India likely to lose this match.
Virat Kholi is gone at 22.4 overs. India is now 92-4 with only Dhoni who can bring a win but 99% he canot as we have in excess of 195 runs to be got.
Already Raina has slowed the match.

The first defeat of this tournament. We still are in tops but our morale will be very badly damaged.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

2 consecutive sixes by Suresh Raina in the 29th over that put off the pressure a bit and decreased the run rate required.
Though this is good, Suresh raina and Dhoni will be unable to take the pressure of needing to score 150 odd runs in just 19 overs and that too when the tail enders are not that dependable.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Good sensible batting by Raina and Dhoni.
They have brought India into the 41st. over without losing any further wickets. The score is 204. Though the asking rate is 9.33 per over, due to the wickets in hand, India might be able to scrape through. We have Ashwin and Jadega who can can come in at the 45th over and lend some high flying shots.
A very very tense game.
I am glad that I am able to see the game at the comfort of AC and snacks at my office.

Murali !

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Will India Win?
Most of you might be sleepig now but after a very poor start, Dhoni and Raina made sure that India won.
It is a very good comeback by India and we need these sort of comeback to head to the final.

Murali

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I am a Gents and not a Ladies.

Playing Ravindra Jadeja with soar shoulder was a mistake. His bowling is not working out. Binny or Akhsar should have been tested in this match. Now there will be confusion in the quarter final that whom to play?. Bangladeshis are good player of spin and Melbourne is a batting wicket, an additional bowler will help. Stuart binny who also is good with bat will be my choice.
Knowing Dhoni, he may stick with Jadeja.

Rohit Sharma needs to be dropped & Binny should open in his place. Binny can both bat & bowl. He might NOT score lot of runs, but he can't be any worse than Rohit Sharma. Plus Binny's bowling can come in handy, during the middle overs.

Jadeja is the weakest no. 7 , he is NOT scoring any runs & his bowling is NOT that great either. He has been slected as an all rounder , but he is a bits & pieces player, doing neither job properly. So Akshar Patel who is a much better bowler & spinner makes sense in place of him & a reasonable bat also.

The qtr. final is OK ..they will win ..but they will them meet Australia in the semis. Aus. have a strong batting lineup, so the extra bowling options of Binny & Akshar Patel will help. Particularly Akshar as they don't play spin that well.
They will play Jadeja easily as he doesn't spin the ball much.

My lineup for India - Aussie semi final is :

1. Dhawan
2. Stuart Binny ( In place of Rohit Sharma )
3. Kohli
4. Rahane
5. Raina
6. Dhoni
7. Ashwin
8. Akshar Patel ( In place of Jadeja )
9. Shami
10. Yadav
11. Mohit Kumar

Open with bowling with Yadav & Shami .

Then have a few overs with Binny & Mohit Sharma.

Then bog them down in the middle overs when the ball gets old with SPIN of Ashwin & Akshar Patel.
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India has to score atleast 350 if they bat first, if they want to have any chances of winning against Aussies.

If they are chasing then they have to restrict Aussies for 300 or less, anything more than that then the pressure of chasing under lights will get to them & the required run rate going up will get to them. The good Aussie bowlers & their tremendous fielding will add extra pressure.

You need quality bowling to restrict Aussie to 300 or less, hence the additional bowling option of Binny & Akshar Patel. Plus they can bat also, so you are not really sacrificing the batting dept. by including them.

Binny in place of Rohit Sharma would be a good choice. Even 5 overs from Binny will come in handy if and when other bowlers are hit about. He can also hit the big sixes which someone like Ashwin is unable to even though he is tall and well built.

However, Rohit is still there not because of his performance, but because Dhoni does not want to disturb the winning XI in this knock out stage. Lucky Rohit.

If India were to enter the Final, this win against Z, would be important. Because of his indifferent form, Rohit opened the flood gates. Shikar cannot be relied too much as he more in the Sewag mould. Both openers were out early and there was this run out of Rahane. A perfect recipe for defeat if it happens against stronger teams like Australia. But the dropped catch of Raina seemed turning point of the match. The long stay at the middle for both Dhoni and Raina must give them lots of valuable match practice.

Virat is like Inzamam in running out his partners, but unlike Inzamam Virat is a good runner of the single when he bats and if it happens to be the last 3 balls of the over. Even if it happens to be the other batsman's call he frequently turns around and is looking at the ball and its fielder which confuses the partner. These things media wouldn't discuss since they have a soft corner for those with Bollywood connections.

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