3rd ODI; Australia V India @ the MCG.

[Frank Gallagher]

Smith and/or Warner are past their best. And Cummins + Starc won't be swinging the ball wildly if this current summer is anything to go by.

Smith and Warner will be fresh, and eager to please, i wouldn't open with Warner though over there, i'd open with Ussy and the walking wicket.

The walking wicket
Ussy
Smith
Warner
Big show
Finch
Handscombe (floating bat and wicky)
Faulkner
Cummins
Stark
Some spinner dude.

 

[Xtreme]

Smith and Warner will be fresh, and eager to please, i wouldn't open with Warner though over there, i'd open with Ussy and the walking wicket.

If by fresh you mean not playing for a while because of injury then sure!!

Australia will get knocked out of the first stage of the tournament such is the dire state of the team.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Sure, but at the same time you suggested that he mainly performs in dead rubbers and places undue pressure on others which is pretty secondary to the fact that he has been an immense player who has won many matches for India in pivotal and inconsequential matches

Your arguement is that he’s past it while justifying that by critiquing his past endeavours

Didn't specifically add "for the past five years" to my points, but was criticizing him for his performance in that period (although he hasn't been really really bad until around a year ago imo). When he retires he can rest on his laurels, but I really don't think performances from near a decade ago have anything to do with assessing a player's current output.

 

[jr4jane2004]

Coulternile should have been in the side. Can hit the long ball, good fielder and pretty decent bowler. Scored a quick 31 off 15 balls x 3 sixes of Faulkner tonite. Can't believe we got banana Siddle.

 

[The Speaker]

If by fresh you mean not playing for a while because of injury then sure!!

Australia will get knocked out of the first stage of the tournament such is the dire state of the team.

Given how long the 'first stage' of the tournament is, who cares?

 

[Frank Gallagher]

If by fresh you mean not playing for a while because of injury then sure!!

Australia will get knocked out of the first stage of the tournament such is the dire state of the team.

You underestimate us, look at our WC record, i'd be very confident playing India in the WC final in England, and it may very well come down to that.

 

[eddiesmith]

Coulternile should have been in the side. Can hit the long ball, good fielder and pretty decent bowler. Scored a quick 31 off 15 balls x 3 sixes of Faulkner tonite. Can't believe we got banana Siddle.

3 x 6s off a pie chucker isn’t a great feat. Besides, he said he was sore so they didn’t risk it

Maybe WA needs a new physio as none of their bowlers can survive more than a couple of games. Jhye better move East quickly before he becomes a victim

You underestimate us, look at our WC record, i'd be very confident playing India in the WC final in England, and it may very well come down to that.

No chance of Australia v India final

 

[Xtreme]

Given how long the 'first stage' of the tournament is, who cares?

Well it would suck if the defending champions were sent packing so early

 

[The Joker]

Would have been a great innings if he was batting at 7 and India had lost a bunch of wickets in quick succession.

Do not see the benefit or tactical nous in coming in at number 4 chasing a tiny target and stonewalling until the last five overs. Less a choice and more the result of Dhoni's batting gameplan being as adaptable as Shahid Afridi's. Turned a drubbing into a close finish.

Full credit to India for setting the scene for grandpa to get the win.

T20 cricket and its fans suck!

 

[carloss]

wtf is going on with the selectors.

They hate us?

 

[Richard Pryor]

T20 cricket and its fans suck!

Test cricket fans >> ODI cricket fans >> T20 cricket fans >> cricket fans who think scoring slowly = quality 100% of the time.

 

[GROTTO]

You underestimate us, look at our WC record, i'd be very confident playing India in the WC final in England, and it may very well come down to that.

Underestimate England, NZ and SA at your peril. They are very good ODI teams. SA are due.

 

[The Joker]

Test cricket fans >> ODI cricket fans >> T20 cricket fans >> cricket fans who think scoring slowly = quality 100% of the time >> Richard Pryor

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I dont agree with how you have arranged the middle order, but your opener and tailender is 100% right!

 

[Park cricketer]

I'm sure people will be singing platitudes of Dhoni but the fact is that this chase was right up his ball park.

He has two major issues which he hasn't shown any signs of improving even in a series he won the man of the series award in.

1. He gets massively bogged down vs the spinners. He used to be good in the past but for some reason, he has had a steep decline in his ability to rotate strike against decent spinners. When you consider that spinners will be doing the bulk of the work in the middle overs of the game and that is when he generally comes out to bat, that's going to put a significant halt in gathering momentum through the middle overs.

The best team in the world right now is England and they're massive favourites for the world cup because on their small grounds and flat wickets, they have batsmen who can bat at a fast clip even through the middle overs, complete opposite to the old model of ODI cricket when teams used to consolidate in the middle overs and wait for a launch in the death overs. England stand out from the rest of the teams because no middle overs stagnation occurs for them when they're batting. This is where Dhoni will affect India's chances when you have one batsman batting at 50 sr in the middle overs.

2. Because he is past his prime, he has lost his ability to play the big shots, which he used to play at will in the death overs. Even in this series, it was Dinesh Karthik who played the big shots in the last game and it was Kedar Jadhav in this game. This means he can't be trusted to tee off in the death overs like he used to do in the past.

So in essence, he becomes a liability in high scoring matches (300-350) which are the norm in England. He is a good player to play the anchor role in low tricky chases. Another important thing to note is his style of playing will cost India 25-30 runs to their final total and that can prove costly if India bats first.

He shouldn't bat anywhere above Jadhav or Karthik in the world cup and he is probably best suited playing as a specialist keeper at no.6 or 7. If he plays at 4, then that's going to suck the momentum out of India's innings.

 

[Richard Pryor]

I dont agree with how you have arranged the middle order, but your opener and tailender is 100% right!

Shocking attempt at banter mate but have this on the house:

 

[The Joker]

Shocking attempt at banter mate but have this on the house:

Thanks heaps, its much more than you'll ever achieve.

 

[PhatBoy]

+1

I always felt you guys were the dominant team and for an away team to win thats massive.

If the test and ODI series was played in India with this result then I would think differently but to come over here in foreign conditions and beat us.

Well done.

Well I agree with the sentiment but I don’t go for India either mate.
I dislike Australia - a lot - but I don’t have much time for India either.

 

[The Speaker]

Well it would suck if the defending champions were sent packing so early

No-one's going home early. The group stage is five weeks.

 

[GROTTO]

Well I agree with the sentiment but I don’t go for India either mate.
I dislike Australia - a lot - but I don’t have much time for India either.

With the injuries that Warner and Smith have sustained, the time out of the game, I am not so sure that they will have an immediate impact in resurrecting us.

 

[GROTTO]

No-one's going home early. The group stage is five weeks.

With the final to be played at the end of summer meaning a likely washout game. ffs.

I would rather have the world cup every 2-3 years but of a way shorter format. The current format is just revenue raising.

I wont bother with quarter finals. My sleep will be ruined for semis and final.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Thanks heaps, its much more than you'll ever achieve.

Slightly better, if you keep this up i'll have to whip up a most improved cert.

 

[Xtreme]

No-one's going home early. The group stage is five weeks.

Well it would suck for the Australian's to go home after those 5 weeks without anything to show for it!

 

[Park cricketer]

My rants on Dhoni aside, probably India's best overseas tour ever. Don't think Indian fans are going to be forgetting this tour anytime soon.

 

[Xtreme]

No doubt it's been a summer to remember

 

[Ohitsthatguy]

Congrats to India for only having one sport to support.

Meanwhile in Australia there are five sports.

Well done India.