after zaheer khan's injury the latest news being that sreesanth too is returning home leaving the already reeling bowling attack bit more thin...
although it is questionable that why zaheer was selected in the first place coz he was struggling even in odi series... was not looking fully fit... but at least there our bunch-of-jokers were consistent with their 'selection policy' which is to select (unfit) players on hope that they will be fit by the time series will start... rather than proven fitness though certain yuvraj would like to disagree with me...
one would like to believe that sree's injury is bit freakish and can happen to any bowler... but closer look at the 'selection policy' makes one think differently...
it's common knowledge in cricket that bowlers... specially pace bowlers... need some overs under their belt to be back in the groove... to gain bowling rhythm... loosen up bowling muscles... they cannot be installed from one place to another like bowling machines out of cold... though even machines require bit of warming up...
if it was clear in our bunch-of-jokers minds that ishant and sreesanth will be our 'test bowlers' then why they deprived both these bowlers some good overs and exposure in england for india-a tour...?
now suddenly the onus is on 'cold' ishant to be the leader of the pace attack and i will be least surprised if he too falls out midway during the series...
the least common sense we can expects from these gents, who get paid 40 lacs per annum to play the musical chair game, was to send them on india-a tour so that they would have been in perfect shape going into the sri lanka series which has already been labeled as unfinished business...
but as they say... common sense is the most uncommon thing these days...
so who is next for the musical chair game...?
shared by straight point on Monday, July 12, 2010
injuries are opportunities...
shared by straight point on Saturday, September 26, 2009
at the times when india is missing its first choice players like sehwag, yuvraj, zaheer... it is also looking at players who follow the mantra... injuries are opportunities indeed...
one of the player... time's knocking door of... is suresh raina... who i beleive is the closest replacement of yuvraj...
but who else india play in today's crucial encounter...?
is it going to be dinesh karthik... or is it going to be kohli...?
tho i wanted kohli to be selected in first place in team india's champions trophy squad... which he is joining now eventually owing to yuvraj's injury... but i want dinesh karthik to play in today's encounter...
kathik has experience of south african conditions in which he impressed everybody with his attitude and temperament on his debut... making even harsha gushing that indian cricket has to find a place for the kid... his good showing at south africa enabled him to go to england too where he, if my memory serves me right, was one of the top scorer for india in tests... since then he has been india's emergency guy... he plays only in emergency... but that's beyond the scope of this post...
what i meant to say is that at least he has got the experience of playing under conditions that's prevailing in south africa... which is why england could adjust in south africa despite coming in late...
another reason for favoring dinesh karthik is that kohli has just joined the squad and playing him straight away in this crucial encounter can be counter productive to him as well as team india...
sachin
dinesh karthik
gambhir
raina
dhoni
dravid
nayyar / harbhajan
harbhajan / praveen kumar
mishra
ishant
nehra
in exactly the order as above... with nayyar or praveen kumar (my preference) swapping places... i was tempted to play rp instead of ishant... but rp has been so off color of late that i chose the experience of ishant over him...
update:
Pitch: Ravi Shastri: "It's the third match on a row on the surface and it's very dry. "
Dhoni: "We are playing with three seamers and Bhaji. (No Amit Mishra)."
gambhir groin... kohli going...
shared by straight point on Thursday, September 10, 2009
india suffered another setback... apart from sehwag's shoulder injury... now gambhir is on his way back to home owing to groin injury... leaving team india without their established opening pair of all seasons and formats... before triangular series and possibly champions trophy...
though we may never know how he got this injury but if it has come with the new-age stupid warm ups that cricketers are forced to do these days in the name of 'relaxation'... i hope his case is the last case...
kohli is chosen as the replacement for gambhir... which is a wrong move in my eye despite me advocating him to be in the team at the first place... for me he should have been in the team instead of yusuf pathan... which baffles me even now that how he continues to find place in the team without doing anything of note...
anyways, now that kohli is going the move seems wrong in many ways... murali vijay should have been the natural choice ahead of him... here is why...
- sachin coming in after injury and we still don't know anything about his match fitness and form...
- this leaves only dinesh karthik with some recent experience and form in an opening position...
- kohli too is under going rehabilitation in national cricket academy for shoulder injury... why risk aggravating his injury further...?
- if gambhir's injury turns out to be more serious than anticipated... sending an opener for an opener would have served india better coz next assignment of champions trophy is not that far... it would have helped vijay find some groove and form in real match conditions which one can not find however strenuously one work out in the nets...
- specially since champions trophy is going to be in south africa where chances of specialist opener succeeding are far superior than the makeshift opener due to bouncy and seaming conditions which prevails over there...
- and finally the way murly handled out of blue call for opening the innings due to gambhir serving ban of one match against aussies at home series... shows that he has unflappable attitude and does not easily gets overawed by opposition and occasion...
may be cheeka got defensive of pushing his native candidate... or may be the selection is the case of eye for an eye... delhi's loss should be delhi's gain... whatever... the move does not inspire confidence... planning... logic...
zaheer khan's injury and team india's bowling woes...
shared by straight point on Friday, August 07, 2009
its official now...zaheer khan is injured...we finally know it coz he underwent major shoulder surgery in south arfica...so much so for the professionalism of bcci in being transparent with injuries...etc...
zaheer khan rose in the ranks of indian cricket with his sublime form since his come back to international cricket...specifically that fifth morning spell of him in mohali when he cut thru australia's middle order like hot knife goes thru butter...to kill any possibility of australia chasing victory target...
he was unofficial bowling captain of team india and his absence will hurt our chances very badly in about to begin champions trophy...you could see him fielding at mid off or mid on urging the strike bowler...giving valuable tips...helping him sort out what kind a delivery he should bowl...helping him to keep his focus on the task at hand etc...other bowlers too seem to acknowledge him as leading bowler...and respect him...
with his injury the bench strength of indian pace attack has been exposed...more so coz ishant is struggling to find right line and length for limited over games of late...munaf being munaf...rp singh etc refusing to raise their bowling to next level...and sreesanth being out of favor...
since harbhajan singh must play every game as leading spinner...india's penetration in middle overs too becomes questionable as i don't think in south africa dhoni will include two spinners in final xi...though i firmly beleive that your best bowlers should take on the field and if adding another 'full time' spinner in the ranks can improve your crucial middle order play in odis then its better choice over opting for a weak pacer...
now the opposition batsmen will look to attack ishant even more to crack the game open at the outset and hence he and team india will be under tremendous pressure to not only take wickets but keep runs under control...
at the same time our batsmen too will be under more pressure to score and score big to first make-up for the absence of zak...and then to give leeway to the waywardness of rather inexperienced pace attack...more so coz opposition teams will use 'batting powerplay' to hit india where it will hurt most...
so all in all...it will be interesting to see how our pace bowler respond to the situation... whether they will see it as added responsibility...or whether they will see it as an opportunity waiting to be grabbed with both hands to make mark when the cream of cricketing world will be competing against each other to decide who is going to be the champion...
injury to one...opportunity for another...
shared by straight point on Wednesday, June 17, 2009
the news filtering from media is that sachin and jatman the viru will not be able to play in team india's coming tour of west indies...
i don't think this is such a bad news for india...
for forever-waiting players like dinesh karthik, badrinath, and our own 'che'teshwar pujara...that might just be the god send opportunity they were waiting for to stake claims...show their worth...
since the series is starting almost after the t20 world cup is over...and most of team india's current players are anyway carrying niggles...bruised egos...alleged fatigue...
why not include players who will bring in much needed intensity...willing legs to run that extra single...fresh body to stop that run being taken...why not use west indies series to test these gents...?
at least there will be some interest...
crashed...
shared by straight point on Thursday, April 16, 2009
before he could take off...
news is that CHE, cheteshwar pujara, is ruled out for six months coz of knee injury...
i am struggling to find words to express how am feeling right now...
but i know for sure that i felt the same pain when i heard that manoj tiwary is returning home after he dislocated his shoulder...diving to stop a ball in a practice session...on the eve of his international debut...
look where he is now...no where in the radar of selectors...
i hope and wish that pujara find some strength to take this in his stride and won't let the disappointment to take over his focus from the game...
CHE...i am with you...BCC! is with you...wishing you speedy recovery...
ishant...
shared by straight point on Thursday, April 09, 2009
so before your arm threatens to fall off from the shoulder...
take rest... in one piece...
australia is staring at...
shared by straight point on Thursday, March 05, 2009
...the possibility of toothless attack...
will johnson become the next brett lee...?
check out @ BCC!
injury to rescue...
shared by straight point on Monday, October 13, 2008
next match at mohali...known as the most pace friendly track...something like perth of india...
playing two spinners there seems one too many...
we shudder at the thought of captain being lone spinner in the team...on current form...that is...
so how to overcome this selection dilemma...
pop comes the news...captain is injured...
everybody smiling...the problem is resolved 'amicably'...
this brings me to the question...
why did captain played in this match in first place...carrying injury?
for i am yet to find an incident in this match when this 'injury' happened...
did i miss something?
