Road Ahead

Anil Kumble has been spot on for his evaluation of the T20 debacle.   He is right to say we have not handled pacers well. We’ve lost Munaf (he was fast only when he played tour game vs England), RP Singh (so successful in first winning campaign in World T20 and IPL-2), Sreesanth (disciplinary problems),  Ishant Sharma (poor in LoIs) and many others who shone in domestic tourneys but did not succeed.  Irfan Pathan destroyed by Greg Chappell is seeming to be lost forever. He is million times more useful than his showmaker brother Yusuf Pathan who shows fake aggression on taking wicket of a tail ender.

In one of the other diagnostic article on cricinfo there is mention of this batting line to cope up with the pressure of top side in Tests. Fortunately none of this batsmen boomed in by IPL glitz and glamor play for India in Tests. Neither does Vijay, Raina, Yuvraj or a Pathan appear to be in contention for any Test spot near future.  That rests with Gambhir, who is still a world class batter, Sehwag, the one who was missed, Dravid, who should be back for ODIs world cup, Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and MS Dhoni. 6^th spot should be for a debutant sans Dabrinath and Vijay.

So the test team has conquered everywhere – West Indies, England, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  Reason the work ethics of the top 5 of Indian Test batting line up has been different. The likes of Raina, Sharma lack patience. They come out and try to hit the ball out of park first minute they enter. There is no meaning of settling down or having a grip of situation in the middle. When its against a minnow it might work, but against  stronger team it just wont work.

T20 failure throws up a question on the composition of the ODI side which has to win the World Cup at any side. The oDI record for India is best amongst the top teams. That’s conveniently forgotten. Most of the players in XI chose themselves – Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj (??), MSD, Raina, Kohli.  The bowling attack needs an overhaul. Sorry to say but Harbhajan needs a kick up his back to remind that he is so called best Indian spinner after Anil Kumble. He can never be the bowler Anil was in his peak in 1990s home ODIs when Azhar used to bring him on in the 15 overs and he usually responded with crucial breakthroughs.

Shastri says groom a young captain for T20. MSD is not an old warhorse. And he is a good captain. Remember he is winning almost every ODI and Test series India is playing. T20s are being lost but that should not be that big a disappointment as losing a traditional world cup. We don’t want a repeat of 2007 when India failed to qualify in Super 8s in 15 years.  We need to have a look at the bowling attack and have 2 good fast bowlers who would have pace, take wickets and even though give runs. A figure of 4/55 would be much better than 0/45 and a speed of 140+ than 135.  There are a few players who need discard for good and besides the usual culprits mentioned on other posts of the blog – Pravin Kumar is one such bowler who would be ineffective on flat Indian pitches for WC.

Shastri, Ganguly and Gavaskar have been spot on with their comments, but the likes of Madan Lal or Jadeja, Maninder Singh are fool hardies.

MSD has won more than he has lost. So if he is reeled for this defeat then he has to be commended for other achievements too. If he has been stubborn for few players, then may be he would learn a hard lesson. If he is trying to do a Ganguly to Pathans, Jadejas, Vijays and Pravins then lets not forget that the players Ganguly nursed were awesome then (may be they are poor now), they were serious talents (Sehwag and Yuvraj prove this).

The golden generation of Indian batting prospered in short ball conditions, fast bouncy traks and slow pitches too. The same cannot be expected out of the likes of Rainas and others.  Simple, the work ethic is  the reason. The golden generation of Indian batting prospered in Tests, ODIs and IPL. The current generation excels in just IPL.  The players who made  500s and  400s in IPL flopped in the international format. The guy who made 600 in this IPL has proved what adaptability is and what work ethic is.  It’s a pity that the younger generation of Indian batsmen don’t want to learn from the illustrious men like Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly while sharing the dressing room..

Yuvraj Singh was a special talent and its delightful to watch him in full flow. When he scratches around he seems ugly. Off field reaons play a big reason in why he fails to deliver.  For the time being he is best suited to sit out the team till he solves whatsoever his problems are.

India’s next big assignment is the Sri Lankan Dambulla cup in June July. And that IMO should mark the beginning of preparation for ODI world cup, far bigger and important than the T20I world cup which keeps on coming every 2 years. 

All is not lost and in couple of months now we would be back to backing the team hoping that it learns from this mistakes, chucks out complacent IPL players and gets the dedicated hungry for success players. India can do it and we would still be able to achieve success in the ODI series lined up in next few months.  After all we are # 2 in ODIs and # 1 in Tests. Lets not forget that the personnel for the ODI and Tests, as next assignments would change and hopefully we wont need to see the same usual crop of retards playing for India and thus insulting the meaning of playing for country.

Poor team selection

The team has been announced for world t20 and to say in one word it’s a disappointing selection.  There are many players who are in with a questionable form, there are many who are injured and there are many who are dropped and many more who are not even considered despite strong performance in ongoing IPL bandwagon.  

The culprits:

Praveen Kumar : Except a IPL hattrick, he has nothing to show against his name and he finds a place in the team. The pitches in Windies wont offer swing, so this pehelwan from Meerut is not going to have any impression in the opening spell. And if he is going to be an one change bowler, then he is wasted. Irfan Pathan would have been a better choice given his form with the bat in the ongoing IPL.

Rohit Sharma: What has he done ? He has not played a ODI in long time and has not fired in IPL for Deccan too. Why is he in the team ?

Ashish Nehra : Injured his ribcage. Would he be fit ? And if he would be, then would he be match fit? When he would return to play ?

Piyush Chawla : Out of blue selection?  How come this lad came in ? And from where ? Mishra and Ojha forgotten!!!

Dinesh Karthik : Has not set IPL on fire and in his captaincy DD have lost 3 and won 1. (lost 2).  Cant bat, cant keep and cant stand straight without a dance. In the team thanks to Kris Srikanth.

Missing Links:

Irfan Pathan: He should have been in the team as batting allrounder. He is more consistent than his maverick brother and offers variety than the dibbly dobblies of Yusuf.

Robin Uthappa: Man in the form and the architect of the superb run for RCB in IPL 3

Manish Pandey : First Indian to score an IPL 100 and Ranji top run getter. Solid opening partner for Kallis in IPL 3 for RCB.

Saurabh Tiwary : Chota Dhoni not needed as long as Bada and original Dhoni is around

When this performances are not to be counted what is the use of the chief selector sitting around in every Chennai game? Is he just as a brand ambassador for a franchisee or also a part time job to have a look at other impressive performers in whatever game he sits in yellow color jump suit?  We are once more carrying too many injured players and flop players in the squad no different from 2009. The core – Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj, Zaheer, Dhoni, Raina  would be omnipresent but then wont other slots be given to players in form and with some consistency on the display ?

Another poor team selection and perhaps time for Kris Srikanth to quit his job and take over a role in upcoming Kochi franchisee of IPL.

Bangalore score a thumping win…

In the end the game between modern legspinner giant led teams proved to be more than an one sided affair. Kumble was ruthless in attacking his own countrymen whereas Warne could do nothing thanks to the depleted team he has got in his kitty.  Kallis, Pehelwan Kumar and Kumble himself cashed on poor Royals batsmen and ensured the Royals were all out for 92 with last 6 wkts just falling for 11 runs. Pravin Kumar took a hat trick, the first one of IPL-3.  Kallis continued his redemption in T20 and now he stands wearing the orange / purple cap whichever it is for highest run maker in the tourney. He is yet to get out in this tournament.

The best thing about Kumble’s captaincy was the barrage of short balls he had for the Royals batsmen including Yusuf Pathan and no wonder most of them fell for it.  The bowling changes were spot on and most of them worked. His plans worked more than what he could have expected them to. 

Royals are now likely to finish last in the table at the end of league games cos it seem that they don’t have the firepower anymore to match the magical and inspirational words from Warne. On the other hand Bangalore are gaining strength to strength, thanks to the astute captaincy of Kumble and awesome all-round display from Kallis.

At the end of almost first week, the Bangalore Challengers stand 2^nd in the table with Sachin Tendulkar’s Mumbai Indians leading the way. Its an irony that the first 3 teams in the points table are the teams led by 3 of the Fab Five of Indian Test team and this teams contain 4 of those Fab 5 players.  No matter they are not playing in same team but seeing them all in action is what is the best thing about IPL.

Vadodara ODI : Indian perspective

The Indian perspective on the Vadodara ODI is here :

India was below their best yet they ran close to the Aussies, that shows the character in the team. Lol. It shows that they are going with the motive to win every game they play and evolve a process to get stronger to the World Cup 11. And in the process they ensure that they dont turn to a bug bear.

Harbhajan, the bowler continues to baffle as does Ravinder Jadeja.

Jadeja should know he is not in the team to stick to the wicket at 7. His role is to play shots as soon as he can and get quick runs.

And Praveen Kumar is not a good option to go with in domestic batting conditions.

A thriller where in Harbhajan, the batsman lost his cool and India lost the game.

Runs are now expected out of Sehwag and Tendulkar at the top. And when Yuvraj comes back a lot of shabby efforts on the field would be cured.

A request to Ding Dong Bell : if you have fresh perspectives to add other than your normal “pathetic”, “Lolol’ and other India bashing words, please add them here. If you do not, then dont bother to waste your time.

Recipe for an India win today

Bowl first, get wickets and then bat well to get target well before 20 overs. Dump Irfan Pathan. Get Praveen Kumar. Give him a beer n show him a doctor in the bowler. He would then take his batting seriously. He would get few early wickets.

Bat Yuvraj up the order as soon as Broad comes to bowl. Its circa 2007. More than 58 off 15 balls is needed from him. More than that, MS needs to fire. Fire big. More than his strike rate of 107. And if by any chance they could half/semi fit Viru in. He was key in that game against England in 2007. 68, his highest score.

Alright, he is not present. Some sense of responsibility. Aggression needed. No half measures. No awkwardness. England are a joke, they have nobody in their lineup except Bopara and to an extent Owais Shah.

India need to get back to their true colors right away. No being pushovers. India havent lost a game to England in 2 years, since the Lords ODI defeat. Mind ittttttt.