In preparation for the world cup, now just a month away, Indian team has reached its final lap before finalizing the team for the mega event. With just two more matches for the selectors to make up their mind, skipper Rahul Dravid said that he is happy and satisfied with the way things are shaping up for the team.
Many players being a certainty to travel to the Caribbean Islands, the selectors’ job will be to identify the fringe players who can fit in well as a back up, providing variety and flexibility to the team’s requirements according to the match conditions.
A good thumping series win against the Windies might have lifted the team’s morale, yet the Indian team has to address some fitness problems which in luring them that bounced from no where. Yuvraj Singh with a stiff back, Irfan Pathan with a sore shoulder and Munaf Patel who just recovered from an injury have to prove their fitness and form.
Fitness concerns, if solved, India looks a strong contender for the crown, at least on paper. The team is desperately lacking, in number of genuine all-rounders they have at their disposal. Irfan Pathan is the only one whom we can rely upon to do the dual role but his poor form with the ball has put the team’s strategy into jeopardy. It is vital that he proves his form in the limited opportunities he has.
Munaf Patel is the next man in question. He has just now recovered from an injury making his way back into the team after a long lay-off. For him proving his from with the ball is not the only concern, his reputation of showing poor application on the field might hold against his selection for the world cup.
The batting order after being under the scanner since Guru Greg took over as coach, finally looks settled to fire. On the other hand, Sri Lankan side without Chaminda Vaas and Muralitharan cannot be underrated either. Their batting looks solid with the old war-house Sanath Jayasuria firing all cylinders since his comeback could be a huge threat to any formidable bowling attack. With Jayawardane, Sangakkara and Attapatu anchoring the middle order it will not be an easy task for the India bowlers to root them out.
The Hero Honda cup will be a significant one not only because it is a preparation for both the team before the world cup but also that they will once again face-off in their preliminary round of the mega event. Hence, they will try to have that psychological advantage over the other.
The stage is set for some interesting battle on the field and also in the minds of selectors. Let’s wait n watch!!
Assuming the players will be fit, my Indian team for the world cup:
Rahul Dravid, Robin Uttappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mahender Singh Dhoni, Virender Shewag, Dinesh Karthik, Anil Kumble, Harbajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ajit Agarkar, Shanthakumaran Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan and Munaf Patel
1 comment:
"India- World cup contenders???"
Well, with the way the India team has been performing over the past year, well we should be thankful to the merciful lord, if our boys even end up in the final stages of the tournament, that is if they make it past the super 8's Greg Chappel should consider himself very very lucky.For a minute let us all pretend that we are not Indian supporters and look at the world cup.Looking at the way, some of the teams have improved over the past year, India will find the going really tough.We are going into such a huge tournament with a few of our key players either not in form or lacking match practise and match fitness.Looking at the bunch of players most likely to be picked- we have issues with atleast 5 of the 16 players to be picked.Let us start with Virender Sehwag, the happy go lucky man does'nt seem to be happy any longer.There is only one way that Sehwag knows to bat and that is to smash every ball that his bat can reach, oflate his freestyle of batting does not seem to be working and he has not been able to rectify that because his game is not based on a solid technique, in the past four to five years, international bowlers seem to have worked out his strengths and weeknesses, so Sehwag at the top of the order in this world cup will be more of a liability than an asset, and he does not posses the temparament to hold the innings together in the middle order, which leaves only one place where he can be accomadated in the team-the lower middle order, say at 6 or 7.If the Indian thinktank decides to throw past glory and reputation out of the window, Sehwag might find himself carrying drinks.
Irfan Pathan- Irfan Pathan is not the bowler he was a couple of seasons ago, he has lost the only weapon in his repetoire, the deadly inswinger to the right hander and at the rate at which his bowling has deteriorated, in a couple of seasons from now-when the modern day greats of the Indian top order call it quits, Irfan Pathan might be a top quality top order batsman, but today, he is not that, today he a struggling youngster whose bowling has all of a sudden left him and he is in the trying to find himself.A couple of seasons ago when he creatd all that magic with L.Balaji in Pakistan, he was being hailed as the next Kapil dev, today he finds himself in the middle of nowhere.And apart from these two there are also quite a few others who have been struggling. And with a win under the West Indies in typical Indian conditions, we should'nt be sweeping the major issues under the carpet.
Remember the world cup is going to be played on low and slow West Indian wickets and not Indian wickets, the wickets out there in the carribean do not offer themselves to scores of 340 and 350 on a regular basis, and most importantnly this world cup is going to be heavily loaded in favour of the team that is able to keep up the momentum in the middle overs, because in these conditions, it requires a very talented middle order to keep up the scoring rate, this is probably one place that the indians can feel they have an advantage over most other sides, IF they have Sachin in the middle order.If Sachin reverts back to opening the innings with Sourav, the you have probably the meekest looking middle order that India have had in some time. With Sachin and Sourav at the top, we are left with only two high quality middle order batsman in Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh. So let us just hope that team India does a major u turn and ends up in another World cup finals. And to add to it, this time the world cup is a lot more open than it was like in 2003.The Australian team, though very powerful, is a side which is on it last legs, after this world cup Australia is bound to have a revamped side.This time though their middle order looks pretty mortal excepting for Punter Ponting at no.3 and Adam Gilchrist and Matthew Hayden do not instill the kind of fear they did a couple of years ago, so watch out Australia, this might just not be another stroll in the park.
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