*Official* Australia in India - ODIs

[CDAK]

Too much said about Dhoni's lack of sportsmanship.Yes, MSD didn't congratulate the winners, and is really bad for the spirit of the game. Let's take him for a captain with bad post-match sportsmanship. But he never spoils the spirit of the game in search of an undeserving win, unlike the other guy( Sydney test is the worst of all).

Give MSD a chance to be a successful captain of a successful team for years and thus to learn to behave, like Ponting did.

 

[GotSpin]

Too much said about Dhoni's lack of sportsmanship.Yes, MSD didn't congratulate the winners, and is really bad for the spirit of the game. Let's take him for a captain with bad post-match sportsmanship. But he never spoils the spirit of the game in search of an undeserving win, unlike the other guy( Sydney test is the worst of all).

Give MSD a chance to be a successful captain of a successful team for years and thus to learn to behave, like Ponting did.

Nicely put...


Was a great game and has been a really good series so far

 

[CDAK]

Regarding chennai 99; it was not Sachin's fault that the game India lost, but some smart thinking and work from the great Wasim Akram.
The common thing in such matches where Sachin took his team single-handedly near to finishing point, is the poor show by the tail-enders. Why to blame an opening batsman if the tail-enders can't get 16-17 runs.

 

[GotSpin]

Regarding chennai 99; it was not Sachin's fault that the game India lost, but some smart thinking and work from the great Wasim Akram.
The common thing in such matches where Sachin took his team single-handedly near to finishing point, is the poor show by the tail-enders. Why to blame an opening batsman if the tail-enders can't get 16-17 runs.

Wrong again, the responsibility lies within the top order to actually have a meaningful contribution, not the bowlers.

 

[CDAK]

Wrong again, the responsibility lies within the top order to actually have a meaningful contribution, not the bowlers.

True, but with 4 wickets in hand and to get 16-17 runs is not a great ask for the "bowler-batsmen". In given context( sachin's contri ), the opening batsman took it to the finishing point.

 

[GotSpin]

True, but with 4 wickets in hand and to get 16-17 runs is not a great ask for the "bowler-batsmen". In given context( sachin's contri ), the opening batsman took it to the finishing point.

Given Sachin's contribution with the bat, all India needed was further support from the top/middle order to win. These games should not be left to the fate of bowlers who can't hold their head on straight when running between wickets, let alone speaking of their great inexperience.

 

[Jono]

Not Kumar, Harbhajan or Munaf's fault. Nehra was a bit of a dick with his shot, but whatever.

Jadeja's run out was THE DEFINITION of a choke.

It was:
a) stupid
b) avoidable
c) purely due to pressure

 

[bagapath]

Regarding chennai 99; it was not Sachin's fault that the game India lost, but some smart thinking and work from the great Wasim Akram.

akram is truly smart and an all-time great, i agree. but what exactly did he do in that game to turn the tide around?

 

[CDAK]

akram is truly smart and an all-time great, i agree. but what exactly did he do in that game to turn the tide around?

He took all 3 the tail wickets in an over or something like that after sachin got out. ( This is about the Test match against Pak in which Sachin and Mongia took the match as close as just 16 to win with 4 wickets in hand. Akram, in an interview said, later ,that Saqlain's tricky ball( was later officially called the Doosra) that fooled Sachin was the trap they set for him.) Sorry if it's the wrong Chennai game I' m telling about.

 

[Pratters]

Jadeja's run out was THE DEFINITION of a choke.

It was:
a) stupid
b) avoidable
c) purely due to pressure

Just a ball or two before, he attempted a similar run and could have been run out. Was really dire.

 

[SJS]

Great game. Great advert for the fifty over game. The grounds are actually packed as against the fibs told about packed grounds at T-20's. An absolute privilege to see Sachin play one of his finest innings and so sad to see him come close to breaking down when he went up for his MOM award.

1. For me Australia have done a terrific job in this series and the reasons are easy to spell out.
   
2. This is an Australian side that has lost most of its great players over a short period of time.
   
3. In the process of rebuilding they were facing a resurgent India playing some of their better cricket of recent years.
   
4. On top of that Australia lost players even from this new look side to have something akin to a West Indian side post player's revolt (as far as new/unfamiliar names are concerned).

With this background they are able to hold their own ON INDIAN SOIL speaks volumes for the Australians.

Hats off.

 

[Ikki]

wish dhoni shows a little more respect for the opposition like his aussie counterpart.

ricky ponting is a terrific sportsman. besides being a rock-star of a batsman and one of the greatest fielders of all time, he has also played the game in the right spirit throughout his career. too much was made out of the sydney test and all of it is very unfair to ponting. india fell like a pack of cards, not unlike last evening, when they could have controlled the situation with just one sane brain on field. rather than accepting their short comings, the losers decided to blame the opposition captain for no reason; only ganguly spoke sense. i love the way ricky has been handling the boos in england and india with a smile and carrying on doing what he does best - play cricket like very few human beings could. (ikki and aussie, i hope you read this and realize my unadulterated love for ponting)

LOL, are you saying that to convince us, or yourself?

I'm actually not the biggest Ponting fan, which would surprise a lot of people since I often defend his career.

Just watching the extended highlights of Watto at the moment, IMO he's never played a better innings than that one. All of his hundreds/big scores he's struggled early and gotten better as it went on, this innings was amazing.

Greatest ODI all-rounder ever?

 

[bagapath]

LOL, are you saying that to convince us, or yourself?

No. I am just speaking my mind. Also underlining it now to make sure I am given due credibility when I criticize him on other occasions. I won't have to do it for Indian cricketers. In fact, if I hear your reasons for not being a great Ponting fan, I will be able to buy your defense of him with less resistance than now.

 

[four_or_six]

Greatest ODI all-rounder ever?

I saw an interview where Watto was being asked the top three all-rounders in the world at the moment, ODIs I think it was. When he was struggling to decide the third name they were suggesting he say himself and he was all like "haha, yeah, I wish" but I don't think it's unreasonable. I know the rankings don't quite have him there, but his batting is ranked way too low anyway because of the amount of time he's missed with injury (he's ranked the same as Ian Bell).

It was terrible of him to miss Shakib out though.

 

[Ikki]

No. I am just speaking my mind. Also underlining it now to make sure I am given due credibility when I criticize him on other occasions. I won't have to do it for Indian cricketers. In fact, if I hear your reasons for not being a great Ponting fan, I will be able to buy your defense of him with less resistance than now.

It's strange how that should even matter. I personally don't care if someone is a fan or not a fan of someone - just how reasonable their argument sounds. Personally, I don't give credibility to a visage of fairness, but fairness itself. It may be just me, but sometimes I feel people here try too hard to seem even-handed instead of just saying what they really think.

 

[bagapath]

sometimes I feel people here try too hard to seem even-handed instead of just saying what they really think.

interesting. who are these people you have in mind?

 

[bagapath]

actually in ODIs the greatest all-rounder title is very difficult to confer on any one player. despite his team's winning record, I would think Flintoff is someone I wouild love to have in my team for both his batting and bowling. Watson is well on his way to compete with him for that place.

 

[bagapath]

It's strange how that should even matter. I personally don't care if someone is a fan or not a fan of someone - just how reasonable their argument sounds.

bollocks! when i said indian batsmen can butcher leg spin you accused me of treating them as gods rather than logically disproving me. whether or not i am an indian fan should not have mattered in that argument. but u brought it up.

 

[Ikki]

interesting. who are these people you have in mind?

I don't think it's any one person but something that is sometimes pretty obvious to spot. I think it's the sign of an educated mind to be able to do so (be fair, that is), but it often gets tedious seeing it post after post.

bollocks! when i said indian batsmen can butcher leg spin you accused me of treating them as gods rather than logically disproving me. whether or not i am an indian fan should not have mattered in that argument. but u brought it up.

Yeah, I think you misunderstood what I meant. I didn't mean they were gods in the sense that you worshipped them, but gods in the sense that you seem to make out as if they were infallible.

 

[four_or_six]

actually in ODIs the greatest all-rounder title is very difficult to confer on any one player. despite his team's winning record, I would think Flintoff is someone I wouild love to have in my team for both his batting and bowling. Watson is well on his way to compete with him for that place.

Yep. The rankings have Shakib well out in front, then Yuvraj, then a pack who all seem to move about including Kallis, Afridi, Oram, Watson, Malik, Flintoff and Jayasuria.

Realised I didn't put in my original post, but Watson went for Kallis, Flintoff and Gayle.