Monday, September 20, 2004

We lost; I'm not upset!

Deservingly we lost yesterday, that too to our archrival Pakistan, still I'm not upset.
We thoroughly deserved to lose.
With all drama, hype and noise, thrown into it but bottom line is that we lost.
And irony is there is no single player who can be made scapegoat for the defeat, it was a collective team-effort :-)
Actually, we started preparations for this day right from the day when team was selected for this twin-tour for three championships. Whole composition of team is screwed up, we if have to ask Dravid to keep wickets then what was need of having specialist keeper, what a waste of a player, and can anyone explain the logic behind the selection of Rohan Gavaskar, this guy cannot bat, cannot bowl, cannot field properly, is in late twentiesss....then how his selection over players like Dinesh Mongia or Ambavvati Rayyadu or say Romesh Powar can be justified. His domestic as well international record is pathetic as compared to these guys i just mentioned.
We all know, Ganguly has not DONE anything substantial with bat and bowl (no, I’ll not talk about his fielding, this guy cannot field), apart from scoring against countries like Kenya/B'desh, he has not performed at all since he has become captain. He should not take his place for granted; he is not someone on whom we can rely on.
He WAS a good player, not now he is good for NOTHING.

Right from top, from Sehwag/Ganguly/Laxman/Yuvraj they all are woefully out of form but still are sure of their place in the playing eleven..WHY??? ...coz' there was not a single replacement on the bench, there was not a single "Batsman" to take place of a batsman. Whole selection was flawed; bench-strength was not in sync with the requirements of the team.

How can they justify Gavaskar as Sachin's replacement, this whole thing is so disgustingly ridiculous.
Its been ages since we played decently against any decent side. We have not lasted full quota of 50 overs lately; this is so shameful. And then they claim to be number two in the world.

These series were nothing but test of character, platform to rise to the occasion and except Dravid/Kaif/Pathan to some extent Harbhajan, all others fail miserably.

Now time has come for two seprate times for test-matches and one-dayers, for-example guys like Laxman and Kumble, they are just too GOOD for test-matches but lack a thing or another for one-dayer requirements, one guy cannot bowl at-all and other cannot bat at-all, and both cannot field, both have poor running between the wickets. We need bits-pieces but committed players, guys who can bat, who can roll their arm whenever required, who are live-wires on the field, have secure hands.

Take look at Aussie squad, apart from Ponting and Hayden, all of them have dual roles, like Clark can bowl and bat, Symonds is the future of Aussies Cricket, the complete one-day player, capable of changing course of the game with bat or ball or thunderbolt throws from the deep. They have amazing bench-strength fully backed by their management, there is always a Haddin to take place of Gilchrist, there is a always a Watson or Harvey waiting to pounce on the failure of Clark or Symonds, even Bevan sits out now a days, then here is Brad Hodge or McGill ever ready to step in Warne's shoes, same goes with their pace battery, now all their 4 top bowlers McGrath/Gilespie/Lee/Karporwiz firing all cylinders leaving the selectors in dilemma over team selection. And players like Brad William and Nathan Bracken still on sidelines, with so much of over-flowing bench strength no one can take his place for granted in the playing XI.

We need Jayasuriyas/Youhanas/Flintoffs/Symondss who believe in finishing the game on their own rather than doing their bit and leaving the result to the rest, odd 50s or 60s from Dravid or Kaif will not take us any further. We need match winners.

Its high time, we badly need two teams for two versions of game, and a good bench strength, there should be a pool of say 30 players who should be ready for national duties at any given time, this will save the management of hassle of finding players in case of injuries, like in the case Sachin, team manager called Dinesh Mongia to be ready but management sitting here in India decided to stick with Gavaskar, also Bhandari was asked to leave for England on short notice. Being mentally fit for national duty is more important than physically fit.

We lost; I'm not upset!
I'm hurt.