Captains need to rethink power plays

Match in review: World Cup 2011, Group B game, India vs England, Feb 24, 2011 at the Chinnaswamy stadium, Bangalore.

Result: Tie.

The match between India and England was a game where the crowd got their monies worth. India scored 338 in their 50 overs and England in reply also scored 338. India probably never thought any team could score that many runs chasing.

The one area where captains need to rethink their strategy are power plays. When India were going on well, Sachin and Yuvraj were scoring at about 7 or 8 runs an over without taking any risks, India decided to take the batting power play and India ended up loosing a few wickets and this brought England back into the game.

I believe they should have waited and continued batting the way they were until like the 45th over where they could slog at every ball. Captains need to be flexible rather than go with a fixed strategy.

If India's decision on the power play was horrendous, England returned the favor by taking a powerplay around the 40th over to bring India back into the game. Overall, the game ended in a tie and both teams shared points.

Both teams will take positives and negatives from the game. For India, it will be an eye opener, they can no longer believe, they can score big and bat the opposition out. They will have to bowl well.