Indian Premier League and Cricket News by IPL Cricket Forum

Tri Nation Series

Team in Review: India

India start as the firm favorites to take away this trophy. But they have to cope with the absence of an experienced batsman like Sachin or Rahul in the team and the absence of bowlers Harbhajan, Zaheer and Sreesanth.

The bowling although still looks strong enough but what will test them is a few quick wickets where somebody will have to rise to play the role of Rahul Dravid of holding one end up that Rahul did so brilliantly well. Gambhir will probably take on Sachin’s task of staying on the wicket and playing a long innings.

Batting

Gambhir and Sehwag at the top make a lethal left right combination. Sehwag will need to curb his instincts slightly if he wishes to continue the form he showed in IPL to one day internationals. He hasn’t been as consistent in this form of the game and this series and the Asia Cup could well be the destination where he thumps his authority.

Rohit Sharma has good technique and can handle pace and spin equally well. The captain must be looking at sending him one down. Yuvraj and Dhoni the ever so fine and polished finishers will lend solidity to the line up. One of Robin Uthappa and Yusuf Pathan or even both may make it to the final eleven. The bowling exploits of Yusuf and the batting skills of younger brother Irfan give a nice flexibility to the line up. Praveen Kumar and Piyush Chawla are both handy with the bat down the order.

Batting meter

Aggression – 8

Reliability – 7

Bowling

Irfan, RP Singh, Piyush Chawla and Manpreet Gony are coming in having shown superb form in the Indian Premier League. Ishant Sharma and Praveen Kumar didn’t get many wickets but were extremely tough to score off.

Irfan, Ishant and Piyush Chawla seem to be certainties in the team while one of Praveen and RP Singh or both will play depending on whether one or both of Uthappa and Yusuf play.

Piyush Chawla is slightly vulnerable to going for runs and the spin tackling abilities of the batsmen of other two teams involved will only make life difficult. This is where the team would be looking to play five bowlers and use Sehwag and Yusuf Pathan in case the need be.

Bowling meter

Wicket taking ability – 8

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