The five wise men, name ly the Indian selectors have done their bit by picking a team that they firmly believe will be more than able to bring back the World Cup to our shores after a rather long interim period of 28 years.Is the selectors new found confidence in the fifteen selected by them in their infinite wisdom sheer bravado or total balderash, let's pick holes in the arguments tendered by them and find out for ourselves.
Eleven out of the fifteen cricketers selected by the men in the hot seat would walk into any team or rather be automatic selections in any Indian One Day International squad, it is only the four diputed or unwise selections of Suresh Raina,Praveen Kumar,Ravichandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla that raise the hackles of yours truly and coerce him into questioning the cricketing wisdom of the so called five wise men.
Messrs Srikkanth and Company have so far been basking in reflected glory thanks largely to the inspired leadership of Mahendar Singh Dhoni,indubitable and rather impressive man management skills of Messrs Gary Kirsten and company and last but not the least the irrepresible team spirit and self belief displayed by the Indian team over the last three odd years. A period where we assumed the mantle of the best test team in the world and the number two ODI team in the world.
The nagging feeling that somehting seems lacking in this mix of fifteen players selected to represent our motherland in the World Cup 2011 in our own backyard yet constinues to persist and seems to be gnawing away at yours truly innards akin to a rather virulent form of cancer.The contestable selections of R.Ashwin and Piyush Chawla seem to have been made to please their regional satraps rather than really reinforcing the bench strength of the present team as one fails to understand the cricketing rationale behind these two selections as the Indian team management has always favoured a three seamer and one spinner formual and these two afore mentioned gentlemen seem to lack the wherewithal to step into Bhajji's shoes unless in the case of a debilitating injury or prolonged illness.
If picking a second spinner in the spin friendly conditions prevailing in our backyards was an absolute necessity, then pray why did the selectors overlook the claims of an Amit Mishra who has wonderfully acquitted himself in the limited opportunities accorded to him in the longest version of the game.Apart from being the best leg spinner on view by far,Mishra is safe fielder and a more than useful lower order batsman who would have ably complimented the off breaks and doosras of Harbhajan Singh.
Praveen Kumar seems a luxury in these rather seamer unfriendly conditions.Praveen's forte is swing rather than seam bowling and the fact that he struggles to exceed the 130 kmph mark regularly at his best reduce him to nothing more than cannon fodder for the marauding batsmen of the opposing teams who must be licking their lips in anticipation at the very thought of mauling abowler who struggles to swing the ball at speeds not exceeding 127-28 kmph in fast bowler unfriendly conditions.
One fails to understand why the selectors choose to overlook the claims made by Shantakumaran Sreesanth, he was the best bowler on view by far during the New Zealand and South African series succeded in pciking up a handful of wickets at the time when the team most needed them,was constantly at the throats of the opposing batsmen and proved to be more than a handful for them on most occasions,more than proved his value on the field with some breathtaking stops and acrobatic catches and last but not the least consitently swung the ball at pace exceeding 135 kmph per hour more often than not,what more does poor Sreesanth have to do to en-sure his longevity within the Indian ranks.
The now more or less automatic selection of Suresh Raina in very form of the game continues to baffle both conventional as well as cricketing logic, here is a man who has struggled for form in all forms of the game after his sterling exploits In Sri Lanka six-seven months back.His struggles against short pitched bowling are well documented in the minds of the opposition bowlers and captains and one can be sure that he will receive more than his fair share of "parfum"balls whenever he comes out to bat,his technique and temperament are highly suspect and his rather innocuous off spinners would put many a club cricketer to shame.The mind boggles as to why the indomitable Manish Pande who has strode like a colossus on the domestic cricketing stage for the last two seasons and shone like a beacon in the Indian Premier League seasons two and three in the thankless role of an opener was not considered in Raina's place. It is clearly evident that Raina has the backing of a few sugar daddies both within the selection committee as well as the team management.
The most absurd of them all was the selection of Piyush Chawla here is a man who has been languishing in the cricketing wilderness for the last two seasons,not exactly set the stage aflame with his sterling deeds in domestic cricket or the IPL and is still selected overlooking the claims of a Parthiv Patel who performed creditably in the rather unfamiliar role of an opener in the two opportunities that were provided to him against the black caps and all this when Dhoni's acute back and finger related problems are the subject of many a national debate centering around the glorious game of cricket, starnge are the ways of our selection committee.
ell, our Five Wise Men? have made their choices logical or not and it is our sacred duty as Indians to unconditionally back and support the team through it's two month long campaign to regain the World Cup, Hail Team India, may all your world cup related dreams come true.
Eleven out of the fifteen cricketers selected by the men in the hot seat would walk into any team or rather be automatic selections in any Indian One Day International squad, it is only the four diputed or unwise selections of Suresh Raina,Praveen Kumar,Ravichandran Ashwin and Piyush Chawla that raise the hackles of yours truly and coerce him into questioning the cricketing wisdom of the so called five wise men.
Messrs Srikkanth and Company have so far been basking in reflected glory thanks largely to the inspired leadership of Mahendar Singh Dhoni,indubitable and rather impressive man management skills of Messrs Gary Kirsten and company and last but not the least the irrepresible team spirit and self belief displayed by the Indian team over the last three odd years. A period where we assumed the mantle of the best test team in the world and the number two ODI team in the world.
The nagging feeling that somehting seems lacking in this mix of fifteen players selected to represent our motherland in the World Cup 2011 in our own backyard yet constinues to persist and seems to be gnawing away at yours truly innards akin to a rather virulent form of cancer.The contestable selections of R.Ashwin and Piyush Chawla seem to have been made to please their regional satraps rather than really reinforcing the bench strength of the present team as one fails to understand the cricketing rationale behind these two selections as the Indian team management has always favoured a three seamer and one spinner formual and these two afore mentioned gentlemen seem to lack the wherewithal to step into Bhajji's shoes unless in the case of a debilitating injury or prolonged illness.
If picking a second spinner in the spin friendly conditions prevailing in our backyards was an absolute necessity, then pray why did the selectors overlook the claims of an Amit Mishra who has wonderfully acquitted himself in the limited opportunities accorded to him in the longest version of the game.Apart from being the best leg spinner on view by far,Mishra is safe fielder and a more than useful lower order batsman who would have ably complimented the off breaks and doosras of Harbhajan Singh.
Praveen Kumar seems a luxury in these rather seamer unfriendly conditions.Praveen's forte is swing rather than seam bowling and the fact that he struggles to exceed the 130 kmph mark regularly at his best reduce him to nothing more than cannon fodder for the marauding batsmen of the opposing teams who must be licking their lips in anticipation at the very thought of mauling abowler who struggles to swing the ball at speeds not exceeding 127-28 kmph in fast bowler unfriendly conditions.
One fails to understand why the selectors choose to overlook the claims made by Shantakumaran Sreesanth, he was the best bowler on view by far during the New Zealand and South African series succeded in pciking up a handful of wickets at the time when the team most needed them,was constantly at the throats of the opposing batsmen and proved to be more than a handful for them on most occasions,more than proved his value on the field with some breathtaking stops and acrobatic catches and last but not the least consitently swung the ball at pace exceeding 135 kmph per hour more often than not,what more does poor Sreesanth have to do to en-sure his longevity within the Indian ranks.
The now more or less automatic selection of Suresh Raina in very form of the game continues to baffle both conventional as well as cricketing logic, here is a man who has struggled for form in all forms of the game after his sterling exploits In Sri Lanka six-seven months back.His struggles against short pitched bowling are well documented in the minds of the opposition bowlers and captains and one can be sure that he will receive more than his fair share of "parfum"balls whenever he comes out to bat,his technique and temperament are highly suspect and his rather innocuous off spinners would put many a club cricketer to shame.The mind boggles as to why the indomitable Manish Pande who has strode like a colossus on the domestic cricketing stage for the last two seasons and shone like a beacon in the Indian Premier League seasons two and three in the thankless role of an opener was not considered in Raina's place. It is clearly evident that Raina has the backing of a few sugar daddies both within the selection committee as well as the team management.
The most absurd of them all was the selection of Piyush Chawla here is a man who has been languishing in the cricketing wilderness for the last two seasons,not exactly set the stage aflame with his sterling deeds in domestic cricket or the IPL and is still selected overlooking the claims of a Parthiv Patel who performed creditably in the rather unfamiliar role of an opener in the two opportunities that were provided to him against the black caps and all this when Dhoni's acute back and finger related problems are the subject of many a national debate centering around the glorious game of cricket, starnge are the ways of our selection committee.
ell, our Five Wise Men? have made their choices logical or not and it is our sacred duty as Indians to unconditionally back and support the team through it's two month long campaign to regain the World Cup, Hail Team India, may all your world cup related dreams come true.
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