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.

Indian XV

World cup selection is around the corner and here is my final 15.


1. Tendulkar
2. Sehwag
3. Gambhir
4. Yuvraj
5. Raina
6. Dhoni
7. Kohli
8. HArbhajan
9. Zaheer
10. Ashvin
11. Nehra
12. Yusuf Pathan
13. Praveen Kumar
14. Munaf Patel
15. Rohit Sharma

ODI series preview

The IPL auction has hogged the limelight away from the upcoming ODI series with South Africa. This ODI series is last series before the world cup and how India fares in it would give a fair idea how the team would perform in the world cup.

The injuries are looming around the corner and the team management has done a fair job in resting/ sending Gambhir, Sehwag and now Praveen Kumar back to India to recuperate in time. That leaves Murali Vijay or Rohit Sharma as contenders to partner Tendulkar on the top.

The bowling attack looks good with Zaheer and Nehra as new ball openers. They would remind us of the epic 2003 campaign in the same country in which India raced back to the world cup finals. Srinath was the leader then, its Zaheer who is the leader here.

It should be a fairly fought contest with a possible scoreline of 3-2 for either team. It wont be horrible as 0-4 last time, but it wont be easy either to conquer them.

Let the game begin in the prologue to the upcoming grand event back home, even bigger than the IPL. The Cricket 50 over world cup.

Losers invite winning auction prices in IPL

Dinesh Karthik and Ravinder Jadeja are greater players than Saurav Ganguly, Brian Lara, VVS Laxman, Rahul  Dravid and even Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh. 

Well this is  not what the fans think, but the franchisees think highly of the greats like Boss DK and Jadeja sir who have fetched $800000 and $900000 for themselves. 

And based on what is something nobody knows. One of them does not score more than 20 or 30 in a game out of 5 or 6. The other one was suspended for entire 3rd season of IPL and was dropped recently from the national squad after failing to turn out to be modern day Gary Sobers!!!!

Take a bow guys to King Jadeja and King Karthik!!!!

Awful Australia

Australia have lost the Ashes 1-3 after 24 years in their backyard and this is the most shameful defeat they have suffered in years. They used to lose to India before but not after giving a fight or a tussle. This Australian team had no bones for fights, they didnt anchor and they just crumbled in every aspect. They could not bat for long partnerships, could not take early wickets or break long partnerships, their batting collapsed in heap in almost every Test.

The openers, middle order, lower order of batting just did not have any courage to dig anchor and just hang in there. The bowlers bowled a lot of lose balls, they were not consistent throughout. If they had England on mat for first 3 days of the series, they thereafter allowed an easy route to success by folding out for 98 in the must win test in MCG.

Hughes tried to be Sehwag but could not even score a 50 in 3 tests he got to play in. Watson continued to make 50s which were of no use to anyone. Ponting was horrible in batting, Clarke was useless and Hussey, Haddin were only shining spots of the bleak summer. Even they folde out after holding the fort for the first 3 tests.  If one test Johnson was a world beater he was hit mercilessly in 2nd. Bollinger never threatened, spinners were least talked the better. Hauritz was discarded for Beer and Doherty, who not only floundered but also failed to take wickets.

All in all a very disappointing summer for Australia. The only chance of redemption in the future is the world cup in India. If they are able to win it, the chances of which appear very less, they would do a huge boost to themselves.

Else the future is bleak for immediate times. Their next Test assignment is against marathon batters Sri Lanka in August in SL. Till then if they find the personnel and right attitude to win it would be good for them, else the horrible 80s are due to return for them.

Post South Africa series

A 1-1 is not a fair result in the end of the series which was well fought and dominated by India after the centurion drubbing. India lost the plot on day 4 when they allowed SA to race to 341 from 6/130. At that scoreline with an out of form Boucher and injured Kallis on the crease, it could have been a easy victory if any one of them was dislodged earlier. But India failed to cease the initiative.

Th captaincy became defensive, except for Zaheer and Harbhajan there were no intent from the other bowlers. One of them was even fined for his now usual (mis)behavior.  What is the use of such a bowler who is unable to provide the breakthroughs when needed and has his own set of rituals to follow even if the over rate is slow. I raised that point in one of the posts below and there it was, India was fined for slow over rate. Kallis was one of the factor behind the slow over rate when he frequently asked for physio during his not out innings.

A target of 340 was always going to be tough on day 5 wicket. And if India had any outside chances to win the test they were dependent on Sehwagasque start,alas he too switched off. he went to defensive mode and scored just 11 off 40 bals before getting out.

If Sehwag could have got going his trademark style who knows the Saffers would have been under some pressure.

Gambhir once again showed his class in 2nd innings, he not only played with an injured left arm, but also stuck out in the middle depriving the SA bowlers of any chances to flutter India.  He came good in this series in 2 tests he played. A 80 in last innings followed by patient, fighting 90 in this one. A century would have been better, but this team is not about the milestones, but the fighting spirits.

India lost horribly in the first test, came back great in 2nd to dismiss SA for 131 and almost won the 3rd test. It was a replica of 2007 when India messed up their batting in 2nd innings and this time it was the bowling.

The biggest question after this series would be Dravid. What next ? Is he going to wait till May to go to West Indies and England thereafter or would he call quits. There is no competitive cricket to follow for him except IPL 4 to help gain some batting form. But the question is how long will he prolong himself after a rut which has gripped him for a year now.

The question is how long would Sachin Tendulkar carry on. Would he retire after the World Cup? Or quit ODIs and continue tests. I think that would be the most possible scenario that he would give up ODIs to prolong his test career by a year or 2. This year is very important for India considering the tests it has to play in 4 continents or countries -- India, West Indies, England and Australia. We would be anticipating nothing less than wins in WI and Australia and an epic series to follow in England. And if India faces a mass exodus in its 3 best batsmen then does it have the replacements ready for the remaining greats of Indian great middle order of 2000s?

A lot of this would clarify in the coming months.

Sreesanth

Sreesanth has been in the eye of storm again in SA. Last time he did a break dance to Andre Nel, this time he has offered some staunch comments against Smith's mother and HArris's wife (as reported).   This has invited him a lot of sledging from the South African fielders when he batted today in the first innings and a public dressing from his captain in media.

Not only this he was also booed by spectators when he stepped in to bat and he was cheered when he swung and had a miss.

The problem with this jerk is that he is a man of his own world. If he would bowl a snorter, the next he would ball a half volley giving a plate full of runs. He would bowl one unplayable delivery and the next one would be a full down the leg side. He got a 5-for in the first innings, his first after Kanpur 09,

He has his own rituals while delivering the overs or his own celebrations after taking a wicket. More often than not he would send off a batsman who is a petty no 11 or a batsman who has just defended a ball back to him.

All this while when he has his own rituals to follow he often ignores the situations of the match. Even if the team is running short of over rate and the captain faces suspension, this lad would continue his rituals which are just theatericals and nothing more. This just indicates he is no more a team man.

And if continues to find a place in the test team cos there are no more good players then he needs to justify the place with wickets to his name rather than the sledges or abuses!!

No 51

Hail the GOD for his 51st century. An innings played amidst torrid spell of fast bowling and a lot of lip service from the saints of Saffa.  He is onto a race to hit 60 Test tuns, something that would be unbeatable for years or perhaps centuries.

Whattaplayer!!!

2011 WishList

Wishlist for 2011:

This is a big year for Indian cricket given the fact that it plays World Cup in home turf a month and half from now. Plus it tours away countries where it has a realistic chances to win series. In 2 of those countries India has already won the last series it played and in the 3rd one, its the best chance to win a series first time after deprived of it by ugly Steve Bucknor.

India tours England, West Indies and Australia this year. First time away tours in such a bulk after 2007.

The progress India has made in last few years which led to its incarnation being the top test team of the world would be tested this year and i hope it comes out with flying  colors. Dravid wont be around after SA series for sure and that would mean Che Pujara / M Vijay would move to the 3 and again Yuvraj would compete with Raina for 6.

India would play the world cup in its turf where it would be the team best suited to go all the distance as it would have a knowledge of the conditions and pitches all over the grounds its going to play. And it would be heartbreaking if a team like Sri Lanka wins the world cup in India. This is the best chance to avenge that 1996 defeat in Eden Gardens.  A world cup win in Mumbai and hopefully a Sachin 100 would be dream come true. But more than Sachin 100, its going to be a world cup win thats going to be more wishful.

The contest of the year wont be SL vs Aus or SL vs ?? but India vs England in England. That would be the best chance for England to try and win a series against India in 14 years. And if that happens then may be then Gough and Vuaghan would get some credit to their bullcrap!!

But first things first, a Capetown victory would be the first one on the agenda and start of the best things thats destined to come to Indian cricket.