Cricket Blog

Well, its time to give out my opinion on the squad that has been chosen for the ODI series involving India, Sri Lanka and Australia. A lot is being said about the exclusion of some “Big” names from the squad and that the players selected are not right for this series. The selectors have flat-out cleared their criteria - Fielding. In a country where people are completely crazy about their stars, this is not a good enough reason. In my opinion, hats off to the selectors for finally putting a greater emphasis on the fielding capabilities of ODI players.

For years we have seen our team to be the worst in fielding, on paper and on Live TV. The bungling old players have had over a decade of playing experience, yet there has been absolutely no improvement in their fielding. Yes they are good in catching, and catches win matches. But catches don’t come every other ball. Every single run counts in ODI cricket, and every time the ball is placed to Ganguly and Dravid, the batsmen always take an extra run.

Well what about running between the wickets. It would be an understatement to say that both Ganguly and Dravid are the worst runners in the Indian squad. Saurav Ganguly has played 311 matches. He has been part of 145 losses. He has been runout 13 times averaging 34.92 every time. Almost once every 11 matches that India have lost. Almost always after getting a good start. Overall he has been runout 23 times. Dravid, on the other hand, has played 333 ODI matches. He has been involved in 160 defeats and got himself runout 20 times. That is once in every 8 defeats. He averages 30.65 and just like Ganguly gets himself runout after getting a good start.

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In what is an about turn by the ICC, controversial umpire and the main man who cost India the Sydney test, Steve Bucknor has been removed from the third match to be played in Perth. He has been replaced by Umpire Billy Bowden. The ICC had refused to remove Bucknor in earlier news reports, however, it seems that they have had a reality check in the last few hours.

ICC Chief Executive, Mr Malcolm Speed had the following statement to make:

“It is accepted that Steve, and his on-field colleague Mark Benson, did not have good games by their very high standards and we feel that given the added pressure and attention Steve’s presence would have at the third Test, it is better for the match and for Steve himself if he does not take part.”

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The BCCI selectors announced the 14 man squad that will take on the Pakistanis in the first 2 tests. Final impressions is that this is a squad that is based more on political-wrangling than any common sense. For example, why do they have 3 spinners in as we all know that only 2 will ever get to play. With Kumble the captain the other logical selection would certainly be Harbhajan Singh. Instead of strengthening the top order, the selectors have gone ahead and included Murali Karthik as another spinner.

Gautam Gambhir has failed to make it to the test squad which is a real shame as he has been one of the most prolific batsmen for India in the last couple of months. The selectors should have awarded his performance by giving him a test spot. The fact that hasn’t happened and Murali Karthik has found a place is really very annoying. Karthik has only performed in the last couple of weeks, and he gets a spot.

Atleast the rest is pretty predictable. The openers, Jaffer and Karthik did extremely well in England so they get to retain their positions. The Big 3 take care of the middle order. Dhoni is the wicketkeeper-batsman. The real tough decision would be the toss up between Yuvraj and Laxman. Yuvi has been in absolutely scintillating form in the shorter format and he should be given the first chance over Laxman who hasn’t played since the English Test series which was a couple of months ago. This is where Kumble’s first challenge will be.

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Sachin Tendulkar has decided not to take the Test captaincy in recent news. He cited personal reasons, just like Dravid, for his decision. Its a done deal now on Dhoni being named the Supreme Commander of Team India for all forms of the game. Sachin was previously considered the front-runner for the job in Tests and this situation now is a blessing in disguise for India.

Look, I am not against Sachin, but for India to step forward, the sooner we get used to the Big 3 out of the team the better. Come 2011, none of these three are going to be in the team, and if we are to challenge the best teams in the world then we need the youngsters who have enough experience and talent to take them on. We have already seen some bright sparks in the last couple of months.

Robin Uthappa is turning out to be a reliable bat anywhere in the order. Gautam Gambhir has been a completely different batsman after the Twenty20 World Cup. Yuvraj and Dhoni have handled the leadership responsibility quite well and they are looking a perfect combination for the future. Both are aggressive and passionate about the game. Both are proven match winners and the younger breed look up to the two.

Sachin may have done yet another service to the team and the country by declining the Test captaincy and for that I salute the Little Genius. Yes, there may be some personal reasons - which can only be speculated. However, as has been his career so far, I am pretty sure that this is another selfless decision that he must have made.

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News coming from India seems to point that Mahendra Singh Dhoni will get the ODI captain’s job. If sources from the BCCI are to be believed, it seems that Sachin Tendulkar took himself out of contention declining the offer to lead the team.

This does not really come as a surprise as Dhoni is currently leading the team in South Africa.

Read more on NDTV.com

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