Random Thoughts 27th March

Rankings mean nothing

The four countries in the semi-final happen to be India (ODI rank #2), Sri Lanka (#3), Pakistan (#6) and New Zealand (#7). Which means the countries ranked 1 (Australia), 4 (South Africa) and 5 (England) didn’t make it. At the start of the World cup, the bookies had the favourites in this order – India, Sri Lanka, South Africa, Australia, Pakistan, England, New Zealand and West Indies. So, even the bookies didn’t get it right with South Africa and Australia not even reaching the semis.

I guess the unpredictability is what makes events like this exciting. But being an Indian fan, I hope India does live up to its top billing

Indian team composition

What is the team composition for India going to be like? Would they stick to the same winning combination that beat Australia? Or change it according to the opposition and the venue (Mohali traditionally favours pace)?

I guess Raina has done enough to keep Pathan out. Or would you consider Pathan because he is good against spin (and Pakistan do play a number of spinners, unlike Australia). If you want to play him, who would you leave out? Kohli??

And after Munaf’s bad performance against Australia, would you pick Nehra ahead of him? But wasn’t he the one who gave away those 14 runs against South Africa in that last over….?

Lots of questions…but if you ask me – Don’t make any changes. What would you do?

The Batting side vs the bowling side

As I mentioned in my previous post, India can be considered more of a batting team, while Pakistan is more of a bowling team. It is going to be an interesting contest between the Indian top order and the Pakistani bowling line up. At the same time, the contest between the Indian bowling and the Pakistani batting will be one between two week links. So, it is going to be very balanced. Or is it?

In any case, the semis between the two teams is going to be a cracker of a game – as Shastri would say.

Sehwag against Pakistan

Apart from that one game against Bangladesh, Sehwag really hasn’t played to his potential. But, he loves playing against Pakistan. Will we see another big innings from him this time? I sure hope so…

-Mahesh-