It's really quite simple. As someone said, a fitness regimen for SPORTSMEN is essential. For crap's sake: how can you do "sports" when you're physically unfit? Isn't that the most essential pre-requisite when we talk about stuff like running between the wickets, batting stamina, fielding capacity?
Indian cricket needs a major overhaul, and it should be based around fitness training. The coaches just aren't powerful enough because the players are too powerful: they dictate terms to the coach: I wouldn't be surprised if Greg Chappell had asked some "stars" to lose weight and gotten "get lost" in reply. We already know that Inzamam was more powerful than Woolmer: who would (rightfully) want to touch the coaching positions of these countries with a ten-foot-pole now?
- Tendulkar should not be dropped because even at his 40% he is better than most players at the peak of their power. His recent performances in ODI pretty much prove that. "Drop Tendulkar" is a typically severe emotional reaction from Indian fans.
- Dravid is a great player but not a great captain. He is too soft. He does not have a commanding presence on the field, and his body language and speech look like they can be very defeatist and resigned. But he should definitely be a part of the team.
- Ganguly is still a good short-term prospect.
- Sehwag needs 2 years in the counties. Indian should beg a county to accept him. If not, he needs to spend 2 years in the mountains will the Gurkhas if he still wants to play for India.
- Dhoni is a flat-track bully who should be batting no higher than 7 or so. In terms of ability, he's no better than Flintoff - and everyone knows Flintoff is a genuine #7.
- Harbhajan has never been a wicket-taker and Kumble is way past his expiration date. The latter has retired, but the former either needs to drastically improve or give way to someone else. In fact, I'd not use a specialist spinner at all. Yuvraj and Tendulkar and Ganguly etc can be the 5th option. But yeah, no Harbhajan please.
- Sreesanth and Uthappa are exciting new options - they're raw but talented, and not a part of the old team. Uthappa is not unfit, and he can field well. In team of lead-footed disnosaurs, how valuable is that? He needs to be trained, and I have no doubt that he could start performing consistently. It's all in the mind. Same with Pathan.
- Z Khan and Munaf need to work on fitness, but they're gonna be the speaheads in the bowling attack, one feels. They need to work on handling pressure, or they're gonna wilt as well.
- The fact that A Agarkar is still in the team is a severe indictment of the selection committee's methods and favouritism. The guy would not be in the reserve list for any of the top 8.
- Powar is not an option until he stops being such a liability in the field. He cannot throw, and he doesn't dive. India are already the laughing stock of world cricket right now - imagine if this guy walks into the team. Unless he drops about 15 kg, he shouldn't be anyway near the team. India need to groom a real world-class spinner: Kumble, Harb and Powar are not.
So drop:
Kumble
Harbhajan
Agarkar
Sehwag
Dravid as captain
Ganguly (after a year or two)
Powar
The main problem is lack of motivation and all the money pouring into the players' pockets. Unfortunately, due to the mentality of the Indian people and the system in place, the lack of performance is bound to persist.
Could a team with Raina, Gambhir, Pathan, Uthappa, Karthik, Dhoni, Sreesanth have done worse in the world cup? I doubt it.
