GROUP D - India, Pakistan, Scotland

Group D - India, Pakistan, Scotland.

Schedule -

Wed 12 September 3rd Match, Group D - Pakistan v Scotland
Kingsmead, Durban

Thu 13 September 7th Match, Group D - India v Scotland
Kingsmead, Durban

Fri 14 September 10th Match, Group D - India v Pakistan
Kingsmead, Durban
There is little hope for Scotland to get past the might of the other two. The only interesting match in this group , and probably the most widely watched match ever in the history of 20/20 will be no doubt Friday the 14 th when the neighbours clash and 1 1/4 billion people will probably be interested in the result.:laugh:

Interesting not to see replies to this thread!

The Indian ODI team seems to have carried on its dreadful World Cup form to the series in England, and it's not surprising when they've got more or less the same team. The T20 team is very different, and a very good showing can get most of the new recruits here into the ODI side.

Yusuf Pathan: The elder brother of the more famous Irfan Pathan, he's very tall, he bats a lot like VVS Laxman and can hit big shots with ease. For a frontline batsman, he can bowl tight off-spinners (or leg-spinners? a matter of controversy) for long periods and he's also a good fielder- a lot better than Powar. With the Indian ODI team sacrificing at least ten overs in every ODI with part-timers, especially after Dimi's five sixes off Yuvraj, he's an ideal fit. Very much the Chris Gayle of the Indian team.

Robin Uthappa- The Indians' dreadful powerplay batting highlights the need for a new opening partnership. Uthappa's aggression and strokeplay will make him an option. He's a very good fielder in the covers, saving more than a few runs. His only weakness is his tendency to bat like a pinch-hitter, but, this is T20. A future star, he's worth persisting with for the 2011 World Cup and certainly the next Champions Trophy.

Gautam Gambhir- Another proper opener, his aggressive style of batting and hard running between the wickets makes him another option. When the field cannot be penetrated, run hard. He's also very effective in the outfield.

Rohit Sharma- No Dravid. No Tendulkar. No Ganguly. Only Yuvraj. Then Rohit Sharma. This youngster from Mumbai may not be a star, but as a support act for Yuvraj Singh, he'll do very well. He's a hard runner between wickets and can build partnerships. When he's on strike, he too is a strokemaker, but a little quieter than Uthappa. A future ODI contender, he may be a quick pick once the heroes retire.

Piyush Chawla- He's been very impressive with the ball in the limited-overs format. He goes for wickets, which sometimes gives the batsman a six-ball or two in every spell, but he may be a surprise in this format of the game. A very good fielder in any position, he's also got good batting technique and at seven, eight or nine, he can be quite a handful. Harsha Bhogle rates his batting very highly, and suggests he request his coach to bat him at five- good idea, since it will prepare the team to play a fifth bowler.

Dinesh Karthik- He's had a dreadful ODI series in England, so he'll have to do a lot better to convince the selectors that he's good enough to stay in the ODI team. His slow, shaky batting and erratic fielding are very unlike what we had seen in the Test matches. Rather unspectacular, he is a gritty batsman who can hang in there, and also a fast runner between the wickets. He's also a good fielder, which helps, when the current 'best' Indian team is the worst in the field, and suffering for that.

Irfan Pathan- Written off after a slump in form since the series in the West Indies, let's not forget what he can do on his day. We've seen him burst into the scene in Australia, a fresh relief in the fading Indian team that was crushed in the ODI series. He's quite a handful when the new ball is swinging and regularly got early wickets, though once the batsmen are set and the ball gets old, it's a different story. He's got a good throwing arm (though more effective in the inner circle) and very athletic in the field, and as experiments have shown, he's also a very strokeful batsman and a clean hitter of the ball- very useful in positions seven and eight.

Joginder Sharma- His recent OD/T20 form isn't very inspiring, but on his day, he too is a player to watch. His batting is very similar in technique and style to Dinesh Karthik, but he tries to force the pace and increase the scoring rate. He's, however, primarily a swing bowler, but most of his success has come with the new ball, so he's got little experience with an older ball. Very much the Dimi Mascarenhas (not playing in T20?) or Dwayne Bravo of the Indian team.

Preferred XI: Uthappa, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni (C, WK), Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan (OB), Irfan Pathan (LMF), Piyush Chawla (LB), Sree Santh (RFM), RP Singh (LFM) with reserves Joginder (RMF) for Karthik and Harbhajan (OB) for Chawla. Sehwag may not make it because of fielding issues and Agarkar, well, we've seen enough.

Irfan Pathan is a terrible fielder, no form of athleticism and his arm (even by Indian standards) is poor.

Although, he may have worked on these ‘areas’ since I last saw him in South Africa.

SO...my attention swifts suddenly towards the 2020 WC now.....as for india...i think it will be good for them to start as under-dogs TBH...they have hardly played many 2020s ( well, 1 against SA)...and they have a generally young side. BUT...i am ecited about this side...they are attacking players that have enough skill to win the WC IMHO. As for the grp though...i think the match between india and pakistan may be decided on how india bowl to Afridi....TBH...the team that bats the better will win the tie as both teams are as dire with the bowl, especially as Aktar is now out.






p.s....i cant believe i just wrote dire...seems CW is having an effect on my vocab!

Not expecting much from India. As others have pointed out we don't have much experience with this format of the game.

Really if the team could make the semis that would be an excellent achievement.
But as Ian Chappell pointed out, I think this tournament will give India an inkling as to what their future ODI side may look like.
It gives the chance for guys like Pathan Harbhajan and Sehwag to rehabilitate themselves and it also gives a chance for the likes of Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma and Joginder to make a name for themselves.

I think the tournament will be interesting from that perspective rather than pure results because I don't India are a contender for the title.

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Originally Posted by Raghav

Interesting not to see replies to this thread!

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Expect this thread to be flooded with posts as of today ....:laugh:

Group preview.

He's been doing and saying the right things. Lost weight, improved fitness, and all around showing the hunger to be back. With Tendulkar,Ganguly, Dravid not there and him being a natural for this formal (even his fifteens and thirties are briskly done) - he shouldnt blow it.

Probably India could be:
Sehwag
Gambhir
Yuvraj
Uthappa
Dhoni
Karthik/Yusuf
Irfan
Joginder
Chawla
Sreesanth
RPSingh

Bowling: Irfan+Sree to open , RP+Sree/Joginder to close and lots of variety in between.

sehwag definetly open....with uthappa

yuvi to come in next and dhoni after that.........

if we can reach SF that will be Great

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Originally Posted by biased indian

if we can reach SF that will be Great

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That would be one hell of an achievement IMHO.....its not that india is not a strong side or anything....its just i expect the other teams to have more experience than india. The other teams even got warm up games and England, who also didnt, have enough experience to compensate for this.

Reading Arjun's post about the players I haven't seen before (Yusuf, Joginder etc)

My Odi XI will be:
Sehwag
Uthappa
Dhoni*
Yuvraj
R Sharma
Karthik/ Y Pathan
I Pathan
J Sharma
Chawla/Harbhajan
Singh
Sreesanth

Reserves: Gambhir (unconvinced may replace Sharma) & Agarkar (even the AAAS are tired of him)

We can see some interesting stuffs fro Sreesanth.....:laugh:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JASON

Expect this thread to be flooded with posts as of today ....:laugh:

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that was not the case when it was started:laugh: