The Winning Combination: World Cup 2007

[raj2rif]

Dear All,

I see a lot of Cricket Fan on this site and thus feel a good discussion could be generated on this subject. The probables for the world cup 2007 have been announced and in a few days the team would also be announced. Let us choose our own team. On another thread one member has commented that I look like a cricket fan. Honestly, I am fan of all the sports. During my college days, I did get opportunity to represent couple of teams of which I have some sweet and some not so sweet memories. The army career just smoothened the rough edges of a village boy and I personally feel that I did become a better human being because of excellent training and the environment that I got in the army in general and in my own battalion in particular. Having said that let us get on to subject: My Winning Combination!

The problem is that we can't go out of the 30 names available. My handicap is that I have not seen many of these guys playing. So my selection is purely on the data available and the profile of the players that I am able to read.

My logic: I am a big fan of right and left combnation on batting. Having seen the problem of adjusting the line to a left - right combination when the runs are scored in singles, I feel that a team having a good mix of right and left handed batsman holds the edge. The all powerful Clive Loyad's WI team had Loyad, Kalicharan, Fredricks, and couple of more left handed batsman that unsettled the best bowlers in business.
So, let us pick up 16.

Seven Batsman, two all rounders, two wicketkeepers, and five bowlers.

My Winning combination in order of their preferred batting order:


1 Sachin Tendulkar
2 Saurav Ganguly (Captain)
3 Virendra Sehwag
4 Suresh Raina
5 M. S. Dhoni (W.K.)
6 Yuvraj Singh (if fully fit) (Vice Captain)
7 Joginder Sharma
8 Irfan Pathan
9 Harbhajan Singh
10 Zaheer Khan
11 S. Sreesanth
12. Md. Kaif
13. Rudra Pratap Singh
14. V.R.V. Singh (Munaf Patel if fit)
15. Gautam Gambhir
16. Dinesh Karthik (Res WK)


Surprises: Dravid and Laxman left out. Well, for me, irrespective of the statistics of strike rates of these player, they are essentially players for the long version of game. Dravid had played his One day cricket in his prime only because we did not have a W.K. allrounder. Now we have two of them and purely on logic he does not make it to my team.

The batting order is of one left and one right hander coming out. Yuvraj's maturity and strong nerves, has been the cause of him being pushed to lower order to carry the innings home with the help of tail. Raina has been promoted, as I feel that he got a raw deal. He needs to be given chance to settle and then play his stroke. He is a good talent and we need to persist with him. We all need a pinch hitter at number 3, and I find no better than Sehwag to do that. Sachin and Ganguly formed the most successful opening combination for us and let us continue with that. The only change we could make is Sachin and Sehwag changing their place in batting order. Dhoni coming before Yuvraj and Joginder coming before Pathan is purely due to maintaining a right left combination in the middle. This could be changed depending upon who gets out first. So in the middle replace a left hander with another left hander or a right hander with another right hander.

We also have six fast bowlers, three of them are left handers. Which is a good luxary.


Any one day team without likes of Sehwag, Sachin and Raina is unthinkable at this time. Irfan Pathan and Joginder Sharma needs to be groomed to good all rounders. I was quite surprised not to see the name of a talented youngster from UP called P. Kumar not to be in probables. Piyush Chawla is another surprised ommission.

This team has adequate reseves in batting, bowling and WK department. Sehwag, Tendulkar, Raina and Yuvraj also needs to be given coaching in bowling some good spin stuff. While Harbhajan could be given some batting lessons. A winning combination is always a group of useful cricketers like Kapil's team of 83 had. More allrounders. This team also have some excellent fielders.


Let us see what is your team and why?

[vikasgulia222]

My Winning combination for WORLD CUP 2007:

Playing 11 in their preferred batting order:

1. Virender sehwag [vice captain]
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Rahul Dravid
4. Sachin Tendulkar
5. Saurav Ganguly [Captain]
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. M. S. Dhoni
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Joginder Sharma
10. Anil Kumble
11. Munaf Patel/S. Sreesanth

Rest 4 of the 16 squad are:

Ramesh Powar
Harbhajan Singh
Dinesh Karthik
Dinesh Mongia

[itsnavin]

1 Sachin Tendulkar
2 Saurav Ganguly (Captain)
3 Virendra Sehwag
4 Suresh Raina
5 M. S. Dhoni (W.K.)
6 Yuvraj Singh (if fully fit) (Vice Captain)
7 Joginder Sharma
8 Irfan Pathan
9 Harbhajan Singh
10 Zaheer Khan
11 S. Sreesanth
12. Md. Kaif
13. Rudra Pratap Singh
14. V.R.V. Singh (Munaf Patel if fit)
15. Gautam Gambhir
16. Dinesh Karthik (Res WK)

Tavathia ji..I think it would surely be a losing combination without Dravid and Laxman. You know how much strength they can provide during the middle overs and they often create a base for hardhitters. If they are left out, there is no chance we can think of world cup.

Navin

[lalit9ahlawat]

its good to see ur batting lineup but ur bowling deptt. is very bad.
The bowling lineup should b
1. Zaheer Khan
2. Ashish nehra
3. S.Shreesanth
4. L.Balaji
Spinners :
1.A.Kumble
2. Ramesh Powar

[raj2rif]

Tavathia ji..I think it would surely be a losing combination without Dravid and Laxman. You know how much strength they can provide during the middle overs and they often create a base for hardhitters. If they are left out, there is no chance we can think of world cup.

Navin

Dear Navin Ji,
I have picked up this combination without favor or prejudice. It has no emotional angle attached to it. Dravid and Laxman are both good batsman no doubt. I will leave out Laxman purely on his weakness in the field and running between the wicket. As far as Dravid is concerned, he had played all his one day cricket prior to becoming the Captain, on the basis that he could keep the Wickets too. Now we have two good batsman and Wicket keepers in Dhoni and Karthik. They are yet to prove to be as good a batsman as Dravid is, but they are definitely much better Wicketkeepers and hence get ahead of him.

By the way from the selected lot, whom would you like to replace with them. If Laxman and Dravid are in the 16, then they should be in 11 too. Unfortunately, purely on the merit I don't find any place for them inspite of their excellent record.

[raj2rif]

its good to see ur batting lineup but ur bowling deptt. is very bad.
The bowling lineup should b
1. Zaheer Khan
2. Ashish nehra
3. S.Shreesanth
4. L.Balaji
Spinners :
1.A.Kumble
2. Ramesh Powar

Dear Lalit Ji,
From the one you selected Zaheer and Sreesanth are already there. Both Nehra and Balaji are good bowlers, however are currently being out performed by the one who find the place. Further, Nehra is very prone to injuries and if we select him, we need a cover right from the beginning. I don't know how well Balaji has recovered from the injuries? and if he has, I guess, he still short of a lot of match practice and it looks to me that has not done very well in the domestic season.

Kumble is a good bowler and so is Powar. I am looking for only one specialist spinner. I appreciate that between Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Raina, a good captain should be able to fill in the 10 overs. The palying 11 does have 5 bowlers in first place to bowl the full quota of the overs. If only one spinner is needed, I would prefer an off spinner rather than a leg spinner. The reason is simple, most batsman hit out on the on side. To get an LBW decision or bowled decision, a leg spinner has to bowl the line of middle and leg in one day cricket. While in a longer version he has the luxary of keeping a slip and a silly point to probe the off stump. I guess, among the off spinners, Harbhajan is still probably the best among the current players available in 30 probables.

[itsnavin]

Dear Navin Ji,
I have picked up this combination without favor or prejudice. It has no emotional angle attached to it. Dravid and Laxman are both good batsman no doubt. I will leave out Laxman purely on his weakness in the field and running between the wicket. As far as Dravid is concerned, he had played all his one day cricket prior to becoming the Captain, on the basis that he could keep the Wickets too. Now we have two good batsman and Wicket keepers in Dhoni and Karthik. They are yet to prove to be as good a batsman as Dravid is, but they are definitely much better Wicketkeepers and hence get ahead of him.

By the way from the selected lot, whom would you like to replace with them. If Laxman and Dravid are in the 16, then they should be in 11 too. Unfortunately, purely on the merit I don't find any place for them inspite of their excellent record.


I don't have any emotional attachment with them. Infact one day I was talked about axeing Sachin too but now he seems to be playing in a more responsible manner...he can be given a chance till this world cup.

Here are my 11 and 5 as replacements:
1. Sachin
2. Ganguly
3. Dravid(c)
4. Yuvraj(vc)
5. Laxman
6. Raina(try for 1 or 2 matches otherwise replace by Gambhir)
7. Dhoni
8. Harbhajan
9. SriSanth
10. Munaf
11. Pathan

Extras:
1. Sehwag
2. Zaheer
3. Gautam Gambhir
4. Romesh Powar
5. Robin Uttappa

Don't try to change the captaincy before WC and it can create poles in the team. Let Dravid stick to the job and let Ganguly enjoy some freedom. Yuvraj can be tried for VC as now he's now an old member of ODI gang.

My list is a bit controversial as Sehwag is sitting out and waiting for someone from top order to fail but it's like this. You perform and secure a place otherwise wait at the benches. It's the same for Pathan, Munaf, Raina etc.

Although Zaheer is performing better than Pathan but he's worth a gamble as he can do some pinch hitting if needed. And if he doesn't perform with the ball, sit out and make way for others.

Anyway, it's just what I think but what matters will be Vengsarkar, Chappell and Dravid.

baki dekho..kya karte hain sab mil kar..

Navin

[vijay]

My team and in batting order respectively :

1. Saurav Ganguly
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. M. S. Dhoni
4. Rahul Dravid ( Captain )
5. Virender Sehwag
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. Irfan Pathan
8. Joginder Sharma/Ajit Agarkar
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Anil Kumble/Harbhajan Singh
11. S. Sreesanth

I am strongly in favour of including Rahid Dravid in team and obviously as Caption. :)

[rajeshrathee]

My Team for the world cup
1. Saurav Ganguly
2. Sachin Tendulkar
3. Rahul Dravid ( Captain )
4. Virender Sehwag
5. Yuvraj Singh
6. M.S.Dhoni
7. Rohit Sharma
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Zaheer Khan
10. Anil Kumble/Harbhajan Singh
11. S. Sreesanth


12. Dinesh Mongia
13. M. Patel/S.Bose
14. R. Uthapa

[sandeep9shokeen]

Naven G, I can bet that ur team cant win a tour match, U r selecting Pathan whos record on WestIndian gounds is very very bad, the pitches of there r very hard surface and only seamers can bowl there not swing bowlers and the most imp. thing u r avoiding Zaheer Kahn, How can it possible.

[sandeep9shokeen]

Tavathia Sir, the comments on spinners u made was only 4 right handed batsman its OK but teams like W.I. or Aus. have Left handed batsman more than R.H.. Otherthing is that u r avoiding the record of our bowlers on W.I. pitches and Kumble is the best bowler in those conditions, Pathan is out of form since W.I. tour and sreesanth is a swing bowler according to me he cant do the same like S.A., U can see the record of him on slow wickets like in india or W.I. the team should be
Sehwag
Ganguly
D.Mongia/D.Kartik
Sachin
Yuvraj
Raina/J.Sahrma(if performs well)
Dhoni
Sreesanth
Kumble
Zaheer
Nehra

now see the middle order (the back bone). Agree ?

[itsnavin]

Naven G, I can bet that ur team cant win a tour match, U r selecting Pathan whos record on WestIndian gounds is very very bad, the pitches of there r very hard surface and only seamers can bowl there not swing bowlers and the most imp. thing u r avoiding Zaheer Kahn, How can it possible.

Sandeep brother...the 11 I suggested is a combination. +/- are always permitted. I know it's not a winning combination but this one can put up a good fight. India will start as underdogs for this WC...I would be happy if they can make it to semis.

[abhishekphogat]

Best Combination -

1 – Sachin Tendulkar (VC) Bowl]
2 – Sourav Ganguly
3 – Rahul Dravid (C) [Bat]
4 – Virendra Sehwag [Bat/ Bowl]
5 – Yuvraj Singh [Bat/ Bowl]
6- Suresh Raina / [B]Dinesh Kartik [Bat]
7 – MS Dhoni (WK)
8 – Ajit Agarkar [Bowl /Bat]
9 – Anil Kumble [Bowl]
10 – Zaheer Khan [Bowl]
11 – S Srishant [Bowl]

12 – Harbhajan Singh
13- Munaf Patel
14- Dinesh Kartik
15 – Robin Uttapa
16 – Gautam Gambhir


And Why -


Sachin and Souav is the Best opening pair India
Ever had, and I don’t want to say this on basis of their past records as records doesn’t matter, once you are in the Middle. What matters is your technique and experience.
Sourav has improved his cricket a lot, his shot selection, his technique needed to handle short balls, his mind set. Sachin is no doubt a master and as said “Form is temporary but what matters is class”, and he is a kind of player who is always a threat for opponents with both Bat and Bowl.

Rahul is irreplaceable choice for number three batsman, his mind set and his technique is what needed for a number three Batsman. His captaincy is under question mark for now but no doubt he is a genius.
Rahul ODIs
Matches innings Runs Best Avg. Strike Rate
302 281 9762 153 39.68 70.43
And 70+ strike rate is no where under question mark in ODIs.

Virendra sehwag always fits in middle order and if the openers do well he can also get a chance to bat in Power plays, where he can be a lethal. A off spinner who is capable of drifting the ball, on West Indian pitches can be a very useful weapon in the Captains armory.
Yuvraj Singh again a cool headed player with nice technique. He is a great match finisher as well as a player who can bat under pressure. His left arm spin can also provide variation in Indian attack.
Suresh Raina / Dinesh Kartik both have a solid technique and footwork. Including Dinesh Kartik as a batsman is also fine. He is a superb fielder and a nice feet mover which is necessary in WI. His solid technique helps him to rock back on Back foot even initially he is committed to front foot.

MS Donhi a nice wicket keeper and a fatal batsman. Can be used on number three as a batsman, he becomes deadly after he is settled (Not as a Pinch Hitter)

Anil Kumble Superb bowler with lot of experience, what requires when you are bowling in middle overs and even in Power plays.

Ajit Agarkar, who able to provide movement to the ball before and after pitching the ball. Have a good command on reverse swing and Yorkers which are needed in later half of game.

Zaheer and Srishant – Best Opening bowlers pair, both provides verity form opposite ends.Srishant with his out swing and attitude and Zaheer a cool customer who stick to basics, line and length.


Munaf and Harbhajan both can be used depending on conditions and Pitch. India can even afford to play with all fast bowling attack, as Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj and Ganguly can do the rest.

Robin Uttapa and Gautam both are very talented and continuous performers, Robin had some problem with his back foot movement, he used to commit to front foot but in recent domestic season his technique was really improved. Gautam is also a player who deserves in Playing 11s. He performed but didn’t got chances as others had.

[raj2rif]

Dear Members,

Thanks a lot for sharing your views on the subject. More or less, most players are common, barring a few variations.

Now the important question is about the strike rate of the batsman. Since most one day pitches are made batsman friendly (barring this year's champions trophy) we are looking at a higher strike rate.

There are only 300 balls to be played (50 Overs) A strike rate gets you to about 210 runs in the inning. That is surely a loosing total.

Considering that a good score to defend would be in the range of 270 or so, we are looking at the strike rate of 90 or around that. With that in view, may be some of the members may like to consider a little change in their teams.

[puneetsheoran]

Sorry, if I am late in the discussion.

My 15 member squad for the world cup would be:

Batsmen:

S. Tendulkar
S. Ganguly
R. Dravid (C)
V. Sehwag
Y. Singh
S. Raina
M. Kaif

Wk
M. Dhoni
D. Karthick

Bowlers

Z. Khan
S. Sreesanth
H. Singh
A. Kumble
A. Agarkar
I. Pathan

I have selected the 15 members keeping in mind the balance /all round ability as well as experience of the indiviual.

Now, lets talk about the all round capability:

Off the 7 batsmen - 5 (except for Dravid and Kaif) can be useful bowling options as well. Both the wicktkeepers are good batsmen and hence make the all round list as well. Off the bowlers only Pathan would make the list of all rounders. Stll, 8 out of 15 is reasonable. Kaif is an excellent fielder though and can possibly be inculded in the all rounder list for his fielding.

The other thing to note is that West Indies no longer have fast pitches. The pitches tend to be on the slower side so you need to have bowlers that can bowl accurate line and length and vary their bowling without losing the control. Batting will require patience and hence you need batsmen like Dravid to complement the hitting prowess of Sehwag/Dhoni/Singh. Dravid can hold one end up and the batsmen on the other end can play freely without having to worry about the batsman at the other end.

Anyway, these are my thoughts. Lets hope the selected team plays well.

[vijay]

Considering that a good score to defend would be in the range of 270 or so, we are looking at the strike rate of 90 or around that. With that in view, may be some of the members may like to consider a little change in their teams.

Sir,

Strike rate of more than 90 must not be the criteria. On ur strike rate selection only Sehwag is there and rest like Sachin, Ganguly, Yuvraj and even Dhoni are not in the scene. It's a team game where someone scores at the strike rate of 120-150 in slog overs becoz middle order keep up a healthy run rate without loosing their wickets. I suppose it's about how team play full 50 overs and score runs but not about that a team score 200 runs in 20 overs and all out.

[vkaschaudhary]

not worth to discuss.....

[puneetsheoran]

not worth to discuss.....


Why is this topic not good enought for discussion?

[rakeshdahiya]

am happy that almost everybody is in favour of playing Sehwag...despite his so called poor form...Ganguly's inclusion is good too.....and am sure sachin will sparkle as this is going to be his last world cup.....Pathan should be given a chance as he is an all rounder.....Dhoni dhamal machhaaa de ga is WC main...

[puneetsheoran]

Dear Members,

Thanks a lot for sharing your views on the subject. More or less, most players are common, barring a few variations.

Now the important question is about the strike rate of the batsman. Since most one day pitches are made batsman friendly (barring this year's champions trophy) we are looking at a higher strike rate.

There are only 300 balls to be played (50 Overs) A strike rate gets you to about 210 runs in the inning. That is surely a loosing total.

Considering that a good score to defend would be in the range of 270 or so, we are looking at the strike rate of 90 or around that. With that in view, may be some of the members may like to consider a little change in their teams.


Sir,

In my view what is important in scoring big totals is wickets in hand and not strike rate. A good example of this is how Indians scored in the first ODI against WI recently. The fact that they had wickets in hand allowed both Dhoni as well as Dravid to score freely in the last overs. Apart from providing options it also forces the fielding side to protect the boundaries opening up gaps which can be used to rotate the strike and keep the scoreboard ticking in the middle overs.

[arunshamli]

Why should Tendulkar be in the world cup team?

When he is not able to score runs on the Inidan grounds, chances of him scoring in the worldcup are between slim and none.

If there is a fair selection for the worldcup, he can find a place as a fifth bowler, but definitely not as a batsman. And in that case he should be sent to bat at number 8 ,9 or 10.

[raj2rif]

Dear Members,

A young player is trying to make a come back, after having been given opportunity to play one odd game couple of years ago. He performs admirably in the domestic season (the selection criteria for national team), you give him one chance that to allow to bowl only 4 overs and then drop him.
I think it is extremely unfair to a young lad from Haryana named Joginder Sharma.
While likes of Suresh Raina, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir and not to mention erratic in one day games Mr. Sresanth have been given ample opportunities inspite of their regular failure, giving only one game to a young lad is just heart breaking.

He may not be in the class of Kapil Dev, but certainly he is one of those who does have the potential. While we are prepared to groom Raina and other young players, why not this man.

I think selectors need to be a bit more fair to people like him.

[pmalhan]

My Winning combination for WORLD CUP 2007:

Playing 11 in their preferred batting order:

1. Saurav Ganguly
2. Gautam Gambhir
3. Rahul Dravid [Captain]
4. Sachin Tendulkar [vice captain]
5. Virender sehwag
6. Yuvraj Singh
7. M. S. Dhoni
8. Irfan Pathan
9. Joginder Sharma
10. Anil Kumble
11. Zaheer Khan
Rest 5 of the 16 squad are:

Munaaf Patel
Ashish Nehra
Harbhajan Singh
Dinesh Karthik
Robin Uthappa

[puneetsheoran]

I do not believe that the selectors have given him a fair go. I think the reason for it is his age. The way most Indian selectors think and believe is that once you are over 25 you cannot make it at international level and that is why they keep giving the youngesters chance after chance.

It may be interesting to note the Australian policy on this issue as age is not seen as a barrier, players are selected only on the basis of form and ability. Stuart Clark is a recent example who made his debut at the age of 31.





Dear Members,

A young player is trying to make a come back, after having been given opportunity to play one odd game couple of years ago. He performs admirably in the domestic season (the selection criteria for national team), you give him one chance that to allow to bowl only 4 overs and then drop him.
I think it is extremely unfair to a young lad from Haryana named Joginder Sharma.
While likes of Suresh Raina, Wasim Jaffer, Gautam Gambhir and not to mention erratic in one day games Mr. Sresanth have been given ample opportunities inspite of their regular failure, giving only one game to a young lad is just heart breaking.

He may not be in the class of Kapil Dev, but certainly he is one of those who does have the potential. While we are prepared to groom Raina and other young players, why not this man.

I think selectors need to be a bit more fair to people like him.

[satyakarwasra]

Selectors have not tested some talented players like Rohit Sharma(Batsman),Yashpal Singh(Batsman),TP Singh(All Rounder),Piyush Chawla(All Rounder),Randeeb Bose(Bowler) for one day side. They have performed consistently well in domestic circle and are worthy to be given some chances in Indian one day squad