INDIAN ONE-DAY OUTFIT

Indian team trails the one-day series 1-3 against England. Only recently they have won a one-day series against South Africa, though Proteas were without their two best players. But that is their only significant win in a season or two. Then what happened to the Indian one-day outfit? There are many reasons for that.
1. Bad Fielding
2. Lack of good all-rounders
3. Incorrect team composition

Let me analyse few things here. Best patches of Team India in last 5 or 6 years were:
Period 1: Natwest Trophy (2002), ICC Championship Trophy (2002)
Period 2: World Cup (2003)
Period 3: Consecutive successful chases in 2005-06

Reason for the successes:
Period 1: Sehwag, Yuvraj and Kaif were playing superbly. Big 3 were in their peak. Seven batsmen theory really worked. In Yuvraj and Kaif Team India had two brilliant fielders. Sachin (best all-round fielder), Agarkar were good fielders. Sehwag, Sachin and Ganguly filled in the role of fifth bowler very well.
Period 2: Sachin was at his vintage best. The pace trio of Srinath, Zaheer and Nehra were really awesome (To India’s standard). Backed by brilliant fielding of Yuvraj and Kaif.
Period 3: Yuvraj and Dhoni were at their best. Irfan Pathan the all-rounder was flourishing. In Yuvraj, Kaif and Raina Team India had their best fielding unit in the decade. Raina was contributing with some useful knocks.

Reasons for the failures:
1. The slump in the form of Sehwag and Irfan has hit the Indian team the hardest. Irfan’s all-round ability and Sehwag’s dynamism and his role as fifth bowler were missing now for Team India.
2. Kaif and Raina, the two best fielders, were not able to sustain their batting form. Kaif is always a good team man, good fielder and has good attitude. But there are many better batsmen than him. He was also not able to lift his batting to another level. Suresh Raina was a case of poor form. Players are either best fielders or best batsmen (or bowler), and not both.
3. Age has taken a toll on Sachin and Sourav. So we can’t expect same fluency now. Sachin with troubled arm and comparatively weak body was no more the best all-round fielder and magic bowler he used to be.

Future ODI XI
1. Uthappa
2. Dhoni
3. Rohit Sharma
4. Yuvraj
5. Manoj Tiwary
6. Sehwag
7. Irfan
8. Piyush Chawla
9. Romesh Pawar
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Munaf Patel

Reserves:
12. RP Singh
13. Sreesanth
14. Chetshwar Pujara
15. Gambhir

How current ODI Outfit can be optimized in remaining matches in this series against England?
1. Sachin
2. Sourav
3. Dhoni
4. Yuvraj
5. Dravid
6. Rohit Sharma
7. Piyush
8. Agarkar
9. Pawar
10. Zaheer
11. RP Singh

Reasoning behind my team composition:
Dhoni: He has always done well when batting at top. He is sort of player who needs few overs to settle down. So he is ideally suited to open the innings. As of now he can bat at number 3 since two big guns reluctant to vacate the opening position. He can score big knocks regularly that too quickly.
Sehwag: He is sort of player who produces quick burst of 30 or 40 runs. Attacking player like him not having enough success on one-dayers is perplexing for many. He can be better utilized at slog overs. So number 6 is best for him. His bowling is always useful and effectively fills fifth bowler option if team opts for 4 bowlers.
Dinesh Karthik: He is more like Kaif and has better technique than him. He is nowhere near Kaif in fielding. Actually his over-enthusiasm (or pretended enthusiasm) is costing India few runs and some missed chances. There are many better batsmen than him. Him playing ahead of Rohit Sharma in the playing XI is not convincing. More indigestible is he playing ahead of Yuvraj and Dravid in the batting order. He is more suited in longer version of the game.
Rohit Sharma and Tiwary: They have the potential to fill the place Sachin and Dravid in future. Rohit Sharma is a good fielder and useful part-time bowler. Both Rohit and Tiwary have technique and aggression.
Others: Munaf Patel has the potential to become best Indian bowler in its cricketing history. But his fitness is always irritating and worrying. Robin Uthappa is an explosive batsman and must be given ample opportunities. Besides that he is also a good fielder. Unfortunately for him he is competing with Sachin and Sourav. Gambhir seems to play well only against weaker sides. Irfan will give perfect balance to the line-up. Sehwag, Irfan and Munaf are special talents. They are currently struggling with form or fitness. They need some special treatment. Special treatment means not immediate place in the ODI XI or special respect, they must be encouraged, given opportunities in A-Team tours and taken care of very well. Sehwag must have been given opportunity in recent A- Team tour to Zimbabwe, but unfortunately not given any opportunity. Munaf was not tested really in any first-class matches after his injury layoff and selected straightway into the team. Piyush Chawla is really impressive. He must be encouraged and groomed properly. He is also a useful lower-order batsman.