in the bowling. 2 offies and a leggie can make it troublesome. Mind you Chawla would be just a pawn. He may not get the wickets but the change of spin that he brings will not let the batsmen settle at the crease . The strike will come from the two offies. Sometimes playing with the opposition’s mind just does the trick. Also Aussies would be a bit vulnerable and play over-cautiously against Chawla with the memories of the practise game at the back of their mind.
MS Dhoni
It’s time for him to buckle up. He has been an utter disappointment and trust me I was expecting it. In my SWOT analysis of Team India I did mention him as a weakness which got me a lot of flak but after the group stages I sadly have been proved right by him. He needs to settle into a mindframe. Either you play like you played against NZ in the practise match i.e your natural game or you rotate the strike without eating too many balls. He has got shoddy footwork and to make up for that he must use his muscle power. But then he must do that in the nets. You cannot just come onto the field and start bashing. He must have realised that on his long walk back after being stumped last match.
Also it’s high time he stops experimenting too much. Harbhajan was the clear choice against SA for the last over but he opted for Nehra and that loss has indirectly landed us a tougher opponent in the QFs. I could somehow relate his decision to give Nehra the ball to his decision to give Joginder Sharma the ball in the last over of the T20 WC2007. 13 runs were needed then and again he has to choose between Bhajji and a seamer. He was lucky then that Misbah played a loose stroke to gift India the Cup. Also Sharma was hit for a six and so was Nehra.
With this I end my post hoping for good nail-biting knockout games and also hope that I will be able to write about what India needs to do to win the Semis next...
No comments:
Post a Comment