Indian cricket never is short of surprises. The refusal of Graham Ford to take up the coaching job was a surprise, to say the least. This made the BCCI to appoint Chandu Borde as the Manager for the tours of Ireland and England.
But the biggest surprise was reserved for the teams that were selected for the one-dayers and the test matches. It was a surprise to find the names of Sehwag and Harbhajan missing from the lists. Sehwag should have been included in the longer version of the game for he performed rather well on the last tour. There is not much surprise in the omission of Harbhajan. On cricketing reasons it is justified, given the often-poor showing on away conditions, i.e., outside the sub-continent.
Munaf Patel was pronounced fit by the team physio John Gloster. But the selectors are reportedly unhappy over the fitness or the lack of it. In the same way, there are enough doubts over the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth as well.
Akash Chopra could have been taken to the tests as a specialist opener in place of Karthik and Gambhir, Karthik is a makeshift opener and Gambhir is simply not up to test standard.
The selectors and the BCCI made a lot of noise before the Bangladesh tour about the ‘fresh’ and ‘bold’ initiatives. They made Sachin and Sourav take ‘rest’ during the one-dayers. But for these tours, both of them have been included in the tests as well as for the one-dayers.
The bowling looks the weak link with people short of experience and ability. The batting is with experienced but people well past their best.
It is the opportunity for England to win comprehensively.
But the biggest surprise was reserved for the teams that were selected for the one-dayers and the test matches. It was a surprise to find the names of Sehwag and Harbhajan missing from the lists. Sehwag should have been included in the longer version of the game for he performed rather well on the last tour. There is not much surprise in the omission of Harbhajan. On cricketing reasons it is justified, given the often-poor showing on away conditions, i.e., outside the sub-continent.
Munaf Patel was pronounced fit by the team physio John Gloster. But the selectors are reportedly unhappy over the fitness or the lack of it. In the same way, there are enough doubts over the fitness of Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth as well.
Akash Chopra could have been taken to the tests as a specialist opener in place of Karthik and Gambhir, Karthik is a makeshift opener and Gambhir is simply not up to test standard.
The selectors and the BCCI made a lot of noise before the Bangladesh tour about the ‘fresh’ and ‘bold’ initiatives. They made Sachin and Sourav take ‘rest’ during the one-dayers. But for these tours, both of them have been included in the tests as well as for the one-dayers.
The bowling looks the weak link with people short of experience and ability. The batting is with experienced but people well past their best.
It is the opportunity for England to win comprehensively.
No comments:
Post a Comment