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Why Nehra

Prince EWS

Global Moderator
Personally I can understand the logic of wanting to bowl a quick in the last over even if it's Nehra, but even so, leaving Harbhajan with nine overs was poor captaincy. If he wasn't going to bowl the last over he definitely should have bowled out earlier.
 

smash84

The Tiger King
Personally I can understand the logic of wanting to bowl a quick in the last over even if it's Nehra, but even so, leaving Harbhajan with nine overs was poor captaincy. If he wasn't going to bowl the last over he definitely should have bowled out earlier.
awta
 

Tendulkar_200*

School Boy/Girl Captain
Bhajji was the natural choice for the last over, he was looking threatening and was getting good bounce.

Maybe dhoni feared that what hussey did to ajmal in the last over may happen to Bhajji?

Nehra has been woefully out of form for quite a while and really shouldn't be in our starting lineup. In form he used to be a good powerplay and death bowler, but he has lost that now.
 

Blaze 18

Banned
Another reason could be that Dhoni didn't want Harbhajan's confidence to take a battering. Ashish Nehra isn't a certainty to make the eleven, Harbhajan is. If Harbhajan had bowled that over and conceded those runs, his confidence would have taken a big hit ahead of the knockouts (always assuming we make it).
 

smash84

The Tiger King
Another reason could be that Dhoni didn't want Harbhajan's confidence to take a battering. Ashish Nehra isn't a certainty to make the eleven, Harbhajan is. If Harbhajan had bowled that over and conceded those runs, his confidence would have taken a big hit ahead of the knockouts (always assuming we make it).
that is a plausible explanation.
 

GotSpin

Hall of Fame Member
Another reason could be that Dhoni didn't want Harbhajan's confidence to take a battering. Ashish Nehra isn't a certainty to make the eleven, Harbhajan is. If Harbhajan had bowled that over and conceded those runs, his confidence would have taken a big hit ahead of the knockouts (always assuming we make it).
That would be pathetic. Bhaji is a big boy now.
 

Tendulkar_200*

School Boy/Girl Captain
Another reason could be that Dhoni didn't want Harbhajan's confidence to take a battering. Ashish Nehra isn't a certainty to make the eleven, Harbhajan is. If Harbhajan had bowled that over and conceded those runs, his confidence would have taken a big hit ahead of the knockouts (always assuming we make it).
Not likely at all. Dhoni, like any good captain, would be thinking of who is the best bowler for this last over, nothing else. Certainly would not be thinking about Bhajji's long term mental state, he is very experienced. Maybe if it was a new player he might have been unsure about letting them bowl the last over.
 

Blaze 18

Banned
Just came across this on cricinfo. Interesting read. From the article :

The decision between Nehra and Harbhajan Singh became a 50-50 toss-up, with the spinner offering to bowl the 49th so that the team's most nerveless bowler, Zaheer Khan, could send down the 50th. If the 49th goes well - like it did for the Indians against South Africa in Nagpur, where Zaheer conceded four - the man bowling the 50th at least has a buffer. So far it had gone to Dhoni's plan. Nehra was the moment Dhoni gambled, because he has been India's best ODI bowler over the last year, the go-to man at the death. In Rajkot last year Nehra bowled the 50th against a rampaging Angelo Mathews with 11 needed off the last over to go past India's 414. He conceded five off the first three balls and took Mathews' wicket with the fourth.

Nehra has bowled the final over for India four times in his career, the two now forgotten instances being Karachi, the first ODI of the electric 2004 India-Pakistan series and against West Indies in a 2005 tri-series in Colombo, which took India to the final. Nagpur was the first time India lost.
 

Jono

Virat Kohli (c)
Just came across this on cricinfo. Interesting read. From the article :

The decision between Nehra and Harbhajan Singh became a 50-50 toss-up, with the spinner offering to bowl the 49th so that the team's most nerveless bowler, Zaheer Khan, could send down the 50th. If the 49th goes well - like it did for the Indians against South Africa in Nagpur, where Zaheer conceded four - the man bowling the 50th at least has a buffer. So far it had gone to Dhoni's plan. Nehra was the moment Dhoni gambled, because he has been India's best ODI bowler over the last year, the go-to man at the death. In Rajkot last year Nehra bowled the 50th against a rampaging Angelo Mathews with 11 needed off the last over to go past India's 414. He conceded five off the first three balls and took Mathews' wicket with the fourth.

Nehra has bowled the final over for India four times in his career, the two now forgotten instances being Karachi, the first ODI of the electric 2004 India-Pakistan series and against West Indies in a 2005 tri-series in Colombo, which took India to the final. Nagpur was the first time India lost.
That article is so misguided.

Firstly it is ruined immediately when she says that Dhoni needs to play it safe more as a captain. Are you kidding me? Really? That's his biggest flaw.

I understand her arguments that playing Chawla ahead of Ashwin and elevating Pathan in the batting order are risks, but in reality they aren't really. Firstly Ashwin isn't Murali or Warne. Yes he should have been playing but he doesn't have a reputation where playing Chawla is a huge risk. Secondly Pathan has been elevated in a powerplay before. There were no complaints when India scored over 400 against South Africa in India last time.

And then she goes on to defend the Nehra decision saying it wasn't risky because of what Nehra did in 2004.

Really? Your'e going to bring up a match from 2004? I'm sure that was part of Dhoni's reasoning when he chose Nehra ahead of Harbhajan :dry:
 

Blaze 18

Banned
To be fair, she also mentions a match played played in late 2009 (Rajkot vs Sri Lanka). Point taken though. :)
 

smash84

The Tiger King
That article is so misguided.

Firstly it is ruined immediately when she says that Dhoni needs to play it safe more as a captain. Are you kidding me? Really? That's his biggest flaw.

I understand her arguments that playing Chawla ahead of Ashwin and elevating Pathan in the batting order are risks, but in reality they aren't really. Firstly Ashwin isn't Murali or Warne. Yes he should have been playing but he doesn't have a reputation where playing Chawla is a huge risk. Secondly Pathan has been elevated in a powerplay before. There were no complaints when India scored over 400 against South Africa in India last time.

And then she goes on to defend the Nehra decision saying it wasn't risky because of what Nehra did in 2004.

Really? Your'e going to bring up a match from 2004? I'm sure that was part of Dhoni's reasoning when he chose Nehra ahead of Harbhajan :dry:
well said
 

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