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| World Home » Sports » | Sat. Nov 22, 2008 |
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Magic effect of Indian Cricket fading? Courtesy India Times, Jul 1, 2005. Indian Cricket team, which was once ranking among the top three teams in the world has now come down in status and performance. Its magic effect appears to have faded away. Will the new spirit in the cricket team in absence of Sachin Tandulkar and Sourav Ganguly restore its due status in ICC Champions Trophy to be held 2006? India is as of now scrapping the bottom the barrel in the ODI standings, languishing at number seven.
To ensure a direct entry, India will have to creep up a position at least by April 1, 2006. There is a lot of time and there is no reason why India cannot turn their fortunes. Frankly, it cannot get any worse for Team India. According to the new format, top six sides of the ICC ODI Championship table as on April 1, 2006 would get a direct entry while the next four Test playing nations would have to play a round robin qualifying for the remaining two spots. The eight teams would then be split into two groups of four each with the top two teams from each group qualifying for the semifinals. If India do not start delivering in a hurry, they might be up against minnows like Bangladesh and Kenya before getting a chance to play with the big boys. This is nothing short of a crises in Indian cricket. In spite of having a star-studded team, it is frustrating to see India come a cropper in the shorter version of the game. But perhaps this is just the challenge and the shape-up-or-ship-out danger that can wake India up from the self-inflicted reverie. The present top six are Australia (137 points), Sri Lanka (117), New Zealand (116), South Africa (112), Pakistan (112) and England (106). The next four in the list are India (97), West Indies (95), Zimbabwe (50) and Kenya (26). The reasons for India's dismal showing in the one-dayers are apparent. They have batted and bowled poorly to put it simply with no strategy in place and the hunger to win missing. It remains to be seen what Chappell can do with his magic wand but at the end of the day it is the team itself who will have to start delivering and even more importantly start believing in themselves once again. Once again surprises have cropped up in the list of probables released by the BCCI with players like Hemang Badani for some strange reason finding a place and a class batsman like Amabati Rayadu missing the bus. The Indian selectors are living on borrowed times with the World Cup drawing closer. It still seems that the BCCI is going series by series instead of looking at the larger picture and investing in players who can represent India in the championship. Let's start from the top. India won't have the services of Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly during the series. While the master blaster is recuperating from an elbow surgery, the 'Prince of Kolkata' is serving an ICC ban. Finding a partner for Virender Sehwag should be India's top priority. Mahendra Dhoni has offered to fill the spot, but Yuvraj Singh might just be a better choice. The fact that he happens to be a left-hander makes his case even stronger. He is at his best in conditions similar to the first 15 overs - when the ball comes onto the bat at a healthy pace. This complements his natural stroke-making skills and ability to hit over the in-field. As his technique against spinners is somewhat suspect, it would make all the more sense to push Yuvraj up the order. For full story: http://cricket.indiatimes.com/quickies/1156427.cms
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How the mighty have fallen! Ganguly and his boys will have to hit the deck running as the new season starts with the triangular series in Sri Lanka, featuring the hosts and West Indies next month. 
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