FanIQ News: Decision to bat first costs India dearly

Good News Blue Jays Fans: Roy Halladay will be Amazing Next Year. Bad...

Nothing Says, "No Way We're Making the Playoffs" Like Shooting at the...

The Evolution of the Greatest Mane in Sports: The Story of Tim Lincecum

UConn finally picks up a win for Jasper Howard, and it might be the straw...

How Bad Officiating Can Be Resolved in the Future

The Big 12 North Is On The Line Tonight, And Perhaps The Pac-10 As Well...

This year's MLB free agent class is full of question marks

Griffin vs. Ortiz II, The Battle of ''Hairy Chest'' and ''Giant Head''

Apparently I've been pronouncing ''Iranian'' wrong this entire time....

Steve Slaton will be starting again for the Texans. My fantasy team...

Roy Halladay rumors reach Cubs' door

As an encore to the "Hand of Fraud" European football follows up with the...

11/8/09

Decision to bat first costs India dearly

Cricket, India

submitted by aritragupta

more posts by author

Read Article: (www.in.com)

This morning when I saw Mr. M.S.Dhoni elect to bat first I was shocked. Why? Think carefully. Guwahati sees the earliest start in any cricket match in India. Which means a pitch laden with more moisture. The first 45 minutes would be crucial, and incidentally, Australia's stregnth was fast bowling. They had no spinner to write home about. Accepted, the pitch was expected to aid the spinners later in the match. But the current Australian spinners? Not likely. Moreover, if India was indeed looking to take advantage of the spin later in the day, why was there only one specialist spinner in the team? Why was Amit Mishra not in the team? Harbhajan Singh, who has been out of form for quite some time now, troubled the Australian batsmen throughout. Amit Mishra's presence could have given India a chance. For me this is madness. And Dhoni must learn quickly that momentary madness may produce great poetry, but in cricket it is most likely to result in a humiliating defeat.