Murali Vijay cant play in IPL now

Poor Murali Vijay. He now cannot play in front of his home crowd and in tailor made IPL now. Useless guy.

A thing about Sharma and Vijay

There are 2 reserve players who are sure shot replacements for every injury or dip of form of the first choice players. They are Mural Vijay from TN and Rohit Sharma from Mumbai. These lads are pretty rich fellows after their exploits in the IPL seasons and they are having hefty bank balances.

The last innings of substance Rohit Sharma played was way back in 2007-08 CB series final when he made 66* against Australia in partnership with Sachin Tendulkar. 

The last innings of any importance M Vijay played was in 2010 October when he made his first Test 100 against Australia at home.

Since 2008 he has been repalcing Sehwag or Gambhir at the top whenever these lads get injured. And off late in ODIs too since he had reasonable IPL3 in 2010.

Have a look at their performances in the ongoing ODI series in SA. None of them have the desire or firepower or the ambition to play for India and to play well. They are getting most of the chances on every replacement. We have the likes of Rahane, Pujara, Pandey, Uthappa and others who play well in domestic cricket. They are reasonable in IPL as well, but the fact is this lads do not have selectorial backing from their region. Sharma had backing of DIlip Vengsarkar, Vijay has Srikanth's backing and Srikanth, DBV were team mates for years in 1980s.

My point is how long this 2 players would get their chances? Isnt it time to show them the door for the time they sort out their temparament, attitude and most importantly find an answer to the question: "do they really want to play for India?"

Its good that they wont play the world cup, else they would have been easy walking wickets.

Last note, on current form Virat Kohli should easily replace Raina in the starting XI.

Raina has had 20 odd innings without a half century and even if we take the fact he is batting mostly at 6, he has not showed the temparament to bat responsibly. He had every thing going his way. He was retained by CSK, he was chosen to play Tests in SL ahead of Yuvraj Singh, he got a debut 100 and then he lost it. He hasnot showed the willpower to claw back to the reckoning by some responsible batting.

Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kohli, Pathan, Harbhajan, Zaheer, Praveen, Nehra would be my starting XI for Mirpur.

Dubious 15th member selection

The Indian world cup squad is announced and there are a few eye brows being raised over selection of few guys who have not played ODIs in 2 years time and none in home conditions. 

The most of the team chose itself and as expected there was a tussle for 2-3 spots only. 

The selection of Chawla and Ashvin would raise eyebrows. Pragyan Ojha played most of the ODIs before he was dumped for no good reason. He was not expected to play in SA where only one spinner plays and that luxury lies with Harbhajan Singh. But Ojha did a decent job in the run up to the SA tour and now he suddenly finds himself out of the favor from the selectors and the team management. 

Piyush Chawla's selection is equally baffling. He has not played an ODI in 2 years and is not expected to play in remaining 3 games before World Cup, so he is looking  to go to the World Cup with no match fitness and match practice.

There are just 7 batsmen and most of them will play in all games. There is no reserve keeper who also could have doubled up as a batsman.

What if injury happens to one of the 7 main batsmen? Who is the backup then? Rohit Sharma ? M Vijay? I am sure Srikanth has some plans for M Vijay, he must have told him something in Tamil that dude I shall get you in the team, let one of the batsmen get injured. 

What if MSD gets injured? Sehwag would be the captain in that case, but who would keep? Again Srikanth has a replacement ready. Dinesh BossDK Karthik.

Srikanth's croonies are well placed to be replacements for any one of the batsmen / keeper getting injured. 

Ashvin's case is debatable. It seems he might be benefited on the cost of Ojha. He has played 7 ODIs for India in 2010 and taken 14 wkts.  How much would he add up to the tally in the world cup remains to be seen.

Chawla has 28 from 21 games. There are plenty of part timers in the spin department namely Sehwag, Yuvraj, Raina and perhaps even Tendulkar. Not to forget Yusuf Pathan too. So why 3 spinners? Ideally Parthiv Patel should have been the part of the lineup in place of Chawla, so that he could have been a reserve batsman too and would double up as a backup to MS as well. 

But if Srikanth had mind and logic. He is roaming around all TV channels and cricket  websites saying this is the best Indian team and balanced to win a world cup in 28 years. Only time would tell.

Vijay is a quota selection

Murali Vijay is needlessly playing ODIs when he is not fit for it. Fit in the sense in the terms of temparament and attitude. Its disgusting to see this guy play quick form of cricket in IPL and flop in ODIs. 

He is a quota selection in the team. He is in the team cos first choice 3 openers are back home due to injury and the selection head is a headless chicken. And the next BCCI president is the boring pan eating Srinivasan from Chennai.

Now that Tendulkar has also returned home, he would play remaining 3 games and most probably Kohli or Sharma would open with him and Pathan would play at 7.

It could still be a back door entry for Vijay in the world cup. Who knows. One quick 40 and he would be fit in the team.

Vijay is one real lucky guy. The next Dinesh Karthik of course.

Vizag rants

With Dhawan gone first over its going to be one of Srikanth lads coming in for the opening slot. It could be Srikanth Kris himself or it could be Anni Srikanth. Dhawan was always a scapegoat and nothing more. Srikanth has had his agenda fulfilled. Soon the Mumbai-Delhi or Delhi-Delhi pair wont be opening for India in ODIs and Tests anymore. Its going to be Srikanth-Srikanth pair henceforth.

Srikanth son and Srikanth croonie.

India's ODI display is poor and pathetic. The bowling today at the end overs was simply club standard led by R Vinay Kumar who bowled full tosses in the slog overs. Where did the hunger for success and excellence go? Perhaps easy road to India team is one reason why this lads dont value their India cap any more. They are happy playing for Srinis, Mallayas, Zintas and all.

Vinay Kumar would be on his way out after this ODI and Munaf Patel might come in. A loser traded for loser. WHy is Sreesanth not in the ODI team? Has he played too much cricket? He just played solitary Test. Does Srikanth look at him as a mere Test bowler?

2010 is a poor year for India in ODIs. On one hand we have excellence of Tests and triumphs to boast of, on the other hand we have Jadejas, Vijays, Dhawans, Vinays and Rohit Sharmas to tolerate of in LoIs.

And if this are future of Indian cricket god save Indian cricket once the greats retire.

Though there are big names to come still in the batting, but the Australian bowling attack is rookie and inexperienced. And thats the difference. They have hunger to excel, our Vinays and all are duds. Rants on Srikanth but he hardly listens. On the name of rest and young, he is giving away India caps as if some Chennai restaurant sells off Vada Sambhar or a Delhi stall sells off Golgappe and chat.

Curious case of Vijay

Vijay scored a 100. First at international level. Ok congrats da.

I'd stop right here.

He is not going to be a permanent fixture in the side. For now. Whenever Gautam Gambhir gets fit, Vijay would be dropped.  Yes even after making a 100.  And that could be as early as first Test against NZ.

Vijay has been a fixed slot as reserve opener ever since his debut in 2008. That coincided with the dropping of Wasim Jaffer and Dinesh Karthik as openers and return of Gambhir to form in 2008 SL tour. The drop happened in 2008 Aus tour when Sehwag returned in style. That also coincided with the change in the helm of selection committee. DBV went out and Cheekanth came in. So did Vijay after he was in an epic opening partnership with Mukund.

Vijay has since then played T20s and ODIs for India too in 2010 with no success. He flashed in IPL and CLT20 this year. His temparament was monumental in whatever success and opportunities he had thus far. He has been decent in the Tests thus far.

Though he has got opportunities right now just cos he is from Tamil Nadu and Srini, Sreekanth hail from same state. Going on, he would need to exhibit similar patience and commitment as he did today to rightfully earn front door place and not a back door entry just cos he can blabber in same language as chief of selectors and BCCI president elect.

He was painfully slow today going from 87 to 100 and was stuck on 99 for 13 deliveries. In this process he not only slowed down the runs but also slowed down the runs that are scored in the end of the day.

On day 4, India would need to bat quicker than they did on day 3.  They have the men -- Tendulkar and Dhoni to do it. If they bat well and secure a close to 100-150 run lead Vijay's time would not harm us, but if it does then his eating up of balls would surely hurt the team. And that would be a difference in a 1-0 and 2-0 series victory.

Preview : Bangalore Test

The second Test between the 2 best teams playing positive Test cricket starts tomorrow morning India time. And this would be the last one for lot of players in the country on both sides.

After an epic first, the expectations would be high on this series decider.

India has a strong record when they take the 1-0 lead. In last 20 years they have given up the lead only 4 times last being against England in 2006.

There are going to be a few changes in the Indian team and the hero of 9th wicket partnership wont be there. The Delhi lads give way to Southie guys. Vijay replacing Gambhir and Sreesanth replacing Ishant.

Laxman is in some kind of doubt starting tomorrow and if he does not play it would be a toss-up between Pujara and Mukund to occupy his slot. Conventional logic says Pujie should make his debut but we never know with Srikanth at helm and Srini's power could see Mukund make his debut too. (Kidding).

India has got some stupid record in Bangalore with not having won a test in 15 years. This is a great chance for them to rectify the record asap. They've lost to Australia twice, drew once and lost to Fixistanis in 2005.

Possible lineup:

India : Sehwag, Murali, Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman / Pujie, Raina, Dhoni, Zaheer, Bhajan, Sreesanth, Ojhie.

Aus : Watto, Katto, Punter, Pup, Mr Cricket, South, Paine, Mitch, Hauritz, Hilfy and Georgie Boy.

It would be one more chance for Marcus North to slide his batting going down south and ensure his berth remains safe for Ashes...

All in all it should be a cracking contest between India and Australia once again and then the rivalry would take a break for one year and then it would kick off once again in 2011 down under. Not sure if the 3 greats would make it that tour.

Now that Mr Character Sanga Singh is injured he should watch this game closely to learn how to play positive cricket.

Sangakara's character exposed

Kumar Sangakara wants to be in thick of action. He wants to be seen everywhere. In match conferences, match referees rooms, sledging with fellow captains, appealing for catches and lbws that aint existing, saying huge moral stuff and constantly showing character by appearing casual in official team functions.

Question arises is he insecure ? Is he fearing that SL would be back to minnows stature after departure of Jayasuriya, Vaas and Murali? What is his motive? He openly encourages his bowlers to ball negative lengths, enforces fair FTPs and questions India's motives in open, blasts Virender Sehwag and of course cannot complete any sentence without uttering character. 

Ditto with Mahela. I guess Mahela and Nanga are building character factory for Sri Lankan cricketers. So much so that they often display lack of character. One of them validates boring SSC kinda pitches citing challenge to bat long as long as they can. The other sets negative fields. 

He questioned India's stature in world cricket when his board wants as much as cricket with BCCI to fill its empty coffers. He questioned Viru's character after Randigate. Guess the pasting he got from Sehwag in past 2 years is not good enough for him to question Viru's "character".

we don't hide behind the Board and we don't hide behind the media" when it came to being hauled up for creating unpleasantness. He added: "If we make a mistake we take the responsibility. If it's serious, we take it on the chin. We take it like men and move on." 

Really ? Who called up Indian manager to apologize for Randigate ? SLC. 

Who's pressing for more fixtures with India ? Who's pressing for aid to build SL stadiums for World Cup ? SLC.

He (Hurst) did ask me whether McCullum did it intentionally," said Sanga, "I said I don't want to comment on any other player. Sometimes players are ruled LBW, they show the bat and no action is taken. Yesterday's incident, it was without seeing whose fault it was and without seeing the footage (that I was summoned),

Clearly he is agitated on being summoned by Alan Hurst over colliding with Nathan McCullum. This after he was cleared of any wrong doing. Hasnt SLC intervened here as well ? It got Murali playing after coaxing ICC to bend 15 degrees rule. And now in accommodating an useless keeper skipper. 

When Gambhir was banned for elbowing Shane Watson in 2008, BCCI did not throw his weight around Gambhir, as a result Srikanth got an opening and he got Murali Vijay in the test squad.  Since then he hasnt left the Indian squad.

When monkeygate happened in Australia in 2008, Harbhajan Singh was let off after Sachin Tendulkar deposed before ICC. And if Bhajji says typical Indian stuff (Boss DK, MaaKey and Dunga, what Yusuf Pathan said to Umar Gul) to Sangakara, I am sure this bugger would cry more. 

He questions BCCI, its clout, its intentions and then goes on to play IPL for KXIP. Ends up as wooden spoon holder and gets a peck from Zinta babes. Hypocrisy ? 

He is not happy with the schedule for the tri-series, he is not happy with the FTP. He is not happy with anything but his wife most prolly. Unfortunately there is Ijaz Butt who takes all the mud and eggs for being diabolical, else that stuff could very well can be served to Sangakara, the perennial loser.

India's XVI for Sri Lanka

India has declared 16 players for the yet another Test series vs Sri Lanka in Sri Lanka.  Its going to be the 3rd series in 3 years between the two teams and hopefully for next 3 years there wont be any series between the 2 teams. 

The usual culprits (no pun) return to the test team making it the usual colored look. Dravid, Laxman, Ishant etc etc return for the Test series. 

Also returns is Wriddhiman Saha. Shocking. He was a dead as a dodo in the Nagpur Test vs South Africa and just after a Test, he returns. 

Dinesh Karthik was ignored. Good for this blog, not so for others. 

Also returns is M Vijay. Srikanth makes sure he keeps one Tamil Nadu player in every team he selects. Last series he had 2, Dabri missed out this time. 

If M Vijay was not present, Dinesh Karthik would have been. Guess the reserve slot (Wicket keeper or opener) is fixed for a Tamil Nadu quota. 

There are many tweets where people have questioned Srikanth's agenda for Chennai (Read Tamil Nadu).  I believe Srikanth has not chosen anybody outside Chennai too. I am not sure from where one Ganpathy hails, but Dabri, Vijay and Dinesh Kartik are sure Chennai duds. 

Dilip Vengsarkar was from Mumbai, but for Jaffer he did not push anybody from Mumbai who did not deserve a place in final XI. Srikanth is different. He needs his states players to serve a hidden agenda.  Guess he is in post for another 3 months and by September he would be out. I just hope he does not stick around to select World Cup team. Else it would be half Chennai Super Kinks team playing in Indian blue.

Yuvraj also returns. That means he was dropped on basis of fitness and not form. He did not play a single game to prove he was back in form. So as his latest tweet read "This elephant is back in fitness and raring to go" proves he assumes he is back in fitness. 

If thats true we wont know till he plays the 3 day game or the first Test.

If he fails, Suresh Raina is down there to pressurise him. If he keeps going he would benefit the national team. He is yet to hit a test 100 since Bangalore 100 against Pakistan. And a hundred or a big innings would be due for him to prove his worth in the # 6 slot. If not there are several other contenders -- Pujara, Raina, Sharma and Kohli to grab the place. Yes Aniruddha Srikanth is in there too. 

There are 3 spinners in the team. Mishraji, Ojhaji would be one of the spinners that would play alongside Bhajji. And its going to be one of Sreesanth and Ishant accompanying Zaheer in the new ball attack. Selection of Sreesanth is again questionable. What worthy he has done all this while is not known to us (at least). He seems to be another quota selection (making for loss of R Ashvin).

16 players for a 3 Test series is a bit too much. Usually teams name 14 players for a Test series and usually one or 2 players are released to play for their respective domestic teams.  We have not seen that happen for India and wont happen till the likes of Srikanth are around as egoistical regional headed selectors chefs.

Thank You Murali Vijay

Thank You Vijay and sorry.

Move on.

Grown up beard could not make difference to your shreded fat ass luck, neither being dropepd for subsequent Asia cup tour hurt you enough to make amends and give your critics a shot in their ass.  You continued to under perform for whatever reasons and its good enough for people to mark you tried, tested and failed mode.

This should also end your test career for now just like Mohd Yusuf.  We dont see the zing and the fire in your belly to play for your country, that we saw for your franchisee. That money might get you the sprawling villas in Chennai, but that wont echo in the great Chennai cricketers who played for India.

That does not matter to you though.

Spare us with further torture and move on. Find some role in Tamil movies. You are good enough to give the oldies a run for their money. 

T2OIs with Zimbabwe : Who cares

In the euphoria of World Cup football and Asia Cup we forgot that there is a T20I set to follow with Zimbabwe and this team would play 2 times more.

So to save some pride we hope that the Indians would win at least something against Zimbabwe and end this disastrous tour on a decent note. 

One more time for Bossa DK and YuM Veejay to take strike for India and then they are back to play for local sides in gullies of Madras. So guys hit it big. Make 50s so that Srikanth would fit you back in the team should one of the players get injured. 

Go make hay in the sun while it shines. Who knows you might never turn up for India again.

Difference between Srikanth and Aravind DeSilva as selectors

Asia Cup should be rechristened to Dambulla Cup as all games would be held in the single venue. More to do with the reconstruction of typical Colombo grounds for the WC'11. 

Who is going to watch this miniscule tournament when World  Cup fooshball is on in South Africa. 

I liked Aravinda DeSilva's first press conference on reasons behind every player selection and exclusion. Though his tactical reasons to exclude Ajantha Mendis were a googly, but the logic behind dropping Jayasuraiya, picking up Maharoof and sending centurion Dinesh Chandimal to Australia was awesome.

He also said he would talk to every player to explain the reason behind inclusion / exclusion and what plans selectors have for him in long run.

Thats contrasting with our joker chief -- Mr Srikanth. He chose Asia cup team and did not bother to inform why Yuvraj was dropped or  why M Vijay was dropped despite hailing from Chennai and doing good in EyePeeYelllll.

Mr Srikanth has just one vision -- have guys from Chennai da to crowd in the national team and try to win Borld Cuppa for Tamil Nadu. Not India mind you.

Thats the reason why Dinesh Karthik keeps coming in after sitting out one tour and failing with bat / ball / gloves in domestic cricket or even EyePeeEllll.

R Ashvin goes to Sri Lanka, Naman Ojha is dropped.  Ashok Dinda stays on while Pankaj Singh, other one match bonder is dropped.  Dinesh Karthik is out for Asia Cup but would return for SL tri-series with New Zealand.

Subbu Dabrinath is kept on stand by should one of Rohit / Kohli get injured or be out of form.  Makes sense. Chennai is nearest Indian city to fly in Dambulla rather than flying anybody from say Mumbai or calling top performer from England to SL.   Or who knows Dinesh Karthik would fly in.

He made a blanket statement on Zimbabwe fiasco. He says he now knows who played and who did not. Unfortunately he refuses to see DK and MV in that list.  He refuses to give chances to out of favor seamers like Ishant Sharma or Irfan Pathan to go and play in A team in England and prove something to earn a  recall in national team. 

He got A Mithun travel to Zimbabwe when R Vinay Kumar was injured in Zim. Who was replacement to A team ? Some Ganpathy. Another lad from Tamil Nadu, supposedly an allrounder.

Guys like Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Manish Pandey have been amongst runs in domestic circuit and in A series too, but they aint given any chance. And who are given ? Yusuf, jinxed Jadeja and DKMV.

Where are other players who play in Plate league but fail to make it to the team cos Chief joker refuses to look upwards beyond Sahyadris.

This all examples show how good vision Kris Srikanth has. Something he should learn from Aravinda DeSilva.

SST should not have been sent to Zim tour

Its being argued that Saurabh Tiwary should have been sent to Zimbabwe tour. I dont think so that was a wise move.  Naman Ojha was sent to that tour too and he did not play until the last game of the series which was anyway inconsequential for India's fortunes. He made just 1 and was removed from the team to Asia Cup. He did not get his chances. M Vijay played 3 of 4 games and he would still play the T20Is to follow.

If SST was sent to Zimbabwe he would not have got a chance ahead of greats Dinesh Karthik and MVijay and he would have been dumped just the way Naman Ojha is dumped without adequate opportunities to prove himself.

Its a strange irony if you dont hail from chief chef's state then you get dropped for one failure and if you do then you keep coming in every time like Dinesh Karthik does. And if captain believes in you more than required then too you are untouchable (as in from being dropped). Jadeja is an epitome to that.

Hypocrite Mr Srikanth and his bunch of jokers.  Have same yardstick for everyone to judge the performance even if the player is not from the high profile cricketing states of MP or Jharkhand or from states which does not send temparamental selection heads to the top. 

We need to ban Karthik, Vijay, Yusuf Pathan and Jadeja

Following lads need a ban for indefinete period.

1. Murali Vijay
2. Yusuf Pathan
3. Ravinder Jadeja
4. Dinesh Karthik

We need an Ijaz Butt who'd ban them for indefinete period. And then we need somebody who would not revoke the ban from this players.

They have done the country shame with their inept and pathetic display in the international games post IPL where they glittered and blasted to fame on doctored pitches giving out a picture that they are future stars. Actually they are worse than the players who played solitary games for India in their history.

Nothing can justify the kind of start the Tamil Nadu duo gave against Zinbabwe. The opposition didn't even have a specialist new ball bowlers.  21 runs off 56 balls and 33 off 71 balls are good enough to nail this duo and kick them outta team.

They must be partying around and watching out a Rajni flick. And even thinking of dancing along some pretty actress. Their erstwhile Tamil Nadu colleague Sadgopan Ramesh did so. Mr Karthik has already debuted in TV reality show. So the next destination for this IPL stars and India duds is TV / Kollywood cinema.

Spare us the torture guys.  I have vowed never to watch a game in which either of this 4 players would play for India. They are shame, they are black spots on what we call the pride for playing in Indian team. They are curse to the national anthem being played before every ICC tourney game.

Curse to the tricolor. Let this bigots play from Chennai against Coiambatore.   Ban them from playing for India.

Aftermath

India’s fourth or fifth string team lost to the enthusiastic and committed Zimbabwe second time in a week. How pathetic it is. Who owns up this defeat ? Skipper Raina, coach Kirsten or selector head clown Srikanth?  It was pathetic to see that there was no intent or will to score runs from the openers. What was Murali Vijay thinking ? He is a star ? IPL is long time over kid. If you cant play against Zimbabwe, there is a little chance you could play against anybody else.  56 ball 21 in PowerPlay overs with no boundaries whatsoever. Ditto for his Tamil Nadu skipper Dinesh Karthik, who by far should have been dumped in the dustbin of Marina Beach or Golden Beach in Chennai for his hyped talent, zero on delivery.

What happened to Amit Mishra who got a 5-for on his Test debut substituting for Anil Kumble and fast tracking his retirement?  Why do our spinners fail to take wickets in ODIs and T20s whereas little known spinners of lesser countries are rich in wickets. Pragyan Ojha, another big IPL name, purple cap holder of IPL-3. He ended up with one wicket. Why ? Did he forget spinning the ball ? Or did he think playing a game or 2 for India is good enough ?

Ashok Dinda, poor fiery chap from Bengal, wrote highly by Sourav was other failure. His off cutters and Yorkers were safely negotiated, half volleys were spanked to boundaries by young Zimbabwe kids.  Umesh Yadav bowled only 4 overs.  Yusuf Pathan was never in sight bowling with his fire in his eyes.  He had chance to score runs on a flat track, which he always does in IPL, he gave away the chance.  Rohit, Raina fell to sharp fielding from Zimbabwean kids.  Jadeja was selfish enough to complete a 50 and fall.

Did not he think to accelerate or at least try for it? He was contend taking singles and rotating strike in 45-50 overs when India scored just 18 runs.

This team is pathetic. If they are called future stars, then lets stop watching cricket for good. Once the greats are retired from Tests and this lesser souls take over, we would be soon languishing in the lower bottom half of the Test rankings. But wait are they even good to play for India again ?

Dinesh Karthik, Murali Vijay,  Yusuf Pathan, Ravinder Jadeja should never play for India again unless they prove hard in the domestic cricket that they belong and not just IPL.  

The flat track bullies of Chepauk, Mr Vijay forgot that he is playing ODI and not a first class game.  He plays  faster than this in 4 tests that he has played for India and he had given impression that he is gutsy enough to play for India long time in Tests. Now that impression stands dusted. Not so long ago he was thought of future # 3 in Tests, a big spot held for 14 years by Rahul Dravid.

Unfortunately this kids don’t have work ethic, their seniors have.  Easy money from IPL, fast tracked selection by ex cricketers from their zone makes them believe that they have arrived on the international scene and hence they fail to do whatever it takes to succeed on the highest level.

Just need to illustrate the case of 3 Best ODI players India ever produced.

Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly.

Success did not come to this lads instantly. Sachin took 78 games and 6 years for his first ODI 100 and thereafter no looking back. 45 hundreds more he scored in 16 years.  He had the promise, he showed it, he delivered it in his younger days. Remember the tour of 1991 to Australia, when bigger Test players (then) than him flopped, the guy scored 2 sublime 100s in Perth and Sydney.

Rahul Dravid, considered by many a misfit ODI batsman (even today) got off to a disastrous start to his ODI career in Singapore and Sharjah tournaments just after 1996 world cup, till 1999 world cup when he emerged as top run getter, his place was never fixed.

When Yuvraj Singh and Mohd Kaif along side Virender Sehwag arrived in early 2000s, Dravid was once again questioned if he belonged to the ODI arena. He remodeled his game from a # 3 to a # 5 or # 6 player as finisher and scored countless innings to win games for India. His partnerships with Yuvraj and Kaif are epitome to the fact.

Ganguly had a disastrous ODI debut in 1991 down under and for 5 years he did not play another game until one day he was selected in Test team to England post 1996 World Cup. The success story thereafter is known to everybody, how he evolved from a “quota selection” to become India’s best captain ever in the formats that matter.

Story of Virender Sehwag could be inspirational too. Dropped after disastrous ODI debut in 1999 and back in the team for Tests in 2001 and then dropped again in 2006-07 and bouncing back in 2008 Adelaide Test could be benchmark for this so called young kids of the Indian cricket team.  They ought to remember that T20s and IPL is not the only thing they need to play well in. Who remembers Swapnil Asnodkar and Kamran Khan now who shone in 2008 and 2009 editions? Do they even play first class cricket and get noticed? Nope, not at all.

Anil Kumble was mocked by Kapil Dev in 1990 England tour when he debuted. For next 2 years he did not play a Test until 1992 when he made a comeback to grab 6/59 in Wanderers Test in SA. And post 1993 he changed the story of Indian spin.

Can Pragyan Ojha and Amit Mishra, known for aggressive send-offs and fire in the bellies learn from the senior pro on how to take wickets and then show the aggression? Take wickets and then do whatever, all is forgiven and forgotten.

Heads would need to roll for this pathetic show.  Its not a show, the team just did not turn up. They just ran through the motions. They pretended that they are playing. The hearts were just not there, that were somewhere else.

Pitiful and shameful performance this.  That’s the least 2 cussing words I can use right now.

Indian Pakistani jokers

Who is a big joker ?

Krishnamachari Srikanth from India

Or

Ijaz Butt from Pakistan

One of them selects unfit, unqualified players to the Indian squad as if his anna owns the Indian team (as in Hindi its said kya team uske baap ki hai)

The other puts ban and revokes it. Dumps a player, then picks him up, cleans his shit and calls him patriot.

Due to KS of India, the team is in retro mode since Feb 2010 when he decided to rest seniors and draft in MV to join Dines as he complained that he needed somebody whom he could rant how good Simbu is. So Srikanth asked Dines to have MV and sing how good Sri anna is.

A CSK'er is India's stand in captain just weeks after he led CSK in 3 games , 1 won amd 2 lost.  The CSK'er does not even captain UP. He could have actually made Dines captain of this team, but then that would have been two much. 

So Srikanth qualifies good enough to be best joker. As good as Ijaz Butt

Aftermath

So India as expectedly is out of the T20 World cup just like they did in 2009. So its safe to conclude that they are not good enough in the format despite boasting of so called successful sporting league that’s none but one man show thus far. The worst effect it has had over the national team is that they forgot the intensity needed to display in the team as playing together. Dhoni famously said for the need to be in the semis for an IPL when the owners pay them so much money. What about the national team when more than billions watch the team play and put their hopes and expectations on the players to do well, if not win everything they play. At least they expect the best players could put in every game and then they lose, nobody would complaint.

We are not a good T20 team and we should accept the fact with the pinch of salt. IPL is not cricket and it can be watched for fun and excitement, but never it can replace the pride and honour to play for the country. Few players have felt that playing in IPL would get them the booty securing their lives and playing for India is an added bonus that gets them the additional money. So performance goes for a toss. Such players are:

·         Yusuf Pathan

·         Yuvraj Singh

·         Zaheer Khan

·         Rohit Sharma

·         Dinesh KArthik

·         Murali Vijay

·         Harbhajan Singh

The intensity this players shown in the IPL was amazing and sadly that intensity on the field in Indian colors was missing.  How many wickets did Zaheer and Harbhajan take in the games they played ? 0. They have 235, 208 wkts in ODIs respectively, 245 and 355 (approx) wickets in Tests respectively and are the leftovers of the side that Ganguly made in early 2000s. Sadly Lalit Modi has spoiled this cricketers.

The captaincy was baffling, he made same mistakes every now and then. Preferring over Jadeja even after his class was exposed time and over, ignoring Chawla (though he did not deserve to be here at first place) playing 2 spinners on a fast bouncy tracks, having pedestals as bowlers (Zaheer, Nehra, Vinay LKUmar can never bowl short balls the way Indians faced from mediocre West Indies team) and repeatedly coming down the order despite the fact he is well known player for short and spin bowling than the likes of JAdeja, Pathan and so forth.  Bowling first was good option when they had the form of 2006 in ODIs when they won everything chasing. But then they had Dravid and Tendulkar in the team who can face short bowling with aplomb.  It was pathetic to see Gambhir jumping to the likes of Dwayne Bravo, Kemar Roach in the T20s when he has had dominated better bowling attacks home and away.  

So what are the factors that led to Indian exit in the World T20s when the weaker and pathetic teams Lanka and Pak got through to the semis:

·         Poor team selection : Everybody said so, I say the same. Srikanth erred in his Chennai prem and ignored the better in form players of IPL – Manish Pandey, Robin UThappa and Virat Kohli who’s had wonderful ODI season this year. In the bowlers he preffered Nehra, Zaheer, Praveen Kumar and Vinay Kumar who never form a quartret to frighten the opposition. Dinesh Karthik was opener and Vijay was replacement to Sehwag, whose absence in both T20 editions was felt. Needless to say he is one of the 2 batsmen successful in ODIs and Tests for India over a year now.  What can you expect of team that has Vijay and Karthik as openers in comparison to Watson, Warner (Aus), Jaywardhene(SL),  Keiswetter, Lumb (England) and even bugger Akamal (Pakistan). Not to forget Gayle for Windies.

·         Sehwag’s absence was hugely felt. He cannot be replaced by duds like Karthik or Vijay, even they hail from CSK.

·         Dhoni’s fascination for PAthan and Jadeja. He is turning the mules to horses when they do not qualify even as Asses.

·         Its time to call curtains for Jadeja and Pathan in the LoIs. They are not just good enough for the highest level of cricket. Not good ethically and not good physically.

·         Dhoni erred in tactics. He kept taking on bowling first and then opted for part timers.  When the track was bouncy, he opted for spinners.  Many times he came lower down the order than Pathan and Jadeja.

·         Selectors chose the team on reputation and not on the form and fitness. Regional favoritism was shamelessly displayed.

So who are those bakras who should be axed but wont be:

·         Harbhajan Singh from T20Is. He is best bowler for Tests but no more for ODIs and T20Is.

·         Yuvraj Singh from all three till he comes back leaner, meaner and fitter.

·         Vijay

·         Karthik

·         Pathan

·         Zaheer Khan from T20s and possibly ODIs too. He is not that effective in LoIs now.

We have had enough of IPL ruining our chances in international formats. None of the cricketing fraternity is gonna remember IPL winners years on from now, but yes the world cup winners would be. I don’t find anything wrong in Dhoni’s statement that IPL parties played a big role in the exit. Likes of Yuvraj, Harbhajan, Raina, Rohit, Zaheer, Pathan were regulars in IPL nights.  They were exhausted and by the time real test came, they were croppers.

IPL should be scheduled far away from the ICC events. Next year India hosts its biggest sports event in CWC ( way bigger than C’wealth games). So if IPL is scheduled before it, we should kiss the dreams of a world cup win good bye.

If a large responsibility lies on coach, skipper for this debacle, a lot of it lies with selectors too and Kris Srikanth at the max for the continuous dubious teams he is selecting.  The replacements for Yuvraj, Pathan and Jadeja are right here.

Kohli  for Yuvraj

Uthappa for Pathan with an added bonus of wicket keeping. That’d keep DK away

Pandey for Jadeja.

Yuvraj Singh is more on reputation than the form now.  He deserves rest to sort out his off the field problems whatsoever. Jadeja and Pathan are not over franchisee class, perhaps they should stick to the franchisee cricket. Dinesh Karthik, Vijay and other lesser TN players would keep coming and harming the chances of Indian team as long Srikanth, the worst selectors chief ever in memory, is around.  Sacking Dhoni and Kirsten for T20  failure would be a unfair thing to do as they have done commendable tasks in Tests and ODIs, the formats that really matter.

After all lets accept that T20 is not India’s cup of tea despite boasting of a chicken tandoori item called IPL.

Angry reactions

Some angry reactions:

·         Why there are no Pandeys, Uthappas in the Indian ODI squad to Zimbabwe ? Why do Pathan, Jadeja and Vijay continue to find a place in LoI cricket ? They aint worth it. Dinesh Karthik is forever inked in the team.  Whats Srikanth upto ? How long are we going to see the likes of Pathan and Jadeja in the teams on the name of being young and promising. There is got to be a time when the promise has to be delivered. We already have had lads who promised a lot but delivered nothing.

·         Short balling has been the nemesis of Indian batting ever since they started playing cricket. That went off for a while when the Fab Four took over followed by Sehwag. But take this 5 out and the culprits are out to seen again. Gambhir, what was he thinking when he nicked the one to the slip yesterday ?

·  

       Ditto for M Vijay. He had a good IPL, agreed. He is not new to international cricket anymore. He has toured alongside Indian teams since 2008 and has been the part of dressing rooms since Delhi Test of 2008 when Gambhir was banned. He played decent knocks in Tests but when Saffers came along he flopped in Nagpur Test this year. After that failure he has played ODIs and T20Is for India without any success. All bcos he hails from same state as chief of selection committee.

Thank GOD, the next World Cup is in India else this batting lineup was not good enough to set right the dismal record of 2007 WC.

India crashes out!! (Would as of now)

Lets brace ourselves for another repeat of England 09. Same mistakes, same players and same team. Some things hardly change. Ravinder Jadeja is awful player, his IPL ban proved it. And he let go of some more chances that came his way. He gave 27 runs off 2 overs totalling 65 runs in 4 overs including 9 sixes.  He dropped catches and then he misfielded.

The pitch was supposed to be damp yet there was no trace of fast bowlers in the attack. Zaheer looked pathetic, something a spearhead would be shameful about.  He has not got a single wicket in the tournament. The bowling reserves for fast bowling looks pathetic. R Vinay KUmar and yet to come Umesh Yadav.  Vinay Kumar does not find trust in Dhoni and Umesh Yadav now turns irrelevant.

Even today Dhoni went in with part timers. Raina, Pathan and Jadeja.  Harbhajan was finished off earlier and played off safely. And then it was run feast for Gayle who played magnificent for 97 runs. Fielding was at its worst.

And when it comes to batting lets not talk about the short stuff. Vijay continues to disappoint and he finds place in Zimbabwe tour, thanks to Srikanth.  Dinesh Karthik finds his place too. Good going Srikanth. Himself being an opener he forgot the importance of a good opening start. In absence of Sachin and Sehwag, the opening for India looks awful. Sachin does not play T20Is, but Sehwag is being missed.

India's campaign is over. 3/46 in 9 overs.  T20s is not India's cup of tea anymore when we boast of IPL a so called world beating sporting league.

If Jadeja, Vijay and Karthik are Indian batting future then GOD save Indian cricket.

Awful team selection

If likes of Jadeja and Pathan are going to play ahead of Chawla and the IPL heroes Ojha and Mishra, then GOD bless India and its world campaigns. If on basis of 1 innings of IPL likes of Pathan are going to be given chances galore when the fact is proved that he is a lame duck in international games,, then god bless MSD and his team.

The team selected for this campaign was always flawed where one or 2 IPL games were benchmarked and the so called stars were rushed in. Pathan and Vijay are prime examples of this selection headed by Mr Srikanth.

For the must win game tomorrow if India has to win a game then Jadeja should be replaced by Chawla. Jadeja cant bat and cant bowl.  Unfortunately Vijay cannot be replaced. Karthik is even poorer than Vijay.

India's campaign right now resembles 2007 when they lost opening Super 8 game but it could soon go 2009 way if they lose on Sunday.

A lot will depend on which Xi plays tomorrow.