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Showing posts with label ICC World Cup 2015. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ICC World Cup 2015. Show all posts

Team India, Beware of the Aussie Sledging Action

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,,,
It is a repeat of the India-Australia knock out match of the 2011 World Cup. That was the match when India had not only stopped the winning spree of Australia in World Cup, but also knocked them out of the tournament not making it possible to defend their title. Also remember, it was India who had stopped the winning spree of the Aussies in Tests too by winning the Perth Test after the controversital Sydeny Test.
And now is the replay of the same old match four years later. The entire world knows that it is the Australian team that is highly involved in sledging and provocating the opposition players.
They have always done it against England during the Ashes and whichever player or team is playing against them. Especially the key players in a certain team are always targeted. What business had Mitchell Starc to ask if Wahab Riaz of Pakistan sees the ball or not? This incident happened during the knock out match between Australia and Pakistan recently.
When India played against Zimbabwe in the league series, Brendon Taylor was punishing the Indian bowlers and literally fours and sixes were raining all over the ground. Did M S Dhoni even try to upset him by throwing a few words? Indian players (someone especially like Dhoni) never get involved in such (down market) activities on the field.
By the way, Australia has already begun their mind games in a bid to ‘disturb’ India’s winning spree. And by the way, it will not be easy for India to take on Australia in their own backyard. Though India gets support wherever they travel, this will be an acid test for them now.
There are only two matches that India really needs to win now after remaining unbeaten in the tournament so far – like New Zealand. It must be admitted that India’s bowling hasn’t really been tested by a strong opposition batting line up like Australia.
The Indian fans will be hoping that “#won’t give it back” becomes a reality soon!
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Why M S Dhoni Is Really a Great Captain

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,,
We have always talked or read about our Team India cricket captain M S Dhoni on various occasions. He is Mr. Cool of Indian cricket. And he has proved this on more occasions than one. There are countless examples of why Dhoni is the greatest of all captains.
Let us keep out the figures that he has now second on the list of captains who have won the most consecutive World Cup matches – 11. He has also won his 100th match as a captain for India when India defeated Bangladesh yesterday.
There are many more such examples to his credit. But, let us look at the bigger picture.
It is really sad to mention that Australia gets involved in sledging when things aren’t going their way. They try to disturb the attention of the opposition by saying those kinds of things that aren’t expected from iconic players like Ricky Ponting and Co. The entire world knows this. What’s more, even the current young players in the team have adopted this culture.
This does not make it a gentleman’s game. After all, they should learn to play in the spirit of the game unlike what they did against India in the (in)famous Sydney Test match.
But when Zimbabwe’s Taylor was going after Indian bowling in the last league game for India, Dhoni was visibly looking worried. Ravindra Jadeja was taken to the sword. However, there was not a single comment from Dhoni to disturb his attention.
Going in the past a bit, when Misbah-Ul-Haq was threatening to take the final match of the inaugural T20 World Cup away from India, then too he didn’t speak a word that would be termed as sledging.
On the other hand Bangladesh captain Murtuza was getting so agitated with his players when India started the run flow in the quarter final match yesterday. This man, Dhoni, is all up to himself planning and guiding his team.
Playing mind games is alright. But, sledging cannot be the mode to do that. And there are some players who seriously need to learn this.
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Kumar Sangakkara Sets New Records in Scotland Match

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,,,
Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lankan legendary batsman set a number of records when he batted against minnows Scotland. Sangakkara scored a century that led the foundation for a mountain of runs that was impossible for the Scotland batsmen to overhaul.
Sangakkara scored 124 in just 95 balls. The knock included 13 fours and four huge sixes. However, the century registered Sangakkara’s name in the record books that no batsman has achieved so far – scoring four centuries on the trot.
Yes, Kumar Sangakkara has scored four centuries in the last four times that he has batted in an ODI. To add to that, Kumar Sangakkara also now sits at the top of the list in highest run scorers in this on-going ICC Cricket World Cup.
Reports are doing the rounds that Kumar Sangakkara, will retire from all from of cricket after the end of the World Cup. How ironic it looks for a batsman to call it off when he is experiencing one of his best times in career. Or, we can say that he wicketkeeper batsman is making a perfect end to his scintillating career.
Sangakkara has also crossed the 14,000-run mark in one day matches. He is now second only to Sachin Tendulkar in terms of individual ODI runs.
In the last edition of the World Cup, it was Kumar Sangakkara who led the side that lost the finals to India. This means Sri Lanka are the runners up going in this World Cup. And with Sangakkara looking in ominous form, it looks like they may lift the World Cup for the second time, after 1996.
There is no doubt that Kumar Sangakkara remains one of the top batsmen cricket and Sri Lanka has ever seen.
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ICC World Cup schedule needs to be reconsidered

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,
The ICC World Cup 2015 is currently underway. In all 14 teams are playing in the Cup divided in seven teams in two pools. As usual there are ICC full member teams and minnows like Afghanistan, Scotland, Ireland and UAE as well.
But what’s more important is the (strange) schedule that the ICC would have looked better into. India played their first match on the second day of the tournament – on February 15, a Sunday. The next match that India played was on the next Sunday – on February 22, which means India played India played only two matches in eight days.
However, New Zealand had played matches on February 14, February 17 and February 20 – three matches in seven day. It does not look too pleasing. Well, I have nothing to advocate this as an Indian fan. But there could have been better symmetry in the fixtures.
Exposing players to matches so regularly will certainly take a toll on their body. The upside is that the team like New Zealand, which is still undefeated in the Cup found the going soothing as they had the winning momentum.
But had it been vice versa, any team would have needed a break to get together and find match form again. As far as India is concerned, they have got too many off days in between. This also puts players out of competitive cricket at a World Cup level.
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World Cup 2014: Sledding Should Be Done Off

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,
The ICC World Cup 2015 should be one such tournament that it should be a landmark in cricketing history where we wouldn’t see any sledging. But would that be possible in such a competitive age? Whatever be the reason for player sledging, it is a blot on the game.
Sledging in cricket has become an inseparable part of the game. Today’s competitive nature of the sport is making everyone say that this is how the game will be played. These are the days of cutthroat competition and one has to show aggression on the field. Well, that’s true. But this does not mean that one should play such mind games where battle on the field gets it off the field too. We have seen many sour incidents in the past that does no good to cricket.
Competition is tough and it has to be admitted. But sledging isn’t the way to cope with pressure. Many times either a batsman or a bowler sticks to sledging to upset the concentration of the other. This is totally uncharacteristic of a player. It looks like players have even forgotten that they are the ambassadors of a gentleman’s game.
Why is there is so much rush to play the game? Can’t the game be played with sportsmanship and the spirit for which it is known? The level of competition has got so high that even match fixing has come to the fore on many occasions. What’s more, players are even ready to spot fix even in Tests – the ultimate cricketing honor.
What the common cricket fan wants to see is a real tight game of cricket with no match fixing, no sledging but only tough cricket. We hope there are full matches – no over cuts due to bad weather.
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Sachin Tendulkar – India’s Missing Master Card in ICC WC 2015

♠ Posted by Abhijit Bangal in ,,
Sachin Tendulkar is the man even the game of cricket loved so much. No wonder, he is the God of cricket. In India, cricket is a religion and Sachin is the undisputable God. And call it luck or whatever; he also rightly became the first man to score a double century in ODIs against South Africa. What an achievement it was!
Ever since Sachin Tendulkar has been tagged as the ‘God of Cricket’, this will be the first such World Cup organized by the ICC, where the batting run machine will not be seen. This is the thing that will always remain at the back of the cricket fans in India. So, it will be even bigger challenge for the current Indian team, who sadly isn’t doing well.
But, as far as the World Cups with Sachin are concerned, he has some incredible records. Before we move to that, let’s remind you that India has never lost a single WC match to Pakistan. This record is mostly preserved by the presence and performance of the living legend.
The first India-Pakistan match was in the year 1992. In this match Sachin scored 54 runs in 62 balls and remained not out. He also got a wicket in 10 over. The performance gave him the man of the match award.
In the second match in 1996, Sachin scored 31 runs and gave away 25 runs in 5 overs.
In 1999 WC match, Sachin got 45 runs off 65 balls.
The fourth match was in 2003. India reached the finals in this edition in England. This was Sachin’s best performance in World Cups so far. He scored 98 runs in 75 balls and guided India to victory. He got MOM award for this effort.
The last meeting between the countries was in the previous WC – in 2011. In this match, he scored 85 runs and yet another MOM award. 3 MOM awards in 5 matches. Is there another Sachin Tendulkar in this World Cup for India?
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