Back in action (- worma)
I mean Sachin...not me (although I'm also back in action :-)..well the Challenger trophy would bring the much needed focus of Indian cricket back to things that are cricket....it can surely do with some of that.
The squads look interesting, and a welcome departure from the past of dividing the seniors team into three equal portions!
And this also means the time for the big question, which we have been discussing so often here, to be answered..."what happens when Sachin is back" ? Well....this tournament should show if Sachin is ready to be back on the international scene, and also the status of some other challenge-able position holders in the team. SG would surely be watched closely (in this connection...the recent announcement that the captain would be announced one day after the squad holds significance)...Laxman and JP Yadav are the others who would be pushing hard for a position (for if all else falls in place, then JP is the one most likely to miss out a birth in starting XI). And the best case scenario can be that all turns out well...and we have a healthy bench strength :-)
But for me, the most interesting aspect is some of the youngsters...Piyush Chawla is one of them (he was our most impressive player with bat and ball in the recent ODI series against Aus)...VRV is another....and same with Shikhar Dhawan (although he did get a chance in the practise games which GC organised at the start of the season). And in this context the format, as I mentioned earlier, is important. For that would mean that the newcomers would be tested against a full fledged international lineup (in our seniors).
The report also says Nehra and Kumble are rested.....although I didn't come across any reason for Kumble...can it be that he is finally out of contention for ODIs?
And lastly, the inclusion of Parthiv in the B squad also allays some fears (sometimes expressed here) that he has fallen off the scheme of things.
In other news...the ICC super series is heating up. And nice to hear Dravid speak out on international cricket...specifically the status of Eng as the challenger to the throne. I somehow feel that our Indian cricketers don't speak out as often on the broader aspects of the world cricket scenario. Here he feels that Eng have some way to go, and the results in coming winter can cover a lot of ground for them. It does seem that from 'interest' point of view the coming Eng-Pak series can even overshadow the upcoming Aus-WI series...another 'unthinkable' some time back!...
And Flintoff will miss the warm-up game tomorrow against Victoria (would be interesting to check that out on a lazy sunday afternoon :-)...for he was hit by a Shoaib delivery in practise (which makes me wonder...has Shoaib already delivered his one impressive performance quota for the series ;-)
By the way, you guys....any idea about the webcast scope of Super Series and Challenger?
update: As some people pointed out, the captain for SL ODI series is indeed going to be chosen *before* the rest of the team. Sorry...my bad...caused some confusion above :-)
The squads look interesting, and a welcome departure from the past of dividing the seniors team into three equal portions!
And this also means the time for the big question, which we have been discussing so often here, to be answered..."what happens when Sachin is back" ? Well....this tournament should show if Sachin is ready to be back on the international scene, and also the status of some other challenge-able position holders in the team. SG would surely be watched closely (in this connection...the recent announcement that the captain would be announced one day after the squad holds significance)...Laxman and JP Yadav are the others who would be pushing hard for a position (for if all else falls in place, then JP is the one most likely to miss out a birth in starting XI). And the best case scenario can be that all turns out well...and we have a healthy bench strength :-)
But for me, the most interesting aspect is some of the youngsters...Piyush Chawla is one of them (he was our most impressive player with bat and ball in the recent ODI series against Aus)...VRV is another....and same with Shikhar Dhawan (although he did get a chance in the practise games which GC organised at the start of the season). And in this context the format, as I mentioned earlier, is important. For that would mean that the newcomers would be tested against a full fledged international lineup (in our seniors).
The report also says Nehra and Kumble are rested.....although I didn't come across any reason for Kumble...can it be that he is finally out of contention for ODIs?
And lastly, the inclusion of Parthiv in the B squad also allays some fears (sometimes expressed here) that he has fallen off the scheme of things.
In other news...the ICC super series is heating up. And nice to hear Dravid speak out on international cricket...specifically the status of Eng as the challenger to the throne. I somehow feel that our Indian cricketers don't speak out as often on the broader aspects of the world cricket scenario. Here he feels that Eng have some way to go, and the results in coming winter can cover a lot of ground for them. It does seem that from 'interest' point of view the coming Eng-Pak series can even overshadow the upcoming Aus-WI series...another 'unthinkable' some time back!...
And Flintoff will miss the warm-up game tomorrow against Victoria (would be interesting to check that out on a lazy sunday afternoon :-)...for he was hit by a Shoaib delivery in practise (which makes me wonder...has Shoaib already delivered his one impressive performance quota for the series ;-)
By the way, you guys....any idea about the webcast scope of Super Series and Challenger?
update: As some people pointed out, the captain for SL ODI series is indeed going to be chosen *before* the rest of the team. Sorry...my bad...caused some confusion above :-)
posted by worma at
6:19 PM
6 Comments:
ilovecricket...yep..chilly...but atleast its still bright in the daytime :-)...as to domestic cricket...well I would let someone more knowledgeable give the details...I just know the usualy names...and not much idea on their 'prestige'
By
worma, at 19:50
worma, webcast is on willow.tv, just got an email from them today.
By
mangesh, at 20:26
hi sahir,
gud analysis.
I follow domestic cricket diligently
and I totally agree with ur points of Vidyut Sivaramakrishnan, Ambati Rayudu and Munaf Patel
I think it has been a raw deal for Harvinder Singh too. Poor guy bowls his heart out in domestic cricket, picks up a lot of wickets for Railways, but never gets a chance to represent India.
He has got a pretty good bowling average in ODIs - 25.37
By
Shyam Sankar, at 21:51
Amit Mishra should have been in the Rest of India team for Irani Cup. Can't really understand on what basis Powar made it to teh Rest of India team. It is a shame that Irani Cup is not being televised.
By
Shyam Sankar, at 02:31
Dear Jaiho
People are better indicators of nation. And frankly the present Hinglish speaking, MTv watching, Pizza guzzling, mentally backward, politically corrupt, street dirtying, bottle chuckin generation leaves much to be desired as far as projecting India's image goes.
Ganguly, in that respect, is the least of our problems.
By
i, at 04:55
I am not excusing Ganguly, I am just requestin a retention of perspective. Why are you chaps expending so much energy on his behaviour when you have an Italian waitress as your pseud-PM, a dacoit as your Railway Minister, and so on and so forth. As far as most of the World is concerned, they are the true indicators of your/my country's image. And for that matter a sportsperson is judged for his play, not for his character. You still have Warne (the dope abuse, barmaid screwer) playing cricket don't you? Yes, he is not the captain, but he quite an ambassador.
By
i, at 05:09
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