India in Asia cup

[cricketfan]

India have the fire power and I would like to see them use their ammunition mercilessly even against minnows like Australia do. There should not be any mercy shown to UAE and especially to BanglaDesh. The team must play ruthlessly and leave mental scars on the collective psyche of the opposition like Australia. This will pay dividends in future also when India meet these countries.

[Nikhil]

India look to be the odds on favourite, but SL being the home team have a good chance as well. My money will be on either SL/Pakistan.

For some sneaky reason, I think India will not win either against SL or Pak. That's just a hunch, nothing more.

[Rachael]

Seems to me that this competition is a strong XI short of what it needs to be truly worthwhile.

Maybe the host nation should also find a "Guest XI"... perhaps of players ommitted from their national squads.. or of players of asian descent who are qualified for other countries. Either way I guess you'd be on a 4th team strong enough to rival the big three and rather more credible than Bangladesh.

Out of interest.. who would each country be able to contribute to such a side? I believe Chopra has been ommitted... and Agarkar and Kartik.. and a quick web search reveals Bandani, Gavaskar and Powar. Not sure who Pakistan and Sri Lanka have overlooked though. I imagine there's some serious talent not attending though.

[kiran]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Maybe the host nation should also find a "Guest XI"... perhaps of players ommitted from their national squads.. or of players of asian descent who are qualified for other countries. Either way I guess you'd be on a 4th team strong enough to rival the big three and rather more credible than Bangladesh.

hey Rachael, with due respect to ur opinion
i think it a big big chance for minnows like Bangla, Hk and UAE.
its there chance to play the big ones
also they have structered the schedule in such a way that IN-PAK-SL will play each other more..
so not losing the entertainment factor along with giving a chance to upcoming nations to play with their big bros
i hope it future if many othe asian contries improve in their cricket we can have more interesting fixtures
AND this is their chance
same is case with europe
i say in 15-20 yrs we may have a Euro cup, Asia cup, some intercontinental cup etc...
but i kinda liked the concept of a guest 11....
but if they win they wat will be said "Guest11 lift Asia cup"...........neh......sounds wierd..doesn't it?

[SSA.]

Originally Posted by Rachael

Seems to me that this competition is a strong XI short of what it needs to be truly worthwhile.

Maybe the host nation should also find a "Guest XI"... perhaps of players ommitted from their national squads.. or of players of asian descent who are qualified for other countries. Either way I guess you'd be on a 4th team strong enough to rival the big three and rather more credible than Bangladesh.

Somehow I don't quite see Hussain, Ramprakash, Solanki or Mahmood turning up for a guest XI to represent Asia. This is not a charity do or a fun competition to pass time, it is an ICC approved One day Tournament and the statistics are recorded as International scores, results and appearances for one's country. If teams like Hong Kong, UAE and to a certain extent Bangladesh do not get a chance to play against the better teams they will never improve. Asian cricket needs tournaments like this.

Originally Posted by Rachael

Out of interest.. who would each country be able to contribute to such a side? I believe Chopra has been ommitted... and Agarkar and Kartik.. and a quick web search reveals Bandani, Gavaskar and Powar. Not sure who Pakistan and Sri Lanka have overlooked though. I imagine there's some serious talent not attending though.

Chopra was never in consideration for a place in the ODI team. Badani, Gavaskar, Kartik and Powar are not better than Kaif, Yuvraj, Kumble and Harbhajan. As far as team India is concerned I think the best 14 have been selected for this ODI tournament

[Rachael]

Originally Posted by kiran

i kinda liked the concept of a guest 11.... but if they win they wat will be said "Guest 11 lift Asia cup"...........neh......sounds wierd..doesn't it?

Ok.. how about this: an U-23 side from the best prospects from all of Asia. That would give "youth" proper exposure to the big time... and if they beat their daddy's then that would actually be pretty cool :-)

I take the point about giving the minnows a chance, I really do... it's just that with two groups... one of the big guns (in this case Pakistan) could just about (with all due respect to Hong Kong) walk through to the next stage with the bowlers doing all the batting and the batters doing all the bowling!

[Nikhil]

Shalini,

I agree India has picked their best team, but how about picking the U-23 players and giving them some exposure? That would mean we rest Tendulkar, Kumble and play Rayudu and Mishra. Also there was this opener from Delhi who flayed bowling attacks in the U-19 WC, I forgot his name.

I think India should not place too much priority on such tournaments and should use such opportunities to give the younger one's exposure.

But then ICC may not agree if we change the entire team, therefore just change a few players here and there and try rotating players. This way they can be kept fitter as well.

Nikhil.

[SSA.]

Hi Nikhil,

Yes I do like the idea of giving the youngsters exposure against senior teams and such tournaments are a good place to start.

I have always been in favour of some rotation - that way no one takes their place for granted, and we always have a pool of good players when injuries do happen.

I guess my objection is to the above post totally making a mockery of an International tournament where players are representing their country by suggesting a guest XI .

[Nikhil]

Shalini,

For me Rachael's idea doesn't seem that preposterous, but the problem is as pointed out, this is an ICC recognised tournament and the teams participating should be full international teams.

Btw, I think this tournament is not going to be as simple as it seems. SL is a tough team at home and Pakistan is always mercurial and inconsistent. India should qualify to the so-called semifinals, but if we face Pakistan there, we can be in trouble. India needs to beat SL to win the group, which in itself is not an easy task.

[cricketfan]

In the second round of 4 teams, the top two teams will qualify for the final. It means that a team will have to win at least 2 matches in this round to go through to the final. In other words one cannot have more than one off day in tis tournament.
Admittedly, India have a task on their hands against Sri Lanka and Pakistan, but look at it from the opposition point of view. Sri Lanka and Pakistan will be more jittery facing this Indian team which looks stronger than it was in the last season. The batting line up is awesome which has learnt to bat nervelessly and bowling attack is underestimated but dangerous.