Building Indian team for the 2007 world cup

[TIF]

With many Indian fans out here, we can have a good discussion related to this topic. I never meant to start a new thread, but seeing the amount of Indian fans out here and the discussions about new upcoming Indian players going on, I decided to start this thread.

Here the possible contenders for the world cup squad -

Batsmen -

Sehwag - Indias no.1 opening batsman in tests. But in ODIs, gets useful 30s and 40s and takes India off to good starts like 60/0 off 10 overs.
Gambhir - A bit off-form these days, but has been doing well at the domestic level. Will be a good option to partner Sehwag at the top.
Shikhar Dhawan - Has been doing well in the domestic and India"A" level. Can play a long innings, but looks like getting tired after making a 100.
Dheeraj Jadhav - Has done well for Maharashtra and India"A" and has been in line for a India spot, but however his batting seems more suited for tests than ODIs.
Tendulkar - Some say he is "End-ulkar" now, but with a 100 in the 1st ODI, shows that he still has it in him to play the 2007 world cup. Normally does well during world cups, was the top scorer in the 2003 edition.
Dravid - The wall. He plays defensively, but recently he has improved in ODIs and can score his runs quickly. Has scored a ODI 50 off only 22 balls against New Zealand once and can accelerate on with the scoring if required.
Laxman - He might not be in the ODI squad now, he is a useful batsman and scores his runs at a decent strike-rate, mostly due to boundaries, but then he is a poor runner between wickets and a poor fielder, due to which he is out of contention. Would still pick him up over Kaif and Venugopal in the ODIs. His experience might be useful for India.
Yuvraj Singh - Can score the runs, even in big-shots. But then he seems to struggle against spin, a rarity in Indian batsmen. Has implemented the sweep shot to tackle the spinners. Is one of the best batsmen when in full form.
Kaif - Not too good in playing the big shots, but a useful rotator of the strike and can score at faster than a run-a-ball without hitting too many boundaries. Is a useful fielder as well.
Suresh Raina - A useful fielder and a good rotator of the strike, bats more in a Kaif style. However, it looks like he can play the big shots.
Venugopal Rao - Might be a bit slower in batting, but is a good fielder and in batting, relies more on boundaries to get his runs. Like Tendulkar and Sehwag, he has also hit a flat 6 over point in a ODI, but against Sri Lanka. However, he is a useful off-spinner as well and has regularly taken wickets for Andhra.
Ganguly - Has been in and out of the Indian team since Chappell came in. Is a poor fielder and has struggled against the short ball. Is a poor runner between wickets, but the only thing in favour of him is his experience. Ganguly, is a useful medium-pacer as well and has done well with the ball recently at the domestic level forcing his comeback into the Indian team as a all-rounder.
Gaurav Dhiman - Has done well at the u-19 level. Was in consideration for a India spot in ODIs last year.
Sriram - Has played a few ODIs for India, but without much of success. Is a useful left-arm spinner as well.
Uthappa
S Vidyuth


Wicket-Keepers -

MS Dhoni - Is a attacking batsman and can easily score the runs in big-shots. Is useful in accelerating the scoring and even in just 1 year of international cricket, has shown that he is useful match-winner in ODIs. Isnt bad in his glovework behind the stumps and has taken a few good catches. However, he has had some problems in stumpings and run-outs, but his catching is good.
Dinesh Kartik - One of the best wicket-keepers behind the stumps we have in India, and a useful batsman as well. His batting, however has been more suited to the test level, but even he can play the big shots and accelerate on with the scoring.

All-rounders -

Irfan Pathan - Is a good bowler and has the ability to produce reverse-swing both ways. Is a useful attacking batsman as well and can get the runs in big-shots. Has done well in ODIs batting at no.3 as a pinch-hitter. His batting, has improved tremendously over the last 1 year.
Pravin Kumar - Was the 2nd highest wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy this year. He is a pace-bowler with a decent build and can swing the ball, however no info is known on his bowling speeds. Is a good attacking batsman as well and can get the runs in big-shots. Will be useful in accelerating the scoring towards the end.
JP Yadav - More of a seam and swing bowler without much pace, but is an attacking batsman. Hasnt got much of a chance in the ODIs he has played.
Ramesh Powar - Has been the leading wicket-taker in the Ranji Trophy this year. Is a useful off-spinner and has played 2 ODIs as well for India. Is a useful attacking lower-order batsman as well and can get the runs in big-shots. Unlike Pathan, JP Yadav and Pravin Kumar, Powar is a spin-bowling all-rounder.

Pace-Bowlers -

Zaheer Khan - Has forced his comeback into the Indian team on the back of some good domestic performances and did well in the tests against Pakistan on comeback picking up a few wickets. I cant understand why people are saying Zaheer hasnt performed well, but then he has done well given the conditions and the super-flat pitches.
RP Singh - A good bowler with a ability to swing and produce some reverse swing as well. Has done well for India till now, but looks to have cut down his pace to become more of a line and length bowler with an ability to swing the ball.
Sree Santh - A tearaway pace-bowler, has been a bit inconsistent, but however was the man of the series in the Challengers. Can bowl at over 140+ kph.
VRV Singh - A real tearaway pace-bowler and has been known to bowl at over 145+ kph. Is a useful lower-order batsman as well and can play the big-shots. He, is one bowler who likes to bowl at more speed than be a line and length bowler. However, he is very fragile.
Munaf Patel - Another tearaway pacer and with a ability to bowl at 140+ kph, was very fragile in the last 2 seasons, getting injured after just 1-2 matches, but then since he shifted to Maharashtra this year, has done well without being injured. Also, he seems to have rediscovered his batting and bats in a Afridi-esque way looking to hit big-shots off every ball without caring about the match situation.
Agarkar - Cant understand why he still manages to get into the Indian team. Is very short-built for a pacer. But however, he has looked to do well for India, but however, he is very inconsistent. He is a useful lower-order batsman as well having hit a ODI 50 off only 21 balls and he was also the fastest to 50 ODI wickets.
Ashish Nehra - Has missed out the entire season due to injury, but is a tearaway pace-bowler. Has a very weak lower build and prone to collapses and is very fragile. Can be a world-beater when in full form.
Balaji - A good bowler with the ability to swing the ball, but is reported to be injured, and some say he is out of favour for a India team slot.
Amit Bhandari - Has done well in domestic cricket, but has been very unlucky to be out of the Indian team on a few occasions. Has taken 5 wickets in the 2 ODIs he has played so far. In the 2003/04 season, was the leading wicket-taker and did well for India"A".

Spinners -

Anil Kumble - One of the best spinners we have today and has sometimes been compared with Muralitharan and Warne. Is a great leg-spinner in tests, but he seems to be out of favour for ODIs recently. He has the experience on his side.
Harbhajan Singh - Has been very inconsistent recently, one day, he becomes a world-beater and other day, he becomes a ordinary bowler. He looks to bowl if there is another spinner in the playing XI but not so useful if he is the only one.
Piyush Chawla - Widely believed to be the next Anil-Kumble. Has done well at the domestic and u-19 level this season. Is a useful lower-order batsman as well, but his batting is more suited to tests than ODIs.
Murali Kartik - A useful left-arm spinner, has done well in tests to a ceratin extent and at the domestic level, but has never got too many chances to prove himself due to the presence of 2 world-class spinners in the team.
Pragyan Ojha
Amit Mishra

[pug]

Originally Posted by TIF

Agarkar - Cant understand why he still manages to get into the Indian team. Is very short-built for a pacer. But however, he has looked to do well for India, but however, he is very inconsistent. He is a useful lower-order batsman as well having hit a ODI 50 off only 21 balls and he was also the fastest to 50 ODI wickets.

Someone who can inspire two "but however"s in a 16 word sentence is a true legend.

I hope we get to look at some more of these youngsters soon especially Munaf and VRV.

[honestbharani]

I still think Agarkar has a place in the Indian ODI scheme of things. And I don't say that because I am a member of the AAAS.

[TIF]

I cant understand this meaning of the "AAAS" we have here. Agarkar, is not good enough to be a fast-bowler as he is weakly built. Agarkar, would have been better off if he had tried to become a batsman early on in his career. Agarkar, as a bowler is very inconsistent.

[cricketboy29]

Good stuff TIF, nice summary

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by TIF

I cant understand this meaning of the "AAAS" we have here.

Noob.

[Armadillo]

Originally Posted by TIF

I never meant to start a new thread

So your finger slipped?

[adharcric]

I might as well just name my India, India A and India B squads (in terms of World Cup selection) right now.

India
R Dravid (c), V Sehwag, S Tendulkar, M Kaif, Y Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), I Pathan, P Chawla, M Patel, VR Singh, H Singh, Supersub: S Raina

India A
V Rao (c), G Gambhir, R Uthappa, VVS Laxman, S Ganguly, D Karthik (wk), J Sharma, R Powar, A Kumble, Z Khan, Sreesanth, Supersub: A Nehra

India B
S Sriram (c), S Dhawan, G Dhiman, N Patel, H Badani, P Kumar, JP Yadav, P Patel (wk), A Agarkar, A Mishra, L Balaji, Supersub: M Kartik

[Smudge]

Originally Posted by Armadillo

So your finger slipped?

About 6,800 times, by the looks of it.

[TIF]

Some players I missed out -

Batsmen -

Ajay Jadeja - In 2000, got banned due to match-fixing, but then returned in 2003 after being cleared. In his 1st 2 seasons, played for Delhi and did well before shifting to Rajashtan this year and becoming the top-scorer in Ranji Trophy this year showing that he still has it in him to play international cricket for India.
Hemang Badani - Has already cracked a ODI 100 against Australia and is a good attacking batsman. Did well in the domestic matches this year. Is a useful attacking batsman.
Niraj Patel - Was one of the team members from the u-19 World cup winning squad of 2000 alongwith Yuvraj, Kaif and Venugopal. Didnt do too much for the next 3 years, but over the last 2 years, has been consistently doing well in domestic cricket and did play in the Challenger Trophy last year.

Wicket-Keepers -

Vinayak Samant - Probably the best wicket-keeper we have behind the stumps in India and his batting, seems to have improved over the last 2 years. However, he has been very unlucky to not be in consideration for the Indian team spot.

All-Rounders -

Joginder Sharma - A useful lower-order batsman, but not the one who would expect to play the big shots. Is more of a Kaif style batsman and a JP Yadav style bowler.

After this list, I have named the top 42 players we have in India. The list of 30 world cup Probables will be picked later this year.

[TIF]

Originally Posted by adharcric

I might as well just name my India, India A and India B squads (in terms of World Cup selection) right now.

India
R Dravid (c), V Sehwag, S Tendulkar, M Kaif, Y Singh, MS Dhoni (wk), I Pathan, P Chawla, M Patel, VR Singh, H Singh, Supersub: S Raina

India A
V Rao (c), G Gambhir, R Uthappa, VVS Laxman, S Ganguly, D Karthik (wk), J Sharma, R Powar, A Kumble, Z Khan, Sreesanth, Supersub: A Nehra

India B
S Sriram (c), S Dhawan, G Dhiman, N Patel, H Badani, P Kumar, JP Yadav, P Patel (wk), A Agarkar, A Mishra, L Balaji, Supersub: M Kartik

Here are the likely squads of 13 -

India -

V Sehwag
S Tendulkar
R Dravid(c)
M Kaif
Y Singh
S Raina
MS Dhoni(w)
I Pathan
H Singh
A Kumble
Z Khan
RP Singh
Sree Santh

India"A" -

G Gambhir
D Jadhav
VVS Laxman(c)
YV Rao
S Ganguly
H Badani
KKD Kartik(w)
R Powar
JP Yadav
P Chawla
VRV Singh
Munaf Patel
A Agarkar

India"B" -

S Dhawan
R Uthappa
G Dhiman
S Sriram
N Patel
A Jadeja(c)
V Samant(w)
P Kumar
Joginder Sharma
L Balaji
A Nehra
M Kartik
A Mishra

[TIF]

Originally Posted by Armadillo

So your finger slipped?

My finger didnt slip. This is one of the rare threads I have started, since I have been here over the last 4 months, I started posting only about a month ago however. I started this thread to discuss about the player pool we have out here in India and which players can make it to the world cup squad.

[luckyeddie]

Originally Posted by TIF

My finger didnt slip. This is one of the rare threads I have started, since I have been here over the last 4 months, I started posting only about a month ago however. I started this thread to discuss about the player pool we have out here in India and which players can make it to the world cup squad.

I think Armadillo was just teasing, because you had previously stated that you hadn't meant to start a new thread.

[Arjun]

Originally Posted by honestbharani

I still think Agarkar has a place in the Indian ODI scheme of things. And I don't say that because I am a member of the AAAS.

AAAS? Then you have a point.

Anyway, even JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar should be in the scheme of things. At least they can hit the ball harder and score in chunks.

[TIF]

Originally Posted by Arjun

AAAS? Then you have a point.

Anyway, even JP Yadav and Sanjay Bangar should be in the scheme of things. At least they can hit the ball harder and score in chunks.

Arjun, do you know anything about this AAAS ?

Also, as for our bowlers, we do need some bowlers who are big-hitters with the bat as well like Munaf Patel, VRV Singh, Pravin Kumar, Ramesh Powar, Irfan Pathan. Now, a bowling attack with 4 of these 5 bowlers for ODIs wont be any worse than our current attack and we can have the full batting line-up with all-rounders right down to No.11. It will be an awesome batting line-up and the opposition will feel unsafe despite having taken 7-8 wickets.