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Pic Courtesy Cricinfo: Dhoni plays some football in the training session in Mumbai.

Pic Courtesy Cricinfo: Dhoni plays some football in the training session in Mumbai.

The much awaited battle between the top two sides in the limited form of the game is all set to begin tomorrow when the Indians take on the Aussies for a 7 match series in Vadodara. The lead up to the series for the teams has been a stark contrast. Australia has been in brilliant form thrashing England 6-1 in a bilateral series and successfully defending the Champions Trophy. India though on the other hand is coming into the series after a disappointing exit from the Champions Trophy.

The BCCI took some very harsh decisions aftermath of the exit by sacking the fielding and the bowling coach. Dhoni would have realized how thankless captaincy could be as in the matter of weeks he turned from hero to zero. The Indian team though would be buoyed by the return of Yuvraj and Sehwag at the top of the order. So the batting for the home team sports a balanced look as opposed to the bowling which totally relies of how Bajji would perform.

Ishant Sharma has been given a lifeline as he has been included in the squad in spite of some mediocre performances. No such luck for Yusuf Pathan though as he has been dropped from the squad after some indifferent performances in the Compaq cup and CT. So Ishant might play the first game with Nehra and Praveen (or Tyagi) being the others partnering him in Vadodara.

Australia though has no such worries as they have a fit and firing Brett Lee along with one of the fastest bowlers in the world Dirk Nannes. The only aspect of the Aussie bowling which might be exposed is their spin department. Even though Nathan Hauritz has been doing a good job for them in the past few months, he might be targeted by the Indian batsmen.

Batting though for the Aussies seems in good shape with Watson and Paine at the top with Ponting and the rest to follow. Ricky Ponting himself has been in brilliant form for the Aussies. On the flat batting tracks in India the Aussies will not be too worried about their batsmen struggling against the spinners.

Even though the Indian top order seems very strong they will be still wary of the lack of competitive matches for Yuvraj and Sehwag. Raina and Dhoni have not been in good touch. Ghambir has been scratchy in his last couple of innings in the CLT20. So there are concerns a plenty for the Indian think tank.

The teams are ranked 1 and 2 in the ICC ODI rankings and there is plenty to play for in that aspect. If India wins the series by a considerable margin then they might just pip the Aussies for the top spot. So all in all this will be an interesting series and it will be interesting to see the team combinations for the first game by both the parties.

This is an important series for the Indian captain as he would have found out recently that the media and the fans in the subcontinent have a pretty short term memory. I am sure that this will be a close series and I hope that India ends up on the right side of the results. I am going for a 4-3 win to India. Go India!!

The XM SkyDock has begun to receive the accolades that I have been reporting would come. Rave reviews of the revolutionary new satellite radio offering are beginning to pour in, as more and more Apple (AAPL) iPhone and iPod Touch owners are coming to the realization that yes……There’s an app for that!

Out of the box, and with a basic XM monthly subscription the SkyDock brings iPhone and iPod Touch owners everything XM offers including CNBC, Major League Baseball, Oprah Winfrey, Opie and Anthony, Mad Dog Radio and all the rest of the exclusive XM lineup including its extensive commercial free music offerings to Apple Devices. Adding the “Best of Sirius” package will add the NFL, Martha Stewart, Howard Stern and lots more! A new marketing campaign dubbed Rock ‘N’ Rewards offers a cash reward for new subscribers of up to $100.00 which will actually pay for the upgrade, although the cash reward can be used for any purpose.

From a consumer standpoint, this is big news. From an investment standpoint, it’s even bigger. It has been no secret that Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) relied heavily on new car sales for far too long. Looking at the numbers that Apple reported just two days ago, it is clear that this new market represents a growth opportunity that dwarfs both the new and preowned auto markets.

Consider that out of 10 million new cars sold annually, approximately half of them are not equipped with Satellite Radio, and the “take rate” of those that are equipped stands at less than 50%. As 100% penetration comes at a snail’s pace through all the major auto manufacturers, subscriber growth will keep a similar pace.

Every new car radio carries with it a cost to Sirius XM whether or not the service is ever subscribed to. There are also issues of revenue share agreements with the automakers that cut into Sirius XM’s earnings and profit potential. All in all, new car sales have created growth and awareness of satellite radio, but that growth as 2009 has demonstrated, has slowed as auto sales declined sharply.

According to Apple’s press release, the company sold 10.2 million iPods and 7.4 million iPhones in Q3. No number was given regarding iPod Touch devices, but the picture is clear. The company during its press conference also admitted to pent up demand heading into Q4 for the iPhone, due to supply problems that Apple has just recently begun to overcome.

With nearly 30 million iPhones alone being sold annually, the new car sales annual rate of 9-10 million vehicles can potentially be rendered a second tier market for Sirius XM Radio. This quarter may prove to be a historic quarter for Sirius XM Radio, if it can capitalize on this new market of Apple consumers. It may just be as simple as letting Apple consumers know that — “Yes…There’s an app for that!”

Source: http://satwaves.com

Sudeep Tyagi is the only new face in the Indian squad for the Australian series (Pic: courtesy Cricinfo)

Sudeep Tyagi is the only new face in the Indian squad for the Australian series (Pic: courtesy Cricinfo)

The Indian team for the upcoming Australian series was announced last week and the only new face in the squad was Sudeep Tyagi. Tyagi is the latest addition to the search for a good young Indian fast bowler. Tyagi had a great beginning to his domestic career but could not repeat the same in his second year of the championship. His success in the shorter format of the game has resulted in his selection in the Indian ODI team.

Tyagi is not an out and out quick bowler and fortunately he does not claim to be one. He bowls around 135-140 Km/hr and swings the ball both ways. He had an impressive showing in the Emerging Players tournament in Australia and also in the recently concluded Challenger Series in India. India will be playing the Aussies later this month in a 7 match ODI series where I am sure the selectors would want to test him out. Only time will tell if he breaks the familiar pattern of the current and past Indian seamers have been following.

Since 2000 the Indian team has had promising entrants in the pace bowling department like Zaheer, Nehra, RP Singh, Irfan, Sreesanth, Munaf, Ishant, Balaji, VRV Singh etc. If you take the careers of all the above mentioned bowlers one thing is common among them which is lack of consistency. All the above mentioned bowlers had a great beginning and an impressive first year in the International scene but could not sustain the same in the coming years. Bowlers starting to bowl at 135-140 to start with, in their second year average around 130 or lower. They lose their swing and pace and look pretty mediocre.

Ishant who had an impressive Australian tour earlier last year bowling consistently over 140 K is now looking ordinary averaging less than 130 K in speed and bowling freebees. What is causing such a drop in performance is something to be investigated. The BCCI have now taken the easy way out by sacking the bowling coach, which I don’t think is a solution to this conundrum.

Lots of theories have been floating around in the media to explain this situation like, too much cricket, too much money etc and I feel that it’s a bit of both. The adulation and recognition the players receive is tremendous and I feel that it becomes too much for them to handle. Players like Zaheer, Nehra and Munaf had to be dropped from the team for them to come back as better bowlers. The treatment seems to work, which means that the bowlers need a kick on their back side once in a while.

The other aspect is too much cricket which cannot be ignored either. Tests, ODI, and T20 which includes two BCCI tournaments now every year cannot be good for the bowlers. The big money and fan following so soon in their careers can only lead to drop in performance of these youngsters who are barely 20 when they make the side. Either the BCCI should follow the Aussie path by bringing in the players who have considerable domestic experience or should have performance based points system which will mean that their IPL place or the Indian team contract will be affected.

Now that another youngster is making his debut we have to be careful the way he is treated. We don’t want to hype him too much after couple of good performances. My suggestion would be that once the player makes his debut in the International arena, he should be made to concentrate on the National side rather than playing in the IPL or any other meaningless tournaments. Tyagi needs to understand that he has the best chance now to cement his position in the squad and not follow the path of his seniors.

In a recent interview he mentioned that he wants to perform like Zaheer Khan and I hope he was talking about the performances of Zaheer in the last two years only. Hopefully we can see a break in the trend of the last few years in the pace bowling department. Once Zaheer comes back we can have a good pool of bowlers which can augur well for the future of Indian cricket. I sincerely hope that BCCI does something about the bowling problem rather than adapting the drop and pick option.

The team for the upcoming Australian series was announced earlier today and there were few surprises in the squad. This team was only for the first two games of the series. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Ravindra Jadeja in the squad. After his performances in the World T20 I thought that it will take a long time for him to make a comeback but apparently I was wrong. The selectors named him in the 15 for the first two games based on his performance in the Irani trophy.

Sehwag and Yuvi have made it back to the team after missing out due to injuries in the champions Trophy as expected. Munaf also receives a call back after his exploits in the Irani trophy and the challenger Trophy where he was the highest wicket taker. Sudeep Tyagi gets a call which I thought was always on the cards as he has been consistently performing well in the domestic arena. His performance in the challenger Trophy and “Emerging players” trophy has catapulted him to the National squad fairly early.

The rest of the team is on the expected lines as Kohli and Mishra have been retained in the squad after some good showings in the CT. Ashish Nehra will be leading the pace bowling department and Bajji will be taking care of the spin. The other big surprise in the squad is the inclusion of Ishant Sharma, in spite of his mediocre performances in ODI cricket for the past year or so. His performances in the challenger trophy were also not up to the mark as he was constantly out bowled by Tyagi and Munaf. This shows the confidence the management has on the youngster and I hope he doesn’t disappoint.

Rahul Dravid unfortunately does not enjoy such confidence from the selectors who have dropped him from the squad. Rahul made a comeback to the side after 2 years since the selectors thought that the youngsters were suspect against the bouncing ball in SA but has been discarded for the home series against the Australians. I am actually really disappointed with the way the great man has been treated as he has done whatever was asked of him throughout his career. He has batted in all positions, kept wickets to maintain the balance in the squad without complaining but still continues to be treated badly by the selectors.

Yusuf Pathan has been shown the door but this was expected after his performances in SL and CT. Irfan Pathan could not be considered as he is currently injured. Ravichandran Aswin has not been considered for the all rounders spot and none of the good performers from the challenger’s trophy have got a look in.

All in all the team looks solid with the inclusion of Yuvi and Sehwag. It will be interesting to see where Sachin bats, since Sehwag is back in the squad now. I am assuming that Ghambir will drop down the order to accommodate Sehwag at the top with Sachin. The bowling selection will also be interesting as India don’t have a good all rounder in the team. I am not sure if they would want to go with two spinners or 3 pacers as most of the wickets for this series will be batsmen friendly. When looking at the squad selected for the series, Nehra and Bajji seem to be the only sure starters in the lineup.

All in all even though there have been few surprises, the squad looks solid and has capabilities to put it past the Aussies. The series begins in 10 days time and I hope that we put up a good show. I am going for a 4-3 win for the home team. Go India!!

Squad from the first two ODI’s against the Aussies:

Squad: MS Dhoni (capt/wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Sudeep Tyagi, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma.

India Red captain badrinath with the challenger Trophy

India Red captain badrinath with the challenger Trophy

The challenger trophy featuring three teams comprising of the best talents from the Indian domestic scene ended in Nagpur over the weekend. India Red beat India Blue to claim the Challenger Trophy. The challenger trophy, once the primary competition to showcase the talent of best players from the Indian domestic scene in the limited overs version was totally overshadowed by the CLT20. I am not even sure if any selectors or the viewers expressed any interest on this year’s tournament.

I don’t understand the logic of having both the competitions at the same time when the BCCI knows that India is due to play Australia in an ODI series. As MS Dhoni himself does not consider T20 as a yardstick for ODI selections, the BCCI could have had the probable Indian players to participate in the Challenger series instead of the CLT20. It would have been better if Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and others had played in the challengers rather than the bang bash CLT20.

Since challengers Trophy is a short tournament, the players could have been back for the second round if their respective IPL teams had qualified for the same. Anyways that aside, the tournament itself was interesting. There were lots of youngsters in view and few of them impressed with their performances. India Red was amazingly the strongest of the three teams this year as traditionally India blue used to be the better side comprising of the current Indian players. But unfortunately the Indian seniors were either injured or were playing in the CLT20.

Batting was not that easy in the challenger trophy except for one game in which the India blue scored 350. The batting in the tournament threw some new names like Abhinav Mukund and some known names like Shikar Dhawan, M Vijay, Badrinath, Aniruddha S etc. It was great to see players like M Vijay and Shikar Dhawan playing well as they are considered to be the future of Indian batting. M Vijay especially showed that he can bat in the shorter format of the game too. Tamil Nadu all rounder Ravichandran Aswin also impressed with his bowling in the competition. He was very economical in all the games and also picked some crucial wickets but did not receive too many chances to display his batting capabilities.

He could be an option for the Indians in the upcoming series against the Aussies. It was baffling to see that Pujara never got a game in spite of him being in fray for the selection for the past year or so. He seems to be scoring heavily in the domestic cricket but doesn’t seem to be in the mind of the selectors. The bowling was the strong point for India Red with Munaf and Tyagi being the chief contributors. Munaf was excellent in the series along with Tyagi but Ishant was once again disappointing. Ishant picked up wickets but was very expensive throughout the series. I think that he needs a break from cricket to get back his pace and accuracy. Getting bashed around in every single game cannot do any good for his confidence. Munaf has been bowling pretty well in the recent times and Tyagi even though started badly finished very well in the last couple of games.

It was a good tournament and threw some interesting names for the selectors to look at when they sit down for team selection on the 15th of this month. I am hoping to see some new names in the squad for the upcoming series against the Aussies.15 or 16 selected for the first few games but we have to wait and see.

Adam Gilchrist and Anil Kumble in a press conference ahead of CL T20

Adam Gilchrist and Anil Kumble in a press conference ahead of CL T20

The inaugural CL T20 began yesterday with Bangalore Royal Challengers taking on the Cape Cobras from South Africa. CL T20 has been touted as the first global domestic league and has received lots of press. The Challenger trophy event which is being played simultaneously has almost gone unnoticed. The Challenger trophy for me is more the measure of a young talent than the Bang Bash CL T20. Anyways keeping that aside lets analyze the IPL teams participating in this event and how they stack against the rest.

Bangalore Royal Challengers:

Touted as the Test X1 as opposed to a T20 team in the first edition of IPL, they surprised one and all by entering the finals in the second edition. Yesterday they played the Cape Cobras and put up a decent show. BLR scored 180 batting first only to be defeated by a great innings from Jean-Paul Duminy who remained unbeaten on 99. Bangalore team is a mix of youth and experience but very light on bowling. Yeah they have Kumble but he doesn’t bowl often these days and if they don’t choose Steyn then their bowling is pretty thin. Kallis has not had a great time with the ball in T20 and Praveen Kumar does not have the pace to trouble the batsmen in the final overs. It seems like the bowling depends too much on Steyn and Kumble. Batting wise they have some exciting talent. They have Ross Taylor, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey (Scored the first hundred by an Indian in T20) and then experience with Rahul Dravid, Kallis, Uthappa and Boucher. But when you compare BRC with the rest of the teams in the competition, it will be a surprise if they make it to the final stages.

Deccan Chargers:

They are the winners of the IPL 2 and have a balanced lineup. The team has fire power in batting as well as in bowling. The bowling has pace with Edwards and batting has Adam Gilchrist and Andrew Symonds. They will do okay in the competition if they bat well. RP Singh has been in a really bad form which means that they have to play Vaas in his place. The spin department will be taken by Pragyan Ojha who has been great whenever he played for the country. But one thing noticed in the IPL 2 was that their bowling lacks consistency and they rely too much on Gilchrist to get them off to a flier.

They will miss Hershelle Gibbs in CLT20, who was one of the main contributors in the IPL 2 for DC. Even though they have some good youngsters in the middle order, their chances squarely rest on how Adam Gilchrist plays. That probably might be a big disadvantage for the team. Rohit Sharma off course will have to play a major role along with Venugopala Rao. I guess they have the fire power to make it to the semis, more so than BRC.

Delhi Daredevils:

Probably the best team among the three IPL entrants in the competition. Explosive batting and a good bowling lineup makes DD one of the favorites where ever they play. Batting comprises of Sehwag, Dilshan, Ghambir, Devilliers and also Dinesh Karthik. The batting is solid and the bowling also is pretty solid with Nannes, Nehra, McGrath (If he plays), and Mishra. So that sums up the squad pretty much. The batting has quality and aggression and bowling has consistency and pace. Sehwag is making a return to competitive cricket after a break and would want to get back to his groove before the all important series against the Aussies. Ghambir newly named as the captain of the Daredevils has been in fantastic form. Dilshan has been explosive over the past year and has played some blinders for SL in that period.

The bowling also has pace with Nannes, consistency with McGrath and Nehra and spin will be in good hands with Mishra. All in all DD have the best chance of reaching the finals of the three IPL entrants in this competition. They play Victoria later today and I hope that they start their campaign on a winning note.

That pretty much ends my analysis of the three IPL teams in the competition. I would have personally preferred youngsters like Kohli playing in the challengers rather than in the CLT20 but thats my opinion. I hope the youngsters in the teams take this as an experiance and pick the brains of the stalwarts they are privileged to share the dressing room with. Dhoni pretty much summed up the T20 leagues after India’s CT exit when he said “T20 should not be the yardstick for the team selection”. So I dont think this is going to help any youngster to improve their skills but can be used as a experiance to play against the best in the world.

Somdev guides India to the World Group after 11 years

Somdev guides India to the World Group after 11 years

India’s brilliant young Davis cup team reached the World group after 11 years where they will play Russia next year. It was a fantastic achievement considering India played with a young team this year that lacks experience playing in the Davis Cup. Somdev, Yuki and Rohan Bopanna are youngsters who haven’t played too much for India.

Leander and Mahesh have carried India’s hopes for so long and it’s heartening to see these youngsters coming through. Somdev reaching the second round of the US Open was a brilliant achievement and Yuki winning the Australian open juniors was special too. Rohan Bopanna has been playing pretty decent tennis too over the past year. This augurs well for India for the years to come. Somdev, Bopanna and Yuki helped India to a convincing 4-1 victory over South Africa away from home which is always special.

Playing for your country is special and these youngsters have done us proud. Yuki is just 17 years old and is number 1 junior player in the world. I hope that he matures into a very good player for India in the future. Given a chance to debut in the final dead rubber of the Davis cup tie against the SA he managed to beat Izak Van Der Merve to make the score line 4-1 in India’s favor. But the toast of the tournament for India was Somdev, who won both his singles tie to hand victory to India.

After his brilliant run in the Chennai open last year Somdev has been a revelation and continues to move up the rankings. I hope that this starts a golden run for India in tennis and we see a top 10 player during our lifetime. I wish all success to the Indian Davis cup team and hope that we defeat Russia in the World Group tie next year.

Captains should take Batting PP seriously to take advantage of the concept

Captains should take Batting PP seriously to take advantage of the concept

Batting power play is the latest innovation by the ICC to spice up the 50 over format. Over the past year when this new concept has been in place it seems like the teams have found this hard to comprehend. It seem like the teams have found it hard to determine how to use this new concept to their advantage. Previously the ODI format had a 15 over field restriction rule when the batsmen can go berserk trying to muster as many runs as possible within that period. This gave birth to the pinch hitters and unconventional openers in the mid nineties.

The 15 over rule has been there for ages now and it seems like the teams are still stuck in that time in spite of the latest changes in the power play rule. The current power play (PP) has been extended to 20 overs with 15 bowling PP overs and 5 batting PP overs. The first 10 overs of PP are continuous but the bowling captain can choose when to take the rest of the 5 bowling PP overs. Then there are 5 PP overs which the batting team can take as and when they please within the 50 overs. If the batting team fails to take it by the end of the 45th over it is automatically applied or forced on the batting team.

Sounds simple enough but when you look at the ODI games in the recent times, it seems like the concept is more complicated for the captains then it actually looks. The bowling team takes the easy way out by taking the PP at a stretch for the first 15 overs keeping the older format in mind. So it works out simple for them, since the captain need not strategize and is happy to get the PP away. But the batting PP is the one which has got the teams napping. In the recent times most of the teams have been either forced to take it or have taken it one or two overs too late.

I guess the problem comes with the age old adage in ODI cricket that the slog overs start from the 40th over. The teams wait till the 40th over to decide whether they want to take the PP or not. Sometimes it works but most of the times the teams lose too many wickets which makes the PP almost useless. For example in the recent ODI between India and Pakistan, India was 190 odd for the loss of 5 wickets with two settled batsmen at the crease. The required RR was just over a run a ball and a perfect time to take PP. Suresh Raina was taking risks with the fielders on the boundary which made no sense as the PP was available for the Indians to take. India for some strange reason wait and Suresh Raina gets out and by the time India decides to take the PP they are 7 wickets down, virtually making the PP useless.

So what is the ideal time to take the batting PP? This is something the teams should discuss in their meetings prior to the games. They have to work out a strategy as to when they should take it and in what situation. The best situation as far as I am concerned is when two batsmen are going strong and are well set take the PP and score 40-45 runs which will put enormous pressure on the fielding team. The best example for timing was again a game involving India, when Sachin and Yuvraj where blasting the NZ bowlers earlier this year. They decided to take the PP as early as 22nd over and blasted 69 runs in those 5 overs. Brilliant decision whoever made the call to take the PP that early. India ended up with 392 on the board.

But these things are easier said than done. It’s very difficult to determine what goes through a cricketers mind when he is at the middle and yes there are team instructions to follow as well. We don’t even know if the players in the middle are actually allowed to take that call or not. Probably the coach sends out a message to take the PP. whatever may be the scenario if we take a sample of 50 odd games in the recent times, we will see that most teams have wasted the batting PP. If the ICC isn’t smart about it, this concept will also die down as the super sub did couple of years ago.

I guess the best way would be to put the pressure on the captains by saying that they have to take the PP themselves before the 46th over is bowled and will not be automatically applied if they don’t take it. It will be assumed that the team has given up the right to take the PP and it should work to the advantage of the bowling team. I guess if such a rule is put in place, it probably might receive more serious thinking by the teams during their discussions and probably will become part of their strategy. Unless something is done to make it more interesting, I guess the ODI game will still follow the same old adage of 15 overs of field restriction and last 10 overs of slog and the innovations will have no effect.

Sehwag will be playing for Delhi Daredevils in the upcoming CLT20 (Pic Courtesy Cricinfo)

Sehwag will be playing for Delhi Daredevils in the upcoming CLT20 (Pic Courtesy Cricinfo)

The CLT20 starts in few days and no one is excited about the same. India’s early exit from the CT has barely evaporated our minds and we have this meaningless tournament from BCCI. CLT20 is money making venture from BCCI to cash in on the success of IPL. It has domestic teams from other countries too but I can care less as to whom they are. Deccan Chargers (IPL Champions), Delhi Daredevils and Bangalore Royal challengers will participate from the IPL in this event which is set to begin in few days time.

India’s exit from the CT and also the World T20 has left people questioning their rankings and I hope that the players take this time to work on their weakness. India is going to take on the Aussies at the end of this month and this extravagant circus cannot be an ideal preparation. I am happy that Ishant and Bajji aren’t a part of this. I would have been happy if the Indian players hit the nets and practice harder on developing their skills rather than participate in this meaningless tournament.

No matter what Amit Mishra says, the Indian bowling has been a disappointment over the past year and Dhoni was right to criticize the same. No matter how good your batting is, you cannot expect them to score 300 every time they walk out to bat. Ishant Sharma has lost his pace and seems pedestrian and so does RP Singh. It seemed as though the Indian bowlers are just going through the motions thinking that the batsmen would dig them out of the hole as they have done often in the past. When that does not happen, the Indian bowling gets shown pretty badly.

Bowlers have to be rotated especially in a busy season like this. We cannot keep going back to the same bowlers again and again. If RP was injured, he should have played domestic cricket to prove himself before making a comeback into the Indian team. He looked pretty listless in the CT. The selectors have to get Sreesanth back into the team and have to try out Sudeep Tyagi in the X1 against the Aussies. It seems like Munaf also looked good in the recently concluded Irani Cup game. If kick on the backside is something what the Indian bowlers are looking for then the selectors have to give it to them. It has been proven in the past that the Indian bowlers start well but within their first year lose their effectiveness.

Does money and adulation play a part? Yes it does. Ishant Sharma gets paid $950000 to play 40 days of cricket in the IPL, so why will he work on his fitness and improve? If getting bashed around for 40 days can earn you that much why work on your bowling and improve? It seems like only the players who want to make a comeback to the Indian team take even IPL seriously. India has a long season ahead of them and just a year and a half away from the WC. I hope that the selectors take the hint from the captain and blood some youngsters in the team.

Dhoni’s comment of IPL not being the gauge to pick players for the longer format is not far from the truth. Yusuf has proved the same over the past year. India needs to do something with their bowling otherwise they will be left behind in the race. I hope that India becomes the number 1 team in both the formats but for that to happen, we need a good bowling attack. Sudeep Tyagi, Sreesanth, Ishant, RP, Nehra, Munaf, Zaheer, Mishra, chawla and Bajji are the bowlers for India for coming few years and we have to identify the right combination by rotating them often.