ASIA CUP March 2012 - Discussion Thread

Summary... 

Tendulkar gets that elusive hundred, but like his 99th, this also ends up on losing side. A lot of dot balls towards latter half of innings helped restrict India to a sub 300 total, and that few runs saved helped Bangladesh to romp home with a TEAM performance in their batting as well. Dinda's 17 run over was the fuel to the fire that saw Pathan and Praveen also taken out.

Now, to the arch rivals on Sunday, and if Sri Lanka lose to Bangladesh, (which could happen given the Bangla form), even an Indian victory might not suffice to put them in the finals. A tense last round of group stage awaits...

You are giving me or vice versa?

Oh sure..  why not? by when? 

Till when are you awake? This is urgent na 

Consider it done. Straight up post, or buttering up the century? 

Recd it, and will keep your suggestion in mind buddy.

Good night buddy. 

Its just not Bangla's good form , but its also SL bad form will help ....... 

Yeah Dhiraj, that could very well be the decisive factor! 

Yesterday was a nice turn around ........ India lost becuase of some slow batting .....

AND some mediocre death bowling from Dinda & Pathan esp. Praveen had bowled a beaut of an over to tilt things back, but it was not enough to shift the momentum back.

Our bowling is as useless as Kenya bowling attack or even worse ........

Oh I don't know, Dhiraj..  its not that they are bad, its just that they are when it comes to proving that they're worth a place in Team India.

May be ......... but with this bowling attack you will never win a single match abroad .... thats for sure ...

But India have  one full year to groom their pace battery ............

Who will be future of Indian pace attack among the current so called youngsters ........

Varun Aaron is looking the only decent option I think. I can't quite imagine Vinay Kumar or Dinda leading the Indian pace battery!

Varun is really good and fast .......... Agree with you on Vinay and Dinda ........ Praveen is ok except that he lacks skills to bowl in death overs /slog overs .   Ishant , Munaf any chance of playing again for Indian would be great .

Why there is no focus on building a store of Fast bowlers , that MRF academy we should see many Pace bowlers . See Australia , England , SA , WI ,NZ there are never depended on any of their pace bowler . Just look our sub contitent friend Pak and SL both have always produced good seamer . Why are we lacking in this part ..

I don't think Praveen is as bad in the death. He did bowl well yesterday, but Dinda and Irfan's overs had swung the momentum I feel. Ishant, I don't know.. he's very good as a test bowler, I don't quite feel he has the ODI mettle. Munaf, yes, I'd love to see him back in Indian colors...

Seeing Ranji form, I'd not mind seeing L.R. Shukla return to the national team too, he's an in-form all rounder! or even Stuart Binny given a chance... I mean, if we wait till every player in the current squad is near retirement, the players who are deserving of a call-up will will go unseen... 

Oh.. the answer to that why is there in the age-old excuse given when India fail a series away from home.. "In domestic games, we're quite used to spinning tracks.. so we couldn't quite adjust here" 

How long will be holding to same excuse ...............

I don't really know. It is age-old, so its already been very log.

I mean, "long" 

 Yup ........... Even our party timers are also no quality to bowl outisde India ...........

I agree, DS. These are the scenarios I see:

1. If India win tomorrow, without bonus point, they go to 8 points. Then also, we need Sri Lanka to beat Bangladesh, because in event the Tigers beat the Lankans, Bangladesh will qualify for the finals, since they have 8 points and won against India.
2. If India lose (God forbid.), then they must hope that Bangladesh lose against Sri Lanka, but not concede a bonus point. In that case, all 3 will end up on 4 points, and India sneak to the finals on NRR. If Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka, or even tie the match, or its called off due to rain, Bangladesh will go on with 6 points. If Sri Lanka beat Bangladesh with a bonus point, Sri Lanka go through with 6 points to the finals.
3. India are on the backseat at present, coz even a bonus point win would leave them stranded on the result of the other match. If Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka with a bonus point, India are still going to go out, coz of yesterdays loss to the hosts. 

If two or more teams have the same number of points, the right to play in the final is determined as follows:

1. The team having the higher number of wins.
2. If two or more teams have same number of wins, the team with more wins against the other teams who have equal number of points and wins.
3. If still equal, the team with the higher number of bonus points.
4. If still equal, the team with the greater net run rate.

I do blv the term is "tera" and not "teri"  and yes, will check out and reply.

I disagree that Pakistan, even though they have ALREADY qualified, will be slack. Pakistan have 9 points, with 1 bonus point. If they lose to India also, they don't depend on the other result, because they have beaten Sri Lanka and Bangladesh and are in prime position, courtesy of point 2 above. Even if Banglas win with a bonus point, it'll still be Pakistan qualifying with India coz of a win v/s Bangladesh,  and higher NRR. (+.74 at prsent, wont dip a lot with a loss either)

I disagree vociferously as to their slackness, because it is INDIA they are playing. Australia wont play England any easier (or vice versa) in the last Ashes Test because they've wrapped up the Ashes in the third test itself. It is a matter of pride, DS, right? 

I have contradicted myself I believe. Right. Sorry, corrected. If India win with a bonus point, then they are more favorites to qualify.. not Bangladesh, coz all 3 of Pak, India and (posisbly) Bangladesh might end up with 9 points, and NRR wise, India and Pak will be placed better than Bangladesh. So this match tomorrow is a virtual semifinal for India. Its win with a Bonus Point, and qualify, or have a very nervous Monday and Tuesday.

Buddy, if India are knocked out before the finals, that's gonna be a tragedy for India. I dearly hope I don't see that.

1. If it's Bangladesh in the finals v/s Pakistan, I think I'll give them odds on favorites to win the title, because they deserve it.
2. If it's India in the finals v/s Pakistan after a win tomorrow, I'll give India all my support, coz they deserve it.
3. If it's India in the finals v/s Pakistan after a loss tomorrow. I'll give India my support, coz its v/s Pakistan and my heart is gonna cheer fot the team no matter what.
4. If it's Sri Lanka v/s Pakistan in the finals, then I'll enjoy the match supporting neither team. coz Sri Lanka frankly, don't deserve it at the moment.

Just to confirm, in the point one above... I mean Bangladesh and not Pakistan 

I assume so, yes. Atleast till 6:55PM. After that, I cannot assure.

no... at 7PM, my mind, and the channel, will drift to football.   

Like I said in my tag, if its Mancheste United involved, no other channel exists at that time, even if its India v/s Pakistan. 

But possibly, if the match is interesting, I'll be outvoted for the remote.. so the possibility is unpredictable. I'll still be around though on the thread. 

* Manchester United

It is? 

Which color should I support?

Even if you wanted to, could you support the other color? 

Pakistan are batting after winning the toss. Y.Pathan gets a chance ahead of Jadeja, which was expected. Vinay Kumar still not recovered from the niggle, so Dinda retains his spot. 

Jadeja is unwell, and MSD confused...  very interesting combination.. 

And we're underway in this rivalry encounter! Praveen Kumar as usual starts the bowling. Possibly Irfan at the other end. 

Hafeez and Jamshed are opening the batting for the Pakistanis...