Should Dhoni play Viru Sehwag? India @ World T20

With a new selection committee announced, I guess Dhoni has a control, albeit temporarily - over who plays in the final 11. Should he keep Sehwag out? I think he should. Will he? I think he will..

Dhoni - when he started his captaincy was known to take bold decisions. He is slowly degrading to being too defensive especially in the last year. He has take a few good decisions - in sidelining Harbhajan, in playing a part in Laxman's retirement (not to take away any credit from the great batsman, but his time was up, really) and in rotating and letting seniors know that they can become a burden.

Now is really the time for him to go for the kill. He must ensure that right decisions are made in an un-emotional manner - which will improve the chances of India in the long term. If that means getting rid of Sehwag, so be it. If it means, preserving Zaheer only for 1/2 formats of the game, so be it. Ideally these decisions should be taken by the selection committee. But the Indian Selection Committee is a hopeless entity. They don't even feel it important/confident to convince the press about their selections.

I think the decision to open with Irfan Patahn is a good gamble with a hope to groom a future all rounder. Even if he is used as a pinch hitter, no issues he will more often than not make up for it with his bowling.

I will really look forward to this decision more than anything else for India in the coming matches of World T20. May the decision in the best interest of the team, be taken...

Twenty20 World Cup Cricket - Luck factor

The Twenty 20 cricket world cup is on in Sri Lanka - though some people call it Entertainment and not Cricket :-) The question to be asked is how much part really does Luck play in determining the champion in this format?

To begin with, we can compare it with the Triangular one day CB Series in Australia, the IPL & the One Day world Cup. In my opinion, Luck plays the least role in the Australian CB series. There are plenty of league matches and most importantly, the finals are best of 3. You are hence most assured that the most consistently better team will win. However on the flip side the tournament contains only 3 teams!

The IPL contains lots of teams, too many league games and a winner-takes-it-all final. Hence the luck factor is reduced during initial stages but really increases at the end, especially in the T20 format. Note - this only has Semi Finals and Finals, so only 3 knock out matches.

The World Cups (T20 & 50 over) also have a league round but due to the group concept, the risk is high even at the start. Loose a couple of games and you are out. Loose a Quarter/Semi/Final game and you are out, regardless of what you did earlier. And hence a team needs to perform consistently well enough in this format to win the trophy. Whereas in the CB Series/IPL a team can loose a few times, recover and still win or at least make it to the last stages (IPL).

I feel the T20 world cup has the largest window of opportunity for Luck. Test matches give teams chances to come back - offer same/similar conditions to two teams more or less. That does not happen in limited overs and especially in T20 - a couple of wickets/overs/sixes can change the game decisively. That too in a format like World Cup - and its almost impossible to predict a favorite! I tend to watch this tournament more neutrally. Maybe favor India a bit, hate the Australians a little, but just a bit in it, not much.

Would you like to predict a winner? :-)

Cricket: South Africa India One Day Series

What a stunning fight back by the lower order SA batsmen in the 1st game! Truly remarkable... Never stop believing till the end. Always playing for a win. Never give up...

Double century for Sachin Tendulkar. Over hyped? I am not a fan of centuries and doubles. Buts hats off to the old man's fitness. 3 cheers!

Dhoni's batting in the 2nd ODI was really deadly. Hit flat sixes off the bottom hand. What strength, what eyes, what hands, WHAT A PLAYER!

It was nice to see Yousuf Pathan back in the thick of things. I really look forward to see him perform well. After all, he is Shane Warne's find!

In the 3rd match, nobody was interested. Even more proof of the fact that none of these 2 teams belong to the champions league like the Australians do. All were wanting to relax before the IPL

Why do all ODIs end up in more than 600 runs per day nowadays? Or more than 300 in an innings? I hate to say this.. But if this continues, I will loose interest in watching cricket. This is Bowlers' Mass Murder. Pull back the short boundaries. Resolve the due. Bring the back foot no ball rule back. ICC - are you listening?

Why is S. Sreesanth given an extended stay in the India Team? Does he have a god-father in the selection committee? Is Dhoni over-doing the risk? For the last so many matches, he has turned out to be the most expensive bowler in the team! Just sack him.

Why was a potential all-rounder like Abhishek Nayar dropped from the squad without giving him any chance to perform? Is that fair? Something evil cooking up in the selection process?

India South Africa Test series Match 2 Day 2

• Why on the earth did Mahendra Singh Dhoni - the India captain, send a night watchman? I am never a fan of those. Its a sign of fear and flawed logic. If Dhoni can't stay for long at the crease, how can some worse batter do it?


• The South African bowling attack was really shattered today. Sehwag toyed with them. And Sachin dismantled them slowly. What a pair!


• Wayne Parnell does not deserve a place in this team. Maybe the old war-horse Mkhaya Ntini will replace him in future series


• What a waste of opportunity by M. Vijay and Subramaniam Badrinath! Suddenly, the future Indian batting generation looks weak again


• Should India not win this match from this point, they would deserve a fast dropdown from rankings. The match is now perfectly setup for a clinical finish for them. Will they have the killer punch? The knock-out strength?


• Or will the coming-back-from-behind champion attitude be demonstrated by the champion Test cricket team - The Proteas?


• Sehwag and Gambhir took some really awesome singles in the morning. That's the key to their success, I think. What an anti climax that their stand had to be broken by a run-out!


• Great crowd at the Eden Gardens, Kolkatta. Way to go...

Cricket: India Vs. South Africa 2nd Test Match - Day 1 @ Eden Gardens, Kolkatta

My quotes:

• Why did Pieterson come in as an opener when Aswell Prince was in the line up? It proves that Prince is the non-preferred opener. Not good for the team balance.


• One of the most famous turnarounds. 8 wickets in 50 runs! No wonder that they call this team Chockers :-)


• Talking about Bunnies of opener captains, Graeme Smith is the biggest bunny that I can remember. More than Darryl Cullinan of Shane Warne. Hats of to ZAKS.


• Zaheer Khan, match after match, looks like a better and better bowler. OLD WINE :-) Much like Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, Javagal Srinath. Very un-like Anil Kumble :-)


• Harbhajan Singh also keeps making comebacks. Another great bowler in the team


• India still miss an all-rounder. Even he is a national level and not international class, he must be given a chance in Tests. Candidates? Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Yousuf Pathan, Abhishek Nayar. Anyone else? I always believe in Long Term Vs. Short and Higher Risks for Higher Returns. Got to make the difficult choice sometimes. I am hugely disappointed that Dhoni has not tried it yet.


• Hats off to Ishant Sharma for being the rawdy fast bowler that every good team so desperately needs


• Is Amit Mishra good enough to deserve so many chances in Tests? Or are there no other good enough spinners in India anymore? Why not Ramesh Powar?

Cricket: What will happen to One Day Internationals

ICC World 20-20
Indian Premier League
Champions League
Domestic 20-20 competitions
County 40-40 championships
The iconic Ashes Test series between England and Australia

The media has already proclaimed itself as the jury and announced its verdict. That this format has almost expired. Obituaries have been written in columns in papers and on web pages. One of the best in the game - Sachin Tendulkar - has led a group that proposes radical changes to the format. The question is very interesting:

WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE ODIs?


Let's consider why this debate has come in. Here are some reasons in my opinion:

1. A completely mis-managed World Cup in 2007 in the West Indies. High ticket prices, long format, too many teams, went on for too long.
2. Players not too enthusiastic about the ODIs. They either want to milk the cash cow (T20) or take up the biggest challenge of Test cricket.
3. Long drawn bilateral one day series. e.g. Australia in England - 7 matches in September 2009. Australia in India - 7 matches in October - November 2009. Its just too much of the same thing between 2 teams.
4. Complete lack of innovation and initiatives by ICC.

Here are my comments on the issue. And a few ideas on what ICC and boards should do to take the ODIs forward:

1. ODIs will not be wiped out so easily. Reason - It gives TV advertisers 7 hours of duration during which they can catch the eyeballs during every over-break.
2. Twenty-20 cricket will actually make Fifty-over cricket more interesting. Batsmen will be more aggressive in intent. All rounders and good fielders will make hay. All these will attract more crowds and viewership.
3. At the same time, ICC and boards should take the following measures to make sure that the interest is alive and kicking in all 3 formats of the game.
4. Abandon the Future Tours Programme so that it will free up more productive time for other formats and competitions.
5. Introduce stricter rules to make captains improve the over rates.
6. Innovate a bit here, a bit there. E.g. the two 5-over power plays in the ODIs are almost fixed. Bowlers take it during 11-15 overs & batsmen after 40.
7. Use a revolving 12th person in some way.
8. Balance the BAT vs. BALL by allowing more bouncers per over. Or going back to the back foot line no-ball rule.
9. If it is required, reduce it to 40 overs a side. And experiment with it. Measure the response. Float a few new ideas. Be open to the fact that Change is the only thing Permanent.

I don't think that things have come to such a stage where something radical needs to be done. But if the ICC sits back and does nothing (which it has been doing for so many decades), then the things might come to that stage sometime soon.

Till that time, enjoy 50-50.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Should Anil Kumble resign from the Indian Cricket Team?

In the 1st test match of the India Vs. Australia Border Gavaskar series, Kumble went wicket-less. Its the first time that this has happened in India. There is a clear cut case of Anil being in the playing 11 only because he is the captain and not because he belongs to the best 11 in the country right now.

On top of that - he carried an injury in this test match. Did not bowl when he was needed the most. And when he returned back to the field, he reversed Mahendra Singh Dhoni's aggressive field placements. All and all, a poor performance form the veteran. I think Saurav Ganguly has made a right decision in calling it quits. And Anil Kumble needs to take a clue. In the last test series for India Vs. Sri Lanka, Anil Kumble took 8 wickets in 3 matches at an average of 50 and a strike rate of 100! Prior to that, in the home series against South Africa, he took 4 wickets in 2 matches at an average of 60 and a strike rate of 150!!

At the start of this series, Anil announced that this would be his last test at Bangalore. However, at the end of the match, he made a shocking statement "One bad game doesn't make you a bad player". Maybe, his manager or someone else needs to remind him of the above statistics so that he can find out how many bad games he has had in the last year or so.

I am a firm believer of performance dictating selection, and on basis of both - current form, and captaincy skills - I would choose Mahendra Singh Dhoni as the skipper and Piyush Chawla as the leg spinner to play against the Australian team in the remainder of the series. It will be interesting to see what the Indian selectors say. Incidentally, the team for the last 2 test matches against Australia should be selected soon, so we will come to know what their opinion is.

Of course it goes without saying, that Anil Kumble has been India's only match-winning bowler on all wickets for the last decade or more. However, I think the age is taking its toll and he is near the end of his career.

Cheers,
- Ashutosh

Australia vs. India Cricket Test Series

Hi There!

Its been a long gap, and soon cricket will be back to business. The Champions Trophy was postponed due to the security concerns in Pakistan. The Champions League was postponed earlier because it came dangerously close to the Champions Trophy. And hence the Indian cricketers got a very well deserved break from the high intensity international games.

What I liked was that - most of them played for their national (Ranji) teams. And many of them will play the Irani Trophy - The winner of last year's Ranji Trophy (Delhi) vs. the Rest of India team. That will be one hell of an interesting match to follow. It will pitch e.g. Ishant vs. Sachin and that would be awesome to watch.

I have been a big fan of young blood in the India cricket teams. And hence I believe, Sachin Tenulkar, Rahul Dravid, Saurav Ganguly and VVS Laxman should all be asked to go away. Especially because most of them have been in terrible batting form of late. Sachin has been good in ODIs but poor in tests. He has been extremely unfit and sometimes he has hidden that fact (e.g. South Africa series at home). Rahul Dravid has been the lowest in confidence ever. Saurav has been mediocre. And Laxman - although doesn't get out, he has not been able to force the run-rate issue. Even though he plays with the tail. Which makes him look like a selfish individual rather than a team-mate who is willing to risk his wicket for the country.

And hence I like the idea of leaving Saurav out of the team for Irani Trophy. I would also have loved to hear the notices sent out to Sachin - to stay fitter. To VVS - to score briskly and to Rahul - to hang up his boots or face the axe. I really hope that the new selection committee of BCCI is as good as the previous two. And have a vision for the future.

About the test series - Ahh, I just cannot wait for it to begin. Because of intolerable foreign conditions - both on and off the field - India has been a tough place for visitors to win test series. Australia failed to do it twice under Steve Waugh - who dubbed it as his Final Frontier. But finally, they were able achieve the feat under Ricky Ponting when they were here the last time. Hence I think the mental barrier has been broken for the visiting teams. And I predict that the result might be in favour of the visitors, this time too. And although my head says Australia, my heart still goes for India :-)

On paper, Australia look weak - Few of their pacers have experience of Test matches in India. None of their middle order and spinners have played here earlier. Still, the extended break has meant, they get more time to acclimatize. And they will do so very well. They have an aura of confidence nowadays, which makes them a candidate to bounce back from any situation - a belief that comes handy in test matches more as compared to one dayers or 20-20. In terms of individual players, I think Ricky Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Brett Lee and Shane Watson will be the ones to watch out.

Indians will have a very strong opening pair followed by a weak and out-of-confidence middle order. The two spinners are too old and have no new weapons. In my opinion, they will be able to force wickets only on a draconian pitch. The fast bowling looks stronger and their wicket keeper is their main weapon. In my two decades of cricket following, I have not been impressed by anyone as much as by Mahendra Singh Dhoni. He has an aura about himself - his youth, confidence and risk apetite makes him a very dangerous player for the opposition. He has yet to establish himself big time as a Test batsman, but I think the time is not far when he will shine there as well. And this could be that series. Overall, India's fragile middle order along with their old spinners are their weak links.

Let's enjoy the series and hope that it is remembered more for cricket than for extraneous issues. Unlike the last time these two sides met.

Cheers,
- Tosh

My India XI cricket team for the One day game/s against Pakistan

1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Yousuf Pathan
4. Rohit Sharma
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. Mahendrea Singh Dhoni
7. Piyush Chawla
8. Praveen Kumar
9. P P Ojha
10. Ishant Sharma
11. Manpreet Goni

On a faster track, they can choose Irfan instead of Yousuf or Ojha.

This looks like a young, athletic, team studded with many all rounders. Which makes me believe that it will a strong team and a difficult one to beat - going ahead.

Cheers,
- Tosh

Will India Play Five Bowlers @ Adelaide?

It will be a very interesting, bold and positive move. I will be very much looking forward to this. If India do play 5 bowlers, it will send a message to Australia that they want to win the match and are willing to take a calculated risk for that. I think its a gamble worth taking. Especially when you have Dhoni and Pathan at No. 6 & 7.

My Indian team for the third and final test to be played on Thursday 24th January, 2008 in Adelaide would be:

1. Virendra Sehwag
2. Dinesh Karthik
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. V.V.S. Laxman
6. Mahendra Singh Dhoni
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Anil Kumble
9. R. P. Singh
10. Harbhajan Singh
11. Ishant Sharma.

Cheers and All The Best
- Tosh