India One-Day Squad: Which youngster will make the leap?

[Deja moo]

Squad named. Kaif misses out due to a hamstring injury. Laxman and Zaheer miss out. Raina and Venugopal are retained while Gambhir makes it in too. RP Singh stays and Sree Santh, the guy who bowled very well in the Challenger series final is the new face.

Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid (captain), Yuvraj Singh, Venugopal Rao, Suresh Raina, JP Yadav, MS Dhoni (wk), Harbhajan Singh, Murali Kartik, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, S Sreesanth, RP Singh.

 

[Jono]

I'm convinced Laxman's ODI career is over now, if they're not going to select him now (particularly with Kaif injured) I don't see the selectors choosing him at a later point.

VVS

 

[Deja moo]

I'm convinced Laxman's ODI career is over now, if they're not going to select him now (particularly with Kaif injured) I don't see the selectors choosing him at a later point.

VVS

actually my reaction was more like

Badani is a better choice than him in the ODIs I feel.

 

[Sanz]

Although I am not a big fan of VVS's ODI game, It's frustrating to see laxman sitting out and lot of non-performers like Agarkar, Sehwag, Harbhajan singh getting into the team and sort of an automatic selection for the final XI..

 

[adharcric]

I think VVS would have been selected instead of Gambhir, but maybe they wanted a backup opener with the current instability with Sachin and Sehwag. Laxman certainly warranted selection, but so did Raina and Rao, so its not totally unexplainable why he didnt get selected.

 

[Woody_cloudofsm]

vidyut

man my name is woody and im vidyut cousin i am so happy he is doing so well 87 in the final i am absoloutly over the moon at his results a little disapointed he didnt get in the oneday squad. anyway robin singh never liked vidyut and batted him at 11 he got a 100 and since robin singh retired hes been given a run as an opener he started of as a left arm orthodox spinner. in the under 19 world cup which india won vidyut didnt get a game. all of us here in sydney were bitterly dissapointed follwoing that worldcup 4 odd years ago. mow he has finally got his foot in the door. toch wood and pray to god he does well for himself. my uncle shiv vidyut's father was a tamil nadu stalwart for over a decade never got a chance to play for india all though he was very close at times. this si soo good for my family i cant wait to see him on tv. god bless vidyut.
also once again its a travesty vvs laxman wasnt picked for the oneday squad. what more does he need to do. Venugopal Rao and Suresh Raina won't do anything of substance all seris.

VVS is teh greatest

 

[Arjun]

man my name is woody and im vidyut cousin i am so happy he is doing so well 87 in the final i am absoloutly over the moon at his results a little disapointed he didnt get in the oneday squad. anyway robin singh never liked vidyut and batted him at 11 he got a 100 and since robin singh retired hes been given a run as an opener he started of as a left arm orthodox spinner. in the under 19 world cup which india won vidyut didnt get a game. all of us here in sydney were bitterly dissapointed follwoing that worldcup 4 odd years ago. mow he has finally got his foot in the door. toch wood and pray to god he does well for himself. my uncle shiv vidyut's father was a tamil nadu stalwart for over a decade never got a chance to play for india all though he was very close at times. this si soo good for my family i cant wait to see him on tv. god bless vidyut.
also once again its a travesty vvs laxman wasnt picked for the oneday squad. what more does he need to do. Venugopal Rao and Suresh Raina won't do anything of substance all seris.

VVS is teh greatest

Welcome aboard! Good to see Vidyut get a big score, but I am rather disappointed they didn't get him to bowl. He can be a more-than-useful ODI spinner and has bowled well for his state side, but unfortunately didn't get to bowl for his zonal team. He's done well with the ball in last season's Ranji and ROD series. Wonder why he's not played as a bowler- now that would make him a key player in the national ODI side.

 

[Arjun]

I think we must promote one of the three promising fast bowlers...rather than swing bowlers which we already have an abundance of.

• Irfan, Sreesanth, Nehra, Yadav and the spinner should be the attack plan. RP Singh and a spinner can be the reserves.
• When you're using Irfan, don't overbowl him. Only get him on when the ball is fresh and new. Keep his energy conserved for his batting, which should only be to accelerate.
• It's up to you whether you want Zaheer in the side. He's the best equipped of those three when it comes to pace and power, and can get a few good variations, and bowled well in the Challenger final to get 3 wickets. His fielding is a concern, and he needs to bowl more often the way he did in the final. He's a better choice than the other four, and may have been missed in Zimbabwe.
• Nehra struggles with the new ball. His fielding is again a concern, but he's a very good old-ball bowler, while the likes of Irfan, Zaheer and Yadav struggle with it.
• Agarkar's had it. He's underpowered anyway. Young Irfan has done a lot better than this has-been in the same time. He's not that vital to the team, that they have to go back to him all the time.
• Agreed about promoting the fast bowlers, but rather than rush them in Tests or ODI's so soon, let them play for India-A or in tour matches when the Indians play at home, or away. At present, the frontline side should have Sreesanth (though he's not the most seasoned) while VR Singh and Abid Nabi may play for India-A.

Kartik has been a one-day failure and Kumble isn't quite as effective in the shorter format...so Harbhajan is safe for now.

For ODI's, they should select a totalyl different bunch- two spinners who can play as strikers, but should also bat and field reasonably well (try Rajesh Pawar and Amit Mishra), and maybe even one spinner who's a very good batsman (Powar or Vidyut or even Yusuf Pathan). All of them should strike the ball hard and score quick when they come to bat.

Yuvraj and Kaif are clearly the backbone of India's batting future...

They should give the combination of Sehwag and Gambhir a fair try in ODI's. They blend better than Sehwag does with his ODI opening partners, so you may see better results here. As for the middle-order, the team may look good with four specialists, but if they don't combine well and dnon't serve a purpose, there's not much point. You have to have one in that middle-order capable of bowling long spells in every match, but none of the batsmen seem to be. That's why you have to stick to JP Yadav.

Finally, fitness and fielding should be highly valued during the selection process, as a world-class side should not only have solid batting and bowling, but supreme athletes in the field to complement that.

That said, why don't the selectors consider specialist wicketkeepers for ODI's? Even if they can't bat (except Dhoni, none of the keepers even come close to batting as well as Yuvraj Singh, the prodigal ODI regular), they can score at least 15 to 20 vital runs at number nine or ten, which count. Moreover, they do that very important job behind the stumps very well, and that can strengthen the bowlign attack. Even a reserve Australian bowling attack looks strong, given their fielding support.

 

[honestbharani]

Well okay i got that one wrong. Kaif plays.

I think this lineup ( and order) is worth a try:

Tendulkar
Laxman
Sehwag
Dravid
Kaif
Dhoni
JP Yadav
Pathan
Agarkar
Harbhajan/Powar
Nehra

Reasoning :

-Tendulkar, Dravid, Kaif,Dhoni, Pathan and Harbhajan are pretty much garantees.
- I would try opening with Laxman- he is more than capable of handling the new ball- he has done well against pacers and has some experience ( albeit poor results) opening in Tests. ODI opening should be easier than Tests for Laxman and the 15 over rule/powerplay would suit his temperament, as he isnt the fastest of runners to pinch singles in the middle overs but is a clean striker of the ball. Plus he is in good nick and he deserves to be in the team. If he fails, i would try out Raina/Utthapa/Dhawan to partner Tendulkar.

- Put Sehwag at #3. He has failed opening and considering the brilliant job he's done in the Tests, its never out of the card but i think Sehwag will be wasted at #6 or #7. I get the impression that Sehwag gets himself out by putting too much pressure on himself trying to get India off to a flyer. In Tests he doesnt have that pressure and he does fine. If Tendulkar-Laxman opening clicks, Sehwag will be able to settle down and score at his 'sedate' 70-75 strike rate zone, ala Tests. If he fails in the first few ODIs, i would bump up Dravid and give the #4 spot to Venugopal Rao. Sehwag is seriously lacking confidence in ODIs and i think this move might pay off.

- I am impressed by JP Yadav and i think he can offer a lot of balance to the IND lineup - he is a good clean striker of the ball and bowls accurate military medium - he wont be a wicket-taker but i think he would fit in very well in the '20-30 runs and 8-9 overs for 40 runs' category that India so badly needs.

- I think Agarkar is a gamble and frankly i would rather not have him. But Zaheer has dropped off the planet, Balaji still has a lot of work to do if he is to be considered for ODIs and VRV/RP Singh IMO need more experience in the domestic scene. Call it a lack of choice but Agarkar is someone i am willing to carry in the short term. If he really bolloxes up, i would go with Powar

- nehra has improved a lot and i think he deserves an extended run as long as he is fit.

I think this team can do well - It has 5 bona-fide bowling options and a long tail - all the way to #9 players are capable of giving it a good whack or scoring some decent runs.
Obviously with Tendulkar and Sehwag's bowling options present, i would rotate the bowlers ( gives the team 7 bowling options inclusive of the 2 part timers) if one is doing badly in a game.

Yuvraj has been very fluent of late, I think he is a key player that you have missed there. OTherwise, good selections.

 

[C_C]

Bharani - who would you drop for Yuvraj in the playing XI ?

 

[tooextracool]

i honestly think venugopal rao has plenty of potential

 

[yohanna]

Can anyone tell me as to what happened to an Indian quick " Patel Munaf" ?? Sometimes back he was in headlines and was rated by Times of India as being faster than Akhtar. Wonder where did he dissappear ??

 

[honestbharani]

Bharani - who would you drop for Yuvraj in the playing XI ?

No one, thanks to the super sub rule. I will have Laxman as the super sub if we are bowling first and Nehra as the super sub if we are batting first.

 

[marc71178]

But you can't pick the super sub like that.

 

[honestbharani]

Actually, what I meant was that Laxman would be the super sub if India want to field first if they win the toss, and Nehra can be the super sub if India want to bat first after winning the toss. You have to pick ur super sub with the hope that you win the toss. If you lose it, then u juz play with the XI that you first picked and make the most out of it. Unfortunately, that is how the rule works out. I know it is bad but that is the way you can go about it.

 

[marc71178]

Oh right - that makes more sense.

The Supersub rule does need scrapping though IMO.

 

[honestbharani]

yeah, or if they do want to continue along the stupid path, atleast allow the captains to pick 12 guys and then pick the super sub AFTER the toss. Would make it more even, at least.

 

[Arjun]

Can anyone tell me as to what happened to an Indian quick " Patel Munaf" ?? Sometimes back he was in headlines and was rated by Times of India as being faster than Akhtar. Wonder where did he dissappear ??

I don't remember Times of India saying he's faster than Akhtar (though they said Pietersen converted ODI form to 'Test greatness'), but he was supposed to be a lot faster than most Indian seam bowlers, and I even saw a clip of Dennis Lillee saying the same.

However, he got injured way too often and even walked out on his team for small niggles, and that upset the Mumbai selectors (he played for Mumbai when he made his Ranji debut) as well as the then India-A coach, Sandeep Patil. He missed the entire 2004-05 domestic season and only turned up for a few club games. He's quite good with the ball, but his weaknesses as a fielder and lack of five-wicket hauls may keep him out of the national team for some time. Let's just hope he improves on all of that when he plays this season.

 

[yohanna]

I don't remember Times of India saying he's faster than Akhtar (though they said Pietersen converted ODI form to 'Test greatness'), but he was supposed to be a lot faster than most Indian seam bowlers, and I even saw a clip of Dennis Lillee saying the same.

However, he got injured way too often and even walked out on his team for small niggles, and that upset the Mumbai selectors (he played for Mumbai when he made his Ranji debut) as well as the then India-A coach, Sandeep Patil. He missed the entire 2004-05 domestic season and only turned up for a few club games. He's quite good with the ball, but his weaknesses as a fielder and lack of five-wicket hauls may keep him out of the national team for some time. Let's just hope he improves on all of that when he plays this season.

There was some news about Munaf derailing rawalpindi express on TOI, but thats besides the point. The fact is that India actually found an express fast bowler seems very exciting to me. The news about his injury is very unfortunate though, if he's able to recover from his injury and performs well at domestic level then he should be given a test cap.

 

[honestbharani]

I honestly think VRV Singh has more potential than him. Not sure about his bowling, but he scores a lot of runs for a supposed tailender. He even won a one day game for his side with the bat.