I wrote a post Let us pray! earlier this year. The title of this post could also have been same as I am writing about a similar situation. India were scheduled to play SA in a dead rubber and selectors rested top players of Indian team just to give chance to youngsters. And guess what, India lost. Even though that was a dead rubber and now we are talking about playing in Zimbabwe, we should be ruthless while it comes to playing international matches. We should select the best team possible. Remember it is a tri-series and we would be playing against SL as well.
I have no doubt about the talent of youngsters picked for the squad. They are all good players and proven themselves in IPL and other domestic matches. They would also be hungry to showcase their talent in International arena. But cricket is a team sport and individuals can win you only few matches. I feel that making wholesale changes tot the team composition is not a good idea.
A few factors that goes against the selected squad:
1. The squad has never played together as a team.
2. The coach and other support staff will have to guide an entirely new team.
3. All players are low in experience.
4. The experience is even lower when it comes to playing matches abroad.
An excerpt from my earlier post
It is true that the replacements are worthy and talented but all of them lack experience. It is a good idea to test the reserves and give bench some chance to secure a team for future. But wholesale replacements are not good even if it is a dead rubber. We must learn from Australia of old. They also had a rotation policy but never at the expense of a game. They never got complacent and were so ruthless that many games were won even before starting. We must make winning a habit.Let us just pray that the team is able to win a few matches.
While I agree in general with your view point about making wholesale changes and being ruthless in mowing down opposition, I disagree with some of your points. The coaching staff have worked with these players as they have been in and out of the Indian team at various stages. Since this tour is only a ODI tour, some of the players do have good international experience (Raina, Karthik, Pathan, Rohit, and Ojha). This will serve as a good exposure for them. Most of the selected players have played abroad as a part of earlier tours (India or India A or Under 19). Many of them have also played together as a part of previous India A tours. Its good to see new talent given chances. The only regular India player who could have been picked in my opinion would be Gautam Gambhir. In fact they could have made him the captain.
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