world cup 2011: are we on track...?

shared by straight point on Monday, August 23, 2010

in the three matches in ongoing tri series in sri lanka, india has suffered two massive defeats... and won one on the back of some refreshingly restrained batting from sehwag... naturally the question which comes to mind is... are we on track as far as world cup 2011 concerned...?

there are two ways to look at it...

india is playing in sri lanka without sachin, gambhir, zaheer and some common sense... as it can only happen in indian team that the batsman who averages 43 is made to sit in favor of a batsman who hardly averages 30!

but when our first choice players will be back, we will be the team to beat and this is exactly my problem with our world cup preparation...

the replacement players are not making their comeback into team any hard... as if they are warming the bench knowing their fate and hence busy laying red carpet for them to just sleep walk into the team...

not even the bad decisions of dharamsena can camouflage ineptness of their batting and their visible allergy to spent some time in the middle... to dig it out the tough period to form an innings of substance... 

karthiks, rohits and jadejas are refusing to take their game to next level... in fact they are struggling to maintain any level they have had in first place... yet team management is playing them... giving them enough exposure in the hope that they will come good since they have invested so much in them... but it's getting increasingly clear that there is only so much they can do...

ideally we should have been very clear by now who are going to represent team india for the world cup but if our back up players are going to be rohits, karthiks and jadejas then there is an instant reason to worry about our world cup prospects...

15 comments:

Megha said...

"india is playing in sri lanka without sachin, gambhir, zaheer and some common sense"

Love this line..the last 3 words explain India's run in this ODI series more than the 3 missing players do...

as for the WC...I would defo like to see Irfan in for Jadeja..no harm trying him against Aus/NZ later this year...he cant be much worse than Jadeja...Utthapa too, if he can make himself count

straight point said...

thanks megha...

irfan's consistent omission is baffling to say the least... something suggests that its more than what meets the eye... definitely reasons beyond cricketing...

we seems to agree on uthappa too... in my earlier post... i advocated for his selection as the dynamic floater india needs...

clt20 might just be the opportunity uthappa waiting for to stake his claim... wrong route but this has been the case of selection policy of late...

Freehit said...

Well,Megha has picked up on something most won't.Good one.
I have to agree that Uthappa and Irfan have to be in consideration for the World Cup.But,if India continues to play this badly,I think Dravid could be recalled as well.I think if youngsters don't pay back the faith installed in them,then we should go back to the legend,particularly coz Indians are getting targetted by the short ball,which is best played by Tendulkar and Dravid.

Watsay..?

Megha said...

Yeah, it was ur your post that made me think of Uthappa actually...

As regards #7, to be honest, I would be happy to pick 7 batsmen and use Sehwag/Yuvi and possibly even Tendulkar/Raina as the 5th bowler. The batting line up can be Sehwag, Tendulkar, Gambhir, Kohli/Raina, Yuvi, Dhoni, Raina/Kohli. The more batsmen, the merrier when you talk of Subcontinental featherbeds..

Balajhi said...

No SP we are not on track, even if we win this triangular. In the world cup you have to be more consistent and beat variety of teams to win the cup. I don't think this team can do it. I would be surprised to see India in Semis.

The top is fine with Sachin / Sehwag and Gambhir. The rest of the batting is pretty average, barring Raina, at the moment. Karthik / Rohit and Jadeja do not deserve to be in a world cup team. If Yuvraj continues in this form he will then be a liability. Dhoni's form is nothing to write about. The middle order is quite fragile. If the top 3 contribute nearly 200 then the rest can take it to 300. But our bowling in India would need in excess of 350.

Soulberry said...

I actually welcome the big guns sitting out - for whatever public reason - till their practice time starts and allowing chaps to prepare their respective cases. Rotation may have hurt Kohli who was beginning to shape up. But general up-down trend means chaps not making best use of selection and support. Raina is one who has gleaned a test career out of this but continues original up-down pattern. For one on the threshold of a serious career consistency should be the goal.

straight point said...

mayank... rather than going back i think we have ready made replacement of dravid in cheteshwar pujara... without sounding derogatory to dravid i think he is better version of him as of now...

i would definitely like selectors to pick him after this series...

straight point said...

The more batsmen, the merrier when you talk of Subcontinental featherbeds..

...and we think that batting is our real stregnth... :)

dont get me wrong megha... i am of opinion that if our strength is batting its all the more reason to play one bowler extra coz less runs scored against you means less runs there to chase for our batsmen...

straight point said...

don't be so pessimistic bala...

sachin, sehwag, gg, dhoni makes a formidable combination any day... this is the first series in my memory where dhoni has failed somewhat but it happens... he is still no.1 odi batsman in world...

yuvi will come to his elements as odi has always been his bread and butter...

ishant off form has been perfectly and suitably compensated by the return of nehra and praveen seems to be in his element... so bowling looks good too with bhajji, ojha, zaheer so i am not overtly worried about bowling...

don't give up hope i say... :)

straight point said...

i am in perfect accordance with you sb... that is why i said that team management is consistently giving them exposure and opportunities with the hope that they will be able to put a perfect case for their candidacy failing which they won't have any complaint that they were not given enough opportunities...

having said that... since there is little tile left i think we have to be proactive and as i said during comments should also consider players like pujara etc... to see if they are ready to lap the opportunity with both hands...

Freehit said...

SP,
I am myself a big fan of Cheteshwar Pujara and feel he has to get a go.However,it does not appear to be happening.Plus,I would prefer going in the WC with someone with international experience of years rather than someone who has played even 20 ODIs and will be under pressure to keep his spot.He might be insecure and might backfire.
Also,I completely agree with you when you say we should go for an extra bowler.But,somehow we still play an extra batsmen instead.If we don't have 4 bowlers in good form when the world cup starts,we have gotta play 5 bowlers,because if one fails on the day,we have just 3 regular bowlers to bowl 50 overs or take 10 wickets

Freehit said...

I meant,hasn't even played 20 ODIs...

Purna said...

SP, are ANY team on track for the World Cup?

straight point said...

mayank in home conditions i don't think we would require that much experience and go back many steps back... there's still some time left and there is no harm in looking beyond this 'treemuratee' in the meantime as you never know one can unearth a gem of option...

3 bowlers bowling and part timers bowing 50 overs in world cup at home... *jitters*

as i am writing this DK goes for duck... yuck!!!

straight point said...

purna... believe me when i say that i will be more than glad if other teams are not on track... ;-)

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