1st ODI, Kochi: Pakistan vs India

[Zainub]

Advice of the day: When you have had a shocker of a day, one of the best places to go is crickinfo.com. Read the preview of the first one-day here and you (at least I was) will feel releived that all world has not lost perspective. I couldn't have ask for a more comprehensive report. Leaves no question in mind and makes me feel great about our chances.

If you are in hurry and don't have the time to read the whole thing, news in brief is as follows:

Younis Khan has a fever and he will not play henceforth which is sort of sad cause he's in really good form but it makes the task of picking in eleven easier, get well soon to him nevertheless

Both sides are expected to play to go in with a two speciliast seamers + plus two specialist spinners attack, it is predicted Pakistan will go for Sami, Naved, Kaneria, Arshad (instead of Hafeez probably) pluss the all rounders Razzaq and Afirid. India are likely to settle down with Karthick, Harbajjan, Pathan (he is out of form and needs to prove him self) and Balaji, plus the part timers as Zaheer Khan (allegedly over rated) will once again miss out.

It will be a very flat deck, so expect a big score. Anything will be chaseable. Even 300. (It's an Indian Pakistan game, rule number 1 is to never take anything for granated).

Batting order for Pakistan can never seriously be predicted but Chandrahas Choudhury has had a go at that too and reckons we will open with Afridi and Butt with Malik to continue at 3. Reliable middle order in Youhanna & Inzi to follow. Blasting late order in Kamal and Razzaq to finish things off. Tail to follow.

For India, usual opeing pair of Tendulkar and Sehwag, but Laxman being dropped mean Ganguly can come at 3. Dravid at four, and Yuvraj and Kaif to follow. Then a new face, another member of the International Cricketers Association of Bad Hair, MS Dhoni young lad, keeps wicket and is a competent bat. Tail to follow.

Rest is all regualation: Pakistan are favorites to start with, have a good recent record agains them. India are under pressure, Ganguly in particular, and we've all in all got a very exciting match to look forward to.

Play starts 0430 BST on Saturday, which is 0930 PST

[Maranello]

Good preview ZR, well done.

I really doubt we will go in with four specialist bowlers and thus bat only till no.7. That is just not Woolmer's way, and I would be apprehensive chasing 300 if our tail starts at no8! Much rather have the much-maligned Hafeez instead of either Kaneria or Arshad. Anyway, that's what I hope.

[Zainub]

Glad you liked the preview, I'm thinking on the same lines too M. Not only b/c it strengthens the batting order but because Hafeez is a brilliant feilder, fielding is such an important part of cricket, you simply can't neglect it. I'd bring him in instead of Arshad Khan. But cric info's predicted otherwise. And there predictions in this respect don't go wrong that often. I hope though that this time they are wrong.

But Hafeez have to be content with a place in the batting order somewhere lower. I'd hate to see him play in the top 3. He simply hasn't looked good enough there. I'd personally rather send in Akmal as opener with Butt and stick with Afrifi at the bottom, cause he's more affective in my opinion down there. In that case my team in correct batting order will be

Butt
Akmal
Malik
Inzi
Youhanna
Razzaq
Afridi
Hafeez
Naved-ul-Hasan
Sami
Kaneria

and this team can bat down to number 10, Sami and Rana can very well bat, they're a handful in one-days at least

[Maranello]

Originally Posted by ZR

Sami and Rana can very well bat, they're a handful in one-days at least

Rana yes, Sami I am not sure. He has a very good defensive technique and is a good blocker, not sure if he can take many quick singles and twos and hit out as one needs to at the death.

But in general, I am happy with your revised line-up and your batting order, it would work on sub-continental batting paradises, but will not work in conditions where it is anticipated the bowlers will get some assistance. We do have three "part-time" batsmen in our top seven, but yes, all three of them are very accomplished ODI players in our conditions.

Hafeez's position will perplex Woolmer and Inzi; he is a misfit at no.8 since he cannot slog or score quickly, but then he is a misfit anywhere in this batting order.

Also, why do you prefer Kaneria to Arshad? I am just curious, since I think both can be very expensive in ODIs, in different ways. Kaneria also is an atrocious fielder and thrower.

Incidentally, I wonder how Younis will fit in this side for the second ODI; I presume at the expense of Butt (if he does not perform) or Hafeez. If the latter option, we will go with only five bowlers which is a bit risky, hence I would be tempted to go for the former, and play Malik as the other opener. Anyway, that discussion is for another day, early days yet....

[King Aragorn]

We are certainly favourites to win the ODIs but Pakistan vs India matches are just too unpredictable really. We fought well in the tests and India certainly played far worse cricket than what was expected of them. They will surely be looking to bounce back here. Pakistan certainly should not underestimate their rivals nor get complacent in any way. Anything can happen here. And we must be ready for it.

The team needs to pay attention to these words of wisdom by Inzamam:

"Levelling the Test series does not mean we will win the one-day series."

[Zainub]

Good points KA. In aftermath of the win at Bangalore some people definaetly have got carried away, it's alright calling it one of the more significant ones in our entire cricket history, but wwe mustn't forget that even then, eventually it was only a drawn series, not a series won. No reason to get complacent what so ever.

M, I prefer Danish Kaneria over Arshad Khan because Kaneria seems to have a phycological (spelling?) edge over some of the Indian players. He's proved in the past to be somewhat expensive in one-days but I'm crossing my fingers and hopping for better things this time.

I agree that this week fielding dose not add to his over all credibility as an affective one-day player, but I can't see any reason why he shouldn't be given another chance to improve on his previous standings.

Also, Sami is a very good six hitter (has hit some match winning sixes in his limited overs career, particularly against NZ). Runs like trace bullets in b/w the wickets and as you say has a very good defensive technique.

He's no Abdul Razzaq sure, but a more refined version of Steve Harmison/Simon Jones/Brett Lee/Shoaib Akhtar type players (batting wise I'm saying before anybody gets on my back ) but with a much better defensive technique then the above mentioned players, one that probably compares to that of another very affective late order bat, Dizzy Gellispie, freakish, but affective.

I'm not about to suggest he will make any major impact, but like Balaji (who Shaoib Akhtar will tell you can bat ) he is someone you can rely on to hand around and get a few cheap runs in the end in case you lose quick wickets in the end.

[vvvrulz]

India win the toss and bat.

Looking at the early exchanges.. Tendulkar and Ganguly fall in consecutive balls, both looking like uneccesary shots, however the ship is being steadied and India are at 60/2 in 15 overs.

[Zainub]

Final Score 281-8 Rahul Dravid 104/139 Virendar Sehwag 108/95 Arshad Khan 33/4 in 6 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 38/2 in 8

India recovered superbly after being 4-2 at one stage with a massive 201 run 3rd partnership between Dravid and Sehwag, but Sehwag's dismissal (once again) was followed by an under par show from the rest of the batting line up, Kaif, Yuvraj and Dhoni all failed with the bat as Pakistani spinner Arshad Khan and Mohammad Hafeez boweled excellently at the death to restrict India to just over 280 (could have been 270 odd only had the last over not gone 12 runs) but India will clearly be dissapointed with this total b/c at one stage they looked set to get more than 320.

The next thing you have to say about this match is how hot it is today in Kochi, 45 C and very humid. And its exteremely testing out there for everyone, the players from either side as well as the umpires. People were clearly struggling out there. Rahul Dravid towards the end of his innings just gave up. And Sehwag also got out to a very tired shot. As many as 3 players (Afridi, usually a very fit man, RNH, another good athelete and Abudl Razzaq) from the Pakistan side too suffered from severe cramps. In general people were panting out there. Just atricious conditions these to play cricket in.

I'm really so annoyed by this schedule. We've got to play 6 games in 16 days. The venues are all spread in differents part of India so there's plenty of travelling to do as well. In some of the venues (like Jamshedpur) there's no airport, so first we'll travel by train to transit destination and then take a bus from there to Kochi - ridiculous. Plus most of these venues are located in the really hotter, humid parts of India, more than the heat it is the humidity that is testing for the players and if we get the same kind of weather everytime I can assue you that players will get sick and injuired. Anyone who saw the match today could sew how easy was for it teh players to cramp out and get dehydrated. Surely some of these matches could have been scheduled in one of so many hill stations in northern India, I'm told even Shimla has a good cricket ground.

Back to the cricket, 281 is very good effort by the bowlers from the position we were in, all credit to Arshad Khan and Hafeez, both of whom stuck to their basic very well at the death. We will definately fancy our chances of getting this total. This is a very flat wicket, and previously even 300+ scores have been chased down here. Certainly a very interesting match awaits us.

A good start as always in any cricket match will again impertivie in this situation too, if we make good useof the first 15 overs then we'll be in a very good position indeed. I so badly hope we don't send Afridi into open, having seen how India struggled to finish off their innings, I'm even more convinced that the best place for him to bat is in the middle to late order. I'm not mentioning a specific spot b/c ideally his slot should be floating in the order, we can send him in any time a quick 30/40/50 is needed (anytime after the first 30 overs).

ps: btw these were excellent centuries by Sehwag and Dravid, top nothc performances
pps: another golden duck for Ganguly

[Zainub]

Final Score 281-8
[Runs/Ball] Rahul Dravid 104/139 Virendar Sehwag 108/95
[Runs/Wickets] Arshad Khan 33/4 in 6 Rana Naved-ul-Hasan 38/2 in 8

India recovered superbly after being 4-2 at one stage with a massive 201 run 3rd partnership between Dravid and Sehwag, but Sehwag's dismissal (once again) was followed by an under par show from the rest of the batting line up, Kaif, Yuvraj and Dhoni all failed with the bat as Pakistani spinners Arshad Khan and Mohammad Hafeez boweled excellently at the death to restrict India to just over 280 (could have been 270 odd only had the last over not gone for 12 runs) but India will clearly be dissapointed with this total b/c at one stage they looked set to get more than 320.

The next thing you have to say about this match is how hot it is today in Kochi, 45 C and very humid. And its exteremely testing out there for everyone, the players from either side as well as the umpires. People were clearly struggling out there. Rahul Dravid towards the end of his innings just gave up. And Sehwag also got out to a very tired shot. As many as 3 players (Afridi, usually a very fit man, RNH, another good athelete and Abudl Razzaq) from the Pakistan side too suffered from severe cramps. In general people were panting out there half the time. Just atricious conditions these to play cricket in.

I'm really so annoyed by this schedule. We've got to play 6 games in 16 days. The venues are all spread in differents part of India so there's plenty of travelling to do as well. In some of the venues (like Jamshedpur) there's no airport, so first we'll travel by train to a transit destination and then take a bus from there to Kochi - ridiculous. Plus most of these venues are located in the really hotter, humid parts of India, more than the heat it is the humidity that is testing for the players and if we get the same kind of weather everytime I can assue you that at least some of the players will get sick and injuired. Anyone who saw the match today could see how easily players were cramping out and getting dehydrated. Surely some of these matches could have been scheduled in one of so many hill stations in northern India, I'm told even Shimla has a good cricket ground.

Back to the cricket, 281 is very good effort by the bowlers from the position we were in, all credit to Arshad Khan and Hafeez, both of whom stuck to their basic very well at the death. We will definately fancy our chances of getting this total. This is a very flat wicket, and previously even 300+ scores have been chased down here. Certainly a very interesting match awaits us.

A good start as always in any cricket match will again impertivie in this situation too, if we make good use of the first 15 overs then we'll be in a very good position indeed. I so badly hope we don't send Afridi into open, having seen how India struggled to finish off their innings, I'm even more convinced that the best place for him to bat is in the middle to late order. I'm not mentioning a specific spot b/c ideally his slot should be flexible the order, we can send him in any time a quick 30/40/50 is needed (anytime after the first 30 overs).

ps: btw these were excellent centuries by Sehwag and Dravid, top notch performances in these conditions
pps: another golden duck for Ganguly, right now he must be thinking where his next run is going to come from, he's a brave man I know, but I don't think he's been under more pressure at any other time of his career

[Freddie=GOD]

80,000 people wathcing the match today. Man, that's mind-boggling!

It's sad that the same thing doesn't happen here . Imagine 100,000 people coming to watch cricket in england. We don't even have a single ground to hold even half of that number.

Anyway, Great support shown for cricket today! That's the way to go about it.