***Official*** West Indies in India

[Nishant]

Nice, mine is pretty similar. This is mine for the WC:

1. Uthappa/Badrinath/Gambhir/Sachin
2. Uthappa/Badrinath/Gambhir/Sachin
3. Ganguly
4. Yuvraj
5. Dravid
6. Karthik +
7. Dhoni
8. Kumble/Harbhajan/Powar
9. Agarkar
10. Zaheer
11. Sreesanth

Kaif (sad for me to not have him in my team ), Joginder Sharma, Pathan and Raina all possible squad members. I don't rate RP Singh anymore (I used to be a backer of his) and if he doesn't prove himself in the next few matches he'd drop right back in the pecking order where Irfan now is.

I'm also a bit nervy regarding Karthik considering his list A record. Can anyone else say how he's done in domestic one-day cricket lately?

Sehwag will be back! WE all know wat the board is like! He'll be back for the 3rd and 4th ODIs.....just watch!

 

[Nishant]

a sachin and ganguly opening partnership is good but it means that the middle order in unreliable....apart from dravid, u cant expect karthick or dhoni to come in and score when india have lost key players. I'd have gambhir opening....dunno why, but i actually like him!
(i guess after having to suffer at the hands of sehwag, id like anyone who replaces him)

 

[adharcric]

Sachin Vice Captain....wtf?

Quite reasonble IMO. Given that the VC needs to be a fixture in the side and the VC is almost never a bowler, the choice is an obvious one. Sehwag, Laxman and Yuvraj are out; Ganguly just came back and you don't want to make him captain again; Dhoni has no leadership experience and needs to compete with Karthik tbh. Hardly a 'wtf' situation.

 

[adharcric]

Who is this Badrinath guy who's name I've seen bandied about

I know he's batsman, but he is young or old, or the next big Indian batting talent or something?

Badrinath is a 26-year old middle-order batsman for Tamil Nadu. He's a superb cover, point and short-leg fielder.
He's excelled over the past two years in domestic and A-level cricket in UAE and Australia, in both FC and OD formats. Impressive temperament for both forms of the game.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

"Emrit has modest List-A averages of 14 and 38 with the bat and ball respectively"


Err, that should be the other way around, no?

It should, but it isn't. He's much better in FC cricket. Not sure why he'd be picked for ODI cricket ahead of Richard Kelly tbh.

 

[adharcric]

No Kaif in the squad is a huge blow to him personally, will be interesting to see if he comes back. Mediocre performances from mid-2005 onwards have hurt him.

Like the squad actually, and absolutely stoked at Sharma's selection. Hope Gambhir can get a game opening the batting as well.

Kaif has really been wasted by the management but he hurt his cause with a poor showing in the last 3 Ranji matches, while Raina did the opposite.
Kaif may have a chance if Raina is dropped, but he'll have to contend with Badrinath and Mongia first.

 

[adharcric]

Where does Badrinath bat for his domestic team in list A games?

He's batted at 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the past year and done well everywhere.

 

[adharcric]

Earlier I wanted a Sourav-Sachin opening partnership, but I've changed my mind. In the middle-order, we need experienced batsmen who can rotate the strike.
As much as I like Karthik, he shouldn't play unless we're desperate or Dhoni is injured. A lot can happen before the World Cup, so I won't comment on our WC lineup yet.

In the first two matches ...

Uthappa
Ganguly
Dravid
Tendulkar
Raina
Dhoni
Sharma
Powar
Harbhajan
Sreesanth/Agarkar
Zaheer/RPS

Uthappa should get the first chance to stake his claim. Raina needs to play here so that we can either retain an in-form Raina or bring in Badrinath or Mongia later on.
Give Karthik the third or fourth match just to make sure everyone is in touch. Same goes with RP Singh - he needs a match or two here so that we know what to do with him.

 

[Dravid]

I wouldn't mind Ganguly being VC, he still has experience more experience than Sachin in being a captain. Plus Ganguly is 12434532X better captain than Sachin

 

[Nate]

Ganguly opening against the new-ball? May pay off on West Indian pitches I guess.

 

[Nishant]

Earlier I wanted a Sourav-Sachin opening partnership, but I've changed my mind. In the middle-order, we need experienced batsmen who can rotate the strike.
As much as I like Karthik, he shouldn't play unless we're desperate or Dhoni is injured. A lot can happen before the World Cup, so I won't comment on our WC lineup yet.

In the first two matches ...

Uthappa
Ganguly
Dravid
Tendulkar
Raina
Dhoni
Sharma
Powar
Harbhajan
Sreesanth/Agarkar
Zaheer/RPS

Uthappa should get the first chance to stake his claim. Raina needs to play here so that we can either retain an in-form Raina or bring in Badrinath or Mongia later on.
Give Karthik the third or fourth match just to make sure everyone is in touch. Same goes with RP Singh - he needs a match or two here so that we know what to do with him.

id agree with that team...but definitely have zaheer and sreesanth at least in the first game!

 

[Pratters]

I wouldn't mind Ganguly being VC, he still has experience more experience than Sachin in being a captain. Plus Ganguly is 12434532X better captain than Sachin

Ganguly being given vice captaincy at this point would create more talking in the media and every where else. Ganguly of all people would not want such spotlight at this point the way I see it.

On Tendulkar being given vice captaincy - it is interesting because he has declined the vice captaincy on many occassions before even for side games and the like. Tendulkar was a poor captain for India but there were reasons for it - he wasn't given enough freedom - was given a Noel David in Windies for example (while it can be argued he was given support with the likes of Kuruvilla getting games, he was not given as much support for me) ; plus he expected too much from his players.

It is no secret that he has a very intellegent cricket mind though and with proper support from the men that matter (the Mumbai clan of Indian cricket who are in the thick of things right now), the possibility of him captaining India again and not badly at that cannot be discounted. Also, I am not quite sure it would be that poor a move as it sounds given he enjoys the support of players as well. Dravid hasn't exactly been a great captain and a change after the world cup can occur. A lot can change very fast in Indian cricket.

 

[adharcric]

I wouldn't mind Ganguly being VC, he still has experience more experience than Sachin in being a captain. Plus Ganguly is 12434532X better captain than Sachin

That's not the point. Ganguly is not a fixture in the side yet. Sachin is. Besides, read Pratyush's post above.

 

[Pup Clarke]

What about playing Karthik as a specialist batsmen maybe instead of Raina as he has struggled over the last few months.
My India X1
Uthappa
Ganguly
Dravid
Tendulkar
Karthik
Dhoni
Mongia
Powar
Agarkar
Sreesanth
Zaheer

 

[adharcric]

What about playing Karthik as a specialist batsmen maybe instead of Raina as he has struggled over the last few months.

Raina was retained because he has done well over the past month in domestic cricket. These matches should be used wisely to build the best WC squad possible.
Raina needs to be tested immediately so that we either have an in-form Raina or an in-form replacement for him. Badrinath, Kaif and Mongia wait in the wings.
By the way, Mongia is not in the squad for the first two matches.

 

[Dravid]

Raina was retained because he has done well over the past month in domestic cricket. These matches should be used wisely to build the best WC squad possible.
Raina needs to be tested immediately so that we either have an in-form Raina or an in-form replacement for him. Badrinath, Kaif and Mongia wait in the wings.
By the way, Mongia is not in the squad for the first two matches.

I agree, these two series don't mean anything to me besides practice and picking the squad for the world cup. Don't even care if India lose tbh. It's best to play Raina against WI, see how he does, and if he's crap, try someone else against SL, and pick the best player from there.

 

[Nishant]

I agree, these two series don't mean anything to me besides practice and picking the squad for the world cup. Don't even care if India lose tbh. It's best to play Raina against WI, see how he does, and if he's crap, try someone else against SL, and pick the best player from there.

winning is important! It'll give the team confidence for the WC. If we lose these two, then it'll show that we are below par and that the big teams can beat us; both the WI and sri lanka are contenders for lifting the trophy!
If these two teams can win a series gainst us in our own back yard, wat chance do we have of beating them in the WC ( and in WI's back yard)?

 

[Dravid]

winning is important! It'll give the team confidence for the WC. If we lose these two, then it'll show that we are below par and that the big teams can beat us; both the WI and sri lanka are contenders for lifting the trophy!
If these two teams can win a series gainst us in our own back yard, wat chance do we have of beating them in the WC ( and in WI's back yard)?

True, but I still look at it as more of a picking the right squad for WC situation.

 

[Jono]

Ganguly opening against the new-ball? May pay off on West Indian pitches I guess.

White new-ball has never really been an issue with Sourav, even past his prime.

 

[adharcric]

As Jono said, Ganguly's new-ball issues have primarily been in test cricket and playing off the new ball isn't too hard in the West Indies.
Besides, you need to take 1s and 2s in the middle overs and Ganguly is not a great runner between the wickets.