2nd Semi Final - Australia v India (26th March)

[Contra]

Rahane was trying to score? LOL, when was that cuz I totally missed it, wasn't until he edged one off some bowler and then hit Watson down the ground that his strike rate became okayish, for the chase to have realistically been successful Dhoni simply had to stay there till the end, which meant that all other batsmen apart from Dhoni had to take risks.

Dhoni was 25 off 26 and Rahane was 28 off 54 at the end of the 32nd over FFS

 

[cnerd123]

Rahane was trying to score? LOL, when was that cuz I totally missed it, wasn't until he edged one off some bowler and then hit Watson down the ground that his strike rate became okayish, for the chase to have realistically been successful Dhoni simply had to stay there till the end, which meant that all other batsmen apart from Dhoni had to take risks.

Dhoni was 25 off 26 and Rahane was 28 off 54 at the end of the 32nd over FFS

Yes Rahane tried to score. Problem was he kept playing and missing or getting into bad positions. He just wasn't good enough to get the ball away. He must have missed like 15 late dabs into the vacant third man area. That shortish length just outside off kept him quiet and made him struggle. As a batsman who relies heavily on timing and finding the gaps, Aus bowled excellently to him and he had no response. But he tried.

MSD just didn't try. Not until the very end. There were a few balls where he had a big wind up and was cramped for room, but for the large part of his innings he was just jamming and pushing the ball away trying to find the gaps. That's what bothered me so much. He was playing it like a Test.

They needed 8 RPO and he was just content on putting the bad balls away, of which there were very few. It disappoints me that by the time he did try to take the attack to the Aus bowlers, the RRR was already 15. It was ridiculous. Slow death. Terrible batting.

 

[Contra]

.. Rahane always looks like a guy "trying" because he's always running down the wicket as soon as he hits a ball to make it look like he wants a single or w/e (even when its not on most times). Just like Rahane was "trying" in the Bangladesh game with 19 off 37 or w/e it was. Lets not kid ourselves, Rahane needs serious work as a #4 (I personally don't even think that's his best position), his innings was neither here nor there. Either he should have looked for the big shots and get out with something like a run a ball 30 or rotate the strike and at least be striking at 75+ with a partnership with Dhoni, as it stands he did neither.

 

[cnerd123]

I'm not disagreeing Rahane is not good enough. That's my whole point.

Rahane sucks. So he struggled.

Dhoni doesn't suck. So he should have taken charge. But he didn't. He sat back, took singles, and watch Rahane struggle from the other end.

That's why I blame MSD more than everyone else. He could have done so much more but didn't.

 

[Contra]

By so much more you mean score all the remaining runs striking at 140+?

 

[anil1405]

I gotta agree with ***** here. Was baffled when Dhoni, at the presentation, pretty much meant the game was beyond his reach when he came in to bat. Seriously?

 

[Pratters]

I gotta agree with ***** here. Was baffled when Dhoni, at the presentation, pretty much meant the game was beyond his reach when he came in to bat. Seriously?

Said more on the lines that it was a steep task as the batsmen hadn't made runs at the top. He also said that he didn't have confidence in the lower bats and so wanted to leave it to as late as possible. Else they could have just collapsed in a heap. Showed that he didn't have much faith in Jadeja or the tail in these conditions.

 

[Pratters]

The part which I disagree with regarding Dhoni's comments came in the press conference. Said that the batsmen will learn a lot from the tour. Sure, they would. You don't go to world cups to get batsmen to learn, just, though. India could have selected a more dependable line up for this ODI series. Even after the tri series fiasco, we didn't make changes in the batting line up for the world cup, which was an error.

 

[cnerd123]

To me it shows a weak attitude as well.

Take the game from the scruff of the neck and try to win it before the lower order bats have to come in FFS.

If we get bowled out in 40 overs and 150 runs short then be it. I'd much prefer that to getting bowled in 48 overs with 90 to get.

Leaving it to late was so dumb. If he felt he was capable of taking 100 off the last 6 on his own, then he should have also felt he was capable of taking a boundary off every over from the moment he walked in.

In the 2011 final he walked in at a crucial juncture ahead of other in-form batsmen, and won the game off his own bat. That's vintage Dhoni. That's what he is capable of. That's what India needed off him and he didn't deliver.

 

[Daemon]

That was the best possible lineup pratters, or at least close enough to it that anyone coming in wouldn't make much of a difference. Ambati Rayudu is dire and wouldn't have done a thing.

 

[cnerd123]

Yea India's lineup for the WC was the best possible. We just aren't good enough.

 

[anil1405]

Its very strange, surely we have good talent in batting in the country. It must be a case of poor selection and maybe showing too much trust in Jadeja at 7.

 

[Contra]

To me it shows a weak attitude as well.

Take the game from the scruff of the neck and try to win it before the lower order bats have to come in FFS.

If we get bowled out in 40 overs and 150 runs short then be it. I'd much prefer that to getting bowled in 48 overs with 90 to get.

Leaving it to late was so dumb. If he felt he was capable of taking 100 off the last 6 on his own, then he should have also felt he was capable of taking a boundary off every over from the moment he walked in.

In the 2011 final he walked in at a crucial juncture ahead of other in-form batsmen, and won the game off his own bat. That's vintage Dhoni. That's what he is capable of. That's what India needed off him and he didn't deliver.

I think you were better off being a Bangladesh supporter

 

[Pratters]

When the run rate required moves closer to 15 runs per over and away from 10 runs per over, the game is getting away from you. Dhoni left it for too late, sure. However, the game was almost lost by the time he came in. We were 108/4 and needed 221 more with Rahane, Jadeja and Ashwin the other batsmen apart from MSD. You needed a 100 from at least one top 5 batsmen, and that didn't happen.

Another comment Dhoni made was that he and Raina batted lower as they wanted to take up more responsibility and control for later on as. I don't quite get that logic. In a big game, there is just too much water under the bridge if you have lost your top order. Also, too much faith in Raina, who wasn't a second coming of Yuvraj. Never looked like scoring runs in that game v Australia, did he..

 

[OverratedSanity]

I still maintain Kohli's was the worst innings.

 

[Jono]

Just had a poor game against a good team. I know its a WC semi and we want to analyse it to the nth degree, but really its pretty simple. We had a 5 over run where we lost too many wickets (Kohli panicked with the maiden the previous over. Rohit got done and Raina played a poor shot), and then Dhoni and Rahane probably overcompensated in terms of trying to ensure they had wickets in hand for the end

 

[Shri]

Raina, Dhoni, Jadeja in the XI in Australia. Pretty much means you are playing with 4 batsmen and 4 bowlers. Cracks weren't exposed because we didn't play teams who could expose those faults. And almost everyone who performed for us previously cracked under pressure except Ashwin. Kohli, Sharma, Rahane and arguably Dhawan who didn't have to play that shot. And the bowlers for some stupid reason started bowling short after restricting the Aus batsmen quite well in the first few overs. The Australian batsmen's idiocy is the only thing that even made the match as close as it was. 400 looked like an easy score for them when Smith was out there. We were completely outplayed and they deserve credit for making our batsmen make mistakes. We can all start hating Australia again now because they are clearly better than us. Probably the best in the world. We also need to get Kirsten back as coach if possible.

 

[Agent Nationaux]

Lots of Pak and Bangladesh fans have been prank calling BCCI offices and when the call is answered they start singing Mauka Mauka.

 

[Swingpanzee]

Lots of Pak and Bangladesh fans have been prank calling BCCI offices and when the call is answered they start singing Mauka Mauka.

 

[viriya]

I gotta agree with ***** here. Was baffled when Dhoni, at the presentation, pretty much meant the game was beyond his reach when he came in to bat. Seriously?

It was highly unlikely though. As good a finisher as Dhoni is, he needs someone to setup the chase, he can't do both. Once Dhawan, Kohli and Rohit got out, no one that had setup a chase before were left. Rahane proved not good enough.