Beware of Windies !

Beware of the WI. Roach is bowling at 145 kph and is ably supported by Benn and Sammy. Also SA. Morkel and Steyn are lethal. They have now Imran Tahir and other spinners, who cannot be taken lightly.

What to say about Aussie bowling? The formidable trio of Lee, Tait and Johnson can skittle out any opposition. NZ were 68/5 against them recently. We will have to face 30 overs of their missiles ! Aussie bowling is the most fearsome, if not their batting, as they could not find proper replacements for Gilchrist and Hayden.

Today at Chennai, in the morning, England take on mighty South Africa, the leading team of Group B. This a very critical match for England. At Bangalore, IRE take on formidable India in the afternoon. Two high voltage matches, before a packed Sunday Stadium and before one billion plus viewers !

Pitch Report has it that the Chinnaswamy Stadium will be a batting Paradise. How India will face up to the Irish Revolution is the burning question. IRE has the reputation of creating upsets. ( Some unkind gentlemen opine that the league matches can be fixed and that is why there are upsets. Despite such Conspiracy Theories, WC continues to flourish ). IRE are giant killers, having destroyed Pak in last WC and England in this WC.

Feeling has crept in the Indian multitude that India is facing Fireland and not IRE ! IRE are the destroyer of the biggies. Will Irish bullishness halt India's triumphant march to Mumbai ? Or will the mighty Elephant ( India ) trample IRE underfoot ? There are the million dollar questions of the hour.

All know that the top six Indian batsmen have amassed more than 44.5 K ODI runs, with Sachin alone scoring 17.7 K runs ! How many runs will such a Himalayan batting line up score against a mediocre bowling attack ?

Powerplays can make or break a team. England was on her way to victory, when the batting powerplay came in as Nemesis. Eng lost 4 wickets, for only 25 runs, in that Powerplay and the match slipped out of English hands. If the captain's decision is not intelligent, powerplay can break up a team !

This match is very crucial for England. Trott said that this will be a resurgent England. Collingwood seconded that opinion. England's analysis is that the pitch at Chennai is a batting Paradise ! Eng has got a formidable top order, of KP, Strauss and Trott, who were in great form Down Under !

Yesterday's match was abandoned due to rain and both teams got one point each.

Meanwhile, Kumble has opined that Chawla should play in today's match as the Irish will it difficult to negotiate Chawla's googlies. India should go in for two specialist spinners, as the Irish do not play spin well. Also Nehra. If he rises to good form, he can be India's leading strike bowler. It is imperative that India improve her fielding and bowling standards or the big efforts of the batsmen will go in vain !

Arun Lal has opined that India should play five bowlers. Ashwin is a good attacking bowler and he should play. Yousuf Pathan is wasted at the moment as he comes in when there are only 4 or 5 overs left. He cannot do anything more than Bajji or Zaheer. Indian batting at the moment is tops but bowling and fielding need lots of improvement, if India is to be cricketing superpower!