With that victory in mind, it will be very interesting to see what comes out of tomorrow's selection committee meeting. The Indian team will travel to the West Indies later this month to play an ODI series and then a Test Series. I think the following two factors should be most important when considering the team
- Rest to Key players. Dhoni, Zaheer, Sachin have been playing without rest for months together now. They definitely deserve rest. Almost everyone deserves rest. But the best ones will get it. Seniors will definitely get it and the juniors will have to take up their tasks. E.g. Gautam Gabhir might replace Mahendra Singh Dhoni as a captain. I think it will be a very good move to do something like that.
- Phase out the seniors and bring in more youth. I think this is the key if India is to keep up the good form of the last decade into the next one or two. E.g. Harbhajan Singh should slowly be phased out and a new spinner or two should be groomed. Pacers who were tried and tested should be asked to work hard. And new ones should be given a longer run in the national team. E.g. the Sresssanths, Nehras, Irfans & Ishants should be phased out with young talent, who need exposure E.g. Vinay Kumar & S. Aravind. This is a perfect opportunity to groom the next pool of cricketers since India has won a big series and is going on for a relatively easy assignment.
And hence it will be interesting to see if the selectors take these risks for long term rewards. Hope that the new coach Duncan Fletcher also gets a say.
3 Cheers to the World Champs and Bring it On in the Caribbeans
