My first question after the team selection is ‘What Mr. Dinesh Mongia has done to get selected in Indian team?’ and then ‘What the poor Rohit Sharma has not done to get not selected in Indian team?’ Would Dilip Vengsarkar & Company explain? Not only these questions but also I have many more.
TWO WICKET KEEPERS
What is the need for picking two keepers in a squad that too to a neighbouring country? Agreed, Dinesh Karthik has performed very well in whatever little chances he got. He cannot play as a pure batsman since there are many better batsmen than him. His wicket-keeping skills are better than Dhoni. But I feel Dhoni should be our No.1 Keeper batsman in one-day squad purely because of the impact he can create with his willow. Karthik’s technique, grit and determination are more valuable in test cricket so he should be our first choice keeper in that form of cricket.
SEHWAG & PATHAN
Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan should be handled properly and very carefully. They are great talents but are unfortunately out of form. Selectors should tell them that they are part of long-term plan and they must sort out their shortcomings before finding a place in the team. I cannot really understand how Sehwag can be in one-day squad and not in test squad. Actually he is struggling in shorter form of cricket and doing reasonably well in longer version of the game. God only knows the reasoning behind this bizarre decision by selectors. I feel Pathan and Sehwag need some break and hope they will bounce back very strongly. Why no all rounder in place of Pathan?
GOOD MOVES
One of the good things selectors have done is to blood Manoj Tiwary in one-day cricket. Dropping under performing Harbhajan is another welcome move. I think Ajit Agarkar is little unfortunate; he is now only beginning to display some sort of consistency in his otherwise inconsistent career.
SACHIN & GANGULY
Decision about future of Sachin and Ganguly must be made. I am sure they are not going to play next world cup. Even Rahul Dravid is having only 50-50 chance of playing next world cup. Form of Sachin is on the wane and also constantly he is troubled by injuries; it is natural. Still he is good enough to play international cricket. But I prefer him playing only test cricket. This allows him to prolong his career and also he can play more domestic cricket, which will benefit younger players who are in the domestic circuit. Every player wants to retire with glory. So Sachin should pick a successful one-day series to announce his farewell from shorter-version of the game sooner. Regarding Ganguly I doubt his attitude. Arrange a farewell for him in both forms of cricket sooner.
WHY ONLY ONE OPENER FOR TEST CRICKET?
Who is going to open with Jaffer in test cricket? Dinesh Karthik? No more business of makeshift openers in test cricket. If Sehwag not in the team they should have picked someone like Akash Chopra. Badrinath should have been picked ahead of Ganguly in test team. Every body is fooled by Ganguly’s recent scores. He actually got back into the team because of team’s overall poor performance not because of his performances in domestic cricket.
Some of the experts are not happy with selection of RP Singh and Gambhir. But I feel they need a fair run. Then finally why no vice-captain announced? Overall the selection is directionless and purposeless.
Here is the story about the team selected to Bangladesh.
TWO WICKET KEEPERS
What is the need for picking two keepers in a squad that too to a neighbouring country? Agreed, Dinesh Karthik has performed very well in whatever little chances he got. He cannot play as a pure batsman since there are many better batsmen than him. His wicket-keeping skills are better than Dhoni. But I feel Dhoni should be our No.1 Keeper batsman in one-day squad purely because of the impact he can create with his willow. Karthik’s technique, grit and determination are more valuable in test cricket so he should be our first choice keeper in that form of cricket.
SEHWAG & PATHAN
Virender Sehwag and Irfan Pathan should be handled properly and very carefully. They are great talents but are unfortunately out of form. Selectors should tell them that they are part of long-term plan and they must sort out their shortcomings before finding a place in the team. I cannot really understand how Sehwag can be in one-day squad and not in test squad. Actually he is struggling in shorter form of cricket and doing reasonably well in longer version of the game. God only knows the reasoning behind this bizarre decision by selectors. I feel Pathan and Sehwag need some break and hope they will bounce back very strongly. Why no all rounder in place of Pathan?
GOOD MOVES
One of the good things selectors have done is to blood Manoj Tiwary in one-day cricket. Dropping under performing Harbhajan is another welcome move. I think Ajit Agarkar is little unfortunate; he is now only beginning to display some sort of consistency in his otherwise inconsistent career.
SACHIN & GANGULY
Decision about future of Sachin and Ganguly must be made. I am sure they are not going to play next world cup. Even Rahul Dravid is having only 50-50 chance of playing next world cup. Form of Sachin is on the wane and also constantly he is troubled by injuries; it is natural. Still he is good enough to play international cricket. But I prefer him playing only test cricket. This allows him to prolong his career and also he can play more domestic cricket, which will benefit younger players who are in the domestic circuit. Every player wants to retire with glory. So Sachin should pick a successful one-day series to announce his farewell from shorter-version of the game sooner. Regarding Ganguly I doubt his attitude. Arrange a farewell for him in both forms of cricket sooner.
WHY ONLY ONE OPENER FOR TEST CRICKET?
Who is going to open with Jaffer in test cricket? Dinesh Karthik? No more business of makeshift openers in test cricket. If Sehwag not in the team they should have picked someone like Akash Chopra. Badrinath should have been picked ahead of Ganguly in test team. Every body is fooled by Ganguly’s recent scores. He actually got back into the team because of team’s overall poor performance not because of his performances in domestic cricket.
Some of the experts are not happy with selection of RP Singh and Gambhir. But I feel they need a fair run. Then finally why no vice-captain announced? Overall the selection is directionless and purposeless.
Here is the story about the team selected to Bangladesh.
3 comments:
Madhu,
ur first qn.. well asked! am also flabbergasted.
second qn: Dinesh Karthick. he has exceled in whatever chances he has been given and is a wonderful cricketer. Why should we not take a proven cricketer than experimenting with the never-played-internationals guys? Taking a handful lot in the 11 wont do much good and Bangladesh has been dangerous lately. We cant have another humiliation. Also, A wicket keeper used a apure batsman isnt a new phenomenon. Sagakkara has played as a pure batsman, giving chances to other wicket keepers. So has Brad Hodge played/playing with gilchrist still doing a wonderful job! changing wicket keepers for ODIs and test cricket wont fit in very well is my personal opinion.
third question: completely agree to your views except for the last question!! WHY NO ALLROUNDERS IN PLACE OF PATHAN? name one good allrounder we have in domestic cricket... Joginder Sharma was the only name heard so far and he has proven no good.. not only in international arena, but also domestic. the recent 20-20 tournament also did not bring much ODI allrounders.
Agarkar has not been consistant lately as well. When an otherwise badly performed team's stats are taken, he might just find a decent place, thats all.
Sachin and Ganguly:
Why do you detest these cricketers?
It seems you have a personal vendetta against them! Just because they are old, they should retire or MADE retire as you say in the case of Ganguly? What about Hayden who at this age has come back to ODIs and is the highest run getter this year? What about McGrath who is still bowling with accuracy and is going to be player of the 07 worldcup?
Ganguly has fielded well and bowled okay with exceptional batting after he came back. What attitude of Gangulay do you DOUBT, as you say? please be specific..
If getting runs for the team is bad attitude, i guess indian team and fans would live with it..
He scored when no one else had the grit to stay at the crease. He struggled with some of the bowlers, but could stay in the crease and score valuable runs. I do not understand on what base is his attitude being questioned. Do you mean to say that he should have played a violent shot and get out and let the other batsmen get out cheaply [as they duly did in this worldcup]? He was the only once who scored consistantly at the top of the order. One criticism had been that he was asked to attack the left arm spinners of Bangladesh and he did not do it. Well, I do not understand that logic. It is also understood that when a batsman is not finding his way through with some bowlers, they should be played carefully. Also, if wickets on the other end tumbles, those bowlers have to be played very safe. I am a part of a cricket team which plays 45 overs and I understand these as the basics of cricket. If Ganguly's attitude is questioned, One needs to specify what he did wrong and what aspect of his attitude is in question.
Sachin: An excellent player who has not found his form recently. It is true that its high time he played some good innings in ODIs as well as Tests. But batsmen change their style and adapt into conditions as they grow old and international cricket also changes. That he should stop playing ODIs just because he could not play well in some matches is no good argument. If he still fails in the next series, he will be understanding enough to step aside himself. Also, we need to consider the personal ppreferences of a batsman as he goes out to the pitch. We now know that Sachin wanted to open the innings with Gangulay and that was brutally turned down by the coach citing team's interest. I would not prefer to bat one down or two down since am not a very good batsman in those stages. Sachin is also a batsman who is more successful than most others in the game. Why would he not be given some choices of his own? THAT, I still believe is a debatable question and would leave for further thoughts in my head!
Ganguly got back to the team because of the team's poor performance alright!! but what about once he got back? have you seen the team's averages and who has scored? You cant accuse him of not letting others score, can you? [thats the next step for ganguly's blind critics, i guess. and am expecting that very soon]
Dinesh Karthick is selected as an opener along with Jaffar. Yes, I agree than Mithun Manhas or Chopra could have been considered as an opener, but international experience also should be given some weightage.
Decision about vice-captain was dodgy. Team Manager[Mr. Shastry] has more grip on the team now and it was cheeky for the selectors to leave that to team management. But am sure sastry would be game for any challenge.
Lets hope for the sake of those who love indian cricket that at least this composition clicks and clicks bigtime!
I am not against Sachin. I feel if he concentrate on Test crciket alone he can prolong his career and also can have time for domestic crciket. He has achieved everything in One-day cricket. Only thing missing may be not part of a World Cup winning team. He is also frequented by injuries.
I feel Ganguly is not willing to play under someone's captaincy. His unwilligness to play under someone overshadows his eagerness to play for the country. There is no 100% commitment from him.
Just because you think Sachin has achieved everything in ODIs he should retire from that format? Strange logic. Why cant he play ODIs if he is still able to contribute which we can get to know soon from the away series in England? Am sorry to tell you that there is no logic in the assumptions you make.
Ganguly: UNWILLINGNESS to play?
no 100% commitment? where do you get these from? There should be solid reasoning behind any accusation especially when you are accusing someone who can not respond to you firsthand. What proof do you have against ganguly that he doesnt like to play under any other captain for india? And without him scoring runs after he came back, india would have been out more cheaply than now. Would india have scored 191 runs against Bang if he had not stayed there at the crease and scored those many runs? The scoring he has done after coming back to the team has been exemplary. You should make clear on what grounds do you accuse him of less than 100% commitment. It is cheap to accuse someone without any grounds when he can not first handedly answer your accusations.....
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