**Official** Sri Lanka in India 2014

[Prince EWS]

2. The poor bowling of Sri Lanka.

And catching.

 

[ankitj]

264 reasons Rohit should open | Cricket News | India v Sri Lanka | ESPN Cricinfo

It is extraordinary that Rohit has hit two double hundreds but he has made a lot of excruciatingly slow starts to his innings which have cost the team scoring momentum. I am still a bit skeptical if he should open, though it's the most inopportune time to make that argument.

 

[YorksLanka]

i absolutely agree with Pratters and Prince EWS,Rohit batted really well by using the numerous chances he got from us. I saw the first ten overs or so before i had to go to work and we seemed to bowl ok at the start. I believe this loss was caused by our appalling fielding and if Thisara had taken that catch, it could have been a different story- on form i think Indian would have still won but probably not got 400...I dont get why our management dont get Mahela to open with Dilly.He has expressed an interest in doing so and has generally done well when he has done it in the past..I do like Kusal but the way he plays, he tends to get out cheaply more thatn he scores big runs and we cant always be on the back foot with quick early wickets..Again, not taking anything from India, they played really well and we just looked amateur apart from Mathews(no change) and Thirrimanne did well but lost his head in the dreaded batting powerplay which always kills us as we seem to see it as a signal to turn the brain off

 

[Blocky]

It's not long until a 300 is scored, realistically it just takes an innings of luck from a guy like Ryder, Anderson, McCullum, Kohli, Du Plessis, Warner, etcetera... if they last 120-150 balls in a 50 over match, having gone at the bowling early, they're all capable of it.

 

[Daemon]

Yeah, even today he was on 50 from 70 odd balls, if he had got off to a flyer...

Just a matter of time imo.

 

[ankitj]

Tendulkar has never scored that many runs in even a test match!

 

[Jono]

Nah deadset guys not sure if I made it clear before. But to the Rohit haters, suck my balls.

 

[Jono]

Ridonkulous

Haha that is amazing.

 

[cnerd123]

I think we'll defo see a ODI 300 in our lifetimes (or atleast my lifetime, idk how old some of you are)

I want Rohit opening because even tho he's a bit of a feast-or-famine kind of batsman, he does have the technique to do well in Aus/NZ when compared to Dhawan, whome I'm fairly certain will struggle. Plus having a player capable of these sort of innings is so valuable in a tournament like this.

Rohit/Dhawan followed by Rahane/Kohli isn't too bad either tbh.

 

[dontcloseyoureyes]

um... wat

 

[the big bambino]

Well that certainly got my attention when I read the news this morning. Can't believe some are calling a score of 264 piss poor cricket. He still out batted all of Sri Lanka and the flat wicket excuse isn't really a good one. Flat wickets are the norm in odis so its not as if Rohit has been lucky getting one.

 

[Burgey]

It really doesn't matter how small the ground is/ flat the pitch is it that you got given chances. All those variables have been present in cricket since the year dot. The **** made 260 odd in a one dayer. That's amazing. Good on him.

It shows you how far the game has come that there have now been several 200 plus scores by individuals in ODIs. Sharma's score is an incredible effort. I suspect within the next five ears someone will make 300.

 

[Arjun]

I'm just relieved that Rohit Sharma, who's actually got some talent, is getting these chances. He's not an opener, let's not kid ourselves, but he's definitely worth these chances. An average, run-of-the-mill player like Jadeja has done well late in his career because of the captain's faith in him. Likewise, Yuvraj, who turned into one of the finest ODI all-rounders in the last World Cup.

The success of Umesh Yadav is more relevant. He was worth as many chances as these two, and can make a difference for the Indian team. He's had a good year so far, striking under 30. I don't take economy rates seriously- he's a strike bowler, and wickets matter.

 

[ankitj]

 

[Daemon]

Yeah his opening spells have been decent but the death bowling still leaves plenty to be desired. It's ok though because he doesn't need to bowl like that in tests, will happily take it.

 

[Arjun]

Yeah his opening spells have been decent but the death bowling still leaves plenty to be desired. It's ok though because he doesn't need to bowl like that in tests, will happily take it.

You take what you get. Death bowling is a problem for all the bowlers, not just Masher. It goes hand in hand with poor middle-overs bowling, when fresh batsmen get set, build a partnership and have a base from where they can start striking. Take a look at the strike rate figures of both Ashwin and Jadeja- they're in the 40s, much like the part timers.

We're looking at Umesh and Shami as regular fixtures in the ODI XI, but the third bowler may not yet be ready- Bucky has been poor this year, with a paltry 14 wickets in 16 games- while Ashwin has 21 in as many, same economy rate. In a four-man bowling unit, he's not viable as a frontline bowler at all, unless conditions give him the amount of swing he got in England. A call-up for Pankaj Singh on present form isn't far off, nor is a recall for Varun Aaron. Pandey's OD form has been disappointing (unless he can turn it around with another good Ranji season) and most of the top OD bowlers (single best seam bowler is Yo Mahesh) in India can't last an ODI series.

 

[Maximas]

It was a flat pitch but not a dreadfully flat one, was something there for the seamers and spinners, I'd credit the Sri Lankan bowling as having more to do with Rohit's score than the pitch, a simply magnificent effort, beautifully paced and executed.

 

[Maximas]

Also nice to see Thirimanne back in the runs, he actually looked pretty comfortable too, similar to how he batted in the Asia Cup where he scored a couple of centuries, wish he could produce the quality we know he is capable of more often, awful to watch when he falls into long ruts where he looks like a club cricketer playing international cricket

 

[Energetic]

Its games like this which can quite possibly self-destruct Cricket. I mean who would want to be a bowler after what Rohit has done? this is not Cricket at all. That game reminded me of Baseball strangely.

 

[harsh.ag]

Its games like this which can quite possibly self-destruct Cricket. I mean who would want to be a bowler after what Rohit has done? this is not Cricket at all. That game reminded me of Baseball strangely.

The **** bowling and fielding were the reasons Rohit got that score. And when Indian bowlers bowled well, they got wickets as expected. Did you watch the match, or just read an article from a hack and came over here to post?