While Sreesanth remains as inconsistent as ever, I loved R P Singh’s bowling in this tournament. In the absence of Zaheer, he led India’s bowling from the front. Full marks to him.
Also, as I said even before the finals - Gautam Gambhir is beginning to look very good. Augurs very well for India.
Uthappa’s batting is still not very convincing in my eyes.
Joginder needs to go back to Domestic Cricket. Agarkar should follow him there.
Yousuf Pathan should be provided with a few more opportunities in ODIs before any judgement is made.
Harbhajan bowled really well in this tournament, barring that one crucial over in the finals where he was tonked for 3 sixes by Misbah. He deserves a recall.
Rohit Sharma has been very impressive. Deserves many more chances.
**Sehwag **did not further his case very much. But he deserves opportunities to play a few ODIs before any judgement is made.
Yuvraj/Dhoni were their usual selves.
Dhoni’s captaincy under tense circumstances was commendable.
2 players who I found very very impressive were RP Singh and Dhoni. However I wont call RP a totally changed bowler. Even when I saw him first time during Indian tour of Pakistan in early 2006, he was very impressive and deceptive. He just needed some consistency in performance which he achieved in the summer tour of England and then this tournament.
Dhoni as a captain was excellent. Full marks to him. I have seen even a cool person like Dravid becoming tense but this guy was always calm. I was criticial of BCCI not giving captaincy to Yuvraj before the tournament however I can see a future successful Indian Captain in Dhoni.
I will totally agree with you here although I see Uthappa more favourably than you.
You forgot to mention how improved Irfan looked. An in-form Irfan is very important for India to fill the crucial all-rounded position. This will enable captain to play 5 bowlers in ODIs.
Biggest gain out of this worldcup was...
Dhoni's captaincy. Since Dravid resigned this is all the more important.
Sreesanth continues to exasperate - being a Sreesanth supporter is not a job, for the faint-hearted. (missed the game today, so didnt have to see the 44 runs he gave up, but can imagine the scene). Just hope that he repays all this support :-).
RP Singh was extremely impressive - he supposedly worked on his fitness and leg strength at Liecestershire, and thats led to the increase in pace (routinely clocking 140+ now). Ditto for Gambhir.
I think Uttapa is OK for onedays and 20-20 (better than Karthik IMO, though I know you'll disagree)
Rohit Sharma is a keeper, great temperament.
Pathan and Bhajji look to be better.
Yuvraj was better than I had thought.
Dhoni was the real revelation for me - got to admit, did not support him being made captain over Yuvraj, but I am becoming a very big fan of his his. Very calm and collected demeanor - talks very sensibly, with both feed solidly on the ground.
Will be interesting to see the repercussions of this on the ODI and test situations.
^Yes....even I criticized Dhoni's elevation over Yuvraj but I am pleasantly surprised by his overall leadership temperament.(and not just because India won the WC)
But my only concern is that, at the end of the day, Yuvraj still remains a better batsman than Dhoni...and by this logic, Yuvraj should not be out of the test team just to accommodate Dhoni (Karthik's wicket keeping is as good). But Dhoni's captaincy will complicate this otherwise sound logic (from my viewpoint at least).
btw, about Sreesanth - though his bowling today was in total contrast to his performance against Australia, but let us at least commend him for holding on to the two catches in tense circumstances.
But my only concern is that, at the end of the day, Yuvraj still remains a better batsman than Dhoni...and by this logic, Yuvraj should not be out of the test team just to accommodate Dhoni (Karthik's wicket keeping is as good). But Dhoni's captaincy will complicate this otherwise sound logic (from my viewpoint at least).
I know you keep bringing this all the time. But for me it was never between Yuvraj and Dhoni.It was always between Laxman, Yuvraj and Karthik. Only 2 of them can play. Take your pick. I know you will say why not bring Karthink as keeper. Karthik is not a replacement for Dhoni. Dhoni is equally good wicket keeper but he is a big game guy. He delivers most of time when needed. Remember his 2 inning in Tests in England. He delivers under pressuse. His batting may look awakward but he is more effective than Karthik.They are never even considered in same league. At lease not now.
Now choice between Yuvraj, Laxman and Karthik is tough one. One had to be an opener and that is where Karthik gets the node. Who will you pick between Laxman and Yuvraj? it is tough one? isnt it.
and btw, even though some people might have problems with Dhoni's accent - I am pretty impressed by his media comments. He seems to know the exact way to put across things. For example - he said the following about Sreesanth's theatrics on the field : "Sreesanth is learning. He would learn it the hard way or the soft way but he would learn".
Talking about communication skills - extremely disappointed with Malik's "all Muslims" comment in today's presentation ceremony. With Inzi's departure, I thought we would see the end of needlessly invoking religion in presentation speeches...and here comes Malik...takes it to a whole new level.
I know you keep bringing this all the time. But for me it was never between Yuvraj and Dhoni.It was always between Laxman, Yuvraj and Karthik. Only 2 of them can play. Take your pick. I know you will say why not bring Karthink as keeper. Karthik is not a replacement for Dhoni. Dhoni is equally good wicket keeper but he is a big game guy. He delivers most of time when needed. Remember his 2 inning in Tests in England. He delivers under pressuse. His batting may look awakward but he is more effective than Karthik.They are never even considered in same league. At lease not now.
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All rite, in that case...take out Karthik.
All I am saying is that a talent like Yuvraj should not be kept out, while 2 wicketkeeper batsmen are included in the team.
I understand what you say about Dhoni....but Karthik is an opener and looks more of a Test Batsman than Dhoni. To be sure, I am not an opponent of Dhoni - in fact it will be sad to not see him in the team - but sometimes hard decisions need to be made. Yuvraj should not be the one who is made the scape goat...just to retain the dash and flamboyance of Dhoni esp in old-school Test Cricket.
All I am saying is that a talent like Yuvraj should not be kept out,
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I agree with the suggestion. May be on of big-THREE should be asked to open.
Or let Laxman go for Yuvi. I know, it is very sad to see Yuvraj sitting out. Its like your best ODI batsmen cannot get place in Test matches. Didnot Michael Bevan go through same stuff?
All I am saying is that a talent like Yuvraj should not be kept out, while 2 wicketkeeper batsmen are included in the team.
I understand what you say about Dhoni....but Karthik is an opener and looks more of a Test Batsman than Dhoni. To be sure, I am not an opponent of Dhoni - in fact it will be sad to not see him in the team - but sometimes hard decisions need to be made. Yuvraj should not be the one who is made the scape goat...just to retain the dash and flamboyance of Dhoni esp in old-school Test Cricket.
I agree with what you are saying f&b and some1
But now Dhoni cant really be dropped, especially since he is going to be captain of ODI team, will require a big big decision from BCCI if that happens
Karthik has really performed well as an opener. Looks like Big 3 are here to stay for a while so its toss up between Yuvi and Laxman. And laxman is such a skillful player, who has gone through a lot of crap, and Yuvi really deserves it as well + he is the future, but I think i would stick with laxman (atleast for upcoming series) because he is solid and reliable. Would be great if you guys can put up test records of Yuvi and Laxman in India.
