My World Cup Lineup
Originally posted on Monday, February 05, 2007
Here is what I will go for in my world cup lineup.
1. Ganguly
2. Uthappa
3. Yuvraj
4. Tendulkar
5. Dravid
6. Dhoni
7. Powar
8. Harbhajan
9. Agarkar
10. Kumble
11. Zaheer
12. Sehwag
13. Sreeshanth
14. Raina
15. Karthik
The usual suspects -
The 3 men I have dropped from my squad and who are bound to raise some eyebrows are
1. Irfan Pathan. - I don't think he looked like picking up a wicket in the solitary game he got against WI. There are suggestions that he should play as the number 7 batsman and somebody who fits in 5-6 overs every game. But let me tell you something. If as a captain, while picking him, you don't feel that you will be able to bowl him for more than 5-6 overs, you might as well pick Sehwag, who really can win you matches with bat and who assures a few quick overs every game. And Rahul Dravid, rather than being hopeful, should be honest with what he feels about Pathan. I might be harsh, but I would like to see him play somewhere near a full domestic season, may be a season in county cricket and come back as a frontline bowler. Pathan, the bowler, is far too important for Indian cricket, rather than have him earn that reputation of a batsman who bowls a bit.
2. Munaf Patel - Fitness woes personified. At present he doesn't give you the confidence that he will last a full month and a half trip. Maybe the Indian physio team is in a better situation to judge him than I am. But really it's a two way tussle between him and Sreeshanth for 1 spot and the latter wins it any day, with his enthusiastic bowling and spirited batting and fielding. Apart from when the ball is in his hand, Patel is an absolute liability and needs a lot of work on his match fitness. Some may argue that Sreeshanth is rather profligate in the one day game, but I would really put my confidence him since he looks fit and ask him to sort his length out rather than asking Patel to sort his fitness and fielding out in this one month period.
3. Gautam Gambhir - Well again, there was a race between him and Uthappa. Some may argue that it was a 3 horse race between these two and Sehwag for 2 spots. To me Sehwag, for his experience and his bowling, and Uthappa, for better performances and his athletic fielding, are clear winners. I would go 1 step ahead and put Uthappa in my starting 11 since he is still an unknown commodity and could hit the opposition hard before they know it.
Now for the men I got into my squad.
1. Ramesh Powar - Anybody who even has a cursory look at my blog, would notice my bias for this man. For me, he is an absolute must on slow sluggish tracks where the ball spins a bit. He has looked like one Indian spinner who could break through at any moment in the match. And when he does, he has that old-fashioned Montyesque celebration style which pumps life into a situation. If you notice over the past year or so, Harbhajan has been just a miser, returning 10 overs worth 40ish, which is a commendable effort in its own rank. But he has hardly picked up 3 wicket hauls in ODIs. An average of 31 (30 in case of Kumble)is not what you want from your frontline bowler. I would again get ahead of myself and advocate this strategy of opening with a spinner. India should really pull a rabbit out of the hat and go for it. After all, if you are not the best side in the tournament to start with, you need that element of surprise to make any impact, ask the Crowe- Patel- Greatbatch- Harris formula of 92 or the Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana-Muralitharan combo of 96. With 3 specialist spinners in the starting 11, India can push Kumble or Bhajji to take the new ball and let Powar handle the middle overs. It may sound weird, but I still don't believe India have enough firepower in their fast bowling department to scare the crap out of oppositions, especially when it matters.
2. Suresh Raina - India, with many old bodies on the turf, definitely need a permanent 12th man. India need to be smart about this trick and get him on the field regularly for 20-25 overs, particularly at the slog. The tussle is between him and Kaif, and although I don't have any grudges about selecting the latter, I go for the former since Kaif has kind of fallen out of the band.
Others select themselves on merit and recent form.
Here is what I will go for in my world cup lineup.
1. Ganguly
2. Uthappa
3. Yuvraj
4. Tendulkar
5. Dravid
6. Dhoni
7. Powar
8. Harbhajan
9. Agarkar
10. Kumble
11. Zaheer
12. Sehwag
13. Sreeshanth
14. Raina
15. Karthik
The usual suspects -
The 3 men I have dropped from my squad and who are bound to raise some eyebrows are
1. Irfan Pathan. - I don't think he looked like picking up a wicket in the solitary game he got against WI. There are suggestions that he should play as the number 7 batsman and somebody who fits in 5-6 overs every game. But let me tell you something. If as a captain, while picking him, you don't feel that you will be able to bowl him for more than 5-6 overs, you might as well pick Sehwag, who really can win you matches with bat and who assures a few quick overs every game. And Rahul Dravid, rather than being hopeful, should be honest with what he feels about Pathan. I might be harsh, but I would like to see him play somewhere near a full domestic season, may be a season in county cricket and come back as a frontline bowler. Pathan, the bowler, is far too important for Indian cricket, rather than have him earn that reputation of a batsman who bowls a bit.
2. Munaf Patel - Fitness woes personified. At present he doesn't give you the confidence that he will last a full month and a half trip. Maybe the Indian physio team is in a better situation to judge him than I am. But really it's a two way tussle between him and Sreeshanth for 1 spot and the latter wins it any day, with his enthusiastic bowling and spirited batting and fielding. Apart from when the ball is in his hand, Patel is an absolute liability and needs a lot of work on his match fitness. Some may argue that Sreeshanth is rather profligate in the one day game, but I would really put my confidence him since he looks fit and ask him to sort his length out rather than asking Patel to sort his fitness and fielding out in this one month period.
3. Gautam Gambhir - Well again, there was a race between him and Uthappa. Some may argue that it was a 3 horse race between these two and Sehwag for 2 spots. To me Sehwag, for his experience and his bowling, and Uthappa, for better performances and his athletic fielding, are clear winners. I would go 1 step ahead and put Uthappa in my starting 11 since he is still an unknown commodity and could hit the opposition hard before they know it.
Now for the men I got into my squad.
1. Ramesh Powar - Anybody who even has a cursory look at my blog, would notice my bias for this man. For me, he is an absolute must on slow sluggish tracks where the ball spins a bit. He has looked like one Indian spinner who could break through at any moment in the match. And when he does, he has that old-fashioned Montyesque celebration style which pumps life into a situation. If you notice over the past year or so, Harbhajan has been just a miser, returning 10 overs worth 40ish, which is a commendable effort in its own rank. But he has hardly picked up 3 wicket hauls in ODIs. An average of 31 (30 in case of Kumble)is not what you want from your frontline bowler. I would again get ahead of myself and advocate this strategy of opening with a spinner. India should really pull a rabbit out of the hat and go for it. After all, if you are not the best side in the tournament to start with, you need that element of surprise to make any impact, ask the Crowe- Patel- Greatbatch- Harris formula of 92 or the Jayasuriya-Kaluwitharana-Muralitharan combo of 96. With 3 specialist spinners in the starting 11, India can push Kumble or Bhajji to take the new ball and let Powar handle the middle overs. It may sound weird, but I still don't believe India have enough firepower in their fast bowling department to scare the crap out of oppositions, especially when it matters.
2. Suresh Raina - India, with many old bodies on the turf, definitely need a permanent 12th man. India need to be smart about this trick and get him on the field regularly for 20-25 overs, particularly at the slog. The tussle is between him and Kaif, and although I don't have any grudges about selecting the latter, I go for the former since Kaif has kind of fallen out of the band.
Others select themselves on merit and recent form.
posted by w_o @ 3:21 PM
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