Munaf emerging as thinking bowler like McGrath
Ricky Ponting
It will be a virtual semifinal tomorrow, when we take on the Indians at the Kinrara Oval. I feel confident that if we play to our potential, we will be in the final, but we are not changing our plans for this tournament because we are using it to give all our core players some match fitness.
It might interest readers to know that we had chosen our eleven for each of these games before the tournament started, and we will not be changing the team that had been picked for Friday’s game. Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken and Dan Cullen will not be playing tomorrow, while Glenn (Mc-Grath) will be coming back to have another go at Sachin Tendulkar & co!
Brian Lara will be buoyed by his team’s success so far, but I still think they were lucky in the shortened game against India. The team still depends too much on Chris Gayle and Lara, and this was evident on Wednesday, when Lara shuffled the batting order against India. Gayle has had great success in the tournament so far, and his firing at the top of the order is absolutely essential for his team’s success. They also need to overcome their unhappy tendency of losing wickets in bunches if they are to be consistent. Panic had set in even in their last match against us, and a few more runs in the kitty would have made a big difference.
On the other hand, the poor batting form of some of India’s stars must be Rahul Dravid’s main worry. He has not scored too many himself, and Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni have not fired either. However, as I said at my press conference, this might not work to our advantage, because all these players have too much class to keep failing.
In the bowling department, we have been particularly impressed by Munaf Patel, who seems to be emerging as a thinking bowler, along the lines of Glenn. RP Singh also looked promising and it will be interesting to see how he shapes up when he gets physically stronger.
We have been using this tournament to get back to cricket after our long off-season. This is why some of our guys are looking a little rusty. Stuart Clarke was all over the place during the game against the West Indies, but that is because he was bowling in a match situation after more than six months. It’s also been a return to cricket for Glenn and he has been splendid so far. We needed to get a few more overs at the nets from him which is why he did not play the last game. He will be back on Friday, and is gaining confidence with every game.
Ricky Ponting
It will be a virtual semifinal tomorrow, when we take on the Indians at the Kinrara Oval. I feel confident that if we play to our potential, we will be in the final, but we are not changing our plans for this tournament because we are using it to give all our core players some match fitness.
It might interest readers to know that we had chosen our eleven for each of these games before the tournament started, and we will not be changing the team that had been picked for Friday’s game. Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Nathan Bracken and Dan Cullen will not be playing tomorrow, while Glenn (Mc-Grath) will be coming back to have another go at Sachin Tendulkar & co!
Brian Lara will be buoyed by his team’s success so far, but I still think they were lucky in the shortened game against India. The team still depends too much on Chris Gayle and Lara, and this was evident on Wednesday, when Lara shuffled the batting order against India. Gayle has had great success in the tournament so far, and his firing at the top of the order is absolutely essential for his team’s success. They also need to overcome their unhappy tendency of losing wickets in bunches if they are to be consistent. Panic had set in even in their last match against us, and a few more runs in the kitty would have made a big difference.
On the other hand, the poor batting form of some of India’s stars must be Rahul Dravid’s main worry. He has not scored too many himself, and Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni have not fired either. However, as I said at my press conference, this might not work to our advantage, because all these players have too much class to keep failing.
In the bowling department, we have been particularly impressed by Munaf Patel, who seems to be emerging as a thinking bowler, along the lines of Glenn. RP Singh also looked promising and it will be interesting to see how he shapes up when he gets physically stronger.
We have been using this tournament to get back to cricket after our long off-season. This is why some of our guys are looking a little rusty. Stuart Clarke was all over the place during the game against the West Indies, but that is because he was bowling in a match situation after more than six months. It’s also been a return to cricket for Glenn and he has been splendid so far. We needed to get a few more overs at the nets from him which is why he did not play the last game. He will be back on Friday, and is gaining confidence with every game.
