India must play Powar
Originally posted on Friday, October 13, 2006
So we are down to the most meaningful ODI cricket tourney. I call it the most meaningful since there aren't easy pickings in this one as there are in the world cup. And the 2007 edition in the Caribbean is stretched like a chewing gum, lasting 47 days. Hell that's a long time, considering the recent soccer world cup lasted just about 1 month when 32 countries participated, whereas the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics lasted all of 17 days with participants from around 202 countries. I suspect it will come to a yawning end if popular countries are knocked out earlier. Hence to me the Champions trophy presents a much condensed and competitive world.
Coming back to the point and to India's fortunes during this tourney! India have done well in the previous editions, but I think they are pitted in a tough group this time. The irony is that on recent form, it seems like the 2nd qualifier, be it Sri Lanka or West Indies, is the one that will stake a semifinal claim with the mighty Aussies.
The line up I will like to see India follow for a while now looks like this -
1. Sehwag/ Mongia
2. Tendulkar
3. Raina/ Kaif
4. Yuvraj
5. Dravid
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan
8. Harbhajan
9. Powar
10. Agarkar
11. Munaf/ Srishanth / Zaheer
Sounds interesting? I am sure the 1st spot itself will spark the 1st debate. But to me, Sehwag is an absolute ODI lottery. He gives me very little confidence that he can ever be consistent. The management’s gamble of promoting him as the next captain is certainly of some concern. His real strength is his hands. He has extremely skillful cricketing hands, the ones he uses to craft out some astonishing strokes, the ones he uses to bowl stump to stump offies that hardly bounce and the ones he uses to take some astonishing catches (his bulging tummy prevents him from being very athletic, but if you want to put a player in a position where the ball tends to fly, something like the gully position, Sehwag will be one of my top bets, just for the hand-eye synchro he possesses). But productivity isn’t always related to skill and Murphy’s law tends to get the better off Sehwag most of the times. I have a gut feeling that he will always be a hit or miss kind of a player and might not average more than an ordinary 32-33 in ODIs. India can’t afford to assign their top ODI batsman role to a man who can only be as good as that.
Somebody like a Mongia should be kept as a ready replacement for Viru. The man possesses a sound temperament, decent array of strokes and decent slow bowling credentials, something that will be handy in both India and the Caribbean. Besides he is more athletic, a southpaw which can add value to the opening partnership and he revels more when given more time in the middle.
I really think India should stop asking Pathan to come in at 3. And I am not an opponent of the experimentation theme taken by Chappell-Dravid combo. But it’s obvious that this uncertainty about role is affecting Pathan’s bowling. It happens to a lot of allrounders and it comes to a stage where they have to make a decision what their main trade is going to be. Remember what happened to Jack Kallis’ bowling when he made the transformation to the premier batsman of South Africa and the world? Pathan the swing bowler, is too crucial an aspect, to give up for Pathan the batsman. He would do well to go back to no. 7, now that he has enough batting practice under his belt.
So the number 3 spot should go to Suresh Raina or Mohd. Kaif, whoever is picked. The former is clearly the more classy and in 2-3 years everyone expects him to graduate to the next level. The problem with Kaif is that he has always been the lowest priority batsman in this lineup. When marking out the lineup, I think captains have always filled out the other 10 spots and assigned him the remaining one. In a way, that’s unjust to a man who has been a yeoman in a star-studded line up. He is also one batsman who needs to get his eye in before he starts improvising, which is why the number 7 spot is a complete mismatch for him, ironically where he has batted most of the time. Besides he is just about the fastest runner in cricket and hence having him at the non-striker end for longer periods can help others. John Right moved him up the order with quite some success towards the end of his reign.
Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh have to be at number 4 and 5, the most crucial spots along with the openers in any ODI lineup. It should also be made clear to Dhoni that he is not a hitter, he is the 6th batsman of the lineup and tail starts after him. “Agarkar the allrounder” is also like “Sehwag the consistent batsman”, a dream that people outside India might laugh at. So he better be placed after the ever-optimistic blade of Bhajji.
That brings me back to the most crucial selection. India, with all the decent new fast bowling kids they have developed over the last few years, must not forget that ODIs tend to make a mockery of the best pacers in the business. The 2 main opponents they will face during this tourney, England and Australia, for all their might, are still not very capable when it comes to playing offspin. That makes Ramesh Powar the top choice along with the miserly Harbhajan. The one experiment that really should strike the management and that should really work like pulling a rabbit out of the hat is opening the bowling with a spinner, particularly on shirtfronts. I have always advocated this policy, more so against the Aussies. I was in favor of dropping one of the highly successful Zaheer-Srinath-Nehra combo and opting for Anil Kumble instead in that dreaded final at the Wanderers 3 years ago. The Aussies just posses too much confidence against pacemen. If they ever fear a species, it’s the offies. Besides, Powar is of a different type than Bhajji, as he flights it more and hence spins it more.
So coming to the most interesting part of it, the winner predictions!! India, for some reason, don’t give me the confidence of doing it. A determined bunch of Aussies looks like the most formidable choice. But then Pakistan cricket was running too smoothly for everyone’s liking for the past couple of years. Now that they have gone back to their awry methods of musical chairs, they should also be considered by the bookies. After all, a chaotic bunch of Pakis is as dangerous as a determined bunch of Aussies.
So we are down to the most meaningful ODI cricket tourney. I call it the most meaningful since there aren't easy pickings in this one as there are in the world cup. And the 2007 edition in the Caribbean is stretched like a chewing gum, lasting 47 days. Hell that's a long time, considering the recent soccer world cup lasted just about 1 month when 32 countries participated, whereas the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics lasted all of 17 days with participants from around 202 countries. I suspect it will come to a yawning end if popular countries are knocked out earlier. Hence to me the Champions trophy presents a much condensed and competitive world.
Coming back to the point and to India's fortunes during this tourney! India have done well in the previous editions, but I think they are pitted in a tough group this time. The irony is that on recent form, it seems like the 2nd qualifier, be it Sri Lanka or West Indies, is the one that will stake a semifinal claim with the mighty Aussies.
The line up I will like to see India follow for a while now looks like this -
1. Sehwag/ Mongia
2. Tendulkar
3. Raina/ Kaif
4. Yuvraj
5. Dravid
6. Dhoni
7. Pathan
8. Harbhajan
9. Powar
10. Agarkar
11. Munaf/ Srishanth / Zaheer
Sounds interesting? I am sure the 1st spot itself will spark the 1st debate. But to me, Sehwag is an absolute ODI lottery. He gives me very little confidence that he can ever be consistent. The management’s gamble of promoting him as the next captain is certainly of some concern. His real strength is his hands. He has extremely skillful cricketing hands, the ones he uses to craft out some astonishing strokes, the ones he uses to bowl stump to stump offies that hardly bounce and the ones he uses to take some astonishing catches (his bulging tummy prevents him from being very athletic, but if you want to put a player in a position where the ball tends to fly, something like the gully position, Sehwag will be one of my top bets, just for the hand-eye synchro he possesses). But productivity isn’t always related to skill and Murphy’s law tends to get the better off Sehwag most of the times. I have a gut feeling that he will always be a hit or miss kind of a player and might not average more than an ordinary 32-33 in ODIs. India can’t afford to assign their top ODI batsman role to a man who can only be as good as that.
Somebody like a Mongia should be kept as a ready replacement for Viru. The man possesses a sound temperament, decent array of strokes and decent slow bowling credentials, something that will be handy in both India and the Caribbean. Besides he is more athletic, a southpaw which can add value to the opening partnership and he revels more when given more time in the middle.
I really think India should stop asking Pathan to come in at 3. And I am not an opponent of the experimentation theme taken by Chappell-Dravid combo. But it’s obvious that this uncertainty about role is affecting Pathan’s bowling. It happens to a lot of allrounders and it comes to a stage where they have to make a decision what their main trade is going to be. Remember what happened to Jack Kallis’ bowling when he made the transformation to the premier batsman of South Africa and the world? Pathan the swing bowler, is too crucial an aspect, to give up for Pathan the batsman. He would do well to go back to no. 7, now that he has enough batting practice under his belt.
So the number 3 spot should go to Suresh Raina or Mohd. Kaif, whoever is picked. The former is clearly the more classy and in 2-3 years everyone expects him to graduate to the next level. The problem with Kaif is that he has always been the lowest priority batsman in this lineup. When marking out the lineup, I think captains have always filled out the other 10 spots and assigned him the remaining one. In a way, that’s unjust to a man who has been a yeoman in a star-studded line up. He is also one batsman who needs to get his eye in before he starts improvising, which is why the number 7 spot is a complete mismatch for him, ironically where he has batted most of the time. Besides he is just about the fastest runner in cricket and hence having him at the non-striker end for longer periods can help others. John Right moved him up the order with quite some success towards the end of his reign.
Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh have to be at number 4 and 5, the most crucial spots along with the openers in any ODI lineup. It should also be made clear to Dhoni that he is not a hitter, he is the 6th batsman of the lineup and tail starts after him. “Agarkar the allrounder” is also like “Sehwag the consistent batsman”, a dream that people outside India might laugh at. So he better be placed after the ever-optimistic blade of Bhajji.
That brings me back to the most crucial selection. India, with all the decent new fast bowling kids they have developed over the last few years, must not forget that ODIs tend to make a mockery of the best pacers in the business. The 2 main opponents they will face during this tourney, England and Australia, for all their might, are still not very capable when it comes to playing offspin. That makes Ramesh Powar the top choice along with the miserly Harbhajan. The one experiment that really should strike the management and that should really work like pulling a rabbit out of the hat is opening the bowling with a spinner, particularly on shirtfronts. I have always advocated this policy, more so against the Aussies. I was in favor of dropping one of the highly successful Zaheer-Srinath-Nehra combo and opting for Anil Kumble instead in that dreaded final at the Wanderers 3 years ago. The Aussies just posses too much confidence against pacemen. If they ever fear a species, it’s the offies. Besides, Powar is of a different type than Bhajji, as he flights it more and hence spins it more.
So coming to the most interesting part of it, the winner predictions!! India, for some reason, don’t give me the confidence of doing it. A determined bunch of Aussies looks like the most formidable choice. But then Pakistan cricket was running too smoothly for everyone’s liking for the past couple of years. Now that they have gone back to their awry methods of musical chairs, they should also be considered by the bookies. After all, a chaotic bunch of Pakis is as dangerous as a determined bunch of Aussies.
posted by w_o @ 3:16 PM
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