Scenario 1: Robin Uthappa doesn’t come off. Tendulkar moves up to open with Ganguly and instead of bringing Karthik in as a specialist batsman, the team management opts for Pathan as a decent outfielder, a more than useful batsman who can play up or down the order, and someone who can smuggle in a few overs through the middle passages of a game.

Scenario 2: Virender Sehwag’s dreadful form continues. Given that India routinely plays six batsmen and four bowlers, Dravid and Chappell decide that Pathan is a better all-round replacement for Sehwag (who usually shares the fifth bowler’s quota with Tendulkar) than Dinesh Karthik.

I think Dravid will be desperate to play Pathan if five of his six main batsmen fire because Pathan playing to seventy five percent of his potential as a bowler would appear to balance the side out. Dravid’s stated preference is to play five bowlers and playing Pathan gives him at least four-and-three-quarters.

If I’m right in this, I can’t see Karthik getting an opportunity except as a replacement for an injured Dhoni or, as a longer shot, if Yuvraj is unfit. Yuvraj doesn’t bowl any more, so Karthik for Yuvraj would be a straightforward batsman for batsman swap with no bowling considerations coming into play.

All of this presumes that the main batsmen do well. If the first couple of games find the battting wobbling, Karthik automatically becomes the favoured replacement.

You don’t have to be an a genius to know that the Indian team will start its campaign with Zaheer Khan Munaf Patel, Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh. I’m not sure I understand why Harbhajan is an automatic choice for the spinning spot in ODIs but the good thing about having bowlers as good as Sreesanth and Kumble on the bench is that the players they replace in the event of injury or poor form, won’t be hugely missed.

But I’ll miss Powar’s waddle, his fearlessly flighted teasers, those glaring red shades.

Lot of people are arguing for inclusion of Ramesh Powar. I am not for it. I am not for 2 spinners in playing 11 for India. Reason - In Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, we have 2 part-time spinners who can bowl 10 overs if conditions dictate. In my opinion, Harbhajan is the best indian spinner for ODIs. Mukul pointed the statistics which are in favour of Ramesh Powar. In the same statistics, I will bring few points in favour of Harbhajan. Harbhajan is at No 4 in the list of bowlers who concede lesser runs. And when India last toured WI, Harbhajan was the outstanding bowler. Ramesh Powar was smashed all around the park in that series. In fact, the difference between India and WI was success of 2 spinners (part timers Gayle and Samuels bowled 10 overs in all matches successfully) for WI vs success of 1 spinner (Harbhajan) for India and failure of other spinner (Ramesh Powar). That being the case, i wonder why so many people are hell bent of proving "Powar is better than Harbhajan" which is not true.

If Kumble is not going to be picked as a first choice bowler in the eleven then why pick him at all for all know that his fielding and batting has fallen by a long way for years now. Powar should have been the first choice ahead of even Harbhajan more due to the fact that he rather tends be defensive rather than go for wickets. Where i guess Powar lost out is through is inability to score runs which everybody knew he was capable of .

according to me indian team will surely miss romesh powar. this is because he have natural ability to toss the ball to the near perfection,this ball can deceive any batsman at any stage of the game.moreover his batting abilities would have been of great advantage during such an important tournament.on the other hand kumble doesn't spin ball at all& will have to rely on his ability to trap batsmen in front of the wicket.his batting is a big joke & fielding is his weakest area on the field.bcci & team management will realise their huge mistake like this only when they surely won't reach into the semifinals.due to lack of killer instinct & great ability of chocking in the crunch situations chances of india finishing among the top five teams of the worldcup are very bleack

Another possibility of course, is that Dravid-Chappell might try out Pathan againt the weaker teams in the group. Nothing solves the teams problems as much as a fit and in-form Pathan. Even here, he would come in at the expense of Kaartick, since it looks like Sehwag's too dear. But yeah, Pathan cannot replace one of the four bowlers. However, if he plays the weaker teams, he is likely to get a full quota of overs under his belt.

after looking thru the squad a few times i get the feeling that pathan may not be a great choice for india.. i feel he shud not have been included.. u see, india are unlikely to play more than 3 seamers in a game which is most likely to be zaheer, agarkar and munaf.. and just in case the team management decides to go in for a 4th seamer, with pathan being in the team, i think the choice cud be between pathan and sreesanth.. and on current form i guess sreesanth may get the nod ahead of pathan especially cuz of his brilliant performance in the last tour to the west indies.. pathan is in the worst form of his life.. he was sent back half way thru the tour of south africa to work on his bowling.. he probably did, but there were no results for anyone to see.. he got clobbered even in the few domestic mathes he played by the ranji batsmen.. it was like he almost forgot how to bowl.. and u see cuz of all this his confidence too is at an all time low..

and being a mainline bowler or bowling being his main strength his batting derives its confidence from his bowling.. so if he his bowling pathetic its unlikely he'll make the playing eleven let alone doing well with the bat.. and pathan we must remember is not a jacques kallis who can make the team solely on his batting or bowling.. he is not yet even a bowling allrounder, i think he is still a bowler who can make a decent contribution with the bat..
so in this scenario i feel picking raina wud have been a way better choice as an extra batsman.. pathan may get a look in for the final one dayer against sri lanka to give the team some confidence that he'll deliver.. if pathan finds form he is surely a better 4th bowler option than sreesanth or cud even displace agarkar or munaf.. but if he doesnt its pure folly to think pick him thinking he mite contribute lower down the order..

with a packed middle order of some 7 quality batsmen, even if 3 of them fire, pathan wont get a bat.. if 3-4 batsmen can fire india wont even need that final push to the total in the last overs.. and it wud be foolish to bank on pathan's batting thinking of a top order failure.. so yeah.. i still think raina may have been a better choice on current form..

also abt karthik getting a looking only in case of sehwag's continued poor form, why not think of picking karthik and strengthen the batting instead of picking pathan as a allround option wen he wont be half the bolwer he is nor half the batsman he cud be due to the dismal stae of his confidence.. now since pathan in the team i think if sehwag has to sit out kartik shud go ahead of pathan if he does not recover from his current slump, instead of trying a half cooked pathan.. i agree that karthik chance may come only incase sehwag or yuvraj is made to sit out for watever reasons.. pathan is unlikely to get more than 2 games at the WC to prove himself even if is does get a chance, if he doesnt perform i dont think dravid will be too shy to have him replaced.. he'll be lucky to get a chance in the in the final game against sri lanka.. and regarding pathan replacing an out of form batsman rather than a bowler, i agree with that, but i think that will happen only if more than one batsman fails.. i think the first choice replacement for any out of form batsman will be karthik.. if there is a second batsman who hits a bad patch, i think only then will pathan will come into the picture(if he is still to stay worthy to stay on in the west indies). powar's case is also unfortunate.. i feel that if pathan was in good form then maybe the selectors cud have gone in for powar ahead of sreesath.. sreesanth is in bad form anyway and was on the fringes of selection.. i think i got picked only as an extra pace option as backup to an out of form pathan.. so if pathan had fired i dont think we wud have needed sreesanth.. powar then have been on the plane to the west indies.. 4 pacemen and 3 spinners wud have been grea for the team.. india now have 5 pacemen, i dont think any other team has picked so many pacemen.. surely, powar's case is unfortunate..

I totally agree. Ramesh Powar has been given a raw deal. He's a very good bowler with a clever cricket brain, a safe fielder, and can bat reasonably well. His bowling is good enough to select him as a bowler alone. He may not look like a clever, thinking, competitive, talented cricketer, but that's exactly what he is, and an attacking bowler as well. Harbhajan doesn't trust his skills half as much as Powar does. And he often loses heart when things are going against him. Yet he's talked about as a great competitor, and an aggressive bowler. It takes a really big heart to keep tossing the ball up when batsmen are coming after you, and Powar does that all day in, day out. I'm a big fan of Harbhajan, he has all the talent in the world, but he can learn a few things from Powar, who, along with Laxman, must feel hard done by the selectors, and possibly the team management.

Well said!!! And well analyzed, I would say. All said and done though, I still feel that picking an out of form Sehwag or Pathan for that matter(At least for me, they have not shown any dramatic changes either in form or technique to deserve a place in the World Cup XV) ahead of Ramesh Powar sends the wrong signals to the already depleted 'flight oriented' spin community. For all the beautiful wickets Powar has taken (esp. The one in 2006 Feb, after he was hit for a six by Inzi, he had the guts ot bowl a even more loopy floater the very next delivery to get him out.) and the gutsy innings he has played (The one against England at Jamshedpur when India were tottering) I do feel that he would have more than filled the all rounder slot in the side ahead of both Sehwag and Pathan. Also he would be far more attacking option than even Harbhajan as a bowler (Strike Rates Powar 36.16 vs Bhajji 46.10) given the fact that he is more probable to pick more wickets irrespective of the conditions one encounters in in Carribean. Also on current form and technique, I would give Dinesh Karthik a far greater chance to figure in the final XI as compared to Sehwag. Moreover, Karthik in the past few months has shown the resolve to fight it out when the going has gone tough and has shown this versatility by adapting to a situation. In Sehwag's case this the adaptability factor seems to be zero given the fact that even when he has tried to play cautiously, his attacking instincts have got the better off him. Uthappa too seems to be of the same Sehwagesque kind and only time would be able to tell as to how long his care free approach would fetch India the goods. What India really need is settled line up which based upon the current scenario seems a mirage to say the least. The ideal line up would be

1. Uthappa/Sehwag - Cannot have two bashers in the same team also based on need. Sehwag provides a handy bowling option.

2. Sourav Ganguly - Amongst the very best ODI cricketers

3. Rahul Dravid - Rock Solid, stabilizer,

4. Sachin Tendulkar - Guide the middle order, rotates strike beautifully, can hit the big shots if need be.

5. Yuvraj Singh - Ideal One day middle order bat.

6. Dinesh Karthik / Pathan- to be picked based on need. Prefer Pathan over Karthik in case the team needs a fifth bowler, also a handy bat, else persist with Karthik, flexible player a plus on the field.

7. M.S.Dhoni - Final Overs finisher

8. Agarkar - Probably at the top of hi bowling prowess since his first year. Handy with the bat.

9. Anil Kumble/Bhajji - Steady bowlers. Conditions which would probably suit both.Paly both if necessary.

10. Zaheer Khan - The best in the current crop of pace bowlers. Stint off the international circle has changed him for sure and has sorted his game better.

11. Munaf/Sreesanth - Based on who the in form wicket taking bowler is.

I agree that Pathan is more likely to replace and out of form batsman than a specialist bowler. I would just like to add that the out of form batsman would most likely be Sehwag unless his "friends" in the team back him or our Indian selectors stick to their usual selection policy of "reputation and experience above performance"

I agree, S Rajesh's stats just back it up...Powar should be in the sqaud at the very least. He was very harshly treated by the selectors, every time I've seen him he's been impressive. Also you have to take into consideration the West Indies pitches. They will suit the 'flight' bowlers like Harbhajan and Powar, I think Kumble might struggle because he pushes it through. Powar is a clever bowler who deserved to make it into the sqaud. If it were up to me, I would have Powar ahead of Munaf in the side. Munaf looks like a bumbling oaf in the field (not like Powar is Jonty either!), he is an embarrassment and does not have a 'Plan B'. If the batsmen like Gayle decide to have a go at him, he will suffer very badly. He also brings down the morale of the team.

Also I must say that I love Dinesh Karthik's attitude, I would make an argument for him being in the top 5 fielders in the world.

Right now India's problem is their fielding and attitude. Bad fielding sides won't win the World Cup unless there are some exceptional individual performances.

Also Pathan must play...even if he is not bowling well. They have to keep the same formula as they did when they beat SL 6-1, that's the best I've ever seen India play ODI cricket.

Dhoni is the key player, today they said that he averages 88 when they win.

hurray!!! the first one to comment.
anyway nice blog though i don't agree with one point that karthick is an automatic replacment for yuvi. though karthick has played some gritty innings he can't push along in the slog overs and i don't see him coming up the order.

Powar would have been a better choice than Kumble.May be Kumble is given a chance being his last world cup.Powar is a better feilder than Patel & kumble even though his physique is not ideal for a sportman and he can bat a bit.

Would someone tell me how Kumble deserves a place ahead of Powar?The former has 46 wickets at an average of 44 in his last 50 matches & he can't bat,field or run between the wickets.

Also,why is the need for 5 seamers for a World Cup in the Caribbean while India had just 4 for the one in South Africa?

I am baffled by the so called "think tank's" decision not to play kumble in ODIs and prefer harbhajan.Romesh Powar would definitely be a better choice than giving the ball to sehwag or tendulkar.
there are no legitimate claimholders to the bowling slot. the lot remains sreesanth,munaf,zaheer,agarkar,kumble,harbhajan and pathan. If I were the captain, i will think twice before playing pathan.It is better to have a bowler who can get through his ten overs than expecting a 50 from a mercurial bowler!(case for powar again!)

so depending on injuries, bowling form based on the initial matches against some minnows, 4 bowlers will be played as a "success combination" in the matches thereafter.

This team's bowling doesn't throw any scares into the opposition at all..mind you it is in WI, and the wickets aren't devil's playground anymore.

The Indian team managements decisions seem to be sound enough on the face of it. Tendulkar and Sehwag can take care of 10-15 overs in each game. There was not much need of a third spinner-and there is not much scope of leaving out either Harbajan (who is feared by all other teams) and Kumble (who is likely to be fairly effective on west Indian pitches). Regarding Pathan and Sehwag, its unfortunate that they need to prove their worth again and again. Look at the number of man of the match awards both of these players have won, and we will know that these are among the match winners in the team along with Dhoni and Yuvraj. For one dayers, with the current form, Pathan is as good a batsman as Kartik, and at least as good a fielder (and can also bowl a few overs even if his bowling form deserts him). THe decision to persist with Kartik (over another batsman) in the 15 probably derives from Dravid's bad experiene in the past when he had to shoulder the responsibility of keeping wickets (when Ganguly was the captain), and Dravid had to taken up the additional responsibility in the name of providing balance to the team (the balance that could also have been provided if Ganguly would have bothered to work on his bowling). Pathan and sehwag remain crucial to Indias chances of winning the cup - because they are match winners. If powar gets left out, he is also to blame for it, because he lost out on the chance to establish himself as a lower order batsman.

Against genuine left handers like Fleming, Greame Smith, Hussey, Hayden etc.. it would be a treat to watch Powar bowling..Powar can pose more problems to the left handers than Bhajji can..

Not sure if we could play Powar instead of Harbhajan (supposedly Harbhajan is a better hitter) But I think having a genuine off-spinner always helps..I dont consider Bhajji as a classic offspinner, and I hope nor does anyone else..

Even Sehwag turns the ball more than Bhajji.. not that I have anything against Bhajji.. but I think he has lost his touch.. and he seems to rely more on his doosra than the regular off spinner.

Zaheer mentioned that the key is to take early wickets (i.e. use the new ball). Ajit Agarkar and Zaheer have had great success recently. Pathan has been India's best opening bowler: in fact, he is just a handful of games away from his peak as the new ball bowler. That's not bad at all! Zaheer has been around his current form for 8 matches, but is is off his peak, which was around 30 matches back (out of 99) as a new ball bowler. The peak is similar to Pathan's. Agarkar has gradually improved (he was very good in his first 30 matches). I had say, Agarkar is the most consistent bowler.

It is another matter if the bowler is a change bowler (i.e. 1st, 2nd etc change). Pathan has been tried out recently (6 games), but fared very badly (ER 6.1, Aver 83). Firstly he was out-of-form. Secondly, most bowlers take time to adjust. But it seems there is more than that. Zaheer has played only 15 games; he was very strong in the first 5. Since then, he has failed miserably (ER 5.3, Aver 45). Firstly, he was injured during Pak-Ind 2004. He had lost the new ball because he was out-of-form. It actually cost him his place in the side (Pak-Ind 2006). Agarkar started off like Pathan but has really improved. He has played 64 matches and peaked in match 58-59 (Cricinfo no. 2377, 2381). He has always been expensive (ER 5.2, Aver 28-29) but has taken wickets.

In the closing overs, Zaheer is evidently the best on current form (with his yorkers). Agarkar can get reverse swing. Both look good or very good. Pathan is not good. Overall, Agarkar is the most versatile bowler.

Now, Manuf has been doing very well with the new ball. He has played only 4 games as a change bowler. ER= 5, Aver 54, has seen ER drop from 6 and Average halved. He is the only paceman who has the makings of an economical change bowler (i.e. ER under 5). But, he would need to half his average (i.e 27 average) in this position if he wants to rival Harbhajan Singh (who starts his spell in powerplays). RP Singh briefly became a dangerous change bowler. Maybe Manuf can do something similar.

Sreesanth is a poor new ball bowler. His record as a change bowler (ER 5.6, Aver 30) is better than his career's. He is the wicket-taking option in the middle overs but his economy rate is quite high. Both Manuf and Sreesanth would be best used as change bowlers. But we are really speculating at this stage about how they will fare.

These five pacemen gives India plenty of options. Lastly, the form of Manuf, Zaheer and Agarkar (to a lesser extent) makes them top-notch bowlers. IMO, India needs top-notch bowlers (based on current form and quality) to stop the assaults in the early and death overs.

Lastly, I think neither Powar or Kumble are required. To have them playing, either Harbhajan is dropped or Pathan plays as the fifth bowler. Personally, instead, I would bring in Suresh Raina for his sub-fielding.

Pathan vs Powar is a wrong discussion. It should be Powar vs Kumble. There is no place for three spinners in the team. As great Kumble is, I am afraid he is going to be a passenger in this team for the world cup.

We just have to hope that Pathan finds his form. Without an all-rounder, it is difficult to find the balance in the team. Agarkar or Harbhajan batting at number 7 is not a good sight. At the same time, playing without a fifth bowler is a risky proposition too.

I find the comment by the author amusing: 'We have good bowlers like Sreesanth on the bench'
Sreesanth should be lucky that he is going to West Indies. Powar should have been there instead of him, not instead of Pathan.

Well Kumble is not ideal for ODI cant field cant score runs. Well he is very good bowler in test, in ODI one has to be conatining also, he gifts one 4 scoring ball every over, and india being worst fielding side.. its sure to go for 4. Powar is better than him, but when grounds are small then his flighted diliveres will end up as 6 even miss hit will be 6 jaysuriya/hayden/gilcrist/fleming all can hit with power.. so miss hit is still 6. bhajji si better option as seen by stats he is now more of a containing bowler.. its good to have a bowler who gives 35-40 runs with 1 wicket than 65 runs with 2-3 wickets. Less runs u give is less runs u need to score. every team bats down to the order so 2-3 top order batsman geting out cheaply is not enough. if bajji dries one end then agarkar/munaf/sachin can get wicket at other end as they will go after them. Pathan is best all-rounder we have had since robin singh ( but pathan must be in form) if not in form even 2nd catagory ranji player hits him for 6-7 runs in an over. shewag is good and a match winner , well thats what BCCI wants us to know. but winning 1 match for india in 20 games is not good. well india wont play 20 games at WC. so what if that 1 good game never comes. so shewag will have a free vaccation to beautiful carrabian islands..

The Pathan situation is an enigma in the mind of all. People who compared him to Kapil Dev are baffled as to what happened so suddenly. Cricket, like any other game, is as much mental as it is physical and people need to fully understand that. Mentally Powar wants to play, he has the appetite and courage to play Cricket for India and should have been given this opportunity, not over Pathan but maybe over Kumble.

Team India has given so many chances to Sehwag and Pathan in past year, but the duo has not shown any likelihood of delivering any goods for the team in near future. I still back the selection of Sehwag, though it is based on hope and his performance in Carribean last year. Also since the wickets there will be slow with low bounce, it could be an ideal platform for the master blaster to bat himself back in form. Ofcourse his bowling will be a huge plus as it was last year.

For Pathan, I cannot even back his selection on hope, since Carribean is exactly where his terrible slump started. The wickets will not be good for a fast bowler to find form. If he was not able to bowl well in fast pitches of SA, he will definitely find it tough in WI.

The ideal Indian batting line up should be

1 R Uthappa
2 S Ganguly
3 Y Singh
4 S Tendulkar
5 R Dravid
6 MS Dhoni
7 D Karthik
8 A Agarkar
9 H Singh
10 Z Khan
11 M Patel

I put Yuvraj at no.3 which has not yet been tried by Team India. I have immense belief in Yuvraj at this position because it has benefits manifold.

If the first wicket falls in the first fifteen overs, Yuvraj, who needs to get back into ryhtm, fill find it easier to score runs at the top of the order, instead of lower order, with field restrictions applied.

Also he is a natural stroke maker and he can maximize the use of powerplay.

Another reason I want Yuvraj to play at top of order instead of Dravid, is that the white ball has more swing in first hour, and we have seen Dravid fall to that incoming deliveries so many times. Dravid wicket is too important for Indian team to be lost so early. If Yuvraj falls early, with Sachin and Dravid to follow, the most experienced and talented batters in the world, what could be better for Indian team. They know exactly how to build the innings and momentum.

Also Dravid is a great finisher and he has done it so many times. In last 6 matches we have seen Indian team to falter in chase from a winning position, and the reason is the lack of experienced legs at the lower order. The younger players have an added pressure to prove themselves in world stage. Why give them an extra pressure of batting at lower order and also risk a match?

I think Karthik merits selection in playing eleven, on form, and he can playing attacking cricket in slog overs, along with Mr. Dhoni, the great champion.

If Sachin and Ganguly can bowl the quota of 10 overs, and Agarkar can show the same form he did when he last went to Carribean, Harbhajan, Munaf and Zaheer can continue with the form they are in, we have a great team and good chance to win this cup.

Despite being a Pakistani, I am a huge fan of Irfan Pathan. In my opinion he should play in the World Cup as an allrounder equally as bowler and batsman. Everybody knows he is a better bowler with the new ball than with the old ball. As the attack bowler he will definitely have more impact and not concede so many runs. But the last argument for him would simply be his growing confidence if he sees that the team management is happy with him and he gets trust from them. Perhaps it will be a huge step but he can be tested in the warmup matches if he hopefully gets fit soon.

Kumble over Powar? That to me isn't right. First reason is Powar's fielding. Although he is no Yuvraj or Kaif, his commitment is worth admiring. The second more important reason is his batting ability. Powar has shown he can bat under pressure on unfavorable pitches. Kumble is quite rusty in the outfield and not quite the handy batsman he used to be. For me, Powar is more suited for the one-day variety.

Powar is unlucky bcoz he plays at the same time a sKumble and bhajji, no question that as good as powar is Bhajji and Kumble are better, esplyy in WI where grounds are small.l Those who r underestimating Kimble..well wathc the rworld cup and then talk, at the international level i see no difference b/w powar and kumble in fielding and batting. powar flights the ball more yes kumble can adapt better to more situations powar will have his time.

India's bowling attack has been hopeless in the past year.We had one great seamer in the young Irfan Pathan but now he's in his worst of form.Powar, in recent times has been good, but it all depends on the pitch that India will be playing on, if it's spin friendly this is my line-up:

1.Uttapha
2.Ganguly
3.Dravid
4.Tendulkar
5.Yuvraj
6.Dhoni
7.Pathan
8.Agarkar/Sreeshant
9.Powar
10.Kumble
11.Harbajan

I need to go with 3 spinners and 2 seamers since it's a spinners track, but if its a batters track, i'll go with Z.Khan and Sree/Munaf instead of Powar and Kumble.If India are going to win the world cup they need to bowl good.

If you read the recent Chappell interview, he says "this is the side that India wanted". Well, it does sound like a lot of people in fact wanted to select Powar.

I think people are placing too much weight on the fact that the wickets in the West Indies were slow when we toured there. Keep in mind, they are renovating the stadiums, and perhaps also relaying some pitches, so they might not turn out so slow after all. In that case, having an extra spinner would just be useless. Of course, it might turn out the complete opposite of that. But even if the latter happens, I don't think we should worry too much. Sehwag bowled well in the West Indies and he just got back to batting form today with a brilliant 46. If he can keep his confidence and momentum going, we really won't need another spinner.

My Indian Cricket Team for WC

1.Uttapha/ Wassem Jaffer
2.Ganguly/ Tendulkar
3.Dravid
4.Tendulkar/ Yuvraj
5.Mohd Kaif
6.Dhoni
7.Irfan Pathan
8.Munaf Patel
9.Powar
10.Zaheer Khan
11.Harbajan

Raja Sengupta
USA, LA

If India wanted to win world cup they should sacked Dravid, Tendulkar & Chappel.

Ganguly should be the Captain.

Dave
USA, NY

definitely. powar must have been picked. his finger spinning would mean that the ball would grip and turn of the surface and would come slowly onto the bat making it more difficult for the batsmen to play as he has demonstarted time and agian lat year in the windies and recently in champions trophy.
he must have been picked instead of a 5th seamer nd cud hv replaced pathan as powar is quite handy wid a bat lower down the order 2.

First of all, Dave I don't know if you're a serious Indian fan, but it was because of Tendulkar that our batting did well in the last world cup. Also if Dravid wasn't there against New Zealand and Pakistan, we would have been skittled over. As far as Chappell is concerned, let's face it, if it weren't for him, Ganguly would never have realized that he had been taking his place for granted and had to go back and reassess, and he would have never been able to become the hungrier, leaner, fitter, and more focused player that he is now.

Pathan is too good a player to be ignored. He is a genuine all-rounder. If he struggles with the ball he can still bat.

As for Powar, his spin bowling is not good enough to warrant a place in the Indian team. I'm not sure about his fitness levels, he is simply too overweight to keep up with the pace of modern cricket-at least the others ( Inzi, Warney, lehman, gatting )had talent to justyfy eating biryanis and chips during their professional careers. And those red sungalsses are a joke.

Terming Irfan Pathan a 'pinch hitter', may be a tad harsh on the man. In my opinion, he is a class batsman. Some people may opine, that the last warm up match, played by India, in South Africa, affirms this view, of mine. For my eyes, he is the most exciting allrounder, playing international cricket, at the present time. It is important, for the interest of cricket, that he finds his best form, quickly.

i think india's biggest mistake in tis world cup selection has been the omission of powar. to me, he is clearly our best one-day spinner. as much as harbhajan and kumble have proven credentials their current form and lack of variety (not to mention overexposure) has made them sitting ducks for batsman willing to swing across the line against them. powar though adds immense variety in degree of spin, loop, pace and angle with good old fashioned pluckiness of heart. my guess is we are going to sorely miss him at some point of time in the world cup.

on the second issue of karthik vs. pathan. to me it is a no-brainer. i admire karthik, the kid has shown lots of heart and admirable spirit in the few chances he has gotten. but truth be told, pathan is simply a more talented batsman than karthik is. and this is the crux of the issue. while we struggle to identify good middle order batsmen, why not use pathan in that role, and if he can throw in a few good overs and while at it strike form again, we could well be on the way to lifting that lump of crystal.

Final 11:

1. S.Ganguly
2. V.Sehwag
3. S.Tendulkar
4. Y.Singh
5. R.Dravid
6. M.S.Dhoni
7. I.Pathan
8. A.Agarkar
9. H.Singh (Because R.Powar is not in the squad)
10. Z. Khan
11. M. Patel

I feel the selectors have done a good job, sure Powar is a good player, but I would say he didn't grab his opportunities with both hands to create selection headaches. Kumble is a fighter and he is the one who always gives more than 100% to the team. Harbhajan, although not in good form of late, is a matchwinner for sure if he tries to take wickets rather than bowling economically.

1st of all we should believe the very fact, that our team strength lies in batting. and 7 batsmen theory worked well earlier for us, where we could chase any target. Playing with 5 bowlers is not a good option for India, because it adds no difference. For eg, in 2003 world cup final, all our regular bowlers got the heat of aussie batting. But its our part time bowler, Dinesh mongia saved a bit, i mean when compared with our pace bowlers. so I feel, taking sreesanth is a bad idea, as we have already 3 bowlers, zaheer, agarkar, and Munaf who r doing well now. Sreesanth, rarely bowls well and not suited for ODI, as in ODI, we should target bowling economically but not picking up wickets. so, the above bowlers can bowl 30 overs and the rest 20, we have pathan, ganguly, sehwag, sachin and ofcourse yuvraj(slow left arm) whose bowling will work good in WI conditions. I feel powar is good option than sreesanth in the total 15 members. what you say? we need to put as much batting strength / batting all rounders than 6 + 5 option. our bowlers, there is no difference if it is 3 or 5 or 7. If once they started bowling bad there is no turn back. Even bowlers like srinath proved it in WC2003 final. Here is my team
1. uthappa
2. Ganguly
3. Pathan (if batting 1st and an early wicket of uthappa)
4. Tendulkar
5. yuvraj
6. Shewag
7. Dravid
8. Dhoni
9. Agarkar
10. Zaheer
11. Munaf patel / Powar
(depends on the Pitch)
I think, there is a good middle-order strength which is very necessary in any match playing agaist a strong bowling(pak/ aus /sa). Thats what NZ showed in their matches against aussies.

u guyz are crazi in thinking not to play pathan, u indianz can dream all u want about ur pace attack, end of the day, it stinks, zaheer and agarkar mai be gud on ur team but they wudn make it on any other coutries, thats just the truth, the only worthy bowler uve ever had is pathan, as close to wasim akram as ul ever get, btw im not pakistani either. now thats just the pace attack, how about the spin trio, oh wait, their is no trio, indian spinners are now a work of fiction, prasanna was really gud, but that was years ago. harbajan, kumble, their useless, i laugh every time i see them. so please, taking pathan on the team is worth the risk coz shud u make it to the semiz or the finals, ul sure as hell need him.

Example: Zaheer and Agarkar should open up the bowling, they should bowl 5 overs a piece. Pathan and Munaf should bowl the next lot of 5 overs. Then after all the powerplays are over India should bowl Harbajan and Kumble 10 overs each so now it will be the 40th over with 4 bowlers having 5 overs remaining. See what i mean? India have far too many bowlers in a team. This is my line-up:

1.Robin Uttapha-(New Jayasuriya)
2.Sourav Ganguly-(In form and experinced)
3.Sachin Tendulkar-(NO EXPLAINATION NEEDED)
4.Yuvraj Singh-(Agressive ReBuilder)
5.Rahul Dravid-(Goes Ballistic in final 10 overs)
6.Mahendra Dhoni-(Goes NUCLEAR all the time)
7.Verinder Sehwag-(Can hit a 50 out of no where)
8.Irfan Pathan-(Good Allrounder)
9.Ajit Agarkar-(Handy Batsman, Good paceman)
10.Anil Kumble-(Economical)
11.Harbajan Singh-(Wicket Taker)

Maybe Sachin and Sehwag and sneak in a few overs between themselves. Farely good line-up, in my opinion strong enough to beat the Saffa's and Aussies!

India have the Players to win this world cup:
1.Uttapha-SMASHER
2.Ganguly-highest ranking 2
3.Sachin Tendulkar-highest ranking 1
4.Yuvraj-highest ranking 10 (i think)
5.Dravid-highest ranking 1 (i think)
6.Dhoni- highest ranking 1
we hav the batsman to win the world cup..our top 6 batsman were in the top 10 atleast once (i think)

With world cup excitement running fever pitch, there is this new found fascination of an all time great XI. I am also tempted to pick my all time great Indian XI.
1. Sachin Tendulkar (Vice Captain)
2. Saurav Ganguly
3. Mohammed Azharuddin
4. Mohinder Amarnath
5. Rahul Dravid
6. Kapil Dev (Captain)
7. Ravi Shastri
8. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wc)
9. Anil Kumble
10.Javagal Srinath
11. Zaheer Khan
12th man will be Ajit Agarkar. Does anybody has better composition than this? Come on guys, I am expecting a full fledged article on this in any of blogs.

There should be place for Irfan in 11 that makes team more powerful.I think selectors should keep that in mind that he can bowl and bat and in 1983 there was three all-rounder 11.
according to me this should be team india
1 Sehwag
2 Uthappa
3 Ganguly
4 Tendulker
5 Dravid
6 Yuvraj
7 Dhoni
8 Pathan
9 Harbhajan
10 Munaf Patel
11 Zaheer
12 Agarkar.

Good Luck Team India. Conquer the World Cup Title. Believe, cause you are able.
Believe, cause you are chosen to do the task. Believe, cause you all are talented.
Believe, cause we believe you all can do it. May the blessing of God Almighty be
upon you all.

The selection of Irfan and Virender is a cause of worry. There is no doubt, whatsoever,
that they both are match winners. But their performance in last few months has not
been up to their potential. Even if you consider the series against the West Indies
or Sri Lanka; or the two warm up matches, there was no indication that their
form was improving. Does Rahul and the Coaching staff have a plan B if these two do not
raise their level of performance? If so what is it? I understand that Rahul or
the management does not have to answer the public or the fans, but I sure hope that
they do have a plan B. There is no doubt that captain should have his say in the selection
of the team, but then if he insists on picking a certain player, then he should also take
the responsibility for that decision in case of failure of that particular player. Let us
hope that the risk that Rahul and selection committee took by selecting these two
player works in our favor.

All the players except Irfan and Virender are in good form and have performed well.
Every player has prepared well for this tournament. The coaching staff has done a very
good job in preparing the players. There should not be a major problem in performing as
a team.

If we look at the history of Indian Cricket and observe the cause of all the
losses, one thing is common and very obvious. Our players have lost majority of the
games because of their (losing) mindset. We have lost more games because our players
for some reason do not believe at that moment that they are capable of match winning performances. For example the 2nd One day against Sri Lanka 2007; we were in a winning position and should have done that with ease, but for some unknown reason, we handed them the match, or should I say gifted them the match. It may sound strange, but I can tell by the way the player walks out to bat (or on the field), whether he is in positive frame of mind or negative, and Lo and Behold! I have been proven right on more occasions then I would prefer. Our players have lost games in their mind even before actually losing the game physically. If that could be corrected or worked on by the players with the help of coaching staff, then India can not be beaten in the game. Look at Australia or New Zealand or South Africa; on most occasions they do not give till the last ball and the results are there to seen. They play with a positive frame of mind and never give up. Team India needs to adopt that attitude permanently. Is anybody listening? I hope so.

With utmost respect
Bryan