A first phase of T20 overkill before the Tamasha cricket is done and dusted. Probably the only tournament which has a qualifying round one for the minnows even after respective teams qualifying for the tournament. The joke that is, is over now. This had everything from- TRP fixture aka the India v Pakistan to the mandatory India v Sri Lanka to South Africa reduced to a joke in multinational tourneys to England crumbling to spin.
Instead of waiting for some topics I decided to write whatever I observe in this WT20. A statuary warning is that it is entirely like my musings and probably it wont have anything new, if you expect.
Before the tournament, like everyone, I never imagined India would go this far. And having nothing to do, I thought of keeping a diary on India games, And this is that.
How was this for India? Clubbed with three better teams which had two favourites in them?
Even though England lost a T20 series against West Indies just days before the WT20, ICC, for some reason, made them play again in a warm up fixture. So, if you try to make sense of ICC, you cant. So leave it. A regular game against Sri Lanka to begin with.
March 18, 2014.
Though India lost yesterday, I am quite happy with my prediction of India going down is on track. It was all predictable. Dhoni won the toss and India chased unsuccessfully. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar continued to wane as his new ball prowess was lost somewhere in middle. He did increase his reputation,of being the worst choice to bowl at death, conceding seventeen runs- A six and a four to Kulasekara- and probably the game. The surprise though was Varun Aaron who looked sharp forcing Dilshan to a scratchy start. who was all about playing and missing. The main weapon, spin bowling, was drastic with Mishra doing nothing to change the skipper's perception on him while Ashwin outsmarted him easily. However the worrying thing was Yuvraj not getting to bowl in a pitch where even Raina managed to squeeze in two overs.
March 20, 2014.
The second practice game is a great example what happens when we are pushed to plan B without a choice- batting first- which never happens unless we lose the toss. We got away with that yesterday because Virat Kohli didn't retire after scoring a fifty-which usually happens in a warm up game and more because that was England. The consistency though was marvelous. Rohit and Dhawan killed the momentum with the bat and Bhuvi with the ball even before it showed up while Mishra's chances got reduced with everything against him. Yuvi didnt get a ball and he had nothing to show with the bat adding to perception that he is in the team as a specialist batsman who is seen as a far better choice to Rahane. The other important and predictable thing was Raina in Virat mode proving once again T20s are his best format.
March 21, 2014
I think India is going to the tournament knowing Rohit is not good enough up top and a serious contender for 'match ka murjim'. With Mishra ji going for runs I am pretty sure Dhoni will go for Varun Aaron. Even though Varun Aaron looked sharper in the first practice game I think he is a bigger liability than Rohit. Anyway I am not quite sure of having Bhuvi in the team. And that could be the only way Aaron could be in the team.
March 22, 2014
Winning the toss, with a sigh of relief, Dhoni was happy to bowl first and with reports doing around that he doesnt prefer Amit, he did prefer him and surprisingly the idea of three spinners. Probably the match was won with the toss and that decision. Mishra apart from one over, bowled beautifully with flight using up whatever the track offered. Jadeja proved why he is the third best performer in Indian team after Dhoni and Virat Kohli with a terrific spell. Ashwin being Ashwin, struggling for consistency in a over, did bowl well if not great. The surprise package though was the death bowling which was Steyn, Malinga esque considering our pretty bad standards. The chasing had no real trouble apart from the mild heart attack when Yuvraj got bowled to a straighter ball but one would imagine getting him bat before Raina itself was a huge mistake. However the idiots of the day award went to Bhatti and rest who tried to target Raina with short stuff, hilarious thing being, born and brought up in SC they didnt know the basics. With a comment of "Raina is the bradman of SC" somewhere in my twitter TL people were busy trolling the neighbours. To be frank I didnt expect India to win and I am sure we wont make it to the semi finals.
Instead of waiting for some topics I decided to write whatever I observe in this WT20. A statuary warning is that it is entirely like my musings and probably it wont have anything new, if you expect.
Before the tournament, like everyone, I never imagined India would go this far. And having nothing to do, I thought of keeping a diary on India games, And this is that.
How was this for India? Clubbed with three better teams which had two favourites in them?
Even though England lost a T20 series against West Indies just days before the WT20, ICC, for some reason, made them play again in a warm up fixture. So, if you try to make sense of ICC, you cant. So leave it. A regular game against Sri Lanka to begin with.
March 18, 2014.
Though India lost yesterday, I am quite happy with my prediction of India going down is on track. It was all predictable. Dhoni won the toss and India chased unsuccessfully. Bhuvaneshwar Kumar continued to wane as his new ball prowess was lost somewhere in middle. He did increase his reputation,of being the worst choice to bowl at death, conceding seventeen runs- A six and a four to Kulasekara- and probably the game. The surprise though was Varun Aaron who looked sharp forcing Dilshan to a scratchy start. who was all about playing and missing. The main weapon, spin bowling, was drastic with Mishra doing nothing to change the skipper's perception on him while Ashwin outsmarted him easily. However the worrying thing was Yuvraj not getting to bowl in a pitch where even Raina managed to squeeze in two overs.
March 20, 2014.
The second practice game is a great example what happens when we are pushed to plan B without a choice- batting first- which never happens unless we lose the toss. We got away with that yesterday because Virat Kohli didn't retire after scoring a fifty-which usually happens in a warm up game and more because that was England. The consistency though was marvelous. Rohit and Dhawan killed the momentum with the bat and Bhuvi with the ball even before it showed up while Mishra's chances got reduced with everything against him. Yuvi didnt get a ball and he had nothing to show with the bat adding to perception that he is in the team as a specialist batsman who is seen as a far better choice to Rahane. The other important and predictable thing was Raina in Virat mode proving once again T20s are his best format.
March 21, 2014
I think India is going to the tournament knowing Rohit is not good enough up top and a serious contender for 'match ka murjim'. With Mishra ji going for runs I am pretty sure Dhoni will go for Varun Aaron. Even though Varun Aaron looked sharper in the first practice game I think he is a bigger liability than Rohit. Anyway I am not quite sure of having Bhuvi in the team. And that could be the only way Aaron could be in the team.
March 22, 2014
Winning the toss, with a sigh of relief, Dhoni was happy to bowl first and with reports doing around that he doesnt prefer Amit, he did prefer him and surprisingly the idea of three spinners. Probably the match was won with the toss and that decision. Mishra apart from one over, bowled beautifully with flight using up whatever the track offered. Jadeja proved why he is the third best performer in Indian team after Dhoni and Virat Kohli with a terrific spell. Ashwin being Ashwin, struggling for consistency in a over, did bowl well if not great. The surprise package though was the death bowling which was Steyn, Malinga esque considering our pretty bad standards. The chasing had no real trouble apart from the mild heart attack when Yuvraj got bowled to a straighter ball but one would imagine getting him bat before Raina itself was a huge mistake. However the idiots of the day award went to Bhatti and rest who tried to target Raina with short stuff, hilarious thing being, born and brought up in SC they didnt know the basics. With a comment of "Raina is the bradman of SC" somewhere in my twitter TL people were busy trolling the neighbours. To be frank I didnt expect India to win and I am sure we wont make it to the semi finals.
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