India have picked part-timers to play key roles going into next month's world cup. Many say that India are at full strength. For the first time in a long time. Its an optimistic way of saying the same thing. Part timers.
Agreed, Sachin, Sehwag, Gambhir and Zaheer were once full timers before age and injuries forced them to make a choice to not be full timers. But that doesn't change the fact that India is a team of part timers.
I don't much have a problem with that but the return of the part timers, especially Gautam Gambhir, leaves Virat Kohli out in the cold. The thing that I like about Virat Kohli is that in a very short time, he has built his brand around being an evening person. Almost a 1000 runs at an average of over 60 while chasing at night under lights. No one even comes close.
India will need night owls like Kohli. All their matches are likely to be day-nighters, where we will need Kohli to live up to his image.
Asking Virendra Sehwag to bat lower down the order will open up options for Kohli and better balance for India.
13 comments:
just curious... what were sachin's stats exactly at this stage of kohli's career..?
nice to hear that i am not the only one that thinks viru should bat at middle order (at no.4)... :)
i listed my starting xi at sp as:
sachin, gambhir, kohli, sehwag, raina, dhoni, bhajji, chawla, zaheer, nehra, munaf
After 21 ODIs chasing under lights Sachin had about 120 odd runs less and an average 17 runs lesser than Kohli's
http://bit.ly/hTOtMl
@SP- You pick Chawla before Ashwin ?? Seriously..?
@Golandaaz - Even if Kohli didn't have such a sensational chasing record, his 5 centuries in last year( counting yesterday's match as a century) make him a definite starter.
I think one of Raina, Yuvraj and Pathan should be dropped and will be dropped. I think Pathan should play and one of Raina and Yuvraj should be dropped.
Interesting thought about batting Viru in the middle order...say at 4. He's good enough to succeed there too...but then we might lose some explosiveness in the first 15 overs.
I'd rather retain Kohli in the XI in place of Raina and give him the no. 4 slot. However, for the B'desh match I'd have Raina in place of Kohli. Given the left-arm spinners of B'desh, we would do well to play Gauti, Yuvraj and Raina.
The thing that's scaring me though is our bowling and captaincy when we bowl 1st...not only does it lack penetration, it also lacks aggressive intent. Won't be tough for sides like SL, SA, Aus or Pak to put 300 on the board against us...and then pressure our strong batting into mistakes. Sigh!
Can someone pls cheer me up by disagreeing?
-BP
@SP, I have to admit, I am adopting the Sehwag down the order idea from you. I like it
@Freehit and @Anon (BP)
Kohli isn't a given in the XI. And if he plays he needs to play at #3. That's what Sehwag down the order allows us to do
SRT, GG, Kohli, Yuvraj, Raina, Sehwag, etc etc...
Sehwag can exploit the batting powerplay
@ Anon, the World Cup is usually won by the best test team at the time. Exceptions (Ind 83, SL 96)
So relax....
India win this thing without dropping a match.
"So relax....India win this thing without dropping a match."
As they say in Hindi, "Tumhare moon mein ghee shakkar!" :)
Actually, Zaheer's death bowling yesterday (which was as good as it gets) and Pathan's heroic fightback cheered me up quite a bit! If all XI play with the same intensity, intelligence and spirit, I'll have no complaints...and your words may even come true!
Cheers!
-BP
Sehwag batting at number 4 is an interesting idea, but you cannot experiment in the World Cup..better to stick with the tried and tested methods...
Chawla did nothing in the 5th ODI to suggest that he merits a place in the playing XI..better to stick with 3 pacers and rely on Bhajji, Yuvraj, Pathan and Sehwag for spin..
latb, in a way the XI that will play in the WC is an experiment. We've never played this XI before
My only playing 11 is Sehwag, sachin, gambhir, virat, yuvaraj, dhoni, yusuf, bhajji, munaf, praveen
looks like you missed zaheer. Agree with the XI but not the order. I think playing sehwag down the order does 2 things...1 It lets Kohli bat at #3 and 2 gives india real weapons (sehwag and yusuf) to maximize the batting powerplay at the end
GD,
am i the only one who thinks GG may not be as good as he is made out to?
i say try out -
1. srt (bcos he wont & cant bat anywhere else in ODI)
2. viru (would be sad to not see him open in a WC)
3. kohli (on pure form)
4. yuvi ('devachya dhava' but gods can smile on indian pitches one last time for him)
5. raina (n one else got the full bat swing and follow-through over midwicket)
6. pathan (i just wish irfan had recovered as well)
7. dhoni (great 'instinct' captain, but can he still bat?)
8. bhajii (not much goes wrong for him more recently)
9. ZK (not much goes wrong for him too)
10. munaf patel (cant leave out poor man's mcgrath)
11. praveen/nehra (nehra can be crazy, praveen is more hungry perhaps?)
- Anonymous
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