I enjoyed learning antonyms and synonyms as a child because I got majority of them Correct. But there were some which I never learnt in school life and had to learn it the hard way after years of patience and experience like (Antonyms)- BCCI X Logic , BCCI X Common sense , BCCI X Responsibility.( Synonyms)- BCCI – Biased, BCCI – Corrupt or BCCI – Bulllshit. For a long period of time Indian cricket has been managed by some weird tacticians, having horrible logic and lacking appropriate insight required in the current times. I feel it’s not fair to both the fans and the players.
As a diehard Indian and sachin fan, it was a setback when sachin didn’t play in the recent Srilankan series. Moreover With the no of India Srilanka matches in the recent past it would have taken a great miracle to force me to watch it. Don’t know the reason behind nonstop srilakan matches. Neither is it helping test our bench strength, nor is it appealing to the fans and the audience. Also with fitness, fatigue and nonstop cricket an issue for the Indian team, these pointless series should be discarded or should be played by the Indian A team.
The prospect of test series is what gets me excited. But the current TWO test match SERIES against newzeland is quite baffling and puzzling. At one end we regularly play srilanka every other month for 5 match series whereas we are just having a two test match series against newzeland who visits only once every two years.
Agreed Indian Weather Forecasting Department is terribly poor. That doesn’t mean they would predict the entire monsoon season wrong. Late august is considered to be rainy in INDIA. So why can’t simple common sense prevail and Matches be organized when it’s not supposed to rain?!For a cricket fan like myself, and fans that pay up to watch test matches, it’s absolutely not fair if rains delays occur. Also the expected weather at Hyderabad where the first test match is going to be played is considered to be –“OCCASIONAL THUNDERSTORMS”. So for a two test match series having no warm up games, if rain plays its part, it would make a mockery of the organizers.
There is no shortage of amusement when BCCI is concerned. The recent selection does prove my point.
After the recent 8-0 result of then considered “NO 1 ranked Indian team” I expected the selection committee to really step up and take some harsh measures. I thought fitness would be of the prime concern.I thought batsman without proper technique would be discarded. But as always I was wrong. Instead the same old melodrama continues.
Starting with Ishant Sharma, Who has yet to regain full fitness, who hasn’t submitted a fitness report, who
hasn’t played competitive cricket since quite a while is selected, on what basis I don’t know. How his ankle would hold up nobody knows. But this selection shows that the fast bowling department is so desperate and so depleted in reserves, that they are willing to take even an half fit Ishant Sharma.
In the last three away test series the fast bowlers we tried were-Zak, Ishant, Praveen, Umesh Yadav, Vinay Kumar, Sreesanth, Rp Singh, Varun Aaron. The Spinners we tried were-mishra, harbhajan, ashwin, Ojha.
So my question is if we have tried 8 fast bowlers for away tests, we must have selected them on some basis and thinking that they are our future. So what is the need for an half fit ishant, and what is the current status of Indian Fast Bowling Department.
Even more humorous, mind blowing, stupendous, horrendous (what not) selection in the current series was of piyush chawla.Let me get the facts first-Last played test series in 2008(4 years ago).Not part of the recent Indian A squad. An average of 26 in the IPL at an economy of 7.35, and a very poor average of 40 in the Ranjis.So what has he done to merit a place in the squad.And do the selectors feel Chawla would be a part of the spin department in the forthcoming away test series(where the ball hardly turns) in 2013?Highly doubt it and even then where was he in the last three away test series?. And you want another joke-When asked Chawla on his inclusion in the test team he says-“I expected it. I have done well in the recent limited over formats hence my place in the test squad is justified”. HAHA!
The bowling selection for the current series makes me wonder are we totally depleted of our bowling reserves. And is there a possibility of a time coming in the future, where there would be 11 batsmen playing with a mindset that “if we can’t get their 11 batsman’s out then what’s the point of playing a bowler. Instead 11 batsmen might boost our statistics and reduce the chances of 4-0 whitewashes”. A definite possibility.
Last time I knew Rohit Sharma was on the verge of making a test debut, having warmed enough benches In Australia. And Raina was declared as a batsman unsuitable in the away conditions because of his familiar weakness against the rising ball. But looks like the recent Srilankan series has changed many fortunes. Agreed Sharma looked totally out of sorts and raina was in a decent form. But these are subcontinent pitches. Hence excluding the recent series what technical changes occurred in both the batsman, such that the deserving was dropped and the batsman having a prominent weakness against the rising ball was selected. For the away matches Raina(we know)at no 6/7 is a definite waste. And lastly if Sharma lost his place in the test side due to the recent events, How on earth did he get a place in the T-20s where the world cup is just
round the corner? Beats me.
Similar is the case of Sehwagh. For the subcontinent matches his place in the 11 doesn’t require justification. But for the away series sehwagh as an opener is many times a liability.Looking at Sehwagh’s record in the
away test series as an opener makes you always wonder would he will perform or not. When he does perform the team always tends to do well. But when he doesn’t(The recent cases and the majority of times)it leaves the team in a huge spot of bother .Moreover the cushion of Rahul Dravid is lost now and that means for the likes of Tendulkar’s and laxmans the ball won’t have lost its shine. Instead it would be a hard new, shining, seaming cherry which could make them vulnerable early on.
Also there is the inclusion of Yuvraj Singh-Is it an emotional one? Could be. Is it based on past form. Definately. From world cup man of the series to the post cancer recovery his inclusion justifies many bases. But my only concern is-“Isn’t a bit early? And is he fit enough to bear the burden of an emotional, comeback, international test match”. Time will tell.
It was weird when kohli replaced gambhir as the vice-captain of the T-20 side.The funny part now is not, that gambhir is again the vice-captain now, having replaced the man in golden form but the fact that a 20 over game need a vice captain but the test match doesn’t require one.
Anyways enough criticism. Looking at the current picture if things go on as it always does, then I predict an easy test series for the home team. No vettori,and half the attack lost by the visitors. If rains don’t play spoilsports then India(I hope they do, so selectors gain some common sense) would definitely win the series, with a winning margin of maybe 1-0.The players I look forward to are Kohli(obviously),Pujara(replacing Dravid) and Yuvi(How does he react after such an emotional turmoil).
Moreover i want to see whether The Absence of A highly underated "Rahul Dravid" is felt and whether his importance is now understood.
Also this was Mr. Shrikanths last selection. Whether he is reelected and sustains I don’t tknow.But I hope the future selection committee would at least have an ounce of common sense. And we will have a logical and efficient selections in the future. Very tough to ask isn’t it?!
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