India had a disastrous world cup. The criticism and analysis have come from all quarters. Some blamed the coach, some blamed the captain and some even blamed the sponsor’s. In the end, the coach Greg Chappell stepped down. After all, somebody had to take the blame. But is Chappell really to be blamed? If so, to what extent? All the debating and analysis won’t give us the answer. The best thing for an Indian fan would be to look to the future and hope that the results will get better.
The squad for the Bangladeshi tour has been picked. The selectors have said that they have rested Tendulkar and Ganguly for the ODI’s and have dropped Pathan, Harbhajan and Agarkar while Kumble retired. Thus 9 out of the 15 that went for the world cup have made the tour.
Of the players who have been recalled Dinesh Mongia is a surprise selection. If the emphasis is on youth why bring in a 30 year old? Ramesh Powar who was unlucky not to be in the Caribbean for the world cup gets another go. Again, if the emphasis is on youth why bring in a player even older than Harbhajan Singh? Gautam Gambhir and RP Singh are talent for the future and should be given plenty of opportunity. The new faces in the squad Manoj Tiwary and Piyush Chawla are full of talent. It would be exciting to see them make their debuts. I first saw Chawla play in the 2005 challenger series as a sixteen year old and remember him getting Dhoni, Yuvraj and Tendulkar in a match. Tendulkar’s wicket was a beauty. Chawla foxed the master with a wrong ‘un. Tiwary has been scoring heavily in the domestic tournaments and will be raring to go. My only issue with Chawla is that as a leg spinner, starting his international career as a one-day player is not the ideal. He could lose confidence if he gets hit out of the attack and also could lose the wicket taking ability by trying to restrict batsman in one day matches. All in all the ODI squad looks balanced, but if Sehwag and Mongia do not perform in Bangladesh, they should be shown the door immediately. They have been given enough opportunities.
The test squad is more interesting, not because there are new faces in it but because there aren’t any. The top order is the same as the top order that played in 2005. It probably might be the same in 2009 as you can be certain that Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and Jaffer will score heavily against Bangladesh as they would be keen to keep their places and even push for a place in the ODI squad. If Gambhir, Uthappa and Tiwary do not take their opportunities in the ODI’s, it is certain that they would be replaced by Ganguly and Tendulkar. Afterall, the selectors did not drop Ganguly and Tendulkar, but have rested them from ODI’s. Would this be good for Indian cricket in the long run? The selectors have always had the tendency of pleasing the public. After all, India and its selectors love its heroes and they always get a chance to comeback. If Ganguly and Tendulkar do get into the ODI side again, don’t be surprised if most of the batsman that made it to the 2007 World Cup are in the team for the 2011 edition as well.
The ODI and Test squads for the Bangladesh tours are as follows:
ODI squad:
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh.
Test squad:
Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid (capt), VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, VRV Singh, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Munaf Patel
The squad for the Bangladeshi tour has been picked. The selectors have said that they have rested Tendulkar and Ganguly for the ODI’s and have dropped Pathan, Harbhajan and Agarkar while Kumble retired. Thus 9 out of the 15 that went for the world cup have made the tour.
Of the players who have been recalled Dinesh Mongia is a surprise selection. If the emphasis is on youth why bring in a 30 year old? Ramesh Powar who was unlucky not to be in the Caribbean for the world cup gets another go. Again, if the emphasis is on youth why bring in a player even older than Harbhajan Singh? Gautam Gambhir and RP Singh are talent for the future and should be given plenty of opportunity. The new faces in the squad Manoj Tiwary and Piyush Chawla are full of talent. It would be exciting to see them make their debuts. I first saw Chawla play in the 2005 challenger series as a sixteen year old and remember him getting Dhoni, Yuvraj and Tendulkar in a match. Tendulkar’s wicket was a beauty. Chawla foxed the master with a wrong ‘un. Tiwary has been scoring heavily in the domestic tournaments and will be raring to go. My only issue with Chawla is that as a leg spinner, starting his international career as a one-day player is not the ideal. He could lose confidence if he gets hit out of the attack and also could lose the wicket taking ability by trying to restrict batsman in one day matches. All in all the ODI squad looks balanced, but if Sehwag and Mongia do not perform in Bangladesh, they should be shown the door immediately. They have been given enough opportunities.
The test squad is more interesting, not because there are new faces in it but because there aren’t any. The top order is the same as the top order that played in 2005. It probably might be the same in 2009 as you can be certain that Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman and Jaffer will score heavily against Bangladesh as they would be keen to keep their places and even push for a place in the ODI squad. If Gambhir, Uthappa and Tiwary do not take their opportunities in the ODI’s, it is certain that they would be replaced by Ganguly and Tendulkar. Afterall, the selectors did not drop Ganguly and Tendulkar, but have rested them from ODI’s. Would this be good for Indian cricket in the long run? The selectors have always had the tendency of pleasing the public. After all, India and its selectors love its heroes and they always get a chance to comeback. If Ganguly and Tendulkar do get into the ODI side again, don’t be surprised if most of the batsman that made it to the 2007 World Cup are in the team for the 2011 edition as well.
The ODI and Test squads for the Bangladesh tours are as follows:
ODI squad:
Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik, Manoj Tiwary, Dinesh Mongia, Piyush Chawla, Ramesh Powar, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh.
Test squad:
Wasim Jaffer, Dinesh Karthik, Rahul Dravid (capt), VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Anil Kumble, Sreesanth, Zaheer Khan, VRV Singh, Ramesh Powar, Rajesh Pawar, Munaf Patel
2 comments:
India Is the Best !!
Yes, sangeetha, we saw that in the last world cup.
India is the best ...
... at what one may ask?
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