Indians should feel reasonably happy following their win against Netherlands in the first warm up game prior to the World cup. It was obvious that the thinking behind the game was to give all batsmen a hit and to search for the third seamer to support Agarkar and Zak (both of whom are sure to start the first game and hence did not figure in the team today). The two spinners also went head-on-head though its not clear how one would be favored over the other based on today's performances.
I guess the people to benefit the most were Sachin and Dravid, who used the game in the exact way it should have been. They spent a decent amount of time and then opened up to score a few runs too. It was unfortunate that the top three did not spend as much time as they would have wanted, but an opening partnership of 60 was pretty good and also it ensured everyone got a hit in the 50 overs. I personally don't both Sehwag and Uthappa will play in the same XI and hence I am sure these games are also a head-on-head clash between those two. Unfortunately, neither put his hand up today.
Other person under the radar today was Pathan and based on what I read, he disappointed again. The ball was apparently swinging and still he did not make much of an impression. I guess 6 overs for 12 runs is pretty good, but from what I read on cricinfo comms, he did not beat the bat much in the spell and lacked penetration. So, its unlikely to see him start ahead of Sreesanth and Munaf. However, there could still also be case to play him as a middle-order all rounder ahead of Karthik and Sehwag/Uthappa. Therefore, all these people should get another game against WI to stake their claims.
So, what would my team for next warm up game be? Assuming you can still play 13 people, I would rest Sachin/Dravid and Dhoni for that game and play the rest of the squad with Karthik keeping wickets. The players sure to start the first game are Gangs, Sachin, Dravid, Yuvi, Dhoni, Zak and Agarkar. The rest of the four slots are going to be a toss up between (i) Bajji and Kumble, (ii) Munaf and Sreesanth, (iii) Sehwag and Uthappa and finally (iv) the one who misses out between Sehwag and Uthappa with Karthik and Pathan. This decision should purely be based on how these people perform in the next warm up game.
Finally, India and Sri Lanka also need to watch out for Bangladesh. They have spent a lot of time in the West Indies playing games against Canada and other teams and hence are much better prepared from rest of the teams, as seen from their win against NZL today. So, it would be very dangerous to under-estimate them.
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3 comments:
The glass half empty way of looking at it is that but for Sachin and Rahul, none of the other batsmen had a prolonged hit in the middle.
There was a start stop start nature in which the Indians went about their innings with a good opening, a stutter, a solid stand between Sachin and Rahul, then Rahul and Yuvi, followed by yet another stutter, before closing at 300.
At 284/9 there was a real chance that India would fold within the 50 overs- something that is becoming a huge worry.
151 of the 300 runs came courtesy wides, no balls, sixers and fours ( off 29 balls).
Of the remaining 271 balls, India managed a sum total of 149 runs losing 9 wickets.
The bowling was good without being spectacular, the fielding was workmanlike - there is really nothing that can be taken from the game as a statement of intent.
Hmmm, some of your points are valid, especially with respect to singles. That could have been better definitely. But I still think there is only so much you can get out of these games and I think Indians got about 80% of what they would have wished.
I would rather take a game like this compared to the top four scoring 375 or so and the bowlers bowling out opposition in 20 overs. Its important for everyone to have a feel in the middle and though unintentional, it happened today.
So, I think this game is purely experimental and an issue of getting used to conditions. And it is definitely much better start compared to the previous edition when we struggled to cross 250 for a long time :).
Finally, although all the top teams played against the minnows in this round, only Indians managed to touch 300. This probably suggests how teams are approaching these games or just the nature of wickets in store for this World Cup.
I agree with you that a score of 375 /3 is not the best workout for a team.
That said, a lot of the Indian batsmen got out to ordinary shots. There was an element of casualness to the whole approach.
Also, in the latter overs, before the ball change, the Indians were showing no intent in running their runs hard at a time when the ball was not coming onto the bat.
Small things - but it can slowly become an habit - which can come and bite us in the back in crunch games.
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