The T20 Winners – Gangnam Dancers
I wanted the West Indies to win and fancied their chances better ,once they got through the Super Eight.
Plenty of reasons as to why I wanted them to win :
Ever since they got knocked out of the Pedestal in 1983, by Kapil’s Devils , they have been on a decline. A team that had fearsome batsmen ( Greenidge, Haynes , Gomes, Sir Vic Lloyd and … ) and bowlers ( Roberts, Holding , Garner Croft .. ) who could get you out even before they bowled a ball was lost its dominance over World cricket overtime. A blip in 2004 when they won the ICC Championship under Brian Lara was the solitary silverware . It was time that they got to the Pedestal
I thought they had one of the best teams for this T20 type of Cricket. They had batsmen who could hammer the ball out of the park with ease and not all batters need to click in each game . It was enough even if one of them went for the leather as the number of overs is restricted. On the bowling side, this is funny. West Indies were known for their Pace battery and now look at what they had. They had a Badree , a Leg spinner opening the attack and they kept out their fast bowlers out of the playing Eleven ( Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach on the bench ). They had a mystery spinner as well… and they rode on these two spinners and with part time spinners to lift the cup. Their fielding – catching was fantastic. We all know they can do all of this act together on one day and give it up the next day. But for a change , they held their act together for the semis and finals. Chris Gayle was emphatic that they will win the Cup . he was sorry for the Lankans even before the match !
They had to win just for the way they celebrated the win. It was fantastic to watch the team do what they did after the victory. No other team could have done this. Excitement , happiness , relief and the Gangnam dance was a treat to all eyes.
On the match itself -- Marlon Samuels assault on Malinga was one of the best , counter attacks , I have seen in T20 cricket. The best Death Bowler in the game was taken to the Cleaners and that was the single turning point for the match to go in favor of the Windies. West Indies scored more than 100 runs in the last ten overs and more from the last seven overs. At one point , I was wondering if they will end up the same way as they did in the Super Eight match against the Lankans but not to be. With Gayle gone , Samuels went berserk and it was a stroke of luck that Lankans got him out. The final score was not threatening but chasing it and in a Title match, was too hot for the Lankans. Srilankans seem to be becoming Chokers in the Finals ! Darren Sammy not only bowled intelligently but rotated his bowlers smartly and kept the pressure on. Rampaul bowled the delivery of his life to get rid of Dilshan and that set the tempo for the poor Srilankan chase. At no point they looked like winning and by the end of the West Indian innings had settled for the runner up spot.
Earlier in the Semis , WI took the wind out of the Aussies.. Everyone of their batters clicked and Aussies were left to chase over ten an over and that is difficult target for any team . WI ended up winning easily.
The second Semis between Pakis and SL was a tense affair – SL won because they batted first and chasing in a pressure scenario is never easy and you can expect Pakis to crumble and they did.
On India , I found the team lacking the motivation to win the Title. Dhoni said in his post-match interview after being knocked out on Net Run rate, that they could not set a target against South Africa which they had to win on a better net run rate and pip Pakis to qualify for the Semis. I found no Indian batsmen in hurry to put up a score and it was casual effort. Ended up in putting up a score that would not challenge or put SA batters in a pressure situation. And , when SA batted, they allowed them to score runs freely. India, although won at the death by a run , it was not good to progress them in the tournament. On the other hand, Pakis played with passion and aggression in their match against Aussies to ensure they kept their chances alive and put the pressure right back on India. India succumbed to the pressure. May be Dhoni and his men thought winning the league match against Pakis was like winning the Title !
.Krish Srikkanth’s term as Chairman of the Selectors for the Indian team comes to an end as the T20 tournament closed out. I thought the selectors had done a decent job under his Chairmanship. Getting to No 1 ranked team in the world , winning the one day World Cup Title in 2011 were key highlights.. yes there were losses in Australia and England ( read thrashing ). But to hold to the Chairman’s position for the full term is not easy and we have to laud Kris Srikkanth for that .. Well done.
The new committee has the task to take bold decisions. Bowling is a big worry. It will be interesting to see how Sandeep Patil and Company take the team forward. The selection committee has terrific members who have all played the game well at the Domestic level and can be relied upon to build a stronger team for the future.
Plenty of reasons as to why I wanted them to win :
Ever since they got knocked out of the Pedestal in 1983, by Kapil’s Devils , they have been on a decline. A team that had fearsome batsmen ( Greenidge, Haynes , Gomes, Sir Vic Lloyd and … ) and bowlers ( Roberts, Holding , Garner Croft .. ) who could get you out even before they bowled a ball was lost its dominance over World cricket overtime. A blip in 2004 when they won the ICC Championship under Brian Lara was the solitary silverware . It was time that they got to the Pedestal
I thought they had one of the best teams for this T20 type of Cricket. They had batsmen who could hammer the ball out of the park with ease and not all batters need to click in each game . It was enough even if one of them went for the leather as the number of overs is restricted. On the bowling side, this is funny. West Indies were known for their Pace battery and now look at what they had. They had a Badree , a Leg spinner opening the attack and they kept out their fast bowlers out of the playing Eleven ( Fidel Edwards and Kemar Roach on the bench ). They had a mystery spinner as well… and they rode on these two spinners and with part time spinners to lift the cup. Their fielding – catching was fantastic. We all know they can do all of this act together on one day and give it up the next day. But for a change , they held their act together for the semis and finals. Chris Gayle was emphatic that they will win the Cup . he was sorry for the Lankans even before the match !
They had to win just for the way they celebrated the win. It was fantastic to watch the team do what they did after the victory. No other team could have done this. Excitement , happiness , relief and the Gangnam dance was a treat to all eyes.
On the match itself -- Marlon Samuels assault on Malinga was one of the best , counter attacks , I have seen in T20 cricket. The best Death Bowler in the game was taken to the Cleaners and that was the single turning point for the match to go in favor of the Windies. West Indies scored more than 100 runs in the last ten overs and more from the last seven overs. At one point , I was wondering if they will end up the same way as they did in the Super Eight match against the Lankans but not to be. With Gayle gone , Samuels went berserk and it was a stroke of luck that Lankans got him out. The final score was not threatening but chasing it and in a Title match, was too hot for the Lankans. Srilankans seem to be becoming Chokers in the Finals ! Darren Sammy not only bowled intelligently but rotated his bowlers smartly and kept the pressure on. Rampaul bowled the delivery of his life to get rid of Dilshan and that set the tempo for the poor Srilankan chase. At no point they looked like winning and by the end of the West Indian innings had settled for the runner up spot.
Earlier in the Semis , WI took the wind out of the Aussies.. Everyone of their batters clicked and Aussies were left to chase over ten an over and that is difficult target for any team . WI ended up winning easily.
The second Semis between Pakis and SL was a tense affair – SL won because they batted first and chasing in a pressure scenario is never easy and you can expect Pakis to crumble and they did.
On India , I found the team lacking the motivation to win the Title. Dhoni said in his post-match interview after being knocked out on Net Run rate, that they could not set a target against South Africa which they had to win on a better net run rate and pip Pakis to qualify for the Semis. I found no Indian batsmen in hurry to put up a score and it was casual effort. Ended up in putting up a score that would not challenge or put SA batters in a pressure situation. And , when SA batted, they allowed them to score runs freely. India, although won at the death by a run , it was not good to progress them in the tournament. On the other hand, Pakis played with passion and aggression in their match against Aussies to ensure they kept their chances alive and put the pressure right back on India. India succumbed to the pressure. May be Dhoni and his men thought winning the league match against Pakis was like winning the Title !
.Krish Srikkanth’s term as Chairman of the Selectors for the Indian team comes to an end as the T20 tournament closed out. I thought the selectors had done a decent job under his Chairmanship. Getting to No 1 ranked team in the world , winning the one day World Cup Title in 2011 were key highlights.. yes there were losses in Australia and England ( read thrashing ). But to hold to the Chairman’s position for the full term is not easy and we have to laud Kris Srikkanth for that .. Well done.
The new committee has the task to take bold decisions. Bowling is a big worry. It will be interesting to see how Sandeep Patil and Company take the team forward. The selection committee has terrific members who have all played the game well at the Domestic level and can be relied upon to build a stronger team for the future.
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