Week 8 - Match 2 - Chennai Super Kings vs Delhi Daredevils

Welcome to the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, home of the Chennai Super Kings.

Pitch Conditions: A very good if a bit slow batting pitch, the pitch will become even slower as the match goes on with the spinners and bowlers who can take pace off the ball becoming more and more vital.

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Please post tactics below...

Brilliant...

Imperative to bat first here I feel, Chennai's spinners may not be as effective bowling first, and bowling young master Arafat at the end of a match is always a bonus.

Decisions decisions.

Oooh tasty.

Messrs Mendis Ajmal Afridi and Ashwin might see some action here.

I honestly don't know what side to pick for this.

Not really, my strength these pitches.

lol saint, if you had this side in the EPL, you would probably win the competition, on seaming pitches would be nightmare against your bowling attack

Saint
surely Price to come back in mate?

Fists
This is not a raging turner just a slow pitch.Dont think you should play all of them.The pitch is very similar to what it was last week against me.

fists, maybe drop one of the spinners and squeeze albie morkel into the side.

Shanks, without doubt Price will play, it's just who else to play, bearing in mind you can't name the same squad.

So far, it's looking like:

McDonald
Price
Arafat
Pathan

Which would make up 16 overs of my allotment, although looking at Chennais batting order, I'm unsure if it would be penetrative enough.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:Saint
surely Price to come back in mate?

Fists
This is not a raging turner just a slow pitch.Dont think you should play all of them.The pitch is very similar to what it was last week against me.

I know, but on a slow pitch they're incredibly good.

Probably going to play 3 spinners and 2 seamers (Southee/Theron and Bravo/Morkel).

Provisional XI:

Vijay
Mike Hussey
Badrinath
Raina
Dhoni
Albie Morkel
Shahid Afridi
Ashwin
Sharma
Theron
Saeed Ajmal

On a slow pitch,i would rather play Bravo than Morkel.

May still do, that's only provisional.

Bravo has played the last few games for me on the slower pitches and seems to have done ok. He does have some good variation in his bowling.

Saint
i would pick Morkel.He can get bounce even on a slow pitch and is more likely to trouble Raina and co than someone like McDonald even on a slow pitch.

Currently sitting on the biggest tactical decision I've made so far in the tournament. Could be a biggy!

Raina's quite a weird batsman, isn't he?

In the shorter format he doesn't seem troubled by the short ball and simply baseball bats it into the stands, yet when he is confronted with the same situation in a Test match he goes into a shell, doesn't play that big 'get out of jail' shot and ends up getting himself in to a right tangle.

He showed against the England bowlers in the T20's and ODI's that short pitched bowling doesn't have much the same effect on him as it does in the longer format.

Maybe he just needs to express himself more in Test and back himself to play those shots, if he really doesn't have any other means of dealing with the short ball.

thats because its on a flat indian wickets which hardly bounces.

But why should he even be picked for the Tests in the first place?

He did it in England too though, CF.

In the T20's and ODI's he was peppering the short balls into the stands. That's why it surprised me.

Obviously on Indian pitches a short ball isn't a problem for him, he can just rock back and bludgeon it.

shankythebiggestengfan wrote:But why should he even be picked for the Tests in the first place?

He is obviously a very fine player, but on his performance in England it is probably time to drop him while he works on a few things.

he is awful against the short ball in the main form of the game, and to be honest i dont actually rate him that much.

i would much rather have Rohit, Kohli etc in side

Probably amongst the top 5 ODI/T20 players in the world, but his technique does have some failings in Test matches, which he needs to work on as a matter of urgency.

Its apparent when you see him bat that he is a slogger.Just look at some of the shots that he plays.Even the sixes that he hits are ugly.He looks to smash the cover off the ball and doesnt look to time the ball and play with soft handsThe only reason he scores runs in the shorter formats is the shorter boundaries(dont forget this) and his physical power rather than true cricketing skills such as timing and placement.He is as much a Test batsman as Kieron Pollard.

Fists of Fury wrote:Probably amongst the top 5 ODI/T20 players in the world, but his technique does have some failings in Test matches, which he needs to work on as a matter of urgency.

KP,Kohli,Gambhir,Gayle,ABDV,Watson,Dhoni,Morgan and many many more ODI or T20 players that are better than him.

In ODI's maybe, but no way in T20's.

In T20's the top 5 I'd say are KP Raina Dhoni Morgan and Gayle at the moment.

na top 5 for me are

Afridi (been recalled to pakistan's side)

KP

Dhoni

Morgan

Gayle

Fists of Fury wrote:In ODI's maybe, but no way in T20's.

In T20's the top 5 I'd say are KP Raina Dhoni Morgan and Gayle at the moment.

No Warner?No McCullum?No Mahela(great T20 record)?No Dilshan?

No, Warner did well in the CLT20, hasn't done much at international level. McCullum...too inconsistent. Dilshan? Same, inconsistent. Mahela? Fair point, he is around the top 5.

Fists of Fury wrote:No, Warner did well in the CLT20, hasn't done much at international level. McCullum...too inconsistent. Dilshan? Same, inconsistent. Mahela? Fair point, he is around the top 5.

MoS in the 2009 T20 WC
And if I am not mistaken he scored a century in his last T20 series against Aus a couple of months ago
MCCullum might be inconsistent in Tests and ODIs but have a look at his T20 record.

2009? We can't count 3 years ago! NZ generally just play against guff...

Either way, Raina is a high quality T20 player.

Fists of Fury wrote:2009? We can't count 3 years ago! NZ generally just play against guff...

Either way, Raina is a high quality T20 player.

What about that century that he scored a couple of months ago?

Anyways,I agree about Raina in T20.I was just baffled when you said he is one of the top 5 ODI/T20 players in the world.

Even in the Indian side Dhoni,Sehwag,Sachin,Gambhir,Virat and Yuvraj(in no particular order) are better ODI players than him.

ODI was maybe a bit of a stretch, but T20 I believe he is right up there. Thankfully, this is a T20 league

Fists of Fury wrote:ODI was maybe a bit of a stretch, but T20 I believe he is right up there. Thankfully, this is a T20 league

Sorry mate but it was a HUGE stretch lol.

Fists of Fury wrote:ODI was maybe a bit of a stretch, but T20 I believe he is right up there. Thankfully, this is a T20 league

That too on Indian pitches

Um not sure on the Raina bashing. He is a quality t20 and becoming a quality ODI player and will also be a superb test batsman mark my words.

India in 5 years time:

1) Rahane
2) Gambhir
3) Kohli
4) Rohit
5) Raina
6) Jadeja
7) Dhoni

Same Gregers, I rate Raina very highly, think he is an immensely talented batsman, and a top fielder, too.

The fielding trio of Virat, Raina and Rohit is supreme

Gregers wrote:Um not sure on the Raina bashing. He is a quality t20 and becoming a quality ODI player and will also be a superb test batsman mark my words.

India in 5 years time:

1) Rahane
2) Gambhir
3) Kohli
4) Rohit
5) Raina
6) Jadeja
7) Dhoni

dhoni is about 30 now, i doubt in 5 years he will still be playing test cricket to be honest. Not just age, i just dont think he will be, i think Saha will be the keeper then.

I could actually see Dhoni continuing for as long as he can, the man is an idol

Mind you test cricket might well be the third form in 5 years time...

No it won't, it'll always be king.

On the Raina debate, I think the main problem is in tests you can bowl as many bouncers an over as you like. His baseball swat isn't great against head-height deliveries, but it's pretty good as dispatching short balls around rib cage height.

Good point. Once he gets one in T20 he knows he can't get another.

Where England really nailed him in the tests was balls whizzing around his head. Given he can't duck or sway, he tries to take it on, but it's much harder to control that sort of delivery. Waist height is a lot easier.

I'll try and get mine in today, taking my nieces out to a bonfire but if not then I'll get them in tomorrow morning. Ta

ive put an experimental side out for my game

IMO, mcdonald and Taylor have to play in this game for Delhi...

Chennai Super Kings

Toss: Bat first

Vijay
Hussey
Badrinath
Raina
Dhoni
Dwayne Bravo
Shahid Afridi
Jakati
R Ashwin
Rusty Theron
Saaed Ajmal

The new ball pair will be Rusty Theron and Dwayne Bravo, both using all of their guile to bowl the cutters and slower balls in amongst their stock deliveries to keep the batsmen guessing on this slow pitch.

The middle overs will be dominated by spin, with Ajmal, Ashwin and Afridi all bowling their quote. Jakati is in the side as a lower order hitter and will bowl his slow left armers if required for any reason. Hussey and Raina are further options if necessary.

Given the nature of this pitch, I have packed the batting lineup particularly with players adept at playing in such conditions. The likes of Hussey, Raina and Dhoni have all had success on these pitches, as has Afridi in Pakistan, and my Indian boys will of course be well used to the conditions. I see my trio of frontline spinners being key in this game, with Theron and Bravo making it difficult for the batsmen to get the ball away.

If I lose the toss and bat second, I feel confident with players such as Hussey and Dhoni that I've got the specialist 'finishers' required to see me home. The bowling unit will look to keep things tight, particularly the spinners, and give me a chaseable target.

I would play Tamim ahead of Taylor as he is better against spin IMO.

thats a lot of spin lol,

were u tempted at all, to leave out one of them spinners and play morkel?

No. Morkel would only have played ahead of Bravo, but given that I feel Bravo is a better bowler in these conditions he has been picked.

Ajmal and Afridi are more dangerous than Morkel in these conditions by a long, long way.