Plumbing New Depths
By Sankaran Krishna
Even the most cynical and inured of Indian cricket fans will have to gasp in astonishment at the spectacle unfolding at the Oval. I'll confine myself to making a few points: (1) What exactly is Munaf Patel doing in the team if, despite injuries to both Zak and Praveen, he cannot make the playing XI? (2) The coach, the captain and the selectors knew before the series that Sehwag was not going to be able to play the first two tests and possibly the third. How then do they pick a team with 2 openers - one who made his test debut a few weeks before the series and the other quite untested in English conditions? (3) How do you take someone who is fresh out of shoulder surgery and has not played any cricket at all since his rehab (which had not even ended) and fork him in as opener in a test match? (4) How on earth does RP - who was not deemed good enough to be selected for the tour in the first place and has not played anything longer than a 3-hour T20 in half a year- being called to open the bowling at the Oval? Why not throw the ball to Ishant or Sreesanth at least? (5) How does one justify bringing on Raina before Mishra during the first day? (6) Given what we've seen of Raina's batting so far this series, its obvious that he's now in shell-shock. If Graeme Swann were to bowl a bouncer at him, he'll probably cough it up into the gully after averting his eyes from the ball. Why not give Virat a shot?
Its all rather depressing, and yet a tale foretold. Back in '74 we fell to pieces in similar fashion. Then too we came into England riding high - on the success of three series victories, two of them abroad. Its very likely that Cook or (God forbid) someone like Bopara is going to take us for a double- or triple hundred. Believe you me - the worst is yet to come.
Even the most cynical and inured of Indian cricket fans will have to gasp in astonishment at the spectacle unfolding at the Oval. I'll confine myself to making a few points: (1) What exactly is Munaf Patel doing in the team if, despite injuries to both Zak and Praveen, he cannot make the playing XI? (2) The coach, the captain and the selectors knew before the series that Sehwag was not going to be able to play the first two tests and possibly the third. How then do they pick a team with 2 openers - one who made his test debut a few weeks before the series and the other quite untested in English conditions? (3) How do you take someone who is fresh out of shoulder surgery and has not played any cricket at all since his rehab (which had not even ended) and fork him in as opener in a test match? (4) How on earth does RP - who was not deemed good enough to be selected for the tour in the first place and has not played anything longer than a 3-hour T20 in half a year- being called to open the bowling at the Oval? Why not throw the ball to Ishant or Sreesanth at least? (5) How does one justify bringing on Raina before Mishra during the first day? (6) Given what we've seen of Raina's batting so far this series, its obvious that he's now in shell-shock. If Graeme Swann were to bowl a bouncer at him, he'll probably cough it up into the gully after averting his eyes from the ball. Why not give Virat a shot?
Its all rather depressing, and yet a tale foretold. Back in '74 we fell to pieces in similar fashion. Then too we came into England riding high - on the success of three series victories, two of them abroad. Its very likely that Cook or (God forbid) someone like Bopara is going to take us for a double- or triple hundred. Believe you me - the worst is yet to come.
Labels: India England 2011, selection
posted by Sankaran Krishna at 11:59 PM
3 Comments:
"worst is yet to come" - yes yes
Perhaps Fletcher is taking suggestions from Nasser Hussain.
What happened to cheteshwar pujara after making impressive debut...!!
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