Gilly at 17

West Indies Tour

India begin their tour of West Indies amidst swine flu scare in Trinidad and Tobago islands.. Luckily no matches are being played there and even the carribean games are postponed..

This is the tour itenerary..

Timing	Teams	Venue
Fri 26 Jun 19:00	1st ODI – India v West Indies	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Sun 28 Jun 19:00	2nd ODI – India v West Indies	Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica
Fri 3 Jul 19:00	3rd ODI – India v West Indies	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia
Sun 5 Jul 19:00	4th ODI – India v West Indies	Beausejour Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Darren Bravo, brother of allrounder Dwayne, has earned a maiden West Indies call-up for the first two one-day internationalsWith Fidel Edwards recovering from a lower back injury and unavailable for selection, the selectors called up allrounder David Bernard in his place..

West Indies: Chris Gayle (capt), Denesh Ramdin (wk), Lionel Baker, Darren Bravo, Dwayne Bravo, Sulieman Benn, David Bernard, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Narsingh Deonarine, Runako Morton, Ravi Rampaul, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Jerome Taylor. 

Possible 11:

Chris Gayle (capt)

 Runako Morton

 Ramnaresh Sarwan

Shivnarine Chanderpaul

Dwayne Bravo

Darren Bravo

Denesh Ramdin (wk)

Jerome Taylor

Sulieman Benn

Ravi Rampaul

Lionel Baker

Or David Bernard may play too..

While Virender Sehwag (shoulder injury) and Suresh Raina (hairline fracture on the thumb) were rendered unavailable, Sachin Tendulkar opted to rest due to a finger injury picked up during the IPL and Zaheer Khan, recovering from his shoulder injury, was given some rest while Munaf Patel and Irfan Pathan, who went to New Zealand as part of the 16-man ODI squad were dropped..  Ashish Nehra and RP Singh return on the back of good performances in the IPL .. Nayar has got a call and Murali Vijay comes as a back up opener.. He is the 3rd opener after Viru and Gauti..


Indian Squad for West Indies Tour: MS Dhoni (Captain & WK), Yuvraj Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Rohit Sharma, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Yusuf Pathan, M Vijay, S Badrinath, RP Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Abhishek Nayar, Ashish Nehra, Ravindra Jadeja, Dinesh Karthik (WK).

Gautam Gambhir                                                                                                                                      

M Vijay

MS Dhoni (Captain & WK)

Yuvraj Singh

Rohit Sharma

Abhishek Nayar/ Dinesh Karthik (WK)

Yusuf Pathan

Harbhajan Singh

Pragyan Ojha / Ashish Nehra

RP Singh

Ishant Sharma

 - 2 spinners or 3 seamers... Dinesh for wicket keeping.. 

Good tour on hands.. India cannot take WI lightly, though the Indians are much stronger in ODIs. It really depends on how lively the pitches are. Sabina park in Jamaica over the years has slowed up and lost its flavour.. The absence of Fidel Edwards may play a big role, Sarwan and Shiv finally get to move up the order, Bravo will play a key role if WI are to win.. For India, Rohit will be back to his usual position lower down the order and it would be foolish if the management doesn't play Vijay straight away.. Naya may or may not get a game in the 1st few matches depending on whether MSD opts for a keeper in Dinesh.

Get set to face some carribean music..

Latest cricket news

No Indians ICC World twenty20 XI

Former World twenty20 Champions India faced another decline in world cricket when ICC announced the best twenty20 XI with no player from India. The ICC on Monday named its eleven and not surprisingly, after losing three consecutive matches in the Super Eights, no Indian player made the cut.

In the best XI picked by ICC, four players from Pakistan, three from South Africa, two players from each West Indies and Sri Lanka is included in the squad. Younis Khan was named captain for the team announced by ICC.

However, there was one Indian face figuring in the Women's XI announced by ICC and it was that of bowler

ICC World XI: 

Chris Gayle (West Indies), 

Tillakaratne Dilshan (Sri Lanka), 

Jacques Kallis (South Africa), 

AB de Villiers (South Africa), 

Younis Khan (Pakistan, Captain), 

Dwayne Bravo (West Indies), 

Shahid Afridi (Pakistan), 

Kamran Akmal (Pakistan, Wicketkeeper), 

Wayne Parnell (South Africa), 

Umar Gul (Pakistan), 

Ajantha Mendis (Sri Lanka). 

12th man: Lasith Malinga (Sri Lanka)

Younis Khan quitting Twenty20 Cricket on a high

After leading his team to World cup glory, Pakistan Captain Younis Khan quits twenty20 cricket. Younis Khan used Cricket’s grand stage to announce his retirement from twenty20 Cricket. He said he is not getting younger anymore at 34 he wants to focus only on ODI and Test cricket. Younis dedicated Pakistan's World Twenty20 triumph to his former coach Bob Woolmer, who died during the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.

Now after his retirement from the shortest version of the game Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq and Kamran Akmal is the front runner for leading Pakistan in twenty20 cricket.

Under his captaincy this is for the second time Pakistan able to win major ICC Events after 1992 50-over World Cup.

Md. Ashraful sacked from captaincy Job

Bangladesh Captain has been sacked from the captaincy job after poor show with bat in the recently concluded twenty20 World Cup. His team was also beaten by Ireland at Group stage that didn’t allow Bangladesh to make it to the Super Eights of ICC World Twenty20.

His deputy Mashrafe Mortaza, a fast bowler, is likely to take the Captaincy job.

Md. Yusuf and Abdul Razzaq back in Test Squad for Sri Lanka tour

Pakistanis selector on Monday announced the 15 member squad for the tour of Sri Lanka. Stylish right hand batsman Md.Yusuf and Abdul Razzaq recalled in the team. 

Yousuf, who has played 79 Tests, was delighted to be back. Pakistan cricket team will leave on Saturday to play three test match series followed by five ODI’s and a Twenty20 International.

Shahid Afridi was also not included in the test squad since he wanted some rest before going into ODI series.

Pakistan 15 Member Squad: Younis Khan (Captain), Salman Butt, Khurrum Manzoor, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shoaib Malik, Kamran Akmal (WK), Umar Gul, Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Aamir, Danish Kaneria, Abdul Razzaq, Abdul Rauf, Faisal Iqbal, Fawad Alam.

No place for Vaughan and Harmision in England Training Ashes Squad

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, and Steve Harmison have both been left out of England's pre-Ashes camp ahead of the much-anticipated series against Australia which begins later this month. However England selectors included three spinners Adil Rashid, Panesar and Swann in the squad.

M.Vaughan was expected to make return to international arena but now he may have to wait little longer after selector’s ignorance from Ashes squad.

England selector will pick the final squad on July 6 two days before the first test match.

England Test squad for pre-Ashes camp: Andrew Strauss (Captain), James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, Graham Onions, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior, Adil Rashid, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann.

Indian debacle- a better analysis

The most comprehensive analysis of India's strategies in the T20 WC matches.. Even the senior sports editors won’t give this analysis.. This is a captain's perspective and surely not a journo's or a mindless fan's..

India was touted as the team to look out for.. Having played the IPL and the batsmen like Raina, Rohit in form, Yusuf Pathan was in devastating form and his brother Irfan had found his swing and was batting brilliantly ( I had in my weekly updates of IPL named Pathan of the week), RP was the leading wicket taker of IPL2, Ojha and Bhajji had been the best slow bowlers along with Jakati and MURALI KARTIK..

There's another side to this Raina had become a slogger, Rohit had lost his timing and grace that he had shown in CB series final batting alongside Sachin and become a slogger who had to bat routinely at 5 or 6 for the chargers.. We cherished his big hitting ability, the boy who was collecting BMW stickers had become the man collecting BMWs.. CSK who were playing with Murali Vijay as opener had resorted to Parthiv in the latter stages primarily because MSD had complained of stress in lower back..

Take note: MSD complains of low back pain..

RP the main wicket taker for the chargers went at 7 RPO, Bhajji and Anil kumble went for 5.8 RPO.. And Murali Kartik's efforts went un-noticed largely because he was part of a team that lost consistently.. Dint pick up wickets but went at 5.9 RPO.. He was the 3rd best bowler in terms of economy rate.. The next best was Ravi Jadeja who went at 6.47... He caught the attention of the national selectors with his strong all-round showing in the 2008-09 Ranji Trophy - 42 wickets and 739 run.. In T20s,

Mat	Inns	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	4s	6s

Twenty20

35

29

5

540

42

22.50

114.40

40

14

Take note: he can hit sixes.. !! 

Zak, Viru were injured during IPL and did not take part in many games.. Viru returned for 2 matches only to see his sides lose.. So, the injuries weren't out of the blue.. Gautam Gambhir was in poor form right throughout the tournament.. The selectors could have included Nehra, that was only the bone of contention..

The WC begins..

Warm up match-1, India loses to NZ.. 

Take note: RP gave 37 runs in 3 overs..  

RP Singh 1-0-10-0  RP Singh 2-0-21-0   RP Singh 3-0-37-1 (thats consistently getting hit).

I.Pathan 0 for 31 in 3..  Saving grace Bhajji 1 for 22 in 4.. Ishanth best 4 for 25..

Rohit played brilliantly for 36.. 

Warm up match-2, India thrashes Pakistan..

Take note: RP yet again 0 for 33 in 3.. Ishanth 1 for 11 in 3..

Rohit's spectacular knock and Gambhir knocking pretty well seals an Indian victory..

"Both against New Zealand and Pakistan, R P Singh proved particularly expensive towards the end as India bled some late boundaries in both the matches." - Headlines Today....

The match against Bangladesh..

Any cricket fan would have by now made up his mind that RP wont fit into playing11, if a cricket fan can decide that WHY NOT THE CAPTAIN.... RP SINGH CANNOT FIGURE IN PLAYING 11..

This answers Headlines Today, a news channel's stupid question of why RP was not played in all matches.. Dig your face into dirt u sports analysts.. Ishant takes 2 for 34 and Ojha 4 for 21.. Rohit performs well yet again..

So, the team stays the same for the next match, shouldn't it ?

vs Ireland

Zak takes a 4-for, hailed.. Zak is back.. Rohit performs well yet again.. Ojha and Bhajji again perform well..

vs West Indies

There are still no non-performers in the side.. Lord's, London.. The pitch doesn't take spin, Ojha is hammered.. MSD's fear comes true. Bowling at the death.. Found out technically.. India again play the bouncers poorly... That leads us to the question, has Rohit not played a single bouncer in Australia ? Hasn't he received fast bouncers in CB series in Australia or in IPL2, SA ?

The reason: As mentioned above, the technically sound player has transformed into a slogger.. An arrogant state when you think you can smash sixes of good balls too,( constantly hailed by all commentators and Gavaskar too that Rohit's best ability is to hit boundaries of good balls too)..

vs England

The do or die match..  The match under big scanner.. Takes a deeper analysis..  Lord's again.. So, playing Ojha again may not be that sensible.. Short boundaries square of the wicket poses threat to getting hit.. RP comes in.. Irfan has been less than impressive, dint swing.. Dint take wickets up front and was little too slow to experiment under a must win situation.. So makes way for Jadeja who can bat and bowl.. We have seen him in IPL and the stats shown above showes he CAN hit big sixes.. RP bowled well 3 overs for 13 runs.. Zak got hit for runs.. Bhajji and Jadeja were instrumental in getting the match to tilt in India's favor.. 2 for 26 in 4 overs from jadeja was exceptional.. Bhajji is undisputably the beat T20 bowler in India.. so 8 overs are out.. RP has done with 3, Yuvi 2 (to irritate KP basically)..  14th over was bowled by Ishanth, take a look at the commentary.

I Sharma 2-0-20-0

13.1	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, chopped to point - good stop
13.2	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, defended out to the off side and he roars "no"
13.3	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, 1 run, pulled, and pulled powerfully, but straight to the fielder
13.4	I Sharma to Shah, 1 run, a bouncer - good thinking by Sharma - and it's nudged off his chest
13.5	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, no run, pushed out to the off side
13.6	I Sharma to Mascarenhas, 2 runs, an ugly shovel. Tried to drive through cover but his bottom hand came off the bat and the ball worked its devilish way through the leg side
England 96/3   I Sharma 3-0-24-0

Ishanth has troubled the batsmen and gave just 4 runs away.. Jadeja gives away 4 runs in the 15th over.. If anybody has played cricket and is sensible enough will not think of RP now ahead of Ishanth.. So giving 16th over to him is absolutely justified.. Realistically, who had RP in mind to bowl 16th over ahead of Ishanth, leave alone RP not bowling 4 overs.. It was Ishanth's 4th coincidentally.. Now, how on earth is MSD supposed to give RP the over when Ishanth has bowled his previous over so well.. His confidence was on a high and had the batsmen in trouble, psychological advantage too.. It was only his young age that got the worse out of him sprayed the ball and Mascarenhas got the better of him..

3 overs for 18 and 2 wickets too, got the yorkers in and it was difficult for the batsmen to get away.. Give him the 4th over or not ?? Anybody who has captained at any level would give him the 4th.. Zak coming back ahead of RP has to go with Zak's yorkers at the death and thats what he has bowled for a long time.. This actually was the 50-50 call, not RP vs Ishanth.. Zak's experience vs RP's brilliance.. Rp was not so good at the death on many a match in IPL, though he did perform well on the other occasions..

Come batting, India once again bounced out.. Irresponsible batting from RS and Raina.. The ball was seaming around and the English were pumped up.., Yuvi always a circumspect against 3 S- swing, seam, spin.. It was risky to lose Yuvi at that time (if at all he gets out to the bowlers then).. MSD was a good option but true to his character he sent Jadeja in.. Dont forget, that when a player bowls well and then comes to bat and performs well we always say the player has carried the confidence from the bowling into batting and vice versa (bat first and bowl next).. Which means sending Jadeja is not a  bad option.. Dint we hail MSD when he gave Joginder Sharma the last over and very famously said - "its your moment to glory, perform well and you are the hero but if you dont I will be blamed, give your 100% ".. Its the same thing here, Jadeja carried confidence through to batting.. The mistake was the kid did not get going initially and succumbed to pressure, he should have remembered Warnie then and how well he had performed to reach to this level.. Bad luck.. Yuvi was padded up ever since and the poor kid did not hit and neither got out.. Ill timing of events i must say..  MSD and Yusuf were left too much to do though they scored 63 of the last 6.. India lost and were sent packing out of the WC..

The news channels then made MSD the villain, the foolish followers who know nothing beyond cricket being a game played with bat and ball start burning effigies.. This makes our ever popular media talk to all former captains who finally were happy to see MSD fail as it would make him more human and not a guy who turns whatever he touches to gold.. How can these people ever accept someone performing better than them!! And that too a player with no grace or technique, just an ordinary guy with immense confidence in himself and faith in his team, a player with the right positive attitude, a player who doesn't mind calling a spade a spade, a player who thinks intuitively and not by the rule books or go by what the laptop says, a player who could get the best out of all youngsters, a player who along with Yuvi and Dravid scripted many a successful run chases ( 17 consecutively), a player hailed by all senior Indian players in Sachin, Sourav, Kumble; the aussies, south africans and many more for having a cool head on the shoulders and being aggressive on the field with tactics...

This report from Headlines today was little too ridiculous to ignore :

"T20 WC: Team India's big lie nailed Suman Ray

It is not just Virender Sehwag who lied about his fitness, but the Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni himself was not fit enough.

Headlines Today has exclusive access to the official fitness report of Team India given to the BCCI before the tournament began.

And the report says that not just Zaheer and Sehwag but even Dhoni, Yuvi and RP Singh were carrying injuries into the tournament."

Are these anything new ? We knew of Viru's injury.. We know Yuvi is carrying a knww injury and has been playing with a strap around it for ages.. We have not seen him field at point or backward point for a long time now.. Have we forgotten the 100 he got against ENG in the 1st ODI in India after suffering from back spasms and playing with a runner and a belt around his hips ? MSD has been complaining of lower back pain for a looooooooong time now, he even requested for the inclusion of a 2nd wicketkeepr for the WC only to be unheard of.. Aren't we unaware of Zak's fitness? It now actually becomes a better spirited performance from India dispite all these injuries.. Dont the media dare call them CHEATS or question their intent.. Its ridiculous..

There are a number of fans who blindly follow the game and do not know a thing or two of captaincy and call MSD's successes as "LUCK" , celebrate his downfall and seem to put on a show of not being disappointed at India's loss (owing to MSD alone).. Learn cricket, have leadership qualities, think on your own and then you will understand what captaincy is.. Once you know that, you will know how good MSD is.. Until then CUT the crap and stop advicing MSD on what he should have done, and that too after a defeat...This holds good even if you are from a tier 2 city and not played cricket enough to comment  or even if you are a former captain or player..

Semis 2

Pakistan defeated the South Africa by 7-runs in the 1st semi-final played in Trent Bridge, Nottingham on Thursday.. This is the second time in the two T20 World Cup played till now, Pakistan have been to the finals. Last time Pakistan were in the finals at South Africa on 2007 where they were defeated by India by a small margin.

Talking about the Pakistan recent form it seems to have lots of ups and downs. But Pakistan looks always a strong side and they are the favorite in the 20 over format games. During the initial phases to the T20 series in England Pakistan seemed to be struggling. Losing both the warm-up matches Pakistan had a poor start in the tournament where they lost against the host England in their first group stage match. But they comeback well and fight for the super 8 position.

Same thing on Super eight stage, Pakistan were trembling badly in the initial match and pressure on winning the rest of two matches. Thanks a lot to their great performance against the New Zealand and Ireland which made their way in the semis of ICC World Twenty20 2009. Then, Pakistan faced the unbeaten team in the tournament i.e., South Africa in the final. Pressure built match for the teams.

Thanks to the all-round performance of Shahid Afridi Pakistan now play the finals on Sunday at Lord's. Shahid Afridi's  quick fire knock of 53 and 2-16 which was key in the Pakistan success in semi-finals. The inform bowlers' like Gul and Ajmal were fully on support to the team. SA the evergreen chokers of semifinals in big ICC events.. from 1992 till now, the team has had no luck in the semis..



Now, the 2nd semi final today.. Yet another unbeaten team in the tournament Sri Lanka face the resurgent West Indies. Sri Lanka and West Indies came from the same group C in 1st round of League stage. Both the teams defeated Australia in the group mathes and proved themselves very strong contender for the trophy of T20 World Cup 2009. In the group stage match Sri Lanka defeated West Indies easily. But the match was not so important for both the teams as they were already in the super eight stage.

After a tour in which West Indies did not record a single victory in any form of the game until their Twenty20 preparations got underway at the beginning of the month, they are now just two wins away from a turnaround.. Gayle's brilliant knock of 88 against Aussies set the trend for WI., they almost chased down 192 against lanka without Gayle, gave the knock out punch to India and then won a thriller against England in a rain curtailed match.. The team has been carrying on with the momentum that Gayle gave.. Lendl Simmons has been excellent, Bravo too.. Sarwan and Chanderpaul showed us why they are still a part of the team., technically sound knocks that enabled windies to enter semis.. The bowling has been decent with Taylor at the top.. If there is anything that could worry them is the absence of Edwards..

Sri lanka have players who have performed in all occasions.. Sanath and Dilshan have given them great starts.. Sangakkara was instrumental in guiding lankans past the might of Aussies (heheh),, Jayawardene has come back to form in the last 2 games.. Mubarak and Mathews are there for hitting the ball over cow corner in the final overs if needed.. Murali and Mendis have been the nemesis of all teams.. All those who have said "Mendis is not a threat" have got out to him in the first over itself.. Slinger Malinga at the death overs is difficult to get away.. Isuru Udana with his top ball being the quicker one delivers 4 slow balls per over.. The team looks to repeat their 1996 glory and no umpire would stop them from doing so this time..

One team with unbeaten record was beaten by a resurgent team in the 1st of the 2 semi finals !! The second semi final is no different, unbeaten Lanka vs resurgent Windies..

Semis

South Africa's progress to this point has been smooth, well-planned, calculated and inevitable. Pakistan have got here in not the same manner - losing games, winning some, treating it all as a bit of fun..

South Africa lack nowhere and nothing. If Jacques Kallis and Graeme Smith are efficient at the top, there is Herschelle Gibbs and AB de Villiers. Even Albie Morkel, in whom there are glimpses of Zulu,. They've always had pace, but now they even have spinners..Botha and Merve more than handy in the middle overs.. The whole team is intimidating, determined to set right all their mishaps in the previous world cups, the mission pre-programmed; with seven consecutive wins in this format, they have apparently also taken the inherent unpredictability of this format out of the equation. They win even warm-up matches and the dead games because every game counts.

Pakistan are the past. They are wholly dysfunctional, but just about getting along, though unsure where they are going. They don't control their extras, they don't run the singles hard and they field as if it were still the 60s. They are least bothered about erasing the flaws because any win will be in spite of them. There are permanent mutterings of serious rifts. They may not bat, bowl or field well all the time, but sometimes, they do what can only be described as a 'Pakistan': that is, they bowl, bat or field spectacularly, briefly, to change the outcome of matches. You cannot plan or account for this as an opponent because Pakistan themselves don't plan or account for it.

The pressure on South Africa however, will be greater. They are expected to win this and anyway they will always have the whole 'chokers' tag to deal with until the day they actually lift a big trophy.

1992:: South Africa, playing England, needed 22 off 13 balls when it rained. By the time it stopped, they needed 21 off one ball..

1999:: who would forget that comical run out between Donald and Zulu.. 

2007 T20 WC: went to beat India but lost so poorly that they missed the semis due to poor NRR..

Pakistan fans should outnumber South Africans at Trent Bridge today, and Younis Khan’s team will require every last breath of support if it is to defeat the tournament's most formidable opponents. South Africa pose a severe threat to Younis’s stated dual ambitions of winning this World Cup to uplift the people of Pakistan and to honour the memory of his previous coach and mentor, Bob Woolmer..

Can Umar Gul, Shahid Afridi, and Saeed Ajmal stifle South Africa as they have stifled others? This is a mighty South African team, and Pakistan will require an exceptional game in all departments to progress to Sunday's final. The senior players will need to lead the way, especially with the bat. Misbah-ul Haq and Abdul Razzaq, in particular, are capable of an unstoppable assault.

• Pakistan and South Africa have six bowlers in the top 10 wicket-takers of the tournament, though Pakistanis occupy the top two spots.
• Three of the top 10 run-scorers of the tournament are from South Africa and Pakistan, with AB de Villiers and Jacques Kallis at numbers two and three. 

Well you can say that.....

MSD from 2007 till now...

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

'If your dressing-room atmosphere is great then most of the time you'll get a favourable result'

If I score a hundred, of course I will enjoy it. But if your team-mates start enjoying your hundred that's when you know you are moving in the right direction.

 

'You need to support your players. That I will always do, whatever happens'

'Enjoying the successes, celebrating the successes, is very important'

 

There were some guys who dropped catches and were laughing around and all that stuff. I said, "Okay, I'm bowling." I told those three or four guys: "You stand at midwicket and do all the talking. I'll manage with the six others."

I believe in giving more than 100% on the field and I don't really worry about the result if there's great commitment on the field. That's victory for me.

The final nail in the coffin

This was a campaign that had too many stumbling blocks, both on the field and off it.

Upset by Media ?

Did the constant media scrutiny spoil the team? If there were one question that MSD was asked over and over again was sehwag's injury status.. MSD's cold one line replies were not received well either. A show of unity was followed by Viru's exit.. Very much unlike MSD it was..

Viru's "injury" ?

Did the injury to Viru make matters worse? Suddenly the fear factor that opposition attacks felt at the sight of the Delhi opener was gone. Rohit got some runs as a replacement, but was never one to intimidate bowling attacks like Sehwag used to. Rohit performed only against the weaker teams and failed to put up even a show when he played against others. Did the absence of a good opening pair and partnership cost us dearly ?

IPL fatigue ?

Blame IPL for the good and the bad.. Its so easy. Play well, IPL helped ! Dont play well- Were they simply too exhausted - mentally as well as physically ? Or did the other teams get a measure of Indian players through IPL ?

MSD went cold from "cool"?

Did the failure of M S Dhoni as batsman prove to be a key tipping point? Dhoni was a shadow of the once dominant batsman he used to be.  Somehow the spark that he provided that took India to the crown in 2007 went missing this time around.. IPL semis was his first stumbling block, and he hasnt recovered yet .. 

The world caught up?

And finally, has India's lustre of being the sharpest T20 unit in the world faded? The fielding was well below par through the tournament, even as other teams pulled of sparkling catches and made stunning run outs.

The bowlers weren't quite as menacing and were often helpless in late assaults.

The batting not quite as dominant as other teams with key men falling apart at crucial times.

The usual comments. Wonder where BS.Bedi is !!!!!!!!!!!! 

• Erapalli Prasanna: "In a crucial tie like this, Dhoni shouldn't have put England in after winning the toss, it was a mistake. I don't think our batting order was right. Sending Jadeja ahead of Yuvraj and Dhoni himself was a mistake. Even Harbhajan could have given us the required thrust. We had the potential but the failure to handle pressure was the reason for our loss."
  

• Syed Kirmani: "You have the talent and you are rated as favourites but this is what happens when you don't click. Sehwag's absence dented our prospects. In this format, the opening pair is required to give a good foundation for others to carry on but we didn't get that."
  

• Arun Lal: "Sending Jadeja up the order smacked of overconfidence and defensiveness."
  

• Madan Lal: "It is rather unfortunate: 154 was not a difficult target to chase. Dhoni gambled by putting England in first. Even I would have done that. Ours is a young and talented side but the intensity in performance that was expected from a team playing for India was not there."
  

• VB Chandrashekhar: "Dhoni's strategy to make England bat first was wrong and picking Jadeja in place of Ojha was yet another mistake. I also feel Harbhajan Singh did not give his best in the match. The decision to send Jadeja up the order ahead of Yuvraj was also baffling because he had not played in the tournament. I think we were also over-dependent on Yuvraj. My analysis is that we would have been eliminated much earlier had he not performed." 

New Minnows

The new T20 minnows announced.. Surprisingly Bangladesh, Netherlands are also featured along with Australia..

Australia deserve T20 minnow status after losing consecutive matches in their hapless shot at the 2009 world T20 title. It would be disrespectful to their opponents to be overly critical of the men in yellow as they were easily beaten by better teams in both matches. Not once were they in a strong position and they were embarrassingly outplayed, outwitted and eventually spanked by the Windies and the Lankans.It seemed that they thought all they needed to do was turn up and the result would go their way.

What little success Australia has had in the last 12 months has been due to the hungrier, less experienced players and to choose any player on past glory and not performance erodes the confidence of the younger men and ultimately upsets the morale of the entire squad.. Remember the other aussie, Guru Greg, had said that players cant select themselves on performances from the past.. Anyone listening !!

Mitchell Johnson has been exceptional with both bat and ball.. Poor guy bats, scores all the runs and then runs up and takes all wickets. Where are the other 10 !! :-D

Australia’s performance at the World T20 should have the captain, coach and selectors critically analyzing why they failed to be competitive..

My opinion- two of their best players Hayden and Gilly have retired and its getting tough to find replacements for them. Ricky doesn't fit into T20 scheme, he is not a good all round player neither is he an impact player..
Sending Symonds back was ridiculous, being in a world title tournament and acting so irresponsibly is inexplicable.. Is drinking the problem ? or being drunk ? D.Hussey batting at 7 and 8, huh ! He is the impact player, he needs to bat up front..

This is the 3rd ICC tournament where aussies haven't won a single game..

Super 8 Fixtures

Super Eight Fixtures of twenty20 world cup

Every 4th match is of India.. 

Time	Match	Venue
Thu 11 June 18:00 IST	Group F – New Zealand v Ireland	Trent Bridge
Thu 11 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group E - England v South Africa	Trent Bridge
Fri 12 June 18:00 IST	Group F - Pakistan v Sri Lanka	Lords
Fri 12 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group E – India v West Indies	Lords
Sat 13 June 18:00 IST	Group E – West Indies v South Africa	Oval
Sat 13 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group F – New Zealand v Pakistan	Oval
Sun 14 June 18:00 IST	Group F - Ireland v Sri Lanka	Lords
Sun 14 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group E – India v England	Lords
Mon 15 June 18:00 IST	Group E – England v West Indies	Oval
Mon 15 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group F – Pakistan v Ireland	Oval
Tue 16 June 18:00 IST	Group F – New Zealand v Sri Lanka	Trent Bridge
Tue 16 June (D/N) 22:00 IST	Group E – India v South Africa	Trent Bridge