Comments on: Teams for India vs Sri Lanka at The Gabba

By: sonalivarma

sonalivarma — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 12:14:45 +0000

Ricky Ponting says Ishant Sharma a Dangerous Bowler
Ricky Ponting Australian Captain was suitably impressed by Ishant Sharma.
http://www.metrojoint.com/blog_more.php?pid=28485&userid=33997

By: gnbmdr

gnbmdr — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 01:28:04 +0000

Sehwag looks relaxed and not rushing his shots and sure of his strokes.

Rohit Sharma’s technique is compact and his cover drive is reminiscent of Dravid. He is a real talent.

Gambhir is a mystery. But as long as he gets runs …

Yuvraj is totally out of form.

By: Kirkit

Kirkit — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 13:14:30 +0000

Team selection is a tough task… if your players click, you will be awarded with lots of praise.. and in case they don’t, you get the brickbats …

That ad says perfectly.. “Yeh India Ka cricket hai, Bhidu ”

By: mohankaus

mohankaus — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 08:12:10 +0000

Bharath,

Given that he wanted a batsman (bowler) who could bowl (bat) Dhoni had a choice of either Manoj Tiwary ot Praveen Kumar. He went for the former on an instinct. I’d have gone for the latter. But then, sometimes leadership is about making those inspired choices. Some of them come off. Some of them don’t.

You could argue that Dhoni has hand-held. His words are about how to build a team for 2011. He asks for patience in his youngsters. He says that his wards need at least 80-100 games under their belt each prior to 2011. Looks to me like he has held his hand out. It is up to the wards now to reach out and grab it.

By: Bharath

Bharath — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 07:50:54 +0000

For the audience, the clash of the asian titans brought a fresh air of focus on cricketing skills rather than theatrics. The game has been very enjoyable so far with both teams playing some entertaining cricket. I concur with gnbmdr regarding the fact that it was unwise to play Manoj Tiwary over Suresh Raina. Even seasoned cricketers have found the going tough in Australia, with the padukone paralysis still affecting some, even after having a month long vacation with little contribution. While I do appreciate Dhoni’s honesty, and not sounding overly critical of the decision, I would hope that there is instinct and some dose of hand holding. Its a young team and needs to be nurtured.
The Indian batting side lacks diversity in skills. They all bat in a similar fashion. On a given day, either all of them will score or none will manage to survive. We need better balance. I think this team will sorely miss the services of Dravid, more than the absence of Ganguly. My two cents.

By: mohankaus

mohankaus — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:28:51 +0000

@gnbmdr: Correction, that is the way you make decisions. In the absence of “perfect information” any decision-making-process, in my view, is part-instinct. How much that “part” would be is based on your risk profile — aggressive, risk-averse, risk-taker, etc.

An alternative to “give this poor guy to (sic) a few days to settle down” could be “throw him into the deep end and see if he is really good”. Both work. You are risk averse. I am not. Five fingers in the same hand. All different.

By: gnbmdr

gnbmdr — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:19:26 +0000

When you are batting, if you are facing a good length on the off-stump, you have less than second to react to the ball play a stroke or leave it alone. At that time point, instinct is required. Different players , would play differently to the same ball, based on their instinct.

Selection of a team for a match need not be based on instinct. I hope captains select a team based on some ” strategy” for the match. There is plenty of time to think or mull over this decision and there is also a coach who can provide input etc.

I am not against the selection of Manoj Tiwari. But, give this poor guy to a few days to settle down and then he could play in a match.

Another statement by Dhoni in the same spirit was ” I can bat No.3, No4, …” Let us win a few matches in Australia with his batting, before talking too much.