Team India has been selected and as usual there would be surprises. As long as everyone is surprised differently I think the work is done.

The Team is
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla

Quite a few people are surprised at the omission of Saurav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid. I am more surprised at the omission of Romesh Pawar and Murali Kartik and inclusion of RP Singh and Sreesanth.

Ok let us analyze the batting first. Vineet’s ODI Batsmen Ranking 2007 for Indian Batsmen is:

S. No. Player Matches
1 SR Tendulkar (India) (33) - selected
2 Yuvraj Singh (India) (36) - selected
3 V Sehwag (India) (15) - selected
4 MS Dhoni (India) (37) - selected
5 RV Uthappa (India) (22) - selected
6 SC Ganguly (India) (32) - dropped
7 R Dravid (India) (31) - dropped
8 G Gambhir (India) (21) - selected
9 KD Karthik (India) (20) - selected
10 D Mongia (India) (2) (ICL player)
11 RG Sharma (India) (4) - selected as allrounder
12 IK Pathan (India) (13) - selected as allrounder
13 P Kumar (India) (1) - selected as bowler
14 Harbhajan Singh (India)(21) - selected as bowler
15 Z Khan (Asia/India) (33) - injured
16 M Kartik (India) (7) - dropped
17 Piyush Chawla (India) (13) - selected as allrounder
17 SK Raina (India) (2) - selected as allrounder

So dropping 5 and 6 is not a problem though they performed well, it is a question of grooming people so top 4 performers and 2-3 newbies is a good combination. Dinesh Karthik didn’t perform well last year but the Team may like to give him another chance. Others we can analyze alongwith Bowlers or Allrounders. The players missing in the batting list are RP Singh, Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma who anyway are not known for their batting.

Now let us analyze the bowling first. Vineet’s ODI Bowling Ranking 2007 for Indian Bowlers is:

S. No. Player Matches
1 Harbhajan Singh (India) (21) - selected
2 RR Powar (India) (15) - dropped
3 M Kartik (India) (7) - dropped
4 P Kumar (India) (1) - selected
5 Piyush Chawla (India) (13) - selected
6 MM Patel (India) (11) - injured
7 Z Khan (Asia/India) (33) - injured
8 Joginder Sharma (India) (1) - dropped
9 AB Agarkar (India) (17) - dropped
10 A Kumble (India) (4) - retired
11 RP Singh (India) (18) - selected
12 IK Pathan (India) (13) - selected
13 I Sharma (India) (1) - selected

Now here are surprises when Murali Kartik and Romesh Pawar have been dropped to make way for RP Singh and Sreesanth. Anil Kumble played only 4 matches in 2007 and has retired from this form of game. RP Singh played 18 games and the only reason to include him ahead of Romesh Pawar and Murali Kartik maybe to have more pacers than spinners, though in that case Ajit Agarkar could have been a good bet. However, Romesh Pawar was a good bet. Irfan Pathan is coming back, so need not discuss his bad performance last year in ODIs.

Now, let us see the allround performance which is more important in ODIs. Vineet’s ODI Ranking for Most Valuable Indian Players for 2007 were:

S. No. Player
1 MS Dhoni (India) Team
2 SR Tendulkar (India) Team
3 V Sehwag (India) Team
4 Yuvraj Singh (India) Team
5 RV Uthappa (India) Team
6 SC Ganguly (India) Dropped
7 R Dravid (India) Dropped
8 Harbhajan Singh (India) Team
9 G Gambhir (India) Team
10 KD Karthik (India) Team
11 P Kumar (India) Team
12 RG Sharma (India) Team
13 IK Pathan (India) Team
14 Piyush Chawla (India) Team
15 Z Khan (India) Injury
16 M Kartik (India) Dropped
17 RR Powar (India) Dropped
18 D Mongia (India) (ICL Player)
19 MM Patel (India) Injury
20 A Kumble (India) Retired
21 RP Singh (India) Team
22 AB Agarkar (India) Dropped
23 SK Raina (India) Team
24 S Sreesanth (India) Team
25 I Sharma (India) Team
26 Joginder Sharma (India) Dropped

Well now you can see why i am surprised at the omission of Romesh Pawar and Murali Kartik and inclusion of RP Singh and Sreesanth.

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Ricky Ponting recently said,”Test Cricket is a test of Physical and Mental Toughness”. He is very right. Even if you don’t like it, it is the stage test cricket is now at. So, if you want to win a game, you need to strategize the downfall of 20 wickets. Putting aside unfair means used by Douglas Jardine (Bodyline), John Lever (Vaseline), or unethical means like the Martin Snedden Catch of Greg Chappel or the Trevor Chappel ball of century (underhand bowl), you have to agree that one batsman bats twice -so it is easier to defeat him mentally than on the wicket. And that’s the way Australians have learnt to play the game. India have not been able to get this knack (surprisingly most of the teams around the world are coached by Australian Coaches but this is one thing I feel they have held back).

How do you strategize?
- you list down each batsman’s weakness
- you also list down their strengths
- then you hammer on weaknesses and don’t allow the person the balls which are his strengths
- you learn which rule can easily be broken by the opponent

If the batsmen is mentally weak (verbally aggressive) then you break him down on the field (people like Harbhajan and Sreesanth are sitting ducks). Either trap them into situations where they walk the thin line, by goading the person into responding (a thorough understanding of rules is required here so that you don’t overstep while prompting the opponent to overstep). This is actually easy game for trapping the immature. For trapping the mature, you have to start early.

Let us see some of the ways/ statements you get opponents:
If you know the team composition, then praise the first player likely to sit out (or depraise the ones in the team). Especially if this person is likely to be an easier catch. For Example,

“Yuvraj should be in the team”
“Virender Sehwag has the potential to win matches”
“Dravid is the most technically correct batsman”
“Harbhajan is unsuccessful on flat pitches”
“Muralidharan’s action is doubtful”

This way you’re entering the minds of selectors, captains, and public (this is also a big force in India). So more likely you can manipulate the team to serve you a combination you like.

Inside the match, early praise can also get you the man. Example, as soon as Yuvraj hits the first ball, if you say,”Wow, that was some shot”, you’re likely to goad Yuvraj into start hitting early.

Not that the opponents are immature, but subtle statements can surely make things flow the way you want them. Even unethical is OK like the Martin Snedden catch or recent Ricky Ponting catch or even the Trevor Chappel ball, as long as it is not illegal. Regular doubts raised at forums against Muralithran caught his ire and he refused to come to Australia for a season and the strategy worked successful in removing the most dangerous man in the opposition team.

The bottom line is that there is no point bowler trying to toil to get each wicket. Each person has a part to play and there’s a possible set of strategies for each person. So, all players can make the task easy for the bowler.

I just hope this article reaches Anil Kumble before the start of the 3rd match.

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This has been going on for way too long. And there seems to be no concrete solution. And with the “Sydneygate” controversy, players and their boards are just better equipped to defend themselves against charges of sledging whenever they might arise.

The need of the hour, thus is more technology on the ground. How about arming the 2 on-field umpires with sensitive microphones with noise cancelling features.That would help the equipment to pick up specific frequency of sound ( read player’s voice ) as against the roar of the spectators in the stadium.

Also, how about putting similar microphones like landmines all over the playing field?? The players would be very careful then. Thats a given. With ICC making money in millions of dollars, I am sure they can spare a thought for this. Then a Hayden or a Hogg or even for that matter our very own Sree or Bhajji won’t be able to get away with their below the belt banter (if any).

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