India’s WC team core in place:SMG
India’s WC team core in place
April 17, 2006: India’s young guys came good again and took their team to a facile victory and gave it a 5-1 win in the series. With skipper Dravid back in the side as well as Irfan Pathan, the balance of the team was much better than in the previous game where there was far too much inexperience and bad form taken into the game. No wonder, an opportunity to go through a series without losing a single game was lost. The best part of Rahul Dravid as the captain is that he is such a clear headed thinker, fully committed to the team’s cause. It would have hurt him to see India lose at Jamshedpur because he knew that with the right blend of experience and youth, there was no way this Indian team could have been beaten by this English team. So as soon as he rejoined the squad at Indore, he took the tough decision to leave out his vice-captain, Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif who have not only been way short of runs but also haven’t looked capable of getting too many. In the bowling too, he ensured that there was a nice mix of youth and energy which could be seen by the way the team fielded.
In Sreesanth, India have found a terrific competitor for he gives it all whether he is bowling or fielding and encouraging the others. They way he varied his deliveries in the final overs, not just with the slower ones and Yorkers but also by changing the angle by going round the wicket shows a good cricketing mind which gives every hope that his head may have different shades of colour but will remain firmly on the shoulder. That in spite of his enormous fan following Irfan Pathan has not lost his equilibrium and is still a keen learner, would be seen from the way he brought out a new delivery in the final over. The slow bouncer is a terrific delivery and it deceives the batsman into anticipating the ball coming on quicker and makes him play too early. Ramesh Powar too was magnificent and inspite of one bad over still had healthy figures and economy rate.
Robin Uthappa has only himself to blame for missing out on a century on debut by not dragging his feet in and just putting it over the crease. It’s a tragedy that so many youngsters do not know the basics of running between the wickets and it does bring to the fore the question of coaching at the junior level. But while he was at the crease the young man looked composed and played some lovely shots. He was fortunate to have his state-mate as captain, Rahul Dravid at the other end and the confidence automatically rubs off on the youngster. While it is early days yet, Uthappa’s innings has given the Indian team more options and if he had been tried earlier we would have know by now whether he has it in him or not.
Young Suresh Raina certainly has it for he once again played exceptionally well and matched his senior Yuvraj stroke for stroke and even overtook him to the half-century mark. What he will learn soon is that staying till the end gives even more satisfaction than a personal achievement. That is something that Yuvraj has not only learnt but mastered as he made sure that the victory margin was not reduced. He is in the best batting form of his life and especially in the one-dayers and is looking unshakable. His pulling off marginal short deliveries was nothing short of awesome and his driving through the off-side was with the elegance that only left-handers have. India have a nice core of players now but there are still some hangers on and if this aspect is taken care of, then India will take a giant step towards winning the 2007 World Cup.
http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/gavaskar69.html
India’s WC team core in place
April 17, 2006: India’s young guys came good again and took their team to a facile victory and gave it a 5-1 win in the series. With skipper Dravid back in the side as well as Irfan Pathan, the balance of the team was much better than in the previous game where there was far too much inexperience and bad form taken into the game. No wonder, an opportunity to go through a series without losing a single game was lost. The best part of Rahul Dravid as the captain is that he is such a clear headed thinker, fully committed to the team’s cause. It would have hurt him to see India lose at Jamshedpur because he knew that with the right blend of experience and youth, there was no way this Indian team could have been beaten by this English team. So as soon as he rejoined the squad at Indore, he took the tough decision to leave out his vice-captain, Virender Sehwag and Mohammad Kaif who have not only been way short of runs but also haven’t looked capable of getting too many. In the bowling too, he ensured that there was a nice mix of youth and energy which could be seen by the way the team fielded.
In Sreesanth, India have found a terrific competitor for he gives it all whether he is bowling or fielding and encouraging the others. They way he varied his deliveries in the final overs, not just with the slower ones and Yorkers but also by changing the angle by going round the wicket shows a good cricketing mind which gives every hope that his head may have different shades of colour but will remain firmly on the shoulder. That in spite of his enormous fan following Irfan Pathan has not lost his equilibrium and is still a keen learner, would be seen from the way he brought out a new delivery in the final over. The slow bouncer is a terrific delivery and it deceives the batsman into anticipating the ball coming on quicker and makes him play too early. Ramesh Powar too was magnificent and inspite of one bad over still had healthy figures and economy rate.
Robin Uthappa has only himself to blame for missing out on a century on debut by not dragging his feet in and just putting it over the crease. It’s a tragedy that so many youngsters do not know the basics of running between the wickets and it does bring to the fore the question of coaching at the junior level. But while he was at the crease the young man looked composed and played some lovely shots. He was fortunate to have his state-mate as captain, Rahul Dravid at the other end and the confidence automatically rubs off on the youngster. While it is early days yet, Uthappa’s innings has given the Indian team more options and if he had been tried earlier we would have know by now whether he has it in him or not.
Young Suresh Raina certainly has it for he once again played exceptionally well and matched his senior Yuvraj stroke for stroke and even overtook him to the half-century mark. What he will learn soon is that staying till the end gives even more satisfaction than a personal achievement. That is something that Yuvraj has not only learnt but mastered as he made sure that the victory margin was not reduced. He is in the best batting form of his life and especially in the one-dayers and is looking unshakable. His pulling off marginal short deliveries was nothing short of awesome and his driving through the off-side was with the elegance that only left-handers have. India have a nice core of players now but there are still some hangers on and if this aspect is taken care of, then India will take a giant step towards winning the 2007 World Cup.
http://in.sports.yahoo.com/cricket/gavaskar69.html