Thursday, October 25, 2007

Future looks promising

I was wondering about the coming series against Pak & about the best team for this fantastic series. My 11 would be: 1.Sachin [2. Uthappa 3. Sehwag 4. Gambhir ]5. Yuvraj 6. Dhoni 7. Pathan 8. Harbu 9. Zaheer 10.RP 11. Murli.
According 2 me 8 of the 11 select themselves, Bowling looks settled , From Murli 2 Yuvraj + Sachin gives the 8 selected players. So, only 3 batting places are left. 5 players come out as automatic 1st choices , Uthappa,Sehwag,Gambhir, Saurav, Rahul. Uthappa has been in very good form + excellent fielder. Gambhir looks 2 b the most accomplished player of spin in the current lot of players, Thats y he would b my #4 , to tackle the likes of Afridi,Rahman,Malik,Hafeez etc, coz he is so aggressive yet looks safe against spinners however given the magnificant form of Yuvraj , yuvi should be pushed up the order every time if the start is good. Sehwag would b in my team for the initial matches at least coz he is the big intimidating factor for Pakis, ala Hayden,Symonds r for India, I say "the initial matches " coz if he doesn't fire , India should go for Ganguly/Dra . So these r the reasons for my first 3 choices. V just have 2 look ahead with the youngsters now, btw , even with the above mentioned 11 even without gangu & dravid, the team looks accomplished & uthappa,gambhir,sehwag have played enough cricket already 2 take any1 on.
However , if any1 doesn't click, Gangu/Dravid can come back in the team, I think v might need them in Aus. After Aus , we should look at the youngsters even more seriously, 1 hearting factor is that all new faces like Rohit Sharma, Manoj Tiwari, Raina, Badrinath, Dinesh Kaartick r all excellent fielders. I might add that Kaif could also b given a game or two.Also Yusuf Pathan, He impressed so much in the T20 Final. I think v have plethora of these new faces that v can try , there r only 3 places, after some time Sachin should also b rested & called only for Imp. games.
I saw the first match of challenger series, & mann do v need some pace bowlers there. I think Sree & RP are good finds as they bowl 85Mp + , so if they hit the right areas , both can b handful. None of the pacers impressed, leaving u wondering , y were they selected in the first place, Only Ishant was getting some decent pace, even he has miles 2 go before he can bowl in international matches, Bose was okie. Also when u r showcasing the youngsters of India can't we get a decent stadium with no dew factor + good bouncy pitch.
Among all rounders Praveen Kumar impressed, I think if v go in with RP & ZK in a match then v can give P.Kumar a game instead of Pathan 2 just try him out & that will give Pathan must needed rest too, Make no mistake Pathan is the 1 who brings so much 2 Indian cricket , team looks balanced with him, but no harm 2 giving somebody else a chance.
Kohli also impressed & so did Amit Mishra who got the 2 set batsmen with well disguised googlies, Mishra was okie with the bat too, he needs 2 improve his fitness & all round game 2 give Chawla a run for his money.
One more thing that most people don't realize with the new players coming in is the running between the wickets, Gambhir a competent fielder is brilliant between the wickets, so is Uthappa, Dhoni , Yuvraj & all others coming up, I will b back tomorrow after seeing the next match.