Building Indian team for the 2007 world cup

[marc71178]

The Indian team needs stock bowlers, not bits-and-pieces pie chuckers who can bat a bit.

And you know that all those pseudo all rounders aren't that how exactly?

 

[krishneelz]

Mongia would be lucky to 'contain' ay batting side for less than six an over, and even more lucky to pick up a wicket. He's a Sachin Tendulkar type of bowler, and in this Indian side, there's one too many, and none are of much use. The Indian team needs stock bowlers, not bits-and-pieces pie chuckers who can bat a bit. We don't know how Munaf, Powar, Yusuf and Kumar will perform at the top level, but we know they have something none of the seven or eight specialist batsmen have– the big shots. They're worth the risk taken to play them in the side. Besides, Mongia is a slow scorer who hasn't done much of note at the top level, and given his style of batting, he's a misfit in ODI's.

If dhoni is not a big hitter than i dont know who is. But agree with mongia summary. India basically now have 4 or 5 good prospect quicks bowlers and they must trail them in the next year or so to find 1 more decent quick to partner pathan and RP singh.

 

[kvemuri]

Mongia would be lucky to 'contain' ay batting side for less than six an over, and even more lucky to pick up a wicket. He's a Sachin Tendulkar type of bowler, and in this Indian side, there's one too many, and none are of much use. The Indian team needs stock bowlers, not bits-and-pieces pie chuckers who can bat a bit. We don't know how Munaf, Powar, Yusuf and Kumar will perform at the top level, but we know they have something none of the seven or eight specialist batsmen have– the big shots. They're worth the risk taken to play them in the side. Besides, Mongia is a slow scorer who hasn't done much of note at the top level, and given his style of batting, he's a misfit in ODI's.

Please no Dinesh Mongia, we don't need another version of Ravi Shastri, the original version has been enough and our batting isn't so bad to even discuss Mongia. Heck Laxman is 10 times a better player than Mongia and I consider VVS to be a misfit for ODI's. Rather India would be better off investing in a younger and multi-talented player than Mongia.

 

[kvemuri]

As for the Indian XI with all players being fully-fit and available -

Sehwag
Tendulkar
Kaif - Better suited to no.3 with his style of batting than at no.5 or 6 as he is more of a Dravid type player in batting and rarely plays the big shots. He is a quick-runner between the wickets and is the type of player needed to get things moving after the initial 15-20 overs with power-plays off and the field spread.
Dravid
Yuvraj - In the form of his life and looking impossible to get out. Also, is a big-hitter and a sweet timer of the ball. On his day, he can demolish any bowling attack. Will be more useful at no.5 or 6 than at the top of the order.
Dhoni (w)
Pathan - Might be sent up at no.3 if the need occurs to get the quick runs.
A bowler with big-hitting ability
Harbhajan
RP Singh
A tearaway pace bowler

Agree with almost all except replace Bhajji with someone who can be more efffective in bowling (whether it be spin/pace) and can slog. Powar might be a good starting experiment.

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

My Indian team for WC 2007 would be,

Sehwag
Tendukar
Dravid
Yuvraj
Kaif
Dhoni
Pathan
Ajit
Kumble
Munaf
RPS

--VRV
--Ganguly
--Harbhajan
--Sreesanth

 

[adharcric]

My Indian team for WC 2007 would be,

Sehwag
Tendukar
Dravid
Yuvraj
Kaif
Dhoni
Pathan
Ajit
Kumble
Munaf
RPS

--VRV
--Ganguly
--Harbhajan
--Sreesanth

Replace Kumble with Powar or Chawla. Replace Ganguly with Raina. Replace Agarkar with a reserve opener, possibly Gambhir, Dhawan or Uthappa. 6 seamers is too many.

 

[ajaagarkarajaaja]

Replace Kumble with Powar or Chawla. Replace Ganguly with Raina. Replace Agarkar with a reserve opener, possibly Gambhir, Dhawan or Uthappa. 6 seamers is too many.

I like Powar, he can be very useful, but don't u think a person of Kumble's experiance can be useful in WC?

I think there is some cricket left in Ganguly, Raina is the futute of India though.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

My Indian team of 15 for the WC would be:

Sachin
Sehwag
R Dravid
Yuvraj Singh
Y. Venugopala Rao
Hemang Badani
S Raina
M Dhoni
JP Yadav/Bangar/P Kumar/J Sharma
I Pathan
R P Singh
L Balaji/VRV Singh/M Patel
Aashish Nehra
Ramesh Powar/H Singh/Y Pathan
P Chawla/A Mishra

This team has got 7 batsmen, an allrounder, a keeper, 4 pace powlers and two spinners.
No place for pretenders like Kaif, he is a misfit either at no.3 or 7 or whatever position.
Badani is a far better batsman and definitely deserves a place on form and he is a good fielder too.

 

[adharcric]

I like Powar, he can be very useful, but don't u think a person of Kumble's experiance can be useful in WC?

I think there is some cricket left in Ganguly, Raina is the futute of India though.

Kumble's experience might be useful, but we have three experienced regulars in the team in Dravid, Tendulkar and Sehwag. Everyone in our team has to be good in the field, Sachin and Dravid are good enough, Sehwag barely cuts it, I don't think Kumble will. It's hard to rule out Ganguly because he's a real fighter, but this team is going in the direction of youth, with the exception of professionals like Dravid and Tendulkar who field and run well.

 

[adharcric]

My Indian team of 15 for the WC would be:

Sachin
Sehwag
R Dravid
Yuvraj Singh
Y. Venugopala Rao
Hemang Badani
S Raina
M Dhoni
JP Yadav/Bangar/P Kumar/J Sharma
I Pathan
R P Singh
L Balaji/VRV Singh/M Patel
Aashish Nehra
Ramesh Powar/H Singh/Y Pathan
P Chawla/A Mishra

This team has got 7 batsmen, an allrounder, a keeper, 4 pace powlers and two spinners.
No place for pretenders like Kaif, he is a misfit either at no.3 or 7 or whatever position.
Badani is a far better batsman and definitely deserves a place on form and he is a good fielder too.

I think just about every sensible Indian fan would agree that Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan will be in the team. Yuvraj is becoming a star and something tells me Raina will go even further, no one can doubt his class after seeing his shots yesterday, it's just about consistency and guidance now. Kaif doesn't have the range of strokes we expect from our batsmen so he's out of favor with some, but I think he's a valuable batsman and excellent runner between the wickets. I'm almost 100% sure Kaif will be the 4th middle-order bat, but if he isn't I'd say Venugopal and Ganguly are ahead of Badani. Actually, I have too much to say, calls for a separate post ...

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I think just about every sensible Indian fan would agree that Sehwag, Tendulkar, Dravid, Yuvraj, Dhoni and Pathan will be in the team. Yuvraj is becoming a star and something tells me Raina will go even further, no one can doubt his class after seeing his shots yesterday, it's just about consistency and guidance now. Kaif doesn't have the range of strokes we expect from our batsmen so he's out of favor with some, but I think he's a valuable batsman and excellent runner between the wickets. I'm almost 100% sure Kaif will be the 4th middle-order bat, but if he isn't I'd say Venugopal and Ganguly are ahead of Badani. Actually, I have too much to say, calls for a separate post ...

I dont think running between the wickets help much when the asking rate is above 10 and not even a single time , Kaif was able to win it for India in those situations. He is a good fielder agreed, but i feel india would be better served with Y. Venugopala Rao or Badani or even Ganguly in that position as a batsman. Dont say he can come come at 3 or 4, definitely no place for him there as we have better players that him even at that position.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Keeping in mind that our "all-rounders" can be evaluated as bowlers (spin or seam) who can bat considerably, here's what the squad should look like.

1. Opening Batsman (Certainty: Virender Sehwag)
2. Opening Batsman (Certainty: Sachin Tendulkar)
3. Opening Batsman
4. Middle-Order Batsman (Certainty: Rahul Dravid*)
5. Middle-Order Batsman (Certainty: Yuvraj Singh)
6. Middle-Order Batsman
7. Middle-Order Batsman
8. Wicketkeeper (Certainty: Mahendra Singh Dhoni)
9. Pace Bowler (Certainty: Irfan Pathan)
10. Pace Bowler
11. Pace Bowler
12. Pace Bowler
13. Pace Bowler
14. Spin Bowler
15. Spin Bowler

Now, let's take a look at the options that we have at hand.

3. Opening Batsman
--- Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa
--- wild-cards: Gaurav Dhiman, Cheteshwar Pujara (u19 stars without domestic experience)

6. Middle-Order Batsman (preferably RHB)
--- Mohammad Kaif, Venugopal Rao, VVS Laxman, Sridharan Sriram
--- wild-cards: Ambati Rayudu (he was supposed to be on this list by now, disappointment thus far)

7. Middle-Order Batsman (preferably LHB)
--- Suresh Raina, Sourav Ganguly, Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia
--- wild-cards: ahh what the hell, Ajay Jadeja ...

10. Pace Bowler (express right-arm bowler)
--- Vikram Rajvir Singh, Sreesanth
--- wild-cards: AN Ahmed, Yomahesh (u19 opening bowlers, fast-medium)

11. Pace Bowler (left-arm bowler)
--- Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan

YoMahesh looks promising for the U-19 team, but he has got a very little or no FC experience.
Why no Munaf Patel, Could be considered as he can be useful lower down the order too.
I dont think anyone is in contention other than Gambhir for the opening slot.
But Vidyut S could be tried as he is in good form and also played well in the Challenger Trophy final, it was a match winning knock.

To add to your list.

Spinners: R Powar, Y Pathan, A Mishra, P Chawla, K Parida (not playing in the Ranji ODI though)

 

[cricketboy29]

Hey, man, i wouldnt go penciling in Yuvraj in as certain, if he's certain, then Kaif is just as certain.

And...I'd bat Dravid at three,

 

[adharcric]

YoMahesh looks promising for the U-19 team, but he has got a very little or no FC experience.
Why no Munaf Patel, Could be considered as he can be useful lower down the order too.
I dont think anyone is in contention other than Gambhir for the opening slot.
But Vidyut S could be tried as he is in good form and also played well in the Challenger Trophy final, it was a match winning knock.

To add to your list.

Spinners: R Powar, Y Pathan, A Mishra, P Chawla, K Parida (not playing in the Ranji ODI though)

sorry i wasn't even half done, my computer had issues so i had to save what i had on here itself. back to work.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Hey, man, i wouldnt go penciling in Yuvraj in as certain, if he's certain, then Kaif is just as certain.

And...I'd bat Dravid at three,

adharcic is right in doing so. Yuvraj, as Chappel says, has taken his batting to a different level and yes, of course , he is in a different league now. Kaif comes nowhere near. He neither has the strokes nor the temperament to succeed at this level. Not having storkes is very obvious and his FC stats are a testimony to his lack of temperament .

 

[adharcric]

Breakdown of India World Cup Squad

Keeping in mind that our "all-rounders" can be evaluated as bowlers (spin or seam) who can bat considerably, here's what the squad should look like.

1. Opening Batsman (Certainty: Virender Sehwag)
2. Opening Batsman (Certainty: Sachin Tendulkar)
3. Opening Batsman
4. Middle-Order Batsman (Certainty: Rahul Dravid*)
5. Middle-Order Batsman (Certainty: Yuvraj Singh)
6. Middle-Order Batsman
7. Middle-Order Batsman
8. Wicketkeeper (Certainty: Mahendra Singh Dhoni)
9. Pace Bowler (Certainty: Irfan Pathan)
10. Pace Bowler
11. Pace Bowler
12. Pace Bowler
13. Pace Bowler
14. Spin Bowler
15. Spin Bowler

Now, let's take a look at the options that we have at hand.

3. Opening Batsman
--- Gautam Gambhir, Shikhar Dhawan, Robin Uthappa
--- wild-cards: Gaurav Dhiman, Cheteshwar Pujara (u19 stars without domestic experience)

6. Middle-Order Batsman (preferably RHB)
--- Mohammad Kaif, Venugopal Rao, VVS Laxman, Sridharan Sriram
--- wild-cards: Ambati Rayudu (he was supposed to be on this list by now, disappointment thus far)

7. Middle-Order Batsman (preferably LHB)
--- Suresh Raina, Sourav Ganguly, Hemang Badani, Dinesh Mongia
--- wild-cards: ahh what the hell, Ajay Jadeja ...

10. Pace Bowler (express right-arm bowler)
--- Vikram Rajvir Singh, Sreesanth
--- wild-cards: AN Ahmed, Yomahesh (u19 opening bowlers, fast-medium)

11. Pace Bowler (left-arm bowler)
--- Rudra Pratap Singh, Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan

12. Pace Bowler (all-rounder)
--- Munaf Patel, Joginder Sharma, Pravin Kumar, Jai Prakash Yadav
--- wild-cards: Sachin Rana

13. Pace Bowler (the best guy who hasn't been picked in 10-12)
--- the aforementioned, as well as Ajit Agarkar, Lakshmipathy Balaji, Gagandeep Singh, Shib Shankar Paul
--- wild-cards: Avishkar Salvi, Siddarth Trivedi, Vinay Kumar

14-15.
--- Harbhajan Singh, Ramesh Powar, Piyush Chawla, Anil Kumble, Amit Mishra, Murali Kartik (hopefully he'll stay away from contention)
--- wild-cards: Rajesh Pawar, Yusuf Pathan, Shahbaz Nadeem (u19 left-armer), Pragyan Ojha (left-armer in BP XI squad)

 

[adharcric]

adharcic is right in doing so. Yuvraj, as Chappel says, has taken his batting to a different level and yes, of course , he is in a different league now. Kaif comes nowhere near. He neither has the strokes nor the temperament to succeed at this level. Not having storkes is very obvious and his FC stats are a testimony to his lack of temperament .

Well Yuvraj is far ahead of Kaif, but I wouldn't say Kaif isn't a good batsman. Yes, his strokeplay is definitely limited but regarding the FC stats, those don't mean much except for what he's been doing lately. He performed very well for Uttar Pradesh along with Suresh Raina and led them to the Ranji Trophy this season. He's a different type of batsman, he'll play some drives but not many hooks, pulls, etc. He'll accumulate runs by taking singles and doubles and he does that very well. Honestly, I don't mind this type of batsman in the team ... not only does it bring variety, it pushes the rest to work on their running between the wickets, which has traditionally been a weakness for India. The only problem with Kaif is that he has trouble accelerating towards the latter part of the innings and we already have Dravid to play the anchor role to perfection. Yuvraj Singh is also no longer a mere finisher, he's turning into a complete batsman.

So if Kaif isn't going to improve his late-innings batting and the management isn't going to push him up the order, he might not be the best fit for this team. I really want him to stay though, he's a class act and a really spirited player like Dravid.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Well Yuvraj is far ahead of Kaif, but I wouldn't say Kaif isn't a good batsman. Yes, his strokeplay is definitely limited but regarding the FC stats, those don't mean much except for what he's been doing lately. He performed very well for Uttar Pradesh along with Suresh Raina and led them to the Ranji Trophy this season. He's a different type of batsman, he'll play some drives but not many hooks, pulls, etc. He'll accumulate runs by taking singles and doubles and he does that very well. Honestly, I don't mind this type of batsman in the team ... not only does it bring variety, it pushes the rest to work on their running between the wickets, which has traditionally been a weakness for India. The only problem with Kaif is that he has trouble accelerating towards the latter part of the innings and we already have Dravid to play the anchor role to perfection. Yuvraj Singh is also no longer a mere finisher, he's turning into a complete batsman.

not only Dravid, we have got Sachin, Yuvraj , and all these 3 are capable of playing the sheet anchor and at the same time, they always have the Required RR in mind while chasing or they will always come up with big shots during the slog overs while batting first. Kaif falls short on both counts, always thrusts the responsibity of hitting to the partner, even when the situation calls for both batsmen to have a go. Running between the wickets, yes, i agree he does well, but he had let the team down badly on too many occasions just because he cant play big shots. I will never want a player who will put undue pressure on his partner. I dont see any player in World cricket in Kaif's mould.

 

[adharcric]

not only Dravid, we have got Sachin, Yuvraj , and all these 3 are capable of playing the sheet anchor and at the same time, they always have the Required RR in mind while chasing or they will always come up with big shots during the slog overs while batting first. Kaif falls short on both counts, always thrusts the responsibity of hitting to the partner, even when the situation calls for both batsmen to have a go. Running between the wickets, yes, i agree he does well, but he had let the team down badly on too many occasions just because he cant play big shots. I will never want a player who will put undue pressure on his partner. I dont see any player in World cricket in Kaif's mould.

Kaif's lack of big-hitting ability is only a problem if he's batting down the order. If he comes in at #3, he's a great fit for the team because his strike rate isn't really an issue, he rotates the strike well. Just not well enough for the slog overs, which every other batsman can do.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Kaif's lack of big-hitting ability is only a problem if he's batting down the order. If he comes in at #3, he's a great fit for the team because his strike rate isn't really an issue, he rotates the strike well. Just not well enough for the slog overs, which every other batsman can do.

Please have a look at this scorecard

http://ind.cricinfo.com/db/ARCHIVE/...SCORECARDS/IND_ZIM_VIDTRI_ODI3_29AUG2005.html