Sunday, March 18, 2007

Take-aways for India

Yes, we all know that we all can have a bad day at office. So did the Indian team.

However, after the Bangladesh loss, there are certain definitive take-aways for India which cannot be ignored anymore. They are as follows:

1) Drop Sehwag - He can't be given any more chances. And he is not a bowler. Please.

2) Drop Agarkar - He is not going to win any match for you.

3) Learn to be aggressive in batting - Every batsman should realize that he is there to score the runs, to hit the ball coming his way, not to linger around, increasing confidence and accuracy of bowlers. - Almost all batsmen, barring Yuvraj, failed in doing this.

4) Learn to be aggressive when you are fielding, especially when you are defending a very small total. I was appalled to see that chasing 191, when Bangladesh were at 115/3 after 27 overs when Tendulkar was bowling, Dravid was employing a defensive field with no slips, no forward short leg, no one near the basman!!! How can u pressurize a batsman into committing a mistake? I think Dravid needs to learn that as a captain, you have to be aggressive , try 1000 new things to make batsman commit a mistake, especially when you don't have any match winning bowlers. OK, you may still lose, but you have to at least make an attempt to try and do something different! Dravid always disappoints me with this attitude. Dravid must either step down or learn from Graeme Smith how to be a Captain.

5) Chappell is another big disappointment, if you cannot instill these qualities in the captain and the team, you are a failure, Greg.

6) Drop Bhajji - I always prefer Kumble to Bhajji just for the sheer commitment and experience he has, and he can win a match for you without turning a ball.

7) Ask Sachin to shape up or sit out. My one time biggest Idol, has been my biggest bggest disappointment for last 2 +years.

8) Catches win matches. Dropped catches lose matches! Bermuda knows this, India doesn't?

C'mon guys, this is the World Cup! You can not be given any more chances - you have to play to Win. Nothing else will do.

(Image Courtesy: Google Images)

5 comments:

Amrish said...

I fully agree with you mate. It was appalling to see Rahul captain the team. We deserved to lose this one. And i will be surprised if we go beyond the 2nd round. The team composition sucks.

For me, Sachin has been the God of cricket. But he isnt anymore. Sehwag, Sachin have to go. So does Agarkar. I would even bench Uthappa, but there aint any options. For me, the only guys who have selected themselves are:
Ganguly, Yuvrag, Dhoni, Zaheer, Munaf.

Considering how poor our batting is, dont think we can afford to leave Pathan out (he can be useful with the bat). And Dinesh Karthik has to get back into the team sheerly because Sehvag and Sachin dont deserve to be there :-((

Ranjeet said...

I agree with you - Karthik has shown thath eh as the spunk. Pathan too should be in.

High time some heads rolled in the Indian team. Really high.

Anonymous said...

There is always one thing India can rely on - "If SA beats New zealand by 3 wickets and Zimbabway looses to Sri Lanka by 7 runs and England-Canada results in tie and WI-Ireland match washes away and ..., India can make it to next round."

MJ said...

Simply call Pawar uncle and tell:
"Uncle-uncle, we want the match. Please uncle .... pleeeease no, please, please, please ..."

Ranjeet said...

Mukund: It is always like this for India, isnt it?

Mihir: :-)