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India has used 27 players in One Day Internationals in the year 2010. And with the World Cup less than 200 days away now, the ODI unit is looking in deep trouble. Just a few spots are cemented... so one can safely say that a lot of construction work will need to be undertaken.
Lets look at the men who have their places reserved in the team sheet (assuming no injury concerns in February 2011):
Openers: Virendra Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir (I know GG is not in the best of nicks right now... but he is a virtual certainty for me as he can rotate the strike very well and knows how to build an innings)
Middle Order: Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni (That's it! From the best middle order in the world in Tests to no middle order at all in limited overs format)
Bowlers: Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Harbhajan Singh (I put in a lot of thought before typing down Bhajji's name... and yes, both the pacers here are very injury prone)
That leaves three in the first XI and seven more in the XV. I guess Praveen Kumar should be the first of the three vacancies to be filled up - his numbers in ODIs in 2010 read 12 wickets in 7 matches at an average of 22.50, economy of 4.82 and strike rate of 28.00. He is India's third highest wicket taker in ODIs in 2010.
The next vacancy that needs to be filled is in the middle order... where once upon a time, Yuvraj Singh was a certainty! However, his numbers in 2010 make an abysmal reading for a man of his talents. He has 101 runs from 6 ODI outings at an average of 20.20 and a strike rate of just 68.24. He faces stiff competition from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. One might want to add Dinesh Karthik's name here... but I am not one of his fans.
Now, like Harsha Bhogle has suggested in his latest article, if Ravindra Jadeja or Yusuf Pathan do not perform well in the ODIs that India has in the lead up to the World Cup and we do not find suitable replacements... then we might well have to use two of the three names above (Yuvraj Singh, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma) in the middle order.
India will have to use its part-time spinners to fill up the fifth bowler's quota of ten overs... something not very unfamiliar for the team. Who are these part-timers? There is Sehwag and Raina amongst the certainties. With Tendulkar not bowling any more and Gambhir playing as a specialist batsman, the selection of the last two middle order spots might well be on the basis of the bowling abilities... and not batting.
If this is the case, then Yuvraj Singh gets a direct entry (not that he shouldn't... but he still needs to answer a lot of questions about his batting form and commitment to the team)! The other spot might go to Rohit Sharma... not that his bowling is great, but he has bowled more often than Virat Kohli (who is far away from Chris Harris' wicket taking record for New Zealand despite having a duplicate bowling action)!
The four reserves are easy to pick: Kohli gets one spot, Dinesh Karthik will get another (how I wish India should try some other keeper over these next few months just to see if there is a better option available). Going by the current investments, I guess Jadeja will make it to the fifteen and the last available spot might go to Pragyan Ojha or another seamer given the injury prone nature of our two frontline seamers.
But still, this team leaves a lot to be desired. It still does not feel like a 'World Championship' material team on current form and performance. A lot can change over the next 6 months... a lot will need to be changed!
A few hours back, I was on a high! I was delighted on hearing the news of Vishwanathan Anand's win over Veselin Topalov in the World Chess Championship. I wasn't expecting him to win with the black. In fact, I was hoping for a draw so that the Tie Breakers could come in... where Vishy would have had an advantage as he is one of the best players in the world at rapid chess. Considering that I have been a big Vishy fan since my school days, I was truly elated.
I was helped by the fact that when I heard this news, India was batting beautifully... with Gambhir and Raina looking good. Then, Gambhir fell. Dhoni walked in. I was expecting him to promote himself, even though I didn't want him to do so. It felt ominous...
Soon, my high started wearing off. Dhoni wasted the opportunity of batting on a flat track by struggling to an unbeaten 19-ball 23. India limped on to a disappointing 163 in their 20 overs. I was low by then. Soon, Jayawardene, the form batsman of the tournament, clipped the first ball he faced beautifully for a four. The mood went from low to lower.
Then Nehra got Mahela to edge one and Yusuf held on. Next over, the debutant Vinay Kumar got the veteran Sanath Jaisuriya to play one into the hands of Dinesh Karthik at square leg. Sri Lanka two down in 2 overs. The high had returned. The fact that Dilshan was out of nick helped that feeling.
Soon Dilshan found the middle of the bat as well as the boundaries consistently. No wickets fell. Harbhajan, India's most economical bowler, was thrashed in his opening over. Low again.
Dilshan got out. A flicker of hope. Then Sangakkara went on a rampage. Hit a few quick sixes. Hope diminished. Sangakkara bowled by the young debutant. Another flicker of hope. Angelo Mathews takes over. Piyush Chawla thrashed in the 18th over. Hopes gone!
I was confident that Sri Lanka will not be winning the game... but they will certainly knock India out. When, Suresh Raina's leap in the air still ended a couple of inches short of the ball which sailed over for a six, it was confirmed. INDIA ELIMINATED FROM WORLD TWENTY20 2010 was the message that flashed! What a shame!
And then Sri Lanka did something that I was confident they wouldn't manage to do. They pulled off a win... Kapugedara pulled off a Javed Miandad. He hit a last ball six when 3 were required to win. An exciting finish... especially for the Sri Lankan fans. The West Indians looked crestfallen after the six. Their task has become near impossible now.
I will be back tomorrow after some sleep to continue with my Dhoni-bashing. Till then, congratulations to Sri Lanka! And of course, Vishy Anand!
Yesterday's match: Chennai Super Kings v Delhi Daredevils
My Prediction: Chennai Super Kings
Actual Winner: Delhi Daredevils
Today's Match: Kings XI Punjab v Deccan Chargers
My Prediction: Kings XI Punjab
My Score: 6 / 12
DD managed to scrap together a win yesterday against a buoyant CSK side to be almost certain of a place in the top-4. Gautam Gambhir must be relieved that none of his batsmen were run out in the match. It must be added here that the skipper Gambhir played a very mature hand after his top order had found new ways to commit hara kiri. I don't think he had ever imagined that he would bat 56 balls in a Twenty20 match and score just 57.
For the first time in this tournament, DD got the chance to go in with their first-choice new ball attack... and the effect was felt straightaway. Ashish Nehra and Dirk Nannes rattled the CSK batsmen and Hayden's mongoose-attack in their last meeting was soon forgotten.
This result does not make any difference to DC, though. They will still need to win both their remaining matches to qualify without getting into the run rate equations. And they would not want to rely on run rates, because their current NRR is -0.438.
I am neither a fan of DC, nor of KXIP. However, I am eagerly looking forward to the match tonight because IPL is moving to a new venue today.
DHARAMSALA. I have heard a lot about this cricket ground. The 21000-capacity HPCA Cricket Stadium is located at a height of 1457 metres above sea level and surrounded by Dhauladhar ranges, leaving the spectators with a breath taking view. The place is of immense religious value to Buddhists. Today, I want to see the scenic beauty for myself.
The high altitude might turn out to be a bit uncomfortable to the DC players who have, by now, become accustomed to the hot climate of places like Nagpur and Navi Mumbai. In fact, the next visitors to Dharamsala will be CSK, another team used to the hot and humid surroundings of Chennai. This should give a small advantage to KXIP, who have become adept at throwing away any advantage or momentum on their side.
So lets wait and watch out as IPL embarks on cricket's new pilgrimage!
Here is the Indian squad for the World Twenty20 Championship: MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma.
I'll again do the analysis that I had done when the list of 30 probables had been announced.
Pure Batsman (1): Gautam Gambhir
Batsmen who can bowl (5): Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma
Wicketkeepers (2): MS Dhoni, Dinesh Karthik
Bowlers who can bat (5): Ravindra Jadeja, Praveen Kumar, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, R Vinay Kumar
Pure Bowlers (2): Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra
As can be seen from the list above, a lot of emphasis has been laid on players who have the ability with both the bat and the ball. Therefore, it should not be surprising that Piyush Chawla has edged out Amit Mishra and Pragyan Ojha to grab the second spinner's slot in the team.
But in the first eleven, the second spinner's slot will go to Ravindra Jadeja, and rightly so. He faced a lot of flak in the previous edition of this Championship in England when he was sent higher up in the order to bat and could not get the runs at a fair clip. It was not his fault. It was a bad piece of captaincy, because Jadeja is a bowler who bats - he is not a genuine all-rounder.
The surprise omission was Virat Kohli, who has shown good form in the international cricket over the past few months. It is good to see that Gautam Gambhir and Ashish Nehra have been selected - it indicates that they are well on course for a recovery. And their quick recovery is absolutely necessary if India is to have a decent chance at the tournament.
There is a good chance that in the next 30 days (during the IPL), someone listed above might get injured (or injured again, as the case may be). So, I was thinking about the replacements. Here is my list of replacements:
Batsmen: Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey
Wicketkeeper: Naman Ojha
Spinners: Amit Mishra, Pragyan Ojha
Seamers: S Sreesanth, RP Singh (no Ishant Sharma for me)
Well, I do hope that there will be no need to seek any replacements. IPL has already seen the injury list swell and I do not want to see it affect the national team. Any national team, actually.
Here's a list of all the injuries that I know of, thus far in this IPL:
1. Ashish Nehra - Delhi Daredevils - Rib Injury (sustained before IPL)
2. Greame Smith - Rajasthan Royals - Finger Injury (v DD)
3. Dimitri Mascarenhas - Rajasthan Royals - Ankle Injury (v DD)
4. Yusuf Pathan - Rajasthan Royals - Shoulder Injury (v DD)
5. MS Dhoni - Chennai Super Kings - Elbow Injury (v KKR)
6. Gautam Gambhir - Delhi Daredevils - Torn Hamstring (v MI)
(Please let me know if I have missed any)
What's interesting to note is that all of the above players (not sure about Dimi) would feature in their country's squad for the World Twenty20 Championship in the Caribbean islands after the IPL. Heck, two of them are captains.
Last year, India missed the services of Virendra Sehwag in the World Twenty20 Championship in England due to the injury he sustained during the IPL. So when one hears Lalit Modi say that despite a huge increase in the number of matches next year, IPL will be played out over 51 days only... it's something to worry about. He may turn a blind eye to all these assertions, but the fact remains that the injuries sustained during IPL are not helping the players when they wear their national colours.
