Saturday, March 10, 2007
India Among The Frontrunners
It is very difficult to organize one’s thoughts and arrange them in a logical way after a pretty long break. I was away from my system for a long while. Since then the Sri Lankans came and lost a series, and the squad for the Caribbean was announced. Quite a lot has happened since then that it is becoming almost impossible to talk about things with any sense of chronology.
After a long spell of controversial ‘tinkering’ with the Indian team, the final team emerged without any acrimony. There practically was no major dissent about any player’s selection or omission. The one area of concern was the fifteenth player. Should it be an extra batsman or pace bowler or a spinner? Very soon the idea of the third spinner was dropped and the only possible discussion must have been about who should be the two selected spinners. There again not much time was wasted in favor of Romesh Powar. So the toss was possibly between Suresh Raina and Sreesanth. Raina’s inability to impress the selectors of his batting prowess which was given enough opportunity and Sreesanth’s potential to take wickets swung things in the latter’s favor.
But the lack of difficulty in team selection does not reflect the talent pool available in the country. In fact India though it won the series against Sri Lanka, did it with minimum comfort. Whenever the Indian new ball caused cracks in the Sri Lankan batting, their middle order almost always pulled things around and posted reasonably good totals for its depleted bowling to defend. Though India managed to win two matches, it did not show the kind of superiority that it should have demonstrated against an attack without Chaminda Vaas and more importantly Muralidharan. The wins would certainly have been a little more difficult to achieve had these two been in the touring party. So the settled look need not cause any false sense of well being with regards to the Indian team.
Now what are the chances of this outfit to do well in the Championship? India can boast of three batsmen who have crossed the 10,000 run mark in one-day cricket. No other team has such a band of men like these three who are rich in experience and are still in good form. Yuvraj and Dhoni in their own way are very good finishers. Three batsmen are scoring at the rate of 90-plus. While Sehwag and Dhoni have been doing it for some time, Uthappa has done enough to join this elite group. Karthik is steady, plays with something to spare and Pathan has developed into a useful batsmen. There may not be many teams which can boast of such strength, depth and flair.
This dominance may not be there in India’s bowling. But a close look would tell you that India has taken to the Caribbean two of the best spinners in the game today. Kumble may not be as miserly as he used to be but he is capable of a trick or two even now especially on responsive tracks. And India had never been so rich in its pace bowling resources as it is now. Zaheer in fine nick, Agarkar an experienced one-day bowler, Munaf possibly a great bowler in the making, Sreesanth who has already proved his excellent capabilities and Pathan a more than useful all-rounder when in form together make a effective pace battery.
It also has a captain capable of leading from the front, a keen sense of cricketing wisdom in that cool brain. An extrovert is often mistakenly considered a person with flair. Dravid may not be a showman but he has shoulders broad enough to carry India to better deeds.
But there are certain aspects which drag India down. Poor running between the wickets, relatively sloppy fielding and most importantly almost total lack of consistency. These areas require long term efforts and can’t change overnight. Perhaps except the last item. An inspired effort may bring in an element of consistency in India’s performances. None expected that from Kapil’s Devils. So it may not beyond this more balanced outfit also.
Tags: India's chances in WC
