Cricket Blog

Looking at the recent India-Sri Lanka test series one can see that pretty soon we will be seeing a majosr shift in the Indian test team’s composition. The Fab 4, aka Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman, have not contributed at all to the team’s win in the second test. Its been 5 consecutive failures by these 4 talented and legendary batsmen.

Tendulkar is coming back from an injury so he would likely take some time to get into some form. Ganguly should hang up his boots and leave now with his pride intact. Laxman still has a couple of years left and needs to get into some sort of form sooner rather than later especially with the Aussies coming to town soon.

Dravid is the main worry for me here. The wall has certainly shown a lot of cracks ever since he renounced his captaincy last year. He has been out of form ever since. I am not sure how long the Indian board is going to wait before axing him from the team.

So, to the future. The Indian team’s bench strength has never looked so promising at it looks right now. Here is my team for the future (next 2 years):

1. Gautam Gambhir - Continues to prove his mettle against all oppositions in all forms of the game.
2. Virender Sehwag - No denying him now that he has found his form.
3. Rohit Sharma - The future wall of Indian cricket, in my opinion.
4. Sachin Tendulkar - What can you say about this man
5. VVS Laxman - Wristy elegance not found anywhere else now.
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni - Indian cricket’s future.
7. Robin Uthapa/Yuvraj Singh/Irfan Pathan - Pick your choice depending on form and conditions.
8. Harbhajan Singh - Almost 300 test wickets. Need I say anymore.
9. Piyush Chawla/Pragyan Ojha/Amit Mishra - One of these will have to support Bhajji.
10. Zaheer Khan - He is back and he is meaner and leaner than ever.
11. Ishant Sharma - Indian cricket’s true express fast bowler. Ricky Ponting anyone.

Then there are Sreesanth, Munaf Patel, Parthiv Patel, Manpreet Singh Gony, and more waiting in the lines.

Post your comments on your future Indian Test team.

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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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Hi Guys

It has been a busy few days and I haven’t had the time to write much on my blog especially with my trip to India coming up in a couple of weeks time. What a match this was. India thoroughly deserved a win here after they were denied one at the SCG. Two changes in the team composition paid high dividends. In my previous post before the start of the SCG test, I had mentioned to bring in my man Sehwag. The Indian team management spent 2 matches on dud performances from Yuvraj and Jaffer to realise their mistakes.

Irfan Pathan was another big selection in the team. His all-round performance was the key to India’s win. His bowling in both the innings was crucial in halting Australia’s much-hyped batting lineup. His batting, especially in the second innings, just goes to prove why he is India’s next Kapil Dev. This isn’t really a comparison, it is a fact. For Indians, Kapil Dev has been the greatest all-rounder that the country has produced. Irfan Pathan is perhaps the next best.

Here is Irfan’s interview after the match: Download MP3

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This is the man who is the biggest cry-baby in the Aussie team, and guess who tries to calm Irfan - Hahahahaha:

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What a start and what a finish to the day’s play. Unbelievable scenes at the SCG. Australia, at one point 134/6, recovered to post a massive 376/7 at the end of the first day. Brad Hogg and Andrew Symonds orchestrated a sensational and mind-blowing recovery to see the home team on top despite losing the top and middle order during the second session. For India, they would be ruing a couple of decisions not going their way, but the brutality of the counter-attack from Symonds and Hogg would have left them shell-shocked.

Ponting won the first toss of 2008. As expected he decided to bat first hoping to get a big first innings total. What happened was completely against the run of play. India made just the one change to the playing XI. Ishant Sharma replaced an injured Zaheer Khan. The team could not find a spot for Virender Sehwag or Irfan Pathan - this could very well come back to haunt them.

RP Singh opened the bowling with Ishant Sharma and the two opening batsmen were quickly sitting back in the pavilion. Ricky Ponting then survived a close call, he was too damn lucky as snicko showed a clear edge. Ponting then countered some stiff bowling from RP and Ishant to get to another test fifty. Hussey gave him good support and the Aussies reached 95/2 at lunch. Ponting reached his 50 in the second session however got out to an unlucky call. Bhajji being his nemesis yet again. What then followed was a golden period for the visitors as they picked up 3 more wickets in quick succession leaving Australia rattled at 134/6.

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