The media is still slamming BCCI's decision to not send a team for the Asian Games in China. In search of a solution, I thought India could send an almost full-strength team there.
India's squads for Tests and Twenty20s differ majorly. Here is the Test squad: G Gambhir, V Sehwag, R Dravid, S Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, S Badrinath, MS Dhoni, H Singh, A Mishra, Z Khan, S Sreesanth.
You might have noticed that I have taken the liberty to replace Yuvraj Singh with S Badrinath... a change that I believe is essential. Yuvraj needs to be kept out of the squad to let him know that he is not indisposable. As replacement, the two guys on my radar were Badrinath and C Pujara. Since Pujara plays higher in the order in domestic cricket, it would be unfair on him to make him play at No. 6. Therefore, Badrinath.
Now, the Twenty20 squad: M Pandey, R Uthappa, N Ojha, S Raina, V Kohli, R Sharma, Y Singh, R Jadeja / I Pathan / Y Pathan, P Kumar, A Nehra, RP Singh / V Kumar.
The guys from the Test squad who would have been a part of a Twenty20 match in normal circumstances are: G Gambhir, V Sehwag, MS Dhoni, Z Khan. Amongst these, Zaheer Khan has been well replaced... simply because even he looks dreadfully off colour. Uthappa's good form (as of now) should ensure that Gambhir's absence does not harm the team too much. Naman Ojha is good behind the stumps... so Dhoni's keeping will not be missed. And as far as MSD's batting is concerned, he has stopped hitting his booming shots in any case. Ojha might just end up having a better strike rate than Dhoni in Twenty20s after the Asia Cup! Dhoni's captaincy might be missed... but we do have to groom someone for the future.
The only guy who cannot be replaced is a certain Virendra Sehwag. He was missed in West Indies... and he will be missed wherever he is not available to play cricket (whatever the format) for India!
There is one catch, though! I don't know if the matches in the Asian Games are going to be allotted the official status. But if India does send a different squad there, then there can be no way that the matches will be awarded the official status. How can India play on two different lands on the same day in two different games of cricket!?
But that is still far away though! Will BCCI risk sending another 'B' team after the humiliation in Zimbabwe. Two losses to Zimbabwe in as many matches is a first in the history of Indian cricket... but that it came against a Zimbabwe squad such as this one should make the Indian players lose sleep over their performance. If the two defeats had come against the Zimbabwe squad of early 2000s, it would still have felt better than this.
And both the matches were convincing wins by the hosts. It wasn't a last ball thriller... far from it. Both the matches, second in particular, were finished by the Zimbabweans in a clinical manner... something that India has not managed far too often over the past few weeks.
Friday, June 4, 2010
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2 comments:
Hi dear
Our Government is doing his best effort to get rid of Humiliation for spectators in seeing Play Cricket Games .
If the main Indian players were tired why did they play a tri-series in Zimb?
India could have still performed better as Raina has played maybe 100 onedayers and others like Sharma, Karthick and co. have played about 50 matches but looking at the way they played it seemed like all of them were making their debut.
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