India Opens

WHAT'S YOUR GUT feel about the opening slot – should it be Sachin-Dravid or Sehwag-Sachin? Or do you think either Dhoni or Yuvraj should partner one of the usual suspects? Should India use new openers in every game - that way Raina, Kaif, Mongia and even Irfan can all have a real go in the first power play? Should Kuala Lumpur be a used as a full-blown trial run for the Champions Trophy next month? Does India have it in them to pull off an Aussie against the Windies? And an Aussie against the Aussies?

Wait and see: with an Aussie in the midst, no theory is too far fetched, no opening partnership undoable. Each will have its strength-weakness analysis; and with Sachin and Dravid opening in Colombo, we might be in for more surprises as the cricket season unfolds. Here’s a possible shape of things to come -

Positives - Sachin-Sehwag opening: (Attack of the clones)
Sachin wants to open, loves to open and will open come what may - he's conditioned to open - come rain, Colombo, bombs, Chappells or Dravids.
Sehwag's strike-rate, big shots, proven success, give a rat's ass attitude.

Negatives - Sachin-Sehwag:
Sachin facing the new ball after a long lay off. Debate over his present form and fitness - can he force the pace in the first 10, can he bat the full 50?
Sehwag doesn't want to open, hates to open but is made to open, come what may - he's been rambling on about his middle-order status since Ganguly Raj. Press loves to berate him – especially when in pursuit of quick runs he gets out, quickly. Everybody forgets his awesome strike rate then. Mantle of senior player (vice captain) demands extra responsibility that clashes with no-holds-barred style of play.
Nobody in India appreciates that Gilchrist plays a similar role, with a similar success-failure ratio for Australia. But then, Oz wins far more matches, and often Gilchrist’s off days go unnoticed.

Positives - Sachin-Dravid opening: (The empire strikes back)
If Sachin is in full flow then Dravid can be the perfect foil – for this to come off though, Sachin must bat like Sehwag or like he once used to.
Dravid appears to have got the opener’s bug too (at least in his mind) – score fast, score big - the field is in for God’s sake! Dravid can also block one end – neutralise McGrath, Lee and Edwards – and stall an early fall of wickets. If they score 90-100 for no loss in 20 they’re on. Veeru, Yuvi, Dhoni, take over, please. Will address India’s chronic problem of low scores in the last 10 slog overs.


Negatives - Sachin-Dravid:
Hello, we’re not watching test cricket, sirs…can you rev it up a bit…thoda sa. If not losing wickets means losing out on power plays, then India’s had it. This experiment works only if India wins, otherwise loopholes will emerge – even if they score big for the 1st wicket – like, they weren’t fast enough – the middle order is too vulnerable. Even the pitfalls of an inexperienced bowling attack might be blamed on this senior partnership.

Positives - Dhoni–Dravid opening: (to be released)
With all those Ds, sounds good, doesn’t it? Give Dhoni freedom, an open mind and Mr. Dependable for company, and you may just get another quick-fire 150 plus score from him. If India wants to fly in the first 20, (without Sehwag opening) Dhoni is a definite option – will give a clear sense of team India’s and MSD’s ambitions.

Negatives - Dhoni–Dravid:
Dhoni vulnerable against the swinging white new ball – also might get bogged down with Dravid not rotating the strike early on. A few failures and this experiment will be heavily criticized and prematurely nipped in the bud. Also, the added pressure of keeping wickets along with opening the innings will be a great test of character, fitness and the player’s milk intake. A real Dhoni v/s Gilchrist in the making…

Positives - Sehwag–Yuvraj opening: (to be released)
Left-Right, left right – marching off with Sehwag and Yuvraj means 1) Start strong with two of your biggest match winners in recent years 2) Chance to recreate Saurav-Sachin left-right magic (most successful opening pair in one day cricket) 3) Moving on from their legacy to a new team India. 4) Yuvraj bullies pacers not spinners

Negatives - Sehwag–Yuvraj:
Neither player is keen to open the batting. On the face of it, opening with Yuvraj appears too radical. This move might face the greatest opposition – also, it could prove to be the most rewarding. If anyone, Chappell-Dravid can pull it off. Remember Pathan’s success up the order? Then again, remember Pathan’s lack of success up the order?

Talking of Pathan, he too can open - with either Sachin or Sehwag, to keep the left-right combination going. Either way, by March next year, we should know who’s going to open - though with Chappell-Dravid in-charge that can be wishful thinking. For now, let the guessing games begin.

To be or not to be in the Indian team…

The Kuala Lumpur tri-series between India, Australia and West India will be a nifty warm-up for the Champions Trophy starting 7th October - where India and Australia play each other in Group A (that also includes England and one more qualifier); West Indies however, has to first play the qualifiers along with Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh.

Of course, all this is a month later. India can taste first blood in the series starting September 12th. And while Dravid, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Tendulkar pick themselves on either stature or form; the same is not true for the others – Kaif (after being manipulated endlessly) scored regularly v/s the West Indies (ODIs) but was slow, scratchy and did not effect the final result; Raina after announcing his arrival with some match defining knocks, slashed one too many outside off – and gifted his wicket away. While both Kaif and Raina are exceptional fielders and swift between the wickets, Raina is arguably the more gifted batsman (not just with his dismissals). Kaif to his credit has pretty much seen it all (from the Natwest victory to his inexplicable exclusions in tests). And his eyes have a hunger like no other Indian batsman.

Kaif though does not bowl and Raina may only be considered after part-timers Sachin, Sehwag and Yuvraj have been seriously mauled. Which brings good old Dinesh Mongia into the equation – forgotten after the last World Cup, his success with Leicestershire (with both bat and ball) got him back into the blue. A cool catcher in the outfield, Mongia can also bowl flat left arm spin – should be useful in WC 07, after seeing Gayle and Samuels thwart the Indians with similar innocuous bowling. Too bad Ganguly didn’t score any in his county sojourn; who knows he could have been a serious contender – from 30 down to 15. But then, batting yourself into form isn’t easy when the whole world’s bowling short-pitched stuff at you.

Leaving Dada behind, and back to selecting the India XI - Sachin, Sehwag (opening), followed by Dravid, Yuvraj, Dinesh Mongia (at least in the first couple of games to test his match form), Kaif (going by the trend in the West Indies will get a look-in) – which means 6 batsmen, followed by Dhoni as wicket keeper batsman. That means 7 players out of 11 from the squad of 15 for KL. Now, what about the other 4?

Ajit Agarkar, the best bowler in the Windies may be the only sure-shot starter, but stranger things have happened in Chappell Raj. And while Bajji is India’s premier slow bowler, off late the wickets have eluded him. Powar, the other spin option was too slow, too flighted in the Caribbean, and was hammered by Gayle & Co.

As for the other medium pacers, it’ll be the by now familiar rotational policy – Munaf Patel (going by his recent form) should get a look in the first couple of games. As also, would Pathan after his long break in the West Indies.

It now appears more and more likely that if India is going to do an encore of the 1983 World Cup, it will be with the all-round players (and not all-rounders, for India has none) And for India to be serious contenders, Mohinder Amarnath, Roger Binny, Madan Lal will have to reappear in new avatars.

That India is building towards this goal with unsung heroes like Powar, Mongia and Agarkar, instead of supposed A-listers like Zaheer Khan, Saurav Ganguly, VVS Laxman and Anil Kumble is both brave and laudable.

The trials for India’s final World Cup team may not be over, but all the telltale signs are there – many players have already been eliminated and the short-list can only get shorter. By the end of the KL series, barring rain and incident, a few more players will get the hint – one way or the other. And seeing that India will play Australia at least twice (and with McGrath back) it’s not going to be easy on anyone. Also, the 4-1 ODI defeat in the West Indies will stare them in the face again– as will Gayle, Sarwan and Lara - and that crazy voodoo that some teams and players seem to have on team India.

Right now though it’s like one of those Limited Period Sales – and each player needs to pick all the runs and wickets he can. There’s a flight to catch in March 2007. And the tickets are going to be handed out soon. Any day now, they could be released. But before that, they need to create some real theatre with the bat ball.

Squad for Champions Trophy: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia.

Squad for Malaysia tri-series: Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Irfan Pathan, Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel, RP Singh, Ramesh Powar, Harbhajan Singh, Dinesh Mongia, Sreesanth