World Cup
Everyone is talking about the world cup. I'm a bit ambivalent about it all since I'm not really a big football fan. But, I will be watching the England games when I can ( some of the matches will be in the middle of the night here) and also Shadi and I will be following Iran's progress avidly. I still have very fond memories of watching Iran beat the US in 1998 in Prama's living room in Maida Vale.
One topic of conversation is always whether England can win - of course they can, but it is very unlikely, it seems. I think they'll get to the semis but cop out after that. Let's hope that Becks can show that he is a consistently good football player as opposed to just being some pretty boy with loads of money.
One topic of conversation is always whether England can win - of course they can, but it is very unlikely, it seems. I think they'll get to the semis but cop out after that. Let's hope that Becks can show that he is a consistently good football player as opposed to just being some pretty boy with loads of money.
posted by Akash at 9:16 AM
11 Comments:
well well, a post from akash on football. Are you watching as a neutral or as will you be supporting England?
I always find myself kind of supporting them, but more because i like a few of the players (Steven Gerrard, Wayne Rooney and Beckham to a lesser degree). The rest i don;t have much sympathy with, but the aforementioned 3 are genuinely fantastic footballers, and have their own individual allure.
But if you want to watch attractive football, then look away from England. I could watch all day the Brazilians and Argentinians play, and won;t care if they are playing nice football and beating england to boot.
Sandy, i will be supporting England of course - although I agree that other teams are more attractive to watch.
Of course, will also be supporting Iran but don't reckon they'll get very far.
Why are Inida doing so poorly in the cricket pray tell?
I think the difficulty is that in the past year the decision was made to do away with the most experienced players such as Ganguly and rely on youth - it's not necessarily a bad ploy when things are going well but when things are not ideal the experience is absolutely critical. I think that the absence of Ganguly, Tendulkar and Laxman in the one day series was a huge factor - I also think that Dravid is just not as good as Ganguly in his captaincy and thinking. It's a shame because India should be beating west indies hands down - doesn't look good for next year's world cup.
I'm assuming the aforementioned threesome are injured or unavailable?
argentina would meet england in the quarters - dont reckon england will get through that one - i always support england,but they never seem to look like a side that deserves to win the world cup -
anyway, cannot wait for the tournament to begin - here in holland people are going crazy -
Hey Bobby B,
This is the first of ur post taht I have read in a while.. and I ain't happy!
As far as footie goes, I stand neutral, but the perfect scenario would be England's Euro 2004 opening match... England leading 1-0 till the 91st minute and then losing on a penalty and a gerrard mistake. final score 2-1 to France.
Anyways, as for cricket as I read on one of ur 'reply-post' above. I don't think Dravid is all that bad. Ganguly was really good, no denying that, but Dravid is almost a perfect match.
If you'd only look back at the past couple of one-day series against Pakistan and SL..actually, make it 3 (against England). India thrashed all those teams 'comprehensively'; focus on the word 'comprehensively'. So India is not doing that bad after all. Tho I agree that losing in WI is a bit of a concern, although the manner of losses was noteworthy. But of late, India's test performance has been very off-color; although even Ganguly wasn't able to win any away series!!
However, herein lies the plot. There was a really good coverage on Star-News (am back in Kent now, so loads of Hindi channels) about the Indian team is being moulded into shape considering nothing but the next world cup. 2 main changes are:
Pathan: Apparently, his bowling speed has been reduced from 140 to 120 kph so as to restrict the aggressive scoring in the first 15-20 overs.
H Singh: He has been 'ordered' to bowl a line more suitable to restricting the run rate (again), so, his wicket taking abilities have gone down in the past year.
Who's the culprit??
I would never have guessed: the coach'Greg Chappell'.
So it seems that sole intention is to change player's careers in order to win the world-cup next year, which i think is ethically wrong, but hey, as long as he wins the world cup, everyone will be happy, and then the same story for the next 4 years or so, few more captains and more arguments.
yea, one thing i forgot to mention, Dravid did make a couple of bad calls during the past few series. But that does not and should not imply that Ganguly should be re-instated. In defence of throwing out Ganguly, he was at his worst in batting.
Also, team selection:
I am intrigued by the selector's choices; for the 1st test match, which bowlers should we play:
Sreesanth: 2 tests
VRV Singh: 1 test
M Patel: 1 test
Kumble: 108 tests (~36 years)
I mean they pick up an expierenced spinner, who other than giving them moral help can barely do anything. + I think bhajji would have been better bcos most of the west Indians are left Indians and its more fruitful bowling off-spin at them!!
Sorry for such a long post......
Actually Neeraj, you are wrong about Ganguly not winning a series abroad - Pakistan and Bangladesh come to mind. Also the fact that under Ganguly, India drew with Australia and England both at home. Results under Dravid? Loss to Pakistan away, draw with England at home (compare with Ganguly winning against England at home) and currently drawing the test series against WI which they should be winning 2-0.
I'm sorry but without Ganguly there is a significant lack of killer instinct in the team. Only viru has it - it is also notable that since Yuvraj has definitely taken over from Gangs in the middle order he has become complacent again and is back to his usual one good score out of 10. I find that, apart from Viru and sometimes Dhoni, there is little joy in watching India play anymore. And, just to point out, it was Ganguly who moved Sehwag to open and Ganguly who inserted Dhoni in at number three (after a run of terrible scores in ODIs) against Pakistan where he went on to make 150. Credit should be given to him for encouraging and identifying the talent in others.
sorry I meant to say Zimbabwe as well was a series which India won abroad.
Well, you do have a really good point, but remember while the captain was changed, the coach was changed too; so that might have some effect on the 'killer instinct'.
Anyways, came across this really good article on cricinfo. This article finds out why India is a weak power when it comes to test matches. Its totally worth a read:
http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/columns/content/current/story/250553.html
Whyh all this discussion of a minorty sport? Come on peeps, back to the real stuff.......did anyone watch the argentina serbia game....my god, that was pure joy, and if they carry on playing like that, they'll have my support......
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