Yuvraj back for Sri Lanka test matches - Why?

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In the test squad announced for the Sri Lanka series, Yuvraj Singh makes a comeback. Is it because of a lack of choice or was it based on a century he scored for his company in a minor match earlier this week (to show his return to form)?

Whatever it might be, test cricket is definitely not his cup of tea, even when he is usually in good form. Now, with the series being played in Sri Lanka against the likes of Murali, Mendis and Herath, he will definitely be uncomfortable with the thought. Further, there is a doubt whether Yuvraj thinks of himself as a test player. Doubtful. Of course, if the selectors had not selected him, there would have been a furore but that fact should not have influenced the selection in anyway.

With the Fab-Three (Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman) in the middle-order and MSD at No.7, there is one slot available for selection.

What were the other choices available to the selectors? Suresh Raina is present in the squad. Murali Vijay is also available as a backup to the openers (he has also shown how comfortable he is at No.3). Looking forward, the selectors might have selected Badrinath in the squad in place of W.Saha (as they did in the ODI series, they could have gone without a reserve keeper and asked for one only when required).

Did the selectors fear that the selection of Karthik (as reserve keeper) or Badrinath (as reserve middle-order batsmen) will cause everyone to accuse selection committee head, Srikkanth, of bias towards his home state? Rohit Sharma could have been given a chance in the squad in place of Raina for he is definitely the better suited in terms of technique in the longer version. 

In the bowling department, the first three selections in the spin department - Harbhajan, Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha - pick themselves. The new ball options is taken care by Zaheer, Sreesanth and Ishant. Yes, there is consistency in the attack from the previous test series but what have the latter two done in the meanwhile. Only IPL matches!!! Could they have not been sent to the A tour to England? What were the other choices then? Ashish Nehra - why not? The team does not seem to be inclined to choose Nehra for the longer version of the game. He would have been handful for the Lankans with his pace and bounce.

Anyway, the team leaves the shore this time with the best option to win a test series in Sri Lanka - hopefully the batsmen and bowlers fire together to bring the series win. All the Best, India.

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Forget the 15-year jinx, look at the 28-year one

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 The Indians broke one jinx that was prevalent for 15 years now - Asia Cup victory - it is time for them to look forward to the 28-year jinx next year. The World Cup victory (last in 1983).

The Indians have achieved great success against Sri Lanka, in Sri Lankan soil. No wonder, it was against their favorite opponent on their best overseas venue (of late), that their jinx was broken. In the process, they defeated their arch-rivals Pakistan in the league stage as well.

Though they missed Sehwag (once again due to injury), Dinesh Karthik ensured that the Indians won the final by scoring a decent total on this ground first. The seam & swing bowlers made sure that the advantage provided by the toss win was not lost - they wrapped the game quite early with their early wickets. Ashish Nehra has done well in the Isles and he proved it once again.

The positives for the team - Rohit Sharma continued his good form from Zimbabwe. MS Dhoni had good hits at the crease and regained the No.1 spot. Dinesh Karthik has taken the spot of the reserve wicket-keeper and opener. Ravindra Jadeja did well in the series and looks to have taken his gap over Yusuf Pathan forward. Harbhajan loves bowling here and turned out good spells other than the win with his bat. Praveen, Zaheer and Ashish utilized the conditions to their advantage in the finals - how they can continue in the same zeal needs to be seen.

The worries - Gambhir's running between the wickets has worsened from series to series. Suresh Raina, once again, showed his weakness against the short ball of Malinga - the gap till the next ODI series should give him time to sort it out. What happens to the bowlers when there is no support from the pitch is a concern still. The backup spinner could have been taken by Ashwin if he had been given chances. Sehwag has missed quite a few series in the shorter version - is it pure coincidence or lack of interest in the shorter game?

A good series win to the boot and the media must be happy to see MSD back to his winning ways. The crux of the team for the next World Cup is there, barring 2-3 slots. Let us hope for the best.

The next is a series of test matches - good to see the return of the veterans.

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Middle-order problem for the Indians

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The Indians might have made a good start to the Asia Cup today, by beating Bangladesh comfortably. The bowlers were not so great but they had good practice against the weaker team today. Hopefully, they will improve their performance against the Pakistan & Lankan teams later. But, that is not the subject of this post.

The middle-order saw Virat Kohli come out at No.3, followed by Rohit Sharma, MS Dhoni and finally Suresh Raina. Is this the right order that can turn out for the Indians in this Asian Cup? Of course, Yuvraj Singh and Sachin Tendulkar are options but since they are not available in Sri Lanka, we need to look at the correct order in which the current players can flourish.

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are the more sedate batsmen, though capable of playing the big shots. Suresh Raina has done well at No.3 slot while MS Dhoni has become the No.1 batsmen by playing various innings at No.4. Ravindra Jadeja has been given the all-rounder position in the Indian eleven, in place of Yusuf Pathan. He neither has the shots that a typical batsmen at No.7 needs.

Maybe, that is the rationale behind sending Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma ahead of MSD and Raina. Jadeja can come up earlier also but he has already lost a match (even though in T20s) by playing on the slower side. Hence, this option may not be tried once again by the think-tank for some time now.

MSD and Raina will be the best batsmen to hit out in the slog overs and hence they need to come down the order. If any early wickets fall, the order can be changed.

What can be tried also is to send Harbhajan Singh or Praveen Kumar higher in the order at times when the faster bowlers are trying to bounce out.

What is your opinion on the middle order issue?

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Asia Cup - here we come

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The Asia Cup starts on 15th June - one more of those tournaments started by regional boards. Not sure why there is no Australasia Cup or African Cup. Hold on - there is an Afro-Asian Cup - does not matter if it is not being pursued still.

Anyway, this tournament is being played regularly for some time now. The first edition still stands out - India winning the first version in 1983/84, thanks to a relative newcomer by name Surinder Khanna!!!  The last Cup saw the Indians succumb to the guiles of veteran Sanath Jayasuriya & a newcomer (then), Ajantha Mendis.

This time around, the Indians again go as favorites (even though they did not qualify for the tri-series final in Zimbabwe) to Sri Lanka - the seniors have had their share of rest and must be eager to retain the trophy after 15 years. Sachin Tendulkar is the only missing star in the line-up with the Board heeding his request for time to be with his children. Yuvraj Singh has been dropped on fitness and form, giving a chance to the others like Rohit Sharma to claim their ticket to a permanent slot.

The bowling looks better than what has been in recent days, even though Zaheer Khan can do his bit to rise his average from the current close-to-30. Ashish Nehra and Praveen Kumar also average 30+, which is usually not associated with players who played for some time now. Dinda will now have a chance to see the veterans and learn new tricks. Harbhajan Singh will be back to lead the attack - though I dont think that is something to cherish. He, like the others, averages 30+ and must be itching to show his wares. Pragyan Ojha and Ashwin might get chances against the lower teams as well as pick up tips from Bhajji.

The batting department is bolstered by the returns of Sehwag and Gambhir at the top. It was here in Sri Lanka, that both of them gave good starts in the test series after the last Asia Cup. They will do well to remember the series and repeat their performances. Is Sehwag fine with his form, will be the question on everyone's mind? Dhoni comes to the middle order to support Raina, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravinder Jadeja. The latter seems to have gained in standing, compared to Yusuf Pathan in Zimbabwe. A good chance for the youngsters to prove themselves. Tiwary, just like Dinda, will gain a lot from observing the seniors closely.

How will the Indians perform? A final seems to be on cards but will they suffer the final-blues once again? Let us see. What is your prediction?

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Cricinfo - what next?

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Cricinfo has been doing a great job in providing statistics, articles, blogs on the sport for quite some time now. They have established themselves as the leader in cricket web-sites all over the world. There is enormous amount of information available that can be used for various purposes. What next for the site now? What are the various initiatives that can be introduced? Quite a few:

• Unlock the data -  The data that is available within Cricinfo can be made available as xml, xls, csv formats so that bloggers, writers can do further analysis and publish information. Of course, it is available even now but one has to do a lot of data-massaging to get into a spreadsheet or program that can be used for analytics. 
• Video highlights - Since ESPN owns Cricinfo and they have tie-ups for various tournaments that happen within the cricketing world, it makes sense to have pages with video highlights. In fact, just like the wicket commentary is displayed on the score-card, the dismissal video can be shown in a similar way. With the success of Youtube in the recent IPL, video highlights (and especially dismissal highlights) will be a big hit if that is shown on the site as well.
• More Social Networking features - The site has interfaced Facebook on its site but it still has a lot way to go. There can be other features like trends, (virtual) gifts/currencies, etc that can be added.
• Yahoo has started a feature by name Yorker (thanks to Prem Panicker, Akash Chopra & other friends) which allows cricket supporters chat on areas of interest. This can be refined further to make it more interesting.
• Monetization - With the number of visitors on the site, it is high time the site made it to their use. Ads are not just enough. There needs to be other features that increase the revene - this is where they can innovate further.
• Fantasy Cricket - Considering the fact that Fantasy Leagues are all over the web-world, the one prevalent in Cricinfo can be further enhanced for increased adoption.

Of course, these are but a few of the features that can be enhanced. A lot more can be done once more inputs from the viewers are considered. What do you think?

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Lesson for Yuvraj

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The Indian selectors decided to make their presence felt (just as I was mentioning about their end of honeymoon). Yuvraj Singh had been taking his presence for granted and he was looked up by the youngsters as their mentor. Hence, it was high time he was given a lesson.

On multiple counts, Yuvraj Singh did not deserve to be in the team - his form has been off color in IPL as well as the T20 World Cup. His weight was very much evident as it was seen him carrying additional kilos on his frame. His fielding had gone down and he was no longer the person batsmen dreaded. His attitude also was not that of a team-man. He was not helping the captain in any way that befitted a senior player. All these meant that the decision was very much on the cards. Whether the selectors would bell the cat was to be seen.

This is obviously a good step by the selectors and they have to be credited for this. Also, the non-selection of Rahul Dravid was in the right step. Dravid has to be given the respect of a legend and not selected/dropped only when the other batsmen fail against short-pitched deliveries. Jadeja and Rohit Sharma, via their half-centuries, retained their spot while Ashok Dinda and Ashwin were the 2 bowlers who were decent. Sourabh Tiwary is the new person in the squad - he will get a team against the lowly sides - if he can prove his worth in the team, it will be an added bonus.

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Forget the tri-series loss, what did India gain?

The honeymoon of Krish Srikkanth and his selectors has ended quickly. No longer can they take credit for the No.1 position in test cricket nor the No.2 position (which they have lost after the tri-series) in ODIs. The World Cup debacle as well as the disaster in the tri-series has ensured that they rack up their brains before the start of the Asia Cup.

If not a tournament win (which was not expected anyway), what were the points that Gary Kirsten and the team management gleaned from the performance of the Indian team? Quite a few.

• The bowling department, especially the opening attack, depends on seniors like Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan. There is no consistent second-line. Dinda, Umesh and Vinay Kumar were steady at best but nothing better than the others who were have-beens in the recent past. Pankaj Singh and Mithun would have benefited if they were on the other tour to England.
• The spin department was supposed to be our strengths against minnows like Zimbabwe but the fact was that our batsmen struggled more against their spinners compared to their batsmen's performance. Amit Mishra might have done well in the test matches but he is not a patch in the shorter version. Pragyan Ojha was expected to grab the No.2 spinner slot but he did not make the necessary steps. Ashwin played in one match taking 2 wickets and scoring 38 at more than a run-a-ball
• The reserve wicket-keeper slot - Dinesh Karthik holds it for lack of other options. Naman Ojha got one chance only - of course, the remaining T20s will give him couple of more chances which he has to make the best use.
• All-rounders - Yusuf Pathan was touted as the next best thing (in fact, after his domestic performances, I had predicted him to be the dominant player in IPL3). His weakness against short-pitched bowling has become very evident. If there was a line of thinking that he could play well against spinners, that thought was proved wrong by Dilshan's team in the last ODI against Sri Lanka. Yusuf Pathan needs to prove his technique to be part of the team again. Ravinder Jadeja has made his mark in couple of innings when the team was in dire straits but his bowling is not upto the mark.
• From the batsmen, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma scored heavily twice in four matches - obvious inconsistency being seen. Suresh Raina's captaincy must have affected him for he is no doubt, one of the players who will be in the starting line-up for Asia Cup.
• The openers - the lesser said the better. The scorecard shows multiple stands of 50s but it was clear that Vijay should be made a test specialist rather than asked to play in multiple formats, irrespective of his IPL exploits. Maybe, playing him in test matches ahead of the off-color Yuvraj Singh might be the option in the forthcoming test matches against Sri Lanka.

Overall, if the Management felt that they wanted options for the World Cup, this tri-series made their selections easier. There is no one who can push the players who were rested for this series. Perhaps, a Rohit Sharma can push Yuvraj in his current form but no further options. Sad but very true.