Archive for the ‘ODI’ Category
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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.
CLT20 – IPL Teams Review
Posted on: October 9, 2009
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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.
Batting Power play – An enigma
Posted on: October 7, 2009
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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.
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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.
Where are the Bowlers?
Posted on: September 29, 2009
Abid Nabi - Considered one of the fastest in India, does not get even mentioned in team selections
India is almost out of the champions Trophy and barring a miracle, they will pack their bags and head home tomorrow. As I wrote earlier India’s bowling problem hurt their chances in the Champions Trophy. The Indian bowlers were pathetic against Pakistan in their first game allowed them to escape from a precarious 65/3 to 302 which in the end proved too much for the depleted Indian batting lineup. This has been the problem with the Indian team for the past 1 year or so.
The batting strength was able to shield this weakness but with the absence of couple of key players it was exposed even further against the Pakistanis in the Champions Trophy. So the perennial question is where are the bowlers? So much of domestic cricket being played, so much of talent but why do we keep hearing the same names again and again? Are the selectors good at actually tapping good talent? India has loads of talent in the Domestic arena but has been reluctant to try out new players in the National squad. Three years back when Guru Greg was at the helm there was a bowler named Abid Nabi who was touted as the next big thing in Indian cricket. He was even summoned to bowl at the Indian batters in the nets but where is he now? He signed up for the ICL and could not be considered but still his name was never mentioned during selection anytime. He is now in the list of players who has accepted the BCCI “Amnesty” program. Another one of BCCI’s ridiculous act but at least he can be in contention now.
And then there is Sudeep Tyagi who has been performing very well in the domestic cricket, had a good IPL and also performed brilliantly in the recently concluded Emerging Players trophy in Australia but he is nowhere close to selection. The Indian selectors are known to waste talent in domestic cricket for ages now and it has hurt Indian cricket. There are loads of names which come to mind. Where is Piyush chawla, Pujara? Both have been performing consistently in the domestic arena. Chawla though has done quite well when he has been given chances at the National level but still continues to be ignored by the selectors. The Indian selectors are short sighted which is the major problem. They always look to fix the current issues but fail to look at the larger picture.
When we speak of All rounders, it always has to be the Pathan brothers but what about Ravichandran Ashwin who has been brilliant for Tamil Nadu? Ashwin has been brilliant for TN and could be an asset in the Indian team but has never been in consideration. The Indian team needs to find some good bowlers to complement Zaheer and unless they do that we cannot claim ourselves as the contenders for the Number 1 spot. Ishant Sharma needs a break to sort himself out and if possible needs to take a break from the IPL to concentrate on his bowling. India has the talent to develop into one of the best teams in the world even after the retirement of the greats but the selectors need to be smart about this.
Grooming and nurturing young talent is really important and unless that happens, Indian cricket will continue to suffer. Right talent needs to be encouraged irrespective of where they come from. Players like Ashwin, Nabi, Pujara, Tyagi, Chawla, Mishra, Kohli, Badri, Vijay etc have to be in the Indian plans for the future and need to be given chances regularly to prove their worth. India play a 7 match ODI series against the Australians and it will be the right time to rest some bowlers and give chances to youngsters. They cannot perform worse than the current pack. Keep Ashish Nehra and change the rest of the bowling, RP Singh, Ishant and Harbajan need a break and have to be challenged. They have been performing badly for about a year now without being shown the door in ODI cricket and need to be given a break.
If India needs to be considered as the number 1 team in the world they have to work towards it. I hope that Dhoni and the selectors are listening.
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Rahul Dravid castled by Jeetan patel in India's warm up game against NZ (Courtesy Cricinfo)
Captain MS. Dhoni will have a lots to think about between now and Saturday when India take on a buoyant Pakistan team in the first match of the ICC Champions trophy. India played NZ in their only warm up match before the tournament started and were badly beaten by 101 runs. The problem for India was again the bowling. India for sure has one of the worst bowling line up among the top 7 teams (excluding WI) and it’s going to certainly diminish their chances of winning the Champions Trophy.
Ishant, RP and Praveen yesterday were pretty ordinary and went for more than 7 an over. Only Mishra, Yusuf and Raina were economical which again puts the Indian captain under lots of pressure. Spinners being the best bowlers might force the captain to go with Mishra and Bajji in the lineup compromising a fast bowler. Praveen might be shown the door after yesterday’s performance but the rest aren’t that great either.
Ishant Sharma has been really poor over the past year and has consistently gone over 6 runs per over. He has never been able to restrict the runs or take wickets. Nehra after his comeback had a good WI series and bowled well in patches but again lacks consistency to lead the pace attack. RP Singh has just made a comeback after injury and is yet to regain his pace and swing. So India has to totally rely on Bajji and the part-timers to restrict the run flow if they decide against 2 spinners.
The batting also seems a little bit rusty but expecting them to chase 300 every time is expecting too much. The Indian batting is strong but they can collapse once in a while like they did yesterday. Yeah agreed that Sachin wasn’t playing but to rely on just one player is taking the team back by 10 years. The news from the team management is that Ghambir isn’t 100% fit, which is a shock as he has been picked in the squad. I don’t know why you would pick a player for an important trophy if he not 100% fit.
I think that they have to think about Yusuf Pathan’s position in the team too. He hasn’t done anything significant with the bat in the 50 over game and has bowled okay in the chances he has been provided. I guess Irfan will be a better all rounder for India in limited overs format. Looking at the current scenario the Indian team is long way away from being the number 1 team in the world. Probably in the current scenario we are good enough to be number 3 team but unless we improve our bowling we can’t claim to be the world’s best.
As far as the champion’s trophy goes, India will be hard pressed to beat Pakistan and Australia who have a good batting lineup and much better bowling lineup than India. I will not be surprised if we don’t make it to the semis. It all depends on how our batsmen play against the Aussie and the Pakistani bowlers.
Sports this week
Posted on: September 15, 2009
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Del Potro stunned Roger Federer to win the US Open
Since there have been quite a few happenings in the sports world in the past week, I thought I can club all of those into one post.
Tennis – Del Porto stuns Federer, Leander does it again in doubles
The last grand slam of the year concluded yesterday when Juan Martin Del Potro stunned one and all by winning the championship. Del Potro made it to the finals after a strong win against Nadal in the semi-final but was not given too much of a chance against the world #1 Federer. The match began in the familiar fashion as Fed won the first set 6-3. But Del Potro was not the one to give up. The second set went into a tie break which the Argentinean took 7-5 to win the second set 7-6.
The third set went to Fed again with a break 6-4 and the fourth to Del Potro 7-6 (7-4) again in a tie break. This was a classic game and Del Potro for sure did not make it easy for the champion. Federer was chasing history again here at the US Open as he was trying to win his 6th consecutive title. The final set though was a bit of an anti-climax as Del Potro won it 6-2 to claim the title. This was his first grand slam victory and what a win it was beating both Federer and Nadal in consecutive games. For Federer though this was a great year, reaching four finals and winning two and losing two classic games in Australian and US. Congrats to Del Potro on winning his maiden title and hope he builds up on his win.
Kim Clijsters claimed the Women's crown on her comeback
In the women’s section there was a surprise winner too. Kim Clijsters returning after two year hiatus from the game played brilliantly to win the US Open by beating C. Wozniacki who played her first finals. Clijsters who was a wild card in this year’s championship won the title after beating Serena Williams in the controversial semi-final game on Saturday. Congrats to Kim Clijsters on a brilliant return and also winning the title against all odds.
Leander and Doulghy won the Men's doubles title
For India though this year’s open began very promisingly with Somdev and Sania reaching second round in singles. Even though they lost in the second round, it was a good performance from both of them in singles. Leander and Mahesh again carried the Indian hopes for a grand slam title and they did not disappoint. Leander reached the finals of both Mixed and Men’s doubles and Mahesh reached the Men’s doubles finals. Leander lost the mixed finals but played brilliantly with Dloughy to win the Men’s doubles finals beating the combination of Mahesh and Knowles. It was a fantastic game which went to the third set before Paes/Dloughy combination won 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to claim the title.
This was the second title of the year for the combination as they had won the French earlier this year. Yuki Bhambri the world number 1 junior player from India though suffered an upset losing in the quarters of the junior championship. He is just 17 and I hope that he becomes a good player for India in the future.
Cricket – India win the Compaq cup, England struggling in the ODI series
Victorious Indian team with the Compaq Cup
India finally won a title in SL after 12 years and this was a great performance from Dhoni’s men. India stuttered their way to the title as drop catches and misfields marked their efforts in the field. India was thrashed by SL in the previous game on the same ground so a quick turnaround was needed for the visitors. Dhoni started on the right note when he called right at the toss. India batted first with Dravid and Sachin opening the innings. Dinesh Karthik was replaced by Virat Kohli for this all important finals.
Sachin and Dravid laid the foundation with a solid 95 run partnership with Sachin looking in sublime touch. Sachin later shared important partnerships with Dhoni (56) and Yuvraj (56*) on his way to yet another brilliant hundred. When he departed after scoring 138 (133) India were already on 276. With some late hitting from Yuvraj India posted an imposing 319/5 in their 50 overs.
SL started their innings with their typical flourish with Jayasuriya and Dilshan helped by some mediocre bowling by Indian pacers. The fielding also was at an all time low as the Indians constantly misfielded and it became worse when Kohli dropped Jayasuriya of the bowling of RP Singh. Even though with the introduction of the spinners India pulled things back with 3 quick wickets, the fielding did not improve much. Raina and Yuvraj bowled brilliantly in the middle overs to keep the host batsmen in check picking up a wicket each for their efforts.
The pacers though were very inconsistent, leaking runs at will to keep the SL batsmen in the hunt. It was hard to believe that the Indian batsmen folded for 168 on the same ground just a day back. But eventually SL batsmen ran out of steam when Bajji returned for his final spell and lost the game by 46 runs. Overall it was a good performance by the team but could have been better with some tight fielding. This win should give them confidence for the upcoming champions trophy in SA. Hope they rectify their mistakes and do well in the CT. Congrats to Dhoni and his men on yet another series win.
England on the other hand have been struggling against a below par Aussie line up. After winning the Ashes 2-1, they are down 4-0 against the Aussies in the ODI series. Andrew Strauss would like to restore some pride by winning couple of games at least but in the current scenario it looks like a 7-0 whitewash to the Aussies which has never been achieved before.
Selection conundrum
Posted on: August 17, 2009
Dravid makes a surprise comeback to the Indian ODI squad after a two year hiatus
The team for the Tri-Series in Sri Lanka and Champions trophy has been announced and there are quite a few surprises in the final 15. First let’s concentrate on the omissions. Sehwag is yet to recover from the injury he sustained in the IPL, so he is the most high profile absentee from the squad. Rohit Sharma has been shown the door after some mediocre performances over the past year. Ravindra Jadeja also doesn’t find a spot in the team after his indifferent performance in the World T20.
The major disappointment was the non inclusion of Virat Kohli. I don’t understand the reason for the same from the selectors. He hasn’t played a single ODI for India since 2008 series against the Sri Lankans where he was very consistent and handled the M & M threat with competence. Kohli’s brilliant performance in the Emerging players tournament recently concluded in Australia has not had an effect on the selectors it seems. I hope that they don’t keep wasting a talent and give him a chance pretty soon.
Badrinath and Vijay have been dropped from the squad and I don’t know why. I guess probably an effect of the comments from Yusuf when the 30 probables were announced. Except for Dinesh Karthik, there are no Chennaites in the squad, should please Yusuf Pathan now. Badri again is being given a hard time by the selectors and there is no reason for the same. Vijay at least I agree is more suited to the longer format. Badri played a crucial knock in the 2008 series against the SL to steer India home and it just required 2 failures for the selectors to discard him. Rohit Sharma though had been playing in the squad for the past year and a half on one match winning innings in Australia. I guess Yusuf should realize where the bias is. I just hope that Badri doesn’t become another Sharath or Sriram.
Amit Mishra has been given a go after his great performance in the Emerging players trophy and suddenly Ojha doesn’t find a place in the squad. Ojha has done nothing wrong till date and has been performing brilliantly whenever he has played for the team and it’s unfortunate that the selectors are not consistent with his selection. Ojha will be disappointed and rightly so. The biggest surprise was the inclusion of Rahul Dravid in the ODI squad. He is making a comeback after a two year hiatus and it is a huge surprise.
Dravid’s comeback was always on the cards after the Indian youngsters struggled against short pitched bowling in the recently concluded World T20. This might provide the team with necessary solidity in the absence of Sehwag but I think it’s not the right move by the selectors. It’s like we took 5 steps forward in the past couple of years and this selection has pulled us two steps back. When Dhoni requested an all youth team couple of years back, everyone blasted him but after seeing the results people started backing the young team. Getting Virat Kohli in the team would have been much wiser decision I feel.
Rahul is a great player and does not need to prove anything regarding his credentials as an ODI player and I am sure he will do well. The rest of the team is almost same as the one which went to the Caribbean couple of months back. The team travels to SL to play a Tri-Series, with the third team being NZ before flying to SA to participate in the Champion’s trophy.
Let’s hope that we win both the series coming our way in the next couple of months.
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Virat Kohli deserves an extended run in the Indian ODI squad
It was a fantastic performance from the Indian Emerging players as they beat the SA Emerging players in Australia to claim the trophy yesterday. The South African team was unbeaten till the finals and unfortunately they chocked like their National squad. For India though this was a sweet victory and players like Badrinath, Virat Kohli, Rahane, Tyagi and Mishra did very well during the course of the tournament.
Virat Kohli I guess has further proven his case as a promising player for India for the future. He should be playing in the Indian team often. He played brilliantly against M & M during India’s one-day series win against the SL last year and has not played in the X1 since. Rohit Sharma has been preferred over him in the middle order. I guess now is the time to give him a look in.
Rohit Sharma has had his chances and has consistently underperformed. During the recent WI tour he was completely out of place and did not score any runs. Rohit Sharma has been in the team since his 66 in the finals against the Aussies last year but since then he has struggled at the International level. Having talent alone shouldn’t guarantee a spot for anyone in the team.
Badrinath again is one of the players who have not got enough chances. He had couple of bad matches and he was discarded. That’s the reason I was unable to comprehend what Yusuf Pathan was saying about the squad being Chennai heavy. Chennai has just 3 players in the reckoning, Vijay, Badri and Karthik and two of them never get a chance in the X1. The underperforming players like Rohit and Irfan have got more chances than the 3 I have mentioned above.
Kohli with his brilliant performance in the Emerging players trophy has reminded the selectors that he is one of the best youngsters we have in the domestic set up. Kohli in alien conditions has scored over 400 runs at a healthy average of 50 with 2 hundreds, one of them coming in the finals. Even though Badrinath doesn’t have a great stat to boost his claim in this series, he did have some important knocks and has been performing consistently for Tamil Nadu. I hope that he does not become one of the other Tamil Nadu players before him who retired with lots of promise without getting a look in.
The other player to impress was Rahane who had a brilliant series too, finishing with the second highest run tally behind Kohli. Sudeep Tyagi ended up with most wickets in the series and Amit Mishra had a good series too. I hope that the selectors are taking a look at these performances. The media coverage has been really poor for this series considering that the national team hasn’t been playing over the past month or so.
Anyways great effort by the Indian probable’s and hopefully Kohli and Badri get their due in the coming months.
The slow demise of ICL
Posted on: July 13, 2009
- In: Cricket | Cricket and Sports | ICL | IPL | Languages and Politics | ODI | Twenty20
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Captains of the ICL teams posing with the Trophy
BCCI have achieved what they set out to do couple of years back when the ICL was launched. ICL was launched in 2007 by Zee Enterprises as their bid to telecast couple of International tournaments was denied by the BCCI. When the ICL was launched lots of International players were excited and expressed interest in the same. Big names such as Shane Bond, Abdul Razzak and few other retired players joined the league.
BCCI obviously was not thrilled and called it a “Rebel” league. The BCCI also said that any player joining the league will not be allowed to play for India. BCCI’s power in International cricket is now a known fact and this caused all the other nations to follow suit and ban their players joining the so called “Rebel” league. BCCI did not stop there, they came up with their own T20 league and launched the IPL in 2007 and signed up all the big stars in the International arena.
Once the BCCI did that everyone knew that ICL would stand no chance against the financial powerhouse of the World cricket. The IPL season 1 was a big hit and the combination of International superstars and Bollywood superstars made the league a super duper hit in 2008. Even though ICL has been fighting for their rights against the BCCI and the ICC for recognition over the past two years, there was no doubt in everyone’s mind that this league will not survive for long.
There were lots of talks between the two parties but were unable to reach an amicable solution. In 2009 the recession had caught up with the ICL and they were unable to have their league which put lots of doubts on their players and slowly they started to part their ways with the league. Players like Shane Bond, Abdul Razzak and Mohd. Yousuf are already in their National sides and the BCCI have also given a second chance to the Indian youngsters to sever their contracts with the ICL.
It seems like the end is nearing for the ICL. Even though Kapil Dev (Chairman) had repeatedly told the media that both leagues can survive together, the possibility of that happening looks bleak right now. Even though I am not a avid supporter of the BCCI’s methods, I am happy for the International players who can now play test cricket and advance their careers. Shane Bond especially is a brilliant bowler and would be a great boost for a struggling New Zealand team. Mohd Yousuf coming back to Pakistan test team also will give them a huge boost.
BCCI have been arrogant and they said that the Indian players parting with the ICL cannot be considered for India for a year at least. The players though will be happy that they will at least get an opportunity to represent India in the future. Most of them are pretty young and 1 year would not be a big deal. The ICL might still go on as there are some retired stars still in the league but will lose its charm. BCCI have achieved what they wanted and ICL might eventually die down.
Even though it’s unfortunate for the ICL, I am just happy that some great players will again get a chance to play for their countries. The youngsters who were caught in the cross fire would be happy that in the future they can play for their country. ICL was good but was started for a wrong reason. Even though BCCI is no saint, I am just happy that this fight which was dividing world cricket is nearing its end. International teams have got back their stars and India has got back their youngsters.
girisopinion
My Thoughts 