The Indian selectors have done a fairly reasonable job of selecting the teams for the New Zealand tour. They have carefully considered the characters of the specialists as well as their limitations in either forms of cricket to choose the players for each series.
Ravinder Jadeja has been rewarded for his fifty (on debut against Sri Lanka) with a place in the T20 squad in place of the legendary Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin has consistently avoided this format for a long time and his reluctance has allowed the youngster to get a chance to play the Kiwis.
The One-Day matches will allow the players to get a feel of the conditions - this will give the Indians an edge in the test series that follows. This does not mean that the Indians will take the ODI's lightly. The Kiwis are back after sharing the ODI series against Australia (though because of the tournament rules, the Aussies took the trophy) - the youngsters in the squad have risen to the occasion on the Aussie tour and must be hoping to continue their good form into the Indian tour.
Sachin Tendulkar, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir are the batsmen who will play both the ODI as well as the Test series. It will be first time for MS and Gautam on the NewZealand shores - it is to be seen how quickly they can adjust to the pitches as well as the wind. Sachin, recently, explained the difficulties the players face while on tour to NewZealand - the fact that the wind gets into the eyes of the players when they are batting, makes it a very different challenge for the batsmen. Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the test specialists, have toured here earlier and thus know what are the adjustments that they have to make in their batting, to thrive here. Dinesh Karthick's inclusion means that the skipper can also take time off in matches that are not consequential, if and when they arise.
The ODI specialists like Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma will take in the experience as much as possible so that it will help them during the next tour when hopefully they will be part of both the teams.
The bowlers remain the same across the various formats and hence, the schedule will ensure that by the time the test series start, they would have a good idea on the various lengths required to strike terror in the batsmen's minds. Zaheer Khan was one of the successes during the previous tour and he must be hoping to repeat the success this time around as well.
Overall, as per the ICC ratings, the Kiwis are closer to the Indians in the ODI format while the test rankings show the 2 teams far away between each other. Thanks to the schedule and the fact that the T20 matches start first, the Indian team has enough matches to get acclimatised to the conditions. On that count, the Indian team should start as favorites for the tour.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Saturday, February 07, 2009
India within striking distance of the ODI pinnacle
Thanks to the heroics in the ongoing ODI series in Sri Lanka, the Indian team is within striking distance of the No.1 spot in the ICC Rankings. They have replaced Australia at the No.2 spot thanks to the Kiwis win. How the mighty have fallen.
This has occurred not because of the performance in the current series alone. Over the last 1 year, the Indians have performed consistently in the ODI scene. They have accomplished the feat at the same time they replaced the seniors of ODI cricket in the team (Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble being some of the notable ones).
Gary Kirsten and his support staff have made a huge impact on the Indian team - they look so settled now. Obviously, the toss wins in Sri Lanka have given them a huge advantage but it is very important for any team to take the chances and win the matches convincingly. To give them due credit, one can argue that the umpiring decisions have also gone against the Indians (most of them have impacted the legendary Sachin Tendulkar). The Indians have taken these in their stride and have gone on to chalk out the most impressive wins of recent times.
Players like Yusuf Pathan and Pragyan Ojha have taken the next step in international cricket, proving that they belong to this level. The other strokemakers like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh have shown consistency that was not their forte earlier. No words can describe the performances of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Overall, the Indian team is showing signs similar to the earlier Australian team.
Even in the previous series against England, the ruthlessness was visible in the Indian performance. The complacency that used to be part of the performance has disappeared altogether. Even though the fringe players have been given chances to perform, the overall balance of the team has not diminished a bit.
Couple of areas that the Indian team can look at include having a backup wicket-keeper. MS Dhoni has made such a big impact in the cricketing scene that none of the other available keepers are able to make any headway. This has made the Indian team play all matches with their captain, thereby not giving him enough rest. The other alternative is to take the tough option even when the toss is won - for example, in the next day-match in Sri Lanka, the Indians should bowl first so that the best conditions are not available to them. This way, they can prove their dominance in conditions that are not favorable to them.
Of course, luck has played a big part of the successes that MS and his team have achieved so far. How he fares when things go against him, will be interesting. On the basis of the performances so far, everyone is sure that MS and Gary Kirsten have the right answers.
This has occurred not because of the performance in the current series alone. Over the last 1 year, the Indians have performed consistently in the ODI scene. They have accomplished the feat at the same time they replaced the seniors of ODI cricket in the team (Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble being some of the notable ones).
Gary Kirsten and his support staff have made a huge impact on the Indian team - they look so settled now. Obviously, the toss wins in Sri Lanka have given them a huge advantage but it is very important for any team to take the chances and win the matches convincingly. To give them due credit, one can argue that the umpiring decisions have also gone against the Indians (most of them have impacted the legendary Sachin Tendulkar). The Indians have taken these in their stride and have gone on to chalk out the most impressive wins of recent times.
Players like Yusuf Pathan and Pragyan Ojha have taken the next step in international cricket, proving that they belong to this level. The other strokemakers like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh have shown consistency that was not their forte earlier. No words can describe the performances of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma. Overall, the Indian team is showing signs similar to the earlier Australian team.
Even in the previous series against England, the ruthlessness was visible in the Indian performance. The complacency that used to be part of the performance has disappeared altogether. Even though the fringe players have been given chances to perform, the overall balance of the team has not diminished a bit.
Couple of areas that the Indian team can look at include having a backup wicket-keeper. MS Dhoni has made such a big impact in the cricketing scene that none of the other available keepers are able to make any headway. This has made the Indian team play all matches with their captain, thereby not giving him enough rest. The other alternative is to take the tough option even when the toss is won - for example, in the next day-match in Sri Lanka, the Indians should bowl first so that the best conditions are not available to them. This way, they can prove their dominance in conditions that are not favorable to them.
Of course, luck has played a big part of the successes that MS and his team have achieved so far. How he fares when things go against him, will be interesting. On the basis of the performances so far, everyone is sure that MS and Gary Kirsten have the right answers.
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