Chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth and his colleagues have done their job and named the 15-man final squad which will represent India in the 2011 World Cup. The onus is now on skipper MS Dhoni and his team to put their best foot forward as they aim to end India's 28 year wait for the ICC World Cup.
The triumph in the 1983 World Cup was a watershed moment for Indian cricket; and while India did win the 2007 Twenty20 World Cup, the team's performances in the 1999 and 2007 editions of ICC's premier event left much to be desired. In 1999, India crashed out at the Super Six Stage, while in 2003 the Men in Blue were thrashed by Australia in the final. But, the events in the Caribbean almost four years back, where India crashed out in the first round is reason enough for Dhoni and his boys to seek redemption in the forthcoming edition of the tournament.
Srikkanth and his colleagues have done a fair job with the squad to a large extent, but there are a couple of names that beg attention, mainly Munaf Patel and Piyush Chawla. Munaf is an erratic bowler and has trouble maintaining consistent line and length, and he is also a liability in the field. Chawla has got the nod for the third spinner's slot ahead of Pragyan Ojha, but the Hyderabad spinner can consider himself a trifle unlucky to miss the bus. Chawla last played an ODI in July 2008, but the deciding factor for his inclusion could be the variety he lends with his leg spin bowling as the other two slow bowlers in the squad (Harbhajan Singh and R Ashwin) are off spinners.
The three specialist spinners apart, India also has a host of part-time spin bowling options to choose from with Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan and Virender Sehwag all being more than capable of bowling at least three-four overs each whenever the need arises.
India has four fast bowlers in the squad, including Munaf, but the undisputed spearhead of the attack will again be Zaheer Khan, who has been in tremendous form of late. The one change that could have been considered is picking Vinay Kumar ahead of Munaf. Vinay swings the ball both ways and is also fairly accurate apart from being a decent fielder. While it could be argued that Ashish Nehra's problems with line and length are slightly similar to Munaf's, the Delhi bowler is a better bet when he gets things going for himself.
There are eight batsmen in the squad, including Dhoni, who is also the sole wicket-keeper, which is a bit of a surprise considering it is a long tournament. The most notable exclusion in this department is Rohit Sharma, who deservedly fails to make the cut. He may be one of the best batting talents in the country, but unless Sharma starts to do justice to his potential by stringing in consistent performances, he will keep missing out on important series and tournaments.
The concerns in the batting department mainly centre on Yuvraj and Raina. That being said, both the southpaws thrive in the batting-friendly pitches on the sub-continent and will be itching to salvage their reputations in the World Cup.
A point that merits mention is that three of India's premier batsmen in Sachin Tendulkar, Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir are currently injured but they are expected to regain full fitness before the tournament gets underway on February 19, but until they do step out on to the field, there will be some anxiety surrounding the trio. However, in Virat Kohli, India has a potential future superstar in the make, and the youngster would look to enhance his reputation with some match-winning performances. The exploits of Yusuf have been well documented, and he is certainly India's 'X' factor.
All in all, it looks to be a well-balanced squad and with the highs that Indian cricket has experienced in the last couple of seasons, this could potentially be India's best chance of ending its 28-year wait for the ICC World Cup in the 50-over format.
Source:-http://cricket.yahoo.com/cricket/news/article?id=item/2.0/-/story/cricket.yahoonews.com/will-28year-wait-world-cup-over-20110117/
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