The Michael Holding column

Manbir Bhullar: mbhullar@yahoo.com: AS usual good tem on paper. But they always fail to deliver. So INDIA is not going past Quarter finals. Being a indian its sad but have to admit to the fact. Moreover anybody who is not willing to work hard will not win

YASHIN DALAL: yashindalal@hotmail.com: Yes. I think India has a very good chance - hey , reserve my name to the bookmaker too!

shaji: pcshaji@hotmail.com: like always, our team looks just toooo good on paper, but sad to say we have only individuals. if each person gives 100% performance we can make it.

Ramana Rao: spock_Sw@hotmail.com: I hope the Indian team reflects the same kind of optimism on field, after all it allboils down to self belief. I wish the Indian team all the best, I for one still feel that they will win the CUP this year.

Ram Mummidi: ram.mummidi@autodesk.com: I agree with Michael Holding that India team has the right ingradients for a good team, but they are also at the same time very unpredictable, seeing the recent performances against Pakistan. Agreed they were w/o Azhu bhai and Tendul, but losing without giving a good fight gives a mixed feeling about the spirit of the team. -Ram.

hharish: hharihar@cbsinc.com: Hi, Mickey Holding is trying to boost the morale of the people and players. Its not gonna happen. they wont even quality for super league. I am sure. Its gonna be a worst team performanace ever Harish H

Sanjay Patel: spat9710@postoffice.uri.edu: I think India has a very good chance in winning this World Cup Trophy. This side is really talented, but they should apply themselves more. To me they are depending too much on Sanchin and the captain Azhar. Everyone must contribute. This side also has the tendency to collapse suddenly, as you can see from the recent results against Pakistan. I don't think Pakistan's team is as good as India's, but again it all boils down to fighting spirit and strong determination. From U.S.A

Vikram Prabhakar: vikram@cbis.ece.drexel.edu: Sachin is not playing in Sharjah, which means he will start the world cup after missing 2 tournaments. That is not great news. Whether we are willing to accept it or not, Sachin's innings will play a dangerously important role in all of indias games. Our selectors are making it as hard as possible for the team to get used to each other: Kambli, Joshi and Mohanty - three names, enough to give u the picture. OF course, India is packed with talent and I would be watching each match and supporting India, but from a completely neutral point of view, I think Holding's is optimistic without reason. Nothing about Indias form suggests it. Whereas PAkistan, Australia andSouth Africa have started playing demonously recently. Vikram.

Vidyasagar V.Ravuri: vsagar_r@hotmail.com: perfectly

Anindya Ghosh: anindya@arraycomm.com: Mikey is right. It's just confounding that Indian team lacks the will to win and the leader doesn't seem to motivate and lift up a team which in terms of talent is probably one of the best India has had.

shashi rao: shashi_rao@hotmail.com: I think Mike is being very generous. This team is not going to make the second round sorry mike shashi

mukesh: mukesh_vadhyar@hotmail.com: No. Talents and skills apart,what a team requires to win a major tournament like the World cup is thirst to win and professional focus plus dedication which, alas, seems to be missing.

Sridhar Moorthy: moorthy@mgmt.utoronto.ca: I think he is being optimistic. Chances of qualifying for the Super Six are reasonable, given the recent success against Sri Lanka. But virtually no chance against Group B.

Raj Unni: raj.unni@att.net: Which world is Holding living in? Our team is basically Sachin and the seven dwarfs. When Sachin fails, the team will collapse. And Sachin is not in the same form he was in 1998, so he will fail at least half the time. So while we should get to the Super Six, there is no way we get any further. Mike is wise to place only a few pounds on India.

Sandeep Singh Bajwa: sbajwa@home.com: I think Mike Holding is bribed by BCCI. Just kiddin!! India will be lucky if they are in Super Six league. Sandeep

S.Venkatraman: subbs_97@yahoo.com: No, I do not. Categorically so. Unless we get a captain who is aggressive, and hates to lose, India will remain near the bottom of the world in games played outside India and Sri Lanka. Although much has been said about India's so-called batting strength, i expect only 3 batsmen to do well in England: Saurav, Sachin and Dravid. Azharuddin and Jadeja are novices against the swinging ball, as will be Robin Singh. Our bowling will do well, much better than our batting. I hope I am proved wrong, but I predict that Azaharuddin and Jadeja will cut sorry figures in England.

Pathak: pathak_umesh@hotmail.com: No!... At at least after atching the recent matches with Pakistan .

Sunil Kumar: Sunilk@ems.att.com: Yes. Mike Holding is justified in his Optimism. India can go all the way.

manjeet: manjeetss@hotmail.com: It's nice to know that Mikey Holding is optimistic for India's chances in WC '99 but only thing he overlooked is the capability of the Indian team to turnover the match (of course from winning to loosing). The present pepsi cup triangular series shows the strength of the present Indian team. India should now stop saying that they have world class team for the World Cup. Yes India has few world class players but only two-three world class players can't win all the matches for the country.

Praful: praful.matoo@gecapital.com: Yes !!!

Rajesh Jadala: Rjadala@hotmail.com: Absolutely. I think India has a bright chance of winning the Cup. It has a Pretty balance team. It is up to Azhar how he utilizes his team. Jadeja would not have been a bad choice for captaincy.

Vamsi Palanati: palanati@yahoo.com: I think Mikey is right in sayin that India has a lot of talent under its belt . But , will the India squad use its talent to the full ??? Or will it be Just another series like the just concluded Pepsi Cup ??? As Mickey said it would be really great if India reaches UK early and get used to the conditions . ALL THE BEST TO INDIAN SQUAD FOR THE WORLD CUP '99' .

raghu.rao: raghu38@yahoo.com: With the inconsistence showing in recent matches and past record under Azar's captaincy I think it will be great if India makes to the semi's. I do not give much chances to this Indian team.

ulhas: disgis@yahoo.com: World cup is India's if sachin or Jadeja is the captain The selectors should remove azhar and Anshuman as captain and manager. Anshu is known for his snail slow innings. He is the Manager of fast scoring cricket. Does it make sense. Niether is he intelligent enough. Azhar is a bad captain, he is only at the helm to satisfy the minorities, courtesy Indian politics. The team needs to make only these 2 changes. One gavaskar or srikkanth for Manager post and Sachin or Jadeja for Azhar as captain

Ram: : Yes, Mike is 100% right. Indian team has every talent to become the winners of World cup. The only problem with this team is lack of dedication and willingness and togetherness. They have the talent but they don't bother to strain themselves.

Jaideep Kulkarni: jaideep@giasbmc.vsnl.net.in: Yes he is justified in his optimism. But at the same time I must add that inclusion of Kambli would have increased Indias options in the higher middle order particularly if one of the batsman fail to perform. Also Sachin and Azhar may not be fully fit due to their injury.

Joy: sensj@hotmail.com: I fully agree with Mike Holding. My only concern is the unpredictable batting slide which happens so too often .

sunil krishnan: sunilkrishnan@hotmail.com: Mike virtually made India the 1999 champs. Poor Mike, India also need a thinking captain, not just hitter and throwers.

Satya: svallep@eng.clemson.edu: Mikey is tooooo optimmistic. It would be great if we can go to the Semies. I am a die hard fan of Cricket and particularly Indian Cricicket but i dont see the winning spirit in the team. The team is one of the infact the best in the world now. but, they lack inone thing and the most important one i.e., the winning spirit and zeal. in hindi i can say it as kuch be hojaye hame zeetna hai !!! i think the team really lacks this spirit and play more of a mechanical game but unfortunately it is a game of emotions and the way u think as i see it. hope i made my point clear. ALL THE BEST!!! GO INDIA!!!! luv, satya

S Rajeev Kumar: srajeevkumar@hotmail.com: Nothing special , but a typical boasting of Indian team's capabilities in paper. It is high time we tear the paper and pick the ball and bat for an improved performance. What India lacks is not talent(Anyone knows this). No need for an expert comment from Holding on this. The need of the moment is aggression and nerves of steel to take on any pressure and competition at any level. Otherwise Prem Panicker is yet again going to write a history of how India didnt even manage to qualify for the super six. That's Sad.

Shashi B. TYAGI: shashi@inter.net.co: Holding may prove wrong because we have a captain who seems like a machine--

Vinay N Das: vndas@rocketmail.com: I most certainly agree with Holding's line of thought .. But knowing the kind of consistency our guys have, I have my own doubts! Still, I'm too passionate a supporter of Indian cricket to give up. I'm keeping all my fingers crossed and am hoping that the Whisper's words ring true !!

Prince: prince1st@yahoo.com: He sure did

Vidhya: vidhyamurali@hotmail.com: I feel the Indian side with such good batting & bowling combination should get together as a team , go for the cup right from the beginning if they have to win this World Cup . Our Indian team has the strength . Each one in the team should realise their role & give everything they can on the field . I wish Good Luck to this team with amazing potential . I really hope all the strengths of individual players come together when it matters most.

karthik: nkarthik76@hotmail.com: No, there are probably too many good cricketers in Indian team. Leading to more confusion has to whoshould be in the team and who should go. There will be a lot of shuffling around in the team people who dont play well in one match will be replaced, there will be no stability in the team. At the most we can make it to the last three (if we are lucky) I have a feeling Robin singh is goin to shine in this world cup !!

Rajeev Bishnoi: bishnoi@hotmail.com: Michael Holding is Extremely optimistic about India's chances. It should be absolutely clear by now how fragile Indian batting is against FAST bowling (let alone QUALITY fast bowling). I suspect that their socalled_on_the_paper_one_of_the_best_batting_lineup is going to survive the fast bowling pitches of England. If somebody watched the Pepsi cup final between India and Pakistan (on SL...OW, flat Indian pitch) (s)he MUST not have any doubt how much hyped the Indian batting lineup is (ESPECIALLY against fast bowling). Being an Indian, no other moment can bring so much joy, happiness, pride as 'India lifing the world cup again', but thinking as an honest analyst, I don't see that happening. Also the 'socalled' excessive experimentation that the Indian selectors have been doing (and are still doing) has failed big time. It's time (if still??) that they should start thinking some serious cricket. Playing and limelighting the cricketers who are the cash-cow (yes I'm talking about the dirty game they played in the Pepsi cup) has brough enough shame to the country. Also it's time to think about making, nurturing fast pitches in India so we can produce batsmen capable of playing fast bowling. It's not an easy and quick job, it requires a lot more specially in terms of overhauling of Indian cricket board's capitalist mentality, which has done nothing but presenting Indians as 'home-tigers' (since most Indians watch the games played on their soils, and it's in their(board's) hands to custom-tailor the Indian pitches for spinners which India produces a lot. Those empty headed socalled Indian cricket think tank don't even have the slightest idea about 'how satisfies, contained and happy a batsman feels after successfully surving a quality pace attack'. They can not get away blaming the cause (of defeat) on the absence of some key players, when the problem is somewhere else; their THINKING.

srikanth: shavaraju@hotmail.com: not completly justified considering the games against pakistan(shoab akthar).

NIRAV SHAH: NIKKIBOY74@HOTMAIL.COM: probably not heard of the saying don't put all the eggs in one basket. he's being too optimistic. what indian team lacks is the killer instinct they ought to be more aggressive in their approach, andimprove in the bowling and fielding depts. tailenders should also be taught how to hold a bat and get a run or two, they can learn that from pakistan. ALL THE BEST TO INDIA.

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