Suresh
Raina has scored 260 runs at an average of 23.63 in his last 15 ODIs.
His last 50 came against Zimbabwe in August 2013. He hasn’t scored a
hundred since January 2010. He failed to shine even on the flat Indian
pitches in the recent series against Australia and West Indies. How long
will MSD cut him slack just because he is his best buddy? Sure, he
saves a few runs with his athletic abilities in the field and fills up
as an extra bowler once in a while. But is that enough for him to get
away with disastrous performances with the bat time and again?
South
Africa have Dale Steyn. Australia have Mitchell Johnson. India have
Ishant Sharma. Ishant bowls one good spell in every five years. The
lanky pacer, who showed tremendous promise as a teenager, still bowls
like a teenager. Former cricketers too are of the opinion that the lanky
pacer has 'stopped learning'.
It gives you a horrible feeling when you realize Ishant is the most
experienced bowler in the Indian team and is their frontline pacer. When
will India take pace bowling seriously?
The
seasoned Gautam Gambhir could have come in handy in South Africa as
well as in New Zealand. He has proven himself to be a fighter in tough
conditions in SA as well as in Australia in the past. If underperformers
like Ishant and Raina get to survive in the team despite repeated
failures, why not include Gambhir in the squad, at least as a back-up
opener?
Rohit
Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan have proved time and again that they are
flat-track bullies and fast-track disasters. While Shikhar Dhawan still
deserves a longer run, considering he got a late call-up to the Indian
squad, Rohit certainly doesn’t have any excuses. Maybe it’s too early to
rule out a return of Viru and Gauti to the starting XI.
While
Ravichandran Ashwin has been decent as an all-rounder in the longer
format, he doesn’t seem to have skills to make a real impact in ODIs.
His spin is ineffective on pitches outside the subcontinent and he’s not
an aggressive batsman whose slogging can change the pace of the game
lower down the order. Even former spin greats like Prasanna believe that
Ashwin lacks the deception needed to succeed overseas.
Stuart Binny has been included in the squad and yet, Dhoni decides to
go with Ashwin, who is neither bowling well nor contributing with the
bat
Considering
he is arguably the only genuine Indian pacer who can consistently hit
the 140 kph mark, Yadav would have been a real asset on New Zealand’s
pitches. He sat out the entire South Africa series despite being part of
the squad and still remains MSD’s second favourite behind Ishant, Shami
and Bhuvneshwar.
Vijay
Zol was a standout performer for India’s U-19 team that recently won
the Asia Cup. He has been equally impressive for Maharashtra in the
Ranji trophy. He and Unmukt Chand, who led India to the U-19 World Cup
win in 2012, should have been included in the squad for the NZ tour.
Even a couple of games there would have exposed them to the new
conditions and India would have had a few more options for the 2015
World Cup squad.
Can't
we look beyond the usual suspects when it comes to spinners? Shouldn’t
Amit Mishra get a few more chances? Can't we give Parvez Rasool an
opportunity to prove himself, considering he’s done well in Ranji (27
wickets in 9 games)?
Rayudu
got to bat thrice during India’s Zimbabwe tour in July 2013 under
Kohli’s leadership. He had the scores of 63*, 3 and 33. Since then, he
has been nothing more than a spectator despite being a part of the squad
in multiple series. If he does get a chance in an upcoming series, how
can we expect him to perform without any solid match practice with the
first team?
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