With the likes of Raina and Yuvraj in the team with Dhoni and Pathan as back-ups, yes it does. Indeed it does!
India vs. England - Post-Series Discussion
Suresh Raina - An individual who single-handedly has transformed the backbone of Indian Cricket and has thrusted himself as one of the pillars at the top of the mountain as the major strike force and key players in the side in his such a short but illustrious and celebrated stay of his International Career - only nineteen (19) matches with a batting average of approximately 41; A magnificient and life-long 48 in this past series alone, with a strike rate of 91, alongwith the highest run-scorer throughout by topping the list at 242, merely a third behind his other partner-in-crime, Yuvraj Singh, with a strike rate of ~111 with him being second highest run-scorer, following Raina, at a monumental 237. Dhoni is not too far away in his accomplishments either, as he himself has selectively chosen to stay in the limelight once again, and through his own efforts and hard-hitting, is currently standing with an average of 59 with a bucket-full of 177 runs, only fourth in the bulleted list followed by Dravid, with a strike rate of almost 91. In this quest of finding and molding young seeds (players) into fruits of tomorrow, let’s also not forget Pathan and Dravid, who, on a given day, are capable of turning the balance of the game by themselves if they happen to remain at the crease for a longer period of time.
In light to the above and now the series has come to a glittering and scintillating end for India, it is extremely refreshing and exhilarating to note that the Chappell/Dravid methodology is still in the works with a sparkling light that fails to dim, and the set of proven principles of testing out fresh players from the bunch and pitting them at a grueling task straight-away is a mental challenge, not only for those who are out there in such a tiresome heat in front of a rowdy and packed stadium, but are also taking full-use of the oppportunities provided to them by the management and are maximizing the advantages out of it. It will be particularly interesting to witness the backbone in the upcoming Future Tours Programme as it hopefully gets strengthened, day by day, match by match, and season by season. By the time World Cup is in the picture, and from the looks of the current scene itself, I am sure that the several major-league paramount players mentioned above, alongwith a handful of those sitting in the bench waiting to get their hands dirty in the mix, are more than capable to harness and absorb the pressure and putting the fourth gear back in motion if needed be, and taking the present scenery in the making alongwith us, the prime capital and the dominating cardinal that is built-in inside their “hunger-for-more” systems by default will prove to be a major force in the Carribean.
Onto the negatives; there is always bound to be a few minus points, regardless of whether the talk spreads on the subject of cricket, life, love, or any other closely-related aspect that a man has known since the existence of time. Munaf Patel - I have repeatedly insisted over the course of past few weeks and have literally begged to the selectors to include him into the side no matter what the circumstances. Yes, we all know how the duo of Irfan/SreeSanth can be destructive in their own habits and manners, but I would really like to see Patel in the ODI side for the World Cup, and having said that, it is only a matter of time when the big moment is upon us; and one simply cannot afford to miss out on this breakthrough opening by letting the pace of Munaf slip on the side while the garbage likes of Agarkar is continuously picked for reasons only known to Sharad Powar and unknown to the rest of the world. Granted that VRV and RP do need a couple of more chances in order for the selectors to stamp a final note on their International envelope, Munaf Patel is an individual, who, have displayed a great deal of promise and guaranteed assurance in the Test Series with his enormous quality pace of fast-bowling, and one has to sieze the moment and allow him back in the squad for every single match from hereon after. Only practice will make him perfect, and you cannot expect him to bowl out the entire opposition, let alone take a single wicket if he is not given enough opportunities to play with.
The debut emergence of Uthappa - Does this translate into the fact that we are finally going to drop Sehwag? Or will the latter form the opening pair alongwith the former?
Last but not the least, Mohammad Kaif should have been given this last match to prove his worth. I will be surprised if he is dropped from the next two Abu Dhabi games as well. Seems like selectors have given up all hopes and have pushed such a vast talent aside with no memory recollections. I will remain optimistic on him and hope that he will find his form back, sooner rather than later. A exceedingly quality player that will be eminently dreadful to keep on the sidelines, and very quietly, at that.
Thoughts/Concerns/Questions/Opinions?
. Sentence start hota hay tu khatam hee nahin hota.