T20 World Cup – India’s prospects

The T20 World Cup is back! After the IPL circus, we’re back with cricketers playing for their country, with patriotic emotions and passions riding high.

India are the defending champions and overwhelming favourites, boasting of (arguably) the best T20 line-up of them all. And with their vast experience after 2 editions of the IPL, the Indian squad is supposed to be the most ‘experienced’ in this format of the game.

However, many forget that before the inaugural T20 World Cup, India had never played a T20 international, there was no Indian domestic T20 tournament, and absolutely no experience of T20 cricket. So why should experience be a decisive factor now?

I don’t think experience is going to be all that important. Instead, the following 5 factors will be critical to India’s performance.

1. The Fatigue Factor and Injuries
Objective reasoning would suggest that most of the Indian players should be physically and especially mentally tired after a gruelling 5 weeks of IPL, which only followed 2 years of non-stop cricket. Fatigue is bound to creep in.

The squad already has 2 injured soldiers - Zaheer and Sehwag. Their exact fitness status is a secret. They might recover in time, but what if others get inured? We have to keep our fingers crossed for captain Dhoni, as shockingly the selectors have chosen not to pick a backup wicket keeper (opting for Ravindra Jadeja who will find it hard to get a game anyway).

It remains to be seen how the players conquer mental fatigue as well. But given that they are defending a world cup, I am certain they will be motivated through and through. MSD will ensure that!

2. Batting Line-up
Rohit Sharma has been the stand-out performer in the warm-up games, giving Dhoni a happy worry about the opening combination. Both Sehwag and Gambhir failed to live up to expectations in the IPL. Gambhir’s lack of timing is a worrying aspect, while Sehwag’s form is unknown. I’d suggest that Rohit Sharma be given an extension at the top; this might just be the tournament where he shows his potential as a future superstar.

Raina is my choice for #3, but Dhoni has taken that position in the warm-ups. In my mind, Raina and Yuvraj should come in ahead of Dhoni, who is an ideal finisher. Undoubtedly, India has the strongest top 6 of all. Will they deliver? We’ll know soon.

3. The Bowling
All those who believe that IPL was an indicator of performances at the World Cup should take a look at Ishant Sharma and RP Singh. Ishant was very ordinary in the IPL and has been the standout bowler in the warm-ups. RP Singh took the purple cap, but has been pathetic in the warm-ups. Praveen Kumar hasn’t been special either. With Zaheer’s injury, pace bowling is surely a serious weak link.

Harbhajan will walk into the side, and will be heavily relied upon. Pragyan Ojha outbowled him in the IPL. But in Dhoni’s scheme of things, he may not get into the 11.

4. The all-rounder quandary
A balanced attack for English conditions in June should almost certainly have 4 seamers, (perhaps 3 regular seamers and an all-rounder). Irfan Pathan is seamer-all-rounder. But his bowling is simply not good enough. Batsmen relish his bowling, and almost all his wickets come when batsmen go after him. He is just too big a risk, especially considering that bowling is our weak link.

Elder brother Yusuf is the spinner-all-rounder in contention. He is a proven hard-hitter, except a near inability against short-pitched bowling. He cannot command a place in the top 6, and we have plenty of part-time spinners who can pitch in with 2-3 overs.

All-in-all we have nothing to be proud of our all-rounder strength. This is where India falls behind South Africa (with Kallis and Morkel) and New Zealand (Oram and Styris).

5. Captain Cool - Dhoni
Over the last 2 years, Dhoni has emerged as a great motivator and leader. He has the ability to get the best out of his players, and the knack (or luck) of making the right moves at the right time. Never before has an Indian team been overwhelming favourites to win a World Cup. Dhoni's leadership is the biggest influence on this team. He will motivate his team to shake off all mental fatigue and give their best.

However, his fitness is of major concern. Behind the wickets, he is highly prone to finger injuries, especially when he stands up the stumps for Praveen Kumar or Irfan Pathan. Without a backup keeper India has taken a big risk, and we can only hope that Dhoni avoid injuries thru the tournament.

Speaking of his captaincy, he is also known to favour all-rounders. This came to the fore in the IPL as he persisted with a hugely disappointing Jacob Oram, despite having Makhaya Ntini on the bench and the Chennai Super Kings’ bowling being mauled in every game. If his affinity for all-rounders continues, the Pathan brothers might both get into the playing 11, at the expense of regular bowlers.

Time and again his out of the box moves have proved critics wrong. We have to just wait and watch. Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainities, and T20 can only bring in more unbelievable surprises.

Test Cricket at Mohali

There was one dark spot in the overwhelming victory at Mohali though. This match, between the two best test teams, featuring a plethora of great talent, attracted only sparse crowds. The only groups of audiences worth mentioning were schoolchildren who were given free entry to watch the game and Australian tourists. Much has been written about this fiasco, so here are my few words.

Test matches have never attracted big crowds at Mohali. It will be impossible to find records of ticket sales (ditto for all Indian grounds). But I have never seen the Mohali stands more than 25% full for any test match.

Let’s not get into analysis-paralysis here. It’s a simple case of social psychology (for want of a more appropriate term). People from that part of the country simply do not understand or appreciate test cricket – a fact reflected in the dearth of test cricketers produced from that region. Unfortunately such bad eggs create a negative image of the passion that this country has for cricket, and especially for the real cricket.

Now it is up to our ‘able’ administrators to decide. Do they want to continue forcing test cricket down the throats of Chandigarh-ites? Not to mention the IS Bindra connection here. Or will they bring more test cricket to Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Kolkata, where people understand, appreciate, love and are hungry for more top quality test match cricket?

We all know what BCCI’s priorities are. Unfortunately we have to see our #1 passion hijacked for the vested interests of these greedy rogues.

India V Australia – Post 1: the Fab 4 debate

We’re less than a week away from one of the most eagerly awaited test series of all: India vs Australia. After the excitement (cricketing and otherwise) of the last dual down under, one hopes this series will be remembered for great cricketing exhibitions than anything else.

A much hyped discussion these days is that of the “Fab 4” that is the legendary Indian middle order. Well, much of the guessing has been put to rest for the moment, with all 4 selected for the first 2 tests. And rightly so, irrespective of the failure in Sri Lanka, the 4 still remain India’s best bets for this all-important series.

However, there will soon come a time when the big 4 boots will have to be filled; so what are the prospects? Let me discuss a few obvious contenders:

Badrinath has been given the nod for the first two tests of the series. He has been among the most prolific run-getters in domestic cricket, and has truly deserved the recognition. However, the impression I get whenever I have seen him is that he is a little late on the ball and will be quite susceptible on the faster tracks. His showing against the Aussies in Hyderabad does not give much confidence.

Rohit Sharma has just hit a magnificent 105 against the Aussies. Yes, he surely seems to have the talent, and has more than proven his shot-making abilities in the shorter versions of the game. But, temperamentally he is not yet ready for test cdricket. He needs to invest at least one full Ranji season, and maybe some ‘A’ tours, to develop his mindset to build longer innings.

Yuvraj Singh is in my view, the 2nd most naturally gifted batsman to have represented India. (No disrespect to Gavaskar, Vishwanath, etc., and Ranjithsinhji played for England) But, alas he has been playing international cricket for a decade now, and has never displayed a mental aptitude for test cricket. Yes, he has had the odd big knock against Pakistan, but he refuses to correct basic flaws in his defensive technique. Anyways, by choosing to go out on a date in the middle of the crucial Sydney test, he has proven without doubt that he lacks any work ethic. Sorry Yuvi, you have flattered to deceive, and can forget about test cricket.

Suresh Raina was rated very highly by Greg Chappell, and that’s some bullet point for his resume. Notwithstanding Chappell’s failed stint as coach, he has been one of the finest batsmen, and has a fantastic eye for talent. Rewind to the 1991 WACA test, a certain S.R.Tendulkar, all of 19 years, had just completed a marvelous century when all his senior teammates fell like 10 pins. Greg Chappell, the commentator said, “We have just seen the emergence of one of the stars of the ‘90’s!!!”. And how true was his prophecy. Raina seems to have the complete package of a fine middle order batsman, and the humility to handle success. All the best boy, let’s hope you go all the way!

Manoj Tiwari is one name that has gone out of the limelight of late. He had a fantastic Ranji season last year, and was widely pitted to be a future test player for the country. He missed a superfast yorker from Brett Lee at Brisbane in his only ODI outing earlier this year. I thought Sehwag’s handling of this fine emerging talent during the IPL (Delhi Daredevils) was very disappointing and he deserved a much better run. He has a very solid technique and his strokeplay is a sight to watch; my vote to take over from Rahul Dravid. If he can be half as successful as Dravid, he’ll have done a great job.

Who are the other contenders? Mohammad Kaif has been given one too many chances, but has not shown the ability to play long innings. Robin Uthappa … nah that’s a long shot. Virat Kohli needs to prove himself for a couple of seasons at least.

So I have nominated 3 future Indian middle order batsmen (making Srikkanth’s job that much easier!) – Manoj Tiwari, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. What about the 4th? Let’s have some patience… we have till 2011 at least.. Sachin isn’t going to retire without winning the World Cup at the Wankhede!