The Making of Irish stew Or Indian Curry?

Abdul K

A preview of the India Vs Ireland Match set for 6th March 2011 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bangalore.

The Irish side is high on confidence after their emphatic win over the English side thanks to the blistering knock by Kevin O Brien who turned 27 on Friday. His fastest World Cup 100 off just 50 balls has been the subject of talk around the Cricketing Fraternity ever since he scored it. This in turn has created a lot of buzz and words of praise for the batsmen kept pouring in.This is excluding the huge response from the folks back at Ireland who are rejoicing this amazing feat and more importantly a memorable win.

Some Reactions after their emphatic win over England:• Kevin O’Brien’s father Brendan O’Brien said “It was a fantastic Knock” who was himself Captain of the National side. He went on to add that it was great a win against England chasing down such a huge score. He watched the match along with wife Camilla at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.• English Captain Andrew Strauss said on a rather negative note” We have to go and lick our wounds and then we have to bounce back”• Irish Captain William Porterfield said “Minnows deserve to be in the World Cup” opposing against ICC’s decision to exclude the non test playing nations from the next edition of the World Cup• West Indies Captain Darren Sammy -“It’s a lesson for all, just can’t take anyone for granted. Every team came to the World Cup to win.”• “Every now and then someone wakes up and has the best day of their life and yesterday it was Kevin O’Brien’s day. He won the game rather than we lost it” England off spinner Graeme Swann quoted a day after their loss.• “It was an Outstanding performance by Ireland and Kevin O’Brien against England and India have to be up and ready for it” – Dada Sourav GangulyIreland was playing after their loss at the hands of Bangladesh at their hometown and they needed to prove a point and what better way to do it than bringing down the English who have for long considered the Irish as a subject of mockery and joke? All that is probably set to change now that the Irish side has found a new ray of hope in Kevin O’Brien.He has proved himself as a game changer and a lot more is expected of him in the days to come if Ireland is to make it through to the next round and cause some serious upsets.

The Irish Sensation Kevin O’Brien was all praise for the Indian Batting duo of Sachin and Sehwag. He felt that the Indian Batting lineup is fantastic and when asked for his thoughts on the Indian side, he said that “They’ve got strength in the likes of Sachin and Sehwag opening the innings and power hitters in the form of MS Dhoni and Yusuf Pathan. If it’s not the best batting line up at the World Cup, I don’t know what is ” He went on to add that he has seen the likes of Zaheer, Munaf, Harbhajan and Ashwin and felt that Zaheer was particularly dangerous with the new ball and also effective towards the end of the innings.

The Indian side on the other hand had a good practice session on Thursday with most of the players seemingly fit and even bowler Ashish Nehra took part in the drills which indicates his chance of making it in the playing 11 on Sunday.

I’m sure the Indian side is keeping a close eye on the developments and the countdown to a blockbuster Sunday has already begun!The toss will definitely play a vital role at the Chinnaswamy which is proving out to be a batsman’s paradise. The bowlers will have to slog if they want to prove a point. Disciplined bowling is a high priority.

The Indian side has showed some serious woes with respect to its fielding and also its bowling which has to be rectified before its too late.The Indian side is up against Ireland on Sunday and then the Netherlands on Wednesday, March 9th. Indians can afford to experiment considering the fact they are up against the minnows but they cannot take these sides lightly as both these sides have shown they can cause big upsets and they really have the will to do so!

There has not been much response from the Indian side but an Indian Cricket fan knows that Captain Cool MS Dhoni would like to keep calm and make sure he has the right words to say at the end of the match.

This leaves with a lot of random questions some of which I’ve listed as follows:The Irish have proved they can chase down huge targets but can they set a huge one?

What changes can we expect in the side? Is Nehra all set to come into the side? Who will stay out?

Will we witness a batting order crumbling if Kevin O’Brien fails to deliver?

Will the Indian side play an extra bowler at the cost of Yuvaraj or Kohli?

I guess the ideal answer would be to wait and watch!

The Irish will be aware that a lot more than just fire power from the batting department is what is exactly required to cause any measurable damage to the Indian Side.

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Edited by Staff Editor