Indian ODI cricket - What should be done?

[sohum]

We have to use our Oldies as much as we can before they retire.
Dropping Ganguly is just..Stupid.
And Dinesh Karthik is our future, like it or not. More so then Uthappa.

Dropping Ganguly is not stupid. He is scoring runs but he is hardly doing so in a dominant fashion. Tendulkar makes runs in a far more dominant fashion. I would personally prefer Tendulkar and Ganguly retire because the selectors won't be able to drop them. There's a lot of good cricket to be had from the up and coming players which will be missed if players hang around for ages.

And like it or not, I'm not going to confine myself to a box and think Dinesh Karthik is our future and thus play him in every game. Performances are what you need to back up supposed talent. Also, you grossly ignore the fact that Uthappa is an ODI opener, something that Karthik definitely is not.

 

[Cricketman]

Dropping Ganguly is not stupid. He is scoring runs but he is hardly doing so in a dominant fashion. Tendulkar makes runs in a far more dominant fashion. I would personally prefer Tendulkar and Ganguly retire because the selectors won't be able to drop them. There's a lot of good cricket to be had from the up and coming players which will be missed if players hang around for ages.

And like it or not, I'm not going to confine myself to a box and think Dinesh Karthik is our future and thus play him in every game. Performances are what you need to back up supposed talent. Also, you grossly ignore the fact that Uthappa is an ODI opener, something that Karthik definitely is not.

It doesn't really matter how he gets the runs, as long as he gets them though, right?
I'm thinking Uthappa n dinesh can go on an every other match basis or something. If uthappa plays he either plays at 6/7/2 and dada is one drop.
I agree with what your saying, the future is whats "happening". But, All 3 are doing a good job right now and its mighty hard to drop without there being riots or something going on lol.

 

[sohum]

That's the problem we have. Especially with Tendulkar... we can't drop him so we are basically at his mercy. Also, in the ODI game one should also look at fitness and overall utility of a player. I, for one, hope that Sachin and Sourav ease out in style over the next two years. Dravid may outlast them because he's the fittest of the three, but he won't be there for much longer.

We also have to get an idea of our next opener, be it Uthappa or Gambhir or someone else who takes the world by storm. Trying out newer players in the middle order will also give us the opportunity to build a strong middle order in the tests.

 

[Cricketman]

Uthappa and Ghambir don't really suite each other well though.
both are relativley aggressive, and would cause someone to curve their natural game.
I feel for Sehwag tho.

 

[SaiSrini]

1. Sachin Tendulkar (looks in fine batting touch)
2. Robin Uthappa (our future ODI opener)
3. Mahinder Singh Dhoni+ (has had success up the order)
4. Rahul Dravid* (captain by elimination)
5. Manoj Tiwary (when fit) / Rohit Sharma
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. Irfan Pathan / Mohammad Kaif
8. Piyush Chawla
9. Ramesh Powar
10. Zaheer Khan
11. Santhkumaran Sreesanth

Ganguly and Gambhir are players that I have dropped. Tiwary needs to be brought into the team asap, until then Rohit Sharma should get his spot. There will be times when we will need 7 batsmen and that is when Kaif becomes useful. Also I would consider swapping Yuvraj up to number 5 and Tiwary/Sharma down to 6. From the bowling pov we need to find a decent quickie fast.

I quite like the look of your team. But Ganguly will feel more than hard done by to be dropped especially when he is in such good form. He has done absolutely nothing WRONG. If you want to drop one of the senior players, it has to be Dravid. Give the captaincy to Dhoni or Yuvraj or give it to Sachin Tendulkar if you feel no youngster is ready for it yet (though I think the selectors have faith in Dhoni for future captaincy going by their decision to make him captain of the 20-20 team).

That's the problem we have. Especially with Tendulkar... we can't drop him so we are basically at his mercy. Also, in the ODI game one should also look at fitness and overall utility of a player. I, for one, hope that Sachin and Sourav ease out in style over the next two years. Dravid may outlast them because he's the fittest of the three, but he won't be there for much longer.

We also have to get an idea of our next opener, be it Uthappa or Gambhir or someone else who takes the world by storm. Trying out newer players in the middle order will also give us the opportunity to build a strong middle order in the tests.

I hope one of the three retire after the Pakistan ODI series at the end of this year. Its a good time to do so. Australia and Pakistan ODI's will be very tough and once they are done, one or two of the seniors can and should retire thereby making way for the younger players. I would like to hope that the rumor of Sachin retiring after the Pakistan ODI's is true. He has to retire in style and what better way than do it against Pakistan?

Uthappa and Ghambir don't really suite each other well though.
both are relativley aggressive, and would cause someone to curve their natural game.
I feel for Sehwag tho.

Sehwag, unless he improves his footwork, wont be a consistent performer for India. He has to improve on his technique and especially on his footwork. We had a footwork-less player in Sadagoppan Ramesh. Though he was hard done by in the end by the selectors, he also had himself to blame for he had a poor technique and had almost zero footwork. Sehwag has this habit of leaving a big gap between bat and pad and inspite of the whole world knowing about this loophole, he didnt bother to correct it. Sehwag at his firing best would be a boost for India, but I would rather prefer a more technically sound Sehwag than an occasionally murderous Sehwag.

This would be my future Indian ODI team (after the retirement of the seniors)

Virender Sehwag
Robin Uthappa
Manoj Tiwary
Yuvraj Singh (c)
Mohammed Kaif
MS Dhoni
Irfan Pathan
Piyush Chawla
Harbhajan Singh
Zaheer Khan
S Sreesanth

Backups: Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir, RP Singh, Ramesh Powar

Powar doesnt suit me. A good bowler, but not a decent fielder. Harbhajan is much better. He commands respect as a bowler, looks to be coming back to form in county cricket, is a very good fielder especially in the outfield, has that aggressive attitude. He can combine much better with Piyush in the sense that he can be a tight backup so that Piyush can attack at the other end, or he can attack relentlessly when Piyush tights it up.

Sreesanth needs to be given chances. Sreesanth is basically trying to take up the mantle of injecting the much needed aggression into this team which had lot of aggression when Saurav was around. Sometimes, Sree gets carried away, but with good advice and care, he can definitely be a very good fast bowler for India. Has much needed variations and has pace. Importantly, a good fielder in the deep and can field better anyday than Munaf Patel and possibly even better than Agarkar (may be Agarkar has a better arm). I think Agarkar can be pushed into the test matches if needed. He need not worry about economy there and when not being carted around, he can actually pick up crucial wickets.

Irfan's all round capabilities is extremely important. He, Dhoni and Yuvraj formed a deadly trio in India's succession of victories in 2006. If he can re-capture his form, India would be smiling no end.

 

[sohum]

Uthappa and Ghambir don't really suite each other well though.
both are relativley aggressive, and would cause someone to curve their natural game.
I feel for Sehwag tho.

I don't want Sehwag in the ODI team. I'm all for him in the test team where he doesn't feel the need to bat over-aggressively. I would push for a Sehwag-Karthik opening combination in test matches.

If you want to drop one of the senior players, it has to be Dravid.

Pick Ganguly over Dravid? I would never do that. As good as Ganguly's comeback has been, Dravid has shown himself to be one of India's best ODI players over the last half a decade or so. He is also a versatile player because he can open if you absolutely need him to, he can come in the middle order at the fall of early wickets, or he can provide some acceleration towards the end. Choosing someone like Ganguly who can really only get runs during the Powerplays would be committing suicide, for me.

Give the captaincy to Dhoni or Yuvraj or give it to Sachin Tendulkar if you feel no youngster is ready for it yet (though I think the selectors have faith in Dhoni for future captaincy going by their decision to make him captain of the 20-20 team).

I don't think Dhoni is a long-term solution. But there's just no one in the team that could do the job. I guess if Kaif or Sehwag come back they could be up for it, but they are currently not even permanent fixtures!