India and Dhoni just lost it ! Expect a Swift and Strong Media and Public Backlash in India
I penned this blog title before the last ball was bowled!
We lost to England in a crunch Super 8 game by just 3 runs!… We needed 154 to win and 19 of the last over… We got just 15 !..4th ball was hit for a six by Pathan… fifth ball he hit to Long On and just a single was taken ! when Going for Two would have put some pressure on the fielder ! and given strike back to Pathan… who knows ! he could have hit the last ball for a Six and tied the game !… what actually happened was that we needed an impossible 8 to win of the last ball and Dhoni managed a Four.We ended at 150/5 chasing England’s 153/7.
Dhoni needs to shoulder full responsibility as a ‘completely out of clue’ captain ! Get Anil Kumble back ! he commented on this lack of Intent in going for Two runs on the penultimate ball
Dhoni, himself seems to have lost the art of hitting sixes on call or frequently !…. so vital to facilitate a win in the T-20 Format….. there was no real killer instinct to win !… they were playing matter of fact… no sense of intensity or even enjoyment…something is amiss in this Indian Team ! It seems divided !… Dhoni, you paraded your team last week to show unity and dispel Indian Fears of a split in the Team….This spirit was not evident on the field !
Dhoni needs to answer himself first before he answers the nation
He boasts in the Aircell ads how while playing Cricket he connects on Facebook through his Mobile to connect with Friends and have fun….. I wish he had connected with me on Facebook… I could have conveyed to him to bring Yuvraj in early to Bat… we would have won the Game.
He held back the in form Yuvraj Singh till late… Jadeja scored 20 + but took over 30 balls to do it !Rohit Sharma and Raina failed in two consecutive games. Yuvraj came in at 4 down after 10 overs and hit the first ball he faced for a Six! he scored a quickfire 17 in Nine Balls before a brilliant Foster stumping of Swann got him.
And if you see the margin of just 3 runs that seperated us,I must comment harshly on Harbhajan Singh needlessly gifting away 10 runs by bowling two unnecessary wides that went on to cross the fence with Yuvraj misfielding one of these.
And Ishant continued to bowl short… and surprisingly Zaheer gifted easy boundaries continuing to bowl a wrong legside line
We were exposed to the short ball… Taylor and Edwards of West Indies snorted our top order the other day and England’s Anderson, Sidebottom (Man of the Match) and Broad capitalised on this weakness again today
Despite our IPL experience, we fell short… it seems like we may have won the battle but we lost the War !
Paul Collingwood, England’s captain was annoyed to be booed by the Crowd in his own Country and that too at Lords when they went out to the Nets… He says it probably motivated them to go out and Win the Match ! … what did he expect ! It was like Mumbai,as Kevin Petersen commented just before the match… the crowd was predominantly Indian
Methinks there is just to much obscene Money in Indian Cricket at the highest level and IPL and Advertising Endorsements only reflects this… It’s corrupting many cricketing minds… they’re playing for the Money not for the country… they’re developing king size egos and are disrespectful of our Country’s highest National Awards… Dhoni and Harbhajan did not even bother to inform in advance that they would not be attending the Ceremony to receive their ‘Padma Sri’ Awards at the hands of our President
Many Indian Cricketers and Ex Cricketers have disassociated with Kapil Dev’s ICL T-20 … it was launched before the IPL but has not been recognised by ICC and our own BCCI… In fact BCCI has issued a dikdat that all those associated with the ICL will not be allowed to feature in any matches, leagues and competitions of BCCI…. now expect those who have deserted the ICL to try and seek lucrative IPL contracts
Remove the Monies, you’ll remove the Egos and have some serious competition to wear the Indian cap..there are very few, like Sachin Tendulkar, who come across as mature, graceful, dignified and humble and well grounded, despite their super stardom, success and icon status
If Dhoni continues this form, he will have difficulty in renewing his lucrative advertising endorsements… even if he performs well in ‘Aircell’, ‘Reebok’, ‘Orient PSPO’ and ‘Lays’ !…. It’s his performance on the Cricket Field that will count
The shoddy way he’s leading the Team and playing for it makes it easy for me to visualise reversal roles in the Orient PSPO Fan Ad… The Kid in Class should be punishing Dhoni by ordering him to go stand in the corner of the classroom,rather than the other way around !
Dhoni, Cheering can change to Jeering pretty quickly in India.. Watch Out !
1 thought on “India just short balled out of the ICC T-20 Cricket World Cup”
Yes Gaurav,
I too thought that way about Dhoni and Co.; Dhoni’s mind clearly is not on the game and even his wicket-keeping any more-remember he conceded a boundary off Harbhajan’s bowling in the last over! It is amazing as to how many Indian sportsmen and women like Sania get their attention diverted by the lure of the lucre! Dhoni should not forget that it was sheer talent as a wicket-keeper-batsman that brought him his fame and wealth- and that he is displacing a popular talent like Parthiv Patel who is more stable and no push-over with the bat either.
I agree with you also that BCCI has wrongfully usurped an idea created by Kapil and a TV channel to launch big-time 20-20 club cricket quite unfairly. They thought more leagues than one would erode their monopoly of revenues. We should be having a model of this game so that some of the money generated reaches sport at the grass-root level. Dhoni’s lack of application convinces me that Kapil was the only super-star cricketer who was genuinely and passionately in love of the game-showed the same consistency and dedication throughout a long career!