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When the young guns of the Indian team roistered
after the historic win in the first Twenty20 World
Cup, the writing was clear on the wall – a youthful
Team India is emerging as a new force to reckon with. The
amalgamation of valuable experience and spirited youth is proving to
be a sure recipe for success. Now it is only a question of time before we
make it to the top in other versions of the game– ODI, and test cricket.
There is a glut of talent knocking the doors of the selection committee.
Promising bowlers like Balaji sit out because of injury and we don’t even miss
him, as an Ishant Sharma or a Praveen Kumar are there to chip in with memorable
performances. These are great days for Indian cricket, when we can keep a player of
Virendra Sehwag’s or V V S Laxman’s caliber out of the team for not being in form and
yet win matches in trot.
The saying of a famous tennis champion comes to mind – it’s easier
reaching the top than remaining there. So now that India has reached a pivotal
position what should it do to remain there? Here are a few tips that can be
employed: |
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| There is no doubt that an aggressive attitude from
team members is a precondition for winning games. But the dosage of
aggression has been increasing dangerously during the last few months. In
South Africa and Australia players like Bhajji and Sreesanth demonstrated
in no uncertain terms that they will not take any nonsense from anybody.
That’s a beautiful attitude, despite a penalty here and a reprimand there
by cricketing governing bodies. But it becomes a problem if these players lose self-control. The recent
slapgate incident, where Bhajji
slapped Sreesanth, tarnished
the images of both the players.
Additionally, it has now put
pressure on the whole team
to prove that it’s aggression is
well within reasonable sportive
limits. Players need to be
counseled so that they don’t
break into fits of anger. |
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| The talented youngster, Dhoni,
has ample cricketing acumen.
He is capable of leading the
test team, as well as a one-day
or a T20 team. But he shouldn’t be overburdened with test
captaincy. With the amount of cricket he is playing he will
be lucky if he can last for 5 years. Being a wicket keepercaptain,
he has to be busy, mentally and physically all through
the game. Adding the burden of test captaincy will be a sure
recipe for shortening Dhoni’s career. So let’s stick to the two
teams, two captains policy. It’s working fine. |
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| Ganguly came in as the captain when Sachin buckled
under the pressure of leading the team. Ganguly exuded rare confidence and mental toughness. He led the Indian team to many memorable victories and there was a time when everybody was singing paeans on his name. But with Jagmohan Dalmiya at the helm of the affairs he took his position for granted and developed a group of sycophants around him. In future, no player or captain should be allowed to become bigger than the team. |
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| Bowlers like Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Praveen Kumar, and Balaji have off-set the imbalance in the Indian team composition that comprised of mostly batsmen. In addition to Zaheer Khan, Irfan Pathan, and R P Singh, these bowlers form a robust group that offers selectors a plethora of choice. The ratio of bowlers to batsmen availability is healthy now and this balance should be retained. |
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| This means players like Ajit Agarkar shouldn’t be in the
contracted player’s list. Given the current pool of talent
can we imagine Ajit Agarkar in the list of probable players?
Clearly he has been allowed to play a year or two extra on the
basis of sheer favoritism stalling the entry of other promising
bowlers. This should stop. It may sound clichéd but, “only the
top talents should be picked”. |
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Its time for us to admit – India is witnessing a virtual deluge of cricket. Players have been complaining of stress resulting from packed schedules. Now with the T20 version of the game having made its debut, there is bound to be extra pressure on highly rated players who are expected to take part in all the versions of the game: Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Virendra Sehwag etc. The calendar should be designed so that it allows enough time for rest and rejuvenation of players. |
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| Cricket, despite being a glorious game of uncertainty
follows certain patterns.
And great teams like
Australia that stayed at
the acme of international
cricket for considerable
period have established
the unwritten formula
of retaining the prime
position. Luckily we have
the privilege of imbibing
some of their methods
and mix them with some of
our own proven methods.
If followed scrupulously,
these methods can ensure
that we rule the roost in
international cricket for
the next decade. |
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