***Official*** Sri Lanka in India

[adharcric]

Okay, now who is behind Yuvraj's continued inclusion despite his poor form. And I dont know how they can keep Rao out when he hasn't even got a decent chance to prove himself. I hope this selection is only for the remaining two matches of the series.

well, after gambhir's ton at ahmedabad, he won't be dropped for the next series, and it doesn't look like raina will get dropped either. yuvraj better make a big knock in the 6th or 7th match now.

 

[Sanz]

The point is that Rao has dont nothing wrong to be left out, on the other hand Yuvraj has been poor.

 

[dinu23]

India have done well against teams at home. but i'd like to see them perform abroad against england,australia. if they can do well abroad then they are favourites for the 2007 world cup IMO.

 

[dinu23]

i think Sanaths career as an opener is over. he should be dropped down the order.
here's my line up:
tharanga
sanga
mahela
dilshan
marvan
sanath
chandana
vaas
zoysa
murali
dilhara

sub:maharoof

 

[ramkumar_gr]

The point is that Rao has dont nothing wrong to be left out, on the other hand Yuvraj has been poor.

It is very unfair on Rao. He has done little wrong in this series.

 

[adharcric]

It is very unfair on Rao. He has done little wrong in this series.

Yes, but one would hope that Yuvraj can prove himself in these two matches now that he has been retained, unless the selectors are ready to dump him for the South Africa series (in favor of Rao).

 

[ramkumar_gr]

Yes, but one would hope that Yuvraj can prove himself in these two matches now that he has been retained, unless the selectors are ready to dump him for the South Africa series (in favor of Rao).

may be these could be the last 2 chances for Yuvraj Singh. But it good that a very healthy competition is going on.

 

[adharcric]

may be these could be the last 2 chances for Yuvraj Singh. But it good that a very healthy competition is going on.

yes, after the way zaheer and ganguly were kept out, i think the selection process is more creditable now. perhaps this is the last chance for yuvraj, and he has gotten that because of his brilliance in the field.

anyways, what do you all want/predict as the team for the 6th odi?

Here's my team:
G Gambhir, S Tendulkar, M Kaif, R Dravid, V Sehwag, MS Dhoni, S Raina, I Pathan, A Agarkar, VRV Singh, H Singh Supersub: M Kartik (ideally Ramesh Powar)

This team is very deep batting-wise, but the bowling may be a concern with Sehwag, Tendulkar and Raina completing the 5th-bowler's role. We really need to try out Raina and see if he can become a regular part-time bowler (3 to 4 overs) along with Sehwag (4 to 5) and Tendulkar (the rest). Kind of sucks that we have 3 specialist batsmen in here, but the only way to bring in better bowling options and maintain the batting strength is with a solid all-rounder like Powar (Yadav hasnt been good enough) or Yusuf Pathan or Rajesh Pawar.

 

[adharcric]

Also, Pathan and VRV should open the bowling with Agarkar as first-change.

 

[adharcric]

Actually, maybe RP Singh should be given another match so a better assessment can be made before selecting the squad for the SA series. Sreesanth's already gotten 3 matches.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

yes, after the way zaheer and ganguly were kept out, i think the selection process is more creditable now. perhaps this is the last chance for yuvraj, and he has gotten that because of his brilliance in the field.

anyways, what do you all want/predict as the team for the 6th odi?

Here's my team:
G Gambhir, S Tendulkar, M Kaif, R Dravid, V Sehwag, MS Dhoni, S Raina, I Pathan, A Agarkar, VRV Singh, H Singh Supersub: M Kartik (ideally Ramesh Powar)

This team is very deep batting-wise, but the bowling may be a concern with Sehwag, Tendulkar and Raina completing the 5th-bowler's role. We really need to try out Raina and see if he can become a regular part-time bowler (3 to 4 overs) along with Sehwag (4 to 5) and Tendulkar (the rest). Kind of sucks that we have 3 specialist batsmen in here, but the only way to bring in better bowling options and maintain the batting strength is with a solid all-rounder like Powar (Yadav hasnt been good enough) or Yusuf Pathan or Rajesh Pawar.

I also dont understand the preference of Raina over Venugopala Rao.

Your team looks OK. Shreesanth had been given enough chances and the selectors might have tried P Chawla or A Mishra (after the very good showing in the Duleep) in place of M Karthick.

 

[honestbharani]

I think it is very harsh on Rao, but from what Kiran More said, it seems that the door is not shut on him and that his good performance in Pune is noted. Maybe they are giving Yuvi these matches to pull himself back to some kind of form. At least so far he was looking good while he was there, yesterday, he was just plain pathetic.

 

[honestbharani]

BTW, in a funny kind of a way, I think I am happier by yesterday's showing than some of the matches earlier. This is basically an India A side, what with Sachin, Sourav, Laxman, Dravid (in the field), Kaif, Zaheer, Nehra, Balaji, Pathan, Kumble, Bhajji all not in the side. And with the dew around, I felt it would be a cakewalk for Sri Lanka against the inexperienced attack of India. But the guys bowled their hearts out and tried their hardest and made it a contest till the 40th over. Full credit to them. SEhwag looked very involved as well and was trying his hardest as a captain, which was good to see, as he sometimes seems too laidback for his own good.


But honestly, something should be done about playing day and night games in winter in India. The dew factor means the side winning the toss has won 90% of the match, really. Between two good and reasonably well matched sides, I think the toss makes the difference in such encounters. We see that in Lahore all the time as well. With the dew around, the ball doesn't seam, swing or spin. IT doesn't even grip the surface and come slower off the pitch. IT just comes straight, fast and with a true bounce. Honestly, even tailenders will make runs in those conditions.

 

[ramkumar_gr]

I think it is very harsh on Rao, but from what Kiran More said, it seems that the door is not shut on him and that his good performance in Pune is noted. Maybe they are giving Yuvi these matches to pull himself back to some kind of form. At least so far he was looking good while he was there, yesterday, he was just plain pathetic.

I feel no changes should have been made for the last two matches. I see the team performing as an unit after a very long time and this is a tough call on Rao and Yadav.
Yuvraj Singh may deserve one or two more chances. Not to forget he scored 2 ODI hundreds just very recently.

 

[honestbharani]

yeah, I totally forgot to say this... Yadav deserves more opportunities.

 

[marc71178]

India have done well against teams at home. but i'd like to see them perform abroad against england,australia. if they can do well abroad then they are favourites for the 2007 world cup IMO.

With Australia in the field, there's only one favourite.

 

[adharcric]

yeah, I totally forgot to say this... Yadav deserves more opportunities.

He does deserve more opportunities, but he didn't bowl as well as he should've in this series and it's worth trying out VRV Singh. I don't think the selectors will have that ridiculous approach of dropping a talented player forever just because of one slightly below-par performance (Yadav). In the same way, they shouldn't retain a player who isnt performing simply because he is talented, not for too long at least. (Yuvraj)

 

[sheerindianspeed]

With Australia in the field, there's only one favourite.

And there is only one to really challenge the mighty Aussies!

 

[Jono]

And there is only one to really challenge the mighty Aussies!

There are plenty of teams that can challenge the Aussies. Don't get carried away please claiming India are the best now other than the Aussies, let the English do that

I think Rao is incredibly unlucky. Yadav is unlucky, but at the same time I don't think he's the guy to fill India's bits-and-pieces spot and be the 5th bowling option. I think Powar has more potential, as Yadav hasn't been exactly poor but he hasn't lit the world on fire either. But he probably should have lasted the whole series.

 

[Jono]

The point is that Rao has dont nothing wrong to be left out, on the other hand Yuvraj has been poor.

I totally agree. My mate today was saying I'm being too harsh on Yuvraj and he needs more opportunities and I just replied going "WTF?".

He's had 3-4 years literally having a permanent spot in the ODI team. Other than some flashes of brilliance, he has been pretty damn poor for the most part with the bat. He has to start scoring, and I kind of in a way want him to fail in the next 2 ODIs. I know its unfair, but someone else deserves his spot, whether it be Rao, Raina or Gambhir.