Just hand us over the World cup!!!

[vandemataram]

Its good to have people chearing for u, but the Home Crowd pressure have always gone against the Home team in all the previous WC.
On top,SA are known chokers, this led Pollock to say that hopefully home ground factor WON"T GO AGAINST THEM!!

We

 

[luckyeddie]

One thing confuses me. Why do some people (especially the British press) think that Andrew Flintoff is a world-class player? He may become one, but as far as bowling is concerned, he looks a bit of a plodder. He has been devastating on occasion as a batsman, but on other occasions (especially against spin) appeared severely limited.

 

[Neil Pickup]

Welcome LuckyEddie. Let's hope your more sensible, balanced attitude might spread to some of the other ex-sports.com members..

 

[luckyeddie]

I try, Neil. I try.
I took part in a theological debate on one website yesterday. Everyone left.

 

[cozmiccoyoete]

I just hope, coaches stop comming up with excuses for team's defeat that are attributed to players being injured!

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

Well if one just wanna wait and see then what is he doing here???

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Okay Number 1

Im really sure you didnt see styris play
I know New Zealand tend to fall apart at times , but they are really strong at times too , it just so happens that the team they get beaten by played a better cricket then them that day ... Dont you guys remember who New Zealand beat to Take the ICC KNockout tournament in Kenya ? Come on dont tell me you forgot so fast ??

India is a really good team , but can collapse at times due to some team failure . They seem to rely on The top people most time to perform , but lately they are changing , And THAT doesnt mean they are the world champions.

Still Wc 03 is a long shot for both these teams , since there are better teams lying around eg Pakistan , S.Africa and Australia and remember all those 3 teams have what it needs PURE PACE ! thats whats much needed in S.Africa i Know shane bond is there for nz to make a difference and khan is there for India

But in the end the Better team that plays good cricket Wins

I can actually talk because im a harcore N.Z and Indian cricket fan

 

[yorker]

I think we are going to see a lot of surprises in the World Cup.I don't think India can win the cup, but i do think that they have a good team(and its certainly not a one man team) and they can surprise stronger teams like say Pak or even Aus which will be in the same group.Though i still think they should axe Mongia and bring back Nath and go with 5 regular bowlers.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

hey mongia plays really well at times , i would think they should drop him a 2 down the order or so , he needs to settle down quick and not get out to bad shots..
But yea if india needs to get anywhere in S.Africa there pace bowlers need to get better

 

[luckyeddie]

India's 2 leftie pacemen look pretty good to me. A little green, but they look to have the right stuff.

I know that, in the past, India have occasionally had one good seamer, but two at once?

Luxury.

 

[WIC_rules]

Yeah , its quite a decent seam attack with the two lefties and Agarkar. But the lack of a quality all rounder at 7 is still biting 'em hard. Im with Yorker when he says that they should drop one of the batsmen for a fifth specialist bowler. The fifth bowler has been India's bane for quite a while now and tho they have no. of options to fill it up , im not really sure it will succeed every time. I expect the S. African pitches to be batsmen friendly and these dibbly dobbly bowlers to be shred to pieces. My advice : Bring Srinath back and improve Agarkars batting skills.

Off-topic to the moderators : How do i get a permanent avitar ? Its beating the English weather to change....

 

[Tim]

ahh i can't stand this 10 year old debate!

India are good but for god sakes, they need better bowlers.. There is no way that they can continue to chase down scores of 250+ im afraid. If Agarkar & Khan line up against the Aussie batsmen, im afraid they don't have the fire power to stun them, you're going to have to hope that Singh & Kumble pull a blinder. Then in conditions that Australian bowlers will like, you're going to have to go up against arguably the best attack in the world, the answer is..no..the Indians will not win the World Cup..so what if they beat England, they are a better test side, Sri Lanka just proved how hopeless they are without Muralitharan. Lets come back down to earth my fellow Indian friends.

Now for NZ.. they are more than a one man team, but currently all their success is in the test arena. I don't think they'll win the World Cup, but they'll definately make the Super Sixes & have a reasonable chance of going into the Semi's, but any further is doubtful. They've got Bond, Cairns & Adams as far as pace goes & a mixed bag of other bowlers who can either win or lose you the match.

 

[Tim]

ahh i can't stand this 10 year old debate!

India are good but for god sakes, they need better bowlers.. There is no way that they can continue to chase down scores of 250+ im afraid. If Agarkar & Khan line up against the Aussie batsmen, im afraid they don't have the fire power to stun them, you're going to have to hope that Singh & Kumble pull a blinder. Then in conditions that Australian bowlers will like, you're going to have to go up against arguably the best attack in the world, the answer is..no..the Indians will not win the World Cup..so what if they beat England, they are a better test side, Sri Lanka just proved how hopeless they are without Muralitharan. Lets come back down to earth my fellow Indian friends.

Now for NZ.. they are more than a one man team, but currently all their success is in the test arena. I don't think they'll win the World Cup, but they'll definately make the Super Sixes & have a reasonable chance of going into the Semi's, but any further is doubtful. They've got Bond, Cairns & Adams as far as pace goes & a mixed bag of other bowlers who can either win or lose you the match.

 

[The Argonaut]

Let's base some of this argument on the pools set up for the WC.

Pool A has Australia, England, Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Netherlands.

Pool B has South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Kenya, Bangladesh, Canada.

Pool A is the group of death. Australia should make it through because of experience and being able to win on South African soil. England may make it but will have to play extremely well. Pakistan will probably make it as their pace attack will do well on South African pitches. India will battle with England for the 3rd spot to get through to the next round. They may struggle because of the extra bounce in the South African pitches. I anticipate that they will squeeze through at England's expense. Zimbabwe are a side capable of an upset but civil unrest at home may make it hard for them. Namibia and the Netherlands are no hope.

Pool B is much easier to predict. South Africa will go through undefeated as none of the other sides will touch them at home. Sri Lanka will also have an easy run and make it to the super sixes. New Zealand will abttle with the West Indies for the 3rd spot with NZ to make it through, just. The other 3 sides will not come close.

I cannot predict who out of the 6 sides that will probably make it through to the sixes, Aus, India, Pak, SAf, SL and NZ who will win but one thing is for sure. South Africa will make the semi finals looking like a million dollars and choke with the line in sight. Hopefully Australia will be the ones to knock them out.

Form at the time will decide the WC not some half baked little tournament now or even the ICC Knock Out Trophy later in the year.

 

[scorpio]

Let's base some of this argument on the pools set up for the WC.

Pool A has Australia, England, Pakistan, India, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Netherlands.

Pool B has South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, New Zealand, Kenya, Bangladesh, Canada.

Pool A is the group of death. Australia should make it through because of experience and being able to win on South African soil. England may make it but will have to play extremely well. Pakistan will probably make it as their pace attack will do well on South African pitches. India will battle with England for the 3rd spot to get through to the next round. They may struggle because of the extra bounce in the South African pitches. I anticipate that they will squeeze through at England's expense. Zimbabwe are a side capable of an upset but civil unrest at home may make it hard for them. Namibia and the Netherlands are no hope.

Pool B is much easier to predict. South Africa will go through undefeated as none of the other sides will touch them at home. Sri Lanka will also have an easy run and make it to the super sixes. New Zealand will abttle with the West Indies for the 3rd spot with NZ to make it through, just. The other 3 sides will not come close.

I cannot predict who out of the 6 sides that will probably make it through to the sixes, Aus, India, Pak, SAf, SL and NZ who will win but one thing is for sure. South Africa will make the semi finals looking like a million dollars and choke with the line in sight. Hopefully Australia will be the ones to knock them out.

Form at the time will decide the WC not some half baked little tournament now or even the ICC Knock Out Trophy later in the year.

spot on.... and i think almost all the 6 teams in the super six can go on to win.ladyh luck will have a major role i say

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Pool A looks the hardest to me , that pool will be a real interesting one to follow

 

[Anil]

The Argonaut's predictions seem quite reasonable. I will take that one step further by saying that of Aus, Pak, Ind, SA, SL and NZ, Australia, Pakistan and South Africa look fairly certain of making the semifinals based on records, current form, home advantage, venue advantage etc. India, Sri Lanka and New Zealand look like fighting for the last spot(My hope is on India, but a safer bet could be New Zealand. I didn't count SL because I feel Murali will be largely ineffective over there and the other bowlers with the possible exception of Vaas don't count for much). Once in the semis, however, it will be whoever plays better on that particular day.

[Edited on 7/18/02 by anilramavarma]

 

[James]

WIC_rules, send me your avatar via email and I'll set it up for you. At the moment you have it looking at your C drive. It must sit on a web server.

 

[warrioryohannan]

INdia have a golden cance, especially coz Aus will be without Waugh.I reckon either SA or India will be the winners

 

[lord_of_darkness]

you know when it comes to competitions like World Cups teams start competing and try a lot harder than they normally do , because one the prestige is at hand and another there are billions of people watching in . So i bet you all the teams will be putting up some good cricket and there will be a lot of suprises

although paksitan and nz seems a good contendor for the cup too