Kab Aaoge ! Cup Laoge !!. Review on Indian Cricket Team

We live in a cricket crazy country. Every person whether outside the college or in the trains or in buses or Chai taprees has, his piece of advice about what the Indians Should do or should have done. Right from team selections to field placements. When the match fixing scandal was unearthed, people used to say that they have lost interest in the game but then just the one exciting victory that India has, these fans are back in business with regard to following the game or the players. Some are of the idea that the players need to play for the country rather than look at the Contracts Controversy & play for personal gains. Arre yaar! It’s their profession, let them earn as much as they want when they can. Why stop them? I agree that the Sachin’s Ferrari import duty should not be waived, but they should allowed to fight for what is theirs. One just hopes that all this mess gets sorted out before the World Cup to be played in the RSA in February next year.

The World Cup fever has already caught up. All of us have pinned a lot of hope on the Indian team specially after some scintillating performances in the Natwest Trophy & the Champions Trophy. The hopes that the country has are seen in the Ads shown in the TV nowadays with Kab Aaoge - Cup Laoge(Building Hopes) Ads & the Deewana Bana De Ads. Specially the Deewana Bana De Ad with a cute Southie female , singing her version of the Suprabhatam is really cool ( great innovation gone into that ). Also now we have a new mascot in Goran of the Lagaan fame who has his prayers & thoughts. Let the Indians play the Kiwis & our good old Apple Singh will have his views too aired on ESPN Star. With the way the Indians are playing now, they can beat any team in the world & they may emerge world champions. But the question is whether they are peaking at the right time or a bit too early. The amount of cricket that the Indians will be playing in the months to come may have them tired by the time they are actually supposed to play well. The Indian team batting is out of the world. But there are a lot of doubts raised in the potential of the bowling department keeping in mind the World Cup.On paper the current Indians are world-beaters. Each player in the team has proved to be a match winner at some point in time in his career. I’ d like to share my bit of analysis of the players with you folks.

Saurav : The Maharaja as he was called earlier leads from the front. The test of being a good captain is when the others hate you with our mannerisms on & off the field. Steve Waugh had a taste of that. Saurav used to be always late for the toss & irritate Steve with the things he did during the Indian tour, so much so that Captain Cool handled the ball during the second test. These are psychological games & Saurav plays them really well. He is now one of Indias most successful captains.

The Big Batting Guns in the Side ( Sachin, Rahul & Laxman ) : Arguably the world best bat, Sach. Do I need to say anything more.! His records speak for his capability. The Jam Wall, sounds easy to crack but easier said than done. His performances overseas are outstanding. Most times his performances get shadowed by some other performance , he never gets his due. With him keeping the wickets in the One dayers, he has allowed the team the cushion of playing an extra batsman in Kaif who has come into play again & again.Just pray to God that nothing goes wrong with his fitness or else we see Dravid going out & AJAY RATRA coming in. Dreadful isn’t it? Who can forget the 281 against the Aussies at Calcutta. But this guy is yet to give some good match winning performances in the one day version. This is a slot which is up for grabs. It will be either him or the young left hander Dinesh Mongia.

The Young Batting Brigade ( Sehwag, Mongia, Yuvraj & Kaif): People who saw Veeru in the matches in England & specially in the Champions trophy will agree that that a great player has arrived. People say it will be hard to find a replacement for Sachin, but here we have found one who looks & plays like the old Sachin. This kid is not bad with the ball too. The Champions trophy Semis is an example for that. Yuvi & Kaif are a must in the side purely for their fielding skills. They are the Rhodes & Gibbs for India. They have taken some breathtaking catches. They easily save about 20 runs in each match. Both of them are capable of using the long handle. Single handedly they have one matches for India.(Yuvi during his debut series against Aussies & SA & Kaif in the Natwest trophy.) Mongia is a great Bat too. A very compact batsman & decent fielder too. If this guy is groomed a bit , he is very good Test match Material. Mongia will have to fight for a place in the side with VVS.

The Spin Duo ( Kumble & Harbhajan ) Any day match winners on Indian soil, this duo has to compete for a place in the Eleven during the World Cup. Bhajji is my choice purely because he spins the ball !! and is no mug with the bat. Jumbo has become a bit rusty in the last few series & is yet to prove himself overseas.

Speed In Deed ( Zaheer, Srinath, Nehra, Agarkar) But for Zak no one has shown a heart. That guy needs some back up at the other end. The other two slots of the seamers are up for grabs. Srinath ! you never know when he will retire again. If he performs just one slot remains between Ajit, Ashish & another speedster in the block. By the name Irfan Pathan ( take my word he will be in the squad). The choice here will be whether you need a a helpful bat or a pure paceman. Ajit might go through here unless Nehra performs exceptionally well in the forthcoming series in New Zealand.

There are few others who might find a place in the squad like Ajay Ratra, Reetinder Sodhi , J.P.Yadav etc but they just be going there for a nice outing like Sunil Walson in the 1983 World Cup , unless there is an injury to any of the main XI players.

A small prayer to end: ( Courtesy the Southie Girl in the Deewana Bana De Ad)

Saurav, Sachin , Sehwag hit boundaries & sixes

With this prayer & some more serious ones, hope all goes well & the cup comes to Indian soil. With the potential this team has one can pin hopes on them.Yes, We are building a lot of Hopes !!!Aren’t We!