go india go , cup jeetlo- what a match- a tie - Page 8

Originally posted by: ankit_34

@sanaya ...well there is no need to say sorry 😊..infact people shud totally respect u for the fact that u support that country which gives u bread butter and respect ..ur love and support for aussies is justified to the core ...😊

superb post ankit...cheeeeeeeeers for todays match😃

more match previews😊

The team called the Rock Stars of cricket announced their arrival at the Chinnaswamy Stadium with the most unusual sound. That of a conch-shell. Not guitar, not drums, but a conch.

It belonged to their bald, body-painted travelling fan, but it sounded significantly sonorous, the ceremonial trumpet that it is meant to be. If Sri Lanka and Pakistan set off the weekend with a heated contest at the Premadasa, the least India against England in Bangalore must do is live up to its billing.

Of being firecracker or pressure cooker at the very least, a big sink. This is, to borrow a dangerous pun, the 2011 World Cup's big-ticket game. So much so that in less than the first two minutes of his press conference, MS Dhoni used the word "important" six times. Much theatre circulated around the game even before even a ball was bowled. It has been moved from Indian cricket's iconic venue, the Eden Gardens, due to organisational blunders. It has been the reason that close to 3000 people lined up at 2am for tickets and, within few hours, a thousand were scattered by the police's five-foot long bamboo batons. It has also brought the biggest contingent of travelling fans to this World Cup. It had better not rain.

When he was done with his ten minutes of answering questions to a roomful of around 120 people, Dhoni walked out onto the outfield carrying his kit like a backpack, as if he were a tourist sauntering down towards the Anil Kumble Circle, past the 11 TV broadcast vans lined up near the ground. He was heading out to inspect the wicket which in India's practice match against Australia did not thrill their batsmen with its ease, but built the case for their bowling balance they were looking for.

It still does not mean that Piyush Chawla will be an automatic pick on Sunday. Or that Harbhajan Singh will open the bowling, like six teams have so far chosen to do with spin in the first week of the World Cup. It will only mean that England will have to prove that they are, as Andrew Strauss believes, an improved batting team against spinners bowling in their very element.

	MS Dhoni is used to deal with the expectations of billions Associated Press Enlarge

India's batsmen moved swiftly on from their stutter in the Bangalore match to a general feeling of well-being after Dhaka and the sight of a remodelled ODI batsman in Virender Sehwag, whose promise to himself of batting for 50 overs - and then maybe even field - is still to be kept. For all that they did against Bangladesh, the Indians will be up against a far better and more organised bowling attack.

The most mouth-watering rivalry in the contest, rather than be batsman versus bowler, might well be between the two lead offspinners, Harbhajan and Graeme Swann. The last time the two teams met at the same venue it rained. The result was decided by Duckworth-Lewis and India took a 4-0 lead in a series that would be truncated three days later by the attacks in Mumbai. Swann was just finding his feet in India and Harbhajan had gone for 42 in four overs.

Since then, cricket, Swann and Harbhajan have travelled a vast distance. Today, Swann is regarded as the world's No. 1 spinner and recently, Harbhajan said that it was Swann's videos that helped him find the rhythm that led to of his best performances in recent years on the tour to South Africa.

Given the drama that has followed this match, if India do feel in a mood to gamble or surprise England maybe they should give Yuvraj Singh's left-arm spin an early go at England's latest ODI opener Kevin Pietersen. Being out to Yuvraj five times (just one less than Harbhajan Singh) could just mean that Pietersen doesn't like pies. But that's no reason not to try and Dhoni once threw him an almost new ball in a Test just to target Pietersen.

After the India net session, there was a meeting between Dhoni, coach Gary Kirsten, physiotherapist Nitin Patel and BCCI secretary N Srinivasan. Rather than discuss the Ashish Nehra injury situation, maybe they were planning the innings-break menu to ensure that it follows the coach's 'eight rules of eating' in his vision document.

They were in the full glare of the hawk-eyed media, whose numbers swell every game. The numbers could well rival those of ticket-seekers outside the Chinnaswamy of whose fate Dhoni said: "It's unfortunate that some of the fans had to go through it. But again when the Indian team don't perform you have to go through a lot of criticism so I feel that it is part and parcel ... Maybe some of them wouldn't have felt so bad because at the end of the day, they want to get tickets. So that's what I want to say."

Part and parcel of an India game will also include the public expectation of a victory. Defeat would affect the confidence on the street far more than that of the team which wears an assurance that appears unquenchable and contains a capacity to absorb shocks. Dhoni described, mostly for overseas journalists to whom it may have been new, what it was like to be India at the World Cup.

"Pressure always comes when you start playing for your country," he said. "First, you want to seal a permanent place and then be consistent. When you are part of the team the pressure follows you like your own shadow." His counterpart, Strauss, offered another option. "I don't think it's the time to take the pressure off. It's a World Cup and we all need to stand up and perform."

One man leads a team who is trailed by billions, the other captains a side that has just erased the misery of a quarter-century in Australia. It had better not rain.

Originally posted by: ankit_34

@ bobby ..i dont know ..what r ur plans and what r u planning i dont find any reason to post a racist based attack or things like that in a worldcup thread r u such a narrow minded person ..that u cant understand a difference between a game of cricket and war ..dude we r not in war with aussies its just a game ...and games brings us together ..its really disgusting for u to motivate real happening on a very respectful site ...and abt NRIs whom u think have forgotten their culture ..and they shud not support the country they staying dude u shud watch patiala house that movie is made for people like u ..birth place is not important its abt where u stay ..if u have any knowledge of mahabharat ..u will realise ..ki karna was born from kunti ..yet he always considered radha ..as his mom and was named as radhay ...kyunki she was the 1 responsible for his upbringing ....same happened with lord krishna ..he wasborn to kunti but even considered yashoda as his mom ...infact nri ..who support the country in which they stay r the kind of persons to b respected ..cause they know the value of their true land ..which sadly isnt india dude ......m sorry ..but that kind of video is really disturbing 1

Originally posted by: intruderfast

i never expected this😡 the fight is continuing again
bobby i ask u to remove that video otherwise it will lead to unnecessary fights.
i am very sorry bobby , i hope u understand
for others pls stop giving explanation as to who is right and and who is wrong,
everyone has their own opinions but this is not the place to give it.