Cricinfo - Blogs - Cricinfo Select - More than a replacement

Three, one-day cricket is a young man's game and, being on the wrong side of thirty, Laxman isn't part of the future. Tendulkar and Dravid select themselves and it makes sense to groom young players around them.

However, the circumstances have changed in the past few months, and changed circumstances warrant flexible thinking. On pitches that haven't been conducive to batting, some Indian batsmen have been exposed for their technical shortcomings and inability to adapt. Sehwag has continued to fail, Yuvraj Singh has lost form and Suresh Raina hasn't been good enough.

Most importantly, pitches in West Indies, Malaysia and in India during the Champions Trophy have changed, if only slightly, the pattern of one-day cricket. Seam, spin and indifferent bounce have tested batsmen and demanded application and technical adaptability. It has made for interesting cricket and raised the importance of primary batting skills. Unless the pitches change dramatically, the World Cup is likely to see 250-run totals rather than those in excess of 300.

A batsman like Laxman can be a misfit and a liability even on flat batting pitches where batsmen can plonk the front foot down and swing through the line. If you are looking at scoring over 300, you need batsmen who can clear the ropes every once in a while. One Dravid is enough to rotate the strike.

To chase 250, though, you need solid and sensible batting. And when conditions are demanding, you need batsmen who have the skill to see out the tough periods. Raina is a promising batsman and electric in the field. Mohammad Kaif is a fighter, a team-man and brilliant in the inner circle. But on batting pedigree, they don't equal to half of Laxman.

Too often in the recent past, Laxman has batted like a man with his place on the line. Some of his doubts are perhaps self-inflicted. But to get the best out of him, he must be made to feel wanted and secure

Conditions in South Africa were never going to be easy. To give themselves the best chance, India needed to pick their best players, not merely invest in hope. They got it half right by picking Anil Kumble - but chose Dinesh Karthik when Yuvraj's injury opened up a place.

Laxman now walks into a tough assignment in the middle of a series that cannot be won. There is no guarantee that he will play the next ODI and it will be too much to expect him to turn up and effect a turnaround. But having undone their first mistake, the selectors must now give him space and confidence to find his way back. He must feature in the World Cup plans now. With their batting in a crisis, India would only be fooling themselves if they think they still have the luxury of ignoring Laxman.

When going got tough for batsmen in the Champions Trophy, Australia found a saviour in Damien Martyn. He didn't need to hit the cover off the ball. He was deft and skillful. He created the angles and found the gaps. Laxman is a batsman in the same mould. But too often in the recent past, he has batted like a man with his place on the line. Some of his doubts are perhaps self-inflicted. But to get the best out of him, he must be made to feel wanted and secure.

When the Dravid-Chappell regime began, Indian cricket needed a shake-up. The team had become stale and lethargic. Some players needed to go, some needed to be woken up, and new players needed to be tried. In Munaf Patel, India have found a bowler for the future. And having served a necessary sentence, Zaheer Khan is back, fitter and hungrier. But India must now pause, catch their breath, reassess their options, and choose the best available talent.

amazing piece......journalism at its best

Very well said, India doesnt have a luxury of ignoring Lax. Sending Lax as a replacement for Dravid itself shows that selectors think these two are of same mould.
If Lax was chosen over Karthik or Mongia in the first place, may be India wouldnt have been in such a pitiful state.
Its time Chappel and his ideas to be kicked out, as they aint suitable for Indian line of thinking. He is not someone who can assess Indians and Indian players well and think in long term. The problem with the australian is that he thinks everyone is an australian!
I guess we are going now in the right direction and one more thing selectors need to do is to bring back Gangs. And I wouldnt be surprised if Lax can make a turnaround, afterall its nothing new to him.

sambit.. hi..yes, indeed laxman is a much wanted player in the indian team. our team lacks in batting now. So, i guess we should search for batting talents and not try to over do by inserting players like kaif, raina who r outstanding at fielding. They can bat. but laxman betters them. All we want is a good batsman now. and not flashy cricketers. laxman might b a bad fielder but definitely a great batsman. :)

When the whole of India is burning over cricket beacuse of emotional reasons, it is the first article which I have come across which talks about current state of cricket and VVS Laxman, purely based on cricketing logic and not emotions.

I agree with your point of view but have 2 things to contribiute. 'One Dravid is enough to rotate the strike', I find that offensive as a Dravid Fan. Though rotating the strike is a class act by itself, Dravid has been playing some agressive cricket latey. His strike rate during the recent matches have been really impressive.
Second, why wasn't ganguly mentioned when you wrote about India in dire need of a class batsman due to the absense of certain players and loss of form of certain players?

I still wonder how come people like you, avoiding a great name like Sourav. Its quite evident and clear Sourav is not going to select into the team, what ever happens to Team India or what ever scores he makes. Please anybody answer me for the questions given below.

1. How come Laxman suddenly fit into the ODI, with in 10 days. Vengasarkat has to eat his words
Do you have an Answer for this Mr.Vengsarkar?
"VVS Laxman is a class player but he has a fitness problem," said Vengsarkar when asked about his case, "and we thought his fitness wasn't good enough for one-day cricket".
http://content-usa.cricinfo.com/rsavind/content/story/266230.html

2. How come Laxman comes ahead of Sourav, who is such a proven ODI player, (holds highest average in SA pitches), and recently doing well in domestic cricket.

3. How come Sourav name is heard nowhere in the media in this slot.

4. Isn't clear that, Sourav is deprived of everything even chances to prove his come back?

5. Apart from Chappel, even BCCI and Dravid is against Sourav?

6. Atleast in this situation Dravid could've asked for Sourav's inclusion. Why he didn't?

7. And the last one, why media is not supporting a great player who served his country religiuosly for such a long time. (At least this time)

Please somebody answer me!!

Dear Mr, Bal: You have deliberately and regretfully chosen not to mention another player whose career was ended by the whims of an arrogant Aussie, and another stupid Indian as the chief selector. It is a travesty that Kartik is in the team as a batsman while this man waits his turn after having scored the second highest number of centuries in ODIs as an Indian. We can allow Raina an infinite number of games, while this man has to PROVE himself in domestic cricket.

USA

I fully in agreement with yr views. Yes VVS should be a continuous member of the Team especially we are on an overseas tour. Time & again he has proved his mettle to combat fast pace and bouncy tracks. The complete playing 11 is always confusing and Dravid is biting his nails more than breaking the opponent's confidence and instill confidence among Team. Last Worldcup atleast we could cheer up and this year, with this trend - the boat is ready for departure.

Good for Laxman. Ganguly should have been picked too. On the point of selecting a player because he's a better fielder over a decidedly better batsman - I find that rediculous. In that case why not select all 11 on the basis of fielding?
As for Tendulkar and Dravid 'selecting' themselves and weeding out other senior players to bring in younger ones in order to plan for the future, well cosidering their own performance over the past year, it is time they sacrificed their own place for a better 'FUTURE'.
I have been a fan of Indian Cricket for quite a while but thesedays I find myself feel not so bad when the team loses because I too feel there has to be an overhaul in order to prepare for the future, which might come after the team sinks to an extreme low: but an overhaul that relates more to team management, selection and most certainly the coaching. The present Indian cricket sitaution emits very sinister sort of vibes. When the selectors show such extreme stubbornness over giving even one chance to players who have already proven themselves to be not only above-average but to be amongst the best in the world, one seriously begins to wonder if there are'nt some other more financial considerations for these so-called selectors. Yeah, like in the movie 'Iqbal'. How much does a place in the Indian team sell for?

I totally agree that one wrong has been undone atleast. It was stupidity to ignore great batsman like Laxman for the world cup. You never know what would have happened if Laxman was their in the previous world cup. We may have won the finals with the Aussies. You may never know now. Too much of politics in Indian cricket. Lets see if the selectors persist with Laxman this time. Its high time they did.

Finally, a piece on Indian batting that fully makes sense. Also, it would be interesting if someone compiled the performances of Indian players (batting and bowling) between last world cup and now.

why Laxman was dropped and why he is required now, bith were told in the perfect manner in the above column.

My sentiments exactly. With the low levels that Indian cricket has reached, I think its time that we fell back upon old horses. Laxman would do well in WI. I also feel its time Ganguly is recalled and Kaif is given the sack. Most of the indian team needs to return to domestic cricket and sort out their problems.

Atleast in the one day format, slip feilding is very crucial and is a profrssional job. For example, in the 2nd one-day against SA, we saw Tendulkar taking the catch of Kallis, a very important member in their lineup.And Dravid dropped Kemp at slips and the result is Kemp went on to scoring match winning Century, So It is imperative that Laxman should be there in the Team as a feilder,at slips and his Batting comes as a bonus
Venkat Malapaka

greetings,

its good to have included laxman into the squad better off late but there is something very basic that the team management has forgot,is that its easy and benificial to bring up young players than compared to a whole lot of young players filled up in one team.
compare it to australias team, when they include a new playes its only one or two playes compared to indias whole bunch of new players. then the players are not afraid of completition and can concentrate on their game properly without and other tension.
look at tendulkars debue in 1989; the only new face in the team.he played his natural game as he had nothing to lose and here in the present team one has a place to hold on to and one is not able to perform up to expectations and the result is shown, but if there is one or two players then the result is a tendulkar or a michale clark and many more. just concentarte on one player at a time and thus oen can get the best out of him, and that helps the team alos to get acquinted to that player and the team also remains balanced and maintains its composure. thus the experience and the energy of the young can be the building blocks of a good team.

Very Interesting and honest article, especially the end about the shake-up and people learning lessons. What is your opinion about Ganguly? With Sehwag in the kind or rut he is in, why not treat Ganguly the same way and give him a chance, especially if he hits more form at the domestic level, his century and 43 at Mohali as also is bowling is definitely worth looking. Not to mention his captaincy is far beyond Dravid or Sehwag, which probrbaly is the reason he is being kept out. No one wants the betterment of the team, the selectors want to stick to their obstinate stupidity.

Well said man. Look at the batting we have. I mean apart from Dravid and Tendulkar everyone else is a slogger. We were great on flat pitches with batsman friendly bounce. Even my granny can score runs there. But you cant expect to go too long with this kind of batting talent.

We need batsmen like Azhar, Vengsarkar, Gavaskar of the old times who can play proper stokes. And yes we also need the Dhonis as well. The key is balance. Today we are not a balanced side. How else do you explain Dhoni/ Pathan walking in at No 3. We need Tendular to open with Ganguly, Laxman at No 3 and Dravid at No 4. The Dhonis can come after that.

We also need to appraise players on their core competence. IF a guy is a batsman then that should be the criteria to keep him or show him the door. Not his flding skills or the one brilliant over that he was able to send down. For allrounders they need to perform in both their roles. Not that for the first 6 months i bat well and next 6 months i bowl well!

I guess too much has been said about Laxman...I have no doubt in his batting prowess. He is solid in technique and a sweet timer (has tamed the mighty Australians with the timing) but still he is not a match winner he cannot turn the match in India's favour...Only person capable of doing it - has done it god knows how many times for India and is fit to play is the 'Prince of Calcutta' - Sourav Ganguly.

Sambit,
Class.True Class. You did not beat around the bush, you were forthright and accurate in your analysis. I have not seen such a forthright and honest analysis from one cricket writer in the recent past and believe me i do read a lot of cricket articles. Hopefully i will join you to work for Cricinfo one day.

Mr. Sambit Bal, you have written and absolute crap piece. How can you ignore the gaping holes of Indian cricket, that start with Greg Chappel and Rahul Dravid as a captain. Laxman was considered to be 'unfit' for one dayers only 3 weeks back. How come has be suddenly become fit for one day cricket? Your own words -
"When the Dravid-Chappell regime began, Indian cricket needed a shake-up. The team had become stale and lethargic. Some players needed to go, some needed to be woken up, and new players needed to be tried. In Munaf Patel, India have found a bowler for the future. And having served a necessary sentence, Zaheer Khan is back, fitter and hungrier. But India must now pause, catch their breath, reassess their options, and choose the best available talent."
How can you be so far from the truth in assessing the Indian cricket conditions in your over eagerness to place your Gods of Indian cricket (GC and RD) in good light. Munaf Patel a bowler for the future? give me a break. Sachin Tendulkar akmost matched his speed in the last ODI he played. And what is the sentence crap you are talking about for Zaheer Khan? What did he do wrong? And now in the 2 ODIs he has established himself as the pick of the bowlers, should not the team management and the selction committee answer why was he not chosen earlier? Can you be a little honest in your assessment and express your honest opinion about the blunders doen by Rahul and Greg.

Hi Sambit!

Laxman is very good bet in SA pitches but Dada comes ahead of Laxman as far as ODI is concerned.

Where is Kiran More now! Selectors should have chosen Ravin Utahappa now in place of Dravid.

Dada was not considered because if India could do well with Dada then there will be another slogan " Dravid hatao ! Dada lao!"

Solid stuff, Mr Bal. At this point of time, Team India needs someone who has sound technique. And VVS fits the bill. Only that the selectors must show faith in him and help him build his confidence. He may not be a match-winner in ODIs but he has enough experience and class to tackle fiery pace and the slow stuff. Let's not talk of Sourav Ganguly. He can not face short stuff and is not even scoring in domestic circuit. He was good and let's give him a golden handshake. Team India needs to look at World Cup and beyond.

Finally! I've been baffled as to why Laxman has been excluded from the Indian ODI team for about three years now. Nice to see common sense and the recognition of greatness returning to the team - Laxman and Kumble are matchwinners, and should never have been dropped.

U R right, Laxman can not be ignored any more.. he is a class batsman and comes good on bouncy wickets. As we all know we do not have equivalent batsman to replace Dravid.. the only Choice is Laxman.
It seems Indian selectors are not using the available talent to the fullest.. My simple suggestion is, retain Jaffer as an opener who can be an asset on these SA bouncy tracks, and make him open the innings with Sachin.. bring Sehwag in middle order so that he gain some confidence.. then bring back Sreesnath replacing Ajit.. Let Bhajji sit out for a while.. Quick fix solution the plaing 11 should be, Sachin, Jafer, Lax, Viru, Kaif, Dhoni, Pathan, Anil, Sree, Munaf and Zaheer.. should be somewhat a balanced team who can put some fight.

Dear Mr. Bal,

I agree Laxman is a class act. but even the invincibles aussies used to leave out mark taylor and martyn for one day specialists like bevan. Similarly Laxman when on song might be a sight for gods as you so handsomely write in his description, Kaif has a better one-day average (32.24) as compared to Laxman(31.15) and Sehwag(31.5). Ganguly is the second highest century maker (22) in ODI's on level with Jayasuriya with only the peerless tendulkar above him. he has over 9000 runs and used to form a more credible partner for Tendulkar than sehwag ever was. Most problems stem from the fact that our batsmen do not apply themselves like dravid and go for strokes even on good deliveries. Sehwag epitomises this attitude and now instead of reprimanding him for his cursory approach to batting has been rewarded by being made captain. i personally think Ganguly should be entrusted with the opener's job which he did so spendidly and Kaif be reverted back to no.6 where he has won many chases for us with his intelligent running between the wickets. the likes of sehwag, raina who have a lot of promise but refuse to deliver must serve a sentence like zaheer did. in the future, it would be good if you spoke of averages and statistics which are more objective facts rather than expressing your opinions on who is a better batsmen because of his attractive strokeplay.

VVS's selection is one of the right steps to prepaire for the worldcup, ahead of rainas and mongias.it is time to bring back Ganguly also.These rainas and mongias only good for fielding .Its better to use them as reserves to just field when ganguly & Lax not batting.its high time to give a shock to sehwag also,eventhough he is a match winner and finally the coach should be expelled from this country[it will do the trick for India].This could be the only experiment we need to do well.

Hi! We should only have players like the types of Yuvraj and Dhoni. The rest should be kicked out. Tendulkar is receeding waters, Sehwag has rusted, Dravid plays for himself....will never win a match for India..can only hit loose balls which the aussies and africans don't bowl manny, Kaif has no power to hit 4s and 6s when required required, Laxman and Ganguly are also receeding waters. Now for the bowlers.....Except for Kumble no one is up to international standards. Pathan and Munaf have lost pace and moreover they are no where near McGrath in seam and accuracy, Agarkar is a misfit, only Zaheer looks promising for now. What we need is 3 good fast bowlers who can regularly bowl at speeds between 140-142. Moral of the story.....Indian team is in a mess so why blame Chapell. He can take them all to a pond but cannot make them drink...thats all.

Well Said At the end, we have it, only required to take a pause, breathe and re-assess, what we have and how best we can deliver using that. It seems like every time and then we are meeting panic stituations may be becuase of Media / Official pressure and in the other sens thats correct in its place. Somehow "the Rowdy" feeling / agression that was come to the team by the grace of Ganguly seemed to be diminishing and thats what is required. NO Mercy only slaughter. Use the brain....

Good article, but unifinsihed in the sense that no thoughts have been completed. What Team India lacks today is the ability. We are talking about fileding skills, multi dimensional cricketers, etc, but forget the fact these things are meaningless if runs are not on the board.

I still belive the top 5 should be Sehwag, Sachin, Ganguly, VVS and dravid with Youvraj and Dhoni to finish the innings. Ganguly with his bowling will be in a position to more than replace Irfan Pathan.

poor selectors!!!!
they just do there job as the guru greg wants !
laxman is a test player and in the tough condition it is very sorry for laxman.He is not going to change the fate of indian cricket team
I think selectros must gave chance to Sourav Ganguly from beggining of this tour. i think selectros doing a bad job.

Great piece,

Yes, Indias team for this one day series is weak. Kaif, Karthik in the top 5 is unheard of. Ganguly is only 1 of 4 players to score 10000 runs in odi's and when Yuvi is out they cant recall Ganguly, politics is terrible in sport. We are SA indians and look forward to Indias tour and yet they perform like weaklings on every tour of SA. In Kingmead with even Graeme Smith admitting that it felt lile away game for his team, India perform embarrasingly. The indian players have a false sense image, iconic status created by the india public and country, yet in SA we look at them as downright failures. Screw statistics, they have won nothing significant, not a world cup, not a icc trophy, not a series in sa, england, aus, are they only capable of beating west indies.

why has Chappel got so substantail powers, he is weakening and wrecking the team, bring back John Wright or Woolmer

Sambit,
Laxman is kind of rythemic player If gets going then he needs only support runner from other end.Boundries will
come to him automatically.But the problem with indians in SA is not any senior guy is in form like Virender Sehwag,Sachin,Kaif,DM
,Raina these are not getting even 10 runs so the main junk is indian batting and yuvraj absense made it worst.
If you see the last year Austrailian tour we have done well the Sehwag was in form,Sachin was getting runs,Mainly
Ganguly presense was there.He has different kind of approach to captaining a side that zeal and zest missing in rahul.
So the main problem in team is players loosing confidence in them Pressure is a lot from outside to perform and little bit
problem in captain side as well bcoz in last oneday 76/7 and they were able to cross 250.
That means problem in self belief and Captaincy as well.

It`s true his fielding might cost us few runs. But then you need a batsman who can　play rousing shots to lift the spirits of the players around.

Imagine the scenario. If all cylinders fire for India, we could reach finals of any tourney to face Australia. However we will be clueless one more time to face their firepower and accuracy like last two world cups. The only chap who could stand the Aussies is I feel is VVS. The touch artist

When the Aussis play 35 year Martin, I wonder what’s wrong in playing Laxman and Ganguly.

Somehow, He is valued high in the eyes of Australins than in India. As I was reading the blogs in Daily Telegraph and the Australin

the only thing that dint make sense to me was the statement that yuvraj was out of form.

Whilst I agree wqith most of Sambit's comments, by ringing back Laxam Inidan cricket has taken a few steps back. The notion must always be to pick your best team but tampered with the very urgent need to blood new players. Laxamn must at best be a stopgap as his fielding is a liability unless he scores tons which demoralise the opposition.Time will tell whether his reintroduction was for the best but this is a sorry comment onthe bench strength in Indian cricket. There is none. BCCI please take note and change.

Absolutely right.Laxman is the right choice for southafrican pitches that need technically srong batsmen.Indian Selectors are not doing the right thinking exercise before selecting the team. Their head is filled with unnecessary things that only harms Indian Cricket.Greg need to stop his experiments and prepare a team to meet all situations viz, bouncy pitches,flat pitches,spin wickets etc..Recalling Ganguly also is a matter need to be considered seriously.It is the time to come out of egos' and take the right decisions for the future of Indian Cricket.COME ON INDIAN SELECTORS..TEAM INDIA IS IN YOUR HANDS...

Couldn't agree with you more...the entire team selection is faulty. The selectors and coach/captain have been harping on the fact that performers will not be ignored, yet we have players who have not scored than 15-20 runs every innings in the last 20 one-day internationals. We have always struggled as tourists to SAF and Aus due the nature of their pitches. The difference between the no. 1 team in the world is the adaptability and preparation they put in before touring the sub continent. Its about time that we seriously think about atrocious pitches in domestic cricket.

Samit Bal is right in saying that experience is the need of the hour for India.When ou've got a player of the calibre of Sourav Ganguly sitting in home waiting for a recall, why are the team management going for Laxman who has been more vulnerable than Ganguly in seaming conditions.Comparatively,Ganguly is a better fielder than Laxman.If needed, Ganguly is more than a handful in seaming wickets.So , it should be defenitely Ganguly and not Laxman who should be picked for the tour.I hope the Team Management understands what I mean.

I think that this piece has covered everything i would have wished to say, however it must be stated that the indian selection just like duncan fletcher has its "favourites", people like Virender Sehwag will almost always be guaranteed a place in the squad. Why? this is because he has the ability to perform and take the game away from the opposition however when his from is far from brilliant he still gains a place in the squad as the selection commitee are naive and believe he does nopt take his p[lace for granted. The situation is the same for almost everbody else in the squad, they take thier place for granted and assume it will always be theirs and through no fualtof their own, the fault is on behalf of the BCCI.

Its making no sense when people don't look into the statistics before reaching a conclusion...From my point of view, no argument is valid without right data and i feel that neither this article by Mr Bal nor the replies are making any valid arguments...its either emotionally driven or based on a gut-feel...i think there are lot of factors that needs to be looked into before deciding on a player...calling Laxman is an exception case...we can't use the same scale that was used few weeks before...the equation is not the same...for all we know this decision might work good for the team...
One point which haven't come into forefront is Dravid's captaincy...IMHO he is not a good captain...he might be good in defending his team or driving home his views to the team but on the field he has failed several times...there are quite a few occasions India picked first 3 or 4 wickets for a low score but let the opponent go away...the same thing happened with SA. From my point of view, the captain should majorly be responsible for such a case...I think Sehwag is a good option...pls. note that i am not talking abt his batting/bowling/fielding performance...i could clearly see a big difference between Sehwag and Dravid...

Dear all,
Anyone will please let me know how reliastic our selection comitte is? Dont u think friends a person of the moment should be given preference with respect to conditions rather than falling in love with track recoed or seniority or respecting a person too much at the cost of team defeat........?

Ganguly is the best bet than Viru....i guess Viru needs some rest to regain his form ....

Whatsay....its a bunch of jokers and politics which rule the team composition.....

I dont see a case for Ganguly's inclusion and those vouching for his inclusion have had a long term memory loss and forgot the lean phase he had before his fall from grace. And he isnt exactly a team player.I can see a couple of people who can be left out of this current team; Suresh Raina and Mohd Kaif who have had enough chances to redeem themselves and should go back to earning their place in the Indian Team by playing Ranji.

The current state of Indian Cricket has less to do with Dravid and Greg but a lot to do with the current players who are incapable of adapting to any surface/playing conditions outside their home turf.

I would like to add the following too:

a. The team has to be led by a leader.
b. Nice men do not make good captains.
c. Leaders motivate the team members and can get great performance from even less talented members
d. Leaders take up cudgels for their team members
e. Leaders believe in themselves and can fight the establishment to get the right team
f. Leaders look around and find talent, nurture and cajole them to greatness
g. Look at all the messages in all the posts and you will understand which leader we are missing hands down - the captain - and at this time - only Ganguly can take them out of the mess
h. Dravid's injury may be blessing in disguise for Sehwag to lead - however, he has never demonstrated the hunger and aggressive-ness of a leader
i. If you want to give the team a chance in world cup and future tournaments - recall Ganguly back as a captain and give him the mandate to develop a good successor in a short period of time.
j. Remember other than Munaf and perhaps Sreesanth - it was Ganguly who got all the current team members - and we talk of weak bench strength!
k. Why don't all the managers of the Indian cricket - BCCI and the lot - read these messages - they will understand who should be leading the team and given a free hand.

I am not a Ganguly fan and nor has he asked me to write this. I stay far away in US and am a Punjabi (Sikh) but I am concerned for Indian cricket - my favorite game I still try to play - given a chance (even though on the wrong side of 40!)

hi,
It is good to see v.v.s laxman is back in the team but he must be given 2 more matches whatever may be the out come ,the pressure is on him after dravid laxman is the best,he must be moulded to play the world cup. By keeping kaif and Raina it is of no use they can only play against zimbabwe and Bangaladesh they are always a failure against a top bowling side i need not mention. it is really our foolishness to keep this tow people.Our selector Vengasarkar was insisting on technically sound players why was laxman not picked he has everything but slow in the field everybody knows what is the standard of indian fielding this question must be asked to Vengasarkar he was very poor in the field and running between wickets.There seem to be lot of politics playing with a south indian captain players from souh have always performed well and there are no remarks against any of them. to make the best tem i personally feel the team as sachin,sewhag,laxman,rahul,yuvraj,karthick,dhoni,zaheer,agharkar,sreeshanth,kumble,munaf i think so can do a lot .

You hit the "nail on the head" with this piece. Laxman should have been in the ODIs in the 1st place. When veteran commentators like Ian Chappel, Michael Holding etc... were yelling that Laxman was needed in India's plan, their words fell on deaf ears. Laxman is the best No.3 Batsman in any form of cricket. When you loose opener for a few runs (which is been consistent with India), you need a stable figure who can see off some overs and stem the rot, and Laxman is good at that. Raina/Kaif et al are never close to Laxman when it comes to technical expertise. The Champions Trophy & SA series have completly exposed our "famed" batsmen's technicalities. Even SRT has been a failure. His shortcomings have been exposed by the ball coming in, especially the off-cutter as SRT tends to play across the line as if he is playing gully cricket. To be honest, I think SRT has been over-rated by the media. Maybe in his younger days, he was the best as he relied on instincts, but with age his technical flaws are coming up big time!!! In the end, the selectors decision to bring VVS has been the best decision that they have made.

Mr. Bijesh,

Please believe that Ganguly's days are over. Don't question that how come there are some players in the national team who are poorer than Ganguly ?? These guys too will be sent home shortly. I want Ganguly to retire and should head a task force to improve the domestic cricket and bring new talents to the Indian Cricket. He has to work in selection committee as well as Dy.Chairman under Dilip Vengsarkar and help the right team gets picked up according to pitches and situation. Please believe that Ganguly has some special talents off the field and let us utilise it in favour of Indian Cricket.

Good article Mr.Bal. But i'm also expecting an article about ignoring Sourav Ganguly even at this stage. Is it only because of the previous rivalries he had with Chappell and BCCI or is there any other reason u feel that could be there for him being not considered for the national team? I wonder how and why media is also not considering it as an issue.

Really amazing piece of insight into current batting problems that plaugue indian team. In these days of sensationalism completely over taking cricket in india, this is great work. Laxman indeed is needed in this indian team to balance out for too many shot makers leading for familiar collapses time and again.

Great article Sambit.It came as a refreshing change form all the other articles doing rounds these days,I know real truth hurts and for readers fixated with Ganguly like Sid,one request please dont spoil this one site which speaks truth the rightful place for you guys is cricketnext and sanjay jha.

Very good article, But I thing thre are some more things that we need to look into. Like how many bowlers we need and what kind of player we want for a position and what his aditional duty will be. I my opnion bringing back of VVS is only bring ins we need for the moment now e shaould thing about some sending back. What is role of Raina, mongia and agarkar in the team. Keeping in mind the slow piches in WI I strongly feel the team for world cup should be Sewag/utappa, sachin,laxman,dravid,yuvraj,dhoni, kaif/pathan,harbajan,anil,zaheer and munaf. It gives enough steady gam at the top and fire power at the bottom of the batting lineup and a perfect bowling lineup.
And dont forget its high time we started playing renji matches in some lively piches.

Sambit

I liked your article and it has been written very objectively. I agree with the point on Laxman. I do hope that he is able to rise to the occasion and deliver. With regards to his fitness, I must say if he needs to be in the team, he needs to work on his fitness and outfielding. There are no two ways about it. The onus is on him to improve his outfielding and running between wickets and that is very easily achievable than asking good fielders and average batsman to score against the good length and rising pitches.

On a separate note, I was reading the comments of various people and I am not sure I concur with most of their comments

1. Greg Chappel is doing a fine job. He is creating challenging situations for the people to go and deliver. Thats the best learning possible. And he is NOT responsible to our poor show, it has been our batting that has let us down all the way. Why isint Mr. Sachin "worlds best batsman" Tendulkar taking up the onus and showing that he can be a match winner sometime.
2. I firmly believe that when Saurav was dropped it was well justified. He was appaling with the bat is his last few matches and again didnt show to us that he can improve on his fielding. Which means if he is able to showcase the same ability and consistently score in the domestic/county (more than just that hundred he score of late), then I think there is a strong business case for the Indian fans to have saurav included. Right now he needs to do a lot more to come into the team as a batsman

Now we should think about Gang not to bring the Laxman back( Who have an old record of batting in Australina pitch.If we need to be in the top again we shoul change our Coach first then the captain( the person who dont know how to lead the team).You ahve mentioned about our future fast bowler munaf,What aggressiveness in his character.While ball is in his hand he is half dead.What happend to the young bowler Sresanth,who came back the team while Agarkar got injured.We dont want try him,because he is looking at the batsman after each ball he bowled?

everything right except we needs ganguly not laxman at the moment bcaz we needs player who can won the match single-handed too and also can inspire young player to be match winners. so ganguly is the farmost important player required in indian cricket for now. Ganguly Ganguly and only Ganguly and i am not saying this in any sentiment but i want india to review themself for the millions of indian.

Hi Sambit,
Good piece. With all due respect to Sourav and his achievements in the past, he has distinctly underperformed as a batsman and steadily declined in his batting ability in the international arena. It is funny to see people who were vocal critics of Ganguly in the media when he was captain now suddenly become his supporters. The same goes for the Indian media & Tv channels. Nothing constructive, just sensationalism. The media should be ashamed of itself for this knee jerk reactions everytime. One good match and raina was compared to tendulkar & now is considered rubbish. where is the balance? where is the common sense? sambit bal 7 colleagues maintain the calm analysis and realistic assessment rather than jingoism and sensationalism.

As for the injury worries after 2 morale shattering defeats it is rock bottom time. india should play tomorrow with a feeling that we have nothing to lose. Nobody expects India without Dravid & Yuvraj to win the next two ODIs. This should be used to dispel any fear of failure and play with freedom as nobody expects India to win.
Sachin should take Dravid's place in the middle order. Sehwag should open with Dinesh Karthik and Mongia & Kaif should come back in.
There is only one way to go when you hit rock bottom and that is UP.
GO INDIA!!

i am a pakistani. i fully agree with ur views. and also with one of the comments that said that kartik is in the team as a batsman. but ganguly is out. i'm sorry to say that this is unproffessional on the part of the selectors. the team is going through a batting crisis, and still one of the most premium batsmen india has ever produced is not even in consideration of the selectors. i also agree that a slump hit the indian cricket due to the blunders made by rahul and greg. and last, who gave indian cricket a new heights in the modern era. who is india's best ever captain(record is evident of that). and this is what he gets in reward. selectors can try youngsters and can show faith in them even if they r not performing. but some how they cannot show faith in a guy who has made in excess of 10000 odi runs. won india alot of matches through his bowling aswell. none of the basmen currently in the side r performing. but still i can't believe why is there no ganguly. dravid could not handle the team. infact he destroyed a good team(taking nothing away that he is aworld class player)

First of all I have to congratulate Sambit for a great analysis on a Great Player. Every player will have UPs and DOWNs. I thought LAXMAN would remain as core player of Indian Team along with his mates Tendulkar, Dravid. I think it is time for a call up of Ganguly as well. What a great FOUR batting heros we used to have . Believe me or not I stopped watching cricket eversince laxman and Ganguly were dropped by this Greg Chappel. I hope all Cricinfo people and every India welcome Great Lax. I really love watching his batting like I use to like great Vengsarkar and Sandip Patil.
Please add some value to people like me out there wanting INDIA to WIN THE WORLD CUP.
My Indian Team: Tendulkar, Ganguly, Laxman,Dravid, Zaheer Khan, and other who selectors think good. The people I mentioned should form the core. We win World Cup.

i agree with ur opinion.he is a great and experinced batsmen.he should be in the side for the world cup,because the pitches in carabien r flat,we have to defend our wicket.so kep going lax,all d best

Well compiled points on VVS. He is probably the current best replacement for Dravid although he carries the issues detailed in this article.
I think the key to india's success in the rest of the ODI's is to learn from a team like New Zealand who do not rely on stars to perform. Current Indian team does not have stars and they need to concentrate on team-work. Greg needs to break-up the generic term - "team-work" - into smaller components and help the youngsters understand their role and perform that to the best of their capability.

Every cricket team needs a balance between youth and experience. This was supposed to be the best thing with the last team for the world cup. The question is where has Chappell-Dravid Duo failed in creating this balance... or what have they inherited that is wrong.... Ganguly inherited excellent pedigree of batsman in Dravid, Himself and Tendulkar.... however two batsman he chose have failed to perform consistently.. Yucraj and Kaif... this has led to a gap in experience.. which cannot be filled given the nature of Indian cricket... if we look back at the last world cup it was the experience batsman who played the pivotal part with ppl like Dinesh Mongia failing miserably.. its high time India cuts its losses by removing Mohd. Kaif.. and perhaps get better batsman then Suresh Raina to fill its ranks

The Indian team should look forward. As an Aussie I've seen a lot of Laxman's best but he is not suited to ODI - can't bowl, poor fielder, poor 6 hitter etc. India should forget Laxman (for ODI) & Ganguly like Australia forgot about S.Waugh & now Bevan. Give talented youngsters like Raina & Yuvraj a sustained chance and they will deliver i.e. Symonds, Watson, Bracken in Champions Trophy

jem of an article by Sambit Bal.

Hi Mr. Sambit

A very interesting article but I would like to echo the sentiments of some of my fellow countrymen about why Saurav does not find a mention anywhere? He has seen it/been there/done it for India in SA...holds the II highest average in ODIs for India in SA against much more quality bowling with Donald included...what is stopping us from considering this old/time tested warhorse for this assignment? Why have we written him off? What else does he need to prove? What motivation will he have to go back to domestic cricket and keep hoping for a recall when there seem to be no indications that he will be even considered for selection?

We are being grossly unjust to a countryman who was our only aggressive face against the Aussies, English, NZ and SA teams...to me, he was one of the best leaders India has ever had...not that I am a die-hard fan of Dada or anything....facts and figures speak for themselves...he tasted success for the country outside the subcontinent more than any captain before and after him! The least that is going to happen is he is going to fail but then so are all the other options that are being tried out...why not give the guy the second lease of life?

Thanks for the opportunity to speak out!

Its idiotic to even think about Laxman.. who just have never played for the team.. The only person who would like to runout Tendulkar so that he can bat in Sharjah is Laxman.. Tendulkar had his response immediately.. but the point is he is not a team player and should never be in the team

Record of Indian batsmen against SA in SA in one day internationals:

Dravid 11 512 84 51.20 0 7
Ganguly 9 391 127 43.44 1 2
Azhar 12 459 86* 41.72 0 4
Tendulkar 18 466 101 25.88 1 0
Sehwag 5 76 34 15.20 0 0
Laxman 1 5 5 5.00 0 0

Statistically, the only person who could have replaced an injured Dravid was a willing Ganguly.
Ganguly is also in fine form (if domestic cricket has any relevance) with a century in Duleep
trophy match followed by a 43 in a low scoring Ranji match against a strong Punjab attack
on fast and bouncy Mohali pitch where he himself picked up five wickets and was instrumental
in a Bengal victory inside three days. His fitness can't be questioned as well as he bowled 34
overs with a miserly economy rate of 1.76 runs an over (match figures: 34-7-60-5).

But probably the selectors did the correct job by sending Laxman as selecting Ganguly would
have fuelled further needless controversy at this hour. Ganguly can be selected for the
test matches as Raina, Mongia and probably Kaif would definitely coming back. Moreover Laxman hasn't played much against SA in SA (only one match) and need not get bogged down by previous
performances.

By the way, I found this sentence offensive "having served a necessary sentence".. what did
Zaheer do wrong? Probably he fought with Chappell and Sambit is an incorrigible white bum-licker. He was India's main bowler when he was dropped and he has returned as their main bowler, so its well know that his replacement was not found during this period.

Record of Indian batsmen against SA in SA in one day internationals:

Dravid 11 512 84 51.20 0 7
Ganguly 9 391 127 43.44 1 2
Azhar 12 459 86* 41.72 0 4
Tendulkar 18 466 101 25.88 1 0
Sehwag 5 76 34 15.20 0 0
Laxman 1 5 5 5.00 0 0

By the way, I found this sentence offensive "having served a necessary sentence".. what did
Zaheer do wrong? Probably he fought with Chappell . He was India's main bowler when he was dropped and he has returned as their main bowler, so its well known that his replacement was not found during this period.

Its a perfect assessment of the situation the team is facing,and I see no apparent quick fixes.The ones we consider our proven and best batsmen are owefully poor fielders and the athletic ones we have are not good enough for these kind of conditions,for example where will we hide these average fielders in the one day game Dravid,Laxman,Shewag,Ganguly,Kumble,Zaheer khan,harbhajan,Pathan just to name a few,on pitches like these lot of runs are scored square of the wicket so we need a Yuvraj at Gully or Point region,A Raina at point, a kaif in the covers,I have seen when these three played in the one day side our off side quadron looked so immense,I guess inspite of the defeats these guys have to be persisted in One dayers and back them to come good with the bat which is easier than teaching fielding to Ganguly ,laxman and the rest.Else we have to play one day with 4 or 5 slips which is the only place to hide these senior players.

I really enjoyed reading your article.Number of points mentioned in it is very true.
I think there will be very few people who would question the inclusion of VVS Laxman in the current situation.This is more due to the lack of bench strength than the class of laxman.
The reason behind the initial ommission of Laxman was reasonable and correct.
Greg Chappel was looking at building an Indian Team which would dominate at the international level.We unfurtunaltely have a bowling attack which is average to say the least so therefore having many destructive batsmen is a basic necessity.50% or more of India's matches are played in India where usually 300 is a competitive score forget a winning total.In this situation having a batsmen like VVS Laxman with an avarage of 31.7 and strike rate of 71 after having played 81 matches is not good enough.He is also a nuisance to the batsmen at the other end because of his inability to take quick singles.
In the article there was a comparison made between Laxman and Martyn.For the records sake, Martyn averages 40.8 ,strike rate 77.74 which is worldclass.Its is better than Rahul dravids statistics also.He is a good fielder and an excellent runner.Therefore comparing him with laxman is doing injustice to his talent and performance so far.

yeah u r correct.But still i can't understand why they r comparing mongia with alxman.mongia never played good knock when he got chance.His fielding also not that much good.India alreay having part time bowlers like sachin,sehwag.why they want mongia agian?If yuvraj in then he can also bowl.just for five overs of bowling How they can leave very very specialist bats man with full desire to play for india.Anyway now he got chance he has to prove himself.ALL THE BEST TO INDIAN TEAM.

samit not just india needs his batting skiils but also his experience in tight situation and not to mention a feilder at bat pad position.
while covering duleep trophy match of south vs west zone i have seen him placing himself at bat pad position even if there were other people who could have stood there. A lesson which dravid can learn. time and time again u will see kaif who is good for nothing at that position. and the guy who is best at that position is perhaps worried of getting his bones broken which he has now already got broke.

laxman is a classy player in indian side
yes he is a bit sluggish in field but he can take great catches in the slips.
he has proved himself scoring three tons against australia in limited version of game.
his being in n out of team had put him on so much pressure that he loses his wicket in a simple ball
just like sluggish yousuf is doing miracle in pakistan ,given a chance n confidence laxman will prove himself, he is a superb batsman with a class

The reason for bringing Laxman earlier thanbfore the tests is to ensure he gets a feel of the South African Wickets, because India are now scared that wihtout sufficient match practise on bouncy wickets, Laxman may be hard pressed to perform. I am sure before the World Cup the Indian Selectors would be forced to bring back Ganguly because he is such a proven player in one day cricket.

Well,
I think we seriously lack talent , the big problem is we are not accessing players by their consistency but by their patch performance , if we will continue to do this we will suffer , and as far as bowling department is concerned i dont know what the shit is going on in indian dressing room and coaching that evry bowler after coming into Indian team drops his pace .
See them , none of them are really able to bowl delievry even at one place , i doubt if they are brought in the team on the basis of performance , how one can not bowl even a correct line when he is bowling from such a long................?

well atlast they remember a great player VVS. Ganguly is a dirty player and who plays politics not cricket. You ideat Parlamenterians you don't have right to comment on Chappel.we got freedom 60 years back till not even 10% of indians are not getting health and education.you were caught so many times for bribing now you are asking include ganguly to play for your vote politics.cricket is not played by politicians. the reason for india loses is the only politics. what Raina, Kaif,Mongia were doing in team.you haven't ask for theire removal.

guys relax as much i will always look back at those days those days in kolkata i have now come to accpt that india will always be lousy team a mid table at best and bottom table team at worst in sport itself that is too anglo saxon surely guyz like sambit bal and premachandran will agree that india can never be the best if they are losing with guyz like dravid and sachin then imgaine later on all this crap that bring this guy send that guy ask this guy to bat at X position bat Y position now indians coz various factors most of which are economic cant afford to watch cricket but atleast if the team wins fine cant keeping backing a team that has forgot how to win and a relaization that India are useless

Yes..i too strongly agree on the points that laxman should be included in the world cup.Indian team is going on a lean patch for a very long time .An innings of application,determination and intelligence is required to save india and turn around things in indias favour.i hope it comes soon from the willow of sehwag.

Every one says Munaf patel is a bowler to look on for the future but his body language while bowling does not show any signs of imposing that kind of threat in the future.A bowler needs to be very aggressive.It is only in India we dont find such kind of aggressive bowlers and poor munaf is the best example for non agressiveness.It is a pitty site watching him bowl in the matches.
Raina is a promising youngster.remember he has played some excellent finishing innings against pakistan,england and srilanka.Time will prove that he is the pillar of indian cricket in future.

Good analysis in talent search in terms of replacement for current resources of Team India.

It is a pity that Laxman is going to be in the one-day team because of injury to the ever dependable Dravid. If it had been any other batsman-fielder I would have been even more enthusiastic. Laxman is too valuable batsman to be ignored especially on bouncy pitches. On a lighter note, Australia have sent a sleeper cell (Chappell & co) to India to stop the batsman who gives them nightmares.

Sambit Bal - you can surely win an olympic gold medal in marathon with your strong will power... or atleast your children or my grandchildren can think of that one day...or my grandchildren of my grandchildren...

Dear posters, lets NOT confuse the readers on this forum by including Ganguly alongside of VVSL selection. Mr Ganguly has done some good things as skipper but he is completely out of touch since few years (thanks to Dalmiya for retaining out of form Ganguly for years). I think Gangu had a last handshake in international cricket for which I was very disappointed the way he was dropped from the team. He should have been told by selectors and given an opportunity to say bye bye to cricket fans for serving the country for such a long period of time as player and skipper.

WELL SAID Sambit Sir, your analysis on VVSL is spot on. I can't remember watching some of the Indian greats of Gavaskar’s and his prior generation cricketers as I was too young to follow the cricket, but in this generation, I think VVSL is one of the finest cricketers produced by India, he more than deserves a place in both forms of cricket as he is neither old nor inferior batsmen in comparison to the current players lot. And he truly stands alongside SRT, Dravid with sheer merit of batting skills. Look at the past 5-6 yrs of Indian cricket history, we had won & saved some memorable matches in tests as well as ODI's, and in all-most all of those miracles have to refer VVSL’s contribution. VVSL anchors the innings better than anybody else in difficult circumstances, I agree he is not a great fielder in the outfield, but he is very very safe fielder in slips and close in positions. It is not worth to replace VVSL with second class stuff like Rainas, Kaifs & Mongias etc, as they could be bit better on field (as you rightly said) but far from matching VVSL batting skills. Also, I can’t remember any team winning a match solely based on fielding skills (there could have been odd occasions where the teams fielded bit better along with batting, bowling and keeping which made them to win the matches). Can somebody give an instance as any cricketing playing nation picked their players who are ordinary on his primary skills like batting and great at fielding? Guys like Rhodes, GIBBS, Andrew Symonds, Ponting, Bravo, Paul Collingwood, Mahela are wonderful batsmen and are not just know for fielding. Do you know players like Inzmam, Kallis, Damien Martyn, Hayden, Michael Vaughan? If the fielding was a main criterion, then perhaps, they would not have played for the country at all.

The current situation demands a player like Laxman in the team, I would have liked to see him in team as a first choice ahead of may be Raina or Karthik in the first place. I am bit sceptical of Laxman’s success into WC team with only one or two match chances in SA. Let us hope for the best.

Mr Bal - You have been an Establishment line towing journalist

1. Any team anywhere on planet earth needs a leader. Good & powerful leaders are not liked but they get results. And results are what anyone wants.

2. Leaders believe in themselves & can make their team believe in them. That is why they are leaders.

3. Anyone today understands that the only thing we are missing is the Captain. The Indian Cricket Board is a bunch of egoists and they hate to get someone who cares a damn about them. They don't want anyone who wielded more power than they did. They want a line toing mouse.

4. Captaincy & Leadership is not exactly a science. You either have it or you don't.

5. In my last company, our Vice President & CEO (I used to work for a pretty large one)... that all good executives do not make great managers. His famous words were...

"I promoted my best executive...
I inherited a bad manager and lost my best executive"

6. I am not at all a Gangully fan... but having said that he has been among the very few Captains in Indian cricket who has delivered, both as a Captain and as a player.

7. If the Indian nation wants to give the team a chance in world cup they have to recall Gangully back as a captain and give him the mandate.

8. Yes, maybe that would also mean getting Greg Chappel out of the team. Big names do not mean results. Big names mean big egoes, bad management and bad results.

9. And you may also wish to look up your vast library of statistics that perhaps almost all the young bloods that you see in the team today have ALL been brought by Gangully.

10. You do not shoot yourself in the leg, to settle a domestic dispute. Come on man, you are adults... Recognise what is needed and move on.

Sambit, I think you failed to convey the bigger message of the time. Like the selectors, the critics also are not championing the right and forecasting the future; making decisions in compartments, trying to fight fire rather than to overhaul. It is just not the player who are to be blamed, but also the BCCI/Selectors politics which is reigning above the Team India Performance.
Just because Dravid was injured, a repalcement has been sought, but the selectors did not assess the need of the hour: what is required to be done to win the balance 2 ODIs.
The Indian fans fails to understand as to what was the yardstick or criteria for:
1) Selecting Dinesh Mongia who does not have an impressive past or present. Out of 54 ODIs played, he has only 1 century and four 50s and averages a paltry 28. What does the team expect?
2) Retaining Suresh Raina in the team inspite of repeated failures. Out of 34 ODIs played he hasn't scored a century yet and averages just 27.
3) The selectors haven't even thought of any contingency to have the right bench strength in the event of injury(ies) metted by the regular player(s)? They had to fly somebody?This is rediculous which is a clear indication of no strategy.
4) Kaif, Yuvi, Sachin and Shewag have been failing lately and yet there is no plan in place.
The only strong PLAN that all these so called LEADERS have in place & is quite evident, is to keep Ganguly out of Team India. In retrospect, you will observe that Greg+Dravid combine (offcourse the slectors also) have tried all possible exprimentation to seal the opening & one down slot which Ganguly fitted very well. All their exprimentation & politics has only lead to breaking the combination, not selecting the right cricketers, state of confusion, drop in morale,exposure of Dravid's lack of Leadership in critical situation and lastly Gregs/BCCI dirty game plan. What the team needs is an agressive Captain (in the field and outside)to overhaul the situation, and in the current scenerio there is none other than GANGULY.
I think Pawar should accept this and put his ego down. Putting him back in the team will be far less agonizing than that he has faced from Australian team pushing him out of the dias like an "Untouchable".

when india toured Australia in 2000 VVS laxman was certain to be dropped from indian team if he failed to deliver in the final test match in sydney. a night before the match Ex aussie spinner Gavin Robertson who became freind of laxman durring australia's 98 tour of india took laxman out on dinner. during their conversation he told laxman that you can trust the bounce in australia and play your shots according to it. Rest they say is history laxman went on to score 162 beautifully crafted runs in that test match.
Its a lesson which the indian team needs to learn also. although its easier said than done but still we cannot do worse than this.
As far as anand vasu's comments on ganguly is concerned i beleive that we still not have seen last of ganguly. Ganguly can prove to be a great power house especially if he comes at no. 5 or 6.
Remember that in west indies spinners will rule and not the fast bowlers and in india still we dont have anyone who can handle spinners better than Ganguly.

brilliant assessment of the cricket team. i like the way sambit bal's thought flow works.

Ganguly or Laxman seems to be the main argument here and let me try and put this to rest, laxman would win every time because unlike ganguly Lax is a team player the only thing Ganguly ever contributed to the indian team was a lazy work ethic, as a captain he was dire and as a player he was severley lacking. We must understand that that is how Ganguly is. With the bat he averaged 51.20 as Santanu pointed out but thats nothing to go by. He scored those runs but those were in different circumstances when india were doing well. Ganguly thrives on ease, he fresy from challenge and he performs to his best when the situation is easy, he cannot graft and score runs as he is fallible technique wise and mentally as he is not motivated enough. Laxman on the other hnad grafts and works for his runs when he is bad form he fights for his runs and as Mr Bal pointed out he always bats as if he needs to save his place, is this such a bad thing?. At least if he plays he will accpet responsibilty for himslef unlike the rest of the indian squad who can't handle pressure(Chappell liable?). Laxman mentally and tehnically is a better player, it is time for us to recongise that ganguly's time is over as indian cricket needs to move forward and not back. Times are bad for indian cricket now but we need to stick with the same squad if we are to see results. A few changes need to be made before we stick to the squad though, these changes are in the form of Gambhir over Sehwag (temporarily tills he recive more confidence and kaif instead of karthik. The side needs stability not consistent change. we may be losing this series but in the long run if we dont keep changing the squad we might benefit a little more.

Nice article. For the same reasons cited in this article to bring back VVS Laxman, the selectors should also consider bringing back Saurav Ganguly who had 10,000 runs under his belt in one-day internationals.

amazing writing. I agree completly that we need experienced batsman and not young kids. Look at Australia in current Ashes they have 5 or 6 guys that are 35 plus.

Analysis - paralysis and much ado about NOTHING!

India is currently a very mediocre team and, despite the combined wisdom and well wishes of some 300 million fans and experts, will make it to the last 8 of the World Cup only if the other teams under-perform.

The sport is currently played and run by one of the most unprofessional bunch of goons who do not have any clue of how to handle the physical and mental challenges of the game. The team was performing well for a couple of years because of some creative thinking and determination but could not build on these successes because of the lack of leadership on the pitch and arrogance and incompetence of the administrators and media.

This reached its nadir when the team left for its tour of SA without its official gear!! What a disgrace!

Sorry guys, enough is enough! I am quitting now before I lose my sanity.

If Dinesh Kathick was chosen as a replacement for Yuvraj then Dravid's replacement ought to be Parthiv Patel. Maybe for the next tour the selectors will drop Pathan and replace him with Ganguly.

Does anyone in India care??? Those who have the means to do something about our losing ways like the selectors care about finishing their term without rocking the boat, the administrators care about maximizing television revenue, the players know their stints are limited and are based upon the grace of their association godfathers, so the concentrate on making hay while they have their moment in the sun.

They will continue to do what is important to them and who cares about winning. Winning and competing consistently against the likes of Australia - not in my life time.

I say privatize the system. Form a Indian Cricket League (a la the NBA).

I wonder why many are whining about Ganguly's non inclusion. This article put the current Indian ODI batting in perspective and correctly highlighted the significance of Laxman as a valuable inclusion. More importantly, Sambit Bal has hit the nail on the head by insisting that Laxman must be made to feel secure and wanted, because I cannot think of any player of Laxman's high stature and class who must have had to perennially worry about his place in the side for the next match. An assured Laxman is definitely an ominous sign for the opponents. Yes, Laxman must be an integral part of India's WC campaign irrespective of his performances from now on.

This is one of the best analysed article I have read. I cant agree more and it echo's my views. I think the same logic can be applied to Ganguly just purely on cricketing terms. I was very much for the removal of ganguly last year but now the new crop didnt show much to stand the trial. Ganguly can be brought back only as a bastmen but there always is the problem of clashes of personality. So brining him back is a lot more complicated issue than Lax. It all depends on how rigid or flexible are the persons involved and sometime that precede's over pure cricketing terms.
I hope for a better show from India but am not going have expectations.

Nice summation of thoughts ! Instead of asking questions that start with 'why' I'd like to look at what next..!

The selectors : Bunch of wise men at the helm ! Am positive that they try their best to give the best to the team as in terms of selecting the best of the talent available but what they always falter IMHO is the way they substantiate their selections. I mean when they select the likes of Raina they say we need youth and energy and blah and with laxman/sourav/dravid...experience !

Now when they have to do a save their face sorta act by sending in experience coz 'actually' the youth's energy fell flat on the tip of all of their noses..!Dravid's injury came in as a blessing in disguise..!

Now they say, we send in laxman for dravid but for me sounds ridiculous the way they try to always and I mean always cover up by coming up with this immature reasoning.

PLEASE LISTEN TO ME YOU BUNCH OF WISE MEN : PATHAN IS A GEM,do not loose out on him.I PRAY u hear my voice.

The Players : Keeping records aside,it is indeed a different series and different ball game again."It really does not matter if u are sachin with the bat or a Raina or a Kaif !" If you feel my above statement was wrong look at the scoreboards of the matches played.More than the selectors,IF I HAVE TO BLAME and point fingers, I'd DARE say players like sehwag,kaif,sachin,dhoni have taken their cricketing lives for granted !YES I am just another pro Ganguly citizen but I waned him out as well coz of his form and not coz of the email crap that circualted in the media.And more importantly why isint Sehwag considered for the 'experience'he has..!Its all the time sachin and Dravid,who IMO is worlds best batsman at this moment,alas cant be said about is captaincy skills..but I am more than willing to give him numerous chances to learn as a captain,no hassles..but but what happens to the others when they are on the Pitch ?

Coaches : When Greg wrote a career-ending email to the board about Ganguly it was taken so seriously where as his predecessor John wright's confessions about his brush with the Indian Selection (zonal bias etc) was downplayed by the very same board.Again I find it ridiculous on the part of the board not to have the authority but just all the time coming up with grace sacing acts...!
My message to the BCCI :

BOARD , step up and show authority and be clean in whatever you do,just the way you show authority with ICC (for being the richest board in the world)!

My 15 for the world cup (irrespective of the outcome of this series) : Dravid,Sehwag,Sachin,Ganguly,Laxman,yuvraj,Dhoni,
Kaif,Pathan,Zaheer,Munaf,Anil,Harbhajan,Raina,VRV singh, !

It makes perfect sense to bring in Laxman. But where does that leave the likes of Raina and even Kaif to certain extent? Does the Indian team have an idea of going into the world cup with Laxman ? If so then it must be made clear by the selectors. Else it will once again put pressure on Laxman to cement his place in the team. He has to be given a considerable run including the Sri Lankan series to be able to justify his ODI selection. If the selectors do infact make a statement of Laxman's inclusion it is only going to benefit Indian cricket and we can once again continue our excellent run in the world cups.

The selectors have given up on ODIs. Now the selection of Laxman confirms that India has NO expectation. India did the same in the Asia Cup 2004. It didn't work for the subsequent tests against Aus. And how can it, if Jaffer only spends 3 balls at the crease? Lets hope Laxman gets more practice. This squad reminds me more of Pakistan's level of agility rather than SA/ Aus. And there is no doubt that fielding is the most important differentiator. Surely the SA have shown it all too clearly. This means that even if Gibbs doesn't score too many, he is likely to be more influential than a VVS or a Jaffer. I am equally critical of Sehwag. It is easy to forget that all India batsmen barring Dravid have struggled. Even SA top order has struggled. So, why this abuse for Raina and Kaif? India needs a BOWLING COACH. It needs a couple of excellent fielders who can CONSISTENT DELIVER 30+ average at 75-80% SR, eg. Badrinath, Gambhir, Raina and Kaif. It needs quality allrounder like Pathan (of course a bowling coach to help them); Joginder Sharma (with a bowling coach) rather than Mongia (can he bat?). Quality bowlers like Kumble, Harbhajan and Zaheer (with a bowling coach). Here is my eleven for the WC: Gambhir, Sachin, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Kaif, Pathan, Joginder, Harby, Kumble, Zaheer .. bowling coach..fielding coach .. Sehwag, Sreesanth, m/o bat, Manuf. I am still supporting all the players for ODIs and Tests. In a sense, the selectors have done the right thing .. ODI can be written off .. but they need to get their WC squad right.

To Mr. Brijesh,

when u mention about sourav..i felt really good but when u drag the situation the point where every onr think u r from bengal..it lost its cause...so next time when u come with a reason make sure it is logical..sure gangualy is a class batsman...he is thriving with hunger these days.. i am sure there might be a call for him some time soon...but Laxman deserves place far more than Ganguly...so think about what u ve asked.. u ll find answers for ur questions...

What about Ganguly. Agreed Lax is a class player, but in ODI's Ganguly is way way ahead of Lax. Why not Ganguly?? Why is Crikinfo journalists so anti-Ganguly? Are they afraid of Chappel? or BCCI? or just plain hate Ganguly's guts? Or are there some parochial interests involved here - that would be unfortunate.
Anyway, Best wishes to Lax .... He deserved the break.

Laxman is an outstanding batsman however he is best suited to the longer form of the game. It would be a backward move to go back to Laxman now. Players like Mongia, Raina and Gambhir should be given stable opportunities to prove themselves. There are too many extremeties happening - Kaif has been given too many chances in the hope he can find form (even a legend like Kapil Dev was not given this luxury) at the expense of other hard working keen players who are desperate to prove themselves if given a fair and reasonable chance.

Never felt better after reading an article on cricket and never felt the urge to write a comment on cricket when there are so many pundits around. But this article is different and it deserves to be said so. I hope the Indian Cricket Board knows Sambit and reads him.

Well, it is too much of a temptation not to share my two cents on this. I am an ardent follower of cricket, and obviously back the indian team at any stage. But acccording to me, instead of keeping things simple, we are looking at complicating things too much, and hence we are here.
According to me, this shud be the team for the 3rd ODI(As per our availability as of now). the batting order should be shuffled around with dhoni coming up if need be. Sehwag, Mongia, Tendulkar, and Pathan should bowl 20 overs amongst them. That is the capains job to marshall his troops around effectively, and be able to play and go for a win, not just play, with the team he has got!
1.V Sehwag
2.Tendulkar
3.Laxman
4. SK Raina
5.D Mongia
6.M Kaif
7.MS Dhoni
8.IK Pathan
9.M Patel
10.H Singh/Kumble
11.Z Khan

When are we going to grow away from losers like VVS. It is true that he can not score in ODI and where fielding is required he is a liablity. Moreover he is not even a good slip fielder. Bottom line you start with a -20 to -30 when you field him.

That is something you donot need in a ODI - let alone in a Test.

Yes India sucks now. But dumb articles like these just makes it even more painful along with even dumber decisions by the selectors.

Well if VVS makes that saves me $$$. I need not subscribe to the WC 2007 telecast. I am sure that money can be well spent on something interesting ..

A few things need to be put in proper perspective:

1. India - or any other nation barring Australia - has never done well in SA. Their record under Sourav and Wright also is alarmingly poor. Nothing new is happening here but the magnification of non-issues by the media.

2. By all signs, Ganguly will be flown to SA for the Test Series. Does anyone remember the hop, skip, jump and fend to gully act of the last series that he played there? I wonder why well wishers of Ganguly want to hasten the end of his career, since humiliation in the hands of Ntini, Nel, Steyn etc. will underline the death sentence for him.
Mind you, if he succeeds, it will be a romantic coming of age story like no other and I will be delighted.

3. Before hankering for Ganguly let us remember that this man averages 36 in his last 54 tests. Guys, Bradman played 52 tests in his career. How long does a player take to shrug off bad form. In the same period Dravid averaged 62. He stagnated too long. And as a skipper, his bat averages way less than his peers, and even players like Pollock, Taibu and Streak have better figures with their not so famous willows as captain.

4. Sourav in 2005 averaged less than Pathan and Kumble in tests.

5. Compare Sourav's first 17 tests and 53 ODis as captain (the same nos. Dravid has led till now) with Dravid's. The results are not very different, although Sourav had the luxury of matches against Bangladesh and back to back series against Zimbabwe.
However, when it comes to personal individual performance with the bat, Dravid is of course way ahead.

The thing is that in India, facts are hardly what people go along with ... with yellow journalism at its peak and 'experts' in TV channels going around earning their fifteen minutes of fame, having never been in so much limelight in short, sometimes non-existent, playing careers.

I totally agree with Mr Sambit. VVS should have been in the ODI team. Yes we need young players but need to maintain some balance in the team. VVS can withstand pace on bouncy tracks and can turn the match. All he needs is a support on the other side. Of course, all the so called young ODI players dazzle with some scintillating shots. But when the team is down at 3/17 we need experience to withstand the pace. Better late than never. Even Adam Gilchrist couldn't figure out why VVS was out from the previous World Cup. Anyhow he is in now. I hope the best to him and the team.

There is more than a problem for the indians with the lights of Dravid, Sehwag, Sachin, Kaif and Raina not in form and especially there is no one in the reserves who could put up their hand up. It's time to resort to some experience. Not only Laxman, I'm also expecting players like Ganguly, Gambhir and Nehra to be back in the squad. The Indian Team is no longer a team that the people of India Cherish. All they lack is patience and application of thought and mind to their game.
Even If you look at a player like Dhoni, Raina etc. they look like going in with a view to hit some shots in a hurryburry and get back to the dressing room. They need some one who could weather the storm and stay as an anchor. I strongly believe that Laxman's inclusion will be morale boost to the team that is at 0% morale.
God save the king!

Irrespective of whether Laxman is picked or not I feel the selection criteria must be changed.
Can any team in this world rely on fielding alone.If that were the case Newzealand,Zimbabwe and Kenya would be ruling the world of cricket.Fielding is a very important element of cricket and as many greats comment could make a difference of 30 to 40 runs.But it is the batting and bowling that contributes or decides the remaining runs.If entire team is picked to save or add the 30 or 40 odd runs who will score the 100s or 200s and who will restrict the opposition by taking wickets.Just because other countries are banking on their fielding which is their strength we cannot emulate them.Our strength lies in our batting, spin and seam bowling.We want batsmen and bowlers first who are capable and then only the fielders.We have some good fielders in the current team who cannot bat or bowl which must be the basic competency and the qualifying criteria.Fielding cannot be a qualifying criteria on its own unless supported by a genuine batting or bowling capability.

Dear,
"NO WAY" to comapre Kaif with Batsman like Laxman who are specailities in Test match and whose performance in DOmestic Cricket in the recent time is Poor.Kaif is the man who played in WI and is a fighter.We should have player like him to raise the bar in Feilding.He was the Captain to win the WC under 19 for india.I think he is the future captain of INDIA.

I completely agree with Sambit. Can anyone, however great his/her knowledge about cricket is, ever imagine that cricket can be played without a bat and a ball. Well, Indian selectors haven't just imagined but shamelessly turned that into a reality. Fielders getting preferences over batters and bowlers. what can one say about this? Now Desi Carl Lewis should be picked up as a replacement for Tendulkar/Dravid. Another point around which our selection process revolves is "player of future". Well ! Well ! Well ! Every kid who can wield a plstic p(w)illow, and a plastic ball in his backyard is a player of future.

I really don't agree with what VAsu has said above " Ganguly should have been asked to say bye bye to cricket"...What the hell...in that case given the performances of Indian team in last 6 months I think the entire team then should be given an opportunity to say "bye bye" to cricket...Right??? I would like to ask all the readers which cricketere in his career has not gone through a lean patch..even Bradman scored ducks..Form is temporary but class is permanent my dear friend..And I guess most of you would agree that Dada is a class player..a big match player..Right selection is what is required to boost the performance and above all change in captaincy and not change of coach. Captain in todays cricket has to be flexible and not orthodox who just cannot uplift the morale of the team..Somebody like Dada was very good in pumping energy in the players..

VVS is far more better than Kaif and Raina in the team as a batsmen.In the last 10 matches Raina and Kaif are not able to get even 10 runs.

I'm giving my fav. team and hope this would be the team for World Cup

Team 11: Tendulkar,Sourav,Dravid,Laxman,Yuvraj,Sehwag,Dhoni,Pathan,Kumble,Zaheer,Munaf.

Buffers:Bajji,Agarkar,Sreesanth.

Tendulkar and Sourav should open the innings. Sourav,Tendulkar,Yuvraj or Sehwag can be used as the 5th bowler.Kumble will be the better opt than Bajji……Because the pitches would be bouncy at Westindies.

The problem right now is that our batting lacks balance. It is very top heavy. Once Tendulkar and Sehwag are gone the attitude becomes defensive except for when Dhoni is at the crease. What we need is someone like a Steve Waugh who can come in 5 down and still win as a match from an impossible position. That person to my mind can only br Dravid. He is tough and will fight till the end.

I think the ideal line up is Sachin, Sehwag, Laxman/Ganguly, Yuvraj/Kaif, Dravid, Dhoni, Pathan, Harbhjan, Kumble/Agarkar, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan/Sreesanth/Balaji.

This should be the squad and who ever is fit and in form plays.

Well lot of things have been said by the fans, but the bottom line is he is better than current lot, so you don't need to make noice of some body else (like Gangs) when VVS selected.

Nice piece of spin, Sambit! But I can see that you can not acknowledge the truth - Chappel/Dravid got it wrong. They are supposed to prepare for World Cup 2007, not the one at 2011. And, you dont do mindless experiments when you are 12 months away from the world cup.

I do see people like you can not see such truths. Not sure what's wrong with you - probably you have a much superior intellect than most others [I am told - some journalists do!] or you dont want to see the truth unless you are forced to.

The drubbing in South Africa has been shameful so far. I am praying the team will turn around, I am sure they will. However, this slap was needed - for people who would not admit how stupidly things have been done last few months - I just hope it will be in time to save some pride in the world cup.

Well it is very clear that Indian selector and bcci not making any sense in the past.

They have tried many young players for last 18 months. Result was very poor. Now ball in the experienced players court.

First of all let get ride Australian ediot from our country. Indian cricket can win with Coach Indian like Sandeep Patel /Robin Singh.

Winning a World Cup is not a joke. No Tendulkar, No Laxman, No Sehwag can do it this time. Because Tendulkar will not play for sure. Sehwag is totally unfit. Laxman is hopeless. Where are you heading to? India will not see semi final

Laxman has never proved his mettle in one-day cricket. One of his major weakness is running between the wickets. Raina and Kaif can steal runs and stop them in the field as well. These points could be ignored if Laxman had been consistent in scoring in one-days. In his entire career he has never looked threatening in a one-day internationally. It is such a contrast to what he delivers in Test matches. In test matches he is so assured and the opposition feels the game is going out of their hands as long as laxman is in the crease. But not so much in one-days. I feel that on current form Laxman is next only to Dravid in Test matches, he is way better than Sachin and Sehwag today. But in one-days its a different ball game.

Dear Sambit,
Your assessment of the present cricket teams's drawbacks and the wisdom of selectors to decide atlast on the old bench strength is accrate. Your analysis of VVS laxman's talent could not be better described by another sports writer and will remain as a master piece,Time will prove his utility to the team in SA.I hope that he comes good on the bouncy tracks because Laxman likes the ball coming on the bat.Now that Saurav is also back in the team,India should look forward better team effort.

It is one of the classic articles in the support of VVS. A Very very specail batsman. First and foremost I'm a diehard fan of him. I responding to this article after watching the entire series of SA. There are still crucial days to go. This article depicts our current situation of Indian Batting line up. Especially the difference VVS brings into the crease. He already played special knocks here. As far as his ODI place is concerned, it is not easy to score every ball a four or six, we need batters who give a stance to the big hitters, and laxman can perfectly do that. He also can hit only fours.If you see his stats he scores only fours more than singles and doubles. He can bat according to the situation. It is a great move by Selectors and especially making him as Vice-Captain of India too. Nothing great can happen to VVS. This is what type of confidence was needed to Laxman for him to feel secured. He over-showdoed by Tendulkar and others. But he bats with so much care. Look at Sehwag how many times he hits the same kind of shot where he knows these are not the same old flat pitches to bat on easily. VVS batted so greatly watching the right ball to hit and made Indian batting save their faces. I pity the indian selectors and Greg and David for giving so many chances to Sehwag and where they ignored a class act like Laxman these many years. It is about the time for him to be considered for ODIs. I am sure he can win matches for us. Don't think that only the young blood can win for us. We need a pensive player like him who stays there and helps building perfect partnerships when needed.
My worldcup Team:

NO PLACE FOR SEHWAG PLEASE....

1.Tendulkar
2.Ganguly/Gambhir/Uthappa
3.Laxman
4.Dravid
5.Yuvi(if he can get fit)/Ganguly
6.Kaif/Ganguly
7.Dhoni/Karthik
8.Zaheer
9.Sreesanth
10.Bajji/Kumble
11.Pathan/Munaf/VRV

pl reach to Shri Sambit Bal, editor.Sir,just read your article dt 28.11.2006.am a die hard of indian cricket for last 22years. i do not agree that laxman is a misfit in one day team.infact i believe that he is a superior player to even the great tendulkar, i will reason out why.I did not get an opportunity to view, analyse and compare greats like bigbird joel garner, whispering death michael holding and the best part of malcolm marshall BUT i have watched marshall"s later years and from 1985, greats like Imran,kapil, akram,warne, mcgrath and several other outstanding performers(list is plenty viz even to bruce reid, gavin larsen etc level). I am competent to argue laxman's case atleast for his rightful place. Sir, of all mcgrath is the greatest bowler this world has seen,followed by shane warne and then akram. all bowlers have been conquered by tendulkar including warne. do you agree that tendulkar has dominated mcgrath or mcgrath has dominated tendulkar for most part? its the latter. the great tendulkar has failed to conquer mcgrath which started from 1999 world cup to till date but for some portions in 2000 tour down under and some others.the great dravid failed even against warne and of course the great mcgrath. but laxman has dominated mcgrath and warne all through, never allowed them to topple him. It is the failure of the board/physical trainer to not have made laxman physically fit to run better between wickets, field better.for a national team with crores of rupees at disposal honing the talent is a responsibility, instead laxman's career was played with cheap politics.had laxman played 2003final we would have won 2003cup. he deserves his rightful place and this has to be given only by media. pl.give a judgment.sanjay.