The Future of Indian cricket After AfroAsia Cup-Updates

The updates of Indians after the Afro Asia Cup which was just concluded in Abudhabi is as follows.

In General : Most probables who going to play for India for long term are
1) VRV Singh : Pace is the asset. Need to be toned down a little more on physical fitness level. Had to be concentrate more on bowling out side the off stump rather than attacking everytime to the wicket for LBW's and bowled. Rating :7/10
2) R P singh : Good consistant Pace with good accuracy.Need to be cut down on extra's initially. Need to develop little more on incoming delivery like pathan's. Good to know that he developing one. Rating : 7/10
3) Piyush Chawla : Good leggie.....had to bowl more leg spinners than googlies and flippers. Over all good prospect.Rating :5.5/10
4) Rahul Sharma: Good back foot player, who can bat in the middle order. Need to work on facing first few deliveries.Rating :5.5/10

The disappoinments are :
1) Robin Uttappa: Faulty technique with no brain on the shoulder. Choke when pressure is up. reminds more of a Yassir Hameed who often got infront of the stumps with the habit of walking from leg to off. will not survive west Indies tour. Rating :3/10
2) Venu Gopal Rao : Totally no shot wonder.Slow between the wickets. Non aggressive. Less Hand-eye coordination.Rating :3.5/10
3) Shikhar Dhavan : Has a simple technique but chokes when pressure is UP. No special talent.Rating :3/10

Overall the tourney shown us that European teams are not yet ready to given the full fledge oneday status. UAE made some impression but the way they got out to Indiawithin 20 overs, is still to work on their batting. Pakistan also didn't have any special talent except the old Umar Gull. Thank god all upcoming Indian talents are Bowlers and only one bats man worth mentioning.

This kind of tournaments to be held again and again to assess the upcoming talent. Three cheers to ICC and BCCI!!

World Cup Cricket Team In the Making

The one-day series against England which was eventually won by India by commendable margin of 5-1 is it self is the indication that India has has the best One-day cricket team in the making.

Look at the recent track record of India's One-day series results.

Defeated England by 5-1

Defeated Pakistan by 4-1

Defeated SriLanka by 6-1

Tied with S.Africa 2-2

Tied with Pakistan 1-1

Looking at the Indian's current One-day performances the old faces who are coming to the party are as follows.

1) Yuvraj Singh: Done good to his own carrier by becoming Man of the series thrice (Hattrick). Started to finish the game for India.

2) Irfan Pathan: Fast becoming a Genuine al-rounder. Who can take early wickets with new ball and score runs as a pinch hitter or other wise down the batting order.

3)Rahul Dravid : The best performing captain India ever had. Captaincy Burden not affected his run getting abilities. Looking very good in fielding strategy also by effectively selecting power plays between the innings.

4) Mahendra Singh Dhoni : Good behind the stumps and good with bat. Sensible batsman who knows his role, can bat according to the match situation both at begining or end of the innings.


New Promising faces are below:
1) Suresh Raina : Good fielder but more than that good bats man, with Dhoni or Yuvraj very effective in run chases. Has all the shots in the book and off the book.
2) Ramesh Powar : Promising stocky off spinner with good fielding abilities and can be effective slogger.
3) Sreesanth : Simple line and length seemer who follows the basics and get wickets effectively.

Overall Rahul Dravid and Greg chapel shown to India and the world that even though the key performance of y'days are struggling, new blood can contribute to the success of the team. Looking at the current scenario W.Indies one day tour will be very interesting to watch India is going out for the first time a full fledge series out side the sub continent. Lets see how India's young lions perform.

Where all the Fast bowlers gone?

Watching the last test match between India Vs Pakistan in Karachi the above question is automatically jumped in. YES. I am not talking of first innings display of our bowlers where Mr.Pathan taken a hatrick. I am talking about 2nd Innings and the first 2 test matches.

YES. I know that first two test matched are played in Flat tracks. Even Pakistani bowlers took the beating. But the pace generated by Indian bowlers, the line and length they kept all made me to think this question again and again.

We still depend upon the kinds of Zaheer Khan, who bowls full on flat track and short on Grassy ones. Hardly in a over he can bowl 2 good deliveries. Rest of 4 balls anyone can score runs. And our other options like R P Singh. Who looks more like a girlish bowler? No pace, no swing. Depends upon mistake done by batsman.

MRF academy is 2 decade old now. Where are the fast bowlers produced here? We are not trying some bowlers who can generate good pace, but we are trying out wicket takers who will suffer as soon as they expose to International conditions or flat tracks.

The demand of the hour is some 'fast' bowlers who really force batsman to commit mistakes and can bother them by fiery pace. Any one listening?

Why Sachin is still playing Cricket?

Why Sachin is still playing ?. This was the question puzzled me from some time now. It was confirmed after i saw him dancing on tunes of shoiab akhtar in the second test between India and Pakistan. He was definitely not at his best but he was so low that, it looked like he was playing his first test match. New Indian team should give opportunities to new people who have fire in their bellies, we should not promote people who play just for records.

Now Mr.Tendulkar broken the record for most number of centuries, i don't know what motivates him. May be becoming highest run getter in tests.....Currently Mr.Lara holds the record. Other than that there is not much fire in his willow these days.... Typically shaky starts....surviving couple of leg before appeals....if innings stabilize losing concentration in fifties or wasting deliveries in 80's and 90's is becoming order of the day for Mr.Tendulkar. We love to watch tendulkars old archives...but not this sachin who not at all look convincng.

He use to play for the country once upon a time but now he only scores when there is a good start provided by openers or Rahul dravid. In times of pressure like what happened in Faisalabad where India badly wanted Sachin to stay in the crease.Even on a dead track of Faisalabad he was so scared of Shoib Akhtar that he just walked off when ball toched his body.It is very paining to see mortal Sachin than what he used to be once upon a time.

It's a good time he should give good thought on retiring and doing more Advertisements for retirement benefit schemes of various banks and Insurance agencies than boring us in the cricket field.other than that there is not much fire in his willow these days.... Typically shaky starts....surviving couple of leg before appeals....if innings stabilize loosing concentration in fifties or wasting deliveries in 80's and 90's have becoming order of the day for Mr.Tendulkar. We love to watch tendulkars old archives...but not this Sachin who looks like a player who was playing his first test match. It's a good time he should give good thought on retiring and doing more Advertisements for retirement benefit schemes of various banks and Insurance agencies than boring us in the cricket field. Let us give chance for new player who again make us proud than this old lion.