Is The Indian Team Selected For The World Cup Cricket Worthy Of An Absolute Win — Will this team selected will ultimately deliver the good or will it be again a sip between the cup and the lip Does this team carries all the ammunition that is needed to win the cup Let us minutely analyze the relative strength and the weakness of the team.
The euphoric and the excitement that mounts when a tourney of this stature takes is something which becomes very hard to measure as India and the Indians have an insane and a behavior which could be termed as “mad” when it comes to cricket Yet the time has come to hit a few knock at the knuckle to gear up for assessing this team It is because finally the hour is here and it has come to generate a feeling and all excited about how would the present Indian cricket team fare in the upcoming World Cup cricket that would be played at London in the month of July 2019 The team has been declared and barring a few players the team appears good.
Ripples: a few selection raises eyebrow
Except two or three omission that has created the rippled the team it appears is on the lines as far as the selection of the players are concerned.
The team would be led by Virat Kohli He at present appears to be the best in the business as far as the game is concerned. He correctly fits into all the three different formats of the game Absolutely at the very prime of his batting career Virat is where and what the Indian team will be looking for the runs and he will have to deliver by any means and by any cost . Every game does not make one a hero every time This we have to remember while we talk of Kohli There would be a match or two where he might not come up to the expectation but this is the key man in India.
The opening slot looks to be good and fine on the paper with Shikar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma However, there is a word of caution Shikar Dhawan has a very limited and a fallible kind of a footwork, especially when it comes to batting at England The English summer and especially the half when this World Cup is being held is different in many a ways There the conditions would be such that the heavy atmosphere will make the ball to deviate and swing more In these conditions it is imperative that the batsman playing the deliveries use their feet movement. The more one is accurate is using the feet the more one is successful in England to negotiate the moving, deliveries and keep their wicket intact This is the department which will test the purity of the openers when they come in to bat against their opponent The bowlers from England and Australia and especially England then will pose too many a problems for the Indian openers. In the case of Rohit Sharma he too appears a bit shady when it comes to negotiating the moving, and the planting deliveries and ends to play his shots at times without the proper usage of the footwork This causes a bit of doubts to linger about the overall success of the opening pair in the English condition
POOR RECORD: Onus falls on the mid-order and the midgets
As it is the Indian openers have a very poor record of batting in England and the two openers mentioned here have not been very successful in England They will succeed against the weaker opponent but will find the grindings very hard against the top quality team Their failures would put the middle order in a helluva soup and in a lot of pressure, and it is here that the middle order will have to bear a lot of responsibility. The onus then would fall on Virat Kohli, M S Dhoni and the all rounders deliver and take India to the zone of ” no problems ” or that what we call it as a comfort zone.
The factor on which would hinge the Indian batting is the number four position That is the place where the fulcrum and the outcome of the team’s performance would depend Here whosoever comes into bat will not only would have to keep his wicket intact, but will have to hold the Indian innings altogether beside keep the scoreboard ticking If the Indian bat at number four clicks the Indian team would click If he feels the team would fail It becomes very necessary for the Indian team, It’s coach and the Captain to select the most prudent and successful player to see that the one who bats at the number four position really sparkles in the way that the milky way sparkles. In 1983 when we won the world Cup Yashpal Sharma mostly batted at the number four position He had accumulated 287 runs in the entire tournament then and he was the highest run aggregator for India. In that world up His batting and the runs he garnered then in that tourney went a long way to lay our feet in the finals of the World cup, then and even now the position is the same India has to select and put his most experienced one in this position to bat That is a yes of many a yes of litmus for the Indian think tank.
Selection of Vijay Shankar: Is he a ” rabbit” out of the hat
Many would also depend on the all rounders We have taken Vijay Shankar as the all rounder who could bat a bit and who could bowl a bit He might have been impressive here in India, but the fact is he totally would be exposed to the vagaries of the English conditions where the experience of playing in that may mar him and his performance and could make his presence a near nadir because of the In- expertise especially in the game of cricket. There at England at times it proves to fatal and it is as good as the sword of Damocles hanging over the head Vijay Shankar, I guess will find the grinding very tough at England as his inexperience might make him fallible and one really hopes that the luck is always with him.
The other all rounder in the team Ravindra Jadeja would be playing to enjoy his third sojourn in England I remember the Champion Trophy, which India had won last in England under Dhoni where he was adjudicated as the best all rounder of that tourney, He has to pull out all his match playing experience of England to put India in the best of the situation everytime and if he does it as well now then it would be good for India and also very good for Ravindra Jadeja himself He has been in the squad but has always been at times in and at times out and that it is not a good sign for India. His contribution so far to the Indian team cannot be termed as ” unique ” but at times he has provided certain answer and at times he carried certain questions that the opponent found it hard to answer.
“Experience is the master and the best teacher: only the school fees are heavy” :: M S Dhoni proves that in the one-dayers
India will enjoy the expertise of M S Dhoni when it comes to wicket keeping and he has been a good accumulator of runs for India in the shorter format of the game However, it would depend also upon how belligerent and electrifying is he when in act Dhoni though is a wicket keeper whom many consider as a class yet in reality and actualities, he has his weakness when it comes on keeping. At times the way he misses and let the victims go by in terms of the chances that comes to him is really unpardonable Over it of late his back spasm has become a partner for him to be with him in the game this had caused him to miss one or two games in THE IPL and one really hopes that this illness or the weakness does not come to haunt him in the tournament proper. A lot will depend on Dhoni about his contribution in this World Cup and his contribution will matter a lot However it also has tobe borne in the mind that he is not the Dhoni whose age is 23 years now but it is almost 37 and in this age the reflexes and the sharpness takes a nose dive This ought o be very clear about him before we expect too much from him.
Bowling :: Good but not that extraordinary
The bowling looks good but it would be better that after leaving the shores from India for the World Cup and after landing at England , when they land at England, they play first within themselves a few good games by dividing the team amongst themselves, and play a few warm up games against some opponent to crease off their vulnerability If they do that it would serve them a world of good.
The Indian spinners will really need to have some few good games In the chilly English weather the spinners sometimes find the ball very hard to grip and a few games before the World Cup proper will really help the Indian spinners to get used to the varying English condition and to acclimatize themselves with the conditions The Indian spinners if they find that it would be very good for them to bowl at England, they can rattle their opponent.
The wickets, if the Indian spinners find that at England is hard and with full of bounce then the wicket taking ability for them would be reduced to an larger extent There in the true and hard wickets the ball would come up correctly at the good height to the opponents to face them and if that is so, in that case the opponents would not find the Indian bowlers to give it back to them with thumbs However if the wicket is slow and if the ball bounces less than the expectations then the spinner will have their day and every time a field day for every time to enjoy.
The Indian pacers will have a good tour The conditions at England will help the Indian pacers to be amongst he wicket The Indian pacers bowl at their best when (it comes to swing the deliveries while bowling at the English condition ) This will help them at to exploit the English condition better.
England is a test cricketing place where the ball swings appreciably If there is some “ juice “ at the wicket, and if that is aided by the kind of the dense atmosphere which helps the ball deviate and move, then the Indian bowlers will really have a jolly time It is just that they would have to bowl correctly at the right area, and will have to be nippy as will as nagging If that is executed properly and if the weather helps them they will be successful Mind you at England you will have to really swing the ball very accurately rather than being powerful and strong If that is performed well and up to the required standard then definitely the Indian pacers will do very well Mohammad Shami, Ishant Sharma and it Bumrah will definitely be the killers for the Indian team to kill their opponents.
Indian fielding :; A up full of woes
The most potent factor is the fielding It is a truth that amongst all the teams playing cricket now the worst team in fielding is Pakistan followed by India India except for Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli, absolutely true is the fact that there are the cricketers, in the Indian whom the eyelids and the eye cannot digest or see them doing the act of fielding when it comes to the game or comes to it Such pathetic is the standard and its heightof impoverish standard of fielding , the Indian team displays when it is on the field.
One day cricket or the instant cricket as one would like to call it requires electric all the time on the field while playing this game and it requires movement that are as fast as the flash of the light and in this aspect of the game the Indians are poor when it comes to it.
Finally will India win the World Cup The “ truth “ and the fact is India is one of the hot contender to win the cup but is not the “ only “ contender to win that In the one dayers one shot or one delivery makes and brings about a helluva difference in the fortune of the game Any team that is not one hundred percent precise cannot be held by one hundred percent to win that Hence India and for India it would be very different for one to say that it would be India only which would win that The challenge may come from Australia and England and Pakistan or Sri Lanka could be the dark horse.
Omission of Pant :: A black ” cat ” being searched in a closed dark pitched room by dropping him and selecting Karthik
Another factor is and that is a MILLION dollar question The question that arises is “ is this team chosen which could be considered as the best There are question raised as to how and why Rishab Pant and R Ashwin were dropped and can anybody arguably put this in the best perspective in terms of the answer. Well I have my own answer and assessment on this and I’m very sure that everybody would agree to me This is the answer I provide.
I start my explanation with the axing of Rishab Pant A lot of questions and a lot of eye brows are being raised about why and how was Rishab Pant omitted from the Indian World Cup cricket squad for the 2019 sojourn which would be held at London from June or July this year.
Well the only one answer that could be raised and put forward to his exclusion is that he lacks in the international expertise and as of now he has hardly played 10 Test matches for India and maybe about 25 One dayers for India This statistics will not reveal about the real structure of the international experience that he might have had amassed for playing for India in a tourney like the World Cup.
Pant has not been that bad playing the Test matches for India His performance in the Test matches could be termed as just average but his accumulation of the runs in the One dayers does not adjudicates his worth as a cricketer to play for India in these kind of high profile World Cup where perfection and precision is what matters at the end of the day to perform . Pant has been very good in batting when it came to the Test matches but he needs to learn and build himself for the one-dryers.
Pant’s wicketkeeping needs a lot to be discussed and there are a lot he has to improve as a wicketkeeper and in the one dayers a different kind of a very specialised art is required for keeping Infact his keeping when it comes to the One dayer’s are not that sharp and precise as he at times tends to do the wrongs which could prove fatal to the interest and the outcome of the success of the team He has to learn very fast the ” art ” of keeping especially in the one-dayers.
Too many a cricketers are surprised at his exclusion but some are not and I feel that those who are not are correct in their assessment, but not fully and absolutely correct when they think so and I have my explanation for the same Pant’s batting could have made a big difference to the fortune of this Indian team in the World Cup if he was selected.
Former Indian cricket team skipper Mohammed Azharuddin who was a terrific one day cricketer beside a above average performer in the Test matches, felt it was not fair to drop Rishabh Pant from India’s ICC World Cup 2019 squad. He also said that Pant, who has been India’s first-choice wicket-keeper in Tests should have been added to the squad over Dinesh Karthik, who has been given enough chances. Karthik to be frank has never been a performer of any level of consistency in the number of opportunities that he was given uptil now
Lamenting his omission and in a mild manner which could be termed as his outburst the former Indian Test cricketer lamented “Is it fair to drop a young cricketer who has performed exceedingly well in Tests in England and Australia. If he is not a good wicketkeeper why pick him for the Tests then. Karthik has been given enough chances. The team otherwise is well balanced and probably the best possible. The batting has depth and bowling looks superb,” Azharuddin was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
Actually it was not the experience which was the the main criteria which went against Pant, nor was his inability to build an innings and straightaway go for the big shots, which is often the critics favourite getaway when trying to find faults in Pant. It was, in fact the 20-year-old’s keeping skills that let him down and pretty much forced the selectors to go for Karthik.
Wicket keeping : lacks in ebullience ” but excels in flamboyance “ that is Pant’s strength
Rishab Pant’s keeping specially in the one dayers at times raises many a question Unfortunately India after the exit of the two wicketkeeper from Karnataka, Syed Kirmani and Sadanand Vishvanath have not been able to find the exact hundred percent perfect and precise wicketkeepers who could be termed as genuinely correct and the most perfect wicketkeepers The one’s that we got after the exit of these two wicketkeepers could be termed as ball collectors behind the stump At times every wicketkeeper that has played for India and is playing for India commits a kind of silly mistakes while flooring the chances that comes their way is really hard to understand and could be termed as “ silly “
However their replacement too are not that ebullient when it comes to wicketkeeping They keep on trying to improvise but the one dayers and the Test matches be it here or anywhere in the international arena’s ought to be picture perfect and precise rather than being improvise and believing in the theories of improvisation.
Making it clear that keeping was the principal parameter while looking for Dhoni’s back-up in India’s World Cup squad, BCCI chairman of selectors MSK Prasad said, “In an important game wicket keeping is also important. That’s the reason we went with Dinesh Karthik,” after a brief selection meeting which also included Indian captain Virat Kohli at the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai on Monday afternoon.
Anyway it was very clear that Dhoni would be the first choice for the position of the wicketkeepers when it would boil down to select the Indian team.Dhoni too after playing in the 90 Test matches that he has played and over 400 international one dayer’s that he has played, falters at moment and drops such a type of easy catches or misses such a type of stumping that one feels to say that those acts of Dhoni are nothing but suicide Silly is not the word or the phrase to be used for that Dhoni too is not a perfect wicketkeeper when it comes to the art and science of wicketkeeping
There is still hope for Pant though as Prasad admitted that Pant or Karthik was the biggest topic of debate in the selection meeting. “Definitely a case where we debated in length. We all were in unison that either pant or DK will come in only when Mahi is injured,” MSK Prasad the Chief of the national selector, said after the squad was announced.
Hearing to all these I strongly feel that Pant should have been in the squad In 2003 then the Indian Captain Sourav Ganguly to strengthen the bolster the chance of the team, took a decision of playing Rahul Dravid as a makeshift wicketkeeper and played one extra player as an allrounder for the side That gave an extra amount of bounce and buoyancy to the team The team made it to the finals then In the same manner Rishab Pant should have been played primarily as a batsman-cum-fielder in the side and that would have given the extra punch to the Indian team
Dinesh Kartik is no patch on Rishab Pant and the way Pant strokes the ball hard and makes or accumulates the runs, that would have given India a huge advantage India should have played Dhoni in the number four spot and could have used pant later in the batting order If Dhoni had failed, that failure could have been made up and made use by Pant’s aggressive approach and display In the matter of stroking the ball Kartik does not comes any near to Pant and for me that selection is bad.
Ashwin :: Poor record overseas
As far as Ashwin is concerned his record and his tally of wickets both in the Test matches and in the one dayers at abroad is really bad It raises many a question and doubt about his potential and application as a bowler at abroad Good that the better sense has prevailed and the selected spin trio of Jadeja, Yadav and Chahal appears to be the best and the fair at this juncture in terms of the election to carry India’s fight forward though there are better spinners then the one’s I have mentioned including Ashwin who have performed so better in the domestic circuit at India and have been doing it for so many a season but the selection of the cricket team in India has never been fair and impartial Indian cricket needs godfather always to carry them through and some have been very lucky in that matter to make it to the team
Ashwin and his records are enigma and it takes many a scratch on the head to understand those He captures per wicket at an average of 10-15 runs per wicker here at India but his average at the wickets at abroad are something in between 45-55 runs per wicket He make the ball dance to is tunes here at the Indian wickets but there at abroad it really makes one to scratch his head to see that he hardly get more than two wicked and that too at an exorbitant economical rates He also bats at times to contribute but his rate of scoring the runs briskly at the wickets abroad is poor and raises many a doubt Good that he has been omitted and a fair chance has been provided to those who are better then him in this arena Belters and not slow batters are needed to swell the scoring at the place where Ashwin comes to bat especially in the one-dryers and would be good to see somebody doing that for India in the World Cup cricket.
Question of conjecture:: Will India be in the finals – ” determinants ‘” and ” deterrents ” are the matrix
It depends. It is that the factor of luck has to be on the side of the Indians always If that is it will that be ” yes ” If that is so, yesand if always yes, than India can win the cup . As was the case in 1983 one of the reason why India won was their ebullient and affluent feeling which ultimately proved to be the decisive factor Overall India produced an average all-round performance In that tourney. In making the team move forward then, whatever Kapil Dev was doing it was somehow proving correct and it was giving or yielding positive results to the Indian team The Indian team in 1983 was such an average team, that it did not pose a total over 275 runs in any match they played but it was their brilliant feeling and the tight bowling that helped them The Indian bowlers took the most of the advantage of the swinging English condition to bowl the deliveries where it needed them to bowl those deliveries , and were very tight and economical that made the difference beside ALL THE MOVES THAT Kapil Dev had taken at that time proved to be the instinct that killed the sparrows and the animals ie the ” beast ” of the world of cricket then, the demolishers.
It ought to be repeated now even at this stage Secondly the average of he law of ” fallible determinants ” always would has to work on our factor favouring us , and it has to favor us like anything We are not that a brilliant fielding side and this team is not that a good a side in fielding when it comes o that and when we talk about it . This has been observed and this will be a great factor when it comes to the determinant and the differences that it holds This will decide the course of the action
Yet one can expect India to be in the finals as India is a team which can be in the finals.
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