Posts Tagged ‘Cricket World Cup 2011’

  • 19 Mar

    Posted by


    Category

    Shouldn’t Akhtar have waited till the end of the Cricket World Cup?

    1

    The big question that seems to be haunting many of the fans is whether Shoaib Akhtar made the right decision by announcing the retirement in the middle of the Cricket World Cup 2011.

    The reason for this is that the Pakistanis have not been as good as they would have wanted their bowling to be. The reason for that is that they have conceded far too many runs in the tournament and Akhtar, to an extent, has been responsible.

    Now, with Akhtar announcing the retirement it could mean that Afridi may need to pick him up or could face his and the ire of some of the fans. This could dampen the spirits of the side. Dropping him seemed to be the way that they would like to go, given that Wahab Riaz has done well in the limited opportunities that he has got.

    Riaz also provides an option to bowl left-handed, which means that there could be an issue within the side thanks to the decision.

  • 16 Mar

    Posted by


    Category

    How does Group A of Cricket World Cup lie?

    1

    The best part about the Cricket World Cup 2011 – Group A is that the four teams have already qualified for the quarter-finals. There were never any issues with it and so far, there were no upsets either. However, what remains to be seen is which team will stand at which position.

    There are two meaningful games to go between Australia and Pakistan and then between New Zealand and Pakistan.

    If Australia win they will top the group irrespective of what happens in the other game. Similarly if New Zealand beat Pakistan then they could top the group as well if Pakistan beat Australia.

    Sri Lanka, even if they beat New Zealand, cannot top the group. Nor can they come on the third position.

    What this will mean is that with the Aussies having a good chance of going through to the next round at the top of the table, it could mean that they could play the team placed fourth in Group B.

  • 17 Feb

    Posted by


    Category

    India crush New Zealand but fast bowling woes remain

    0

    The Cricket World Cup 2011 is only a couple of days away and the manner in which India crushed the New Zealand side in the Cricket World Cup warm-up game was worth it. In fact, that should give them a whole lot of confidence going into the World Cup and make them one of the favourites.

    India batted first and scored a massive 360, all thanks to an innings to remember by MS Dhoni. Dhoni slammed three sixes and 11 boundaries in his innings that he got in 64 balls only – a rasping effort.

    There were others as well who got the runs with Suresh Raina getting to his 50 in 25 balls while Gautam Gambhir’s 89 setting the platform as well. India won by 117 runs.

    What will be interesting to see is how the Indian pace bowlers go about their business given that they have struggled in all the games so far. They have leaked runs and if the Indians field first and are hit away for 250-300 runs, it could just be a struggle for the Indians.

  • 16 Feb

    Posted by


    Category

    Australia collapse again, lose second game to South Africa

    1

    Australia lose another warm-up game in this Cricket World Cup 2011 and this time it is to South Africa. Some may say that it is only a warm-up. Unfortunately, that argument would have held true had the side fought hard, matched the South Africans and then gone down.

    Instead, there were huge issues to look at for South Africa.

    One was their batting. While batting collapses are common in this day and age of aggressive cricket, they have gone down like a pack of cards on two successive occasions – against India they lost nine wickets for 58 and now, eight for 89.

    This was followed by their bowling. Only two days ago, India had bowled Australia out in the second innings under lights. This time around, Australia managed just one wicket – the other two were retired outs to allow practice for the other batsmen.

    Even that wicket was a run-out. The bowling, to me, seems overly dependent on Brett Lee. His ten overs aside, things will look difficult for the side if they have to depend a lowish total and the confidence would be sapping as well.

  • 15 Feb

    Posted by


    Category

    Bowling attack a question-mark for India

    1

    It is a question that would have passed through many people’s minds. While the batting is more or less decided, who will be the final four in the Indian bowling attack.

    Unfortunately, only Harbhajan Singh makes it to the starting eleven a bowler without question-marks. Zaheer would have made it as well, but there are reports that he has a groin strain and it remain to be seen whether the side will actually risk him for the first game.

    That means two of Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel and Sreesanth should play. My guess is that Nehra will make it to the eleven along with Sreesanth. Munaf has bowled well but needs support from the pitch.

    That means that there is one spot open for the fourth bowler – and one of R Ashwin or Piyush Chawla will make it through. Till about recently, Chawla was not even in contention and would have probably not played a single game. Now, with his performance against Australia, it makes things interesting.

    Who are your four bowlers?

  • 14 Feb

    Posted by


    Category

    Sad to see Ponting complain against Bangalore pitch

    0

    Australia lost a game yesterday to India which they should ever have. However, what was surprising to hear at the end of the game was for the Australian skipper to complain about the nature of the track.

    It is very obvious that the pitches in India will assist spin bowling. And that is the beauty of the sport, which unlike many other sports is not played on an artificial turf where the players know what will be the kind of track they will be up against.

    Unfortunately, Ponting has a vision that is so blinded by saving his own skin that any track that remotely offers spin is an under-prepared one.

    Instead, one feels that Ponting should look at the shots that some of his batsmen played, included his own stroke to get stumped. At best, they could be described as atrocious. Clearly, there is a need to correct some of that than blame the pitch for his undoing.

    Rest assured that in India and Sri Lanka where they played their league games, the tracks will assist spin.

  • 09 Feb

    Posted by


    Category

    Australia to go into Cricket World Cup without Hauritz, Hussey

    0

    This will come as a huge blow for the Aussies. One of their best batsmen in recent times in all three formats of the games, Michael Hussey, will miss out on the Cricket World Cup 2011. This is after he was named in the squad but had to be dropped after injuring his hamstring.

    It is an interesting move considering that the player would have been fit by the time the side had played two games in the tournament. which wouldn’t have caused too many issues to the side given the nature of the format where the side would have been able to qualify for the quarter-finals come what may.

    The selectors’ rationale is that they wanted a fit team going into the Cricket World Cup right from the first day of the tournament, instead of a side which will have lesser than fully fit individuals.

    So, in comes Callum Ferguson, who isn’t such a bad choice, given his form as a batsman before injuries had set his career back. David Hussey, to me, will be a player to look out for.

Page 1 of 3123»