After rains washed away the match between India and Australia, the chances of India making it to the semi finals was even more bleak.. India now have just 1 point from their 2 matches now and just have a game against West Indies..
India lost their opening match to Pakistan by 54 runs.. Throughout the match, India just did not look like taking wickets; the scorecard may not give that view (302 for 9).. Yousuf and Malik added 206 runs in their partnership and India never seemed to attack or look to take wickets.. MSD later in the post match presentation came up with an interesting quote that he had never seen that many runs scored of the cut and that he felt he was 2-3 bowlers short.. Not so difficult to fathom the reason though,the absence of Yuvraj has hurt the team a lot.. Yuvraj has been an integral part of the team for almost a decade now and off late India have depended a lot on his heroics in both ODI and T20s. The ease with which he tackles the bowlers and the elegant drives and hoicks over mid wicket are a treat to watch any day and in a span of 5 overs he has the potential to take the game away from the opposition which not many posses in the world cricket now leave alone India.. Its also his bowling that has developed lately, much of the success owed to MSD who used him more often and at trying situations than his counterparts earlier..
Virender Sehwag is another dashing opening bat whom India have missed in T20 world cup and now in the CT.. Viru may not be as elegant as Yuvi but certainly instills fear in the bowlers.. His mere presence at the crease makes the bowlers panic.. He is shrewd and a good bowler in the turning tracks..
The bowling attack lacks depth and is off color at the moment now.. Ashish Nehra who made a comeback after a great performance in the domestic circuit and in the IPL-2 held in South Africa.. He, after returning to the team, has performed well in the West Indies and in CT too he was the one who looked attacking and also the only bowler who looked like taking wickets..
Ishanth is very poor, hopelessly bad.. The riches from the IPL may have driven him crazy or may be the KKR effect that he simply doesn't look the same bowler who tormented the Aussie great Ponting.. He is way below par and just runs in and drops the ball from his hands.. Pace has dropped, nothing in his bowling now would keep the batsmen on their toes.. Rather, yesterday, the Aussies saw him as a scoring opportunity and got out of the blocks after he was introduced in the 9th over..
RP and Bhajji are in an another world.. No clue as to why they perform well in one tournament and do not perform in the tournament only to come back and perform brilliantly in the IPL..
MSD is true, he is 2-3 bowlers short and is also missing Yuvraj badly..
If Australia beat Pakistan on Wednesday, they'll obviously go through as toppers in their group, while Pakistan will take the second slot. It'll get more complicated, though, if Australia lose to Pakistan and India beat West Indies. Then, the margins of the wins will decide which team joins Pakistan in the last four.
The vital question is the margins of victories. Currently, the difference between the net run-rates of Australia and India appear vast: +1.00 for Australia, -1.08 for India. The good thing from India's point of view, though, is that those numbers have come about on the basis of one match only - the stats from no-result matches are excluded in the calculation of net run rates.
AUS won by 50runs; IND lost by 54 runs..
So, SIMPLE !!!
IND win by 54 runs and AUS lose by 50 runs.. Or IND win by a margin greater than 54 runs and the Aussies lose by a margin greater than 50 runs will ensure that India are through undeserving.. That is to say, if we win by 20 runs, Aus need to lose by 85 runs and more..
Yes, with a bowling attack that is as paltry as India's and a batting that once again is heavily dependent on Sachin's innings and also on Rahul to be the wall anchoring the entire innings.. Its not that they perform once and thats enough, they have to perform in every match for India to do well..
The only positive may be that, India's game is a D/N.. So, the earlier match would be completed by the time the 2nd team comes out to bat..
'If we don't do well, we can pack our bags and leave' - MSD
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