Déjà Vu. Times New Roman, all Caps, Font size - 80. That's what India's performance against the Aussies had written all over it yesterday!
And there were countless Déjà vu's about the team's performance yesterday.
To my mind, the issue is that we don't have a solid No. 3 batsman who can play the sheet anchor role. Irfan Pathan at No. 3 is clearly not working for the team & the next best option is Rohit Sharma or Robin Uthappa who are both dashers rather than grafters.
While I agree with the strategy of developing the team for the future & hence grafting young blood in as early as possible, I think the transition period could be better handled. If not, some of these blokes are going to find the going tempestuous & can easily become the next victims of the "Kaif syndrome". (Getting opportunities to bat only under dire circumstances & then being blamed for scoring too few runs, too slowly!).
I think a better way of going about this is to bring Rahul Dravid back at No. 3. Let him do what he does best - tie down one end & graft, while the junior crop can come & showcase their stroke making prowess around him. Groom Dinesh Karthik / Suresh Raina to fill Dravid's shoes in the future.
Hence, I feel a potent Indian squad would look as under:
The Sri Lanka game on Tuesday has now become crucial, thanks to our own idiocities. Ironically, the hope for India is that Sri Lanka has just as grave batting problems as us!
My money is safely in my pocket.
And there were countless Déjà vu's about the team's performance yesterday.
- The perennial problem of the 3 sub-units - batting, bowling, fielding - not clicking together resurfaced. The bowlers had almost served the match on a platter to the willowmen, only to see them smoke it up!
- The Indian batting line-up's strength is now only on paper. In reality, the team doesn't have a backbone & is quite frail. They'd come out as raw as wheat husk playing under bowler-friendly conditions (like in the Windies or England). After a long, long time, the team has gone back to it's days of being over reliant on Sachin to do the bullwork.
To my mind, the issue is that we don't have a solid No. 3 batsman who can play the sheet anchor role. Irfan Pathan at No. 3 is clearly not working for the team & the next best option is Rohit Sharma or Robin Uthappa who are both dashers rather than grafters.
While I agree with the strategy of developing the team for the future & hence grafting young blood in as early as possible, I think the transition period could be better handled. If not, some of these blokes are going to find the going tempestuous & can easily become the next victims of the "Kaif syndrome". (Getting opportunities to bat only under dire circumstances & then being blamed for scoring too few runs, too slowly!).
I think a better way of going about this is to bring Rahul Dravid back at No. 3. Let him do what he does best - tie down one end & graft, while the junior crop can come & showcase their stroke making prowess around him. Groom Dinesh Karthik / Suresh Raina to fill Dravid's shoes in the future.
Hence, I feel a potent Indian squad would look as under:
- Sachin, Gambhir - Openers. Left + right combo works well.
- Dravid, Dinesh Karthik, Suresh Raina - Sheet anchor
- Dhoni, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma, Robin Uthappa - Middle order
- Irfan Pathan - All-rounder
- Bhajji - Spinner
- Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel - Pace battery.
The Sri Lanka game on Tuesday has now become crucial, thanks to our own idiocities. Ironically, the hope for India is that Sri Lanka has just as grave batting problems as us!
My money is safely in my pocket.
3 comments:
Laxman!!! Laxman!!!
Laxman!!! Laxman!!! Screw the fielding... At least he can bat
err bhai...agreed on the batting, but then he cant use a runner all the time in every game right! can he?
When you are dealing in boundaries, who needs a runner!!!!
Post a Comment