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Review your WC team

karan316

State Vice-Captain
Review the performance of your team in this WC, or any other team that you have followed.
Who are the players that surprised you by their performance? Team combinations that were right/wrong? Key players that missed out playing on WC or anything else that you would like to talk about.
 

OverratedSanity

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Rohit: Mediocre. Didn't deliver against the top teams and played a few really bad shots (eg: vs Pakistan) but gets big points for winning us the QF vs Bangladesh. Bonus point for the no-ball that wasn't. 5/10

Dhawan: Made most of us taste it tbh. Expected him to be a liability. Turned out to be our best batsman 8/10

Kohli: Vital hundred vs Pakistan and kept getting 30s and 40s but didn't convert enough. Flopped in the knockouts. 6/10

Rahane: Awesome knock vs SA, not much else. Will come good soon, surely and become an awesome ODI batsman, just needs to understand his role better. 4/10

Raina: Several excellent contributions. Second WC now where he's delivered the goods at important moments. 7/10

MS Dhoni: Couple of good knocks, captaincy was fine, especially in the Pak run chase where he completely stifled the batsmen. Shame about the semi, but still got an unfair amount of stick. 6/10

Jadeja: Definite weak link in the lineup. Didn't get much of an opportunity with the bat, but his bowling was mostly flat and useless. 3/10

Ashwin: Not bad at all. His batting seems to have taken a bit of a nosedive recently, even though he was never that good at ODIs anyway. But bowling wise, did a fine job in the middle overs. 7/10

Shami: So frustrating, this guy. Looking at him, I shake my head at why he can't replicate this stuff in tests. Tight lines, decent pace, can use the bouncer well. Better than Southee 8/10

Yadav: Just like Shami tbh. Needs to put a lot more back into his bouncers but was pretty damn good all tournament. 7/10

Mohit Sharma: Again, pretty good. Will never be a test prospect but does his job in ODIs and regularly gets wickets. Very useful bowler in the format. 7/10

So, all in all, no real standouts at all, and so, a Semifinal finish was an excellent team effort. Most of the matches had 3-4 players chipping in instead of it being a one man show.
 

karan316

State Vice-Captain
I always felt that there was no chance for SA to win the tournament, the basic problem with SA was that they didn't have a 5th bowler and they were unsure about their bowling lineup till the end. You don't want to see AB de Villiers and Duminy trying to fill in for the 5th bowler's slot, that's just too easy for the opponents(unless you are SL:laugh:).

And talking about the top 4 bowlers,

Morkel and Tahir are key bowlers, they are effective and dependable in most situations.

Steyn is hit or miss in shorter formats, he is extremely overrated, Steyn needs to find a way to bowl effectively at the death, and also in conditions where there's no swing on offer.

And SA has better LO bowlers in their domestic system, Philander is not good enough in conditions that don't suit his style of bowling, he is very one dimensional.

If it was an SA vs Aus final, their bowling lineup would have been complete exposed.

Overall SA can become a stronger side if they take a few bold steps and try a couple of new bowlers/allrounders. And their batting line-up is the best in ODIs. They have the potential to post massive scores in any condition.
 
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marc71178

Eyes not spreadsheets
Is SA's batting line up really the best in ODIs? Yes it has 2 massive players in it, but after that there's a huge drop off.
 

Shady Slim

International Coach
du plessis as well as de kock are pretty good when on, and duminy as well as miller can go too
 

Xuhaib

International Coach
Batting was a big issue and held us back. Misbah aside who was a solid 8/10 no one was good enough for even a 5/10. Bowling despite the injuries and the bans did well and kept us competitive.Wahab 9/10 was our player of the tournament and had that catch of Watson been taken he may have been on course of one of the best odi bowling performances in recent times. Rahat, Irfan and Sohail also delivered well in patches.

Wahab 9/10, Sarfraz 8/10 and Misbah 8/10 were our best performers while Akmal 3/10, Sohaib 3/10 and Afridi 2/10 were the biggest disappointments. Nasir Jamshed was the worst player of the cup including associates.
 

Gnske

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Finch - Only scored a century against a minnow nation and struggled ridiculously the rest of time. His other score of 80 whilst terrible was necessary. 5/10
Warner - See above except he actually didn't look bad like Finch, just still struggling to find the right ODI groove. 6/10
Smith - How do you rate a demi-god? 9/10.
Watson - Looked awful the entire time, bullied relentlessly by everyone. Should have been out 13 times against Wahab. 3/10
Clarke - One good building knock, one terrible **** shot and a nice downhill ski innings for his swansong, captaincy was good as ever. 7.5/10
Maxwell - Batswell, bowlswell, Fieldswell, playswell. Batting takes games completely away, good fielding too. 8/10
Faulkner - Plenty of wickets, not too much batting but where Starc put New Zealand in the coffin, Faulkner sealed it shut. 7.5/10
Marsh - Didn't do too much apart from get a meme 5 wicket haul. 5/10
Haddin - Keeping was superb as usual, as was his ability to be utterly unlikable. Only good knock was in-vain. 7/10
Bailey - God tier drinks carrier and did well in only knock. 5/10
Doherty - 0/10
Johnson - Quiet support act, clearly blunted a bit but did his job well enough. 7/10
Starc - The god of wickets, looked beyond unplayable. The last bowler in the world you want want to face up to right now. 10/10
Cummins - Terrible throughout, most over-hyped bowler since Shaun Tait and shouldn't have been in the squad at all. 2/10
Hazlewood - Excellent controlled bowling in latter WC, would say he earned his wickets more than took them. 7/10
 

karan316

State Vice-Captain
Batting was a big issue and held us back. Misbah aside who was a solid 8/10 no one was good enough for even a 5/10. Bowling despite the injuries and the bans did well and kept us competitive.Wahab 9/10 was our player of the tournament and had that catch of Watson been taken he may have been on course of one of the best odi bowling performances in recent times. Rahat, Irfan and Sohail also delivered well in patches.

Wahab 9/10, Sarfraz 8/10 and Misbah 8/10 were our best performers while Akmal 3/10, Sohaib 3/10 and Afridi 2/10 were the biggest disappointments. Nasir Jamshed was the worst player of the cup including associates.
I think Pakistan had made some pretty poor selection errors,

Fawad Alam and Shoaib Malik in the middle order would have made their batting line-up a lot stronger.

Fawad Alam's non-selection was baffling considering the way he had performed with the bat after his comeback, looked like a very matured player.

Shoaib Malik looked decent in the BBL, he knew the conditions well and looked in good touch. Don't think he should have been ignored.

And yes, I love to watch Nasir Jamshed bat when he is in good flow, but he looked so out of touch, and his fielding makes it impossible to select him for games in Australia. He needs to iron out the flaws in his batting, he has tremendous potential and I feel he will prove his critics wrong sooner or later.

Sohail Khan was a pretty average pick. Yes he had taken a 5fer against India, but overall he lacked that X-factor that the Pakistani pace bowlers have. He could bowl a few overs with the new ball, but was pretty useless after that.

Umar Gul missing out was also a bit shocking to me. Not sure if he was in bad form in domestic cricket. But his experience could have been handy in the given conditions.
 
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karan316

State Vice-Captain
Jadeja: Definite weak link in the lineup. Didn't get much of an opportunity with the bat, but his bowling was mostly flat and useless. 3/10
If the Indian team wanted to strengthen their bowling in the middle overs - Axar Patel would have been a better option. He could have batted at number 8 after Ashwin, but Indian bowling in the middle overs would have been so strong. Patel’s support at the other end would also have allowed Ashwin to pick more wickets, most teams were happy playing out Ashwin as India didn't have someone who can put the same pressure from the other end. Patel and Ashwin would have been a great combination in the middle orders, the batsmen would have taken more risks against him and Ashwin.

We had the conditions in our favour at the SCG, the ball was turning a bit and the size of the ground allowed spinners to attack. But Jadeja bowled a flat trajectory with little turn. He needed to step up in the semi final when our pace bowlers were not doing well, but he failed miserably.

If India the Indian team wanted to strengthen their lower order batting - Yuvraj Singh at number 7 would have been great. Its not his regular spot but he could have done a better job than Jadeja. And he and Raina would have bowled 10 overs between them.

Selection of Jadeja was actually more of MSD trying to be fair on him than anything else. He was always in the mix before the WC, not picking him at the last moment would have been slightly harsh. But there was no doubt that Jadeja was going to be the weak link right from the start.

I think MSD has shown a lot of faith in Jaddu, but there has hardly been any improvement in his bowling. Ashwin has grown with experience, he is still working on certain aspects of the game, but Jadeja is pretty average despite of so many opportunities. I won't be surprised if Axar Patel replaces him in the next couple of years.
 
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karan316

State Vice-Captain
Is SA's batting line up really the best in ODIs? Yes it has 2 massive players in it, but after that there's a huge drop off.
Amla, Du Plessis, De Villers, Millers and Duminy are all match winners.

Others like Rilee Rossouw and de Kock are also pretty good.

I think SA is one of those teams that can pile up huge scores on a regular basis. They need a better bowling lineup to support their batting.

Just take a look at this game,

29th Match, Pool B: Pakistan v South Africa at Auckland, Mar 7, 2015 | Cricket Scorecard | ESPN Cricinfo

I think think the pitch had help for the pace bowlers, SA pace bowlers did an excellent job, but take a look at the overs bowled by Duminy and de Villiers(for the 5th bowler's slot), they conceded some easy runs and that proved to be the game. A better 5th bowler would have made it so much better for SA. And SA didn't crumble under pressure, the pitch was offering a bit of help to the bowlers, batting was always going to be difficult. It was just that they conceded some easy runs which Pak didn't.
 
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Debris

International 12th Man
Finch - Only scored a century against a minnow nation and struggled ridiculously the rest of time. His other score of 80 whilst terrible was necessary. 5/10
Warner - See above except he actually didn't look bad like Finch, just still struggling to find the right ODI groove. 6/10
Smith - How do you rate a demi-god? 9/10.
Watson - Looked awful the entire time, bullied relentlessly by everyone. Should have been out 13 times against Wahab. 3/10
Clarke - One good building knock, one terrible **** shot and a nice downhill ski innings for his swansong, captaincy was good as ever. 7.5/10
Maxwell - Batswell, bowlswell, Fieldswell, playswell. Batting takes games completely away, good fielding too. 8/10
Faulkner - Plenty of wickets, not too much batting but where Starc put New Zealand in the coffin, Faulkner sealed it shut. 7.5/10
Marsh - Didn't do too much apart from get a meme 5 wicket haul. 5/10
Haddin - Keeping was superb as usual, as was his ability to be utterly unlikable. Only good knock was in-vain. 7/10
Bailey - God tier drinks carrier and did well in only knock. 5/10
Doherty - 0/10
Johnson - Quiet support act, clearly blunted a bit but did his job well enough. 7/10
Starc - The god of wickets, looked beyond unplayable. The last bowler in the world you want want to face up to right now. 10/10
Cummins - Terrible throughout, most over-hyped bowler since Shaun Tait and shouldn't have been in the squad at all. 2/10
Hazlewood - Excellent controlled bowling in latter WC, would say he earned his wickets more than took them. 7/10
Doherty rated too high but rest is about right.
 

G.I.Joe

International Coach
If the Indian team wanted to strengthen their bowling in the middle overs - Axar Patel would have been a better option. He could have batted at number 8 after Ashwin, but Indian bowling in the middle overs would have been so strong. Patel’s support at the other end would also have allowed Ashwin to pick more wickets, most teams were happy playing out Ashwin as India didn't have someone who can put the same pressure from the other end. Patel and Ashwin would have been a great combination in the middle orders, the batsmen would have taken more risks against him and Ashwin.

We had the conditions in our favour at the SCG, the ball was turning a bit and the size of the ground allowed spinners to attack. But Jadeja bowled a flat trajectory with little turn. He needed to step up in the semi final when our pace bowlers were not doing well, but he failed miserably.

If India the Indian team wanted to strengthen their lower order batting - Yuvraj Singh at number 7 would have been great. Its not his regular spot but he could have done a better job than Jadeja. And he and Raina would have bowled 10 overs between them.

Selection of Jadeja was actually more of MSD trying to be fair on him than anything else. He was always in the mix before the WC, not picking him at the last moment would have been slightly harsh. But there was no doubt that Jadeja was going to be the weak link right from the start.

I think MSD has shown a lot of faith in Jaddu, but there has hardly been any improvement in his bowling. Ashwin has grown with experience, he is still working on certain aspects of the game, but Jadeja is pretty average despite of so many opportunities. I won't be surprised if Axar Patel replaces him in the next couple of years.
In hindsight, I'd say that Yuvraj would have offered more than Jadeja. There's the big question of his form though.
 

nightprowler10

Global Moderator
Batting was a big issue and held us back. Misbah aside who was a solid 8/10 no one was good enough for even a 5/10. Bowling despite the injuries and the bans did well and kept us competitive.Wahab 9/10 was our player of the tournament and had that catch of Watson been taken he may have been on course of one of the best odi bowling performances in recent times. Rahat, Irfan and Sohail also delivered well in patches.

Wahab 9/10, Sarfraz 8/10 and Misbah 8/10 were our best performers while Akmal 3/10, Sohaib 3/10 and Afridi 2/10 were the biggest disappointments. Nasir Jamshed was the worst player of the cup including associates.
Tough to disagree with any of it, though I'd add that Wahab's spell is a classic regardless.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Nah that rating for Watson is ridiculous. His innings against Pakistan was ugly and lucky, but it was also probably the most important knock he's ever played (certainly in ODIs)
 

Gnske

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
I was being half sarcastic during that rating tbh to get on the epic Watson hate train. He had a 4.5/5.5 out of 10 tournament in reality.

One patchy, lucky, important innings ≠ Good tournament overall though.
 
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dfrinku

U19 Debutant
Warner doesn't really deserve that high a rating either. He scored more than half of his runs against Afghanistan and didn't get past 50 in any other match. His closest was against NZ in the final chasing 180. Had a pretty terrible tournament, really. Looked explosive, played the McCullum role but didn't actually ever play a McCullum innings. 4/10
 

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