India played Netherlands yesterday in a match that had no excitement attached to it. In my view, India does not do well in such games as the weight of expectations is such that they are expected to hammer the opposition, however real life rarely obliges (the match against Bermuda where the combined Indian batting vented their frustration in the last World Cup being the exception).
For a change, I was listening to the pre-match analysis on TV which had Navjot Sidhu, Ian Chappell and Simon Doull apart from Harsha Bhogle as the anchor. Both Sidhu and Chappell were speculating on the Indian XI and were saying that probably both Ashwin and Nehra would play in place of Chawla and Zaheer respectively. However, MSD sprang a surprise on all by making only one change and bringing in Nehra in place of Munaf Patel! I must admit that this googly from MSD had everyone including me playing down the wrong line ! It was very hard to fathom this decision and even when Ganguly was asked about it, he could not manage a convincing answer beyond saying that MSD is obviously backing Chawla and is building his confidence.
Thus, rather than the match, the selection generated the most debate. The match itself had some points of interest. India's bowling did not shine and though they managed to bowl out Netherlands, the two main spinners did not inspire much confidence. Harbhajan bowled economically without looking like taking a wicket and Chawla's two wickets were presented rather than earned. Nehra bowled well enough, however assuming only two medium pacers would be playing, then it would be hard to displace Munaf Patel. The reasons for continuing to keep Ashwin out are mystifying to say the least and MSD is not particularly shining in the captaincy department at the moment.
Given that Netherlands had posted only a modest score, India were expected to canter to an easy win. India started at a frenetic pace but when Gambhir and Kohli both got out bowled, they were in a spot of bother. However, Yuvraj was playing with some confidence and his fifty ensured that India finally got to a comfortable win. The result shows that India won by 5 wickets and with 12 odd overs to spare, however the only positive to emerge was that India registered their third win and with the tied match against England, have ensured their place in the quarter-finals.
In other matches, Pakistan had a horror of a match against New Zealand where nothing went right for them. If conceding close to a hundred runs in the last 5 overs was not bad enough, the keeping of Kamran Akmal must rank as the shocker of the tournament. Enough has been said and written on it and without adding to the fire, it is safe to comment that at the very least Pakistan should find a more competent keeper. I was surprised that Shoaib Akhtar did not come to blows with him on the field.
The tournament is gathering momentum now and this weekend should give a good indicator of form going into the last two weeks
For a change, I was listening to the pre-match analysis on TV which had Navjot Sidhu, Ian Chappell and Simon Doull apart from Harsha Bhogle as the anchor. Both Sidhu and Chappell were speculating on the Indian XI and were saying that probably both Ashwin and Nehra would play in place of Chawla and Zaheer respectively. However, MSD sprang a surprise on all by making only one change and bringing in Nehra in place of Munaf Patel! I must admit that this googly from MSD had everyone including me playing down the wrong line ! It was very hard to fathom this decision and even when Ganguly was asked about it, he could not manage a convincing answer beyond saying that MSD is obviously backing Chawla and is building his confidence.
Thus, rather than the match, the selection generated the most debate. The match itself had some points of interest. India's bowling did not shine and though they managed to bowl out Netherlands, the two main spinners did not inspire much confidence. Harbhajan bowled economically without looking like taking a wicket and Chawla's two wickets were presented rather than earned. Nehra bowled well enough, however assuming only two medium pacers would be playing, then it would be hard to displace Munaf Patel. The reasons for continuing to keep Ashwin out are mystifying to say the least and MSD is not particularly shining in the captaincy department at the moment.
Given that Netherlands had posted only a modest score, India were expected to canter to an easy win. India started at a frenetic pace but when Gambhir and Kohli both got out bowled, they were in a spot of bother. However, Yuvraj was playing with some confidence and his fifty ensured that India finally got to a comfortable win. The result shows that India won by 5 wickets and with 12 odd overs to spare, however the only positive to emerge was that India registered their third win and with the tied match against England, have ensured their place in the quarter-finals.
In other matches, Pakistan had a horror of a match against New Zealand where nothing went right for them. If conceding close to a hundred runs in the last 5 overs was not bad enough, the keeping of Kamran Akmal must rank as the shocker of the tournament. Enough has been said and written on it and without adding to the fire, it is safe to comment that at the very least Pakistan should find a more competent keeper. I was surprised that Shoaib Akhtar did not come to blows with him on the field.
The tournament is gathering momentum now and this weekend should give a good indicator of form going into the last two weeks
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