Selectors declared the sixteen men squad for the three tests against Lankan Lions in their den. While Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted out of the test series to have some rest, Yuvraj Singh has too been rested if we were to take BCCI’s word. Wasim Jaffer and Irfan Pathan miss the cut while Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha are the new faces in the test format and Gautam Gambhir catches the flight too. Absence of Mahendra Singh Dhoni sees Sehwag step into the shoes of the Vice Captain.
India has a very strong batting line up with Dravid, Tendulkar, Ganguly and Laxman at numbers three, four, five and six and now Gambhir joining Sehwag at the top. Gambhir’s entry into the test side has been overdue and he wouldn’t want to let go this chance. Jaffer might be a technically more correct batsman but its Gambhir’s positive intent and attitude that will never let him be dominated and fail for long. Dinesh Karthik will probably get a nod ahead of Parthiv Patel on the back of his wicket keeping credentials which will to be at their best keeping to Kumble and Harbhajan.
Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma will be the other two bowlers in the playing eleven. Pacers are unlikely to get much assistance from the Ceylon pitches. They will at the most look to exploit some early morning freshness or reverse swing the older cherry. Sri Lankans have played spin pretty well but the class of Anil Kumble and Harbhajan is sure to have a say at some stage. Still Indian bowlers will find it tough to bowl Sri Lanka out twice in all matches. Sanath Jayasuriya’s retirement from the longer version will however lessen the number of mysteries for the Indians.
The outcome of the series will depend a lot on how Indian batsmen play Murali and Mendis and how much penetrative the Indian bowling can be.
Jayasuriya and Sehwag in form and on song, Ishant’s sheering pace and Murali’s bamboozling turners. What more a treat a cricket fan can ask for?
People are looking for an exciting end to a not so exciting cricket tournament. Sri Lanka seem to have played a master stroke resting Ajantha Mendis in the Super Four match against India. They will be hoping that he is able to dodge the Indians. But if Ajantha Mendis can bowl six different balls in an over, Virender Sehwag has more than six different shots for each ball.
The Karachi pitch wouldn’t offer much to the pacers and the onus to tilt the balance in the favor of their team will be on the batsmen. Teams would like to go with experience for this crucial match. Sri Lanka would look to play Kulasekara and Fernando along with Murali, Mendis and Vaas. Only other option they may look at is Thushara in place of Fernando or Kulasekara. India would probably opt for the younger among the Pathan brothers, Irfan. They would look to go with six batsmen, then Pathan and then the four bowlers. They are likely to keep out Chawla and play Ojha who has shown better control on line and length.
This is a do or die match for India. They need to win this won or else their fate will fall in hands of Bangladesh. A loss here and Pakistan could run away with the second spot in the final with just a moderately big win over Bangladesh.
But the Indian team would do well not to think about this and concentrate on the game at hand. They could be further aided if Sri Lanka decide to rest some of their key players. India need to show some resilience while fielding and bowling and would do better with Ojha coming in place of Chawla. Dhoni might look to bowl first, as his batsmen have shown good form but India would be better served not trying this against Sri Lanka who have a little better bowling unit then others.
People have gone on criticizing the pitches but the fact is that the bowlers have made the pitches look even worse. Would the likes of Brett Lee, Zaheer Khan, Dale Steyn etc been the same here? In fact Vaas has bowled quite well. Others bowlers lack the experience and that’s why they have been taken to the cleaners. It is not about the runs they have conceded but the manner in which they have bowled.
Irfan Pathan and Praveen Kumar have a some experience and must take the responsibility on their shoulders and the fielders need to show a bit more commitment.
Look Out For
Virender Sehwag – After seeing the bowling form of most bowlers even 325 runs don’t seem enough. India will need Sehwag to fire big if they are to get past that score against Sri Lanka.
Pragyan Ojha – He bowls with a lot of control and could bag some crucial wickets if he lures the batters with flight.
Mahela Jayawardene – He hasn’t had much to do in this tournament thus far but will look to be in good form ahead of Sunday’s final.
Dilhara Fernando – He has some pace up his sleeve and probably has the most well disguised slower ball in the world. He would like to prove his critics wrong and cement a place in the side.
Pakistan have had the nag of playing poorly in the run up and then striking gold in the big clashes. This is what they did to India in the tri nation series. India would like to shut out Pakistan right here and they will have great help with Asif and Gul not in the side. The return of Irfan Pathan will bolster the Indian bowling and India may go in with five bowlers including two spinners. Watching Ojha and Chawla bowl in tandem is a mouth watering prospect. Pakistan on the other hand will be banking on the in form Malik and Younis to score big and Tanvir to provide some early breakthroughs.
Apart from Tanvir and Afridi who have accuracy up their sleeves, other Pakistani bowlers are likely to find going tough. They may rope in spinner Saeed Ajmal. Winning the toss will be a distinct advantage as the teams would love to bat first. But at the same time teams could falter aiming high.
Shoaib Malik needs his men to perform to save his job at the helm. As the Pakistan Board has been going about for years, a loss here could see Malik sacked.
Look Out For
Virender Sehwag – He has been adequately rested recently and the freshness has had a positive effect on his hunger. If he handles Tanvir carefully, he could score big.
Pragyan Ojha – He has more control than Piyush Chawla and he may be crucial in middle overs where most other bowlers have leaked runs.
Shoaib Malik – He is under pressure to perform and with Butt’s indifferent form Malik needs to hold fort and rotate strike and ask others to go for big hits.
Sohail Tanvir – Tanvir is a very different bowler in terms of his run up and bowling action and is generally not easy to score off even on placid tracks but with not much firepower elsewhere, Pakistan will be looking up to him for an early breakthrough.
Pakistan:Salman Butt, Shoaib Malik (C), Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Sarfraz Ahmed (WK), Saeed Ajmal, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar, Wahab Riaz
Verdict: Pakistan will be hoping that they win the toss so the pressure isn’t directly on their weak bowling. Even if they bat first, it might prove a task too mighty.
Place of birth - Muradnagar, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh
Teams - India, India Under-19s, Indian Board President’s XI, Uttar Pradesh, Chennai Super Kings
Batting style - Left-handed
Bowling style - Right-arm off break
Under-19 debut – 27th July 2002 versus England U19s at Cardiff
Domestic debut – 1st February 2003 versus Assam in Ranji Trophy at Guwahati
International debut – 30th July 2005 versus Sri Lanka in Indian Oil Cup at Dambulla
Born in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh Suresh Raina was the blue eyed boy of Greg Chappell’s dream Indian team. He is a thorough bred cricketer coming through the Under-19 system of the BCCI. Despite the slump in form which was stated as the reason for his exclusion from the Indian team earlier, he still averages more than 35 in all forms and all levels of cricket.
He averages about 46 at the first class level and about 36 in the ODIs he has played. He also averaged over 44 in the tests he played with the Under-19 team. But he still has to prove a lot before he cements his place in Team India. The real test will come when he faces the bounce in South Africa and the swing in New Zealand. Aussies anyway are hot to handle anywhere, anytime.
He makes it to the player of the week scoring 301 runs in three matches at an average of 150.50 at a strike rate of 123.36, hitting two centuries and an 84 and bagging the Man of the Match award in all three matches. He has also been the silver lining in India’s pathetic dark clouded fielding display at the tournament.
Raina lost his place in the Indian side just before the 2007 World Cup. He hit back hard scoring 203 of 217 balls for Uttar Pradesh against Orissa in the first Ranji match of the 2007-08 season. He went 683 runs in the season with two hundreds and three fifties at an average of 48.78. He had a good stint at the Indian Premier League scoring 421 runs at 38.27.
But the things that really did him huge favor in selection for Team India were his excellent fielding and strike rates of 105 and 142.7 in the last Challenger Trophy and the IPL.
He hasn’t made drastic changes to his technique but looks more composed and sure of his off stump. He used to fish at balls outside the off stump a lot but now he either doesn’t go or more often goes with full conviction. He also looks to have more strength in his arms now and big hits are looking effortless.
He would be looking to cash in on the rich vein of form he has run in and with the series against Sri Lanka, the ICC Champions’ Trophy and the Champions League, all in India he will have a good chance to make a foothold before he has to travel to testing territories.
Just looking forward to a many more big hits from him over the mid wicket fence.
