Post Mortem: India

[masterblaster]

The one area Indian Cricket has been lacking in for all this time and what seperates them from teams that have that IT factor is clearly the athleticism and fielding. In days gone by it was pretty easy to get away with poor fielders, but now it's just not possible to carry players who are poor fielders.

Barring a couple of players, this is probably the most unfit, mentally lazy and unathletic side in World Cricket. There are so many glaring holes in this lineup it's not funny. As far as re-instating Sourav Ganguly as captain, it may sound good on paper, but it is clearly taking a step backward. If India want to plan for the 2011 World Cup, they need a captain who will play for another 4 years, Sourav Ganguly will be about 39-40 by 2011, there is no way in hell he'll be around next time.

The only problem is, there are no real contenders to the captaincy. I'd hate to see Yuvraj Singh or Virender Sehwag captain India. Two complete brain dead cricketers as I've ever seen. You can't make an Indian bowler a captain, as they are always fighting for their place, Dhoni seems as brain dead as Sehwag. After Dravid, they have no player who is captain material.

 

[Sudeep]

for ODI ...

Drop Tendulkar, Agarkar, Bhajji, Uttappa, Kumble

Farewell gift of chappal-ki-maala for Mr. Chappel

Demote Dravid to team member

Promote Ganguly to captain

Promote Yuvi to VC (grooming to be captain within 1-2 yrs)

Send Sehwag to county cricket or Aus/RSA domestic cricket to lose some flab and learn how to be more consistent

Bring Yuvi up the batting order (3 or 4, with Dravid also at 3 or 4)

Find some talented all-rounders from U19 teams and give them personal coaching .. BCCI should invest the crores into that .. instead of filling coffers/overpaying the underperformers

Invest in fitness/strenght training for Zaheer and Munaf and other promising pace-bowlers to add a yard of pace and encourage them to bowl as fast as they can versus becoming line-length bowlers .. useless in Int'l cricket (even Sri Lanka has 3 faster bowlers than we do)

Shut down MRF Pace academy .. biggest waste

what else? post your ideas here

We may as well stop playing cricket.

 

[Dissector]

Calls to drop Tendulkar in ODI's IMO are pretty ridiculous.

He had a poor WC with the bat but he has performed pretty decently in ODI's in the last year or so. In the SL game he received a pretty good delivery especially for a new batsman. Many batsmen would have been out to that.

More importantly, and this is often forgotten, he has consistently turned in good performances with the ball in the last few months and he had another reasonable day yesterday. If you looked at his last 8 or so performances with the ball they would be considered OK for a specialist bowler particularly considering the rest of the Indian bowling lineup.

 

[Nishant]

We may as well stop playing cricket.

that brings abt a good point! Stop playing so much cricket! Its like one series after another!
Now that we have failed in the WC.....we ideally should not play until the england tour. BUT, no, we have to play bangladesh (not that they'e bad or anything)...but its just too much!

 

[IndianByHeart]

for ODI ...

Drop Tendulkar, Agarkar, Bhajji, Uttappa, Kumble

Farewell gift of chappal-ki-maala for Mr. Chappel

Agreed. Especially on Chappel's part, i think the guy is just making money and doing nothing good for team India in return

 

[Sunny Mehta]

Whoever selects the team should be sacked, you need five bowlers, not four. The team prior to the world cup picks itself through performances, but they still mess that up?

The game was lost when the part-time bowlers came in and were giving Tharanga and Silva easy singles with no pressure. H.Singh is a defensive bowler, so you need to attack at the other end, Munaf Patel and the Part-timers are not attacking enough.

The team that lost to Bangladesh was the same team that played SL, why would a team that lost to Bangladesh beat SL? Why is it that they can't correct mistakes?

For balance in a team, do they get any better than Pathan? Gets 3 wickets against the WI, but that counts for nothing for some reason, while others continue to play badly and still play. Batting line up is a mess. I don't care how sehwag has played in the last 2 games, he needs to sort himself out. He is not a number 3 batsman. Too much was expected from Uthappa, especially by unsettling him by moving him to number 3 and then back up. Dravid is the best number 3 in the world, he stops the second wicket falling, he is an innings builder, but we play him at 5? The 7th batsman is one of India's biggest mysteries, has this player, whoever it is, played a match winning performance? Not even the last world cup, Dinesh Mongia was watching most of the tournament, it was a waste of a player, where another bowler could be added. And if we are talking about wasting players, first Dravid at 5, but the worst is our best ODI player for the last 2 years, who averages 50+ in this time Yuvraj Singh, who at number 5 has won India matches from tough positions is down to number 6? One of the better between the wickets also, has alot of power unlike other players in the team, so he can demand boundaries.

When you play 3 batsman who play at anything(very agressive batsman), Sehwag, Dhoni, Uthappa, how can you expect to play out the 50 overs? You can have one, maybe two if the player also has another job (wkt or bowler), which we do have. But to play a third was mistake, one should have been dropped to keep the batting solid rather than over attacking, do we have a player who can play in a crisis? Dinesh Karthik?

Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar now should take a long break from ODI's. It is about time that some younger players get a real chance, rather than playing that number 7 batsman role.

Kaif, Raina, Karthik, RP Singh, Chawla, Uthappa, Rao, Pathan, Dinesh Mongia and i am sure there are many more who can establish themselves at the top level given a real chance, rather than having to support one of the big players. This will certainly solve the fielding problem, Kaif, Raina, Karthik and Uthappa are very good fielders.

India need to select a natural, tactical captain. Not someone who is captain just because they are the best player and are certain to play every match. Michael Vaughan has never been a top class ODI player, and he is no longer the best Test player, but there is no doubt that the team is better off with him. Is Kaif the man for the job?

Not saying that is the end for Dravid, Sachin and Sourav for the ODI's, just a break. So they can concentrate on the real game that is Test Cricket. I really don't want to see any of these three at the 20/20 world cup, this is a relatively low pressure chance where a young player can gain confidence and establish themselves.

 

[RolledOver]

In few months time India will win a OD series with Sehwag, Dravid,Dhoni and Uthappa piling up runs and Zaheer and Munaf taking wkts and India's fan will once again start labelling India as best OD team of the world...!

 

[Sunny Mehta]

In few months time India will win a OD series with Sehwag, Dravid,Dhoni and Uthappa piling up runs and Zaheer and Munaf taking wkts and India's fan will once again start labelling India as best OD team of the world...!

You are probably right here

btw, Dhoni is the biggest joke in Indian cricket history, it is like the start of a Beckham era in India. This is the start, stop it before it becomes too big to stop!

Cut the hair MSD and play cricket, that is what we really want to see

 

[andmark]

Drop Tendulkar, Agarkar, Bhajji, Uttappa, Kumble(qoute from opening satement.)

They have to be world class batsmen,ok they lost one game which they played;pourly.But they don't deserve to be dropped.
Tendulkar alone would scare any bowler because of his batting.

 

[The_Bunny]

Lets face it... As much as it would be great if somthing good came out of this, all that will probably happen is a few people will get sacked, a player or two dropped, and as soon as India wins another game or two everything will go back to the same

 

[Poker Boy]

I do think they need to work on the fielding and as an outsider I'd clean the old guard (Dravid, Ganguly, Kumble yes even Sachin) out of the ODI squad drop Schewag for a year and try to get him a county contract so he can use CC and indian domestic cricket to get his form back. They need to start building for the future now. Don't scapegoat youngsters like Utthappa and Patel who could have a good future. But I think it might go deeper. This Indian cricket team reminds me of the England football team - plenty of talent, plenty of hype, naff all achivement and famous names getting into the team as if by divine right. Are they too busy counting their money and enjoying the fame to concentrate on what made them famous to start with? If I was coach of this team the first thing I would say is that EVERYBODY has to EARN their place regardless of reputation (mind you it woul be a brave coach that dropped the big names but i think that's what they need to do. - just to give them a kick up the a***) PS - obviously I don't know much about Indian domestic cricket so I'd be interested to know which names who were not in this squad should be in the Indian team of the future (as a mere Brit I was amazed they left out Kaif and Powar but are there any other good young players waiting in thw wings?

 

[Goughy]

Whoever selects the team should be sacked, you need five bowlers, not four. The team prior to the world cup picks itself through performances, but they still mess that up?

The game was lost when the part-time bowlers came in and were giving Tharanga and Silva easy singles with no pressure. H.Singh is a defensive bowler, so you need to attack at the other end, Munaf Patel and the Part-timers are not attacking enough.

The team that lost to Bangladesh was the same team that played SL, why would a team that lost to Bangladesh beat SL? Why is it that they can't correct mistakes?

For balance in a team, do they get any better than Pathan? Gets 3 wickets against the WI, but that counts for nothing for some reason, while others continue to play badly and still play. Batting line up is a mess. I don't care how sehwag has played in the last 2 games, he needs to sort himself out. He is not a number 3 batsman. Too much was expected from Uthappa, especially by unsettling him by moving him to number 3 and then back up. Dravid is the best number 3 in the world, he stops the second wicket falling, he is an innings builder, but we play him at 5? The 7th batsman is one of India's biggest mysteries, has this player, whoever it is, played a match winning performance? Not even the last world cup, Dinesh Mongia was watching most of the tournament, it was a waste of a player, where another bowler could be added. And if we are talking about wasting players, first Dravid at 5, but the worst is our best ODI player for the last 2 years, who averages 50+ in this time Yuvraj Singh, who at number 5 has won India matches from tough positions is down to number 6? One of the better between the wickets also, has alot of power unlike other players in the team, so he can demand boundaries.

When you play 3 batsman who play at anything(very agressive batsman), Sehwag, Dhoni, Uthappa, how can you expect to play out the 50 overs? You can have one, maybe two if the player also has another job (wkt or bowler), which we do have. But to play a third was mistake, one should have been dropped to keep the batting solid rather than over attacking, do we have a player who can play in a crisis? Dinesh Karthik?

Dravid, Ganguly, Tendulkar now should take a long break from ODI's. It is about time that some younger players get a real chance, rather than playing that number 7 batsman role.

Kaif, Raina, Karthik, RP Singh, Chawla, Uthappa, Rao, Pathan, Dinesh Mongia and i am sure there are many more who can establish themselves at the top level given a real chance, rather than having to support one of the big players. This will certainly solve the fielding problem, Kaif, Raina, Karthik and Uthappa are very good fielders.

India need to select a natural, tactical captain. Not someone who is captain just because they are the best player and are certain to play every match. Michael Vaughan has never been a top class ODI player, and he is no longer the best Test player, but there is no doubt that the team is better off with him. Is Kaif the man for the job?

Not saying that is the end for Dravid, Sachin and Sourav for the ODI's, just a break. So they can concentrate on the real game that is Test Cricket. I really don't want to see any of these three at the 20/20 world cup, this is a relatively low pressure chance where a young player can gain confidence and establish themselves.

Im not saying I agree with you or that you are wrong. The point of my post is to say that I think you raise some interesting points that should be looked at.

 

[Sunny Mehta]

The 2 keys that link the great West Indian and Austrailian teams that India can learn from are

a) the adoption of intense fitness regimes and a focus on physical preparation

b) the use of the County Championship as a school for the devolopment of professionalism and as a finishing school. Players need to play in the CC from a young age and for a long time.

Everyone can clearly see how every nation has improved in the field, india have been left behind

And you are spot on with the CC also, Ganguly and Zaheer Khan's break from the team to play CC has reformed the players. RP Singh has signed this summer to a county, i actually now expect better things from him in the future now if things go well.

That's why i believe Dinesh Mongia deserves a Test call up

 

[Sudeep]

You are probably right here

btw, Dhoni is the biggest joke in Indian cricket history, it is like the start of a Beckham era in India. This is the start, stop it before it becomes too big to stop!

Cut the hair MSD and play cricket, that is what we really want to see

But wasn't it only a couple of years back that we Indian fans were so amused with how many liters of milk he drinks a day?

 

[RhyZa]

I don't get why we wasted spots with the likes of Agarkar when there were bowlers who were near equal calibre but could also offer something with the bat as well.

 

[asharam_bapu]

for ODI ...

Drop Tendulkar, Agarkar, Bhajji, Uttappa, Kumble

Farewell gift of chappal-ki-maala for Mr. Chappel

Demote Dravid to team member

Promote Ganguly to captain

Promote Yuvi to VC (grooming to be captain within 1-2 yrs)

Send Sehwag to county cricket or Aus/RSA domestic cricket to lose some flab and learn how to be more consistent

Bring Yuvi up the batting order (3 or 4, with Dravid also at 3 or 4)

Find some talented all-rounders from U19 teams and give them personal coaching .. BCCI should invest the crores into that .. instead of filling coffers/overpaying the underperformers

Invest in fitness/strenght training for Zaheer and Munaf and other promising pace-bowlers to add a yard of pace and encourage them to bowl as fast as they can versus becoming line-length bowlers .. useless in Int'l cricket (even Sri Lanka has 3 faster bowlers than we do)

Shut down MRF Pace academy .. biggest waste

what else? post your ideas here

BCCI must read this

Well said

 

[asharam_bapu]

I am an Indian but its true that...

sri lanka is really good in running between the wickets as they showed in the indian match, i think they can easily compete with australia in that department, i think the way sril lanka is going they can win the world cup.

I think each team is fine in running between the wickets and fielding against India.

 

[asharam_bapu]

Unlucky guys are available in India ONLY

Calls to drop Tendulkar in ODI's IMO are pretty ridiculous.

He had a poor WC with the bat but he has performed pretty decently in ODI's in the last year or so. In the SL game he received a pretty good delivery especially for a new batsman. Many batsmen would have been out to that.

More importantly, and this is often forgotten, he has consistently turned in good performances with the ball in the last few months and he had another reasonable day yesterday. If you looked at his last 8 or so performances with the ball they would be considered OK for a specialist bowler particularly considering the rest of the Indian bowling lineup.

Only Indian Cricketers get good deliveries??? Not Gibbs (Who scored 36 in an over)

I am the biggest fan of Sachin in India. But, I am not blind. We must have to accept that Sachin and Saurav are not playing according to their capabilities. I am not saying that they are not trying to play well but they are not playing well. Specially Saurav is playing very safe. Against Bermuda Saurav was not able to send some juicy fulltoss deliveries to the fence.

 

[LA ICE-E]

i dont know about sachin but there's no reason to drop ganguly...what the hells wrong with you people...if he plays it safe there something wrong with that...if he takes risks he's throwing his wicket away...he didn't do anything do get droped he's playing fine

 

[R_D]

i dont know about sachin but there's no reason to drop ganguly...what the hells wrong with you people...if he plays it safe there something wrong with that...if he takes risks he's throwing his wicket away...he didn't do anything do get droped he's playing fine

Time for changes really.. All the ODI's the teams play is eventually a build up to world cup and Gangully, Sachin, AA and maybe Dravid aren't likely to play 2011 world cup, so time to change things around. Give the younsters time to develop, give them a fair go rather than giving one or 2 chances and expecting to perform or perish. Where's our stars are allowed the luxury of having many failures.
I don't know if you been watching indian matches or not but you can clearly see Gangully doesn't have it in him to play ODI anymore, playing too defensive and can't even put away the bad balls. Add to that his running between the wickets isn't that great. Must admit his fielding has improved heaps thou.