It was a sad event that the hosts were knocked out of the Champions Trophy in the early stages. And the nation was recovering from that just when India lost miserably to South Africa, getting bowled out for a paltry 91; in spite of playing 7 specialist batsmen. Just to remind you that, South Africa had defeated the Ozzies in a match early this year and had bowled them out for 93 – It was Ntini who ran over the formidable Aussie batting with his career best 6-22.
The expectations from Greg Chappell and the Indian team has risen. The country is showing zero-tolerance towards meek surrenders like the one witnessed in Durban a few days ago. The media wrote on the performance of the team especially on Munaf who should be bowling quick (looks like somebody is misguiding him). Even Irfan Pathan who has lost the magical swinging deliveries somehow. This series is crucial since India wants to go to the world cup with some confident wins. India HAS to win the 3rd ODI to retain the interest of the fans for the rest of the matches in the series and in Indian cricket in particular.
Dravid is purely a test batsmen.Please take him out from one day squad.Try to give shewag to lead the team as captain & bring laxman into the one day squad along with goutam gambhir.
Sehwag still has some time before he can claim the highest honour. On bouncier pitches, you need to have a good technique, especially on the back foot. Most of our team, as you’d be aware, are adapted to flatter pitches making them natural front foot players. They continue to play for the rising delivery on the front foot making them vulnerable on bowling friendly pitches. Dravid is an asset on such wickets.
Laxman, has a very good technique as well but lacks in the fielding department which is essential for any one day side. Let’s see if he can prove us wrong on this tour. Gambhir should have been the natural choice for the openers slot but was surprisingly sidelined for Jaffer. Awaiting the return of Ganguly now who’s a master stroke player.