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 could be considered as one of the biggest surprises that the selection committee could ever conjure, out-of-form batsman Virender Sehwag has been given a spot in the Test squad that will tour Australia later this month. Many would consider this as wrong and mis-calculated, with Ian Chappell even considering Sehwag’s ommission from the list of 24 probables as India’s first mistake ahead of the tour. Looks like the selectors have given heed to his advice by recalling Sehwag back. The X-factor that Sehwag provides cannot be ignored. All he needs is a good score to get going. If he can start the series with a resounding century then he may just be included in the ODI squad as well.

Lets look at why his selection can be a bonus for Team India, provided he gets a place in the playing XI. Wasim Jaffer is in the form of his life at the moment, so was Dinesh Karthik a couple of months ago. Jaffer is not experienced in bouncy conditions as Australia, but Melbourne and Sydney are no longer fast, in fact they will actually be more suited to Indian players. The first match at the MCG offers Sehwag the perfect opportunity to reclaim his spot in the Indian team. He should remember that on this very ground he smashed 195 in the first day of play. Of all the Indian players, only Sehwag can demoralize the Australian bowling attack, especially Brett Lee and Shaun Tait. With not a lot of swing movement predicted, the pitches suit his style of attacking play.

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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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India Blue won the final match comprehensively beating India Red by 6 wickets, thanks to a sensational century by ODI discard Dinesh Karthik. Chasing 269, the Blues reached their target with 54 balls to spare. Gautam Gambhir made his presence felt with an 82 in 77 balls and was the only spark for India Red whose batsmen struggled for the entire part of their innings. Suresh Raina was given the player of the series award for his consistent batting performance - he scored 3 fifties in all 3 matches. Dinesh Karthik was given the player of the match award.

Click here for the full scorecard

Match Highlights

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The Indian selectors announced the squad for the first 2 one-dayers against Pakistan:

1. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk,capt)
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Sourav Ganguly
4. Gautam Gambhir
5. Virender Sehwag
6. Robin Uthappa
7. Rohit Sharma
8. Yuvraj Singh
9. Irfan Pathan
10. Praveen Kumar
11. Zaheer Khan
12. RP Singh
13. Sreesanth
14. Harbhajan Singh
15. Murali Kartik

Rahul Dravid’s omission is a big one. Besides that there are not a lot of surprises here, except for Virender Sehwag making a comeback and Praveen Kumar finding a place in the squad. Dinesh Karthik and Ramesh Powar have been left out. So has Piyush Chawla who has been struggling a little after his ankle injury during the T20 World Cup. Mohammad Kaif and Parthiv Patel have failed to reach the 15 yet again.

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