Looking at the Indian batting line-up for the rained-out ODI against Sri Lanka, I see that it features two wicketkeepers and four opening batsmen. Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Six opening batsmen if you count Dinesh Karthik’s and Rahul Dravid’s occasional stints at the top. A middle-order made up mainly of openers is certainly innovative.
Someone will have to make room for Yuvraj Singh when he’s fit and the likely candidate from this line-up will have to be picked from Uthappa, Sehwag and Karthik because I can’t see Mahendra Singh Dhoni being replaced as first-choice keeper. If Sehwag gets a decent score in the matches against Sri Lanka, he’s safe because he holds out the promise of explosive acceleration and an Indian middle order that has a faintly out of form Dravid and a determinedly responsible Tendulkar needs someone who can push things along. I’d pick Karthik over Uthappa, who seems a splendid prospect but Karthik’s shown temperament and aggression when it’s needed and we can do with that in a World Cup. Also, should Sehwag or Tendulkar be promoted to the opening spot in the course of the tournament, Karthik would be useful down the order.
But I’d like to see Tendulkar opening the batting. The only reason we made it to the finals of the last World Cup was because we had the great man making it look easy for the rest. I know he’s four years older (he tells us that often enough) but the old firm, Ganguly & Tendulkar, making our case to the rest of the world, is, for me, an irresistible prospect. If he were to open (or even if he stays at No. 4) I don’t think Dravid should come in at the fall of the first wicket. Dravid’s instinct is to stabilize, to consolidate. The reason the Aussies do so well is that a decent start or an early wicket is followed up by Ponting’s relentless aggression. I know the short answer to that is that Ponting plays for Australia we don’t have any clones handy, but it wouldn’t hurt to send Yuvraj or Karthik in at that number and see if it works.
The other argument for having Dravid come in at No. 4 with Tendulkar opening the batting, is that they’d be separated. To have them adjacent to each other at 3 and 4 invites a situation where, with the openers gone, India’s two best batsmen set about retrieving the situation knowing that the dismissal of either might prompt the deluge. Given Dravid’s responsibilities as skipper and anchor and Tendulkar in his present Atlas mode, the likelihood is that we’d be becalmed.
So here’s my batting card: Tendulkar and Ganguly to open, Yuvraj, Dravid, Sehwag, Karthik and Dhoni to follow, in that order. Of course, should Chappell and Dravid be willing to think out of the box (with an eye to genius, experience and slip catching), there’s a Hyderabadi batsman I’d like them to meet…
It is sad that everyone (except you in oblique) has forgooten VVS, who is the answer to our middle order needs in both forms of cricket. By the way, doesnt he make batting look so easy and his elegance is as magical as finest cricket can be??
Posted by: Jayanth on 02/09/2007
Quite a few others would like Msr Chappell to meet a certain VVS Laxman. It is a travesty indeed that someone like Laxman is left out time and again. His replacement for the last world cup was Dinesh Mongia. I guess redemption this time around is that at least they picked a person who can actually bat. If perchance India made it to the final against the Aussies, the only person who inspires doubt, I won't say fear - barring Tendulkar in 97-98 and VVS between 2001-2004 they've feared no one - would be Laxman. Best of luck to the man wherever he is.
Posted by: Vikram on 02/09/2007
Let's face it! How much ever most reasonable cricket followers want it, Laxman is not going to the Carribean. Particularly when our team is currently confident about its middle-order performance and when we are worried about old people on the field.
Laxman might replace a Sehwag and that is not of much incremental advantage. For a true supporter, what we wish often gets in the way of what we need. Karthik should be in the 16, but let's hope Uthappa does well - the new Sehwag? Bowling is the real worry and we might just be one seamer short for the WC. Ganguly must warm-up with the ball - considering his batting may flop anytime!
Tendulkar is best opening, but in the circumstances we can ask him to do a Ponting.
Laxman is good to have, but it's too late in the day to make a change.
Posted by: Salil on 02/09/2007
I agree with Tendulkar vacating the number three berth he's presently occupying and opening, but for another reason altogether. MS Dhoni is the sort of batsman who can seize initiative and turn the momentum of a game around, and since I first saw him playing for India A (batting at 3) in a tri-series in 2004, I was convinced he should be batting at number 3 in the one day team. If he gets going, he can be our most destructive batsman, given his ability to launch an assault on any bowling attack and his capability to bat big (as his 148 and 183* have shown) - hence why he really should be given the chance to bat up the order at 3 and face as much of the opposition bowling as possible.
The prospect of Tendulkar and Ganguly opening with Dhoni coming in at one-down to launch from their platform is a mouthwatering one. Hopefully the think tank will remember just where Dhoni made his greatest impacts in List A and international cricket and let him bat at 3.
Posted by: Dilip on 02/09/2007
Looking at Karthick play, he hits too many cheeky shots. I would not count him as a polished batsman. I will pick Uthappa anyday over Karthick. There is no comparison.
Posted by: Ruma on 02/09/2007
Looking at Karthick play, he hits too many cheeky shots. I would not count him as a polished batsman. I will pick Uthappa anyday over Karthick. There is no comparison.Karthick. There is no comparison.
Posted by: hitesh on 02/09/2007
Well i agree VVS should be in 15 in place of either viru or kartik(i knw he hasnt done anything wrong). But for me in current situation indian line up should be
Ganguly
Uttapa
Dravid
Sachin
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan(he gives option of playing 5 bowlers )
Agarkar
Harbhajan(or Munaf depending on pitch)
Zaheer
Kumble
i think we should play with these guys as playing pathan even if he bowls just average gives us option of having playing 5 bowlers( he can play similar role of a razzak or oram or watson a person who can bat and bowl)
Posted by: John Paul Anbu on 02/09/2007
I strongly feel that Sachin should be left for the middle order. Thanks to Sachin, we have produced enough explosive openers. Look at Uthappa, especially his innings against West Indies, he showed exceptional technique a quick eye and an appitite for runs. What we need for success in the world cup, especially in west indies is the stability in the middle order. Sachin with his years of experience can play a anchor role in the middle order. We need someone who can milk the runs in the middle order rather than explosive stroke makers.
My order is
Ganguly, Uthappa, Dravid, Tendulkar, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pathan or Munaf, Agarkar, Kumble or Harbajan, Zaheer Khan
John From South Africa
Posted by: Amos on 02/09/2007
I agree with the VVS school of thought. How quickly do people forget. Does anyone remember him bat so perfectly at number 3 in the VB series
We have all seen the west indies series and we all know how we struggled in those circumstances. We shouldn't be carried over by the present batting performance of india in India. Laxman is very much required for India, when we are going to struggle in WI. Even if Laxman is left out now, everyone will remember in the coming days.
Posted by: Shane on 02/09/2007
As a Australian i hav to agree that the Indian batting line-up for ODI's is one of the finest in the world. There fielding in recent times has being first class as well.But the thing that lets India down is there bowling.Sachin Tendulkar not opening up? Sachin Tendulkar is the best ODI batsman of all time and he's not opening up? This would be a good Indian Line-up:
1.Ganguly- Experinced
2.Tendulkar- NO EXPLAINATION NEEDED!
3.Dravid- Stroke Player
4.Yuvraj- Aggresive rebuilder
5.Dhoni-Amazing hitter
6.Kartik- Pressure Point
7.Raina- THE FINSIHER
8.Pathan- Good Allrounder
9.Agrakar-Handy batsman, good bowler
10.Anil Kumble-Ecomnomical
11. Harbajan- India's best ODI bowler
Sachin Tendulkar is a handy bowler, he can bowl 5 overs with Ganguly or Yuvraj can have a few. I liked Sreeshant in South Africa but against Sri Lanka and the West Indies he's been very expensive,maybe instead of Agarkar, India can go with Munaf or even Ramesh Powar on a turning track.
Posted by: Abhishek on 02/09/2007
I am not too sure about Karthik as a batting prospect. He has shown heart and character in the past performances, but I feel player like him would lose the novelty factor by the WC and might be easily sorted out by good bowlers. We can't play an 11 consisting of 5 batsmen, 2 Wkt Keepers and 4 bowlers.
Further, if we are so impressed by Karthik's batting, then also I would put forward the case of Pathan, the batsman. His straight batting and clean hitting can be more then handy. And if its India's lucky day he will hit form in bowling as well.
12th man: raina (he should be just that)
the rest:
kumble (or munaf)
dinesh karthik
romesh powar
sreesanth
Posted by: Santanu on 02/09/2007
Opening the innings with Tendulkar and Ganguly is really rosy. But take into account the reality. Only 5 matches ago we had a series where we struggled to bat out 50 overs. Now if these 2 guys gets out in quick succession except Dravid I don't see anybody who can lead the fight from middle order. Therefore having Tendulkar in middle order is not a matter of choice its a compulsion and common sense. There is no point in harping the string all the time. Anybody knows Tendulkar as a opener is great, but its a team game and lets think over how the team can do well. And on Laxman , I dont see how Karthik ( with no intention to take away his credit) playes ahead of him. Its foolish.
Posted by: aaditya karthik on 02/09/2007
Look, the yop 15 are looking good, i would give 3 stars out of 5 for bowling and 4 for batting. but there is one thing - PLEASE DONT LET THAT RAINA COME IN! i think kris srikant best put this issue by saying that - 'I dont know what prodigious talent have the selectors seen in raina, but the youngster has done well to conceal it'. He isn't like our good old Robin singh or yuvraj singh. There is a lot of selfishness in him. What kind of a batsman plays defensive shots even after the 45th over with the runrate just over 4? He should learn from karthik and dhoni, who dont care about first reaching 'safe scores' and all that bull shit. In fact if it fielding that you are looking for then please pick kaif - far better.
Posted by: arun on 02/09/2007
Why are we so bent upon taking Yuvraj. He has not been tested against any type of bowling and if he plays well against 2nd grade Sri Lankan attack - minus Vaas and Murali- Big deal. You have to take batsmen in form. There is no point in taking players on past performance, only form counts in One-Days. On paper Pathan lend fantastic balance to the side but if not in form..... VVS Laxman mjight be a better idea inspite of his fielding. Then We can play 5 bowlers since recently they have been contributing to the score in some ways. WE have how our batsmen floundered in West Indies just a few months back. Dhoni just could not hit the ball off the square. You have to take risk with Uthappa and Sehwag if he shows form as it puts the middle order in a great shape to take things easier sence we are planning to have Tendulkar and Dravid to man the middle order. Then Ganguly and Dhoni (Karthik) can come in for the pyrotechnics. VVS Laxman could be the floater in between these as the situation demands.Munaf, Zaheer,Agarkar,Harbahajan,(Kumble) should make up the rest.
Posted by: Ravi on 02/09/2007
While I am not comparing Laxman and Kartik, I somehow do not agree about Kartik being a cheeky player not polished enough. He has played him innings striclty per the neeeds of the team - be it the Match Savings partnership with Dravid against Pakistan at Eden Gardens (Remember anyone ?!?!), 20/20 against SA, Both the test innings at SA
Posted by: Satyajit on 02/09/2007
Most of us seem to be in a hurry to hail Uthappa ,the new Sehwag.
One good knock on a featherbed is hardly conclusive evidence.
Sehwag should open.He's performed everywhere.The kind of batsman he is,he's bound to have a bad patch.
About VVS he's a wonderful player but not perfect for ODI's .Do not forger that the VB series was in Australian bouncy pitches.
Posted by: pawan on 02/09/2007
I think Sachin and Ganguly should open the innings as their record indicates how good they are at that position...
And Sehwag and yuvi are better at strengthning the middle order along with dravid and mahendra ...
i think 3rd spot should be of dhoni as he plays better and his explosive century is also from that spot...
and if you put Utthappa in the scene i guess either sachin or ganguly will have to play in the middle in spot 4.....
Posted by: Andreas from Germany on 02/09/2007
It´s true Indias main concern should be on the bowling: Kumble and Zaheer a must and Harbhajan if the wicket allows it. Then Munaf or Agarkar.
Pathan is also an option - let him bowl against the minnows and see how he fares. Keep Tendulkar in the middle order. As openers Ganguly plus Uthappa (maybe Katik). As for Viru - use the same strategy as for Pathan - they´re both amazingly destructive players, but they need to boost their confidence. The Indian public will help them once they hammered Bermuda. Anyway best of luck to India. I have a good feeling.
Posted by: Anindya on 02/09/2007
Could we be a little less sentimental and look into facts..One day cricket still remains a game of blistering starts, consolidation in the middle and frenetic hitting at the death..Tendulkar, once upon a time, was a master of all that he surveyed..But with tennis elbow, ageing limbs, a visibly slackened top-arm power and diminishing reflexes, he can't play the sort of gung-ho swishling of bat, that a much young Uthappa can do..Also with Sachin showing what he can do in the middle order to his superlative (but not destructive) display of 100 in 75 balls against West Indies, I think it is beyond any debate, that he should bolster the relatively shaky middle order..Also let's be pragmatic. Karthik might be a very exciting and promising cricketer, but he remains primarily a wicket-keeper. So 2keepers in a team smacks of lack of thought process. The team composition should be like this: 1. Saurav Ganguly 2. Robin Uthappa 3. Virendra Sehwag 4. Sachin Tendulkar 5. Rahul Dravid (C) 6. Yuvraj Singh 7. Mahendra SinghDhoni 8. Ajit Agarkar 9. Harbhajan Singh 10. ZaheerKhan 11. Munaf Patel 12. Irfan Pathan 13. Anil Kumble 14.Md. Kaif 15. Dinesh Karthik... A definite cup winning bunch...
Posted by: Karthik on 02/09/2007
I strongly agree that VVS Laxman has to be there, batting at three. As for the openers, this is a big tournament, and I'd have Sehwag doing what he does best, with Ganguly or Tendulkar as his opening partner. I'd be tempted to play Ganguly down the order against teams like Sri Lanka or the West Indies with spinners operating a lot in the middle overs. His ability to clear the ropes might be crucial under such circumstances. Dravid and Yuvraj will follow at 5 and 6, with Dhoni and the bowlers to follow. I'd pick Zaheer, Agarkar as the two frontline quicks, and I'd be tempted to go for two of Kumble, Powar and Harbhajan, which means all three will be on the plane. That makes twelve. The other three will be Sreesanth, who is an attacking bowler, and hence must play as one whenever he gets the opportunity, with two, maybe three slips in place. If five bowlers need to be played at any stage in the tournament, Irfan Pathan would have to be there, but he needs to do a lot of work with his bowling to merit a place in the starting eleven. Last man in the squad is a tough choice to make, Dinesh Karthik or Robin Uthappa. Since there are plenty of options for the opening slot, I'd go for Karthik, but not without much debate in my mind. Uthappa is a bright prospect, and one for the future, and is unlucky to miss out.
Posted by: Rambo on 02/09/2007
For me the question is do we want to see Tendulkar as the leading run scorer in this world cup (again) or do we actually want to win it? For me With Tendulkar opening you are pretty much putting all your eggs in one basket, if he scores runs, more often than not India win, however if he fails, the psycological boost given to the opposition + the current brittle/out of form middle order will likely result in defeat.
For me Ganguly brings experience a ton of runs + a burning desire to prove people (including the coach) wrong. This along with Utthappa should set the team off to a good start.
The claim that Dravid is too slow to bat at 3 is incorrect, he has scored as many runs as Ponting at only a marginally slower SR. Im sure his run rate compares favourably with all other number 3s in world cricket. He also brings stability + calm if an early wicket falls.
You then have the best batsman (Tendulkar) coming out to stabalise + explode at the end of the innings, in a similar manor to a kevin Pieterson/Brian Lara type role (England/WI best Batsman). After all that you still have Dhoni + Sehwag to blast away in the last 10 overs. Cant think of many better players to have coming in at the death. Throw Yuvi in at 5 Sehwag 6 Dhoni 7 and India has a pretty solid looking line up to me. You pick your 4 best bowlers and make up the 5th with a combo of Ganguly/Tendulkar/Sehwag + Yuvi. This will bring the trophy home. Sachin may not be the top scorer in the world cup, but he may end up with a winners medal. I think i know which he would prefer.
Posted by: rambo on 02/09/2007
Best 11:
1 Ganguly
2 Uthappa
3 Dravid
4 Tendulkar
5 Y. Singh
6 Sehwag
7 Dhoni
8 Agarkar
9 H. Singh
10 Z. Khan
11 Kumble
Kumble + Harbajan to strangle the opposition on the slow West Indian wickets during the middle overs.
Experience at the top (Ganguly), brilliance in the middle (Tendulkar) & power (Dhoni + Sehwag) at the death!
Posted by: jb007 on 02/09/2007
Dhoni at the top ?????? if were are aiming for a score of 350+ in all our games.
Ganguly
Uthappa/Viru
Rahul dravid
Sachin tendulkar
yuvraj singh/Kaif
MS dhoni
Irfan Pathan/Dinesh Karthik
Zaheer khan
Agarkar
Munaf patel/Sreesanth
Harbhajan singh/Kumble
Strongly for tendulkar in the middle order, India 30/4 with tendulkar in good touch. India 30/3 tendulkar gone already which one would we prefer
Posted by: avm on 02/09/2007
Shane: Couple of your points are funny:-)
Raina is no Bevan or Mike Hussey.
Dravid is no stroke maker like Ponting.Infact Laxman is a far better stroke player as well as a crisis player. Karthik is not in the same mould.
It is unfortunate that VVS will not be included.
As many agree he should definitely be in our batting plans for WC in WI.
The team we have can't make it even to semis!
Aus,SA, Pak, WI/sl is my prediction.
even NZ and Eng are perhaps better than India.
As they say" vinashkaale vipareeth budhdhi".
Donno whetehr that is Vengsarkar/Dravid or Chappel's idea to drop him.They will pay the penalty. Can't imagine Ganguly succeeding aginst top teams. We have been seeing Sehwag for last 2 years and still everyone wants him hoping he will score one day(obviously @ good strike rate). But what is the probability?
My team is:
Sachin
Uthappa/Ganguly/Sehwag (can't afford all 3 in same XI)
Laxman
Dravid
Yuvi
Dhoni/Karthik
Agarkar
Kumble/Bhajji
Munaf
Zaheer
This has been my team since December 2005.
The bowling is good, Pathan (he will defintely find form), Zaheer and Agarkar who are bowling well. Then there are the two great players, Bhajji and Kumble. Sehwag, Sachin, Dada and Yuvi can also bowl, so that is all the team apart from Dravid and Dhoni.
The batting is of course awesome, we just need Sehwag to find form. Rahul, Sachin and Dada will destroy everyone. Yuvraj will be our most key player, he will be the best. Then, what to say about Dhoni, no words. Agargar and Harbhajan can also chip in. The batting order can also be changed as Sehwag can come down, and Sachin can go up, but Dada has to open. Depending on the situation, Dhoni can also come up, we have seen what he can do at No.3 148 against Pakistan, 183* against SL, 96 against England, all at No.3.
Posted by: Anonymous on 02/09/2007
You say Ponting is good at 3, because he's aggressive, has all the shots etc.
Well, India's answer to that is Tendulkar. Keep him at 3. He is the closest thing to Ponting. Now we need an explosive opening bat, which will be Uthappa, and a solid opening bat to go with him. Ganguly perhaps.
4 should be a stroke player, who can take quick singles etc. and can also play some big shots. Yuvraj Singh fits the bill.
5 Has to be solid, and Rahul Dravid is the perfect man.
6 should be a flexible batsman, who can defend and take singles, as well as explode. Dinesh Kartik.
7 should be an explosive hitter, and Dhoni fits the bill.
Of course the bowling shoudl change according to th conditions.
Posted by: Observer on 02/09/2007
Sachin needs to play in middle over : We've many players who can hit the ball well in initial overs (Ganguly, Sehwag, Uthappa etc). But only few talented players like Sachin & Dravid can handle slow tracks which were there on WI last time.
Why Karthik is important : 1. He plays for team and based on situation. 2. Good fielder. 3. Same point again, stroke players like Dhoni & Raina was struggling to play slower bowlers and was getting out due to that. So we need someone to rescue in case of top order failure. So my team will be
Missing VVS is a big disappointment. I am a big VVS fan, but I guess we have to move on. VVS failed to show aggression in his recent outings in Test matches and failed to clear the fields. So, partly, he has himself to blame. I agree with the argument that Dhoni should bat at 3. India's best match winner is Dhoni and he should face as many opposition bowling as he can. I don't understand why they stopped sending him at number 3, where he has some 90% success rate. So, my batting line up is: 1.Ganguly 2.Uthappa 3.Dhoni 4.Tendulkar 5.Dravid(Not if there is less than 5 overs to face) 6.Yuvraj 7.Sehwag 8.Agarkar 9.Harbhajan (or Kumble) 10.Zaheer 11.Munaf Patel. Waiting outside: Kumble(or Harbhajan), M.Kaif, Sreesanth, VVS.Laxman(if the coach and captain can think outside the square) or Karthik.
Tendulkar averages almost 50 when opening, and I remember watching he and Ganguly in Australia when they come out here and they just always look to dominate the attack. I think Sehwag and Dhoni can move in the order, if an early wicket falls bring in Sehwag because of his experience opening but if theres some runs on the board let Dhoni have a go. Yuvraj and Dravid stable in the middle, they can build and finish the innings. Pathan should play the role that Watson does for Australia. Watson is a better batsman than bowler, but he can chip in with 5-8 overs most of the time and I think Pathan can be useful here and his batting is really improving.
Posted by: Atul Bhogle on 02/09/2007
I actually thought that moving Sachin down at this stage was a good move, considering the changes in his batting over the last one or two years. This would also mean that over the course of 50 overs, one of Sourav, Sachin or Dravid would be at the crease, and India can only benefit from that. But the final say in this matter has to come from Sachin himself - the last time he had come down the order (1999-00) he had difficulty starting the innings in the middle overs when spinners were bowling, and he had moved back to opening. With the lack of quality spinners in the world today (certainly in ODIs), Sachin's job might just be easy this time around.
However, if the pitches in the West Indies are going to be the same as last May when India had toured, we need players in the middle order who can play late and who do can do without the pace in the ball - I do not many of the current Indian team excelling on that front - I had thought after the Ind-WI ODI series last May that the selectors would get VVS back in the team after seeing how the 'young brigade' performed on the slow and low tracks, even Yuvraj is not a good player in such conditions against slow bowlers - whether India will pay for overlooking Laxman remains to be seen. India's performance in the ODIs in SA is another case in point, this time on the 'fast and bouncy' kind of tracks.
I for one believe that it is going to the grafters in the middle order who would separate the teams in this world cup - the Husseys, Yousufs and Kallis' could make the difference. All the more reason for Tendulkar to get adjusted to his new role quickly. If there is someone who can do it, it is him!
No use lamenting over the 'grand old' pair of Sachin and Sourav not opening - if we can do well in the world cup, doesnt matter even if both of them dont get to bat at all!
Posted by: pb on 02/09/2007
Mukul seems way off the mark with this one. I have seen almost every innings that Karthik has played (Ranji, Challengers,..you name it). He comes across to me as someone who is not a natural strokemaker (like ponting...what were you thinking while comparing the two? albeit indirectly). Karthik, however is an innovator as we saw in the challengers. The only problem is not too many bowlers serve up 70 mph leg stump half volleys in internation cricket, so his most effective scoring shots (i.e marillier scoop,paddle) are ruled out. He cannot slog/ clear the infield . Case in point: In cuttack after a patient knock he got out to one of the most indecisive shots ever seen in the 40th over. In chennai, picked instead of a rested dhoni, his response to a good length ball outside off after he had faced 10 balls, was to leave it ... (in the 42 nd over) with 5 wkst left. So he is neither a strokemaker nor a slogger. That being said, he is gritty and puts a price on his wicket. I would bring him in the 11 if Yuvraj singh is not fit.
Posted by: Natraj on 02/09/2007
Comeo on, VVS is a great test batsman, but aprt form one series in Australia, hasnt really done much in one-dayers so far! And add his running between wickets and fielding - no, sorry VVS! Tendulkar as an opener is peerless, but in current mood and form maybe be better off at 4. Uthappa and probably Sehwag may give flying starts. And I agree, Dravid at 5 gives solidity to the lower middle order, so maybe Yuvaraj could be tried at 3.
Posted by: Saumyajit on 02/09/2007
I would pick Powar over Harbhajan. Powar may be a little more unpredictable but he is more of a match winner at this stage. And predictibility won't win us the world cup as we are no way the best team. It is unpredictable inspired matchwinning performances that will. Hence Sehwag and Powar get the nod for me.
Posted by: Rahul on 02/09/2007
I'd like to be a bit cynical about India's hopes at the ICC 2007 World Cup. We stand as much chance as a healthy fish drowning in the ocean current – our chances are bleak! I would be shocked to see India even reach the semi-finals. The difference between great sides and average sides is fielding. India has been average (to say the least) in this department. They look like a joke when compared to New Zealand and South Africa (India are nowhere near Australia's standards in this department of the game). The truth is ‘the best fielding side will win’.
Everyone above me has selected experience over youth – I respect this though Ganguly, Laxman, Sehwag, Dravid and even the mighty Tendulkar are average fielders. The first two being poor, if not pathetic fielders in the current scheme of things. Despite this Tendulkar, Ganguly and Dravid cannot be dropped because if we do, we might as well not even bother participating. Munaf Patel is a complete burden to India’s hopes - we are not even sure about his bowling. I would rank him amongst international cricket’s worst fielders.
Changing the team too much will completely destroy team bonding, so on that note I will list my team:
(In batting order)
Uthappa
Ganguly
Tendulkar
(C)Dravid
Yuvraj (if fit)
Karthik (may seem a little illogical to have two keepers in a team – he is a great athlete and a handy batsman)
(wk) Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan
Zaheer
Sreesanth/Agarkar
12th man: Agarkar/Sreesanth
Subs: Kaif and Sehwag/Powar, if one more were allowed would be between Raina, VRV, VVS and Kumble.
Posted by: Adi Mehta on 02/09/2007
Pathan should play as a batsman... any overs he gets in are a bonus.... Dhoni should bat at 3.... he is a sensible player (not just a mad dasher)...
Are we crazy to have Kartick in the team in place of Sehwag ? What s the comparison ? A newly born batsmen in world cricket with a 63 in cuttack and 38* in 20-20 besides being a keeper and wot else ? Fielding ? Or batting ? If batting where does he bat ? Over the top and aheaad of likes of Tendulkar or Dravid or Sehwag ? Crazy and insane.....True he showed grit n gumption in SA when others failed,but he s a orthodox batsman who takes time to settle and by the time he settles in the death overs in WI we woud hv lost the match.........How can one think of him replacing Sehwag ? True he s not in form in recent games, but his class and talent is proven and he s the man with highest score in a world cup final for an Indian.........And no day can Karthick don the role of Indian keeper unless Dhoni or Dravid injure.........And carrying 2 keepers in 15 and playing them in 11 would be crazy and recipe for disaster..........My team would be :
Saurav, Sehwah, Dravid,Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Uthappa, Dhoni, Pathan, Zaheer, Agarkar, Harbhajan (11), Kumble, Munaf, Karthick (unfortunately he wud be there),Raina...
We should be flexible with the opening pair.....In key game like one against SL we can opt for Tendulkar in middle and Sehwag, Ganguly opening..........We should stick with 7+4 formula with at times 7th batsmen being Pathan.........He s a better bat than Karthick any day........
Posted by: Sharan on 02/09/2007
At this point, VVS Laxman's one day career is over. He, like Kaif and Raina have been found out and lack consistency. That being said, we need to take package cricketers with all round value. Even though I am dissapointed with mr.fat ass Sehwag I would take him because 1. he can bowl 2. he intimidates batsmen because of past glories. Tendulkar should be rested for cheap matches like Banglas etc. and Sehwag should open.
Here is my team
Uthappa, Sourav, Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Pathan, Agarkar, Zak, Harbajan, Sreesanth.
Reserves=Sehwag, Powar(third spinner is good for slow windies pitches), Kumble, Kartik
Posted by: ganga on 02/09/2007
I favour sachin to bat at number four. Sachin's running between wickets, rotatiing strike is quite brilliant which is what ateam want during midlle overs. Morever hiding sachin always keeps opposition on toes as lara does to westindies.
Uthappa is better bet than karthik. True, karthik won matches for india and has shown remarkable temperment. But his efforts are not big. AT most you can trust he would make a fifty. But the guys like Uthappa and Sehwag can come up with big efforts and set the game for india.
If only Bowlers can find rhythem of trio sri,zaheer,nehra in the last WC, india has very good chance opf winning trophy
My WC team
1.Ganguly
2.Uthappa
3.Dravid
4.Sachin
5.Yuvi
6.Sehwag
7.Dhoni
8.Agarker
9.Harbhajan
10.Munaf
11.Sree
Two bowlers
12. kumble
13. Irfan pathan
Two batsman-fielders
14.Kaif
15.karthik
Posted by: Ramesh on 02/09/2007
VVS???? come on guys..battin is one thing...he cannot field anywher else other than slips...he will take ages to complete a 100 m sprint i guess..no doubt is a classy batsman but his running between wickets and fielding is a hige negative !
Posted by: Aditya on 02/09/2007
Your last comment about VVS Laxman makes me sad as a true Indian cricket fan. What has the guy done not do deserve a place in the one-day team? Chappell keeps repeating the same thing: "fielding", but Ramesh Powar is not exactly one of the best fielders around, yet they picked him. Saurav Ganguly is no Jonty either, and yet he is very much (at least now) part of the top order. Laxman is an excellent slip catcher and has a good record against Australia. But no, it's always one thing or the other against the poor guy. If there is something the Indian cricket administration can do very well, it is destroying a player's career.
Posted by: Aditya on 02/09/2007
And what about Mohammed Kaif? He may have not performed well in South Africa, but then who else did? The big guns failed as well. I think it is unfair he is being left out after performing well in the West Indies. I can understand Raina...he has been given chances but hasn't capitalized on them. But Kaif is a proven performer.
And why should RP Singh miss out? Sreesanth is a very good bowler but he can be inconsistent in one-dayers. Whereas RP Singh has some good performances in one-day cricket for India. I can think of at least three other players who should be given a chance: Ashish Nehra, L Balaji and Gautam Gambhir. I understand that we must have a settled team before we enter the world cup, but the recently concluded WI series and this series against SL constitute the time to experiment, before a world cup squad is settled on.
Posted by: Aditya on 02/09/2007
In any case, I think with the current team, this is what the batting order should look like:
Ganguly
Uthappa
Tendulkar
Yuvraj
Dravid
Sehwag
Dhoni
Kumble/Pathan/Powar (I would prefer Kumble)
Zaheer
Agarkar
Munaf/Sreesanth/RP Singh
Posted by: Vikramjit on 02/09/2007
I agree with Kartikey Srivastava, but completely disagree with avm.I mean...how can you imagine an indian team not playing and dropping ganguly AND Sehwag.I also think that Sachin should indeed come at number 3.We have no dearth of openers now, and in case of a quick wicket, he comes in and he can play as if he is opening which he does so magnificently.Although I know that VVS Laxman would be a brilliant player to come in at 4 or 5...there is no point in hoping so, as im sure he will be overlooked fer the WC, sadly.One more hting is that I feel Raina should not feature in the team.I think even Karthick is a better player than him.So my playing IX in batting order would be:
1.Ganguly
2.Utthappa/Sehwag(preferably Sehwag NOT both in the same XI)
3.Sachin
4.Dravid
5.Yuvraj
6.Karthick/Kaif
7.Dhoni
8.Pathan
9.Harbhajan
10.Kumble
11.Harbhajan
Another thing i would ask all you ppl is that why Kaif is forgotten.He was and is one of our most effective match-finishers..and is probably one of the best fielders in the world.One last point is that i think 4 bowlers should be okay..and i don see a need for a fifth.We have Tendulkar/Sehwag/Yuvraj/Ganguly to do the job of a fifth bowler.Would we rather be bundled out for 200-220 and have five bowlers..or have a score of 280-290 or in excess of 300 and have 4 bowlers.I think i knw which one is preferable!!
we need to have a strong batting line up to win the world cup coz the kind of form our bowlers shown ....we can do very well ....my pick would be :
1. Ganguly
2. Uthappa
3. Tendulkar/dravid (accordinng to the situation)
4. Tendulkar/dravid (accordinng to the situation)
5. Yuvraj Singh (If fit)
6. V.Sehwag
7. Dhoni/ Karthik
8. Pathan/Sreesanth/Munaf (it will be either of the two who will get picked up)
9. Agarkar
10. Kumble/Harbhajan
11. Zaheer Khan
15th man : Md. Kaif / Suresh Raina ( you just can't go in the world cup leaving either of the two behind you need to be a decent feilding unit as well )
Posted by: mike ramon on 02/09/2007
If we have to have any kind of chance to win the WC, we need to "think outside the box". In my view the single most important thing is to get off to a solid start; ie not lose quick wickets in the first 10 overs. I know a lot of people keep saying we need a opening pair that can hit over the top during power plays. But thats easier said than done against teams like SA, Aus. who have genuine fast bowlers backed up by superb catching and fielding. Our openers should be our two best players against fast bowling. Obviously my order may look radical but hey, as underdogs, we need to try something different from the usual
Guys. Lets face it. No point harping over VVS. He is a great player but unfortunately not even in contention for a spot. Lets go with what we have right now.
Openers (Right left combo):
Uthappa / Sehwag
Ganguly / Gambhir
Middle Order:
Dravid
Tendulkar (Part Time Bowling option)
Yuvraj (Part Time Bowling Option)
Dhoni
Karthik / Sehwag (Part Time Bowling option)
Bowlers:
Khan
Agarkar
Patel /Irfan
Kumble / Singh
Posted by: Vinodh on 02/09/2007
I have some reservations about a couple of points:
The first concerns the obsession with Tendulkar opening the batting. Sachin is arguably the greatest ODI player ever and he has the most number of centuries, which is a fantastic achievement. But cricket is a team game and that means everyone needs to play a role that would suit the team and your fellow team mates. Sehwag can be most damaging upfront. Clearly, Sachin has been telling us how the fact that his game has changed is an inevitable byproduct of the years. Emotions apart, Sehwag is the best man to open (provided he has a little more consistency). But if not Sehwag we need someone similar and Sachin must play in the middle order.
Second thing concerns the aggression of Ricky Ponting and how apparently this is the reason for the Aussies being successful. Like Kallis, Ponting has just one gear, only his gear is higher. The reason Australia win is not that Ponting is aggressive but because Australia play as a team. They generally start well, but if they fail, then No.3, 4 and 5 keep pushing the score and the final onslaught is mostly guaranteed with the likes of Symonds and Hussey. When these guys fail consistently it will put pressure on Ponting to try and keep his wicket rather than demonstrate his aggression and then we can see if the aggression remains. My bet is that it will not. Of course don't forget a solid bowling attack and an athletic fielding unit. Look at what happened to Sachin through the 90s. Ponting is a very good batsman but pretty much one-dimensional and definitely over-rated.
Lastly, the reason India reached the finals in 2003 should be attributed to superb team spirit, solid bowling from our pacemen, and of course superb batting performances from Sachin and co. To say Sachin opening was the only reason is a great insult to the 10 other men in the team and is outright crazy. Dravid had a certain problem early in his career especially in ODI. But he has overcome it and is the most evolved player in the last decade. He can come in and graft, build partnerships, explode at the end or even combine all these and he is very consistent. Sorry Mukesh, but if you look at India's glory years in ODIs it was once in 1980s and then in 2000s. In one of these periods Sachin was not even in the team, in the other its not Sachin that has made the difference. This is not an attack on Sachin but merely reiterates that Cricket is a team game and is won by 11 men on the field playing as one (in modern days include the back room staff too). This is the reason that Australia are consistently no.1. So let us stop this obsession with Sachin, Saurav, Rahul, Dhoni or anyone else for that matter.
Posted by: Bejoy Augustine on 02/09/2007
I donn think that word is not correct that we have enough opening batsman if u see almost all those mentioned wher middle order players including sachin so I think right now we can go with ganguly ,uthappa,dravid,sachin,sehwag,yuvraj,dhoni,pathan,agarkar,harbhajan,zaheer..this is my perfect 11 for the world cup contest.(rather than going for 5 bowler theory)
Thanks
Posted by: Arch on 02/09/2007
Yes, one of the primary reasons India reached the last World Cup's finals was Sachin's explosive but experienced presence as an opening batsman. Sachin should definitely open. I don't think Yuvraj is more capable than Dravid as a No.3 batsman. Yuvraj likes to play his shots and is likely to take some risks. Dravid's calm presence after an early wicket can be the best thing for India. I'd send Sehwag at No.4 and Yuvraj at No.5. Karthik does have a good temparament but I think his talent as a batsman at the international level is still questionable. He can be a good No.12 with his excellent fielding and wicket-keeping skills. I'd pick Kaif or Uthappa over Karthik. Kaif is more experienced as a No.6 and is as good a fielder as Karthik. We could experiment with Uthappa batting lower in the order before the World Cup and see if he does well. Dhoni would be at No.7. Wish Pathan ascends to the top of his bowling game soon. This is a 'wish-list' isn't it?;) His presence as a potential all-rounder at No.8 could be useful. Harbhajan, Zaheer, Sreesanth/Munaf would follow. Agarkar can always come into the team if our bowling falters. Laxman has an average of 30 in ODIs and I'm afraid that's not good enough. His slip-fielding isn't too enchanting either! I know its an extended batting line-up. Tendulkar should feel free to play his shots and that means knowing there's enough batting to follow if he doesn't make it good on a particular day. Any opponent looking at this extended batting line-up would go into the field under tremendous pressure.
Line-up wish-list:
Sachin
Sourav
Dravid
Sehwag
Yuvraj
Kaif/Uthappa
Dhoni
Pathan
Harbhajan/Kumble
Zaheer
Sreesanth/Munaf
Posted by: M.Akhtar on 02/09/2007
Well...I've read some interesting comments about team India for WC2007.
According to me, the only way they can win is if they play 5 bowlers (including pathan), and 6 batsmen (including Dhoni).
Now let's split the team into two halves.
The batsmen: Ganguly has to open, and along with him, we chose between sehwag and uthappa, and I'll go with Sehwag purely because he's a decent bowler, and if he does fire India will win on most occasions. Sehwag is a proven performer, and I won't give Uthappa the opener's berth based on just a couple of explosive innings against W.Indies. I mean cmon guyz!...those were flat tracks against a very ordinary attack. Sehwag has proven himself against all opposition over the last 6 years.....and just because he's been out of form for a few months he gets dropped...not fair!! Don't forget...in the last crucial match that India played, against the Aussies in the champions trophy (Oct.2006), he was the top scorer and showed aggression against them.
well enough said about the openers' berth. coming to no.3, we need an aggressive player, who at the same time can change gears through the middle overs, something sachin used to do very well, but unfortunately now he just builds an innings, and is not very aggressive to begin with. Neither is Dravid. So that leaves me with Yuvraj, who is a STROKEMAKER, and at the same time can bat for long periods and adapt to the situation. Yuvraj at 3.
At 4, we need Sachin. This is a more watchful Sachin now, who is determined to bat through, and will only accelerate towards the end, and i think 4 is perfect for him.
Dravid at 5. Incase of an early collapse, we need someone like him at 5. More like damage control. On the other hand, incase of an explosive start, and he needs to accelerate, he's gotten better at that over the last few years, and he can rotate the strike very well as well.
6 is Dhoni. Redundant to talk about him. Explosive player. We need him at 6.
7 is Pathan. Very good man to have down at 7. Can throw his bat around when required, and incase of batting collapses, can stabalize the innings down the order as he has done on numerous occassions. And this gives us a chance to play 5 bowlers, something I will stress on more later on.
8 Agarkar
9. Harbhajan
10. Kumble
11. Zaheer Khan
Posted by: Vikram C on 02/09/2007
On basis of which inning do we want to get Laxman in team? Do you remember any domestic ODI innings where Laxman played well? The only match winning inning from Laxman has been 75 in SL few years ago. Forget ODI he is not even dominating spinners in India any more even in tests.
A batsman who could bat 20 overs, score at over 100% & is a brilliant fielder is more than enough. We don't need class, but we need match winning innings capable players.
Now batting would not be such a concern. Main thing is bowling. Munaf, Zaheer, Harbhajan seem good. However Kumble is in just for nostalgia and fifth bowlers- Ganguly & Yuvraj havent bowled a lot. Pathan is a gamble as far as bowling is concerned.
Posted by: raj on 02/09/2007
Out of all these experiment on players at different batting position, India is still confused about the team. What's tha point. Point is we have most successful batman in opening in form of tendulkar and saurav, Why we have to manipulate his position where is took us to world final last time. Hes is still the best opener in the one day cricket and dhoni is best at number 3 as we all have seen in smashing 183* and couple other good innings in that position. After all these experiment , India [ I should say Mr. Chappell] is still confused. Why don't they let the batsmen play in the position they are most successful during experiments. Why?
Posted by: Anirban on 02/09/2007
Viru is a must, he should open with saurav. How can we forget his bowling?
Posted by: amirali on 02/09/2007
something that i cant quite comprehend is why kaif is not being played he failed in 3 matches in which all the other players failed..he still is a gr8 player and one of the brightest prospects of indian cricket kaif must be in the team as he is a superb match finisher and none is l;ike him when it comes 2 feilding and batteling it hard.....besides we cant forget his superb performance in windies where not many of his mates performed well....including "dravid" the gr8
Posted by: prasobh on 02/09/2007
Sehwag has to go to the world cup...also after seeing the pitches on the last yr tour to Windies, it seems most matches will have scores in the range 240-270....300 plus may be that regular on Windies tracks...so we require a very strong middle order ad so having Sachin ,Dravid , Yuvi and Dhoni at 3, 4,5 & 6 makes perfect sense!!1
Posted by: Anonymous on 02/09/2007
MY BATTING ORDER WILL BE
1 GANGULY
2 TENDULKAR
3 DHONI
4 YUVRAJ
5 DRAVID
6 KARTHICK
7 PATHAN
8 AGARKAR
9 ZAHEER
10 KUMBLE
11 MUNAF/BHAJJI
EXTRA PLAYERS:-KAIF,MUNAF/BHAJJI,UTHAPPA,SREESANTH
DEPENDS ON PITCH IF SLOW TRACK THEN BHAJJI OR ELSE MUNAF
KARTHICK IS GOOD FIELDER ALSO AND HE HAS SHOWN THAT HE IS GOOD WITH THE BAT ALSO
AND KAIF JUST FOR HIS FIELDING IN THE TEAM
PATHAN PLAYS A VITAL ROLE IN THE TEAM AS HE GIVES OPTION OF PLAYING 5TH BOWLER
Posted by: ajaya on 02/09/2007
im always amazed that most people always list ajit agarkar as a 'play only if there are no other options' bowler.
while it's true that agarkar has a horrible record in test matches, his one-day record is impressive
true, his economy rate is nothing to write home about, but look at his wicket-taking ability
270 wickets in 178 games, at 1.52 wickets per game
to put that into perspective
wasim akram 502/375 = 1.41
waqar younis 416/262 = 1.58
curtly ambrose 225/176 = 1.29
shaun pollock 366/271 = 1.35
allan donald 272/164 = 1.69
glenn mcgrath 353/235 = 1.50
clearly, he must be doing something right
Posted by: Madhavan on 02/09/2007
Indians should pick their final XI according to the West Indian conditions. As Indians learnt in their recent tour that the West Indian pitches assists spin well and Sehwag can be more than useful. They should field in with four frontline bowlers and seven batsmen.Sehwag,Sachin and Ganguly can fill in for the fifth bowler and can compensate for any costly spells by a bowler on the given day . By playing Pathan in the eleven, Indians can have extra-depth in their batting .The batting order should be :
1.R.Utappa
2.S.Ganguly
3.R.Dravid
4.S.Tendulkar
5.Yuvaraj
6.Sehwag
7.M.Dhoni
8.I.Pathan
9.A.Agarkar
10.Z.Khan
11.A.Kumble
Posted by: Aditya on 02/09/2007
Hey Vikram C - do you have a short memory or what? You're asking what ODI match-winning innings Laxman has played...what about is 100 in 2004 in Pakistan that won India the final ODI? What about his 100s in the series in Australia before that? Laxman is a good ODI player, and he should have been included long ago.
In a team, not more than 4 should be above 30. Tendulkar has evolved a different cricketer and in addition, considering pitches in WI, I would like to see Ganguly - Uthappa combination with Dravid, Tendulkar coming after them. Sub should be Raina.
Posted by: Rajiv Thakker on 02/09/2007
we need to have a strong batting line up to win the world cup coz the kind of form our bowlers shown ....we can do very well ....my pick would be :
1. Ganguly
2. Uthappa
3. Tendulkar/dravid (accordinng to the situation)
4. Tendulkar/dravid (accordinng to the situation)
5. Yuvraj Singh (If fit)
6. V.Sehwag
7. Dhoni/ Karthik
8. Pathan/Sreesanth/Munaf (it will be either of the two who will get picked up)
9. Agarkar
10. Kumble/Harbhajan
11. Zaheer Khan
15th man : Md. Kaif / Suresh Raina ( you just can't go in the world cup leaving either of the two behind you need to be a decent feilding unit as well )
Posted by: GoColts on 02/09/2007
My World cup final 15
1-ganguly
2-uthappa
3-sachin
4-yuvraj
5-dravid
6-sehwag
7-dhoni
8-pathan
9-agarkar
10-harbhajan
11- Zaheer
12-kumble
13-Karthik
14-Munaf
15- kaif
Miss out will be
raina, gambhir, sreesanth
Posted by: Anirban Dasgupta on 02/09/2007
One thing really is striking me? 99% people says Ganguly should open. Don't think we all thought about this when Mr More was the chief of selectors. What has changed overnight? Can anyone explain?
Posted by: Kaushik on 02/09/2007
I echo your sentiments. I do hope they pick that certain Hyderabadi. He has been given a raw deal for way too long by the selectors ala Damien Martyn.
For a tiny second, could you discount Sachin's 70 odd ball 100. Recall that Tendulkar always seems to find his 'mojo' during the world cup. And pray what position was he playing at?
Posted by: Baiju on 02/09/2007
Salil man i agree with you hundred percent. When Dhoni gets goin you can't stop him. He should come as one down, the rest does not matter.
Posted by: bharath on 02/09/2007
I think VVS laxman should be included for world cup.Gilchrist has many a times laughed at the decision of dropping Laxman when he plays so well against them.Think he will be a very good middle order player although I am not a fan of him.Sehwag and Pathan are 2 matchin winners who are out of form and if they peak by the world cup its great news.Sachin the great is actually using his bat and body wisely.Hes playing now in a different way.when the world cup starts he will slowly get back to the old aggressive sachin just as lara told recently abt him that people will scale walls to watch him very soon.He should be instructed to play the way Michael hussey does in a selfish ,team-benefitting way.Only if played selfishly,holding a price tag on the wicket ,Our India can win matches.This applies to sehwag also.The mentioned 11 by most of you are the best ones.I can say that Uthhappa would not perform against Aussies or SA.He cannot be Sehwag- a genius who can late cut fast bowlers.Uthhappa has performed only against a meagre bowling attack on a flat track.If he performs like Sehwag,then its bad news for all teams.Karthik is playing sensible cricket with agression when required.DRavid the wall,Dhoni the dangerman,Sourav the graceful marauder should challenge the aussies.Our only concern is our bowling.Sometimes it seems that sachin ,sehwag and yuvraj are the only bowlers ,with rest of the main bowlers either being left out or treated as third string bowlers by opposition teams barring Pathan who was scintillating till last year.Hope our Zaheer and Agarkar bowl as best as they do now and do not play for the opposition by giving all runs in wides,no balls before the first powerplay completes.Its pathetic that at this time Ashish nehra is not playing.Lets all pray that India wins this time.For this to happen,Aussies should be chucked out before the semis.But they have already qualified for the finals of world cup 2007.ALSO abt to TAKE the TROPHY.WISH India does magic as a team and PULL the cup from the hands of THE VICTORIANS in STYLE.
Posted by: Nishant on 02/09/2007
India's recent problems in batting has been that it is top heavy. If Sachin, Ganguly and
Dravid bat in top 3, it is difficult for them to get out of a hole. Considering that pitches
will have something for first 10 overs in WI, India has to balance the order. India should
have flexible batting order depending on ground and pitches.
For seamer friendly and bouncy pitches, we need someone like Dravid to handle few tricky
overs from best opposition bowlers and shield Sehwag and Yuvraj from new ball.
1. Ganguly
2. Dravid
3. Pathan
4. Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj
6. Sehwag
7. Dhoni
8. Agarkar
9. Harbhajan
10.Zaheer
11. Munaf
For slow and low pitches, we need fire power in the middle and lower order.
1. Ganguly
2. Tendulkar
3. Yuvraj
4. Dravid
5. Sehwag
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan
8. Agarkar
9. Harbhajan
10.Zaheer
11. Kumble / Powar
In additon, India can make intelligent use of Dhoni / Pathan up the order for chasing
targets / disrupting opposition plans. The troubling thing about this team right now is the
bowling department. There is no wicket taker at the top like Bond / Lee / Ntini. Any bowler in this line up can have a good day or a bad day, Agarkar being the classic example.
Name Mat O M R W Ave Best 4w 5w SR Econ Team
Agarkar 24 188.5 11 894 31 28.83 2-22 - - 36.5 4.73 IND
Harbhajan Singh 23 207 13 861 25 34.44 5-31 - 1 49.6 4.15 IND
Z Khan 8 64.2 6 382 9 42.44 3-42 - - 42.8 5.93 IND
MM Patel 14 109.4 11 516 15 34.40 3-18 - - 43.8 4.70 IND
IK Pathan 24 175.4 17 888 35 25.37 4-51 1 - 30.1 5.05 IND
RR Powar 14 114.4 4 516 19 27.15 3-24 - - 36.2 4.50 IND
V Sehwag 24 60 0 284 5 56.80 2-31 - - 72.0 4.73 IND
S Sreesanth 18 146.5 8 802 25 32.08 6-55 1 1 35.2 5.46 IND
SR Tendulkar 16 46 1 216 3 72.00 1-27 - - 92.0 4.69 IND
Yuvraj Singh 22 51 3 222 7 31.71 2-32 - - 43.7 4.35 IND
Look at the probable indian bowler's performance in 2006. Frontline bowlers like Harbhajan, Zaheer and Munaf have strike rate of more than 40. Agarkar and Pathan have better strike rate only to err on the economy rate front. I cannot see any bowler here that the captain can bank upon match after match to reverse the fortunes if things are not going well. For the captain, it is always a gamble to select a bowler in tight circumstances. Teams like AUS, SA, NZL, PAK, SL have bowlers like (Lee/McGrath, Ntini/Pollock, Bond/Vettori, Asif, Vaas/Murali), where the captain knows that the bowler will fetch wickets or apply pressure when needed, 8 out of 10 times.
I am not saying Indian bowlers are pathetic. They are good but not consistently good enough to win a world cup. If India are to have any realistic chance of winning WC, two of the bowlers will have to perform consistently.
Posted by: mohammed F ahmed on 02/09/2007
Be realistic we cant play karthik as abatsman alone,he is a keeper who can bat very well.My dream team would be as follows:
1.Ganguly
2.Uthappa
3.Sachin
4.Dravid
5.Sehwag
6.Yuraj / Kaif
7.Dhoni(if injured then Karthik )
8.Agerkar / Pathan
9.Munaf / sreesanth
10.Zaheer
11.Kumble / Harbhan
So this is final,we should take 16 members team to world cup.
Posted by: Jeevan Kumar on 02/09/2007
Well this would be my 11 in the World Cup.
1. Ganguly
2. Sehwag/Tendulkar
3. Yuvraj
4. Tendulkar/Sehwag
5. Dravid
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan/Karthik
8. Agarkar
9. Harbhajan/Kumble
10.Zaheer
11.Munaf/Sreesanth
Main Idea behind this team: Starting with
Ganguly - There is no other best position for him to bat, He can be aggressive & also innings builder.
Sehwag/Tendulkar - We need to have Tendulkar opening if we are going to chase any total in excess of 260(considering the pitches in caribbean) for he can provide the intial accelration & also can build n play long innings - Remember when tendulkar is around while chasing a target no total is impossible to acheive - Opponent teams knows it very well.
Yuvraj - He is the best man for #3, for now he has lot of experience on his side, lot responsible, aggressive, he has improved a lot in the last 2years. he can score boundaries when required, rotate strike by his quick running. I believe if he can be persisted at #3. We need to have a batsmen for the future who is definetely not going to be a sachin but atleast like a Ponting, who is the best batsmen in World Cricket after Sachin.
Tendulkar/Sehwag - IF sachin is going to open in case we are chasing a total excess of 260, sehwag at #4 can maintain the runrate & also i feel he will have some responsiblity on his shoulders. Sehwag, like Pathan is important for the balance of the side in Windies because his OffSpin bowling is going to be very helpful. If we bat first i would put sehwag at the opening slot & have sachin at#4.
Dravid - Well i think there is no other batsmen in the World who is cool n collective as dravid is. He can build innings & rotate strike if openers fail with the likes of Yuvi at 3, Sachin/Sehwag at 4 & also can provide bit of aggressiveness needed at the end overs.
Dhoni - No Questions, Explosive n Powerful for his Batting n Safe Wicketkeeping even though not in the league of Boucher.
Pathan - Well he is very critical for our side. He has to get his Bowling form back. For he can provide a important option an additional specialist spinner Kumble/Harbhajan. If he is out of form with the ball, there is no use playing him in the team just because we can either go with someone like Karthik, who is more specialist batsmen and use sehwag/sachin/yuvraj as parttime bowlers or go with a specialist bowler for that 6 Batsmen 5 Bowler formula.
Agarkar - He can have a Bad Test Record, but he is a very good OneDay bowler. He has an excellent wicket taking ratio(1.52/Match, Courtesy: AJAYA) even though he is economy rate is bad overall, he has improved in the last year, where he has been taking regular wickets n also is lot economical n also can bat.
Harbhajan/Kumble - I would go Bhajji simply because he is a much better fielder than Kumble. And also we got to play him a lot more because kumble is very much nearing the end of his career in ODI's than in Test matches.
Zaheer - We got to play him, he has made an excellent comeback n looks a much better bowler, improved his fielding n fitness.
Munaf/Sreesanth - Its a toss between the two. But i would go with Munaf(if fit) for his economy n wicket taking ability. Sreesanth well he is aggressive, exciting, wicket-taking but expensive. Sreesanth has to improve his ODI bowling.
15th Man: Uthappa - Aggressive Batsmen/ Good Fielder. I wont go with Raina because he is not consistent n not as aggressive as Uthappa. Powar is not needed when we have 3 Part-time bowlers in Sachin/Sehwag/Yuvraj.
We got to bring back groom players like raina, gambhir, Karthik, sreesanth, munaf, pathan, kaif because they are going to be the future backbone of our team along with dhoni, yuvraj, sehwag, harbhajan, zaheer after sachin/ganguly/dravid/kumble. Greg Chappell has a very important job of grooming these future players n improve their batting technique, as he is world renowned batsmen in his days.
Posted by: Chiradeep on 02/09/2007
What I don't understand is why should Laxman be in the 15, leave alone the team? So what if all those years back he made 281 at Kolkata? And, oh by the way, those clamoring for his ODI return based on 3 hundreds in 4 weeks, can we pull up his strike rates please? 103 off 113 when Dravid scored 74 off 64 (Brisbane vs Aus), 106 off 130 when Yuvraj scored 139 off 122 and we lost by D/L by 1 ball (remember Brett Lee slammed the penultimate ball for 6) and 131 off 138 versus Zimbabwe when he'd come in in the 3rd over. None of these strike rates are anywhere close to being satisfactory given the situations and opponents. He played well, no doubt, but among the blind one-eyed was the king. The guys that we're talking of replacing with Laxman all have one very important ODI ability, to bang the cherry miles, whether it be the first 15 overs or the last 10. Laxman has never ever provided a glowng finish to an innings, so really there's no place for him. Also, unlike demonstrated by Karthik recently, Laxman cannot keep out a fired up opposition. And the one thing I don't want him in the team for is his was-there-an-earthquake look when he gets bowled or caught. And let us NOT even start about his fielding.
Give Uthappa a free license in the group stages (ask him to aim for a double century in 40 overs - I know it's silly but just ask him to go berserk). Who knows with confidence under his belt he can carry over some luck, recklessness and form into the super 8s and give us a crucial win or two. The same offer may be valid for Sehwag but when you can't hook or pull, your chances of success are diminished. Uthappa, of whatever limited cricket I've seen him play, can at least attempt a pull (even off the front foot as in Chennai).
Also there's no need for the worm-in-my-a$$ Sreesanth. He's gotten too carried away with his success on seaming pitches in SA and still believes he's bowling to an out-of-form Smith.
The order in my mind should be:
Ganguly, Uthappa (or Sehwag in the group stages and then whosoever does better goes into the super 8s), Dravid, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Agarkar, Harbhajan, Zaheer and Kumble/Pathan (as per conditions and opposition).
Remember guys, we don't need players who scored a century when dinosaurs ruled the earth. We want guys with the stomach for a fight and the heart to take on and conquer the best. Folks like Uthappa haven't tasted abject surrender (yet) so they're not scarred, don't have any kneww troubles and are not in the team for one innings in Kolkata.
Posted by: sujith on 02/09/2007
considering the slow pitches in WI ganguly can open alon with shewag.....for solidity in the middle laxman at 3 and sachin at 4 .....followed by yuvraj,dravid,kartik,dhoni,agarkar,zaheer,h.sing, sreeshanth,and munaf.
MY TEAM composition WOULD BE LIKE THIS:
As per the match situation, we should keep an open mind and switch batting orders. Dhoni should come in before the 43rd/44th over. He normally takes 7-10 balls to settle down, and faving come in the 46-47th over is a complete waste.
We should also consider moving Pathan to 3 whenever possible to keep the surprise element going. He is aggressive, and only by making this move are we truly utilizing tyhe all-round option.
Posted by: Akshay on 02/09/2007
Not that our comments would matter a bit but still what is wrong in speculating about our cricket team batting order in WC'07 when there is not much to do over the weekend.
My batting order would be: -
1) ganguly
2) Sehwag
3) Dravid/ Yuvraj (depending on how shaky or good the start is)
4) Sachin
5) Yuvraj/Dravid( depending on who does not come at number 3)
6) Karthik/ Pathan( Depends on whether on not Pathan finds his golden touch, if yes then he should be here)
7) Dhoni
8) Kumble
9) Harbhajan
10) Agarakar
11) Zaheer
Hopefully this team along with Uthappa, Karthik, Munaf and Raina in the bench is good enough to reach atleast semis.
Amen :)
8)
Posted by: sreekumar on 02/09/2007
what a team we have, just two matches left and v dont know who our openers r the aussies also seem to have similar problems but in their case it is too many options v on the other hand have as always the greatest batting line up (in paper)
v live in a if world-if vvs was there
if sachin clicks,if shewag is in form
form is temporary guys class is permanent. v r under prepared and all that stands from a disappointing world cup is one of the greatest cricketers ever as captain and an aussie who wld rather lose friends by getting to bowl underarm than chance a implausible loss.
sachin as usual can bat anywhere and make a difference, dada is a mind over skills man and he has a point to prove. shewag he is so disappointing posseses one of the best hand eye co-ordination but zero foot work.
an unsettled middleorder. u cant seriously call anyone a proper all rounder save dhoni. he keeps fairly well and bats reasonably well.
bowling what bowling do v possess but for zaheer and kumble. bhaji seems to lack hunger not much wickets. i mean as a strike bowler. we need to play attacking cricket with consistency or else but 4 bermuda all matches will be touch and go.
In westindies conditions this batting line-up can even trouble AUSSIES
Posted by: Thought Shaman on 02/10/2007
I have agonized over the best composition of the Indian team, with the following constraints:
- Have at least 6 batters (batsmen, if you prefer)
- Include at least 4 full time bowlers
- Insure against one of the top bowlers having a bad day
- Include at least one fielder who is "brilliant"
I use the word agony simply because the only way to meet all the above criteria is to currently drop Ganguly from the playing XI (i.e. he becomes a backup player).
Here's my current playing XI with their backups:
1. Uthappa (backup: Ganguly)
2. Tendulkar
3. Pathan!!
4. Dravid
5. Yuvraj
6. Sehwag (backup: Ganguly)
7. MS Dhoni
8. either of our 2 big spinners
9. Agarkar
10. Zaheer
11. Munaf/
If either Uthappa or Sehwag fails, Ganguly can take their place. Pathan's batting is better than his bowling, and although his batting is not as good as Ganguly's, others can pick up the slack. The central thesis is to play Pathan primarily as a batsman who can bowl. If he discovers his bowling form and can last 10 overs, then the team will have 5 frontline bowlers. Tendulkar, Pathan, Sehwag, and Yuvraj can share the 16-17 overs from part-time bowlers if one of the full-time bowlers have a bad day (I assume that we will need 3-4 overs to determine the bowler is indeed having one).
Posted by: Jagadeesan on 02/10/2007
Following would be my winning india 1...
Logic :
1) I like the X-factor that Uthappa will bring in, as an unknown commodity, no video footage prep etc...
2) Sachin must open..I remember very well Sachin down the order under Azhar in 1998, was just okay..he needs to play his natural game for india to win...
3) Ganguly has looked good on the comeback and brings in a strokplayer for the first Poweplay in case of an early wicket.
4) Dravid MUST bat at 4...He has played the pivot position to perfection so many times, won so many games for india along with yuvraj, including at 2003 WC..I dont like Dravid at 3.
5) I see Sehwag more as a bowler who will make some runs there.. for some big-hitting at the death since he is basically a very good hitter-slogger..
6) I dont pick Kumble, although great bowler since we are already too slow for an ODI team...
Agarkar, Zaheer and Munaf pick themselves...
So 15 will have these 11 + Pathan, Kumble, Powar, Karthik
Posted by: AJ on 02/10/2007
I have seen some interesting comments.
The way Ponting bats at no.3 is done by Ponting only on a consistent basis. I don't think, any team with current players can find a better no.3 batsman. So to that effect, during matches when we lose the openers within 5 overs, Dravid is the best player available to India to take control. I personally feel, Sachin cannot be that aggresive as other openers available. So, Sachin is best suited for no.4 in both forms of game. I would like to know, the stats of Sehwag batting down the order. How many matches has he played and how come an aggresive player like him be a run-collector like Bevan during the period of 30-40 overs. I would still stick with Sehwag as an opener, To join him I would pick Uthappa, he is aggresive and fairly new for rest of the teams. He might surprise some. That leaves Ganguly at no. 5 followed by Yuvraj and Dhoni.
Bowling can be opened by Munaf and Sree, followed by Agarkar and Ganguly, followed by the sole spinner and Tendulkar/Sehwag/Yuvraj.
Posted by: MC on 02/10/2007
How about putting the best one-day side (Australia) side-by-side to a prospective Indian side? Or even to other better one-day sides as well, such as South Africa and Pakistan, and doing the comparison? When I do that, my sense is that Dravid becomes our Hussey or Inzamam ... a batsman who can stablize an innings WHENEVER needed. Ok, ok ... Dravid may not be as hard-hitting as Hussey, but in my opinion, he is just as good a rebuilder and almost as good a finisher (recall 2003 World Cup against Pakistan). So in my opinion, Dravid becomes a more crucial batsman for India, ironically, the less number of overs he theoretically gives himself to bat!! We all know he can really score when he needs to!! But the prospect of 30 or 40 overs remaining seems to make him more circumspect. Also, seeing the run-glut in the recent one-dayers, I don't see why India should not start each game thinking of getting 300+ or even 350+, thereby reducing the pressure on our bowlers. Dravid batting 20-30 overs ain't gonna get us there.
So, in my humble opinion, at least when India bats first, Dravid should bat at number 6 (or pardon the sacrilegious comment, even number 7 if the situation demands and if we play with four bowlers -- he becomes the Inzamam who can bat with the lower order) and so allow the other more explosive bats more number of overs to face. Recall, Dravid was batting lower down the order in the last World Cup and he was playing the all-rounder role by keeping wickets as well. He was vital to our success. Knowing Dravid is still to bat should allow our earlier batsman to open out even more, just like the Australians do with Hussey (and earlier with Bevan).
So my ideal batting order, based on current form, plus I really prefer a left-hand/right-hand combination, would be:
Ganguly - on current form, plus left-handed
Uthappa - on current form
Dhoni/Sehwag/Pathan - depends on which opener gets out so as to get the right-hand/left-hand combination plus whether or not Sehwag gets in form, otherwise bat him lower down
Tendulkar - the rock; our number 3 plus Tendulkar exceeds Ponting's effect!!
Yuvraj/Sehwag - depending on situation and to continue a right-hand/left-hand combination
Dravid/Sehwag - depending on situation and whether or not we are chasing a total
Sehwag - can almost always hit a quickfire 20-40; invaluable runs here, but not so good when making the same amount as an opener or at number 3!!
Agarkar/Pathan
Harbhajan/Kumble
Zaheer
Munaf - depending on who is in form -- Zaheer, Munaf, Agarkar, or Pathan -- I would play 3 out of 4 for the 1st 4 games
12th man: Raina (always!)
If (and I hope it happens soon!), the Indian batsman find a consistent form, by say, the 4th game (Super 8s would have just started) I would encourage playing both Kumble and Harbhajan and dropping whichever batsman has been the least productive -- any of the above batsman except Tendulkar and Dravid. And I mean anyone!!! Similarly, drop one of Agarkar, Zaheer, or Munaf (or Pathan), whoever is least in form by the 4th game.
Finally, in addition to the above-mentioned 14 players, I would have Kartick (or Kaif, who is out of the equation, I understand) in the side. For his fielding/recent batting form. Plus I cannot think of another bowler India would take in the 15 except Powar but we have enough spinners already, including Sehwag, Yuvraj, Tendulkar, all of whom need to contribute with the ball along with Ganguly. So we will have 3 seamers (Munaf, Zaheer, Agarkar), 2 spinners (Harbhajan, Kumble), and 5 batsman who can bowl (Ganguly, Tendulkar, Yuvraj, Sehwag, Pathan (my apologies, Pathan!!)).
I really think India has a good chance this World Cup -- either way, I will visit the Caribbean during the Super 8s to cheer them on !!
Posted by: RSN on 02/10/2007
It is the bowling that wins you games. sadly bowling and its complement, fielding are woefully dismal/inexperienced. you can have all fancy batting orders with even kumble opening with tendulkar..but end of the day you must be able to defend
1.Uthappa [Replace with Sehwag if he fails]
2.Ganguly [Replace with Dinesh Mongia if he fails]
3.Dhoni
4.Dravid
5.Tendulkar
6.Yuvraj/Dinesh Karthik
7.Pathan
8.Agarkar
9.Harbhajan
10.Zaheer Khan
11.Kumble
12.Munuf Patel
13.Sewag
14.Dinesh Karthik
15.Dinesh Mongia
16.Mohd Kaif
FRONT ATTACKERS:UTTHAPPA/SEWAG/DHONI
ATTACKERS/DEFENDERS:YUVRAJ/GANGULY/TENDULKAR
BUILDERS:DRAVID/KARTHIK/MONGIA/TENDULKAR
HANGERS:PATHAN/AGARKAR/KUMBLE/HARBHAJAN
[DO NOT THROW AWAY WICKETS-TAKE SINGLES SUPPORT ESTABLISHED BATSMEN]
Ganguly:4 overs
Tendulkar:4 overs
Mongia:3 overs
Yuvraj:3 overs
sewag: 3 overs
IF TEAM WILL PLAY WITH 4 FULL TIME BOWLERS CHANCES ARE ONE OF THEM WILL FAIL IN A PARTICULAR MATCH.PART-TIMERS ALSO PERFORM ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS.ITS BETTER TO HAVE MORE PART-TIME OPTIONS BUT DRAVID SHOULD NOT FORGET DADA/YUVI/MONGIA AS PT BOWLERS.
Posted by: Navin on 02/10/2007
I have never undestood why Dhoni is not sent up the order. Dravid should never bat so high up the order in one day match. Just look at the order we had in the last world cup. Nothing has changed, we have Dhoni as a good wicket keeper batsman. Where are the young stars Chappell was training in the last few years. My orderwill be
1.Ganguly
2.Tendulkar
3.Dhoni
4.Yuvraj
5.Sehwag
6.Dravid
7.Irfaan
8.Zaheer
9.Harbhajan
10.Kumble
11.Munaaf
12.Uthappa
13.Agarkar
14.Kaif
15.Raina
16.Sreesanth
Posted by: Nalinda on 02/10/2007
Tendulkar should open with Ganguly or Shewag, India's main worry is with their bowling dept,specially fast bowlers , most of their fast bowlers are more capable for test than one dayers.Srisanth is not a good option for one days at all . he is very expensive with attacking batsman. Munaf & Zaheer should be their main bowling weapon and Irfan shoul act like a part timers job. Because india has some good part time options like Shewag, Tendulkar, Ganguly. Best is to go with 4 specialist bowlers & 7 batsman. Although Dhoni is the wickeet keeper he is one of the dangerous batsman in modern day cricket.
My Team will be ( 1. Tendulkar 2.Ganguly 3. shewag 4.Dravid 5. Yuvaraj 6. Uthappa/ Raina 7.Irfan 8. Kumble 9.harbajan 10. Zaheer 11. Munaf
Posted by: Joshua on 02/10/2007
I think Sachin's role must be the one he relishes---opening, i think we owe it to him to put him where he is happiest and let him work his magic...
Ganguly is in good form and fits best in the opening slot. Uttappa is the next Sewagh but better aganist the new ball. Dravid is the perfect number 3, not as dominant as Ponting but great. Tendulkar perfect anchor. yuvi the best number 5 possible, best for aggression or rebuilding. Dhoni the perfect power hitter. Phatan helps with the bowling and batting option and if in form can destruct the opening line up of an team. Agakar the best bowler we had in the west indies and a good batting option as well. Harbajan or Munaf depending on the the pitch. Zaheer the spearhead of the last world cup and rite now this one. Kumble a must before harbajan. So this is the perfect 11 to take on Australia. Those lamos r not winning this time. If India doesn;t beat them someone will.
Ganguly is in good form and fits best in the opening slot. Uttappa is the next Sewagh but better aganist the new ball. Dravid is the perfect number 3, not as dominant as Ponting but great. Tendulkar perfect anchor. yuvi the best number 5 possible, best for aggression or rebuilding. Dhoni the perfect power hitter. Phatan helps with the bowling and batting option and if in form can destruct the opening line up of an team. Agakar the best bowler we had in the west indies and a good batting option as well. Harbajan or Munaf depending on the the pitch. Zaheer the spearhead of the last world cup and rite now this one. Kumble a must before harbajan. So this is the perfect 11 to take on Australia. Those lamos r not winning this time. If India doesn;t beat them someone will.
Posted by: Rajan on 02/10/2007
I would advice Sachin coming at no.4 to provide the necessary stability to the playing X1. My recommendation would be for INDIA to field a team of 6 batsmen + 1 Wicket Keeper + 1 All rounder + 3 bowlers. Given the choices we have, the order of playing XI could be:
1. Ganguly, 2. Uthappa, 3. Sehwag (or Dhoni), 4. Sachin, 5. Yuvi (or Sehwag), 6. Dravid, 7. Dhoni (or Yuvi), 8. Agarkar, 9. Harbhajan, 10. Zaheer, 11. Munaf
The remaining members of the squad would be Pathan, Kumble, Karthik, Raina, Kaif (or an additional pace bowler).
The fifth bowler can be a combination of Sachin/Yuvi/Ganguly/Sehwag depending on the situation.
Karthik can be used as the 4th opening batsmen, if the situation demands, that the expected combination of Ganguly/Uthappa/Sehwag don't come good. Karthik is in the squad purely as a batsman but may perform WK duties only if Dhoni is injured.
Pathan comes in the role of all-rounder.
Posted by: Vijee on 02/10/2007
I believe that Ganguly and Uthappa will make a good pair. Following should be the most ideal combination,
Most probably on slow West Indian tracks, Uthappa will get a place and Sehwag will be accomodated as all-rounder. Any seamer freindly pitch, Sehawag and Pathan will get a nod over Uthappa. But I believe apart from tha the first 12 will almost remain the same.
Posted by: peeush harsh on 02/10/2007
my team
1. Robin Uthappa
2. Saurav Ganguly
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Yuvraj Singh(if fit)/5. VVS Laxman
6. Virendra Sehwag(if in form)/6. Dinesh Karthik
7. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
8. Irfan Pathan(if in form)/8. Munaf Patel
9. Ajit Agarkar
10.Zaheer Khan
11.Harbhajan Singh
meanwhile i would assert that the place for yuvi and veeru is not fixed one due to lack of fitness and the other due to lack of form.
In that case the proper replacements could be
Dinesh Karthik
VVS Laxman
I think we gave Suresh Raina lot of chance
and he has hardly performed as required from a pure indian batsman...
Moreover Dinesh Karthik is doubtful because in places where huge scores are required he fails to accelerate and no comparision to Dhoni.
like we lost the 3rd match of previous series where he poorly succumbed to pressure.
Posted by: Senthil Kumar on 02/10/2007
Tendulkar could open if we were missing firepower from others. But now, all of a sudden, we have crazy firepower up the order. So, it is a luxury, yes, that we can bat Sachin in the middle. He brings sanity and authority and the opposition wouldn't know if they should bowl their best bowlers and exhaust them in an attempt to get Sachin out, or keep feeding him the second rung and get hammered anyway!
By the way, I love the lists that are missing Agarkar. Look at it any way you want, he may be the most improved death bowler etc., but man he is certainly not our best new ball bowling option. Agarkar is the one guy that looks mediocre in an otherwise rather shiny team.
Posted by: Nakul on 02/10/2007
i would have ganguly opening with uthappa and not sehwag because sehwag would benefit with some time to pick up singles when the field is spread. at the moment he is just playing lofted drives and if he edges it it goes to slip and if he middles it it goes to cover/point/mid off.
yuvraj should come in at 3 because of his attacking nature. sachin, in his new role is the perfect option to milk the singles in overs 20 to 40 along with dravid. the slog overs are perfect for sehwag and dhoni to come out at their explosive best. our bowling though is our main concern and i believe that pathan should fill the oram style role. our strike bowlers would be zaheer and agarkar with harbajhan to bowl in the middle overs. this means that 10 overs will have to be found amongst sachin/ganguly/sehwag/yuvraj.
the whole bowling plan will depend in the fact that pathan will be able to bowl 10 overs without a fuss
MY TEAM WILL BE:
ganguly
uthappa
yuvraj
tendulkar
dravid
sehwag
dhoni
pathan
harbajhan
Agarkar
Zaheer
Posted by: harsh on 02/10/2007
i would rather have sehwag out and kaif in. yuvi, kaif, and karthik will provide excellent fielding
Posted by: Ryan on 02/10/2007
as a cricket fan i just wanna put some of my view
may sound not so good but truth is what it is....
for india my team would be...
shewag
shawrav
sachin
yuvraj
rahul
VVS
dhoni
pathan
agarkar
zaheer
any one spinner
Posted by: Debkumar on 02/10/2007
Is VVS an option? He was in 2003. We all love to see his wrist-work but isn't it too late in the day. Even Ganguly is a vastly improved runner between the wickets these days. Where is VVS in that respect? We didn't see that in SA. Given the size of Carib grounds one may argue running between the wickets is not the all-important factor but with balls coming in low and slow singles and twos would be the order of the day. This is why one is tempted to draft in Kaif ahead of VVS and Kaarthik D.
Posted by: Viraraghavan on 02/10/2007
I fully agree with Mr. Kesavan and would like to see Sachin open with Ganguly. With both of them in decent form, combined with the left right combination,should help matters tilt in their favour. Plus there is a small matter of them being the best opening pair we have had. As far VVS, he is special but in the present line up, considering that Sehwag will be played, where do you accomodate him? if Yuvi is unfit, maybe then, yes. Otherwise, the batting line up is ready.Sad, but that's the way the dice rolls at times. I am more worried about the bowling which looks slightly inadequate. Pathan is still a mystery, Sreesanth expensive, Agarkar, if fit, unpredictable. Only Zaheer looks good, but remember the last finals, how he craked under pressure. With the wickets in the WI being relaid we dont know what awaits us. Good luck to the boys.
Posted by: amit lamba on 02/10/2007
according to me the best indian line up is:-
1 sachin tendulkar
2 robin uthappa
3 ms dhoni
4 sourav ganguly
5 rahul dravid
6 yuvraj singh
7 ms dhoni
8 irfan pathan
9 ajit agarkar
10 munaf patel\zaheer khan
11 anil kumble\harbhajan
12 kaif or raina for theier superb feilding skils
this is the dream team that can win the world cup for us isn't it are u agree or not
Posted by: mehlam on 02/10/2007
get ganguly and sachin to open - 3)uthappa 4) yuvi 5) dravid 6) sehwag 7) dhoni 8) kaarthick 9) pathan 10) khan 11) munaf
cant viru,yuvi,DADA and littl master be the 5th bowlers??
and if still the management does not have co-onfidence in them and kaathick does not perform they should drop him and get kumble or bhajji!
and if 1 on of de fast bowlers dont wok u alwaiz have ajit! or u can shift ajit with any of dem or mayb ajit plays in the XI
vvs is just 2 sloww......2 run
u cant drop uthappa - if u hve robin dhoni and viru in the line der is alwaiz a chance of scoring a 275+
Posted by: Hashim on 02/10/2007
Now a days regarding one day cricket bowlers have minimum role that to finish 10 overs with minimum runs. Hence I prefer the team with maximum batting strength as follows.
Ganguly
Uthappa
Dravid
Tendulkar
Shewag/Karthik/Raina
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Pathan/Joginder Sing
Agakar/Munaf
Harbajan/Kumble
Zaheer
Shevag,Yuvraj,Tendulkar and Ganguly must be used to the 5th bowler's 10 overs. Regarding feilding the Munaf is the only worry in this team.
Posted by: Prasad Bhogadi on 02/10/2007
Its very unfortunate of the Indian Team Selection Think tank that a person of the calibre and character of Laxman is leftout for the only reason that he is not brisk enough in the field. Ironically Karthik who has few matches to his credit is not a recognized batsmen is the choice for the reason that he has shown attitude in couple of series matches. What is the average of Suresh Raina who is struggling for form, yet getting to play series matches. People should remember that Mohinder Amarnath, Inzamam -UL- Haq or for that matter Sunil Gavaskar are no great fielders. VVS is a great slip fielder, I don't see a better slip catcher than him in the current line-up. I definitely know that he would not be considered for a place in world cup for various reasons that the Selection Team may quote, but it can be only justified as ignorance.
Posted by: satya on 02/10/2007
i think the best line up wille be:
Uthappa
ganguly
dravid
tendulkar
yuvraj
sehwag
dhoni
pathan
agarkar
harbajhan
zaheer
Posted by: Prasad Bhogadi on 02/10/2007
I believe this world cup will not have many scores between 275 and 300. I strongly believe the pitches would be more bowler friendly in West Indies and they may behave indifferent as they are relaid. So the bet should be to have technically strong and equipped batsmen in the lineup. A line up with big hitters will always look attractive on the paper, I don't see a player other than Dravid and Tendulkar to stand routed when there is a slump. Ganguly has proved that he can be tough as he always....but how abt the rest in the line-up?
Posted by: Shane on 02/10/2007
I Think that India can win the world cup.They surely have the players to do it.All India needs is consistance.If Sachin Tendulkar finds his good old form every bowler in the world will hav nightmares. Ganguly, he can definately perform, but can he perform game after game? Rahul Dravid is a great captian, but he needs to bat good game after game and he is the key to hold the indian batting line-up together. Yuvraj can perform but he needs to get fully fit and get his form back as well.Karthik is a handy batsman,can he can handle pressure?Dhoni is a geniune striker of the cricket ball, he needs to be a bit more consitant and stay in for longer periods.Raina is also a pretty good finisher. Pathan needs to be consitant with the bat and ball.If all these players perform in the SUPER EIGHTS Australia and the rest of the world have a competition to deal with. This would be my batting line-up:
1.Sachin Tendulkar
2.Sourav Ganguly
3.Rahul Dravid
4.Yuvraj Singh
5.Karthik
6.Mahendra Dhoni
7.Suresh Raina/Robin Uttapha or Verinder Sehwag
8.Irfan Pathan
9.Ajit Agrakar
10.Anil Kumble
11.Harbajan Singh
Tendulkar is a good Part-time bowler.Ganguly and Yuvraj bowl a few.If India wants a score of over 320 they must put Dhoni and Raina at No. 3 and 4.If they lose a early wicket then Dravid and Yuvraj Must go in, to set the tone to the innings
Posted by: tintin says on 02/10/2007
Sehwag is a disaster. He is totally irresponsible, unable to learn from his mistake, overweight and undependable. Whats the point of one 50 every 10 innings and putting pressure on the rest of the batting order the other 9 times.
and which mortal ever heard any good come of Raina?
Bring back Kaif I say and give Ganguly another well deserved and hard-earned break.
Cheers.
Posted by: sahil on 02/10/2007
ok guys...this is the winning combination:
1. Sourav
2. Sachin
3. Dravid
4. yuvraj
5. Sehwag
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan
8. Agarkar
9. Harbhajan
10.Zaheer
11.Munaf/Kumble depending on the pitch
India should not be afraid of changing the batting order and if the situation demands powerhitters like dhoni nd sehwag can come up the order. I have sachin at the top and not sehwag or uthappa cuz i feel that he can still be the masterblaster, match them on strike rates and utilize the powerplays as efficiently as them. we can not forget his world cup performances as an opener.
Having pathan gives us the option of five bowlers and thats why i have him instead of uthaapa. Sehwag just can not be excluded.
Posted by: Mintu on 02/10/2007
i'd like to play the best ODI team for the cup..as the pitches in WI are more conducive to spin so our best spinner of recent times powar should not ignored at all and his ability to bat lower down the order may not also be ignored..and will accompany pathan as 2nd allrounder of the team as he has always shown glimpses of a bowling allrounder in domestic circuit again & again...this will not only deepen our batting but also will helps variety to our bowling...i thinks sticking with pathan as strike bowler should not be repeated again & again he must be brought as first change bowler and should be trated like pak treats razzaq..as he has proved himself as a strike bowler since the inception of his career but bcoz of bad lapse in his short career he should be handled with care..as a good future is fast approaching to become a genunie allrounder who is going to serve the country the country for next 10 to 12 years & which will be more than fruitful for the team's standards..if we discuss about the composition of feilding unit it should left over to the likes of yuvraj,karthik..but i strongly defend the selection for the likes of kaif & raina on the basis of their fielding ability...according to me the best posiblly world cup playing eleven which have the potential of lifting the cup is as...
My team
1.Ganguly
2.Sachin
3.VVS LAXMAN
4.Dravid
5.Yuvraj
6.Sehwag
7.Dhoni
8.Agarkar
9.Zaheer/Irfan(Depending on the latter's bowling form)
10.Harbhajan
11.Munaf
RESERVES:
Zaheer/RP Singh(Depending on whether Irfan is picked),Kumble,Powar,Kartik.
Posted by: Ravi on 02/10/2007
VVS Laxman??!! Apart from the 100 in Pakistan 2 years ago, name one decent innings of his. He is not at all fit for the one-day version. And you certainly cannot have Karthik over Uthappa. Uthappa is the kind of batsman we need at the top to strike fear into the opposition. One of the reasons for the Aussies doing well over the years has been the fearsome starts, Gilchrist and Hayden give them. Sadly, Sehwag seem to have lost his touch and Tendulkar wants to play safe.
Posted by: Prabhat Singh on 02/10/2007
First of all I think we shouldnt be to happy that our batsmen are making runs AT HOME.. that is totally different 2 the WI tracks. I agree with all the VVS fans he should deffinitly be in the team instead of kartik. MY team would be 1.Ganguly 2.uthappa 3.tendulkar 4.VVS 5.dravid 6.Sehwag 7.dhoni 8.Pathan 9.harbajan 10.Zaheer 11.Agarkar
I still think that india wont make the semies. Final will be between a extreemly talented and well balanced Pakistan and a world class South african team.
Posted by: the wise one on 02/10/2007
6 batsmen Sachin, Sourav, Rahul, Dhoni and Yuvraj are in if fit and available. The last slot goes to Sehwag or Uthapa
4 bowlers, 3 seamers Zaheer, Munaf and Agarkar if fit
One spinner Kumble/Harbhajan. A team with sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj does not need 2 spinners
One swing position All rounder Irfan or additional bat Sehwag /Uthapa /karthick
Only one position in the 15 open.
My opinion is that we need to take an additional seamer given Munaf's fitness woes and Irfan's seesaw performance and I would take VRV Singh above any of the others..
So the 15 [not in any order]
Sachin, Rahul Sourav, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Karthick, Uthapa, Dhoni, Pathan,Zaheer, Agarkar, Munaf, Kumble, harbhajan, VrvSingh
No room for specialist fielders raina or Kaif or for the expensive Sreesanth, or a third spinner in Powar. Ythapa, Karthick and Yuvraj are special fielders too
Posted by: Vinoth M. on 02/10/2007
The feilding department of the Indians in this WC is going down.Surely bastman would do there job,as well as bowlers.Kaif must be in the team as rhodes used to occupy in SA at past.
This will give india a balance feilding side.Any good bastman cant play at No.6 position so we can have kaif/rania for there best feilding in that positon.yuva,uthapa,kaif/rania and karthi as sub gives a good feilding side and can save 50runs per match.
Posted by: Vinoth M. on 02/10/2007
The feilding department of the Indians in this WC is going down.Surely bastman would do there job,as well as bowlers.Kaif must be in the team as rhodes used to occupy in SA at past.
This will give india a balance feilding side.Any good bastman cant play at No.6 position so we can have kaif/rania for there best feilding in that positon.yuva,uthapa,karthi/rania and kaif(sub) gives a good feilding side.
Posted by: nickinatey on 02/10/2007
I find it insane that you did not consider promoting Dhoni up the order to No.3 I was equally surprised when so few comments listed Dhoni at No.3. He has the ability to loft the ball at will anytime during the innings. He has also demonstrated an ability to be controlled when called for. It is no coincidence that Dhoni's highest ODI scores have come at No.3 in the order. Having Dhoni at 7 runs a great risk of him having far to few balls to face. I believe Yuvraj has the ability to control an innings from No. 6. I agree entirely that Sachin should open the batting. Suresh Raina has no place in the Indian team. The concern of the specialist fielders are nulified with Yuvraj being a excellent fielder. Bowling is a genuine concern. Sreesanth and Zaheer should be certainties, but the option of playing 4 seamers instead of 3 and Kumble/Harbajhan is definitely one that needs to be thought, especially in the West Indies. My starting 11 would be
1.Sachin
2.Ganguly
3.Dhoni
4.Dravid
5.Sehwag
6.Yuvraj
7.Karthik
8.Pathan
9.Agarkar
10.Sreesanth
11.Khan
(Kumble 12th man)
Posted by: Saravanan on 02/10/2007
I would never ever pick VVS Laxman in my ODI team not just because of his poor fielding but also because of his batting as well. Anybody claim that he has so much talent, can say in his sublime form
is a sight for the GODS, but has he proved himself
enough himself in any one category (batting, bowling, fielding) in ODI. He has played 83 games
scoring just 2330 runs with an average of just 31.... which is quite lesser than that of Yuvraj, kaif, sehwag and just ahead of pathan. Anybody can claim that he was the best in Australian VB series
but even in australia he has scored just 467 runs in 17 games at an average of 35, including 3 hundreds. His strike rate is just 70 which is very
good for test but not for ODI. Sehwag has a batting strike rate of over 90, yuvraj has over 80 . And his fielding, when he is on the outfield (and not in slips which is possible in ODI regularly), if an opposition sees that the ball is going towards laxman, he would definitely take 2 or more every time. For this case i would prefer karthik, utthappa, kaif or anybody else with good throwing arm and a decent batting strike rotation thereby i could save some runs on the field and take some ones while batting. With poor strike rate, i would prefer sehwag ahead of laxman anywhere in the world. Laxman is still a good batsman for the test cricket but not ODI. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: chiraah on 02/10/2007
i think that veeru sehwag iz so important to indiaz world cup plans because he is the biggest match winner in the team. if he gets a ton its almost certain that india will win. i think they should assess him on performances in the middle order and as opener before making a decision. hence i think the best xi for the world cup should be....
pathan is a must because we need an allround option. if you look at australia they have symonds and watson, south africa have kallis, sri lanka have jayasuriya, pakistan have afridi and razzak. he can also feild quite well. the rest should be... karthik, uthappa, munaf, sreesanth. sree because munaf is prone to injury and on his day, sree can be our match winner.
Posted by: sreekumar on 02/10/2007
sorry i beg to differ vvs is good cricketer. i believe that we shld stop thinking a 300 plus score and a batsman with a strike rate above 100 is vital. one day matches have changed over the course and when chasing pacing an innings and strategic innings building are a must. ofcourse it would be great to have men like ponting, haydon and glchrist who can switch on and off at will. v donot have the luxury simply because v donot hav such a system. it wld be wise to remember that rome or modern australian cricket team was not build in a day.
v r the strongest financially but v still donot have anything other than military medium pace to open our bowling. no offence to the past great medium pacer KD but v dont even have that. pathan seemed to be an answer to the prayers of one billion odd but too much expectations from one so young. i fear the uthappas of india will face the same fate of Mohammed Kaif.
i dont understand the logic of notgiving him the much needed chance in the middle order when shewag is selected. shewag seems to be a spread bet by the indian board and ofcourse kaif was always a sort of government bond.
i dread that v might rue the fact that v did not take a couple of batsmen who wld just keep the scoreboard moving. in the 30's b4 the onslaught cld be begin afresh from the 40th.
v have to devise some sort of approach and the answer might not necessarily need an almost ape like copying of the aussie system. v seem to have a reasonable pool of young talented players and horses for courses shld be a policy that suits us well.
too many if's for my liking thou
sorry for harping on and on but the way one day cricket is now i would not be surprised if the aussies or SA post 500 plus against one of the teams that playto make up the numbers for ICC
Posted by: rishi on 02/10/2007
my team 4 the world cup would be
1.sachin
2.ganguly
3.yuvraj(though he has to get back his form somehow because we can't have a redundant no. 3)
4.dravid
5.sehwag
6.dhoni
7.pathan
8.agarkar
9.zaheer
10.harbhajan
11.kumble
12.karthik
13.laxman
14.munaf
15.uthappa
Posted by: Ashwin Krish on 02/10/2007
I also would like many to see Sachin opening.But for the fact how our middle order has performed over some matches Sachin can fit in to the middle order.Sehwag has to be there really.Play Pathan if and only he is fit or else there is no point in playing him.We want a STRIKE BOWLER who can bat but certainally not a Batsman who can bowl as a first change like him and giving runs.The answer is shown by Munaf\Kumble.Munaf steady line&length may just can keep it tight.Kumble's experience can do it.
No SREESANTH PLEASE for his economy.Telling that he can leak runs but can get wickets that matters has nothing.Leaking runs will make things difficult for the fifth bowler(likely part-timers).
My fifteen squad is
Dravid(stability provider)
Sehwag(destructive)
Sachin(NO WORDS REALLY-A MASTER)
Ganguly(comebacker)
Yuvraj(stylish stroker)
Kaarthick(cool doodh)
Dhoni(hard hitter)
Harbhajan(turbanator)
Kumble(Jumboo)
Munaf(India's mcgrath)
Pathan (swing king)
Agarkar(inswinging yorker)
Zaheer(workhorse)
Uthappa(senstional)
Laxman(very.very.special)
We want Laxman to sort out our many probs.If Laxman added Sachin can go to opening.with Sehwag in the middle we have a attacking option.
Sachin
Ganguly-both could provide attack and solidity
Laxman
Dravid-solidity in middle
Yuvraj
Dhoni
Sehwag-three attacking options & could play up the order
Harbhajan
Agarkar
Zaheer
Munaf\Kumble\Pathan(on the pitch)
We can do our comments.But the only thing that matters is that of selectors.We pray that we will get a good squad and can pray that the will play well.THUMBS UP! for INDIA
Posted by: cricguru on 02/10/2007
i agree w/the rationale posted by the wise one for
room only for one spinner but why are there two
spinners in the final
1.tendy
2.ganguly
3.dravid
4.yuvraj
5.sehwag
6.dhoni
7.kaif
8.agarkar
9.harbhajan
10.zak
11.munaf
------------
12.karthik
13.uthappa
14.pathan
15
this would be my ideal batting order for india and the overall squad
1. Sachin Tendulkar
2. Sourav Ganguly
3. Yuvraj Singh
4. Rahul Dravid
5. Robin Uthappa
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Ajit Agarkar
9. Harbhajan Singh
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Munaf Patel
these are the people who should fill up the rest of the squad:
12. Suresh Raina (a very good fielder)
13. Dinesh Karthik (Wicket-Keeper)
14. Anil Kumble (for Turning Pitches)
15. Virender Sehwag (in case of injury and can be very destructive as an opener)
Posted by: cricguru on 02/10/2007
my team for the world cup:
1.tendy (last hurrah)
2.ganguly ( ditto )
3.dravid (1/2 years more)
4.yuvraj (future captain?????)
5.sehwag (now or never bro)
6.dhoni (will post gilchrist like #'s)
7.kaif(he has done well on wi tracks and will save
at least 25/30 runs fielding.have at least one world class fielder)
8.agarkar (bowling better than irfan right now
and we have batting down to #7)
9.harbhajan (personal preference over kumble)
10.zak (last years performance speaks for
itself)
11.munaf (strike bowler capabilities)
------------
12.karthik (future investment-exposure to how
the big boys do it)
13.uthappa ( ditto )
14.pathan (insurance)
15.sree (if any of the pacies falter)
ps:i have lived & died a thousand times following indian cricket for the past 40 years but i don't
know who this windbag/all knowing... niranjan shah is?Who died and made him king?
Posted by: viswanath on 02/10/2007
Let's face it.. all this is non-sense they do not have a chance in the world cup of making it to the semi finals.. We are talking of a team, that needs a boost from flat wickets at home...
Its a flat wicket boost they are in right now..
FLAT WICKET BOOST....
Posted by: venky on 02/10/2007
I think Ashwin Krish got a perfect 15.
The XI can be picked depending on form,fitness, opposition, pitch conditions etc....
Posted by: Anirban Dasgupta on 02/10/2007
Nobody seems to be answering my query. Where was Ganguly two months back? When Mr More was ruling Indian Cricket? How come Dada finds a place now in everybody's team..
Posted by: vikas on 02/10/2007
Here is my take on the laxman issue
In a few weeks time Indian cricket team would have left for the far off shores to begin their world cup campaign. For every player boarding the flight there will be a few hopefuls left behind. Looking at that unfortunate list, your eyes will surely halt at one name. You will think that if this player has been left behind, then the Indian team must be an embarrassment of batting riches. You will be grossly mistaken. For in terms of batting pedigree and ability this man is in top 4-5 in the country. And in terms of artistry and genius, V V S Laxman sits next only to Sachin Tendulkar. If Azharuddin is the author of “Wristwork for dummies” then Laxman has been scripting “The Art of Wristy Batting” throughout his career. Yet this high art will not be on display in the biggest cricketing carnival. Laxman would finish his career without featuring in a single world cup out of the three (or four) that his career would span.
Laxman has always evoked in my mind an image on another man, a footballer. The playmaker from Argentina and VillaReal, Juan Roman Riquelme. Only a season ago he was at the peak of his powers and was being touted as a probable world player of the year soon. But today he has retired from International football and finds himself out of favor at villareal. Both these men are weaver of dreams exhibiting there own special brand of there sport. Artist’s heart caught in a sportsman’s body. Unfortunately also an artist’s Achille’s heel jutting out of an athletes foot. They suffer from something similar to writers block. There have been matches where riquelme has looked lost, not knowing what to do, searching for his muse. Similarly for laxman when the boundaries have dried, he does not take the option of smart singles, but keeps on hoping that the touch would return. But football and one day cricket moves at too fast a pace and a team carrying such a player on such a day would find the going hard.
Just yesterday utility man Paul Collingwood showed what can be achieved with electric fielding and gutsy batting peppered with quick singles. For laxman these have been always been trouble areas. In spite of his claims that he has worked hard on these and has improved, on the international stage not much has changed. His running between the wickets remains as woeful as ever. And his favorite fielding position after the slips must be somewhere beyond the boundary ropes. These are the factors that have weighed against him and weakened his case. Hard done which we connoisseurs of his art might feel, we have to accept that there is some justification for his denial yet again.
What we will not accept is if injustice is done in Test cricket, of which there were some indications last year. It is in the arena of Test Cricket, that laxman’s talent have blossomed. Therein he finds time and space to dream on and with slip being a crucial position is an important contributor in field too. We should not be denied of that. At least for next couple of years the graceful flick of the wand should keep on casting mesmerising spells.
Posted by: krunal on 02/10/2007
I dont see any need of playing kumble as a specialist spinner if we're playing Harbhajan Singh as a regular ODI spinner. Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj can easily bowl 10-12 overs and I dont think Kumble will make much difference in ODIs
Posted by: sreekumar on 02/10/2007
friend
dada was were he shld hav been playing, for bengal. come on every sane indian knows that the man has been one of our most sucessfull captains and a flat track bully but he deserved to be dropped when he was dropped and what is more he did not do anything to deserve a call back. but to give credit to the man when the oppurtunity presented itself he grasped with both hands. which is why this cld be his world cup for he has a point to prove and the man is likely to prove it (provided the others dont bowl too many short deliveries at him)
Posted by: singh on 02/10/2007
Automatic selection of Karthik as a batsman is puzzling. Of the six innings played in 2006-07 seson, his average is 19, with one 50+ to show for. If you exclude that his average falls close to 10. Prior to that in one inning he has scored an impressive 1. If you can automatically select yourself as a batsman in the team, that's tells a lot about the quality of the team. He is not even number 1 batsman in Tamil Nadu team, Badrinath is. I wonder how Badrinath feels about this!
Posted by: avm on 02/10/2007
Mr. Dasgupta
I will answer your question.
Indin team is selected based on politics.
Don't get excited coz Ganguly will be there. He is not capable of scoring against good teams like SA,Aust and Pak. He has always played for himself and not for India!It is a pity he is back.
Peple talk here about averages and how much someplayers like Laxman have scored. Just check Ganguly's av in last 5 years and ask yourself is he worth in the team and what has he done to really get back in.
Be peepared to see India going 1 down for less than 10 if he is opening in all matches(excluding those against Nepal,Bermuda and Kenya ofcourse coz he must be aggregating max runs aginast thenm in WC).
He is lucky to be there coz people from cal will make an issue and Laxman will be ignored coz noone from South really cares for these things!
Posted by: pratyush on 02/10/2007
1.Uttappa(if he fails,sehwag cud replace him in WI)
2.Ganguly
3.Sachin
4.Dravid
5.Yuvraj
6.Dhoni
7.Pathan(this is a bit risky)
8.Agarkar
9.Harbhajan
10.Zaheer
11.Munaf
well again WI tracks are tough for Indian batsman considering last series in WI.bowlers did great then.so we need 7 batsmen.its my choice.
Posted by: Colonel Fan on 02/10/2007
Ganguly, Zaheer, Kumble, Munaf ......... these guys are liabilities on the field especially in a close match. Compounding this is the absence of Kaif and Raina on the field to make up for our slow fielders. Although I'm still wondering why Karthik is being preferred over another middle order bat, I can understand why Laxman had to be left out. With Yuvraj just getting back to fitness, this will be clearly the worst fielding side on display at the WC.
Posted by: Rahul Oak on 02/11/2007
One billion people = One billion teams. It all boils down to what Rahul Dravid and Chappel thing is right for the team at the moment. All credit to the current batch of selectors, because these days there are less moments of "What the hell is he doing in here?" and all in all most people tend to agree upon the first choice 12-13 which is not something that can be said very often about Indian cricket. About VVS, well - I just have one thing to say. After playing international cricket for almost 12 years, if he can never establish himself in the team, it means something is wrong somewhere. Stylish batting can't win you matches - neither can VVS, lets face facts. I don't have anything else to say about a player who bats for not outs when batting with the tail in test matches. Enough said. And passionate Bongs, Ganguly was dropped when he was not playing well, he's back because he's performing - its as simple as that. Case closed.
Posted by: ammar ahmad on 02/11/2007
Indians lack good fast bowling so they will suffer in W.Indies. I think none of the Asian teams has a chance to win W.Cup. I love to see Aussies lose this time. Good Luck team India!!
Posted by: Kishore on 02/11/2007
It hurts to hear someone making comments about Laxman's match winning capability. From what I can remember, last time India defeated Australia in an ODI is when Laxman scored and impeccable century !! Please, don't comment about Laxman's match winning ability!!! Also, in the last ODI he played before he got dropped, I think he scored some 40 odd runs of 40 odd balls against Pakisthan. Trying to accelerate the runrate, he got out. But, for the Indian coach and captain, he didn't score a century and that's enough to drop him. I agree with Aditya who said that they have ruined a very good player. How can a player perform well, if he doesn't get chances and every innings he has to play like its his last? By not selecting him for ODI's they have also made him a dour batsman in tests as well. He was a wonderful batsman of top most class and now, they have made him a slow batsman who has to fight it out every innings he plays. Laxman at his best is better than any other batsman in the world!!! Forget, Kolkatta 2001, just watch the replays of Sydney 1999 and Brisbane and Sydney 2003. I, sincerly, hope India don't suffer in the World cup and everyone remembers Laxman.
Posted by: Ritesh Gautam on 02/11/2007
India's got too much talent
Having a lot of Cricketers in their country has seemingly halted India's progress. Becuase of the tough competition, once a new player doen't perform in much matches he is dropped. In this way the cricketers are getting very little experince in International matches. Other countries give more chance to player to succeed. Example can be taken of India's neighbour Pakistan. Mohammad Asif was given a chance even after he failed terribly in Australia. There are many likewise.
Posted by: rafay usman on 02/11/2007
well well well....i hav heard soo much abt the indian team...but every1 talking abt hte batting lineup & specialy VVS & karthik,,,,but who takes the bowling.......as far as batting concern...i personaly feel that ...kaif shld be in...at no.6
& in the bowling department......we all forget pathans bowling when he is int form..if we can take the risk of out of form sehwag then y not pathan.......he can also bat & give u the option of playing & extra batsman....& in the spin..we shld play harbhajan instead of kumble( he is a gr8 bowler but mostly of test cricket)
so my team for india shld be this .....
ganguly
uthapa
dravid (its his no.)
tendulkar(shld play there)
yuvrag
kaif or karthik
dhoni
pathan
harbhajan
zaheer khan
munaaf or agarkar
12th man( kaif or karthik )
sehwag
munaf or agarkar
raina
power
Posted by: Anirban Dasgupta on 02/11/2007
Mr AVM: Do we all think that he's back because of Calcutta or because he's the only cricketing leader India has seen post Kapil. Can we have your valuable views on this? Thanx
Posted by: Shane on 02/11/2007
I know agree that Laxman needs to be in the Indian team. If India have lost 1 or 2 early wickets, Laxman can rebuild, while Karthik doesn't have the experince of Laxman and isn't as good a batsman generally.This should be a good batting line-up, but it depends on only one thing: consitant batting,bowling and fielding, the Indian fielding in recent times has being good,uttapha is a good athlete,Dravid is a great slip-fielder, Suresh Raina is a great fielder, he takes the role of Michael Clarke. Yuvraj is also a great fielder, he takes the role of Andrew Symonds and Jonty Rhodes.This would be my line-up:
1.Sourav Ganguly (Experinced)
2.Sachin Tendulkar (NO EXPLAINATION NEEDED)
3.Rahul Dravid (Stoke Player)
4.Yuvraj Singh (Aggresive Rebuilder)
5.VVS Laxman (Crisis player:THE SAVIOUR)
6.Mahendra Dhoni (Amazing hard hitter)
7.Suresh Raina,Verinder Sehwag or Robin Uttapha
8.Irfan Pathan (Good Allrounder)
9.Ajit Agarkar (Handy Batsman, good bowler)
10.Anil Kumble (Econoical)
11.Harbajan Singh (Wicket-taker)
Posted by: bond on 02/11/2007
Its good for Indian cricket that we have a good second wicketkeeper in kartik whom we can fall back on in an emergency, but lets be realistic about his batting abilites. Once we have decided that Kartik will not be preferred to Dhoni behind the stumps, Kartik would have to compete as a batsman against the others who are left out. This brings to mind- VVS Laxman who is anyday a better batsman than Kartik, and Kaif who in addition to being a better batsman than Kartik- also had a fair degree of success on the west Indian pitches the last time around, and also is the best fielder in India. Also Pathan (who has been batting in recent times at least as well as Kartik) gets ahead in the preference due to his bowling and fairly good fielding. And Utappa again is much more talented than Kartik as a batsman (And he can keep wickets in an emergency too).
Posted by: kausik on 02/11/2007
hu is the hyderabadi guy? can someone tell mi
Posted by: Somebody on 02/11/2007
I see many comments pressing for VVS's inclusion in the one day side but I need a honest answer for this :how many time have you seen VVS hit a six,particularly of a fast bowler.I was watching a Laxman innings(a century) in the VB series on ESPn star the other day and the thing that sturck me was there wasnt a single six in that entire innings.Now this is all fine when India is batting first,Laxman coming in at No3, anchoring the innings, while the others around him play their shots(whihc is what happened in a couple of those VB series games).But consider the case when India is chasing a huge 270/300+ total.Isnt he not a liability then.
Also there's the question of where Laxman would play in the order.No3 is the only position I can think of, and even that is assuming we play with six batters+ dhoni. Assuming we play only 5 batsman,dhoni,pathan and 4 bowlers, there simply is no place for vvs in the 11. Would you want to bench a player of the calibre of vvs?.And do you think it makes better sense for a guy with better fielding skills,kaif(unlike raina,he definitely can bat) for instance.
VVS is definitely a class player,a stylish player in the Damien Martyn mould.But there simply is no place for him in the ODI squad.
Posted by: S Dhillon on 02/11/2007
I think Dinesh karthik shud not b considerd bcos there are better batsmen in india than him,if selectors choose him as a batsman only.Srishanth shud also be droped cos of his economy rate and recent form.so my batiing line up is as under :
1 S ganguly
2 S tendulkar
3 M dhoni
4 Yuvraj
5 V sehwag
6 R dravid
7 I pathan
8 A agarkar
9 Harbhajan s.
10 Zahir khan
11 Munaf patel
Extra players:
1 Robin Utthapa
2 Suresh Raina
3 RP singh
4 Anil kumble
Munaf can b replaced by Robin Uthappa (order??),if 7 batsmen are needed, and replace Munaf by Kumble if the Wicket is Spinner friendly.
world cup will be ours -follw that bat. order!!!
Posted by: Anonymous on 02/11/2007
When we reached the final 4 years ago, there were a few things that stood out - 7 batsmen and 4 bowlers was the first. Leadership - lacking totally now. And faith in oneself and the team - again totally lacking now due to the constant changing in the team.
Posted by: Hari on 02/11/2007
Indians basically do no have stability in the middle order. Indians should play Dravid at No.5 and Yuvraj at No.3. Sehwag should not be picked for the world cup as he has been taking his place for granted in the team. The Indians must take either Raina or Kaif as they are good at fielding.VVS Laxman must be given a go at no.3. The bowling combination is settled. My 11 for the World Cup is:-
1.GANGULY.
2.UTHAPPA.
3.YUVRAJ.
4.SACHIN.
5.DRAVID.
6.DHONI.
7.KARTHIK.
8.AGARKAR.
9.KHAN.
10.HARBHAJAN.
11.MUNAF.
SUBS:-
12.RAINA.
13.PATHAN.
14.KUMBLE.
15.SREESANTH.
Mr.somebody: FYI there was a six in that innings as I remeber coz I woke up early mornig in UK to watch Laxman play. also ine day cricket is not just about hitting sixers only. did dhoni hit a six today to win for India? It doesn't always work that way.
Vikas: I agree with u but don't ever understimate the importance of slips in one dayers and also the fact that a genius can be a macthwinner anyday be it a one day!
Mr Shane: Nice to c u including Laxman. raina has been given enough chances.
everyone here : I know VVS will not be included for whatever reasons but that is fatal mistake everyone will realize after the WC.
Kishore: I agree with u 100%.
Mr Dasgupta:
For god's sake pl don't bring Kapil's name here and compare with Ganguly as a leader etc. Kapil is the best cricketer India has ever produced and noone can beat him even in future.Ganguly was lucky captain nothing more. he did not even deserve to be in the team based on performance. I remember the caption in cal: no kapil no test. just be happy that dada will be in the team till WC. If the team is doing well u and me can captain it and win. Ganguly was taking credit for all the performances put by others.
PS: u can't beat sl(without murali and vaas) in india chasing only 250. have not the selectors gone wrong? YES WE MISSED VVS.
Posted by: Suhail on 02/11/2007
My playin 11 would be
1.Ganguly
2.Uthappa/Sehwag
3.Tendulkar
4.Dravid
5.Laxman/Karthick
6.Yuvraj
7.Dhoni
8.Pathan
9.Munaf
10.Zaheer
11.Kumble/harbhajan
Posted by: Hari on 02/11/2007
The sidelining of VVS Laxman is inexplicable, really, given his ability to pierce the field with wristy placements. To ignore his genius is a loss to world cricket, but Indian selectors and coaches have a track record of doing this. G.R. Vishwanath is another ideal one-day batsman who was repeatedly dropped for retaining far less gifted and consistent players. I am hoping that cricketing sense will prevail, and that VVS somehow becomes part of the squad.
Posted by: Yagnyesh on 02/11/2007
An oblique reference to Laxman in your post , made me sit up and think why Laxman should or shouldnt me a part of the WC team. He had been in the backburner with all attention going to Ganguly and Sehwag. Wrote up an article , which is too big to post here. you can find it at yagnyesh.blogspot.com . This is my first attempt at writing anything proper on the web, so put in your brickbats and bouquets
Posted by: Harry on 02/11/2007
Here's my XI, I'd really like to see this XI take the field someday, the batting order should be alternated based on who gets out, if an explosive guy (E), goes, the next (E) replaces him, if an (S) goes, the next (S) replaces him...
Irfan should be kept in the team, the guy's just too goddamn good to be left out for too long...he should be tried out against the weaker teams, get his rythm in shape...pick 2 out of Agarkar/Sree/Irfan...
As far as spinners go, I think Tendy/Sehwag together are about as economical as Harbhajan...I don't see Harbhajan playing a big role....Kumble's not making the 15 for exactly the same reason...
1. Ganguly (S)
2. Utthappa (E)
3. Tendulkar (S)
4 Yuvraj (E)
5. Dravid (S)
6. Dhoni (E)
7. Sehwag (S)
8. Agarkar (E)
9. Zaheer (S)
10. Sreesanth
11. Munaf
12. Kaif (S) (12th player, makes fielding really strong)
13. Harbhajan
14. Irfan (E)
15. Karthik (WK/E) (Backup For injuries/Sehwag)
Posted by: Lakshmi Narasimhan on 02/12/2007
Here is my 11 playing 11 for the WC..
1) Robin Utthapa (Suprise package)
2) Ganguly
3) Pathan (He has done well in tht position in the past)
4) Sachin
5) Yuvraj
6) Dravid (Crisis man..Can alter his game as per team's need)
7) Sehwag
8) Dhoni
9) Harbhajan
10) Zaheer
11) Munaf Patel
Pathan,Ganguly,Sachin,Yuvraj and sehwag shld share 20 overs btwn them consistently..Batting is our strength and we shld stick to 7 batsman + 1 all rounder concept..This team can nail down any target on a given day..Considering that in WC pitches will be batsman friendly even if you have a specialist bowler it may not help..Sachin is bowling better these days..IF you feel u need an additional bowler drop Pathan and have Agarkar in at number 9 or 10..Raina shld be in the squad purely for his fielding and Kumble shld give way for youngsters..Even during the last WC kumble was picked and not utilized properly and he is not handy with the bat or is not great in the field..Raina wuld compensate for the slow movers as substitute..IF Sehwag blossoms then move him to openers slot and get a bowler in place of Robin utthappa.
Posted by: billy on 02/12/2007
want to win the cup??
heres the team/squad that should win the world cup.
the other able members being: munaf patel, d.karthik, a.kumble and (someone else... be it raina or sreesanth as they are highly unlikely to get a game.)
you have the option of opening with sehwag again and benching Uthappa , which allows karthik to take his place in the middle order.
pathan is the key, he must play whether in form or out. 5-6 overs and 20 with the bat at a S/R of 80 will do india just fine.
cheers folks.
Posted by: Rajesh on 02/12/2007
I'd have liked to see more chances given to the likes of Joginder Sharma, Gambhir, Kaif and may be even Manoj Tiwari and Ranadeb Bose. Some of these players have been treated unfairly, but as it stands now, Kaif is probably the only one that'd be given any consideration.
I don't know why Dhoni is not sent higher up in the order. He has done well everytime he has been given the opportunity. I believe most matches in the world cup will be won by being aggessive and taking the fight to the opposition. It will not be a contest of who can stick around longer on a bowler friendly pitch.
India is seriously lacking all-rounders so important for the balance of an ODI team. That means we will have to play Pathan. And if we play Pathan, we will have to play five bowlers.
To advance to the next stage of World Cup then, this is the team:
1. Ganguly
2. Sehwag
3. Tendulkar
4. Dhoni
5. Dravid
6. Yuvraj
7. Mohd. Kaif
8. I Pathan
9. Agarkar
10.Kumble
11.Zaheer
12.Suresh Raina
13.Dinesh Karthik
14.Harbhajan
15.Munaf Patel
Posted by: kritin on 02/12/2007
well i feel the 2 openers must be Ganguly,
Uthappa next comes dhoni then sachin,dravid,yuvraj,pathan,agakar,zaheer, harbhajanand kumble or munaf.... the remaining in the team must be karthik,sreesanth and kaif/raina/laxman.....this would be my world cup team
Dravid must come lower down the order at 6(BEST) or at 5,cos these days its all about run rate,u cannt think defending a target of less than 270-280 when playing against Aussies,paki,south africa,sri lanka..and now even England.A CENTURY BY DRAVID IS OF NO USE IF IT COMES IN 130-140 BALLS.quick 30 odd at no 3 is more useful by players like Dhoni ,pathan,yuvraj(..and who knows they may hit 150 in 100 balls),so those critical overs must be utilized that way(this is specially imp. when India is batting First or Chasing a huge target.
Posted by: Prasad Bhogadi on 02/12/2007
All predictions are history now with final 15 announced. Vengsarkar and the group of selectors taking not more than hour to announce an unchanged team that is currently playing Sri Lanka. There were no surprises, no out of the box thinking.
1. Rahul Dravid (capt) - (Not in the best of forms but always a fighter)
2 Sourav Ganguly - ( One of the most fruitful comebacks)
3 Robin Uthappa - (Replacement for Sehwag in the final 11)
4 Sachin Tendulkar - ( The best)
5 Virender Sehwag - (Captain's choice, fingers crossed)
6 Yuvraj Singh - (Injury scare and the match winner makes it)
7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni - (No disputes about his selection)
8 Dinesh Karthik ( Can't India afford a specialist Batsmen???? with Dravid to back the wicket keeping )
9 Irfan Pathan - ( Not in the best of forms but who else is a better All Rounder when in form)
10 Ajit Agarkar - (Most experienced Pace bowler and can bat a bit- forget the Australian Series) 11 Harbhajan Singh - (Best off-spinner in India) 12 Anil Kumble -(Can't be ignored)
13 Zaheer Khan - (Comeback man as Saurav,proved himself with last two series performances)
14 Sreesanth - (Wickets count)
15 Munaf Patel - ( Think this man will be dangerous for opponents if he is 100% fit)
So, now only performances count..... lets all wish India performs well as a team. Critics always have a word to say, but it is not going to impact the selectors and their decision. So lets wish for the best for India in WI.
Posted by: V Kishore on 02/12/2007
Everyone should remember that we are not going to play in flat wickets of India. We are going to play in bouncy wickets of the Carribean Islands. We need to pick four fast bowlers for every match. I prefer Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesaanth for all the matches and Munaf or Agarkar for the fourth fast bowler's slot. As far as batting is concerned Sachin and Ganguly should open the innings. Yuvaraj, Dhoni, Dravid should be in the regualar line-up. Having filled nine spots the remaining two spots they should fille based on the strength of the opposition and other factors. For these two spots they should have players like Harbajan Singh (He will bowl economically), Suresh Raina (Can score useful and quick 30 or 35 runs and bowl a few overs, Dinesh Karthik (useful middle order batsman who can adjust and play according to the situation, Ramesh Powar (again like Suresh Raina can score 25 or 30 useful runs. Also, he is a useful bowler).
To summarize they should play with 7 batsman (Including Dhoni, Wicket-keeper) and 4 four fast bowlers. Players like Ganguly, Tendulkar and Yuvaraj should bowl the fifth bowlers quota. With all their experience they can definitely do it.
Posted by: n.sriraman on 02/12/2007
Now that WC squad has been picked up, there is hardly anything that can be done. However, considering the fact that perhaps india missed VVS in the middle in the last world cup, it would have been ideal to have given a chance to him to prove himself. In the present form sehwag will perhaps not be selected even in the Najfargarh club team, one is shocked to find him in the WC team.VVS would have been the ideal choice: if his fieldling ability is cited then how dravid , ganguly, munaf, ganguly etc are better.If not VVS, kaif should have repaced him. Further what will happen if Yuvraj breaks down during the World Cup or even before.
Posted by: Shakir Ahmed on 02/12/2007
Very good selection. Now we have very strong Batting, strong bowling and good alrounder (pathan) too. I feel fielding side should have been improved by seleting raina or kaif. One more thing one psychologist should also be there with indian team to explain current situation and to convince the player to understand the importance of his role. I'am confident that india will be there on the apr'24 (coz sachin's birthday).
Posted by: S Dhillon on 02/12/2007
Reply to post by-n.sriraman
well you r talking abt vvs laxman.
u wrote that india missed laxman in last world cup.But my friend india reached the finals coz players like laxman were NOT there.Till final India played so well ,but that silly decision to field first cost india the world cup.
.......and DO U THINK INDIA WUD HAVE CHASED 359 SET BY AUSTRALIA IF LAXMAN WAS THERE?????
Its all abt. run rate these days .SLOW HUNDREDS ARE USELESS.players like vvs laxman put so much pressure on other players too when they fail to rotate the strike.
I think this is the best WORLD CUP squad the selectors have choosen.but i think Raina in place of karthik and RP singh instead of sreesanth,shud have been selected.
ONCE AGAIN MY PLAYING 11 :
1GANGULY
2SACHIN
3DHONI
4YUVRAJ
5SEHWAG/UTHAPPA
6DRAVID
7PATHAN
8AGARKAR
9HARBHAJAN
10Z KHAN
11 M PATEL/KUMBLE
ACTUALLY BATTING ORDER IS THE KEY.stroke makers shud play most of the overs.Dravid must must be at no. 6 specially when india is batting 1st or chasing a huge total.
Posted by: Jitender Singh on 02/12/2007
I disagree with "certain stylish stroke-maker" from Hyderabad. He is too poor of a fielder for one day side, with so many poor fielders in one day side will mean loss of certain 30-40 runs. I even do not agree with Kumble instead of certain topsy tweaker from Mumbai. I don't remember a LOI in last 5 years Kumble won with ball.
Anyways my best XI is:
1. Sachin Tendulkar (He needs to be where he belongs)
2. Robin Uthappa (Need to be allowed to even carried away after batting through for 5 overs)
3. Sourav Ganguly (Experience, and sheer weight of personalty. Need to accumulate with either of the openers for atleast 20-30 overs)
4. Yuvraj Singh (He has made the spot his)
5. Rahul Dravid (He adds his value in middle order in case top order falters, should drop down the order in case its 40 overs and a batting belter)
6. Virender Sehwag (Too much said too much, but still has value to deliver even on toughest of pitches to force pace)
7 MS Dhoni (He said he is best slogger of India, let him prove, need to swap with Dravid if it is 40 overs)
8. Irfan Pathan (Batting all-rounder)
9. Ajit Agarkar (Bowling all-rounder)
10. Harbhajan Singh (Very good slogger atleast, sweet timer of ball)
11. Zaheer Khan (Slogger)
As for bowling the following are the options:
1. Zaheer Khan (Strike Bowler, be allowed to bowl full pace)
2. Ajit Agarkar (Need to be accurate)
3. Irfan Pathan (Should be bowling in last 2 power plays as wicket taking option)
4. Harbhajan Singh (Should be asked to bowl in the last power play as restrictive bowler, thereafter with as wicket taker in tandom with part timers)
5. Tendulkar/ Sehwag/ Ganguly/ Yuvraj (In order, Ganguly may be used first on Seaming wickets, Sachin can be bowled even in the slog overs)
Let me know your thoughts.
Posted by: bond on 02/12/2007
And now that the 15 has been announced, the problem is that we seem to be a bit short on batting, we have six batsmen, two wicketkeepers and seven bowlers in the squad. Given the number of matches that we have to play, the number of bowlers may be okay, but we may be a batsman short if we find that two of our bats go out of form- then we would have to continue with the ridiculous situation of playing two wicket keepers
Posted by: Rajesh on 02/12/2007
The team is out and it's not a surprise. It is close but it is not the best 15. Selection of Karthik as a specialist batsman is a joke. Are we really saying that he is the best we have got to back up Indian middle order. He does not average 30 even in the first class. If Kaif and Raina are not good enough, we should have tried someone like Manoj Tiwari or Rohit Sharma over last few months. Any of these four along with Dinesh Mongia will be a better selection than Dinesh Kathik.
The problem is Karthik can score 30 odd runs and can get the praise because expectations are so low. If a specialist batsman scores 30 and gets out, it will not be considered a good outing. Karthik is not the best or second best batsman even in his state team of Tamilnadu.
Posted by: Anthony on 02/12/2007
Well there was no real surprise when the team was announced earlier today. Well the talking point seems to be the inclusion of Dinesh Karthik. Well i do agree the selectors and the team management has jumped the gun by including him in the 15. But wouldn't they? He has shown in the very recent past about his ability to put his hand up when in time of a crisis. Well a 60 odd might not sound big in terms of statistics but what is more striking is that it was an effort when more fancied players in our team decided not to apply themselves. Well as a selector that is something which i would look for. Added to this is the failure of Mohd Kaif and Raina. Well for me they have been given enough chances to retain their places. I do not recollect Raina showing the spunk which Karthik has shown.
The indian batting looks the best on paper, whether they will strike form only time will tell. I dont see Karthik making it to the playing eleven unless in case of injury. The main player has to be Pathan cause the balance of the team depends on him. The team management should look to play him at 7 to get the balance right. The top 6 pick themselves
Ganguly
Utthappa
Dravid
Sachin
Yuvraj
Dhoni
followed by Pathan at 7 and 4 bowlers. This is the balance the management is looking for. If this fails they should look to play an extra batsman at 7 leaving Sehwag(being the extra batsman) and sachin to bowl 10 overs.
Special Report
Posted by: Vatsal on 02/12/2007
Guys, look past the two keepers, Karthick is also an awesome fielder with decent batting ability. Comparing him to Kaif and Raina is completely stupid, considering both have been given tons of chances and have not shown even a little promise. Picking Laxman would have been a complete joke, considering we already have fielding troubles. Besides Australia, he has not performed well against ANY other ODI teams.
Posted by: Meenakshi Pasupati Sridharan on 02/13/2007
1.0 Going by record VVS Laxman had done better in West Indies in both test and one dayers than many who are in the team. 2.0 he had scored vital centuries in one dayers in Pak, WI and Australia.3.0 His record of slip catching is impressive and better than others. If fielding lethargic mode is pointed out even Ganguly, Kumble, Munaf etc are no better. 4.0 Under current form he is better than Sehwag and can hold out in the middle when Dravid/Tendulkar are not in the crease and has big match temperament. 5.0 Sadly both Coach/ Captain cannot see this nor the selectors who have ignored him for World Cup again. The Australians for sure know that Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman are the players to be feared. ( Not Sehwag his tall scores had many dropped catches)
Posted by: Vatsal on 02/13/2007
The problem is who would you pick Laxman over. You cannot make a case to drop Tendulkar or Ganguly, or you might have riots in Mumbai and Calcutta. You also cannot drop any of the bowlers; we are short-handed on seamers, rules out dropping Munaf. You can make the case to drop Sehwag, but then you look at the fact that even with his inconsistencies, Sehwag has a better average in ODI's than Laxman. Sehwag is also younger. If that wasn't enough, Sehwag gives us more options, considering the fact that he can bowl. Plus, since you can't really drop Kumble, Ganguly, Tendulkar, Dravid, or Munaf we CANNOT afford to get any worse out on the field. This leaves no other options, other than maybe picking Kaif over Sehwag, but he isn't Mr. Consistency himself.
Posted by: Vatsal on 02/13/2007
All I will say is that in order to select a team, you have to look at the big picture, not just the small pieces of the puzzle. You can't just look at batting by an individual, fielding by an individual, or bowling by an individual. Look at the whole picture. When Sehwag was useless with the bat in W. Indies, he picked up wickets with the ball.
P.S. I STRONGLY dislike Sehwag. He is too arrogant for his own good; he sees nothing wrong with the way he bats. He is unwilling to change his style in accordance to circumstances. For example, last match he should have been a little on the defensive side, but instead he hits a loose shot and gets himself out. BUT, there wasn't anyone else we could have picked...
Posted by: S Dhillon on 02/13/2007
in my view the first five overs of the match make the whole picture of the match. AGRESSION is what the word for these few overs.Imagine gilchrist....he just destroy any bowling attack,how many runs he make is not that important but at the rate he scores matters.so 1 of the indian opener (sehwag or Uthappa )shudnt care abt his wicket but just hit.once u score 50-60 odd runs in 7-8 overs even loosing 1 wicket is very handy .
Posted by: indian cricket lover on 02/14/2007
the batting ability of keepers tend to be underestimated,that is why everyone is questioning karthik's inclusion.he is a technically better batsmen than sehwag and kaif,a brilliant fielder and the reserve keeper,what happens if dhoni is injured in the morning of a match like in the capetown test? surely not dravid as ajit wadekar ridiculously said a few days ago.dravid hasnt kept for years now and might cost us the match then.
Posted by: Manjunath Ramamurthy on 02/14/2007
I think Uthappa is a far more accomplished batsman than Karthik. Both are explosive and both deserve their place in the 15 but when it boils down to the playing 11, Uthappa fits the bill as an opener. We have a Dhoni/ Sehwag coming down the order who will pump up the scoring rate if need be.
I agree with S Dhillon. Dravid must bat down the order at number 5 or 6. That gives the top order confidence and gives Dravid a chance to re-build in case of quick early wickets. If Dravid ends up in the slog over with India in good position, he does have the ability to score quick runs in those circumstances.
Dhoni must bat at number three if India bats first. We need to give him enough time to build and attack.
The fitness and form of Yuvraj and Sehwag is a concern. That is one more reason we needed another specialist batsman in the team in place of two wicket keepers. Karthik may seem to be an OK selection at this time but that is because we have been led to this situation due to poor planning over last few months.
Posted by: S Dhillon on 02/15/2007
thanku Rajesh for having similar thoughts,what do u think about the playing eleven??i think it will b a toss between Uthappa,Sehwag & Karthik as only 1 of them can figure in final 11.
others-ganguly,dravid,sachin,dhoni,yuvraj,pathan,
agarkar,harbhajan,z khan,m.patel.
Posted by: Kavitha on 02/15/2007
Well, everyone here seems to have forgotten Parthiv patel. He was dropped only because of his keeping abilities and not certainly, his batting abilities. If karthick can be picked in the 15 owing to his batting, i dont see any reason why parthiv patel can be picked. He has played a gritty innings against the aussies themselves.
Posted by: Rajesh, USA on 02/15/2007
S Dhillon,
I'll make just one change in the eleven that played the last (3rd) ODI against SL. I'll replace Karthik with Pathan. If Sehwag fails, then replace him with Uthappa.
The problem is what happens if Pathan or Yuvraj fail. We have no replacement for Pathan. We will have to go with an extra batsman in that case. That is why I thought they should have given more chances to someone like Joginder Sharma who was yanked after bowling just four overs.
Posted by: S Dhillon on 02/16/2007
Yes Rajesh u r absolutely correct.India lacks geniune alrounders.India produced only 1-kapil dev.But at the moment its only India which is weak in department.
Look at the teams like pak.,aussie.,Newzland...so many alrounders.
Problem with Pathan is too much experimenta'n on him....He opens today,he's at no.3 tomorr.....and no. 7-8 on other day.
This is not the way u treat a player.HE IS A BOWLER WHO CAN BAT BEAUTIFULLY....but his order must b maintained.
...AND who can b better than Dhoni at no.3 not only in India but around the globe.(both of his big innings have come at no.3.....they sent him at no 7 when either India is in trouble(Can he hit those biggie 6s at that stage!!!)or when only few balls remain.He plays better freely.....and u see Dravid always play better in crunch situations and lower down the order at 6.I've seen sum of his 50s coming at rocket rate ...then why he comes as opener where his average is around 15 or even at no. 3 or 4 where he dip the run rate till 45th over??????
May b i m writing too much!
....but,yes i wud like to answer Kavitha
Parthive patel has abilties as a batsman(better batsman than Karthik in my opinion)...but we have 1 man who is best in the world..DHONI.........so NO ENTRY for 2nd keeper.
Posted by: Paul Thomas on 02/16/2007
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 sreesant 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 by 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 tea 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 has may get a look in for the final one dayer against sri lanka to give the team some confidence that he'll deliver.. even 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 hat 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..
there was also considerable debate surrounding the selection of an out of form sehwag.. well, i agree sehwag is in the worst form of his life.. but batsmen of his nature usually dont go into a prolonged slump.. someone like gayle too.. so it usually doesnt take long for them to come up with a big innings.. but yeah, this slump has been a long one.. i guess we shud just hope he fires.. and i also think his bowling cud be of much use.. since i think india wont be playing 2 spinners.. it will either be bhajji or kumble.. so sachin and sehwag will be important with the ball.. remember the last world cup final where all the fast bowlers got clobbered and dinesh mongia was the only bloke who got ponting to slow down a bit.. so yeah.. i think sehwag's experience is crucial to india..
see, i think the only other replacement for sehwag was raina since kaif was completely out of the picture.. and i think even if raina played, karthik wud have edged him out of the eleven on current form.. i guess sehwag was definitely a better choice cuz of his bowling and experience..
Posted by: hameeduddinkhan on 03/22/2007
In my opinion the woolmer death is natural, but, heart failure. And as the people said there were some marks on his neck - my dear sirs, - if some one has problem with throat and vomating - off course he will hold his throat - sometime by two hands and some time by one hand - and in my opinion the nails marks wame to woolmer throat , when he pushed hard, as the vomating is sometime uncontrolable.
Myself have the problem , i cant vomat easily - if i want - sometime i sit on the earth sometime catch my throat and some time i thinks that am dying. Anyway, woolmer did a lot for pakistani team and we, all pakistanis are thankful to him for all his efforts and our deepest condolences to his beloved wife and his sons. HameeduddinKhan-Jeddah
Posted by: hameeduddinkhan on 03/22/2007
First of all my deepest condolences to the wife and the sons of Mr.woolmer.
Mr. Woolmer did a lot for our team and did not tolerate the unexpected defeat to Pakistan by Ireland.
In my opinion cause of his death is heart failure and brain hambrage due to vomating and off-course if some one has problem he can not eat and its difficult to sollow the meal. So when he was vomating he hold his throat either with two or one hand, and his nails scratched to his neck. Whichis very well understood.
So, in my opinion Mr. woolmer death is natural.
Hameeduddin Khan-Jeddah
Mukul Kesavan teaches social history for a living and writes fiction when he can. He's keen on the game but in a non-playing way. With a top score of 14 in neighbourhood cricket and a lively distaste for fast bowling, his credentials for writing about the game are founded on a spectatorial axiom: distance brings perspective. Kesavan's book of cricket - 'Men in White' (now there's a coincidence) published by Penguin India is now available in bookstores.
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