Indian fans outraged !!

[Trescothin]

Indian fans give up on cricket team

The shameful performance by the Indian cricket team in the World Cup has left its fans back home shattered. Angry fans have started to protest against the pathetic performance of Indian cricketers by demanding a boycott of the commercials endorsed by them. They are also questioning the logic behind channeling astronomical funds into cricketers' kitty at the expense of other sports.

The much-hyped Indian batting line-up failed to fire, yet again and was bundled out for a paltry 125 runs, even before the completion of 50 overs by a determined Australian side. Australia won the match by 9 wickets

Fans back home, who were led to believe that this Indian team was the best team equipped to win a world cup by advertisement campaigns, had expected a much more disciplined performance. They even forgot the India team's poor show on the New Zealand tour that was cleverly attributed to poor wickets and bad conditions by the team and Indian cricket board

Rueful fans conceded in anger and frustration that after the abject surrender against Australia on the heels of an equally pathetic show against minnows Holland, India could all but kiss goodbye to the Super Six stage.

Reactions were spontaneous throughout the nation as the Indian team meekly surrendered to Aussie power and in Kolkata fans burnt effigies of skipper Saurav Ganguly.

Similarly, in Bhopal an SMS found way to most mobile users urged them to boycotting commercials endorsed by the cricketers. A chain mail with the same message also got going as the cricket-mad nation decided enough was enough

The huge amounts that Indian cricketers earn from endorsing a wide range of products was an aspect that eight out of ten fans referred to - most of them contending that the players were pampered far beyond their capabilities.

More than the defeat, what stung fans was the manner in which India had folded up.

"Just imagine, Bangladesh lost four wickets in the first over and still managed 124 against a sharp Sri Lankan attack. We had (Sachin) Tendulkar, Ganguly, (Rahul) Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and (Mohammad) Kaif and yet we could reach only 125. It's utterly disgusting," said Anil Shorey, a serving colonel in the Indian Army, who initially watched the match with his
12-year-old son before the youngster wandered off to meet his friends around the 10th over.

After Saturday's match, Australia have eight points with its two victories over India and Pakistan while Zimbabwe also have eight - from the victory over Namibia and another four points after England refused to play in Harare. This means that India would have to beat Pakistan, England and Zimbabwe, the other three teams in its group, if it is to qualify for the Super Six.

"It does seem a tall order. We might beat England but it will be tough against Pakistan and don't forget that we play Zimbabwe in Harare so they will have the home crowd advantage," said R.K.Ohri, who once played cricket for India's defence forces.

The recriminations apart, what went wrong with the Indian team, particularly when it was confidently said that it had put behind it the disastrous tour of New Zealand in December-January?

"It's hard to say but it's certainly not too much cricket, as many will now say," felt Ohri. "Every other country plays as much cricket as we do, if not more. I personally feel that Ganguly and the senior members of the team have lost their ability to inspire the team. Everyone seems very distracted. I really don't know why."

[Gotchya]

Originally posted by Trescothin
Indian fans give up on cricket team

The shameful performance by the Indian cricket team in the World Cup has left its fans back home shattered. Angry fans have started to protest against the pathetic performance of Indian cricketers by demanding a boycott of the commercials endorsed by them. They are also questioning the logic behind channeling astronomical funds into cricketers' kitty at the expense of other sports.

The much-hyped Indian batting line-up failed to fire, yet again and was bundled out for a paltry 125 runs, even before the completion of 50 overs by a determined Australian side. Australia won the match by 9 wickets

Fans back home, who were led to believe that this Indian team was the best team equipped to win a world cup by advertisement campaigns, had expected a much more disciplined performance. They even forgot the India team's poor show on the New Zealand tour that was cleverly attributed to poor wickets and bad conditions by the team and Indian cricket board

Rueful fans conceded in anger and frustration that after the abject surrender against Australia on the heels of an equally pathetic show against minnows Holland, India could all but kiss goodbye to the Super Six stage.

Reactions were spontaneous throughout the nation as the Indian team meekly surrendered to Aussie power and in Kolkata fans burnt effigies of skipper Saurav Ganguly.

Similarly, in Bhopal an SMS found way to most mobile users urged them to boycotting commercials endorsed by the cricketers. A chain mail with the same message also got going as the cricket-mad nation decided enough was enough

The huge amounts that Indian cricketers earn from endorsing a wide range of products was an aspect that eight out of ten fans referred to - most of them contending that the players were pampered far beyond their capabilities.

More than the defeat, what stung fans was the manner in which India had folded up.

"Just imagine, Bangladesh lost four wickets in the first over and still managed 124 against a sharp Sri Lankan attack. We had (Sachin) Tendulkar, Ganguly, (Rahul) Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and (Mohammad) Kaif and yet we could reach only 125. It's utterly disgusting," said Anil Shorey, a serving colonel in the Indian Army, who initially watched the match with his
12-year-old son before the youngster wandered off to meet his friends around the 10th over.

After Saturday's match, Australia have eight points with its two victories over India and Pakistan while Zimbabwe also have eight - from the victory over Namibia and another four points after England refused to play in Harare. This means that India would have to beat Pakistan, England and Zimbabwe, the other three teams in its group, if it is to qualify for the Super Six.

"It does seem a tall order. We might beat England but it will be tough against Pakistan and don't forget that we play Zimbabwe in Harare so they will have the home crowd advantage," said R.K.Ohri, who once played cricket for India's defence forces.

The recriminations apart, what went wrong with the Indian team, particularly when it was confidently said that it had put behind it the disastrous tour of New Zealand in December-January?

"It's hard to say but it's certainly not too much cricket, as many will now say," felt Ohri. "Every other country plays as much cricket as we do, if not more. I personally feel that Ganguly and the senior members of the team have lost their ability to inspire the team. Everyone seems very distracted. I really don't know why."

[Bazza]

8D

[Rik]

That explained all I needed to know about a lot of things.

[Rich2001]

Originally posted by Trescothin
Rueful fans conceded in anger and frustration that after the abject surrender against Australia on the heels of an equally pathetic show against minnows Holland, India could all but kiss goodbye to the Super Six stage.

I don't agree that India can all but kiss the Super Sixes goodbye, I blieve they have a better chance than England / Pakistan..

England have to win agaist, India, Pakistan, Holland, Namibia which would mean we could afford to lose to Australia.

Whereas India have an even better chance, you have lost to Australia, but hey there's no shame in losing to the best side in the world, even England did - however India have the better chance as you will play Zimbabwe and, even out of form, I can't see you losing to them...

Iam not 100% convinced about Pakistan, they have had a awful year and bar their bowling their batsman have been in terible form which I feel both India and England stand a good chance of beating, and them also losing to Australia helps us both out.

There will be 3 major games now in Group A to decide who goes through....

- England v India (speaks for itself)

- Australia v Pakistan (Australia won - which helps both England and India)

- India v Pakistan

"Just imagine, Bangladesh lost four wickets in the first over and still managed 124 against a sharp Sri Lankan attack. We had (Sachin) Tendulkar, Ganguly, (Rahul) Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and (Mohammad) Kaif and yet we could reach only 125. It's utterly disgusting," said Anil Shorey

Iam sorry but as good as SL are, their bowers aren't anywhere near the same leauge as Australia's - I mean Australia's bigest decison each match is who will open with McGrath! they are all that damn good...

If you want my opinion, India's batting needs two modifications.

1 - The order needs to be changed about - IMO Tendulkar / Shewag should open - they batted fantasticly well vs Englad in India and if the next batsman is coming in with runs on the board them they don't have to alter there game, Dravid @ 3 to bat through, Ganguly @ 4 to try and regain some form, Y Singh at 5, Mongia should bat above Kaif on current form, then the tail.

2 - Someone has to take the responsiblity of batting through, you have way to many "entertainers" and nobody that will hang around... Tendulkar was forced to play that role today and looked uncomfortable and was getting tied down and was playing some very high risk shots trying to get the runs flowing.

[Anil]

Originally posted by Rich2001
[B]I don't agree that India can all but kiss the Super Sixes goodbye, I blieve they have a better chance than England / Pakistan..

England have to win agaist, India, Pakistan, Holland, Namibia which would mean we could afford to lose to Australia.

Whereas India have an even better chance, you have lost to Australia, but hey there's no shame in losing to the best side in the world, even England did - however India have the better chance as you will play Zimbabwe and, even out of form, I can't see you losing to them...

How so? India have to beat Zimbabwe, atleast one of Pakistan/England and Namibia to have a chance. They cannot afford to lose another game heavily with an NRR of -0.3. Right now, even Zimbabwe is not a given considering India's form and the fact that Zim are playing at home. The problem is they just look like they'd much rather be elsewhere, in fact anywhere but on the ground. With that kind of attitude and mindset, they aren't going to win much.

Iam not 100% convinced about Pakistan, they have had a awful year and bar their bowling their batsman have been in terible form which I feel both India and England stand a good chance of beating, and them also losing to Australia helps us both out.

Whatever form they are in, Pakistan always pulls up its socks and performs against India, so with both teams in terrible form, I would say Pakistan will go into that match with the edge. The poor form of these two teams might even see both exiting and England and Zimbabwe entering the SS with Australia.

If you want my opinion, India's batting needs two modifications.

1 - The order needs to be changed about - IMO Tendulkar / Shewag should open - they batted fantasticly well vs Englad in India and if the next batsman is coming in with runs on the board them they don't have to alter there game, Dravid @ 3 to bat through, Ganguly @ 4 to try and regain some form, Y Singh at 5, Mongia should bat above Kaif on current form, then the tail.

2 - Someone has to take the responsiblity of batting through, you have way to many "entertainers" and nobody that will hang around... Tendulkar was forced to play that role today and looked uncomfortable and was getting tied down and was playing some very high risk shots trying to get the runs flowing.

Didn't Sehwag come in against Australia in the 6th over or something? What difference did it make? Besides, and I have said this before, Ganguly is not the best at rotating the strike in the middle overs, the reason being running between the wickets isn't his forte and tight bowling and fielding will cramp him and in this form, almost certainly get him out, but not before he has wasted atleast 3-4 overs "getting his eye in". Ganguly, if he is in the team shouldn't bat lower than no:3 IMO. Dravid is the ideal batsman for "batting through", but some unknown malady appears to have afflicted him since the NZ one dayers and now, the hero of 2002 is struggling to put bat to ball. As for Kaif, he should sit out for some games and Bangar or someone else should come in. Tendulkar doesn't seem to be out of form, but his usual response when seeing his teammates screw up, that of aggressive defiance is no longer forthcoming. We could do with some of the old Tendulkar right now. It might just be a wake-up call for the entire team. The problem is they might wake up too late to do anything significant in the WC.

[royGilchrist]

this idea of having dravid as keeper is horrible, on paper you can have one extra batsman, but you end up losing the sheet anchor of ur team, his productivity becomes maybe 70% or even less. If some one tries to think that after keeping for 50 overs he can just come in after the fall of the first wicket which usually will happen in the first 10 overs, and bat thru the innings, then they are severely mistaken. Maybe a match or two here and there, but the chanes of this happening are significantly less just becasue he keeps wickets.

[krkode]

Call it a matter of opinion, but I truly believe that the people who voiced their opinion in that article aren't true "fans." A true fan never gives up on the team he supports. Never.

And if there is something they cannot change, like Ganguly as captain, Laxman not being in the team, or whatever else they don't like, they should be able to accept it and not go about blaming a handful of players for the whole eleven's failure.

"Just imagine, Bangladesh lost four wickets in the first over and still managed 124 against a sharp Sri Lankan attack. We had (Sachin) Tendulkar, Ganguly, (Rahul) Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and (Mohammad) Kaif and yet we could reach only 125. It's utterly disgusting," said Anil Shorey

I don't see how this man can compare Sri Lanka, with only 2 really credible bowlers, and Australia, easily the best team in the world today.

I agree that Dravid as keeper is bad - I also entirely am against the selection of a 16-year old wicket keeper in a team for the world cup - especially this 16-year old having hardly played 10 First class matches - those too with disappointing performances.

[QuickFire]

Hi Everyone,

Although no excuse in this world can hide India's pathetic batting performance against Australia, here are the five peaople I think are responsible for India's poor showing -

1. Saurav Ganguly (Indian Captain)
2. Virendra Shewag
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Md. Kaif
5. Ashoka De Silva (Umpire)

Any Comments?

[krkode]

QuickFire, as credible as your points are, I disagree that the whole team's losses can be blamed on just 4 players and an umpire who's decision you think was bad.

After all, Cricket is a team sport, and when India loses *all eleven players* lose, and each and every one of them had their opportunity to do something about it. Just because we expect more from Ganguly doesn't mean we necessarily *have* to get more from Ganguly.

Personally, I completely disagree with the team and many decisions made way before the actual selection. I would've liked to see Laxman and Prasad in the team. I don't really support the "whoa! one classy performance! you deserve to play for India in the world cup" attitude. I disagree with Kaif's, Bangar's and Nehra's and Patel's selection and personally think there are more deserving players from India who deserve to participate in cricket's biggest trophy representing India.

[full_length]

"more deserving players"
who're they?

Prasad simply doesnt belong to the big stage any more. He's had his time. The selectors were right to pick Zaheer, Nehra and Patel and to leave out Laxman.
BTW, Balaji and Patel didnt really get a run did they?

Re: Saurav, he's got to inspire his team to up their game. He's done it earlier.


I agree with you that you cant pin blame on anyone in particular and blame them for losing. All eleven lose or win.
Incidentally what Quickfire was basically saying is that if Ganguly, Sehwag, Dravid, Kaif and Yuvaraj had batted well (note that Sachin was quite comfortable out there and Mongia looks good) then India would not have lost! thats the whole batting lineup and basically it means that he's blaming the batsmen for us losing

Dravid as keeper was a tough call and the captain made it. It worked for a while and I think it was mainly aimed for the WC. Once a team loses all kinds of reasons are searched for and found.. The decision has its merits and one should consider that we dont have a wicketkeeper to bat convincingly at no. 7.

I wouldnt start looking for excuses there..
If the Australians were screwing up and Gilli lost form (unthinkable isnt it) I guess people would say that Gilli should go down the order since he's too tired from keeping.

[QuickFire]

What I'm trying to say is...

It's Ganguly who should have taken more responsibility as he's the captain. He should have batted sensibly enough. Okay, let's forgive him for this one afterall, we're forgiving him for his poor performances since the last 5-6 months.

Shewag..who thinks is a better batter than Tendulkar and was trying to match Tendulkar from the moment he arrived. He gave a catch while chasing a ball on the 25th stump (I suppose).

Dravid..forgot that it's an ODI and didn't think it necessary to rotate the strike and give Tendulkar more opportunity for strike.

Md. Kaif..nothing can be said about him. He's been scoring 5-7 runs from the past 11 innings or so and should be dropped from the team now.

Ashoka De Silva...should have thought a lot more before raising his finger. He's giving some poor decissions for the last year or so and it seems that he always manages to umpire India's games.

Can't blame others cause Tendulkar and Mongia played well and the rest are bowlers and are not expected to bat well. They can't bowl well either as there's not enough on the board and the pitch was too good to trouble the Aussies. It was a 300 run pitch.

Forget about it...expect some more defeats for the Indians unless they strike some serious form overnight.