Poor team selection

Team selection for Zimbabwe Tri series 2010

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.

Analysis 2010 continued

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This is a followup post to my last post Analysis 2010 on potential weakness of each team playing in the Super 8.

Why can SL lose?

• They are not looking like the side they were last year
• In both their group games they lacked intensity
• No other batsman apart from Jayawardene has fired

 Why can Australia lose?

• They have been inconsistent. They performed well against Pakistan but lost the track against Bangladesh.
• So far they have an extremely poor record in T20. Read my earlier post Australian Team is favourite

Why can India lose?

• The dreaded C word - Complacency. They are the champions or so the Indian Media and fans think.
• The weakness from last world cup might haunt them again - short pitched bouncers.

Why can WI lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency.

Evey team has chinks in its armour. And in T20 form on the match day matters more than anything else. However, I think it will be extremely difficult for NZ, Pakistan and SL to reach the semis.

Analysis 2010

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

This post is similar to my last year's post on second edition of ICC T20 World cup.

Analyze this

Like in last year's post I have analyzed what chinks hinder a team to not go on and win the tournament. I am writing this post just before the start of Super 8s. We have had a look at teams' form while teams have had a look at weather and ground conditions.

According to Lardbrokes, at the time of writing, Australia are still favourites with odds at 3. In fact they have improved their odds since tournament beginning. India and SA hold the next 2 positions with odds at 4 and 5 respectively. Also look at my last post

Australian Team is favourite

Let us see why a team can lose.

Why can Pakistan lose?

• The dreaded I word - Inconsistency. One their day they are world beaters and another day they are worse than a club cricket team.
• Nothing remains permanent in Pakistan cricket - They have a new captain who has a history of being on the wrong side of cricket administration and a new team which is low on experience.
• Batting looks weak as compared to other teams.

They can take heart from the fact that their batting fought hard against Australian bowling.

Why can NZ lose?

• The dreaded D word - They are perennial Dark Horses. They raise the expectations of their fans by giving a good fight but never go on and win a big tournament.
• They are a formidable unit but they struggled against lackadaisical SL.

Why can SA lose?

• The dreaded C word - They are not called Chokers for nothing. They inspire hope, excitement and confidence till they lose at the final frontier.
• They were unable to put up a decent fight against India team who were missing key players. Their batsmen struggled against part-time spinners.
• They were unable to put up a decent total against a inexperienced bowling attack of Afghanistan.

Why can England lose?

• The dreaded F word - They are a formidable unit but at the same time fickle in nature. They played well against WI only going on to lose due to DL system but against Ireland their batting failed miserably. And this time DL system helped them to post a win.
• Their country is the home of cricket but till now they beli all expectations of their fans in major competitions.

 Watch out for my next post for rest of the analysis.

Australian Team is favourite

ICC T20 World Cup 2010

Or this is what betting men think!

As per Lardbrokes Odds in favour of Australia wining the tournament is 7/2 which is better than any other team. This seems to be ridiculous. It is true that they have the pedigree and are the best side in One day internationals but T20 is a different ballgame. Consider this:

• Australia has just won 15 of the 29 Internationals played by them.
• Their record in World Cups is even poor. They have lost 5 of the 8 T20 matches played in ICC T20 World Cups.
• They have a new look team with players having little international experience.
• They have a new captain.
• They could not even qualify for Super 8s in last World cup.

I would not discount Australia. They can still go on to win the tournament but I think the odds are heavy. In T20, on their day, even a weak team can beat a stronger team. Remember how India in 2007 and Pakistan in 2009 became world champions despite odds.

In my opinion Australia are a beatable side and putting a pre-tournament favourite tag on them is too much. There are better team in fray.

It seems that the betting is rigged. Or are we missing some information here.

Some defeats are harder to digest than others!

DD vs KKR at Eden Gardens, Kolkatta
IPL Season 3

Today was one of those defeats when DD was well ahead till 15th over then wickets started tumbling.

ICL was good for cricket

It is a common knowledge that ICL was the first professional T20 league in India. Mr. Subhash Chandra, of Zee fame, announced ICL much before India won the inaugral T20 World Cup. It was announced immediately after India lost in first round of World Cup 2007 held in West Indies. At that time very few people in India knew about T20. And travesty is BCCI resisted entry of T20 cricket in India.

  

ICL was a moderately popular league but it could not survive the onslaught of cash rich BCCI and financial ressures. It sparkled for few seasons before it died down. Its promoters are trying to salvage some pride by engaging BCCI in a legal battle. In all probablity nothing will come out of the legal battle. By launching T20 in India and giving respect to neglected domestic players in India, ICL spawned a whole new era. It gave the cricket world following:

• IPL and the only Mr. Modi we know - ICL was initiated and run by a certain Mr. Himanshu Mody. IPL would never have started unless BCCI felt the heat from ICL. Today IPL is hugely popular and Mr. Modi is a househld name.
• New techniques like overhead moving camera - this innovation was first introduced in ICL.
• Excellent talent like Ambati Rayadu, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Rajagopal Sathish.
• Respect for domestic players.

A healthy competition is good for everything. Although unlikely, revival of ICL may give rise to betterment of IPL and Indian cricket.

What is worst thing about DD?

What else? Cheerleaders outfit...