*Official* Australia in India - ODIs

[Uppercut]

Dhoni's such a poor keeper standing up to the stumps.

 

[G.I.Joe]

Genuinely want to cry right now.

why? Better let our guys find out where they stand right now than a year and a half later during the World Cup. This is preferable to the situation a decade ago when the team beat everyone for 2 years and then flopped miserably in the 99'WC. Hopefully this will make them realise that passengers like Jadeja and Munaf won't cut it. The only thing that bugs me is that they keep persisting with Sehwag at the top, and that doesn't look like changing anytime soon.

 

[Notorious1]

Beaten by Aus Z team at home is not a good sign for the Iandia.

 

[Noble One]

Great win. Major positives to come from todays game:

- Johnson finding some form and zip again
- Bollinger highlighting the depth of our pace bowling stocks
- The rise and rise of Watson, just the innings that was needed.
- 4-2 series done, hopefully Holland gets a turn in game 7.

 

[DingDong]

great win for the aussies. can't believe ppl actually think indians are good enough to be no 1. It's pretty much a two horse race between Aus and SA for no 1.

 

[NUFAN]

Great win. Major positives to come from todays game:

- Johnson finding some form and zip again
- Bollinger highlighting the depth of our pace bowling stocks
- The rise and rise of Watson, just the innings that was needed.
- 4-2 series done, hopefully Holland gets a turn in game 7.

AWTA.

I wouldn't mind Australia giving McDonald a game too and perhaps give Manou a chance up the order.

.

 

[Manee]

why? Better let our guys find out where they stand right now than a year and a half later during the World Cup. This is preferable to the situation a decade ago when the team beat everyone for 2 years and then flopped miserably in the 99'WC. Hopefully this will make them realise that passengers like Jadeja and Munaf won't cut it. The only thing that bugs me is that they keep persisting with Sehwag at the top, and that doesn't look like changing anytime soon.

I can't even have an optimistic tone, tbh. Afterall, it was the big players who failed at the top of the order - the players who are supposed to take us to World Cup glory.

 

[pasag]

Main issue for India are the bowlers, really very ordinary and the ones coming back in like Sharma don't inspire too much confidence in the format anyways and with Zaheer turning into Andrew Flintoff they need to find a solution pretty fast. They just don't have the bowlers to get them out of trouble if the batting stuffs up.

 

[Arjun]

Here's a contrasting tale of two all-rounders. Shane Watson revels in all-round duty, and it shows. In six matches, he's notched up a beefy average of 51 striking over 92. While his bowling was initially taken to the cleaners, he finished with ten wickets in six matches at 22 apiece, striking at 23. On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh, who was India's full-fledged all-rounder for the series, bowled a lot, with little return- two wickets in five matches at 94 each, striking over hundred. This has also affected his batting, as he's struggled at 26.5 with a strike rate under 80, and the consequences are obvious- the Indians were almost a batsman short. This is something to think about- they surely need an all-rounder, even makeshift, but Yuvraj is not the one.

While another series debacle like this prompts some drastic changes, the Indians have had too many drastic changes all of this year. They've lost as many as eight good ODI players owing to declining form, and that's not a good thing. The replacements have been found wanting, and may have been a factor in yet another crash. Worse, while so much is said of some Aussies playing themselves into form against India, some Indian frontline players have played themselves out of form. Will they too end up losing their places? We hope not. Rather than pick up new players yet again, they need recall a few laid off.

Some Kiwi players took a little time to get settled. Scotty Styris was a very average bits-and-pieces player, until a game in West Indies, and he became a very useful batting all-rounder. Jacob Oram's stats were often so bad they'd make Irfan Pathan look world class then, but he too got better with time. Vettori's rise as a batsman wasn't an overnight phenomenon. It took a long time for Kyle Mills to evolve as a limited-overs bowler, and for Brendon to establish himself as a competent ODI opener. Likewise, in the Lankan team, we didn't see the likes of Mahela and Sanga miss matches on form, nor did we see them keep reverting to Dilhara Fernando at the drop of a hat- they stuck with Kula and Thushara.

The Indians need to take this out of these examples- if they want consistency in performance, they need to bring in some stability.

 

[Arjun]

Main issue for India are the bowlers, really very ordinary and the ones coming back in like Sharma don't inspire too much confidence in the format anyways and with Zaheer turning into Andrew Flintoff they need to find a solution pretty fast. They just don't have the bowlers to get them out of trouble if the batting stuffs up.

These are the best bowlers they've got, and they have to work with it. They can't be far worse than their counterparts in other teams, but these so-called extra spin bowling options are dreadful. They need to be discarded rightaway, as it's costing them match after match.

 

[Manee]

Main issue for India are the bowlers, really very ordinary and the ones coming back in like Sharma don't inspire too much confidence in the format anyways and with Zaheer turning into Andrew Flintoff they need to find a solution pretty fast. They just don't have the bowlers to get them out of trouble if the batting stuffs up.

I do think that in ODI cricket, especially in India, we need to look to get in someone like Tyagi to partner Nehra, as he could actually bring some impetus. Moreover, we need, need, need to play more spinners. Quite simply, it has been proven over the series that spin is our strongest suit and we need one more front line spin bowler. Jadeja's 50 aside, we could profit a lot more from a specialist batsman in at number 7.

 

[James]

Beaten by Aus Z team at home is not a good sign for the Iandia.

Swearing in any language on these forums is not acceptable. Cut it out please.

 

[Uppercut]

Their batting depth is a problem too. The top five are as good as you could hope for, but when some of them break down the replacements are never much use.

 

[Uppercut]

Yuvraj Singh, who was India's full-fledged all-rounder for the series

Surely that was Ravi Jadeja? Yuvraj was a sixth option. He's a crap bowler, who really shouldn't be getting a tweak before Raina, but Dhoni seems to rate him for some reason.

 

[Arjun]

Their batting depth is a problem too. The top five are as good as you could hope for, but when some of them break down the replacements are never much use.

On an ideal note, they need to have a team composition like the Kiwis, Saffies or even the current opposition Aussie team- eleven good fielders, three bowlers who can bat, a very solid top six and, if possible, a batsman who can bowl properly. Excessive use of part-time spinners is the bane of this team, and should be dispensed with sooner than later.

 

[Arjun]

Surely that was Ravi Jadeja? Yuvraj was a sixth option. He's a crap bowler, who really shouldn't be getting a tweak before Raina, but Dhoni seems to rate him for some reason.

When Yuvraj bats in the top four consistently and bowls eight a game, you know he's your all-rounder. I wonder why Dhoni still rates him as a bowler. He won't get too many runs from his top batsman if he keeps overworking and confusing him this way.

 

[NUFAN]

Here's a contrasting tale of two all-rounders. Shane Watson revels in all-round duty, and it shows. In six matches, he's notched up a beefy average of 51 striking over 92. While his bowling was initially taken to the cleaners, he finished with ten wickets in six matches at 22 apiece, striking at 23. On the other hand, Yuvraj Singh, who was India's full-fledged all-rounder for the series, bowled a lot, with little return- two wickets in five matches at 94 each, striking over hundred. This has also affected his batting, as he's struggled at 26.5 with a strike rate under 80, and the consequences are obvious- the Indians were almost a batsman short. This is something to think about- they surely need an all-rounder, even makeshift, but Yuvraj is not the one.

While another series debacle like this prompts some drastic changes, the Indians have had too many drastic changes all of this year. They've lost as many as eight good ODI players owing to declining form, and that's not a good thing. The replacements have been found wanting, and may have been a factor in yet another crash. Worse, while so much is said of some Aussies playing themselves into form against India, some Indian frontline players have played themselves out of form. Will they too end up losing their places? We hope not. Rather than pick up new players yet again, they need recall a few laid off.

Some Kiwi players took a little time to get settled. Scotty Styris was a very average bits-and-pieces player, until a game in West Indies, and he became a very useful batting all-rounder. Jacob Oram's stats were often so bad they'd make Irfan Pathan look world class then, but he too got better with time. Vettori's rise as a batsman wasn't an overnight phenomenon. It took a long time for Kyle Mills to evolve as a limited-overs bowler, and for Brendon to establish himself as a competent ODI opener. Likewise, in the Lankan team, we didn't see the likes of Mahela and Sanga miss matches on form, nor did we see them keep reverting to Dilhara Fernando at the drop of a hat- they stuck with Kula and Thushara.

The Indians need to take this out of these examples- if they want consistency in performance, they need to bring in some stability.

Sorry I thought Jadeja was picked as the all rounder this series? I just think that against Australia at times you've got to select different players compared with matches against different teams. Someone like Ojha or Mishra (if fit) is usually always going to perform better than Nehra against Australia IMO.

Also Sri Lanka always seem to revert back to Dilhara Fernando!

 

[Arjun]

Sorry I thought Jadeja was picked as the all rounder this series? I just think that against Australia at times you've got to select different players compared with matches against different teams. Someone like Ojha or Mishra (if fit) is usually always going to perform better than Nehra against Australia IMO.

Also Sri Lanka always seem to revert back to Dilhara Fernando!

Yes, Jadeja was picked as an all-rounder, but he often missed an innings (ironically, in the matches the Indians won) and batted at seven or eight, and even bowled as little as five overs in a game. In comparison, it was Yuvraj who had a more all-round role. As for the selection ideas, Nehra was the bowler in form, so he should have stayed on, while Ojha's lack of batting would pinch the Indians. Mishra was missed by them, clearly.

 

[Oscillatingmind]

Shane Watson in 2009 ODIs

24 matches 1013 runs at 50.65 S.R 84.5
29 wickets at 21.41 economy 5

good year

 

[FaaipDeOiad]

God this series has been awesome as a long-term Watson fan.