A month since the ICC Cricket World Cup kicked off and we have now reached the stage that matters the most. We are done with the minnow games, the points, the net run rates and all the other calculations and are now down to simple knock-out. We have the top eight teams in the quarterfinals and it is to be seen who can go the distance and lift the cup at Wankhede on the 2nd of April 2011.
The last group fixture was between India and the West Indies which was crucial from the point of determining the quarterfinal line-up. India won the game by 80 runs and will now play Australia at the Sardar Patel Stadium, Motera, Ahmedabad. The game is set to be a cracker as both teams as both teams come into the fixture with contrasting last games. India would go in with renewed confidence and Australians would look to win after the loss to Pakistan.
The India-West Indies game was crucial for both teams as they wanted to get a few things right before going into the quarterfinals. India got their bowling right after the entire struggle but questions remain over the middle order. Once again we witnessed a collapse in the slog over, something that has become a regular feature in this World Cup. India have played three strong teams in the group namely South Africa, England and the West Indies. In all the three games the middle order has collapsed in the slog overs after a good start provided by the top order. Although, the collapse against the West Indies wasn’t as bad as it was against South Africa, there are questions regarding the batting order.
India has to make a few tough decisions regarding their batting order. I think they have to make a choice between Yusuf Pathan and Suresh Raina. Yusuf Pathan hasn’t been very successful apart from the game against Ireland. There is always a risk when you play a player like Yusuf Pathan. On some days he clicks and demolishes an opposition but when he doesn’t it puts more pressure on India. He is the Afridi kind of a player but unlike Afridi he is in the team primarily for his batting.
Pathan’s bowling hasn’t been very effective in all the games. The batsmen are able to play him away for singles as he isn’t able to build the pressure. There aren’t many dot balls when he is bowling which is a cause for concern. Thus, it would be a better option to play Raina instead of Pathan when Sehwag will come back. Raina will add more stability to the batting line-up and the fielding standards would also increase.
Yuvraj Singh was without doubt the star today. The best thing about his batting was his application. When two wickets were down early he got his eye in and only put the bad balls away. He held the innings together with Kohli who also played very well for his 59. Now India have five batsmen in good form namely Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Raina. The only concern would be Dhoni and Raina or Pathan whoever plays. They have to complement the efforts of the top order and have to be more sensible when they try to play the big shots.
Dhoni showed good captaincy in his bowling changes. I wrote in the post after the South Africa loss that some days tactics work some days they don’t. Today he realized that there wasn’t much swing with the new ball and he held Zaheer and Munaf back for the older ball which had greater chances of reversing. The seed of Zaheer’s match turning delivery was sown when Dhoni made this decision. Ashwin bowled really well with the new ball but eight overs at the start is too many. In my opinion he should ideally bowl a 5 to 6 over spell if he opens the bowling. Zaheer Khan should bowl at the other end but should be as accurate as he is with the older ball.
The bowling performance was very good but they had to face Devon Smith who played really well. Ashwin’s carom ball was simply fantastic as the debutante Kirk Edwards had no idea where it was going. The delivery that stood out was the one that got Devon Smith. Zaheer got the first two deliveries to move away slightly and got this one to jag back a little and it found the gap between the bat and pad. From that point the Indian domination started. Harbhajan applied the brakes on the scoring which was crucial but ideally he should pick up more wickets as he did against South Africa. It was good to see Yuvraj Singh bowl well. He gave the ball good air and when you do that on such a surface it always makes it difficult for the batsman to put away such deliveries. Overall, the bowling and fielding performance was good and was just the kind of impetus required by India going into the quarterfinal.
Now we have two days to go before the quarterfinals begin. For the last one moth we have had matches everyday and I do not know how my days would go. Eagerly waiting for them start.
Tomorrow I will review each team’s performance in the group stages and analyse what they should do to bring their best out in the quarterfinals.
Till then, Good bye.
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