ODIs (India)
ODIs now, and again the game has dropped Sehwag down the order and replaced him with Vijay. Vijay was the least successful of the six potential openers who have been used in the past year (the others being Parthiv, Badrinath and Rahane). In his defence, he has only played 7 matches, and has a much better domestic average (in brackets in the table), so he deserves a few more games. Tendulkar got a few games in the past year, and did not perform. He was out of form in domestic as well, despite being as good as ever in 2010-11. Perhaps his advanced years have got to him. That appears to be what the AI thinks, anyway. (On a side note, he has one century in two years, so he is still an unattainable 12 short of the magic 100 international centuries).
Kohli is 11th on career ODI batting, and has only had 5 matches, so he will be well in the running for more, especially when the old guard actually do retire. Rohit Sharma is down in 13th, and after 37 matches, that suggests he?s not up to it. I?ve no idea why the game doesn?t pick Dhoni. Despite having the second best career average after blast-from-the-past Khoda, he has not been picked for the last two years.
Now to the AI?s other picks. Badrinath has the 9th best record in this format. He?s also the third best opener apart from Khoda, so he qualifies to be first or second reserve. Yuvi is an automatic pick. Sehwag is one of the openers ahead of Badrinath, but if he?s not being used to open, he doesn?t quite deserve his place. In addition to the bats in my team, Raina and Laxman are also ahead of him.
Finally to my left-field picks. Khoda has 115 runs from his two ODIs in 1997. He?s 37 now. Still, I don?t understand why he hasn?t been selected since, so there?s no time like the present to remedy that. Uday Kaul is a best of domestic keeper ? he is also the best of domestic batsman overall, so I included him for his batting. (I then gave him the gloves because his catches per match is better than Dhoni?s).
To bowling then, and Yusuf Pathan makes no sense as a bowler in the game (and even less in real life!) Irfan Pathan in-game has had 11 games at this level in the last two years, but is not a front-runner for a place. Ashwin and Dinda have not played for India in the game, and are nowhere near debuting in this format either. Praveen Kumar has performed much better in the game than real-life, but he?s still a long way down in the considerations.
Jadeja is a fantastic bowler in the game, and deserves his spot. (The 32.2 batting average is a mistake ? that?s from domestic ? the 20.9 is correct). Mishra similarly picks himself. Joginder Sharma has achieved a satisfactory average of 28.85 over the past year (14 matches), but his disastrous former tilt at the position (he debuted in ODIs in 2004!) makes it hard to pick him. Chawla likewise is not a front-runner (based on performance). Munaf Patel is the best of the experienced seamers, so it?s not a big surprise that the game picks him.
My selections now, and they?re based on pure ODI averages. Bhandari (right-arm fast-medium who debuted in 2000), Mishra, Jadeja and the regen Kumar have the best averages. Basant Mohanty comes in as the best of domestic. He is a 25-year-old right-arm fast-medium. While he has 40 List A games, over three years or more, under his belt in the game, I notice that, in real life, he just debuted in domestic one-dayers in February. He has 66 wickets at 18.32 ? and that?s why he?s there.