India embark on yet another Carribbean tour without Sachin Tendulkar. The one day squad has a deep bench. When the regulars were unavailable, it was easy to find credible replacements. It's to India's credit that it has blooded a bench that can put a game face on anytime. However, the game plan for this time is going to be very different that what the first eleven would follow.
The routine that India has gotten into is that one of the top three always drops anchor and score big fifties or hundreds. Everyone else bats around them and scores the bulk of runs. In the world cup, Yuvraj Singh played a massive role and he balanced the team big time. The new look squad is going to rely on Yusuf Pathan, Rohit Sharma or Suresh Raina to play that role. None of them by themselves can do what Yuvraj did. However, given that the West Indies too aren't a top notch team today, maybe they can pull it off.
The West Indies gave India a scare in the World Cup, only to give it all away in a dramatic collapse. The test match victory against Pakistan showed that some semblance of mental strength has been built. Although, this team will not have the swagger of the once dominant West Indies, they can start the process. South Africa and England will continue to be dominant, while Australia and soon India will be in rebuilding mode. Pakistan are going through a major crisis. The time is ripe for the West Indies to develop some confidence.
The one day series can be expected to be competitive and not one sided despite India's world champion status. This is a superb opportunity for highly rated Rohit Sharma to cement his place in the side alongside Kohli and Raina.
2 comments:
outcome of this series wil determine whether India will dominate cricket.
That's what Sir Viv also said Vaibhav....but i don't necessarily agree.
outcome of the series will determine how decent / bad WI are as well
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