Best 11 for India in WC!

There are less than 50 days now for the World Cup and India is still uncertain on deciding its final 15,leave the final eleven.But, I am pretty much certain of the eleven which has the potential of reaching the finals again..Here it goes..

Sourav Ganguly
Virender Sehwag**
Sachin Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
Rahul Dravid
M S Dhoni
Irfan Pathan**
Ramesh Powar
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
S.SreeSanth

12th Man: Dinesh Karthik (backup middle-order player)

Other three in the squad: Agarkar (backup for SreeSanth),Kumble (backup for Harbhajan or Powar),Gambhir/Uthappa (backup opener)

** I feel India needs Sehwag and Pathan at their best to get the team balance right! Sehwag or Sachin cannot be used as specialist 5th bowlers.Only if one or two main bowlers have an off day, they should be used! Pathan should not be promoted up the order under any circumstances.Dhoni and Pathan are best at No 6 and No 7.

There are couple of reasons for picking Powar:
1. The wickets are generally low and slow. He will be useful with his subtle variations.
2. Historically, left-handers do well against India and Powar-Bhajju combo can tackle the likes of Gilly,Hussey,Jayasuriya,Gayle etc well.
3. Powar is a pretty useful batsmen down the order and can hit the ball big.

If the big guns play to their potential, I see no reason why India cant perform well in WC 2007.

Sachin as VC makes no sense!!

The decision to appoint Sachin Tendulkar as Dravid's deputy for the WI series is baffling.What more, rumours are floating that Sachin would replace Dravid after WC if Dravid fails and this simply makes no sense.If the selection committee feels this would put Rahul on his toes, they are mistaken.Making this move just 8 games prior to WC simply puts extra pressure on Rahul.Sachin doesn't need a VC tag to help Dravid.I feel senior players like Sachin,Sourav and Kumble should be always there to help Rahul make decisions.Making a player who is at the fag end of his career as VC and that too with the intention of making him a captain in future is insensible to say the least.In first place, Why appoint a VC? Are there ICC rules which state every team needs to have a VC? It should be decided among the senior members who will take charge if Dravid is off the field for some reasons (like in football where the captain passes the captain's armband). Thats it!! Its sad that BCCI selection committee comes up with some strange decisions at crucial moments. I hope this does not affect Rahul as a captain and a player.

Going on,on and on..but for how long??

Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath have called it a day on a real high, both in terms of form and fitness.But, somehow same doesn't seem to apply to the sub-continental players.Here is a list of the 'Asian Oldies'....

Age as on 12th Jan, 2007

Sanath Jayasuriya   37 years, 196 days
Inzamam-ul-Haq     36 years, 315 days
Anil Kumble               36 years, 87 days
Marvan Atapattu    36 years, 51 days
Sourav Ganguly      34 years, 188 days
Rahul Dravid          34 years, 1 day
Sachin Tendulkar  33 years, 263 days
Chaminda Vaas      32 years, 350 days
Mohd Yousuf          32 years, 138 days
VVS Laxman           32 years, 72 days

Lot of things need to be considered by the player before they call it quits and I wonder whether some of these players consider all.Not all players are lucky enough to retire on a high.Generally, players who tend to hang on for long do not get a chance to retire with their heads held high.So, its better to call it quits when the fans still love you and respect you.Its strange that its the sub-continental players who tend to drag their careers.Does this mean they are fitter than the rest?? NO WAY!!! Sadly, these guys put their personal records ahead of team's future.Hope we get to see the next generation jayasuriyas,tendulkars,inzamams and kumbles soon.

Three promising Sharmas in WC probables

Well, I have given my 30 yesterday, and today its the turn of the men who matter to give their 30. The players whom I ignored were Joginder Sharma,C Pujara, Ishant Sharma adn Rajesh Pawar.Well, I preferred the experienced bunch of Nehra,Balaji,Murali Karthik and Venugopala Rao instead.Here is what I know about these youngsters.
Joginder Sharma - a promising 23 year old all-rounder from Haryana.Some crazy people have already compared him to Kapil Dev.
Ishant Sharma - a tall quickie, consistent 135kph bowler,thats fast in India ha ha
Rohit Sharma - very very talented batsman, had success both at u-19 and ranji level
I havent heard much of Pujara and Pawar.

What should be the World Cup 30 for India???

After the SA debacle, the focus now shifts on to World Cup in the WI. India are yet to pick their 30 probables, a fairly easy job picking 30 and here goes my probables.

Better Batters (14): Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammed Kaif, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Mongia, Robin Uthappa, Rohit Sharma, Y Venugopala Rao, S Badrinath

Better Quick Bowlers (9): Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, SreeSanth, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, VRV Singh, RP Singh, L Balaji, A Nehra

Better Slow Bowlers (4): Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh,Ramesh Powar, Murali Karthik

Better Keepers (3): MS Dhoni, D Karthik, Parthiv Patel


According to me, India has no all-rounders, that is the reason why I mentioned only batters,bowlers and keepers.

Heavy dose cricketing action for India in 2007

Rahul Dravid and company have their task cut out in 2007 with very important and tough assignments for them.

Jan : Test, Away, South Africa, ( Jan 2-6)
ODIs(4), Home, West Indies (Jan 21,24,27,30)

Feb : ODIs(4), Home, Sri Lanka (Feb 8,11,14,17 )

Mar : WORLD CUP, Away, In WestIndies
Mar 17 -Bangladesh, 19- Bermuda , 23- Sri Lanka
Super Eight Match(es) (if India go thru)

Apr : WORLD CUP, Away, In WestIndies
Super Eight Match(es),SemiFinal and Final (Again If India go thru)

May : Tests,ODIs, Away, Bangladesh

Jun : ODIs, Away, Afro-Asian Cup (details not known)

Jul : Tests(2), Away, England (Jul 19-23, Jul 27-31)

Aug : Test (1), Away, England ( Aug 9-13)
ODIs (4), Away, England (Aug 21,24,27,30)
ODI (1), Away, Scotland

Sep : ODIs (3), Away, England (Sep 2,5,8)
20-20 World Championship, Away,In SouthAfrica

Nov : ODIs, Home, Australia

Dec : ODIs/Tests , Away, Pakistan
Tests, Away, Australia