'uncap' players...?
what does that means...? if this is your question... read on...
the selection of west indies tour is upon us and in lieu of most of the senior players taking rest... there will be lots of places up for grabs in our odi outfit...
last time when team india traveled for west indies/zimbabwe series... selectors rewarded many players india cap based on ipl performances... so much so that many saw it virtually as an ipl xi squad...
now i am not against players making the natural progression from a t20 to an odi... but there is small matter that as soon as a player gets selected for team india (even if he will be nothing more than a tourist there) he becomes the capped player and his ipl base price just hits the roof top in a matter of mere an announcement...
ask manish pandey... he is the running symbol of 'capping' discrimination...
the guy suffered the most in ipl 4 auction while certain saurabh tiwari, for example, while doing much less than pandey in ipl as well as domestic circuit, walked laughing all the way to the bank...
i just hope we are not brewing another 'pandey' with the upcoming selection...
will they 'uncap' some players again...?
shared by straight point on Thursday, May 05, 2011
first thoughts on team india world cup squad selection
shared by straight point on Monday, January 17, 2011
the selection seems to be an attacking one... for a change they have trusted batsmen to deliver and beefed up bowling...
i was looking for one inspired, instinctive selection that has come in the name of piyush chawla... that, to me, seems to be the case of a request coming from team management down there in south africa...
now if only they play harbhajan at no.7 and chawla at no.8 with three pacers... and sehwag coming down at no.4 in middle order...
so my starting eleven will be...
sachin, gambhir, kohli, sehwag, raina, dhoni, bhajji, chawla, zaheer, nehra, munaf
the squad...
MS Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Piyush Chawla, R Ashwin
update:
more than anything i am surprised and baffled at the appointment of sehwag as vice captain... why opt for a reluctant leader when you have gambhir or even raina in your squad...?
my two cents on... is dedication dying...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, December 01, 2010
once again the only comment from me on 'the asses' going on is that i can wait for the adelaide test to start... so if you came here looking for the asses... this is it...
thanks to mayank of freehit fame's hat-tip via tweet... i read latest aakash chopra's article... is dedication dying...?
he laments...
"The scales are heavily tilted in favour of the ones playing in the money-spinning IPL with regard to both money and recognition, and in some cases even selection. And if nothing is done soon enough to change that rather warped perception, at the risk of sounding cynical, this current set of players might be the last group who will see India at the top of Test rankings."
chopra of late is falling into the trap of populist themed articles where everybody comes knocking with customary wah! wah!... and this one is no different...
the article is written off the cuff that tries to sweep youngsters with one populist beaten to death stroke... "oh! look how ipl is corrupting the mindsets of our youngsters into easy money without putting much of an effort..."
first of all it just dismiss t20 cricket as if it does not require any skill set to be successful in it... if that was the case chopra would have been a star in indian premium league but that's obviously not the case...
the shorter form of any stream requires a different mindset and skill level which should not be dismissed disdainfully when compared to the longer format of same stream...
every 100 meter sprinter cannot be successful marathon runner... every ad film maker cannot be a good full length feature film maker... so while this is true its opposite is also equally true but that does not mean those who pursue careers in shorter forms should be simply dismissed in favor of those who pursue their careers in longer forms...
market gives equal opportunities for all talent to find their pastures... and so does ipl... i don't know if 100 meter sprinters or ad filmmakers are seen in lesser esteem... their work... their success dismissed with such disdain... just coz they happen to be successful in short form of stream that has longer form too...
in any case why would team india need players who would sell themselves short for lessor pastures...?
for every such players there are equal, if not more, players who want to grind it out in the middle dreaming of making it big at the highest level... yearn for that illusive opportunity and when it comes knocking... grab it with both hands...
our greats did not make a great team overnight and while when they won't be there and team india might slip a bit that would not necessarily be because of ipl... or comment on our youngsters ethics... it is too simplistic...
the cricketing world is filled with success stories like zaheer's who was what sree is today in terms of temperament, was rightly dropped from the team more on attitude rather than talent, spent quality time in wilderness of county cricket where you are on your own without many noticing it... and came back to become a spear head of team india's bowling attack...
he did not fell for lessor postures or sold himself short coz he wanted to be known as good cricketer at the highest level...
and he is not alone... for every so called 'ipl dreamer' we have che waiting impatiently to just break into the test team...
dhoni's curious stand on suresh raina's 'mental fatigue'...
shared by straight point on Friday, November 26, 2010
first accept my sincere apology to talk about sundry matters like india vs south africa test series when the flavor of the moment is 'the asses'...
dhoni, after crushing new zealand in final test match of the test series, stood up for raina... and pronounced...
"If he doesn't get a break in the ODI series [after the first 2 games] then you have to [replace him]," Dhoni said. "He is at a point where he needs a break from cricket.
A 10 to 15-day break will really help him. He has played as much cricket as I have or most of other cricketers. He has played one more series in Zimbabwe. At times international cricket really drains you. More than the physical part it's always that mental part that is important. Unfortunately, most of the senior players are missing from the ODI series which means he had to play."
now no denying the fact that after dhoni, if any player that deserved the rest... it was suresh raina... he is the most busy player in team india, after dhoni, who has featured in almost all games without a break... but if he has really reached the 'tipping point' as mentioned by dhoni... why they continued to play him against no.8 team in the world...?
dhoni's excuse that they kept him playing thinking he would be given rest in one day series against new zealand don't cut the ice simply because why would you risk a fatigued player for three back to back five day games to limit team's potential when you have more fit and eager player in ranks in the form of cheteshwar pujara...?
as things stands now... if raina is not rested in later half of the odis (which i hope he will be) he is going to miss the first test against south africa in their home soil... and guess who will replace him...? cheteshwar pujara... in all probability...
this is baffling on many counts... if che is deemed capable enough to play in far tough conditions than the roads that were laid for new zealand test series at home... why he was not given an outing here instead of opting to include a player who is on the 'tipping point' as far as mental fatigue goes... hence, can be safely assumed, was not able to give his 100%... thereby limiting the potential of a team...?
dhoni himself acknowledged that india did not play to its potential in the test series against new zealand when he himself opted to do so...
another aspect is that if team management can decide who plays after selectors have done their job by selecting 15-16 players... can decide and announce more than a fortnight ago that so and so player will be rested... what was stopping the same think tank for doing it at home against a much lessor opponent...?
poor che... who had to spend time at bench when the roads were waiting for him to have a decent knocks against his name while a mentally fatigued player was allowed to keep playing to give him easy runs... but when the conditions will be more demanding... more challenging he will be picked to play coz the same fatigued player will be rested... and irrespective of whether che succeed or not will see his place being taken over again by the same player... who will come 'refreshed' after a well deserved break...
must say our team think tank has already made the forthcoming india vs south africa test series interesting without even a ball being bowled... at least for me...
abhimanyu mithun deserves an explanation...
shared by straight point on Monday, November 22, 2010
in my last post... is team india a one man army again..? the debate in comments section touched upon the arbitrary selections from our selectors...
the debate was on the way they have played musical chairs with pace bowlers and specially abhimanyu mithun who did more than ok against sri lanka... a tough assignment for any bowler there considering how good sri lanka are at home...
but instead of appreciating his performance there by the way of giving him more opportunities... they have done exactly the opposite... first they replaced jaidev unadkat with injured zaheer and now they have selected unadkat for the sa tour...
what message selectors wants to give a player like abhimanyu mithun...?
that now you are not even an option as fifth bowler...? is this the way our selection panel reward a decent performance against tough opponent in their own den...?
selectors are picking and dropping pace bowlers at random without any apparent logic... another case in point is the selection of umesh yadav... who is the surprise inclusion for sa tour...
may be it was the demand of team think tank... zaheer, nehra, gambhir, sehwag etc have spoken some nice words about yadav in past... as he is seen as india's answer to pace bowler that can give it back to opposition in short bursts...
but if he is going to tour south africa wouldn't it be good for yadav had they selected him for the one day series against new zealand to give him as much overs as possible against a competitive opposition in real match situations...?
south africa tour is seen as 'the tour' for team india... the series win there will go a long way in establishing credentials as the real no.1 test cricket nation... one would assume in such tours where there is lots at stake... there is no scope of passengers... every place would go to the player who can replace a first choice player in case of injury without much loss of balance or keep the first choice players on their heels...
mithun was such bowler who has performed in tough conditions but selectors have preferred a passengers in yadav and unadkat much like dhawal kulkarni who was considered good to be sent to the new zealand tour and forgotten afterwards without given a glance...
is irfan pathan paying the price of being a left-arm bowler...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, November 03, 2010
the selectors and more importantly team management has virtually shut the door on him at least for the world cup squad, if not completely for the future...
the reason being given is that he does not inspire confidence of about 10 'safe' overs if not wicket taking ones... while nobody doubts his batting prowess...
now i have this theory...
since zaheer khan and ashish nehra are given names in final xi baring alarming drop in form or freak injury... irfan's candidature is not looked upon as feasible option coz the team management fears the sameness of attack might prove counter productive...
this theory gains some weight if we look upon most sides no.7 or so called 'allrounders'... collingwood, shane watson, angelo mathews, abdul razzaq etc... now don't tell me they are superior both in terms of variety, skill or pace than irfu bhai...
first thoughts after seeing abdul razzaq's blistering innings...
shared by straight point on Monday, November 01, 2010
but this post is not about adding my two cents in appreciation of razzaq's innings... this is already done by naked cricket on bored which i can't better...
the first thought that flashed in mind, after seeing razzaq's innings, was how dearly india would love to have the kind of game breaker at no.7... like abdul bhai...
few regulars of this blog would recall i advocated robin uthappa's candidature for the no.7 position for the same reason... and more i watched razzaq's innings, knowing fate, more i get convinced that uthappa is just the type of player to do it for us and lamented how selectors missed the golden opportunity to try him out during the recent oz series... not that they can't try it now against new zealand... its still worth to take a chance...
its no rocket science now that at no.7 india needs a player who can either play down some quite overs or go full berserk like razzaq did yesterday... ek dum masst pagalpann... although if that is the situation then it probably means your top order has left you to do too much either in terms of no. of overs left to first do a repair job... or in terms of too steep a required run rate to overcome... but however i like kohli, i just can't fathom him doing the later part...
this is where the selectors and team think tank have gone wrong on two counts in my opinion...
first not checking out if players like uthappa can add value to the team... or if they have already made-up their mind that kohli is the one who will take that job, then not testing him out at that position in real match situations to see how he plays... finish...
the natural question which comes to mind is... are they just going to wake up one day and discover the player they are going to play at no.7 without giving the player in question the opportunity to play at the vital position...?
why dhoni the maahi never says naahi...
shared by straight point on Thursday, October 14, 2010
o yess... how well i slept yesterday and woke up a fresh after watching team india doing soopda saaf of aussies... only to be stirred and shaken by the friend and fellow bored member naked cricket's candid boredwaani... is one day team selection rigged...?
this got me thinking about our one day team... many usual suspects are rested and many usual suspects walk in without doing anything... as if the door was never closed on them... like they have the pass to the team that never expires irrespective of what they do... or to be precise not do on field which matters most to other players who get dropped even before one blinks an eye...
this brings me to an usual suspect who is, unusually, not rested despite being in visible discomfort... dhoni...
dhoni, inarguably, is the most busy international player today... reportedly his back is not holding well... his hands are swollen... his right hand's middle finger is badly damaged and taped so heavily that it takes an effort to fit it in gloves... if any player who needed rest more than anyone else from this farce of an odi series... it was mahender singh dhoni... mahi... but why he never says naahi (no) to rest is THE question worth wondering... specially the same dhoni who took rest from a test series sighting fatigue...
i have always wondered... why dhoni subject himself to be treated like a machine that has to be installed on every venue... every match... every series... however inconsequential...?
i fear, that dhoni becoming the most valuable player... the face of team india in corporate world... and lastly... his latest 200 crore endorsement deal has nothing to do with it... where he is required to feature in every game irrespective of its significance... and if it is not... i don't think he likes his middle finger that much... does he...? :)
can india do bit differently at bangalore...?
shared by straight point on Thursday, October 07, 2010
after the thrilling finale of mohali test all eyes are now on bangalore test... and rightly so... the farce for a test series is still living up to its hype and fans from both sides can't wait for the next test to begin...
should india go for the kill and whitewash the series 2-0 to silence its critics or can selectors show some balls by distancing themselves from the hype of expectations and take stock of things...?
did i say stock of things...? what is there to take stock of... you say...?
well... you will know in a minute...
murali has shown in past that he has this un-flustered temperament about him... that is why he could fit in the side seamlessly in short notice in past... plus he is high on confidence now so i don't think there is much to dispute his selection as sehwag's partner...
ishant's place will be replaced by sreesanth and more than his bowling we might miss him for his rear-guard play when he bats... which tells us a lot about the kind of bowling ishant is dishing apart from his consistent over-stepping problem that can make even dilhara fernando proud...
india has nothing to lose as far as this series goes... even if they lose the next test... we will retain the border-gavaskar trophy... as well as the no.1 status... but being bit more proactive we can still gain something out of bangalore tests... in real sense...
this leaves us only one place where i would like selectors to use their discretion and look for future at the same time...
however much one wants to see vvs bat after mohali test... it will be nothing short of a risk india could ill afford given the number of tests we are going to play in near future...
so i would give vvs the precautionary rest... and replace him with cheteshwar pujara and play him at no.3 with dravid taking the spot vacated by vvs laxman...
the reason being... dhoni is not in greatest of form these days... his test batting is regressing by each outing... so having che and raina followed by dhoni will be bit of a risk and i think dravid's experience will be best used there...
of whatever little i saw of che in field... he appears to be a good close-in fielder... stays low till the last possible moment... no hurried movements... and more importantly looks relaxed... no wonder he took a very good catch fielding there... plus he is coming at the back of mountain of runs on every platform he has been given the opportunity to perform... so its time he is given the nod to see what he brings in to the table...
as i said... india has nothing to lose... not the series... not the border-gavasker trophy... not even the no.1 position... on the other hand we can test how murali, sreesanth (who is making bit of comeback in test team) and of course che cope with the pressure when oz will be trying their best to make a comeback in the series...
to me its another god send opportunity (after they missed on the bangladesh tour) with a win-win situation for us as well as che & co. and if we can use this opportunity to provide them glorified net-practice against exhausted australia team i think we must enchash it... until unless we want to have bragging rights on them for a while and lose focus on the impending transition...
why blame ishant... or even bhajji for that matter...?
shared by straight point on Friday, October 01, 2010
once there was poet summit (kavi-sammelan) going on... and this poet was reciting one of the most boring poems one can come across, one after another, saw this man who was frowning back and forth across the stage with a long bulky stick in hand and looking really angry... obviously this poet got worried of his safety and asked this person if everything is ok...? shall i stop...?
this person said "nah... you are our guest... please carry on... i am looking for the guy who called you..."
now you would wonder what this joke has anything to do with cricket... and specially ishant and bhajji for that matter... but give me a minute...
ishant was getting lots of flak for his no balls and wayward bowling... and even now one can read it in at the end of day's 'analysis'... but should ishant be really be blamed for that...?
for quite some time now it is getting increasingly clear that ishant is not only declining as bowler but his fitness is going down even more alarmingly as if there is competition between his skills and his body that who will give in first... and yet our wise men at helm keep in selecting him in the squad and our team think tank in the final xi...
do they sleep when ishant bowls at net...?
for, i am sure, this problem of over stepping... him spraying balls everywhere but on spot he needs to land on can be easily noticed when he is bowling in the nets... but still he continues to find a place in final xi instead of playing and rectifying it in at domestic games... given the long season we have ahead...?
same goes with bhajji... he has become the butt of joke and i am not even trying to defending him here coz with his 'consistent' bowling performances he has become indefensible... but what can bhajji do when team management is hell bent on picking him to play even when he was ill (in sri lanka) or not even half fit here at mohali...?
i am sure you got the joke now...
what you would be doing if you were cheteshwar pujara...?
shared by straight point on Monday, September 20, 2010
selectors are not going to wait till BPXI game... they will be meeting today to select the test team for the home series against australia...
so another potential selection awaits CHE'teshwar pujara...
how will the day end for him...?
will he be looking forward to the BPXI game to justify the faith selectors would show on him by selecting him...? or will he look at that game to show that there is no cure for the myopia selectors are suffering from...?
in my team CHE would have made it far ahead of rohit sharmas, suresh rainas but that is my team... in team india... he will have to wait till endless chances would be bestowed on players like yuvraj... rohit sharmas to make it certain that there is no test cricket in them...or drag seniors like dravid, sachin and laxman till there is no test cricket left in them...
but then will pujara be able to hold the forte without assurance of performance appreciation coming for that long or will he let the disappointment of consistent ignorance without explanation eat his trusted companions like talent... temperament... that have kept him going till now...
we shall see in not so distant future...
update:
guess who said this...
but i am not losing on hope and my gut feeling is that he will be selected (if not play) for oz home series...
finally selectors could not afford to keep him out... cheteshwar pujara has finally made it to team india... lets see when he breaks into final xi...
the team:
MS Dhoni (capt. & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Cheteshwar Pujara, M Vijay, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, Sreesanth and Amit Mishra
world cup 2011: are we on track...?
shared by straight point on Monday, August 23, 2010
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...
rotation policy: sangakkara is right on money...
shared by straight point on Monday, August 16, 2010
every now and then someone from the power circle comes out and gives lip service to the rotation policy... but as soon as the statement is over... the issue is forgotten and brushed aside safely under the carpet like unwanted rust...
of late almost every team is struggling to put up their first choice players specially bowlers on the park and given the way cricket is on air every alternate day this situation is not going to change... it will only get worse if proper attention is not given to this 'everybody-talks-about-no-one-follows' problem...
sangakkara is right on money when he suggested...
"From team point of view, we can recommend rest to certain players, especially fast bowlers because of their load. But the final call has to come from selectors, otherwise there is too much responsibility on the individual player.
"And when you have a rotational policy, I think it is important that the player has the confidence that if you are rotated out of the team, you get first choice back. It doesn't matter if your replacement scores a hundred or a double."
sanga's suggestion addresses two points very clearly... first, that it is the system who will have to make the call... and secondly but more importantly... while making rotation calls the system must address to the insecurity aspect of the player... the very core problem of the issue...
administrators have been passing the buck by saying that player should be honest and should themselves take calls on whether they need rest or not or in declaring injuries which just goes to show that they are living in cages and are not in sync with how cricket is being played and how much the stakes are involved these days...
with the amount of money players are getting these days through endorsements which are directly or indirectly linked with whether the player in question is in the team or not... its not hard to understand why they want to make the most of it while they can...
another core aspect is the insecurity... what if the player opts for rest and the replacement player goes on to score a century or a five-for...? will the player who opted to take rest have to again fight for the spot again he vacated willingly...?
until unless the insecurity aspect is not taken care of and we have selectors of integrity and authority... we will never reach to a workable implementation of rotation policy... that is why sanga is right on money for honestly coming out in open with the players concerns yet at the same time asking system to take the call...
my two cents on no.7 bandwagon...
shared by straight point on Saturday, August 14, 2010
blame it on our obsession to find a decent allrounder leave alone proper allrounder... despite its being clear that we just don't have any... hence we might pay the price of wasting too much time on making allrounders out of pathans and now jadeja but still there is some time left and we can still find a solution that is workable...
although it sound simplistic but sometimes the solution of most problem are indeed simple and available but if only we don't keep making it more complicated than it is and then feeling frustrated about the whole effort...
the solution, according to me, lies in sharing...
just like when one of the four front line bowler has an off day part timers steps in we should or i dare say must look to share the requirement from no.7 spot from players like bhaji and praveen kumar... with the addition of a specialist... either a bowler or batsman according to the requirement...
bhajji and praveen kumar (and to some extent zaheer) are no mugs with bat... infact bhajji's batting has improved very much of late and he has the skills to make clean strong hits... though one can sight his daft shot in first innings of first test at galle but that was more of brain-fade than anything... the very reason we were so disappointed of him is the acknowledgment of his batting skills...
the challenge is on making them aware of their responsibilities and keep them focused throughout the tournament... this is where team management steps in... they should show faith but at the same time they should be firm in telling them what is expected of them... no mincing of words there...
sehwag, yuvraj, raina, bhajji, praveen and even zaheer can all share their secondary skills to make up for an illusive allrounder...
what we need is a floater as a specialist batsman who has the ability of an impact player... the game breaker... and i think robin uthappa, if fit, can be the real steal... he has it in him to change the course of match with his on your face kind of big hitting and is also a decent bat to let pass some quite overs if the need be...
so my team for the tournament will be...
sachin, sehwag, gambhir, yuvraj, uthappa, raina, dhoni, bhajji, praveen, zaheer, nehra/ojha
with ishant, kohli, sharma being in reserve... and without a single passenger that is...
we don't mind praveen amre's sacking...
shared by straight point on Friday, August 13, 2010
if this toi report is to be believed... praveen amre was axed for not playing chennai bowler... chandrasekar ganapathy... although question mark left at the end of headline is enough to raise doubts about the authenticity of the report... but even though the report turns out to be true... we really don't mind it...
the 'deserving' word is very subjective and emotions associated with it can't always be set aside from the geography of the one who is using it... but one thing is for sure... this 'news' has put the lad in an unnecessary lime light...
as i said we really don't mind if a coach is sacked for not playing a 'deserving' player... and we know certain CHE'teshwar pujara won't really mind this development... but what we really want to see is that coaches, and dare say, selectors getting sacked for playing non-deserving players...
for perennially attempting to make allrounders out of pathans and jadejas when a specialist would do a fab job...
for making the india cap so cheap that even you and me who know how to hold bat and roll the arm over can lay claim to being an allrounder...
for making insult to legends like kapil dev by calling these players allrounders when the fact of the matter is that they can neither bat nor bowl...
so who is next for the musical chair game...?
shared by straight point on Monday, July 12, 2010
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...
cheeka on CHE...
shared by straight point on Saturday, July 03, 2010
inspired by this tweet of homer... i decided somebody has to talk about our beloved but almost conspiratorially ignored CHE... the player nobody in power circle talks about despite consistently putting up solid numbers at every available opportunity, well almost, and you will know why in due course...
so i had a chat with cheeka... kris srikkanth... the chief selector of india... about CHE... the full transcript of the chat is reproduced verbatim at bored... the result is anything but...
okay... don't let me color your opinion... decide for yourself...
in defence of yuvraj singh...
shared by straight point on Tuesday, June 08, 2010
so finally yuvraj singh got dropped from team india... and the best part is selectors are either being hailed or at least not questioned why he was dropped...
the reason given (although not given but assumed) that yuvraj had the most disastrous season of his career and his fitness level too dropped to alarming level so there was no option left to selectors but to drop him from the team...
but scratch beneth the surface and you will find many disparities with this assumption...
if yuvraj is dropped for his fitness... then why there are still some players in the team selected for asia cup who are as fat as yuvraj and are more drag in field than him even at his current fitness level...?
so is he dropped from the team coz of his batting failures...?!
in year 2009 he averaged about 39 with bat apart from taking 14 crucial wickets and in 2010 he averages 24 but he has played only 5 odis during this period... certainly not the numbers to drop a proven match winner coz i have seen lesser skilled player with even lesser numbers to keep getting the ticket...
yuvraj is a classical example of mixing chalk with cheese... coz he is dropped from the one day team for his batting form in t20 cricket...!
if the rules cannot be applied clearly and uniformly then why pick him only...?
why not show cause notice to selectors also...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, May 19, 2010
when the 2007 world cup debacle happened... lots of cosmetic changes were suggested... paid selectors was one of the suggestion which was implemented... the thinking was simple... just coz selectors are paid they will be professional and accountable...
(do notice the last suggestion... the Indian team must have a pool of 30 cricketers who should be rotated so that no player plays more than 80 days in a year... but this beyond the scope of this post so i leave it to debate another day...)
so from then onwards selectors started laughing all the way to bank... got richer by 40 lakhs per annum for doing the same crap they were doing before for free... but the current regime of 'bunch of jokers' has taken it to an altogether different level... they keep finding new lows after every selection gaffe with spectacular results... latest one being just concluded world cup...
no curfews...
but what about these insipid selectors who just can't see beyond their nose...? who keep on repeating the same mistakes...? who even after promising to nation that they will never select an unfit player... went ahead and did the same unchallenged...? what makes them above board...?
harsha in one of his recent article said...
"I'm afraid India weren't good enough. Sometimes that is difficult to accept, but that is indeed the truth. A different batsman might have been picked, another spinner might have made his way here, but there was no Bradman or Sobers left behind."
i strongly disagree with his line of thinking here... just to give you an example... an unfit yuvraj will not only able to bat that freely but will be a liability on field in a format where every dot ball... every single saved... is treated as gold...
when your first line of defence is part time bowler then what are you left with, if it falls...? so its easy to say that another spinner would not have made much difference... at best it is romantic statement made to close eye on the gaffe that there were no bradman or sobers left behind... a fit, eager and capable player is always going to be better than an unfit, limited star...
bcci has issued show cause notice to seven players... but i wonder what prevented them to do the same to the people who's 'brawl with common sense' has caused more damage to indian cricket than the brawl some players had at pub...
india's exit: whom to blame... dhoni or selectors...?
shared by straight point on Wednesday, May 12, 2010
dhoni because...
the flexibility for which dhoni used to be known for has been replaced by some fixed notions as far as his leadership goes... his insistence on preferring pathan and jadeja over specialists has started to hurt india badly... even when selector gave him specialist spinners in the form of mishra and ojha... he kept preferring pathans... for the 'balance' sake... its not only the caribbean even in sri lanka where pitches and conditions were more conducive to spin... he did not play mishra...
he has also started to take 'reactive' decisions... in champions trophy first he said we can't play extra bowler coz it disturbs the balance of the team... then after a defeat and facing elimination... he said extra bowler helps coz you don't have to score that many runs... even in the crunch game his decision to bat first seems reaction to the criticism of bowling first decisions earlier rather than on sound logic...
he kept on bowling first when he did not had bowlers who could exploit the conditions and in crunch game yesterday he opted to bat when the situation was similar to say impending rain... when you want to chase coz you want to keep pace with revised target... but he chose to bat instead coz that appeared more convenient to him...
this goes to show how defensive he has become and do not want to push himself as well as the team... he seems content in the comfort zone... so does the team...
selectors because...
when your chief selector pledges in front of nation, after first test fiasco against south africa, that he will never select players who are not fully fit... and went on to do so for no less than a world cup... what can you do...?
the selections were based on reputations rather than form... the thinking was clear... stuff the team with batsmen coz t20 is a batsman game... and chawla's selections indicated that... who was apparently preferred over mishra and ojha for his batting skills... but they forgot that you just cannot bat and bat... but have to bowl too to defend the total... and no amount of big hitting can defend bad bowling...
dhoni was just not given bowlers to fall back on... instead he was given assembly of part times... it came as no surprise that when situation demanded dhoni could not find bowler to throw the ball to knowing he will give his 100%...
the squad for the world cup should be like where every player can make it into final xi depending upon conditions... situations... but we carried 3-4 passengers in a squad of 15 when even some main players were not close to the top form!
where does this leave captain...? what options dhoni had to maneuver...?
selectors stint thus far has been rank conservative that lacks vision... and if they continue to do so... this will erase everything what team india has achieved of late... despite their insipidity... and one wonders they are actually paid 40 lakhs a year for this crap!!
bcci... attention please... i can do as bad a job for even 10 lakhs per annum... or i might actually...
