India

[Atharv]

It would be interesting to see if Dhoni changes winning combination by dropping Munaf and getting in maybe Shreesanth. I think Munaf should be in the playing 11 . Mohali will be a different pitch, bit more bouncier and faster.

 

[mohit_dude10]

If only he replaces Munaf it would be Nehra, no way Sreesanth should be tried. If he gets it wrong he can lose the match single handedly.

 

[Cricketman]

I am tempted to try Sree vs Pakistan. For such an unpredictable opposition, an unpredictable bowler might work .

 

[shravi]

I am tempted to try Sree vs Pakistan. For such an unpredictable opposition, an unpredictable bowler might work .

NOOOO, I don't want Sree. At least Munaf pulled it back after a horrible start (somewhat). Sree just can't stop leaking runs.

 

[night watchman]

Drop Munaf and take Yusuf Pathan for semifinals

Dhoni should drop Munaf Patel and take Yusuf Pathan in his plaxe for pakistan game.

Go with all 8 batsmen and take only 3 specialist bowlers (Zahir Khan, Harbhajan and Ashwin). There are 5 part time bowlers to do the job of 4th and 5th bowler. i.e. yuvraj, Yusuf, Raina, Tendulkar and Sehwag.

Only Zahir, Bhajji and Ashwin are good rest of the bowlers are not any better than the part timers.

This way India will have 8 solid batsmen and 8 decent bowling options.

This way they can afford to have one batsman at the crease going after the bowling to get on top of opposition as plenty more can follow.

This strentgens the team overall .

 

[Cricketman]

That is a bit too risky. You need to have at least 4 frontline bowlers in the team imo.

I think we will go unchanged vs Pakistan but I would really like a more aggressive option than Munaf if we want to win this WC. When attacked, Munaf doesn't look like picking up wickets at all and he is a real liability in the field. Nehra isn't much better but at least he is a bit more attacking as a bowler. I might consider blooding him in.

But for now, Munaf isn't doing THAT badly. But instead of trying to 'get through' a frontline seam bowlers quota, I think that we should be attacking instead. Idk.

Whats the worst that can happen. 5 overs for 50, Sree won't bowl again. Best? Maybe 3 quick wickets...

I think our bowling has really picked up after Ashwin's inclusion. The fact that he bowls with the new ball and during the powerplays gives so much flexibility to Dhoni, and eases the pressure off guys like Zaheer and Harbhajan. Not only is he a wicket taker but he isn't expensive either, an absolute god send for India's world cup campaign. So much better than Piyush. He's a good fielder to boot.

Happy with Raina in over Yusuf, for the simple fact that the fielding in general has risen so much after it. Yusuf is a pretty pathetic fielder, and having a livewire like Raina in there has really helped us out. We must have easily saved 20 runs in the field today and Raina had a lot to do with that. A calming influence down the order as well, things could have gone horribly wrong at 180/5, especially if Yusuf was the man at the crease.

 

[TruSachFan]

Oh please, I'm tired of these freaking Munna. Everytime he misfields or gives a boundary, all he does is have a smirk on his face. I wish I was there to wipe it off. He has no freaking balls. He's not an athlete. Please someone get him off the team. First he gave all the momentum away with his 13 run over and then almost snatched the game away from us by giving a boundary every over not to forget his pathetic fielding and batting.

 

[night watchman]

Munaf used to be better with his tight line and length but no more. He is now boeling couple of loose balls each over and has become a liability.

I agree, Nehra may be worth trying at Mohali where the track is usually faster......it would be a gamble that we can afford. In any case each game this WC one of the 4 frontline bowler has been a liability for India. That is why I am saying just stick to the 3 who are bowling well and rest can be part time bowlers as in any case the 4th boeler is not bowling his full quota and is doing damage in the overs that he is bowling.

 

[prarara]

Honestly I didn't think we'd make it this far. I'm just happy we beat Oz. Anything else is cake for me.

 

[harishankar]

Agree that Munaf is just a liability for the team at the moment. He is seen as the weak link in the bowling attack and every team picks up two runs when they hit the ball to him in the outfield.

We need some seam energetic bowlers and I think it is worth risking Sreesanth against Pakistan even though he hasn't played a great deal of cricket. Somehow I don't think Dhoni will do it though.

As far as our spin department is concerned, I am worried about Bhajji's lack of wicket-taking form of late. He hasn't looked threatening enough and he is probably bowling too short for the slow wickets. And his tendency to fire the ball down the leg side every now and then is costing the team valuable runs.

The last over he bowled in the Australia match cost us 13 runs. Could well have been a talking point had India lost the match.

 

[simsanta123]

Agree that Munaf is just a liability for the team at the moment. He is seen as the weak link in the bowling attack and every team picks up two runs when they hit the ball to him in the outfield.

We need some seam energetic bowlers and I think it is worth risking Sreesanth against Pakistan even though he hasn't played a great deal of cricket. Somehow I don't think Dhoni will do it though.

As far as our spin department is concerned, I am worried about Bhajji's lack of wicket-taking form of late. He hasn't looked threatening enough and he is probably bowling too short for the slow wickets. And his tendency to fire the ball down the leg side every now and then is costing the team valuable runs.

The last over he bowled in the Australia match cost us 13 runs. Could well have been a talking point had India lost the match.

I fell Bhajji bowled quite well vs AUS. Even though he didn't get a wicket, he often looked like getting one (and should have got one too ), and Dhoni showed a lot of confidence in Bhajji keeping Short Leg even when Ponting was 60 odd.

 

[Cricketman]

You can't drop Harby imo. At the very least he won't get tonked for runs. And with Ashwin bowling well, he now has an able partner and should give the ball some more flight and attack. He was doing that yesterday, just unlucky I guess.

Spin front is good as it can be. Ashwin, Harbhajan, Yuvraj bowling like a regular, and if need be Raina. We just need someone to back up Zak... I don't think Munaf is that guy. Get in Sree.

 

[Atharv]

If Munaf is in the team then Dhoni should bowl him on his form. If he is looking good then bowl him out quickly, if he is not bowling good just give him a couple of overs and take him off .

And BTW Harbhajan Singh bowled okay yesterday, much better than his earlier WC matches .

 

[Params7]

Want to say 2 things :

Nehra : Best Econ rate in the Ind/Pak match. This man needs to stop getting the hate he does. So many people were ready to crucify Dhoni at the start of the match when it was announced Ashwin for dropped but I knew Nehra wouldn't have disappointed.

Raina : Saying it from from the old Aus tours to India that he was going to be our trump card in the world cup. Had Pak actually fielded Sachin's catches Raina would have played an even longer innings. And his 36 with the tail was the difference maker in the match. Kohli failed, Raina has performed more than him in real pressure situations.

 

[AbhishekS]

So many people were ready to crucify Dhoni at the start of the match when it was announced Ashwin for dropped but I knew Nehra wouldn't have disappointed.

I was one of them. Was extremely disappointed when Ashwin was dropped but my dad constantly backed Dhoni's decision of including Nehra.

Would be interesting to see the bowling line-up for the final. As it's Mumbai, we can expect a spinner in place of a seamer.