sometimes it just takes a simple question to force you see light... bring some much needed perspective...
after the match against south africa... another tsunami has struck india... it is called 'why dhoni opted to bowl nehra...?'
you walk around park... only to find self appointed postmortem surgeons making reports on india's chances at the world cup...
you switch any channel and the question was forced on to your throat like salesman hard-sells knowing he is getting short on monthly target...
frustrated by what was going on... my mom simply asked me...
didn't we win the t20 world cup when joginder sharma bowled last over...?
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look around almost everybody is so animatedly disappointed with team india's performance so far... the reason being...?
we are not dominating while still winning... we should blast our opponents out in our quest to win world cup...
since the fall of oz empire... no team can be called the true dominating team in the world... in fact any of first 5-6 teams can defeat one another on its day... and for no reason this world cup is being called the most open world cup so far...
but still the narrative seems set... just dominate...
as if the world cup trophy will value less if we were to win in anything less than the domination fashion... as if it is written in holy books of world cup that only the team that win... sorry blast its opponent is entitled to the world cup trophy...
the better suggestion to those seeking domination from team india will be to watch or play cricket on play-station where they can make team india do what they want it to do on field... coz i am more than happy if we score just one run more or restrict them to just one run less in our way to the win the title... specially given the conditions this world cup is being played in... the resources and limitations we have in certain aspect of game like fielding etc...
in fact i feel better that team india is winning more and more consistently despite not playing 'dominating cricket'... which means team india accept, understand and yet prevail over the limitations instead of cribbing about it... which is the beauty of sport and the team i follow...
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It can't be said for certain, why Andrew Strauss, the England captain, called Shane Warne a genius, when he got to know that Warney had already predicted the outcome of the India-England match (that it'll be a tie).
One can be very unsure for a couple of reasons:
1) it may be a sarcastic remark by Strauss
2) it may be a careless remark, as he was quite saddened by the fact that England managed to pull a tie, when India seems to have given them the game in platter.
3) it can be a remark to distract the world from the real doings beneath.
Please don't look the third reason with a raised brow, even if you want to.
As -- Can't it be another fixing, involving English and India? With Warne having some role to play in it. He may have been a 'better' who is close to the bookies.
After all -- How is fixing in its basic form explained ?
Isn't it ensuring a particular outcome?
This outcome was known to Warne before hand; how? that is a matter of investigation, and going thru ups and downs; the outcome known before hand is ensured by the two teams.
This not skeptism. This's looking things with an equal eye.
Had the cricketing fraternity taken the news that casually, if it involved Pakistan?
What Pakistani players have been accused of is staging an outcome on the bookie instructions; playing a dot ball here, balling a no ball there! How can it be different from the issue we are discussing now?
No one is defending Pakistan; or blaming England or India. What is being put forth is: doesn't Shane Warne's remark, demand an investigation into the matter?
Warne's prediction, can be a work of a genius; but can't there be a possiility of a fixing?
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india's campaign is just two match old but one can already see a spot being wasted... the no.7 batsman...
sachin, sehwag, gambhir, kohli, yuvi, dhoni is the batting order to die for and on our wickets you won't see pathan batting too often to make an impact...
dhoni is not using him to 'up the ante' like yesterday match when the situation was ripe to steal some quick runs but decided to send yuvi instead of him... although holding kohli, a last match centurion, was a daft move in first place but that is beyond the scope of this post...
the less said about his bowling the better... even dhoni don't have any confidence on his bowling and there you go... its not hard to see the point...
as we go more into the business end of world cup... i guess india will have to rethink its strategy... keep on wasting a spot as a protection for 'those days' or continue to give itself an option of a specialist bowler to throw ball to...
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i for once in perfect agreement with the world cup squad selection...
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...?
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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...
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with world cup few months away india suddenly seems awake to the no.7 problem...
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...
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once someone asked this guy what your salary is... and he boasted promptly... "1 Lac 5 thousand... if you club mine and my friend's salary..."
our bowlers and fielders seems to think like this guy so they bowl and field like millionaires in the company of 'rich' batsmen knowing whatever score opponents will paste on board batsmen will do even better... or our batsmen will put such a huge score that they won't be able to achieve the target...
our bowlers bowl as if they are reconciled to the fact that its given they will go for runs in power plays hence spray balls all over making it difficult for captain to set the field... there just does not seems any apparent 'plan b' or thinking to change line, length or pace to counter batman's moves if he is going ballistic...
like it was very clear that perara, who played blinder for sri lanka to win a match, was not able to touch anything which was pitched short of length but our bowlers kept on feeding him full length balls with one single minded mission to bowl that elusive yorker...
like in yesterday's game when tamim iqbal was mopping everything to midwicket there was just no plan to bowl full and wide on the off stump to counter his moves or bowl short of length on his body to make him think or alter his approach...
and less said about fielding and catching the better...
the difference between a series win and loss against australia were just 7 runs... and if we didn't field like ghaddaas in that series or even like a normal international team supposed to field... the story could well have been different... just to highlight one point amongst many...
needless to say men in blue are regressing alarmingly in bowling and fielding department...
a bowling and a fielding coach can only point out the problems and show you the way... they can not bowl and field for you... ultimately its the individuals who will have to raise the bar and do it consistently on the field... but such is the complacency about the place in the team that they just don't seem to put effort in this direction... chalta hai seems to be the attitude...
our batsmen are in great form with almost a new hero raises his hand in every other match to be counted and though it can work in a bilateral series coz you get the chance to claw your way back in the series... but in a tournament where almost every match is important this aspect of our game will get exposed and its no coincidence that we are getting knocked out of tournaments like world cup, t20 world cup or champions trophy even before a fan warms up to the competition...
it can be argued that one day cricket is a batsmen game so what if they are winning us the matches... but sir... only a team which has all parts of its machine well oiled and functioning well can go the distance... the team which is dependent on just one aspect of the game will surely go down in longer run as how far a single part can carry on the machine...?
the next world cup will be held in subcontinent in 2011 where the scores are likely going to be high and matches may well be decided by a great spell in death overs... tight fielding in decisive moments... by catching what comes your way...
if team management can put equal importance to secondary skills like fielding as they put on primary skills for selection and individuals too show some interest... we can still be a good fielding and catching team if not outstanding as there is still some time left before the next world cup...
if we won't commit to these aspects of the game now... we can safely say good bye to this world cup too...
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