Archive for the ‘india’ Category

India’s exit from the World Cup : What Went Wrong?

Posted: March 29, 2007 in india, loss, world cup
0

Pathetic!
That is the one word that I can use for the entire World Cup campaign of India. Various observations on what went wrong for India:
1. It seems that India was the only team at the start of the Cup, which was not clear about the likely 11. Or even the likely 12. Will Pathan play, will Sehwag play, will it be Kumble or Bhajji, will Karthik play, etc. Most teams, had a basic best 11 in place, with likelihood of minor tweaking to be done on a game to game basis.

2. What follows as a consequence of 1, is that we did not have a perfect batting order decided. Who will open, was the first big question. In order to ‘accommodate’ Sehwag, there was likelihood of any kind of jugglery in the batting order. All these kinds of open ends, when you are well into the world cup, was uniquely Indian!

3. What is the sense in saying that Bangladesh bowled well?? Heck, you have 3 chaps with 10000+ runs each, where the opposite team does not have a total of 10000 runs. And yet, you do not have the skills or the experience to play against those bowlers, who may have bowled well on that day??

4. I cannot also understand this statement that media uses often, that ‘cricket is a game of uncertainties’. Tell that to the Aussies. Or the South Africans. Is there any uncertainty about the way they go about their game? Sure, win or loss is a different matter. But you cannot justify your pathetic display under that guise of uncertainty. When you have 5-6 apparently top class batsmen, the uncertainty factor is restricted to 1-2 of them getting out cheaply or getting an unfortunate decision or run out, or something like that. The uncertainty is REMOVED by the rest of them making up for those 1-2 losses, by playing better and ensuring that the team gets runs. We have a case of all of them succumbing to stupid play.

5. Most professional teams today give roles to team members, and they are apt to perform those roles. Against India, after losing a few early wickets, Chamara Silva and Dilshan knew that they had to stay at the wicket, even if it meant just milking singles and making 1s into 2s. No extravagant shots. Nothing in the air. They did that. Put their heads down. Did Indian batting give ANY resemblance of having ANY such plan in their heads? Or even if they had one, were the guys looking like they were attempting to implement that?? Was it panic that said ‘we will not survive if we just hang around here, so might as well make the runs quickly, and get done’?? That can be the only explanation of Uthapa and Ganguly’s mad rush initially, and also for Sehwag to keep going aerially, even after having lost the openers quickly. There is ALWAYS a chance that you will get out that way. Can’t you curb your aerial shots and play a safer game, and hang out, to ensure victory??

6. I, for one, had thought that if India progresses in the World Cup, it will be on account of its bowlers. I had a lot more hope from Zaheer, Munaf, Ajit and whoever else was going to be with them, like Sreesanth or Kumble or even Pathan. They did not do as well as they could have. A lot of extras given. Line and length not kept perfect and thus allowing the batsmen to get out of the pressure, with occasional boundaries. Letting the latter half of the team make a lot of runs, even after having got the earlier wickets. I mean, we should have restricted Bangladesh below 191 and we should have won. It was Bangladesh after all. Similarly, we should have finished off Sri Lanka in lesser than 200, after the decent start. In fact, how could we let a Bermuda batsman take 76 off us? Where is really our great bowling skill? It is in this department that Sri Lanka score over India. With guys like Vaas and Murali leading, and extremely decent options in Malinga, Fernando and Jayasuriya, they are much better placed.

Indian cricket appears to be going the hockey way. Of course, in cricket, unlike hockey, we never ‘ruled’. But like in hockey, where we kept focusing on the brilliant talent that we had, but never on strategy to win, similarly in cricket, we may hold all the individual records and have the highest averages and aggregates, but when it comes to winning games, we will be left behind. We are not focusing on the winning strategies and not executing at the individual levels.

India’s exit from the World Cup

Posted: March 29, 2007 in india, world cup
0

Its been a few days since India unceremoniously bowed out of the World Cup. I have been coming to terms with the situation and hence the delay in posting these views.

I would like to look at three aspects to this debacle, and will cover these in three separate posts:

1. What went wrong – from a pure cricketing perspective

2. Betting, match fixing, too much money, fans’ pressure – could these have played a role?

3. What next? Where does India go from here

Check the three posts on the above points, that follow this one.

From an Indian perspective, this needs to happen now..

Posted: March 21, 2007 in bangladesh, india, sri lanka, super 8, world cup
0

1. Sri Lanka must beat Bangladesh
(remember, in EITHER case, India has to beat Sri Lanka, so it does not get any easier for us, if Bangladesh beats Sri Lanka; it is only better for us if Bangladesh beats Sri Lanka – read on to find out why).

Necessarily that will only improve Sri Lanka’s net run rate and put them further ahead. REMEMBER that we talk of NET run rate. So even if both teams fire, the net improvement in NRR is only to the extent of the difference in the two teams. In short, Bangladesh’s NRR will go down a bit, thereafter.

2. India beats Sri Lanka, by JUST ENOUGH to see them through to the top of the NRR, and also ensure that way, that Sri Lanka’s NRR does not drop a lot, in the process. Again, repeat, that we HAVE to beat Sri Lanka, to have any chance. There is no escaping that fact.

3. Now, before Bangladesh take on Bermuda, they will have India and Sri Lanka a fair bit ahead of them, in the NRR, and if they have to come up ahead of the (assuming) second placed Sri Lanka, they will need to win by a huge margin, against Bermuda. That may not be so easy, and hence India and Sri Lanka will go ahead to the Super 8, in number 1 and 2 positions respectively.

Understand now also, what happens when teams get into Super 8.
Off the two teams going from each group, one of them would have beaten the other. For example, if India and Sri Lanka go, as per the above surmise, then India would have beaten Sri Lanka, in the group. In that case, at the start of the Super 8, that winning team (e.g. India) starts with 2 points, and the other team (e.g. Sri Lanka) starts with 0 points.

If India and Bangaldesh go, then it will be Bangladesh who would go with 2, and India with 0. So you see why it is important for India and Sri Lanka to go rather than India and Bangladesh (now you can see why in point number 1 above, I propose that Sri Lanka win today, and not Bangladesh).

One more interesting point. In the Super 8, all teams play all the rest of the super 8 teams, EXCEPT for their own group team (since they have already played each other in the first round). There will already be one ‘minnow’ (if you can still call them thus) team in the Super 8, viz. Ireland. Now if Bangladesh were to also make it into the super 8 instead of Sri Lanka, then think of it this way:
Say, New Zealand and South Africa emerge as their group leaders and hence start with 2 points each. They will be playing both, Ireland and Bangladesh in the Super 8 then, and they should win those games rather easily (with no disrespect to Ireland and Bangladesh). They will zoom in to 6 points without much sweat then. That would put so much more pressure on teams like India to catch up and get to the semi-finals, then.

On the other hand, if Sri Lanka and India make it, then it will only be an Ireland, who will be like a ‘weaker’ team in the Super 8, and the Super 8 will remain more open, with most teams having a chance to proceed into the last 4 stage.

Now you see, why the above mentioned points 1, 2 and 3, are what should happen now, from an Indian perspective… or even from a Sri Lankan perspective, for that matter.

Whats with the Indo-Pak cricket fan??

Posted: March 19, 2007 in cricket, Dhoni, fans, india, inzamam, pakistan, woolmer
0

Following the losses of India and Pakistan in Saturday’s games at the World Cup, a whole host of reactions have been seen.

1. Inzamam has announced his retirement from ODIs.

2. Fans have burnt effigies of Dhoni and have also damaged an under-construction house of his.

3. Fans have come on TV to demand that the plot alloted to Dhoni be taken back by the government.

4. Fans have also suggested that if India does not go further in the World Cup, the team should not be allowed to stay in India (??!).

and of course, the worst reaction of them all:
5. Bob Woolmer, the coach of the Pakistan team, dies.

I have to clarify that the last mentioned bit of news, may have NOTHING directly connected to the Pakistan loss. Having said that, considering that it happened so close to Pak’s crashing out of the world cup against all expectations, and recognising that Woolmer was quite healthy otherwise, it makes one wonder if the stress of the loss contributed in some or the other way, to his death.

There have been other strong issues that have seemingly got disproportionate attention, only thanks to the fans’ involvement:
1. Saurav Ganguly’s dropping from the team, accompanied by anger against Greg Chappell, effigy burning, matter reaching West Bengal and Indian mainstream political levels, etc.

2. Demand to drop Sehwag, defense against which was offered by none other than Sharad Pawar, President of BCCI. Completely unwarranted, uncalled for, but juicy mainstream media bytes, that the fans would lap up!

What is it about the Indo-Pak cricket scenario that spurns such strong reactions? There are no easy answers, but some thoughts on the subject are as under:

1. We do not have any other ‘release’ for our strong pent up emotions. We may feel equally strongly about our political issues, but normally, the frustrations with the political system are not felt in one go, but over the years. So there is no one strong moment when everyone unites to release their frustrations against the political system. Bollywood rejections are done, simply by empty theatres. No other sport in the country has anywhere close to the following, that cricket does. Then, cricket it is, that serves to be a release of sorts, of our pent up emotions, and all of our frustrations. For the common citizen, cricket is his own proxy of battle and victory and world leadership. When the team does not get there, it seems that he has not got the victory. It is taken that personally. And hence the vent.

2. The sudden increase in emoluments to the cricketers has not helped. The fact is that the huge growth of media and television reach, the accompanying increase in advertising moolah coming into the sport, has meant a consequential benefit to the cricketers providing the entertainment. It had to happen, and is completely justified as well. Just the fact that the movement to an increasing pay packet for the cricketers has been sharp and sudden, and has given a lot of media attention. Those who don’t get the fact that the cricketers are getting just rewards, perceive this jump as unjustified, and that ‘if they are paid so much, they must perform each time they go out on the field’. It almost feels as if the cricketers are getting paid from taxpayers’ money, which of course, is completely baseless.

3. The extremes that fans go to, like the way they damaged Dhoni’s house and which was visible all over television, or the way they have done similar damage to Kaif’s house in the past, the police can certainly stop the damages. If they want to. But do they want to? I don’t know what can be the political factor in this, but is appears that the local leadership almost lets the fans do their part. Let them go and vent out their anger at Dhoni. First of all, I completely and totally sympathise with Dhoni (and Kaif, in the past). They have not even been the ‘enemy number 1’, if you will. There were worse offenders to India’s loss/es. That apart, how can the scenes be visible on TV, and the local police does not even come and try to stop the mayhem? Does the local political leadership believe that ‘let the citizens take up small issues like these, and allow us to do our own money making undisturbed’? Or are these incidents inspired and motivated by small time local leadership itself, enjoying political protection, and thereby getting their own two minutes of fame, to assert their local leadership, via prime time television? I wonder..

4. Betting. Yes, I suspect that India and Pakistan contribute to the largest betting in cricket. Officially it is banned, at least in India. Yet, its clear that its happening, undoubtedly. And big time too. Betting on each ball (‘will it be a dot ball’ and such), on each over, on each player’s score, on the winning margins, on just about all aspects of the game. Its a major gambling pot, and from the ancient times, our culture has had gambling as an intricate part (think Yuddhisthir gambling away Draupadi, amongst other things!). With the high stakes involved, lot of money exchanging hands, on an apparently un-influencable set of events, there is a tendency to see if money CAN influence the events. Which is why most betting scandals connected to cricket have their roots in India or Dubai (Indo-Pak melting pot). Do these betting centres influence fan ire? Do they vent out the anger of their personal monetary losses on the cricketers? Could well be so.

Such strong reactions are not seen in more mature markets like England, Australia, South Africa. They are also not seen in Sri Lanka, which would be expected to have a similar culture as Indo-Pak. That Sri Lanka did not come from the original undivided India, does it make a difference to its attitude and culture in such respects? Again, I am not so sure. I do not also see such reactions in West Indies. There, I suppose, there are other sports like basketball and perhaps, soccer as well, that give the fans enough to follow, and partisan forces find their own balance, as a result.

I am quite aghast when things reach the level that they reach in our countries – damage to Dhoni’s house, or Woolmer’s death or Inzamam’s retirement, being what come to my mind. When will the fans in India and Pakistan look to this as a game, and nothing more? Fine, you can make coffee table discussion on the subject, perhaps even animated ones. Maybe fans can have strong arguments about their respective favorites. But hey, know where to stop. Don’t take your anger to the streets, man.

The biggest reaction that fans can give to the sport, if they feel like rejecting it, is to stop watching the games. The TRPs will fall, and the endorsements will go down, and the players will know that only performance will give them their rich dividends. However that being a long term strategy, meanwhile, fans find it easier to burn effigies.
😦

Cricket World Cup: Saturday Night Fever

Posted: March 18, 2007 in bangladesh, cricket, india, loss, pakistan, world cup
4

So the first night of full match watching that I could afford, as it was the weekend, turned out to be a nightmare, to say the least 😦

Here are my stray thoughts on the day of debacle, for India and Pakistan:

1. What can I say about India’s loss against Bangladesh?
…
…
…

Yes, ‘nothing’. I am dumb founded.

2. Pakistan is out of the world cup. So much for the convenient 2 big, 2 minnow groups, to supposedly serve as more practise games for the big guys. The quickest big team exit. Quite unbelievable.

3. Refer my earlier posts about the bigger teams who should be asserting themselves stronger against the smaller ones. Now after the Saturday night, I wonder if there is really that much of a difference between the so called minnows and the big guys. Its like the tennis tournaments now. Yes, the top seeds are potentially far better, but if they take anything casually, they could well be upset. Happens all the time in tennis and now we see the same in cricket too.

4. India has it all uphill from now. They need to win both the games, against Bermude and Sri Lanka. And YET, they may not be sure to make it to the next round. Bangladesh will have their second win against Bermuda, and Sri Lanka should manage to beat Bangladesh, to add to their Bermuda victory. If India wins both, that will still leave 3 teams with 2 wins each, and a tie breaker of sorts will decide the top two teams, to go to the next round. Never easy for anyone to predict the final two from the group.

Of course, winning against Sri Lanka itself will be a huge effort, coming as it will against the backdrop of this loss against Bangladesh, with the huge expectations of the billion people from India, and the psychological impact of all these put together. I wouldn’t want to be in Dravid’s shoes at this time.

5. So lets imagine the scenario should India also get hustled out in the first round itself.
How will the sponsors survive? They who depend solely on the Indian viewership, will have a huge loss on their hands.
I am sure the viewership in India will drop by at least 50%.
The big bucks that Hutch and Hero Honda and Pepsi, not to speak of Sony Entertainment, have put behind the event – how will they get their ROI??
Will some of them renege their contracts and pay the penalty, but get out quickly, cutting their losses? 🙂
I wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of these sponsors as well.

6. Will there be some or the ‘other’ kind of lobbying going on, at this time, from the sponsors end, to see how they can ‘ensure’ that India makes it to the next round?

Ohh.. the scenario is tough to imagine. All the hype surrounding the event, all the media packages waiting to be unleashed as the rounds progress (I believe that the media and advertising hype has been a little subdued so far, just to ensure against consumer fatigue, since its a long tournament; now will it be long at all, for Indian fans??), will they remain in the cans and not see the light of the day?

Tough calls. We will see the picture emerge in the next few days now..!

The Retail FDI imbroglio

Posted: February 24, 2007 in FDI, india, kirana, retail
0

I usually do not comment on economic policy and things like that. I do not feel I am qualified to do so, as there are just far too many facets to issues like these, and they are best left to economists who know their jobs.

Yet, I feel this particular issue deserves a comment. There is just a lot of news coming in, on the subject, each day now. My take on this is as follows.

That yes, more organised retail will definitely hurt small shops and traders. We (like the English) are a country of shopkeepers and a large part of our working population is engaged in small trading businesses, of the kind that will get affected by organised retail.

Whatever they say about organised retail and mom-and-pop stores co-existing in the US, the reality is not only different from what is portrayed about the US, it will probably be worse in India. I know for a fact that the mom-and-pop stores, although they still exist in large numbers, in the US, have been severly affected by big box stores coming up in their areas. They have had to go to smaller and smaller niches, and find new ways to survive. And their profitability has gone down dramatically. It is never easy, as was seen so vividly in the film, “You’ve got mail”.
Coming to the India situation, only the other day, I was seeing a news report on TV that talked about the increasing prices of fruits and vegetables. And what it showed very clearly was that the organised retailers like Reliance and Subhiksha were selling these, at the lowest rates. Lower than the small roadside stalls! Now, if you can go to an organised retail outlet, perhaps with air-con and other conveniences, and get your veggies cheaper, what incentive is left to visit the roadside vendor?? The fact that there were and are, huge inefficiencies in say, the distribution network in India, only means that someone who can remove these inefficiencies, saves a lot of money, and is able to pass that benefit to the consumer!

So the stark reality IS that the small store is going to find it hard to stand up to the organised retailers. Some may still survive, many may not.

So where does that lead us on the fundamental debate on FDI in retail??

What I can see from the above is that none of what I mentioned earlier, had anything to do with foreign retailers! It is all about organised retail vs kirana stores, to put it simply. There was a day and age in India when certain industries were reserved for the small scale sector alone. I guess those days are gone. Whatever wisdom the government has acquired over the years, tells that that industry has to scale up, where possible, and the priority is not to stay small and protect jobs temporarily, but to grow as big as we can, and create new jobs in that new scenario.

That being the case, they will not stop the Reliances or the Pantaloons or the Kumar Mangalam Birlas or RPG group or Tatas or ITC from getting into organised retail. As soon as that happens, the small store is threatened, and that part has been accepted by the GOI.

Then the only debate on FDI is if these Indian groups require protection. Do we need to shield the Reliances and the Pantaloons from Wal-mart and Tesco?? I guess that argument is very plain. No other industry is getting any such protection in this world. An Infosys has to taken on IBM or CapGemini, and does not look for any protection there, nor does an Indian cement company seek protection against the Lafarges of this world. Why should the big boys in Indian retail be given special status? They are all making good money in their existing businesses, they are going out and acquiring globally, they are raising money in the world markets, they are recruiting the best of talent from anywhere in the world. They should be able to take on the competition from the big global brands as well.

On the other hand, such competition will only make it more attractive for the consumer in India. There will be more to choose from, better prices, better deals, etc. So heck, why not?

And as for the small retailers who are going to get impacted, really, that is the price of progress. A Nehruvian philosophy of job creation and job protection was good for its times. But its behind us now. The 1991 opening up of the economy took its toll. Many small industries could not stand up to the international competition. Some of them restructured, improved processed, tightened their belts, and are world beaters today. The ones which closed down, found other ways to survive in this world. Same will have to be the natural course of things, as far as the retail trade goes. Some may become franchisees of larger retailers, some may get into niches that organised retail may not touch at this time, the rest may have to fend for themselves.

Transitions take their toll. It is a price to pay, to get what comes after the transition…

Just for this one reason, Sehwag should be dropped..

Posted: February 18, 2007 in india, ODI, runout, sehwag, sri lanka
2

What was that run out about?
I saw it in the highlights and I could not fathom it.

What was Sehwag doing? From half way on the pitch, he was so casually ambling away to his crease. WHAT WAS HE THINKING?

For being so casual, more amateurish than a school boy cricketer, and what could have lead the team to defeat, he should be dropped from the team. If not forever, then at least for a couple of games. Just like they penalise cricketers for some games on disciplinary grounds, the coach and the team management should do the same, for such shocking work on the field!

India has a fair chance, I would say…

Posted: February 18, 2007 in cricket, Dravid, india, ODI, world cup
4

In the world cup.

The aces in the sleeves as per me, are not the batting, but the seamers. In Zaheer, Agarkar and Munaf, we have a very decent ODI attack.

Zaheer’s stint in England has done him a lot of good. Learning to bowl well, day after day, in that county atmosphere obviously taught him a thing or two. Imagine learning all that, and then coming to bowl for your country makes him a genuine leader of our bowling attack.

Ajit Agarkar, to my mind, has always been a good ODI bowler. Someone who bowls extremely well, within his known limitations. Works up a good pace, varies the pace too, works out a batsman’s wicket by strategy, is reasonably accurate early in the innings, almost always generates early wicket taking opportunities. And at this time, he seems to be in excellent nick. Perhaps spurred by the ‘competition’ for pace bowling slots in the team.

Munaf, the fastest of the trio, has figured that he needs to be very accurate. Somewhere he has got it ingrained in his head, that he has to be like a McGrath, and not like a Shoaib Akhtar. He does an excellent job of keeping the score under control, and then forcing a mistake from the batsmen.

And to think that a Sreesanth with all his energy and enthusiasm, and never say die spirit, with an eagerness to keep learning, is the fourth bowler. And then there is the very promising, at one time our pace hope for the next decade, currently, slightly out of form, Irfan Pathan, waiting in the wings. And it makes me say with confidence that indeed, our aces are this pace attack.

If Greg Chappell, Dravid, Sachin and others can find a way to train the 5 boys to NOT panic against a serious counter attack (think Gilchrist or Jayasuriya or Afridi) and keep bowling intelligently, then we have one area completely covered.

Now coming to the batting. Yes, it has the biggest names and one would feel that its the batting that should be our strong point. While I believe that its good, is it good enough for the world cup? Lets examine details.

Up in the opening slot, what options do we have?
Ideally, Ganguly and Uthappa.
Ganguly is of course, in the best of form. And his resolve and determination to prove himself should see him continue doing well, right through the world cup.
Uthappa has a lot of promise. He does not seem to have many nerves. But its the technique that I would wonder about. Is it good enough to face up to really class bowling – a Shaun Pollock or a McGrath, or even a Chaminda Vaas? Lets hope so..
In case either of these guys are injured, what options do we have for the opening slot? Sehwag, Sachin or even Dravid. All of them have played the parts in the past.

Sachin can be a good bet, but I think the team will be better served if he comes in at 4. More about that later. Sehwag would be the one who would be first choice for opening slot, if there is any problem with Uthapa or Saurav. And of course, like everyone else in India, I can also only hope that he strikes some sort of form, soon. Yes, he can be destructive and take the game away. Just when will be start delivering now, I am not sure. He is under huge pressure, and will remain so, inspite of the best of confidence that his captain has in him.
Dravid would be the last option to go to the opening slot. If it comes to that, I would believe that we would be in serious trouble. Nothing else worked out, or 2-3 people on the injury list, is what may warrant such a step. But if it comes to it, he is fine. One with such good technique can certainly manage the opening slot too, if required.

Then on to the middle order. We have names like Dravid (number 3), Sachin (4), Yuvraj (5) and Sehwag or Karthick (6). Dhoni at 7 and then 4 specialist bowlers is the way I see it going, in most cases. Unless we have tremendous respect for our 5 batsmen, I think we will continue to play with 4 bowlers and 6 batsmen, plus Dhoni. In case we play 5+5+1, then of course, the 6th batsman (Sehwag / Karthick) will be out.

In batting then, there is no doubt about Dravid and Sachin. They are strong middle order batters. Yuvraj’s form looks good if the last game against Sri Lanka is any indication. And if that is true, then we have a good 3,4,5 combination there. It is the 6th batsman or the bench strength beyond these main working team that is worrying. Karthick has played some good knocks, but I just can’t see him as a reliable batsman against quality bowling. And Sehwag.. well, we all know. He is out of form. If the first 1-2 games don’t redeem him, I would believe that he will have to sit out through the competition. There will just be no point in carrying on someone in the world cup team, who has lost all confidence and where, we just continue to ‘hope’ that he fires! And then when you see the reserves, there is really no one else left, as far as batsmen go. Will we consider using Pathan in that case, as a batsman who may also bowl? I suppose. There is no choice left. We may yet miss a Raina..

So in batting, I would believe that there is a genuine weakness of one slot, and there is no adequate cover against a possible injury to our top batsmen.

The wicketkeeper-cum-batsman position is in good hands with Dhoni. He has great temperament as a batsman, and is quite good (though not flawless) as a wicketkeeper. He can certainly slam the bowling around, and is quite mature too. However again, I have a question on genuine technique and ability to face quality bowlers. Here we just need to hope for the best. Karthick is a good cover in case the wicketkeeper’s position needs to be filled, but then, if he is anyway a part of the team, as a 6th batsman, then who do we get as a replacement? This is in the event that Sehwag does not get into form at all…

So in short, that one batsman’s position may still hurt us. We may be forced to go with a 5+5+1 combination and hope that the bowlers compensate for the one lesser batsman, then.

Coming to spinners, I think we are just so-so. Harbhajan and Kumble may keep the scores down, against lesser teams or against batsmen who are not adept at playing spin. Better batsmen who have faced these guys for many years, may actually get a lot of runs against them. We will probably play only one of these two guys, and it may be a case of regular swapping between these two. Unless one of them makes the most of his opportunities and succeeds in the early games, and seals his seat in the team. Or if there is a known weakness against one of them, from the opposite side. Kumble can be successful against lesser teams, and also against lower order batsmen, and he can potentially run through the tail. But against that, he is a huge liability in the field and nowadays, also with the bat. Even if he can hang around on the crease as a batsman, he cannot run fast between the wickets, he will not be able to rotate strike (say he has a batsman at the opposite end) and he will not be able to seriously wallop the bowling for some big hits and big runs.

So I would again see the spinner’s slot as a kind of weakness. Depending on the pitches then, we may actually like to play 4 seamers and no specialist spinner. The spin part, if necessary, can then be handled by Sachin, Yuvraj, and Sehwag, if he is in the team. Its good to also have Saurav who can back up as a slow medium pacer and take care of few overs. In such a case, if Pathan is the fourth seamer, then our batting would look even better and deeper.

So indeed, the team composition gives some flexibility in that sense. To an extent, Chappell’s efforts towards this endeavour, from the time that he has taken over, may have delivered us these options.

But one thing that he worked for, and which has clearly not converted into results, perhaps on account of the final composition of the team, is the fielding. The young and fast guys, like Raina and Kaif, are not in the team at all. Off the current lot, only Yuvraj qualifies as a great fielder. Who is going to cover the inner circle and stop the singles? There is no one that I can think of. Maybe Uthapa. Perhaps a Karthick. But that is it.

Guys like Sachin, Sehwag, Pathan, Agarkar, Ganguly and Dravid are decent, but not very sharp. Unless they raise their levels, inspired by the occasion! All of these guys can cover the boundary ropes too, decently. Zaheer and Harbhajan are also okay, on the field. But out there in the deep field, there are some people whom we would have to hide on the ground. Guys like Munaf Patel and Kumble. There is an extra run written all over it, when the ball goes to either of them. Forget about a sharp, fast return, with possibilities of run-outs!

So sure, we are not the perfectly equipped team. I am not sure if any other team is, anyway. But there is a lot going for our team, there are many strengths there, which makes me feel that we stand a decent chance, this time around.

Lets see how it goes..

Newer Entries