In the cricket world cup, India’s defeat by Bangladesh on Friday was a shameful one. The team spirit, top/middle/bottom order, bowlers and the fielders – everybody performed terrible. And on top of that, Bangladesh really played very well. And as I said earlier, may the best team win – Bangladesh was indeed a superior team on that day. I’m happy for them!
Although I was extremely disappointed by India’s loss in their debut match but today, against Bermuda, was the other extreme. India scored 415 for 5, a record total in World cups. The top order gave a solid start (205 for 2 in 30 overs) and stormed the Bermudan bowlers by scoring 144 runs in the last 12 overs.
Comparing the statistics of two matches India has played so far:
| Against | Toss | Played | Runs | Wickets | Overs | Run rate | Won | Margin |
| Bangladesh | Won | First | 191 | 10 | 50 | 3.86 | No | 5wickets |
| Bermuda | Lost | First | 413 | 5 | 50 | 8.26 | Yes | 257 |
India’s desperation to not only win the second match but win with a huge margin is evident from these statistics. After this win, India is in a better position to get into "Super 8" but they still have to beat Sri Lanka to be sure of that.
Over the weekend, Pakistan’s coach Bob Woolmer died under mysterious circumstances and their team captain, Inzamam-ul Haq, retired from One Day International cricket after Pakistan’s early ouster from the world cup. My condolences to Bob Woolmer and his family. Irrespective of whether India reaches final or not, I always wait for the match with Pakistan, especially in World cup where India has always won. I’ll have to miss that exciting moment this time.
Technorati: cricket worldcupcricket india pakistan bermuda bangladesh 2007
hi
india can play but all because of match fixing they dont play. so for this all match fixing has to stop. it should be only cricket and only team wins the final should be paid.
Comment by kevin natraj — March 21, 2007 @ 7:27 pm
it is good to see update details
Comment by JAYASENAN — March 22, 2007 @ 2:50 am
kevin, very true! The defeat by Bangladesh was definitely one candidate for match fixing.
Comment by Arun — March 22, 2007 @ 12:15 pm
All the 16 players has to take vr from international cricker.
Comment by kailash Prasad — March 26, 2007 @ 2:34 am
Dear sir:
No matter, whether we like it or not, Cricket is linked to our national pride and the team’s performance in field does impact the country’s image in people’s mind.
I would like to bring few facts to your attention, which I think are making Indian Cricket go the way Indian Hockey went where our team slid from being world #1 to being a constant national embarrassment. These are:
1. Performance gap between the team of Australia and India has been steadily widening in place of narrowing that we might have hoped.* This is in spite of great popularity of Cricket in India and in spite of Indian Cricket board being far the richest in the world.
2. Physical fitness of top teams like Australia have greatly improved while fitness of Indian team has remained constant or further declined. Other teams complement their skills with excellent physical strength, agility and stamina while Indian players lose any skill edge because of very poor overall fitness. Only Yuvraj among current players has the skill and fitness players that can match top athletes/players from teams like Australia.
3. Rahul, Sachin and Saurabh have been main stay of Indian batting for about 8 years now. Thy are ageing and tiring yet, there is no replacement is in sight. There are no young batsmen who has shown enough promise, talent and performance to seriously challenge them now and to adequately replace them when they retire. If it remains this way, it can sink Indian team further once this trio retires which may not be that far away.
4. Indian spin bowling resources are running nil! In the country once famous for its spin bowling, today, there is no real replacement for aged Anil Kumble and no real challenge to Harbhajan Singh among young players. This is a matter of national shame and actually, a matter of great urgency. Our greater guiles and greater skills in spin bowling could have helped us make up for our lack in other areas now, quality spin bowling too might become one of our serious lacks. Perhaps, it is a high time to recognize our spin bowling heroes like Bedi, Chandra, Prassana and to start a real spin bowling academy!
5. General fitness level of our players is very poor and to make it worse, they have shown lack of any real motivation to gain and maintain top level physical fitness on their own. This is among the main reasons that we are being left farther behind by the teams much fitter than ours in spite of being more or less equal or better to teams like Australia and South Africa in terms of sheer talents and skills. We need a courageous and bold change*** to change this poor attitude and in order to ensure that our team is fit enough to compete with the best in the world.
With warm regards and best wishes,
Arvind
—
* Increasing performance gap between Australia and India
=================================================
In 1985, India won Benson and Hedges cup in Australia without losing even a single match. After reviewing Indian performance, Ian Chapel said that India team was the strongest and most well suited for ODIs and that India might become the #1 force in ODIs.
In 1996, India was favorite to win he World cup but, was eliminated only because of having to bat second against Srilanka on a crumbling wicket Calcutta wicket.
In 2007, India was ranked 6th among ODI teams when entering the world cup.
****Courageous, bold measures are required to ensure that our team has physical fitness level comparable to those best in the field
=========================================================
Board, players and media in general, pay little to no attention to the issue of physical fitness gap between the Indian players and those from countries like Australia, South Africa. Importance of physical strength, agility and endurance in top level sports can not be over emphasized. This is where India lost big time in Hockey and now it has started to slide in cricket too.
Most players have shown little to no interest in maintaining themselves in top physical form and thus, changing it might require courageous and bold action on part of the board and selection committee. Set strict, high international standard fitness parameters, publish them in an open format, set a goal of 2 years and require every player to pass that level in order to play International Cricket for India.
For example, set a time-table of 2 years and require every test/ODI player to be able to run 9 miles in an hour, be able to 200 pushups, be able to throw ball 80 yards for 30 times in an hour.
Similarly, set a timetable, a strict physical fitness goal and require each player to meet them at first class level too and for all age groups. In addition to improving physical fitness level of the national team, this will also greatly change player’s attitude towards discipline, practice, training and fitness which will bring great dividend to the team and greater unity and team discipline. Implementing them on first class level for all age groups will improve overall fitness among players in the country and greatly improve its awareness in addition to improving the bench strength.
Granted there will be some exceptions, where a relatively ‘unfit’ player can make the team because of being immensely talented such as a Shane Warne. However, an effort should be made to treat them as ‘exceptions’ and to keep these exceptions to a minimum. For example, a minimum of 80% of players in team should meet these criteria.
Among other things, setting open high standard for physical fitness would also provide simple, clear, straight-forward answers to questions like:
- Is Player A fit to play.
- Is player B too old to play.
- Should player C retire or not be selected because he is too old and thus is not fit to play.
If you meet the fitness criteria, you are fit to play else you are not irrespective of your age. Simply meet the criteria and then practice and train to maintaining it and you are fit enough to play competitive professional sports at the highest level for India.
Comment by Arvind Singh — March 26, 2007 @ 2:01 pm
no no india can notenter super8
Comment by Anonymous — April 7, 2007 @ 11:31 pm
Indian team is playing for money and money.
To gain money is their aim and nothing else.
Comment by Arun — April 10, 2007 @ 9:00 am
It is really bad all the players are playing just for money.
There is ni team understandig it got displayed when Yuvrag was run out and every one have to improve a lot in bating
Comment by G.V.R.S.Sastry — April 15, 2007 @ 12:12 am
indians are ankers
Comment by ybvjh — April 20, 2007 @ 4:58 am
indians are wakers
Comment by barminder singh — April 20, 2007 @ 5:02 am
hi dearest friends,
i’m your average gal with some great iq and an impressive vocabulary. i have to go as the interjector for a debate competition tommorrow on the topic “world cup debacle who is to be blamed , the players or the public.”since u guys seem to know a lot on dis plz can u mail me some info on d same?
waiting for a reply,
naina
Comment by NAINA SANDHIR — May 7, 2007 @ 4:25 am
hi, friend
we can’t blame any body for
the faliure of indian team as we don’t know whether it was match fixing or indian team’s fault.so it is better to give them a chance to defend themselves. they may wanted to win but lost due to certain circumstances. it’s better to wish them “best of luck” for the next time . i felt very dissapointed when i listened that india lost in the world cup but we can’t do any thing except giving them a chance
bye!bye!
Comment by shivangi puri — May 29, 2007 @ 4:16 am
hi, friend
we can’t blame any body for
the faliure of indian team as we don’t know whether it was match fixing or indian team’s fault.so it is better to give them a chance to defend themselves. they may wanted to win but lost due to certain circumstances. it’s better to wish them “best of luck” for the next time . i felt very dissapointed when i listened that india lost in the world cup but we can’t do any thing except giving them a chance
bye!bye!
Comment by shivangi puri — May 29, 2007 @ 4:16 am
yeah upgradation is needed urgently in Indian cricket team otherwise there will be more debacle and losses tats all i wana say
Comment by prateek — June 19, 2007 @ 10:40 am
INDIA SHOULD QUIT CRICKET AND SAVE MONEY, TIME AND ENERGY OF INDIA.
Comment by rishabh — June 20, 2007 @ 4:17 am
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Comment by wingswings — November 4, 2008 @ 1:49 pm
they may wanted to win but lost due to certain circumstances. it’s better to wish them "best of luck" for the next time . i felt very dissapointed when i listened that india lost in the world cup but we can’t do any thing except giving them a chance bye!bye!
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