C'mon India, let's get back to winning ways!

With the test series gone by and a much needed break for the visitors, they are back in India for the 5 match One day series which starts on 11th January. The Indian team were deprived of rest as they had to encounter a dangerous Pakistani side in 3 ODIs and 2 T20′s in which the visitors outplayed us in all departments. India finally managed to get a consolation victory in the 3rd ODI.

These past few months have been terrible for an Indian cricketer or an Indian viewer. Except the Ahmedabad test against England, the Indian team’s batting or bowling has not clicked together in any of the games played since. Even though we managed to get 2 wins (T2o and the 3rd ODI against Pakistan), they were not a collective effort.

THE NUMBER 3 SPOT:

Now with Tendulkar also gone, the Indian batting lineup looks too vulnerable to be honest. We have the talent but we lack the composure required in a crunch game. Every series now looks like it is going to be the last for one of our senior batsmen. The presence of a certain Rahul Dravid is being felt now, very badly. I am surprised not many of the cricketing pundits took his name. The stability and the composure that he brought to the line up can’t be compared with any one else, and I am really pleased with Pujara’s inclusion in the side. He is in the mould of Dravid and the Laxman – certainly he can”t be compared with these batting greats yet – but he is a player who can stay there and rotate the strike and keep the score board ticking. Cheteshwar Pujara should be drafted in to the no 3 spot. Virat Kohli, as we all know, has the been the best Indian batsmen for the year gone by and would have to sacrifice his place and come in at no 4. I think if Duncan Fletcher and Dhoni decide to push Pujara down the order, then it will be a bad move. Pujara does not possess an attacking style of play and will struggle to get going if he comes to bat in the slog overs. So demoting Virat Kohli would be a wise move.

THE OPENING SPOT:

Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir have failed to form a good partnership for some time now, due to which Virender Sehwag had to face the axe. Ajinkya Rahane, who was picked in place of Virender Sehwag, will open the innings in this series. In my opinion, it’s a good move by the selectors. He has been involved in the team mainly as a sub for quite some time now and it’s high time we give him a fair chance to show his potential. He could turn out to be a good opening batsman from what we have seen until now. The innings he played in the T20 gives us an indication of what we can expect from him.

Virender Sehwag in my opinion could be useful in the middle order. I personally feel his technique and his famed hand eye cordination has not been the same as it was a few years ago. Pushing him in the middle order could give us an attacking option in the slog overs which could be very useful. Playing in the middle order won’t be a new thing for him, as he came in to the Indian team as a middle order batsman.

After watching Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s spell against Pakistan, I still have hope that we can produce good pace bowlers in this country. Too early to judge him as an International bowler and hopefully he continues to deliver in the games he plays. India has a history of producing good spinners, but the number of pace bowlers who have had an impact in cricket is next to nothing. After Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad, only Zaheer Khan has had a telling impact on world cricket. His career also seems to be coming to an end. The modern day Indian bowlers had an impact when they burst on to the scene but they have failed to deliver on regular occasions. The likes of Irfan Pathan, Sreesanth and even Ishant Sharma, who is now the spearhead of the Indian attack, fall in to this category.

With the ODI series starting from tomorrow, we hope that our Indian team returns to winning ways and finds its old form back. We are just going through a bad phase at the moment. The Indian team should look to win the 1st game rather than thinking of winning the series even before it has started. As an Indian cricket fan, it’s time to support our team rather than blame them for the loss. It’s just a matter of time till we get back to winning ways and hopefully tomorrow should be the beginning of good things to come. After all, we are the world champs and it’s time we stamp our authority!

GO INDIA!