Cricketman
ICC Chairman
- Joined
- Jul 27, 2005
- Location
- USA
This is an article for me to gain re-entry into the news team.
It can be moved to the Members Article Section when/if it gets accepted.
The 15-man squad for the first two ODI's against Pakistan was announced earlier today.
Rahul Dravid, after a bad series against Australia, has been dropped for Virender Sehwag.
Gautham Ghambir, coming off a groin strain, makes a comeback, while UP swinger Praveen Kumar makes an International appearance for the first time.
What were the selectors thinking, dropping The Wall, Mr. Dependible, Captain Consistency or whatever you want to call him for...Virender Sehwag? What has Sehwag done to deserve a call up? The 75 against the Greens today? For his "bowling"? Are they too caught up in the T20 craze?
This is One-Day cricket. They play it for 50 overs, and you need a side that can bat (and field) through for the whole quota. You're not going to recover from 20-3 as easily in the longer form of the game then the twenty-over format.
You need someone like Dravid to see off the tough period and anchor through the innings-and let the younger, more robust hitters to score. Does Sehwag deserve this? More importantly, does Rahul Dravid, who has been churning these consistent performances for YEARS, deserve this? The obvious answer for both-No.
Take a look at the squad. It features not two, not three, but five opening batsman. Take away Robin Uthappa, who's solidified himself at 6, and you have two batsman who have to bat in a place where they're not comfortable. The combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly has been simply fantastic for India. Why should we dismantle something that's worked so well for us? Go back to the old saying-If it 'aint broke, don't fix it.
What about the youngsters, who've done more then Sehwag to deserve a role in the team. Suresh Raina cracked two brilliant half centuries for the Blue's on the trot. S. Badrinath has been churning good performances in the domestic circuit for a couple of seasons now. Yousuf Pathan-the allround option. Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik-who are not only both dynamic batsman but give India the second keeping option.
The only positive from this whole thing has been the induction of Praveen Kumar into the fifteen. He has a fantastic line and length, and testing accuracy. He's not express by any means-keeps it around the 125kmph mark, but moves it both ways. With a List A bowling average of 20 and an economy less then five, he deserves to wear the blue. He's no muck with the bat, either. Averages a solid 25 with the bat in List A's and 35 in T20's, and has a strike rate of 107 in the fifty over format.
By no means did Dravid deserve to be dropped. He was going through a lean patch but you cannot afford to drop a player of his class. And his replacement was strange as well-Sehwag has done nothing special in the domestic circuit, and had an average T20 Championship. Raina and Badrinath deserved a go more then Virender Sehwag did.
All in all, the selectors have royally messed up.
it can also be viewed here
It can be moved to the Members Article Section when/if it gets accepted.
The 15-man squad for the first two ODI's against Pakistan was announced earlier today.
Rahul Dravid, after a bad series against Australia, has been dropped for Virender Sehwag.
Gautham Ghambir, coming off a groin strain, makes a comeback, while UP swinger Praveen Kumar makes an International appearance for the first time.
What were the selectors thinking, dropping The Wall, Mr. Dependible, Captain Consistency or whatever you want to call him for...Virender Sehwag? What has Sehwag done to deserve a call up? The 75 against the Greens today? For his "bowling"? Are they too caught up in the T20 craze?
This is One-Day cricket. They play it for 50 overs, and you need a side that can bat (and field) through for the whole quota. You're not going to recover from 20-3 as easily in the longer form of the game then the twenty-over format.
You need someone like Dravid to see off the tough period and anchor through the innings-and let the younger, more robust hitters to score. Does Sehwag deserve this? More importantly, does Rahul Dravid, who has been churning these consistent performances for YEARS, deserve this? The obvious answer for both-No.
Take a look at the squad. It features not two, not three, but five opening batsman. Take away Robin Uthappa, who's solidified himself at 6, and you have two batsman who have to bat in a place where they're not comfortable. The combination of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly has been simply fantastic for India. Why should we dismantle something that's worked so well for us? Go back to the old saying-If it 'aint broke, don't fix it.
What about the youngsters, who've done more then Sehwag to deserve a role in the team. Suresh Raina cracked two brilliant half centuries for the Blue's on the trot. S. Badrinath has been churning good performances in the domestic circuit for a couple of seasons now. Yousuf Pathan-the allround option. Parthiv Patel and Dinesh Karthik-who are not only both dynamic batsman but give India the second keeping option.
The only positive from this whole thing has been the induction of Praveen Kumar into the fifteen. He has a fantastic line and length, and testing accuracy. He's not express by any means-keeps it around the 125kmph mark, but moves it both ways. With a List A bowling average of 20 and an economy less then five, he deserves to wear the blue. He's no muck with the bat, either. Averages a solid 25 with the bat in List A's and 35 in T20's, and has a strike rate of 107 in the fifty over format.
By no means did Dravid deserve to be dropped. He was going through a lean patch but you cannot afford to drop a player of his class. And his replacement was strange as well-Sehwag has done nothing special in the domestic circuit, and had an average T20 Championship. Raina and Badrinath deserved a go more then Virender Sehwag did.
All in all, the selectors have royally messed up.
it can also be viewed here
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