*Official* Group B General Discussion

[slugger]

the way ireland played against nz in the warm up match... i wouldnt be so quick to rule them out of the running.

 

[Challis]

the way ireland played against nz in the warm up match... i wouldnt be so quick to rule them out of the running.

Yea but this is NZ in subcontinent conditions. Ireland lost to Zimbabwe and Kenya in their previous warm up matches. They are in the toughest group so it's going to be very difficult for them. I think they should be aiming to beat Holland and then look to be competitive in their other group games.

I was more impressed with Kenya, it looked like WI were struggling against them, albeit with some first teamers missing. Bangladesh should take note of this match, I'm definitely more confident of beating WI than I was before. However I'll wait till after the Bangladesh vs Pakistan warm up match until I give my verdict on how well Bangladesh will do in this World Cup.

 

[vicleggie]

actually, on review, i take back what i said about england. looking at their team and taking into account they CBF about the recent odis in aus, they look ok.

here is my team:

Strauss
Bell
Trott
Pietersen
collingwood
Prior
yardy
broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett/shahzad/bresnan


Obvious strengths are their very solid top four, and their balanced bowling attack. Swann will be very effective on these pitches, and anderson and broad are a good opening pair.

Weaknesses are their lower-middle order. colly, prior, yardy dont inspire much hope. They will really miss morgan- if he was there instead of collingwood, it would be a very strong team.
Their best strategy is for strauss/pietersen to attack at the start, withtrott playing anchor, and then to throw the bat at everything in the last 10-15, hoping they have wickets in hand. They bat quite deep too, which somewhat makes up for their lack of firepower down the order.

They, like pakistan, don't have much pressure on them. Having won the ashes, and then being spanked in the Odis, nobody expects them to do too much here. They may spring a surprise. Pietersen will have to fire, bigtime, and swann/yardy will have to take wickets.

 

[Jacknife]

actually, on review, i take back what i said about england. looking at their team and taking into account they CBF about the recent odis in aus, they look ok.

here is my team:

Strauss
Bell
Trott
Pietersen
collingwood
Prior
yardy
broad
Swann
Anderson
Tremlett/shahzad/bresnan


Obvious strengths are their very solid top four, and their balanced bowling attack. Swann will be very effective on these pitches, and anderson and broad are a good opening pair.

Weaknesses are their lower-middle order. colly, prior, yardy dont inspire much hope. They will really miss morgan- if he was there instead of collingwood, it would be a very strong team.
Their best strategy is for strauss/pietersen to attack at the start, withtrott playing anchor, and then to throw the bat at everything in the last 10-15, hoping they have wickets in hand. They bat quite deep too, which somewhat makes up for their lack of firepower down the order.

They, like pakistan, don't have much pressure on them. Having won the ashes, and then being spanked in the Odis, nobody expects them to do too much here. They may spring a surprise. Pietersen will have to fire, bigtime, and swann/yardy will have to take wickets.

Personally take out Yardy and put in Bopara, extra batting of Bopara and wouldn't loose anything in the bowling, tbh I think Bopara would take more wickets.

 

[Howe_zat]

Personally take out Yardy and put in Bopara, extra batting of Bopara and wouldn't loose anything in the bowling, tbh I think Bopara would take more wickets.

I daresay I agree, Bopara is certaintly the more attacking option. Yardy has been effective in T20 but ODIs may be a step too far. As for batting, Bops would presumably have a much better strike rate, and we're low on boundaries in the lower-middle.

Problem is, if things go horribly wrong, I'd rather see Yardy come in to bat than Bopara.

 

[deerkick]

Is Cook not ODI material? Sorry I haven't followed the England ODI team. He's been in really good form...

 

[Howe_zat]

Is Cook not ODI material? Sorry I haven't followed the England ODI team. He's been in really good form...

He isn't in the squad, so it's kind of moot for the world cup. I wouldn't be too averse to him playing - in this kind of form I'd rather have him opening than say Prior or Bell - but the selectors seem adamant that someone has to be aggressive straight away and it's not going to be Strauss.

 

[kingpin]

Real Selection Headache problems for India......Yuvi or Raina?

 

[MyLord]

Yuvi will play, if nothing else for his SLA. Raina will have to wait it out hoping for rest/loss of form/injury.

 

[Blaze 18]

Real Selection Headache problems for India......Yuvi or Raina?

Dhoni hints Kohli will play instead of Raina.

 

[blahblahblah]

so we have began on a really good note

alls been good except for rubbish bowling by santh

hes got to get into his brains or else it will be a trouble against quality line ups

 

[Howe_zat]

Yuvi will play, if nothing else for his SLA. Raina will have to wait it out hoping for rest/loss of form/injury.

Looking dead set now. Pathan sent in ahead of Yuvraj pretty much proves the waterboy is playing as an allrounder. Raina not a bad man to have as first reserve at any rate.

 

[Blaze 18]

Looking dead set now. Pathan sent in ahead of Yuvraj pretty much proves the waterboy is playing as an allrounder. Raina not a bad man to have as first reserve at any rate.

I think Pathan was sent in ahead of Yuvraj only because there weren't a lot of overs left.

 

[Howe_zat]

I think Pathan was sent in ahead of Yuvraj only because there weren't a lot of overs left.

Well ofc, but it's clear Yuvraj's batting is not being given the same merit as in the past. It's not like he can't hit the ball, this is the same batsman that once hit six sixes in an over.

 

[Blaze 18]

Well ofc, but it's clear Yuvraj's batting is not being given the same merit as in the past. It's not like he can't hit the ball, this is the same batsman that once hit six sixes in an over.

Yousuf Pathan is still the best six-hitter in the side, and boundaries-sixes were what India needed at that point in time (there were only fifteen balls left in the innings!). There is no chance that Yousuf would have been sent before Yuvraj had there been (say) twenty overs left.

I do agree with your post in general though. On current form Yuvraj doesn't command a place on his batting alone. In fact, Dhoni specifically mentioned that Yuvraj's type of bowling would be useful in these conditions, on these pitches. Virat Kohli has bought himself some time with this century, so now it is a two way race between Yuvraj and Raina for the last batsman spot.

 

[vcs]

Looking dead set now. Pathan sent in ahead of Yuvraj pretty much proves the waterboy is playing as an allrounder. Raina not a bad man to have as first reserve at any rate.

Yep, batting selection issues seem to have reached a natural conclusion with Kohli's hundred.

 

[cricman]

Ireland just blew the doors of this group


http://www.espncricinfo.com/icc_cricket_worldcup2011/engine/series/381449.html?view=pointstable

England have already played the 2 Associates and India, they have the WI, SA and Bangladesh. If they didn't get that tie it would be much much worse.

4 teams fighting for 2 spots in Bangladesh, Ireland, West Indies and England

 

[vcs]

Group B's where the action's at!! This is a hell of a group. I'll be sweating bullets for every game India play.

 

[Jarquis]

England vs West Indies and England vs Ireland fixtures should've been swapped IMO

 

[Howe_zat]

Kevin O' Brien just tore this group a new one.

Four places into two and any of those matches could be a game breaker. Just goes to show that sometimes, this format really can shine. Becomes like a proper league table.