Inconsistent Selections

By dropping Saurav Ganguly out of the RoI squad, the selectors have opened a pandora box. They have let the cat out of the bag. The axe is totally unfair and uncalled for. The grounds on which Ganguly has been dropped aint satisfactory. Since his comeback he has had one dull series and since he has been the one on tight rope ever since he lost his captaincy, he was dropped.

If we look at the stats since his comeback he stands tallest amongst all batsmen in 21 Tests in the duration (Dec 06 – Sep 08) with 1600+ runs @ 46. Not even Dravid, not even Tendulkar or Laxman have scored this many runs. So whats the criteria for selection committee to drop Ganguly ? Form ? Fitness ? Politics ? What ?

I still reiterate that the so called young guns aint ready for Test transit. Unfortunately the guys who were supposed to have eased out to the test mode aint confident over their ability. You can say some of them have been unfair like Kaif who got an axe following every worthy inning he played (91 against England 06, 148 vs WI 06)or you can say some of them didnt deserve to play 23 Tests who yet to date dont know their responsibilities. Yuvraj, that is.

By far Kaif and Yuvraj should have been ready to take the Test places, but they are not. Unfortunately Australia is not the team against which you can throw in young rookies citing change or transition. Success against them might boost them and the road to fame would be easier, but in case they fail then the career would be gone and finished. We certainly wont need a future prospect ruin his chances this way.

To be very honest, SL series is the only series in many years when the Fab Four have failed. Australia 07, Pakistan 07, England 07, South Africa 06, West Indies 06 — all series have had Fab four firing the guns. You got to be consistent in deciding criteria to drop or retain a player. Performance should be the single most criterion to judge a place. Doesnt matter if the player is 35 or 25. Rohit Sharma hasnt played any significant innings post CB series 2nd final. Yuvraj Singh has squandered away all starts he has got in ODIs. The 2 guys are integral part of ODI scheme of things.

And Ganguly isnt. I wont yet write off Saurav Ganguly. He is a fighter and he would claw back in the team with even greater vengenance than before. He can be down, but not out. He would fight out this crisis and trust me he would emerge victorious yet again.

Irani trophy.

The selectors choose the RoI squad for the Irani Trophy — the season kickass starter today. And the choice of skipper (MSD or AK) would say a big deal about the plans to come for the rest of the season. RoI is going to be virtually the Test squad going to play against the Aussies minus the openers and the premier bowler who troubled Ponting down under — Ishant Sharma.

If MSD plays, then it doesnt make sense to pick one more keeper. If MSD is up for Tests, then I dont think PP or DK are playing unless MSD is injured or Gambhir gets a slump in the form. So i dont see any reason for Karthik or Pappu Patel to play.

Fab four and Kaif along with Raina would form the batting line up. Zaheer, Munaf, Santh and RP could be the front runners for the pace attack and with Kumble, Bhajji forming what we call as the spin attack.

Fingers crossed.

Update :

The squad is declared with Ganguly not bein selected for the trophy. That doesnt mean his career has ended. He would be right there to take on the Auzzies in Chinna stadia. And few pointers if the squad indicates :

1. MSD got to wait for Test captaincy a bit longer. Pretty logical.
2. No new “yung shot” for test series against the best.
3. Jaffer — bhai konsi chakki ka aata khate ho ? 175 runs in 11 innings and you still in dude. Ganguly 600+ in 11 innings and he finds himself out. Perhaps thats an advantage Mumbai has when its got a reputed ex-player as selectos head. No matter how irrelevant it might seem as cricketing logic might suggest. Rohit Sharma still finds a place. Dhanya he.

Comment karo bhai.

Rahul Dravid

Is the guy over or finished ? Should he retire and make way for geeks like Raina or Sharma ? Rahul Dravid, who not so long ago was the indian skipper and one of the mainstay of Indian batting in ODIs and Tests. He was the man who won us the series in West Indies after 35 years and in England after 21 years. Mean achievements ah ?

And not to mention a superb run with the bat during Ganguly’s era. Hand in epic victories in Adelaide, Headingley, Perth (greatest of all overseas win), RawalPindi, West Indies and many such far away neverlands where India was never successful historically. He has been struggling for runs this year and the last year. He has been looked pedestal against the likes of Mendis and every cheating Muralitharan, but that doesnt take away the gloss away off a superb batting career for India.

He has been the captain who has been under severest of media scrutiny and undue pressure from ex-cricketers who were like a whiff of sand before him. He had to deal with the tantrums of an ego rich coach in Greg Chappell and then deal with the post world cup failure of 2007 and a coach less period for most part of 2007.

I dont think Dravid has finished or should retire now or in a year. He is just 35 and the law of averages has stuck him for the first time in 9 years. Thats fair. Every batsman goes through a high or a low and this is not a new phenomenon. Going on since 1876 when Test cricket began. The crap media scrutiny has began few years back. He has had to face most of the scrutiny in the past 3 years since the era of Ganguly as captain ended. First he was hailed for his winning ways with Chappell, then he was accused of plotting SG s down fall which appeared kiddish to me. The blokes have played their test cricket and odis together like conjoined twins. They have been delight to watch and the media goons got nothing better than plotting 1 against the other.

And then Dravid was compared to peerless Tendulkar. They both dont compete against each other, they play with each other. No other pair has ever made more runs for 3rd wkt partnership than the peerless pair of Tendulkar and Dravid. Occasional success of over enthusiastics like Raina and Sharma cant force the man of stature liek Dravid to go back and call curtains on his peerless career. And neither can any of the selector present or the future who were not even as half as good as the man from Bangalore himself.

I back Dravid totally to come good against his fav opposition in his home turf where he doesnt boast a very good record (60 in 2004 against Aus is his highest), yet he would overcome his nerves and resucrrect his career for another 2-3 years. Critics better watch out and be prepared to fag yourself in the dust bowl nearby.

India s series win and DON s centenary

I return full fledged to the world of cricket blog. And a good day to return when :

• Sir DON Bradman completes centenary of his life.
• 
  India win an elusive ODI series win in SL for first time in 23 years.

Sir Don Bradman till date remains the greatest ever batsmen to have played the game to date. Critics might argue that he scored 5028 of his 6996 runs against one team of the 5 teams who played Test cricket in his times. But then it takes guts and challenge to score 5028 runs in 37 Tests against a single team.

The debate of the playing conditions then and now, the question of Don having played one dimensional bowlers more than variety of bowlers in his time would always rage but his aura and fame wont fade an inch. The fact that 60 years hence he played his last test, no batsmen till date has managed to reach the average of 65 in Test cricket says the huge difference between the class of Don and the rest of the Test batsmen.

India s win in SL ODi series is sure to rekindle the age old debate of senior Vs junior players in the Test team. And after failure of the GODs of Indian batting in Tests and “success” of the rookies in the ODI series, its but natural for the media to start the debate on their prime time shows. and yes there would be calls to replace Anil Kumble as Test captain with MS as well.

By the way I missed writing blogs on cricket hugely. But now I feel I am up for it and write it with more regularity.