IPL-8 - Match-42 - Chawla takes KKR home

KKR's bowlers led by Piyush Chawla led their team to a convincing win over Delhi.

Indian team at Nagpur - chaos abound

Mohinder Amarnath remarked that he wanted MS Dhoni to be ousted but he was not allowed to do so! Who was his choice for replacement? Gambhir or Sehwag? Both of them are not having the best of runs for a long time now. Who else would Mohinder have suggested?

Sunil Gavaskar said that Yuvraj and Harbhajan were made scrapegoats for the debacle in Kolkata! Who else did Gavaskar want to drop?

It looks like there are many ex-players who want change to be introduced but not clear on how or who will the change get impacted!

Nobody wants to suggest that Sachin Tendulkar needs to be dropped purely because of respect for the legend but who will bell the cat? Everyone suggests the selectors to have a chat with SRT - will they do it? Of course, no!

BCCI have insisted that they do not enforce any decisions on the selection committee - what does Mr. Srinivasan have to say?

The additions to the squad for the final test were surprising to many - one of them is Dhoni's CSK team-mate - Ravindra Jadeja while the other is Dhoni's favourite mascot (one who has been part of two World Cup winning teams) - Piyush Chawla!

If Sreesanth was available, maybe he would have been picked instead of Awana! By the way, where is Praveen Kumar now? Was he not the one bowler who came out of the English sojourn with his head high?

What is amazing is the lack of sound-bites from Duncan Fletcher - ten losses since he came on board must have made him tense!

Will Nagpur see a change in Dhoni's luck? Let us see. First, he has to lose the toss to get back his old form!

Indian teams announced

The Indian teams for the New Zealand series as well as the T20 World Cup were announced today by the selection committee who were meeting for the last time under Krish Srikkanth. The selectors also announced the 'A' squad to travel to New Zealand and it is quite interesting to see the names that have been included in the squads. Let us go through each one of the teams below:

• Test team against New Zealand at home - 
• VVS Laxman was in the limelight and everyone were looking at what the selectors thought would be - drop him or give him a chance to regain his form back. Yes, Laxman flopped during the tour Down Under but who did well (other than Virat Kohli) on that tour? If Rohit Sharma was given five chances in the ODI to improve his form, why not give Laxman another chance? 
• Rahane gets into the test squad on the basis of his good showing in first-class cricket - mostly an insurance for unexpected injuries to Sehwag or Gambhir. But, the question still remains - why are we forcing Rahane in the opening slot? Why not look at him in the middle-order? Kohli, Pujara and Rahane will be the fulcrum in the middle-order around which the Indian future will revolve. 
• Suresh Raina in test squad is as astonishing as the return of Piyush Chawla in place of Rahul Sharma - question here is whether Rahul was admonished for his doping offence in Pune. 
• Ishant Sharma's fitness has not been proved since the end of the Australian tour - do we have any insight further?
• T20 World Cup squad -
• Did Harbhajan Singh's county stint helped him to gain a slot in the T20 World Cup even though he did not play any T20s? 6 wickets in 4 first-class matches and 5 wickets in 2 List A matches does not give confidence to anyone! Does he replace Pragyan Ojha? Why? Ojha played just one match in the recent series and got hit in the nets - was the injury so bad to warrant his ouster?
• Yuvraj Singh has not played any cricket - forget first-class or club cricket (other than the warm-up matches at NCA). How was he selected? Is it based on emotion more than form?
• Rohit Sharma makes an appearance once again - on what basis? Based on the form that he displayed in the Sri Lankan ODIs? Come on, Srikkanth and team! You could have done better.
• Piyush Chawla once again to replace Rahul Sharma. Was his inclusion made as a good-luck charm? Remember that he has been a part of the T20 and Fifty-overs World Cup squads! There is no other reason for his presence.
• Balaji has done well in IPL and has matured with age. He is a good choice probably taken due to the slow tracks in Sri Lanka. But, the pace of Balaji as well as Pathan will be making the Indian team very similar in nature!
• 'A' team to New Zealand
• Abhinav Mukund did no do well on the West Indies tour but he has been retained - this is good for a change. Giving him a continuous reign under the Indian cap will do him good in the long run.
• Vinay Kumar and Rahul Sharma make it to the 'A' team from the senior team - must be depressing to receive such a 'reverse promotion'. They will do well to perform on this tour and make a comeback.
• Jayadev Unadkat is back! God knows where he goes between his appearances for the Indian cap (either 'A' or senior team)
• I am personally looking out for Ashok Menaria, Ambati Rayudu and Surya Kumar Yadav - they should grab these opportunities to stand out from the crowd.

Eng-Ind series - Time for Post-mortem

The series is over. India have been white-washed by the English team convincingly, 4-0 being the verdict. There was no doubt who was the stronger team and the No.1 ranking at the end of the series was apt for the winners.

The jury is out. Ex-players are out with their comments and suggestions on how to improve Indian cricket but one thing is common among all the commentators - they are like the Indian industrialists who do not want to support Anna Hazare in the Anti-Corruption Drive. For fear of being an outcast in the eyes of BCCI and thereby losing their potential income, they do not blame IPL as one of the reasons for the Indian loss.

No longer the No.1

Sanjay Manjrekar in Cricinfo states that India needs a few urgent repairs. Manjrekar talks about pace bowlers first and then spinners.

Stating that India needs to look beyond Zaheer Khan, Sanjay lists the likely bowlers who can lead India's new-ball attack - Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma - while being disappointed with two other bowlers - Sreesanth, Munaf Patel. From the period Javagal Srinath retired from the international scene, India has played quite a few number of pacemen.
Let us look at the ones who are still in the hunt:

• Irfan Pathan - played 29 test matches for India. Has a hat-trick to his name but lost his prodigious swing somewhere. Everyone criticized him for losing his pace which never was his strength. Injury further sidelined him, making it difficult for getting a look-in to the pace attack. Definitely should be in the plans for the future of Indian cricket. A fully-fit and in-form Irfan would have been a handful for the English attack with his swing and batting skills. 
• RP Singh - Eric Simons mentioned that he was selected over Munaf Patel because of his ability to swing. Neither swing was on offer nor pace was visible during his spell in the final test match. After having lost pace (more than 10kmph compared to the earlier English series in 2007), RP did not look like making any impact on the batsmen in any way. 
• Balaji and Ashish Nehra played test matches for India last in 2005. Injuries crippled them to cut short their promising careers. Though Nehra made a comeback to ODIs and has performed creditably, he has not been looked (by the selectors) as a possible candidate for tests (even though he was keen on coming back to the test arena). Balaji made a comeback two seasons ago in the IPL bowling at slower pace.
• VRV Singh, Jaidev Unadkat were given chances on the tour to South Africa but they never capitalized on the opportunities. While VRV has fallen away, Wasim Akram has spoken very highly of Unadkat and one might see him make a comeback (provided he can add muscle to his slight frame). Abhimanyu Mithun on the Sri Lankan tour (in the absence of the leading bowlers), however, performed better than expected. But, he has not been seen once again in Indian colors. Will the selectors revert back to him for the Australian tour?

Similarly, in the spin bowling department, Manjrekar feels that Ashwin should be given a chance in the home series against West Indies. Who else have played for India in the same time-frame as above?

• Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha are the ones who have been given the maximum number of chances after Kumble and in the absence of Harbhajan Singh. But, as Mishra showed in the recent series, on wickets that do not support spin, these bowlers do not make any impact on the bowlers. Pragyan Ojha should continue his previous assignment that was agreed with Surrey and gain experience on the county circuit. This will keep him in good stead for the future.
• Piyush Chawla and Romesh Powar are the other spinners who have played a couple of test matches for India. Though Chawla made a surprise comeback to the 2011 World Cup and has age on his side, he is not thought to be in the same frame as the other spinners. If he can be a bit faster in the air, Chawla can still help India in the long run. Powar continues to ply his wares in the Ranji tournament with average success.
• Murali Karthik is the other bowler who has performed well whenever given a chance (which is mostly in a crisis situation). But, the selectors seem to consider him as over-the-hill even though he plays with success on the county circuit.

Sanjay finishes the article by suggesting that VVS Laxman does not have much time to play for India. Just a few test matches ago, the entire sub-continent was singing praises for VVS but look at the reactions now. There are obviously no other players who are good enough to take his role, yet. Who are the other middle-order batsmen whom the selectors have given a chance so far?

• Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina have been given enough chances to prove themselves. Both have showed that they cannot translate their potential shown in the shorter format to the longer arena. How longer will they continue to get chances their way? Should the selectors not look elsewhere now? Probably yes.
• Cheteshwara Pujara, Virat Kohli and Badrinath have been given a few tests to show their prowess. Virat and Badri have shown that they have technical weaknesses against the short ball (Badrinath would have felt unlucky to have started his test career against the searing pace of Steyn). Pujara did well against Australia at home but in the series against Proteans, did not make a big contribution.  
• Rohit Sharma is the other name suggested by Anil Kumble in his comments after the debacle but these players should earn their spot in the playing eleven rather than being selected purely for youth sake.

In the opening department, Sehwag and Gambhir have been playing well but as this series once again showed, injuries and illnesses need to be planned in a proactive manner. 

• Aakash Chopra and Sanjay Bangar had performed the role of opener very creditably on the tours to Australia and England. Though they still play domestic cricket, they are not on the short-list of selectors any more. Aakash would have been the ideal opener to replace Sehwag on the recent tour, even though it was a short-term option.
• Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund hail from the state of Tamil Nadu. They have done well in few of the opportunities given to them so far but it is injustice to them that they have not been given the exposure to challenging pitches overseas on 'A' tours. Will the BCCI make the necessary changes to groom these players?

Ravi Shastri, the IPL veteran, remarked in his column - It's time for Indian cricket to identify players who are specifically suited to the different formats of the game. A way has to be found to encourage those cricketers who want to give Test cricket priority. There ought to be superior remuneration or compensation. How do you suggest this will happen, Ravi? Especially when the BCCI is filling its coffers with IPL as well as CLT20 tournaments, how can young cricketers get encouraged by the longer version? Is BCCI planning to start a new tournament on similar lines? Or are they going to increase the prices of central contract? What is your detailed proposal to achieve this, Mr. Shastri?

Pataudi, who gave away the trophy (named after his father) to England at Oval, predicted the next action that one can expect from the BCCI very correctly - The BCCI is not going to show a great deal of vision. Cricket will continue [in India] the way it is, but I sincerely hope that some sense does come in.

Related articles

• Eng-Ind series - When India had a chance (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)
• Eng-Ind - MSD needs a break (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

SRT and MSD

Sachin Tendulkar. Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Two legends who are adored by different generations, playing for the same team, but still manage to keep their head on their shoulders. Role models for the next generation cricketers in the Indian sub-continent. What more can one say? Only that the youngsters in the Indian cricket team are lucky to be sharing the dressing room with players who are extra-ordinary gentlemen as well as skilled professionals in the art they pursue.

If Sachin was the epitome of individual skills, Dhoni has shown that he is one who can shine in a team situation. For long, Tendulkar was failing to get the one team medal that was not present in his closet - the World Cup winners medal. He tried in five different World Cups but destiny was not on his side. It was meant to be in a team that was captained by the best captain that India had (in terms of accomplishments he is beyond the statistically-backed Sourav Ganguly). He scored two centuries in this World Cup but coincidentally they were the two matches that India did not win (tie against England, loss against South Africa).

Sachin tried his best to inspire a generation of young cricketers to share his dream but in trying to do that, his expectations soared. This was probably the burden that upcoming youngsters could not face and coming from the legend, they could not say it out openly. Dhoni, on the other hand, is very approachable to his players. He supports them when their form is down, like Piyush Chawla and Ashwin in the World Cup or Yuvraj Singh before. The support makes the players believe in themselves and come out much stronger.

Before you start thinking that this article is in favor of Dhoni, I would like to set the record straight that as a batsman he is far behind SRT. Though his ODI record is quite good and he has proved his worth time and again, he is not facing the issues that ailed the Indian team during Sachin's younger days. In test matches, Sachin is streets ahead of the rest of the world, forget Dhoni.

Together with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman, the Indian team is lucky to have four gentlemen in the playing eleven. There might not be many matches that this quartet will play together in the future but as long as they do, we should enjoy the occasion. Such genuinely good successful human beings in one team is a rarity. Do you agree?

IPL4 - Top 4 teams identified.

It was a long-drawn affair for this year's IPL - 70 matches were played before the top 4 teams were identified. Here below, I have tried to note the individual performances in the IPL4 - teams that had batsmen scoring fifties/hundreds & bowlers claiming 4/5 wickets in an innings. It is not so surprising to see who has the best of all:

• Batting performances has been led by CSK (Hussey, Badrinath, MS Dhoni being the stalwarts) - obviously hinting at their batting stronghold for success so far.  Chris Gayle ensured that RCB gave a good fight to CSK (in fact, he was instrumental in the win over Chennai in the last match). It is surprising to see Punjab do well, helped by the heroics of Paul Valthaty, Adam Gilchrist and Shaun Marsh - they slipped in the middle bunch of games which cost them the final berth.
• The bowling department sees Punjab and Mumbai lead the way - Malinga for MI while Piyush Chawla and Bhargav Bhatt did the job for Punjab XI Kings. KKR and CSK have no such performance at all. 
• KKR is a surprise - they have neither the number of landmarks nor the bowling performances. They are definitely the team that relied more on team-work rather than individual brilliance. Will this help them win the final matches? Time will tell.

World Cup 2011 - A team effort surely

We are the Champions of the World - Courtesy Castrol Cricket Site

The Indian team has been partying hard from the night of April 2nd - once MS Dhoni hit the winning six. All the team members played in a minimum of two matches in the tournament - no one was Valson-ed (for all the young bloggers, Sunil Valson was the lone player in the 1983 tournament who did not play a single match). A look at the statistics page reveals the contribution done but some of them go beyond just statistics. Let us look at their key moments in the tournament.

• MS Dhoni. The captain led from the front, especially in the finals. He had his share of misses and hits with his decisions but as one could see, created the luck that got his team the World Cup.
• Virender Sehwag. He hit such a high in the first match against Bangladesh that everything else paled in comparison. That his 175 came just after he announced his intention to play 50 overs was more than coincidental.
• Sachin Tendulkar. Two centuries that took his tally to 99. A Man-of-Match in the semifinals against Pakistan that he would have not wanted. He would have given all of it away for the medal he received at the end of the tournament - Winner!!
• Gautam Gambhir - the final brought the best of a fighter who had made small contributions in most of the matches. He is one vital cog in Dhoni's future team that will continue his dream. 
• Yuvraj Singh. Even though he did everything right (only a perfect yorker could stop his run-flow), his innings against Australia was the high-point in this tournament. 
• Virat Kohli. Like Sehwag, he scored a century in the first match of the tournament and failed to match it. Virat, though, contributed several runs by his agile fielding skills.
• Suresh Raina. The fittest player in the Indian team, Raina played a critical knock against Pakistan in the final overs that helped in putting a decent score on the board. His contribution to the win against Australia was equally critical, if one can look over his fielding at all.
• Yusuf Pathan. Another player of the future, who could not get a look-in because of Kohli & Raina's better fielding skills. He played a good cameo against Ireland that hastened the victory much earlier than what one anticipated it to be.
• Harbhajan Singh. The wickets of Umar Akmal & Shahid Afridi would have to be the highlight of his bowling throughout the tournament. These two strikes were worth their weight in gold, catapulting the Pakistan team to defeat.
• Piyush Chawla. He was given the confidence by his skipper and partly repaid it. He kept his composure and dismissed Shezad after being stuck by sixes. He was hampered by lack of international match practice, which showed.
• Ravichandran Ashwin. There was a lot of crowd support for this lad that added to the pressure of Dhoni during press conference. He showed that he could be a good addition to the team with his diverse skills. His dismissal of Shane Watson against Australia started the slide.
• Zaheer Khan. What can one say about this bowler? He was on a mission to prove that his performance in 2003 final was an aberration. His spell against England to revive the match was stuff that dreams are made of.
• Munaf Patel. Often criticized for his uni-dimensional skills, Munaf delivered with the ball more often than not. His dismissal of Razzaq in the semis was well thought-out and executed to the point. Everyone is aware how dangerous the allrounder can be on his day - the slower leg-cutter of Munaf put an end to his aspirations. 
• Ashish Nehra. Another uni-dimensional bowler who delivered on a pitch that was helping the slower bowlers more. His spell in the slog overs during the Pakistan match was superb.
• Sreesanth. What can one say about this bowler? A gamble that was picked in the first and last match of the tournament - Sreesanth was the only one who did not contribute much - no wickets in the two matches. Economy rate of 8+. No catches taken in the tournament at all. Anyway, everything is forgotten, Sree. You were probably the lucky charm for MSD - one of the common links between the 2 World Cup victories under Dhoni.

World Cup 2011 - Captain Cool lives his dream

Dean Jones had commented that MS Dhoni must have been dreaming if he thought that he could win the World Cup with this team. MSD not only dreamt the World Cup win but also planned very well to execute his dream at Mumbai. April 2nd will now appear in the same league as June 25th (in 1983).

The country has not stopped celebrating two days after the final was won by the Indians. The news-channels were talking about the victory to the players, celebrities, politicians and whoever else they could lay their hands on. Looks like this is going to be a long party for now.

Dhoni will realize that all the hoopla around the win will die down quickly and life will be back to normal in a week's time (when IPL4 starts). But, this is his and the team's moment of glory - they have deservedly won the World Cup by beating most of the teams that mattered - Australia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan (all from the opposite group, coincidentally) - in the Knock-out matches. Though they lost to the Proteas in the group matches, one can argue that it was a group match and also that they lost in the last over. A tie against England was the other result that they would probably have liked to better.

Back to the captain then - all the tournament, he was being chided for one reason or the other. Whether it was for supporting Piyush Chawla or bringing on Ashish Nehra for the last over against South Africa or not selecting Ashwin until the last group match or promoting Yusuf Pathan higher the order. All these moves probably did not work but it was a matter of time when Dhoni's tactics started working. As mentioned earlier, it takes courage to admit that he made a mistake and that was exactly what MSD mentioned about his selection of Nehra over Ravichandran Ashwin in the semis. Similarly, his selection of Sreesanth and promotion of himself in the final were tricks that worked well in the final result.

His batting was not upto his high standards and that was good enough for all to criticize him - to be frank, most of the matches he batted in the earlier stages, there was no time to settle down. Yes, he failed in the critical stage against Australia and Pakistan but Dhoni knew that the big knock was around the corner. For a man who was the No.1 in ODI rankings, it was a matter of having the time at crease that would bring back the runs.

Dhoni was quick to thank the golden quartet of Indian cricket - Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble - for the transformation that has happened. The sense of the occasion was not lost to the young captain. MSD knows that his team is now responsible to pass the baton to the next generation and continue the Indian domination of cricket for time to come. Dhoni has more examinations that will come his way - hurdles that will test the true character of the team and himself. As Geoff Boycott mentioned in one of the shows, for the next four years wherever the team goes, they will be called as the ICC World Champions.

How the team will deliver under the continuous pressure of the crown will determine the amount of time they will stay on top. One thing is for sure, they have a captain who knows exactly what steps to take further now. Dhoni may not be with his coach, Gary Kirsten, any longer but the lessons learnt during the association will come of use. He will have to see the retirements of the legends (Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman) do not impact the Indian team - this will be the next biggest challenge on hand. Knowing Dhoni, he will relish the challenge and come up with his own path to tackle it.          

Related articles

• Tendulkar won't stop - Kirsten (espncricinfo.com)

World Cup 2011 - Yuvraj's all-round skills help India win

Yuvraj Singh - allrounder
India reached the top of their Group after a not-so-easy win against the Irish team. They did not have it easy as they would have liked to. The bowlers were troubled by a lengthy partnership after two early strikes. Similarly, their batting was rattled when they were little more than hundred for four wickets. Experience was one weapon missing in the arsenal of Ireland - if only they had it, the match would have been closer. There was no lack of effort though - the fielding and effort to support the bowlers was tremendous. Also, the pitch helped the Indians more today - hint of generous turn was on offer for the slow bowlers (the pitch seemed to resemble the warm-up matches once again).

The Indians went with an unchanged lineup today and opted to field first - Dhoni had hinted that this was his preferred way to go before the match. Zaheer Khan put his hand up and got the initial breakthroughs for the team to put the Irish back on the ropes. His standard trick, that of bowling two balls away from the batsman and then getting it back in, worked today. Even in his latter spells, he was consistent and on the dot. That could not be said of his partner, though. The selection of Munaf Patel somehow generates a feeling that Dhoni is on the defensive and likes to go for a steady bowler rather than one who can take wickets. Patel again went for runs and hardly bowled half his quota. Dhoni, in his mind, must now hope for one of his bowlers like Munaf or Nehra to get injured and ruled out of the tournament - for, that is one way to bring back Praveen Kumar (if he is fit) to the team. The team is missing PK at the top of the attack when he could complement Zak and get critical breakthroughs regularly. For now, Munaf has to make way for Nehra in the next match.

Dhoni usually gives his players a long rope and backs them to the hilt - Piyush Chawla is also facing the same generosity right now. But, MSD will soon realize that Piyush's lack of match practice is haunting the team clearly. The pitch was offering turn and it was for all to see in the very first over of Chawla but the leg-spinner did not help his cause by not sticking to a good line and length. Forget taking a wicket, giving away seven runs every over was not on considering the pitch conditions. Similar to Munaf, Chawla has to make way for Ashwin in the next match.

There is no point in blaming only the younger spinner when the senior spinner in the team, Harbhajan Singh, continued to bowl on an average manner. The figures might look good against him on the scorecard but bear in mind that the bowler was operating against the Irish team who do not have much experience against spin. Dhoni supported his bowlers by giving close-in fielders regularly but somehow the mindset that the spinners are operating are not the same that someone like Shahid Afridi or even Imran Tahir is trying. It was finally left to the all-rounder of the day, Yuvraj Singh, to salvage the situation for India.

His fielding has gone down and he is no longer as mobile as he used to be few years ago but his bowling has gone up a notch - an area that has kept him in the squad compared to Suresh Raina. He was bowling with pace that would ensure that the balls would stand up even more than normal. Check out the shot that Porterfield hit while getting out, for example. Yusuf Pathan also chipped in with seven overs so that the bowling of Patel was not required later in the innings.

In the reply, Sehwag and Gambhir fell early in their innings. Sehwag was again beaten by a ball that stood up, making him play early. Gambhir guided the ball to the fielder within the circle on the leg-side and could not believe the accuracy of his shot! Sachin and Virat Kohli came together and produced a good partnership - they managed to get rid of the initial butterflies and rotate the strike to keep the scorecard moving. As is his wont, Tendulkar got out to a youngster once again - he wanted to go for a review badly but his partner was not so keen about the same (rightly so, one must add).

Kohli was run-out in a mix-up with Yuvraj - probably the only blot on the copybook of Yuvraj Singh today. Yuvraj's running with his skipper was more confident and comfortable - probably the lack of partnership with Kohli was a factor in their misunderstanding. The young lad must have surely eyed another big score in a chase but it was not meant to be. Another fifty-plus partnership between Yuvi and the skipper meant that the target was being depleted slowly and surely. The departure of the Indian skipper after a typical knock of busy-ness at the crease, meant the arrival of Yusuf Pathan.

Pathan very clearly outlined why he is important to the team - a reasonable ask of forty one in little less than ten overs was reduced in the space of four balls by sixteen runs (a boundary and two sixes of Dockrell). Once the task was made innocuous, both the batsmen just kept their heads and took India to victory. Yuvraj completed the double of scoring a 50 and five wickets.

In passing, I would like to congratulate the Irish team for their performance today. They did not disgrace themselves on the field after the highs against England. With proper exposure, they have a role to play in future World Cups (though ICC might still keep them out by having only ten countries participate). What the ICC should instead concentrate on, is to ensure that players like O'Brien's, Dockrell are not poached by the English cricketing team. If this goes on, it would mean a further setback to the team's future hopes.      

World Cup 2011 - India-England aftermath

It is now official - the Indian-English ODI on the weekend ended in a tie not because of the abilities (or lack of) of the players - it is more to do with the venue - Bangalore. There might have been a pact between ICC and the new administration team led by Anil Kumble to make the World Cup more exciting.

If the first set of news was about the movement of the India-England match from Eden Gardens to down South, the next few days saw the controversy over the tickets. Once the match started, both teams tried to outsmart themselves on their incapability to win a match and in the end, it ended in a stalemate that would have done a chess player proud. Today again, the Irish team stepped up the gas and defeated the English team in a chase that was the highest-ever.

The English team would now go back to their drawing-board and try to decipher where things went wrong - the same type of exercise the Indian team must have been doing from Sunday. What can India do from here?

The bowlers must feel happy in one way that they managed to tie the match that was 'lost' but they must be the first to put up their hands on why they reached such a situation after their batters had scored 330+. In both matches put together, the Indian batsmen have scored at an average of 7 runs per over. But, even this seems to be insufficient considering the lack of sting in the bowling and fielding.

There must be simply some way that the Indian team must make way for Ashwin. His carrom ball and other tricks in his bag are more than enough to bamboozle any international team. His lack of international experience means that there will not be many tapes about his bowling action. This only means that he can take wickets and by the bushel. Harbhajan is surely not doing what he can do on such wickets and on the back of such high scores. Piyush Chawla's lack of international experience shows up when he bowls boundary-balls in between wicket-taking ones. The next two matches are against the minnows - Netherlands and Ireland. Both have given the English team a tough time. This will be an ideal time to blood Ashwin in place of Chawla. Zaheer can be rested in one of the match in favor of Nehra if fit - it is very important to keep Zak in cotton wool wherever possible. Yes, I am saying this despite today's result but it is better to be careful in this case.

The batsmen could have scored more (now I am greedy, right) in the second match - the last few overs were not made use of, to the extent that they are capable of. Tailenders need to keep their head together and give the strike to the better batsman at the crease - something that was not followed. This mattered in a difference of few runs that could have won the match for India.The Batting looks settled comparatively with the top-order in good form.

The Indians needed this kick in the rear, to lift up their game after the wins they have been having (warm-up matches and vs Bangladesh). Will they crush their opponents in the next two matches? You bet.

Related articles

• World Cup 2011 - Sound-bites from the Indian team (myhistoryisinteresting.blogspot.com)

World Cup 2011 - Trivia

Interesting stuff about the World Cup that does not get much attention in the information overload

• Not many know that there is a leg-spinner in their ranks who almost played for India! W.D. Balaji Rao was in the prospect-list much before Piyush Chawla but looks like India's loss is Canada's gain.
• Andy Bichel and Gary Gilmour. Two interesting names with respect to the World Cup. Not-so-great careers for their country but great all-round performances for their country in crunch games. Check out Bichel's performance in 2003 World Cup against England and New Zealand
• When was the last match Australia lost in a World Cup? Way back in 1999 when they lost to Pakistan and before that, to New Zealand in the same edition. They are undefeated so far. They face both teams in their Group stage this time.
• Who took the most number of wickets in 1999? New Zealand's Geoff Allott - again a performer who shone at the World stage only to fade away later.
• Indian players almost did not play in the 2003 edition because of sponsorship issues. They faced a similar situation in this Cup as well but not much is heard of again.
• Shane Warne played his last Cup in 1999 even though he was playing test cricket till 2006. Why? He was banned in 2003 for failing a drug-test.
• In 2007, India were out of the competition after the first round but they won a game by dismissing a team within 30 overs and chasing down the paltry score. Who was their opposition? West Indies. Yes, in the 2nd warm-up match, Brian Lara-led Caribbeans were all out for 85. Did this match make them complacent against Bangladesh? This time, they face much tougher oppositions - Australia and New Zealand.

Any other interesting stuff you remember? Do let me know.

SA ODIs - Indian team announced for final ODI series before WC2011

The Indian selectors announced the team for the ODI series on the sojourn to South Africa, after the test series has been completed.

The squad is as follows:
Openers - Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Sachin Tendulkar
Middle-order - Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Yusuf Pathan
Wicket-keeper & Captain - MS Dhoni
Pace Bowlers - Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, S Sreesanth 
Spinners - Harbhajan Singh, R Ashwin, Piyush Chawla

This seems to be the side that is most likely to be picked for the World Cup 2011 - obviously, there is one seamer too many in this series for obvious reasons. One will be dropped to make way for a spinner while a reserve-keeper (Parthiv Patel) might have been useful also. How effective this team will be, is going to be tested by a strong Protean squad on their home soil. That will reveal the actual strength of the Indians.

It might be a good idea to keep Zaheer Khan under cotton wool so that he remains fresh for the World Cup while avoiding any injuries that might happen in the ODI series. Ishant, Rohit Sharma, Jadeja, Tiwary were left out of the squad, giving strong indications that they will lose out in the World Cup also.  It is quite interesting to gauge the reason why Piyush Chawla was selected ahead of Pragyan Ojha.

Whatever it is, there couldnt have been a better team selected for the South Africa. Do you agree?

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T20 World Cup - India find the Windies too hot to handle

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MS Dhoni has proved so far to be an astute captain. He has always given his team members fair chances to prove themselves. But, very quickly into the game against the Windies, he must have been wondering if the choice to continue with Jadeja was worth it. Another chance was let down by the left-arm spinner who seems to be selected more for his bowling rather than all-round skills (proof was that Harbhajan was sent in earlier while batting). If Jadeja had shown better skills while bowling, it would have brought back the confidence to himself and his captain - but, it was not to be.

The other question on everyone's mind was the reasoning of MSD to go with the spin-oriented attack. If that was the intention, why not go with a specialist like Piyush Chawla? Does it mean that the think-tank has no trust on the backup pace bowler, Vinay Kumar? If so, why is he there in the squad at all?

Of course, many more questions come to one's mind - why is Zaheer Khan's intensity more while playing for Mumbai Indians than for his country? The leading bowler was giving away runs as though he was a newcomer, not like the seasoned bowler he is. Why was Rohit Sharma not given a bowl, especially when he had performed decently in the recent IPL.

West Indies played with more hunger and that sealed the game for the Indians. The batsmen again did not know how to deal with the bouncing ball. This was known at the last edition of the T20 World Cup but nothing has happened so far that has tried to find a remedy to the problem. Given the lesser capabilities of the Windies bowlers, the match became close but not good enough to win.

Of course, the BCCI must be blamed for the Indian batsmen's showing as well. By making them play on pitches without life, the batsmen are in no position to practice the horizontal shots. Without time between the engagements, there is no way they can practice these shots. Yusuf Pathan is struggling with the short ball and I dont think he has any time to work on this, in the near future.

The Aussies have thrown a lifeline to the Indian team by scoring a thumping win over the Sri Lankans. But, in my frank assessment, the Indians do not deserve to qualify for the next round by its showing in the Super 8s. The next match is in St. Lucia - favorable ground for the Indians but they need to win by a large margin to go through (provided Australia defeat the Windies - which looks very definitely on the cards).

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India's chances at the 2010 T20 World Cup

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The Indian team won the inaugural tournament but could not do well in the next version. How they will do this year seems to be seen. Whether they will be able to recover from their hectic IPL experience, will determine more than anything else.

The pitches will help the spinners and batsmen will feel more at home than in any other T20 World Cups so far.

Without playing any warm-up matches, the Indians are practicing the first few days in the islands. This might be a good tactic to go, after the IPL journey.

Openers

India are missing Sehwag here but never mind, Vijay comes into the squad thanks to his wonderful run in IPL3. Gambhir and Vijay are going to be key to provide starts to the Indian team.

Middle order

What can you say about a middle-order that has Suresh Raina (MoM of IPL3 finals), MS Dhoni among a host of other all-rounders. Dinesh Karthick will play if MSD has injury problems.

All-rounders

There are a number of batsmen who can be classified as all-rounders because of their ability to bowl spin - Yuvraj Singh (remember six sixes), Ravinder Jadeja (best Indian bowler in last T20 World Cup), Yusuf Pathan (the Baroda Marauder), Rohit Sharma (the best technical batsmen from the Gen-X). 3 of them will play and it might be mostly the first three.

Spinners

Harbhajan Singh will play a lead role in the team in the spinning department while Piyush Chawla will get a chance only if Bhajji gets injured. Because of his inconsistency, Bhajji is still considered as a spinner, not an all-rounder.

Fast bowlers

Zaheer Khan can be easily named as the most canny bowler in international cricket, if not the fastest. He will lead the pack with Ashish Nehra. The Kumars, Praveen and Vinay, will provide variety with their right-arm medium-pace - only one of them will play in the eleven. All the bowlers can pack a punch with their bat (which even if it is for a few balls, will matter in this version of the game).

Looking at the composition, the Indian team looks quite strong (on paper at least). Bowlers who can bat and batsmen who can bowl give the team a good look. Of course, if it goes to the Super Eights, that itself is a step up after the last year's performance.

Let us raise our hopes and hope that MSD brings back the T20 World Cup this year, to go with his IPL trophy. All the best, India.

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Call-up arrives for Vinay Kumar

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There were few surprises in the Indian T20 World Cup squad announced by Srikkanth & Co. today.

As expected in my earlier post, the team members have been picked as per their latest form and performance.

Virat Kohli was a surprise omission for me but Rohit Sharma's bowling did the trick for him.

Piyush Chawla was another surprise (selection) - looks like the selectors wanted to try him after they given a number of chances to Ojha & Mishra.

Vinay Kumar gets a call-up which was reinforced by his performance in the IPL3.

There is still a chance that Ashish Nehra might not be fit for the World Cup - the selectors should try to blood someone like Tyagi instead of going back to Ishant or Sreesanth.

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Why is Harbhajan in the squad?

Is it because he was the default spinner after Anil Kumble?

His bowling in the last 2 years has not been any impressive at all...The figures seem to be better against Sri Lanka and especially in the sub-continent pitches. Otherwise, it is not good at all.

Is it because he is in good terms with the captain MS Dhoni (he is supposed to be a business partner as well)?

Of late, Ravinder Jadeja and sometimes even Yuvraj Singh have bowled better than Bhajji. On spinning pitches, it is not a guarantee that Bhajji will win the match for his team.

Pragyan Ojha, Piyush Chawla need to be given chances very soon. Harbhajan is living on past glory, clearly.

Probably a rest is what is advised for Bhajji - some domestic matches against opposition who play spin well will help his bowling.

How long will the patience of MSD and selectors go on?

Selectors - Play him in the test matches is fine but ODIs - please rest him!!!