I agree the warm-up games are meant to be, well, warm-up games and do not count in the statistical scheme of things. Having said that, India played extremely well to win their game against the West Indies today. Importantly, these warm-up games have turned out to be extremely valuable for the likes of Irfan Pathan and Dinesh Karthik. Irfan Pathan impressed me quite a bit this morning with his spell of six overs. He mixed it up well (with the occasional real wides ones!) and, as he himself said in a interview with Jeff Dujon, he was able to get some swing and his in-dippers were beginning to reappear. Most satisfyingly, he is back at his best taking wickets. Munaf Patel bowled beautifully and I continue to maintain that he will end up being a true great (assuming he remains fit). Indians were at their smartest fielding and catching.
Virender Sehwag continues to be the disappointment. With Robin Uthappa more or less establishing himself a place in the eleven at least in the early part of the campaign, I would not play Sehwag in the XI especially as an opener. Dinesh Karthik played and missed quite a bit but hung in there to see India through. Michael Holding and Tony Cozier had very nice things to say about him — considering him as an “important” player for the future. He spoke very well at the end in an interview with Tony Cozier — a possible future India captain in the making?
Well, India walk into the tournament in the best position they can be in with respect to form and mindset. Good luck to them. My XI for the game against Bangladesh would be:
Sourav Ganguly, Robin Uthappa, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, M.S. Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel.
- Srikanth
I question your view on Pathan. I saw him bowled and was not really impressed. His 3 wickets resulted from poor batting, not superior bowling.
In your 11 I would replace Pathan with Sehwag. The latter is a useful spinner and India may need that on the slower Trinidad wicket.
I’m also not sure on Harbhajjan vs. Kumble question. I noticed you went with Kumble. Care to explain why?
I agree with Gaurav on the Pathan comment. Although he took 3 wickets and although he did get a little bit of shape, Pathan rarely bent his back and he bowled in the 105-115 kmph zone. That is school-park-stuff — Gilchrist and Jayasuriya will tear into such stuff with anger. He remains a worry. But good luck to him if he can use this outing to propel his confidence.
I am also not sure why the team sent in Dinesh Karthik? I’d have sent in Yuvraj Singh. After all, the latter is surer to play and the former is a designated “water carrier” for this cup campaign right?
Greg Chappell has already talked about Dinesh Karthik as a possible future captain.
– Mohan
I am assuming that bowling at 105-115 kmph is still allowed and effective. I am not concerned about the pace at which Pathan seems to be delivering the bowl (IIRC, in the series against SL a couple of years back when he picked up wickets so often, he was bowling in the 115-120s only), he was able to swing the ball and certainly kept Lara quite especially since Lara was starting to look ominous. Maybe I was watching a different game altogether but based on what I saw, if it came to picking between Pathan and Sehwag, I would close my eyes and pick Pathan.
The promotion of Karthik seemed to puzzle me as well, even Ganguly may have been a better choice. Karthik, though he scored 38 odd runs, did not look like he was threatening anyone’s place in the side.
Kumble should play in the first half of the tournament to gain confidence (if the team management want him to play a role in the WC).
-Srikanth
Oh ofcourse, bowling at 115 is allowed. Why? He can bowl at 85 if he wants to. Heck! Someone even tried an underarmer a few years’ back! The only thing that tells me is that the person doing the underarmer or bowling at 85 is either low on confidence or not bending-their-back for the team. The other worrying thing that Pathan was doing was the number of wides, no balls and full tosses that pitched just beyond the wicket. Shows that his rhythm is still not there. It is a concern that, in my view, only spin (not the ones that you bowl, btw) can gloss over!
This doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t be picked over Sehwag. That to me is a margin-call and I may be inclined to suggest a coin-toss to decide! However, his form is still a concern — to me…
If picked, I think he should bat at #3. What do you think?
The headlines in CricInfo – Verdict – India sweat on Sehwag and Pathan.
Pathan sprayed the ball on both sides of the stumps, over pitched to the extent that some balls bounced well past the stumps, and generally, appeared to do his cause no good.
Pathan himself will take the positives from 6-0-25-3, but those who watched carefully will know this was more thanks to the largesse of West Indies’ batsmen rather than any mean swing bowling.
I think it was good decision to send Dinesh Karthik today. If he had failed, he would not be selected. Now he is in contention again.
For some reason/bias, some have designated Dinesh Karthik as the Water guy. Thanks to Greg Chappell, this guy gets some chances. Otherwise, the Indian team politics will bury him like other players from TN.
gnbmdr: I get it now… Greg Chappell is the only guy in India who does not have anti-TN-bias… I believe that for zonal-based-selection to be a thing of the past, ascribing every selection-comment (or selection-decision) to zonal-bias needs to first go.
– Mohan
Come on mohankaus,
There has been a pattern of injustice over many years. Even in this case, I have no idea, why an upcoming young batsman Dinesh should be designated as the water guy. Ajit Wadekar, the great politician says we should not select 2 WK.
It is one thing in Australia, some batsmen (Damien Martyn, …) or bowlers (McGill, Kasporowicz, …) do not get a chance or have to retire in grace, since the other players are very good and they are performing good, and Australia is winning.
gnbmdr: Those who watched Dinesh Karthik (I did!) know that he played an extremely scratchy innings and by no means demonstrated that he deserved a place in the eleven. On the other hand, Uthappa was very much at ease against Powell and Collymore.
Having seen Pathan bowl in the last few months, I was extremely relieved to see the way he bowled. Is he back at his best, absolutely not! Is he showing signs of confidence, certainly! I cannot say the same thing about Sehwag though.
Mohan, I agree that Pathan should bat at #3 if picked. It would bring so much more balance to the side then. Anyways, as Ian Bishop said, these are good worries to have for India.
- Srikanth
smangalam,
OK, in your view Dinesh did not bat well. Agreed. No problem. But there is such a negative view of Pathan in cricinfo. It is not my interpretation.
I also sincerely feel that Pathan is no Flintoff or even Bravo. He is OK as a batsman. He is not in the same class as great all-rounders. As mohankaus, you do not want Gilchrist, Sanath facing Pathan.
Also in WI pitches, it is better to have an out-of-form Sehwag than Pathan, since Sehwag can bowl spin bowling on slow WI pitches.
I managed to catch 2 overs of Pathan yesterday. The only thing that was noticeable was that he was swinging the ball into the right handers. That is a really good sign and I hope he gets back his full rhythm. Given his bowling form, yesterday he could have actually been promoted in the batting order and given a hit to get his confidence going a bit more. All said and done Karthik will get a game only if one of the big guns are unfit. So he is the WC! It is also going to be a tough choice for the seam bowling places. Zaheer will play. Munaf may have to play too probably over Agarkar now.
gnbmdr, my point was that every time someone mounts a case against Dinesh Karthik, I hear you use the zonal-bias card. I haven’t heard you use that choice label when we have discussed the worth of a Sehwag or a Pathan. Why? As I said, for one to really remove the zonal-bias habit, you must stop springing it every time it suits!
Dinesh Karthik is there as a cover for either Dhoni or a batsman. Which middle-order bat will you drop to accommodate Karthik? Tendulkar? Dravid? Yuvraj? No way!
Given that Uthappa and Ganguly will open, with Tendulkar, Dravid and Yuvraj-Dhoni sure-starters for the middle-order and with Zaheer-Agarkar-Harbhajan sure starters in the bowling department, the only questions are around Munaf/Kumble and Sehwag /Pathan. There is NO regional-bias here. This is all about balance-and-stability-bias!
I’d err on the side of Munaf. And I am unsure on the Sehwag/Pathan debate. Coin-toss, I say! Whoever wins that should bat at #3.
– Mohan
Ps: BTW, I agree with Sanjay… It follows that Dinesh Karthik will most likely be the WC of this WC! — QED
I do not understand why you insist on Sehwag and Pathan. Sehwag has been given “plenty” of chances. He has failed systematically. Anyway, I can not stand his batting – “technique less wonder”. Even Vengsarkar was honest to say that Sehwag had to be dropped.
As I mentioned before, Pathan has become an innocuous bowler. He is OK with the bat, and perhaps do well against the minnows, but certainly not the real thing. Like Zaheer, he needs a year break to get his stuff back together. In India there was too much hype that Pathan was the next Akram or Alan Davidson !!
Karthik is in form. Kudos to Greg Chappell. He sees some potential in him.
Anyway, some of you I know some of you have annoited him as the WC for this WC. Fine. But I would argue that might need some more WC for WC , since our senior citizens will be chasing the ball to the boundary a lot.
Here is the side for India (based on inside info
Uthappa
Ganguly
Sachin Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
Rahul Dravid
Dinesh Karthik
Dhoni
Agarkar
Harbhajan
Zaheer Khan
Munaf Patel
Harbhajan and Kumble will share some matches. Zaheer, Munaf and SreeSanth will share some matches; i.e.; 2 out of 3 will play.
With Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj to share the 5th spot.
If Uthappa does not click bring in Sehwag.
I see clear evidence of gnbmdr having regional bias. I’d not want him anywhere near the selection table. If he were, an injured Balaji would be playing in the team, Venkat would be dragged back from retirement and [insert-a-name-here] would be dragged back from the grave!
I wish Karthik does not play. I wish gnbmdr’s inside-info is wrong.
My inside information says that one of Sehwag or Pathan will play.
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im from the west indies
im from the west indies
this was the true victory, the symbol of victory is V yae thats it, thanks king