Indian team dominated in 2008 and 2009. That was peak of indian cricket. After NZ tour Indian team faced fitness issues and never came as a full strength side. But this world cup gave the opportunity to all players to play together once again. Result, India won the WC.
i support dhoni on this one, bcz had he returned the compliments to afridi he would have looked like a joker especially after afridis ranting back home about all indians (he means hindus). U S*B pakistanis do not deserve any compliments. as far as sanagakara goes, this cheat got what he deserved for cheating at the wc final toss. so dhoni should have no regrets abt anything except for not fielding an inform alrounder like ashwin who would have made india's job much easier. anyways, we won and thats what is important.
The subject of the article mentions about Indian Cricket Performance Peaking... but highlights some trivial issues on captain's speech not elaborating on opponents' performance. Its easy to be critical and take a contrarian & pessimistic view of a situation. Each of the Points stated is debatable (while the author points out India probably has no one after Sachin/Dravid/laxman quit - I would say yes these are greats... but still India's recent resurgence in cricket has been largely because of consistence in performance of youngsters like virat kohli, gambhir, yuvraj, raina - and more such others who are raring to come up and hold India in good stead). Really, I would like to see an interview after 2 years with the same author (the maximum term where he feels India will be top in cricket).
I was really surprised that this aspect of Dhoni' nonchalant attitude towards the opposition was completely missed out by everyone in the media but it took one of our finest policy makers to point it out. I remember in 1992 when Pakistan won the World Cup, Imran despite his extreme narcissism offered his commiserations to the vanquished captain. All those greats in the various studios would have noticed it but preferred to keep quiet thanks to the money on offer. Somehow this has to an extent diminished Dhoni' stature as a great person & captain. Sport is not war nor can you always win so one is expected to be gracious to one's opponent in victory or defeat. Even the obnoxious Ponting had good things to say about India but not Dhoni about Ponting/Afridi/Sanga or Australia/Pakistan/Sri Lanka. The true measure of a man is the way he treats his opponents in victory.
Re: Being Gracious
by jaapaal maatre on Apr 15, 2011 01:37 PM
i support dhoni on this one, bcz had he returned the compliments to afridi he would have looked like a joker especially after afridis ranting back home about all indians (he means hindus). U S*B pakistanis do not deserve any compliments. as far as sanagakara goes, this cheat got what he deserved for cheating at the wc final toss. so dhoni should have no regrets abt anything except for not fielding an inform alrounder like ashwin who would have made india's job much easier. anyways, we won and thats what is important.
Re: Being Gracious
by Jagan on Apr 15, 2011 02:15 PM
Do these losing captains(Sanga/Ponting/Afridi) really deserve this? Everybody forgot the sportsmenship displayed by these people few years back: 1. Ponting : When Australia won a trophy in India and Sharad pawar presented it, in celebration mood Ponting and Martyn pushed Pawar aside to celebrate without thinking that he is a chief guest. 2. Sanga : This fellow few months back, when Sehwag was on 99 and India needing 1 run to victory, prompted Randhiv to bowl a no ball. And also everybody knows what happend during the toss in 2011 WC final in Mumbai. Where the sportmanship gone? 3. Afridi: No need to talk about pakistanis. After loosing in semifinals, in the press conf in india he praised india and when he went back to pakistan, he started abusing indian media and Gambhir.
So hence pl stop talking negative about Indian. They have achieved a remarkable feat. Lets celebrate. If India had not won the WC, these people would have said something else negatively. Hence pl be positive and hail the achievement.
Re: Being Gracious
by Jagan on Apr 15, 2011 02:12 PM
Do these losing captains(Sanga/Ponting/Afridi) really deserve this? Everybody forgot the sportsmenship displayed by these people few years back: 1. Ponting : When Australia won a trophy in India and Sharad pawar presented it, in celebration mood Ponting and Martyn pushed Pawar aside to celebrate without thinking that he is a chief guest. 2. Sanga : This fellow few months back, when Sehwag was on 99 and India needing 1 run to victory, prompted Randhiv to bowl a no ball. And also everybody knows what happend during the toss in 2011 WC final in Mumbai. Where the sportmanship gone? 3. Afridi: No need to talk about pakistanis. After loosing in semifinals, in the press conf in india he praised india and when he went back to pakistan, he started abusing indian media and Gambhir.
So hence pl stop talking negative about Indian. They have achieved a remarkable feat. Lets celebrate. If India had not won the WC, these people would have said something else negatively. Hence pl be positive and hail the achievement.
Batting is OK. But we need to get international standard fast bowlers (1-2) and get a replacemnt for Anil Kumble becasue Harbhajan is not reliable some times. Then only team can be really on top.
Why these people all the time think negative is not understood.They always look to find the fualts and not the advantages.Previsouly there was gavaskar, then tendulkar, They have not given thought about the hidden talent. Many more players can emerge as talented and to the advantage of India. Let us do not talk and worry more about what will be the future of Indian cricket. Do not worry every thing will be OK. Columnist are getting paid for these useless fortune telling columns.
I do not agree with the views of author, we should not doubt on the abilities and characters of our bench-strength. India has a great talent pool and IPL is indirectly increasing our bench strength. Even in this world cup we had Virat, Raina, Munaf and Ashwin who showed character in last IPLs and gained selecters faith.
There is no contest between bat & ball - any mediocre batsmen can score runs. Reason being, flat placid wickets across the globe, power play rules in ODI's and lack of quality bowlers. Standard will still decline if proper sporting wickets are not made, making this wonderful game look very ordinary.
