Group C - South Africa, India, Afghanistan

[GraemeSmith]

SA has a decent chance of winning this thing. Afghanistan is going to get owned.

[Amobokobokoboko]

Originally Posted by TT Boy

South African 15...

Smith (C), Kallis (VC), Lungile, Botha, Boucher, AB, JP, Gibbs, Rory Kleinveldt, Langeveldt, Albie, Morne, Steyn, Rusty Theron, VDM.

Parnell and Kempie out injured. Good seam attack shame it won't be much use considering the conditions.

Why is AB not been selected?

[Athlai]

Originally Posted by Amobokobokoboko

Why is AB not been selected?

[R_D]

Originally Posted by Amobokobokoboko

Why is AB not been selected?

He's there mate..

I didn't know top 2 teams make it to next round...... I guess India should get past at least first round.... was thinking.. this is going to be boring because India will get knocked out in first round.

[honestbharani]

yeah.. India looks set for a hiding in this world T20, esp. with the team that has been selected and the conditions you would expect in the Windies..

[TT Boy]

Originally Posted by honestbharani

yeah.. India looks set for a hiding in this world T20, esp. with the team that has been selected and the conditions you would expect in the Windies..

Slow wickets, ideal for spinners and the ball won't get above waist height. Perfect for Indians side.

South Africa by contrast have selected a top heavy seam attack and their spinners have hardly bowled in the last few months.

[honestbharani]

nah.. our boys are bad at getting on with it when faced with those slow spinners and wickets aiding them.. 2007 WC showed that amply...

[AaronK]

anyone knows why robbon Uthappa was not chosen in place of Sehwag.. I mean the guy is as distructive as Sehwag..

[Arjun]

Let's see how the Indian team can be managed. Vijay and Gambhir open, no doubt about that. One key issue is Raina. He's been the top batsman among the Indians in the IPL, second only to Sachin and Kallis, with four fifties and a strike rate over 120. Unfortunately, he's struggled repeatedly in T20Is, and those stats are not too encouraging. Even some sloggers in this team and around have done better. They need to tap that form and convert it into T20I form, and match wins, rather than worry too much about the short ball. All said and done, he's the best fielder in the team, and should be on the field for all 20 overs, not wasting one with the ball.

Raina's not the only form player. Rohit Sharma has often carried his team and scored big, and quick. Dhoni's exploits in the closing games are well-known, and he can tap that form into the World T20. Of course, he won't have Haydos, Albie, Murali and Dougie to fall back on here, but with the available resources, he should make it.

Yuvraj has struggled, but he's a class act, and should recover. Yusuf Pathan has been inconsistent in the IPL and struggled to notch up big scores, but that's still largesse in comparison to the batting contribution of the other bowlers- which is next to nothing. You can't go in with five of these bowlers at present. At seven, he can stretch the batting a long way and add some useful striking power, so he's not out of it.

The form bowlers are Harbhajan, Zaheer, and a little less so Nehra and Vinay Kumar. All four should make the starting XI. Yusuf can handle the balance overs, and maybe one over from one of the top six should surprise the batting. Alternatively, they could have had two specialist spinners in the XI, but Chawla's form doesn't inspire much confidence now, while better spinners have been overlooked. Except for Yuvraj, all of these players have had it good in the IPL, and the trick will be to tap their form.

[Jono]

Originally Posted by Shri

No Manish Pandey leaves me fuming. Rohit 'iamamumbaikaranddeservetobeselected' Sharma is in the squad ahead of the two Tiwarys and Pandey? wtf?

Right move in hindsight now.

Pandey looked like a dead duck to any quality bowling.

[vcs]

Surprised not to see Uthappa there. I'm not a fan of the guy but he can be a destructive T20 player.

[masterblaster]

Worried about India. We don't do well against unknown minnow teams. Granted I think we'll win today but I'm not expecting it to be a stellar performance, especially as most of the players will be suffering from IPL fatigue.

[duffer]

A loss to Afghanistan as embarressing as that would seem, would be worth it for the endless vido of people and their outpourings of grief across India. Well worth it.

[NUFAN]

Very pumped for this clash, one of the best sports moments of the year seeing Afghanistan playing in a major tournament.

[AaronK]

wow my favorite commentators here.. sanjay Manjaraker, ian Chapple and Harsha.. this is going to be a good match..

I am supporting Afghanistan by the way..