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Who'll play at No.7 for India?
Six months away from the World Cup, India are no closer to finding the elusive allrounder for a vital spot in the order
August 13, 2010
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It's six months to go to the World Cup - a long time if you are preparing for the staging of the Commonwealth Games, not quite if you are looking at the best possible combination to put together for the biggest cricket event in the world. Coaches and selectors must be hoping to have at least 10 or 11 names finalised by now, and really should have a fair idea of who the other four or five will be. A wish list would be in every coach's back pocket.
India's wish list is pretty obvious really, and a first reading will expose the biggest problem with it. Ideally this is what I suspect Kirsten and Dhoni and Srikkanth would be looking at the evening before the first game: SachinTendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Suresh Raina, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar or Ashish Nehra, Zaheer Khan, Pragyan Ojha. Eleven of those 12 names look settled, but for India to be strong at the World Cup, No. 7 needs to be identified, and at the moment Irfan Pathan has gone underground.
So if Pathan Jr is not on the radar, who bats after the batsmen and above the bowlers and gives you a few, if not 10, overs? India have tried Pathan Sr - and I suspect he is still an option - and currently are investing heavily in Ravindra Jadeja, who has so far given little indication of becoming the rock star Shane Warne thought he could be. "Could be" is the operative phrase here. Early in his career Jadeja seems to have stagnated, and I suspect people will start looking for returns on investment very shortly.
I also suspect India's think tank will have started thinking seriously about a Plan B. They will need one because there is no No. 7 who answers to the job description anywhere in sight in India. You'd think the IPL would have thrown up a couple of names, but really, apart from R Ashwin, who seems better with the new ball than with the old at the moment, the canvas is blank.
| A bits-and-pieces player policy tends to be fraught with danger because you run the risk of getting neither a bowler nor a batsman, and so India need to play to their strength, which on Indian pitches is batting | |||
And so I suspect India might have to go the way they did during that very successful run from 2002 to 2004, when the selfless Rahul Dravid took the gloves and allowed India to play a seventh batsman. Straightaway you can see Rohit Sharma playing the role that Mohammad Kaif did then, with the license to bat freely in case the team is in a good situation, and instructed to douse the fires if there is a batting collapse.
But what looks good in the mind and on paper need not necessarily be the same way on the field. So who bowls the other 10 overs? Or more if one of the bowlers has had a bad day? It's time, then, to ask the batsmen to start rolling their arms over. In home conditions that isn't such a daunting task. Sehwag is a very competent offspinner (remember Aravinda De Silva bowling 10 overs quite often in 1996?) and Yuvraj Singh is much underrated. But I think it is time to look even further afield and start throwing the ball to Suresh Raina, who seems to possess a pretty cool head when bowling in the 20-overs game. Or, for that matter, to Rohit Sharma, who can be good for a few overs.
A bits-and-pieces player policy tends to be fraught with danger because you run the risk of getting neither a bowler nor a batsman, and so India need to play to their strength, which on Indian pitches is batting. Four players to generate 10 overs between them shouldn't be a huge issue.
I am not sure that is the way the think tank is thinking at the moment, but if No. 7 remains elusive even after the Sri Lanka tri-series, it might be the right time to start asking the batsmen if they fancy six-over spells in limited-overs cricket. My gut feel is that they will jump at the opportunity.
India have eight one-day games in home conditions before the World Cup. They must know what they want at the World Cup before those games begin.
Harsha Bhogle is a commentator, television presenter and writer. His Twitter feed is here
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Harsha Bhogle
Harsha Bhogle is one of the world's leading cricket commentators. Starting off as a chemical engineer and going on to work in advertising before moving into television, he is also a writer, quiz host, television presenter and talk-show host, and a corporate motivational speaker. He was voted Cricinfo readers' "favourite cricket commentator" in a poll in 2008, and one of his proudest possessions is a photograph of a group of spectators in Pakistan holding a banner that said "Harsha Bhogle Fan Club". He has commentated on nearly 100 Tests and more than 400 ODIs.
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It is not the no 7 position, it the no 4 position. India is surely going to play Sehwag, Gambir and Tendulkar at the top. So who will play at no4 & 5 . Is it going to be Raina or Yuvi or MSD. I expect two from the list. then no 6 and 7. Which would be between Virat and rohit. Does it will give enough fire power to the position. I would say no. then get this little Jadeja at no 4 position. A role of Dravid. In such case India can play an allrounder at the no 7 position. Jadeja is more a bowler than a batsman now a days. His bowling record is fair enough than any other spinner in the team mainly in Odi format. Now India should look into other options. Bring Jadeja up the order to make him play without the pressure, he is more a slow player and not a hard hitter. The mistake is not with him it is with the team selection. Select only six batsman add two allrounders in the squad, so MSD has to play atleat one allrounder. Either Ashwin or Irfan is likely to be the India's 7 th postion.
Posted by TexasCricket on (August 16, 2010, 15:16 GMT)Sachin, Sewhag, Gambhir, Raina, Yuvraj (if fit or Rohit), Dhoni, Yusuf, Harbhajan, Zaheer , Nehra, Praveen, Uthappa, Sreesanth,Ojha, ... HERE IS THE BEST POSSIBLE 14 FROM CURRENT PLAYERS!!!!
Posted by1. Sachin; 2. Sehwag (all rounder); 3. Gambhir; 4. Yuvraj (all rounder);5. Raina (all rounder); 6. Dhoni; 7. Irfan (all rounder); 8. Harbhajan ;9. Praveen; 10. Nehra; 11. Zaheer; 12. Sreesanth; 13. Uthapa (wkt/bat); 14. Rothit / kohili; 15. Ashwin (all rounder); 16. Ohja
Posted by TexasCricket on (August 16, 2010, 15:04 GMT)Yusuf,YUSUF Pathan is the only answer to that!, world cup is in Indian/subcontinent pitches . why are we still experimenting with Jadeja ? Robin Uthappa should also be in the team (if he is physically fit) in place of D.Karthik. Hope the selectors will have their head cleared by WC !!!!
Posted byI think dravid can still play crucial role in indian world cup ambitions coz our batting line up is really full of stroke players n its fragile at d times so i think where dravid comes handy!!!India tried sharma , yusuf ,jadeja n pathan broders no one comes out good constantly !!!v need dravid for sure!!!i would luv 2 c.. 1.tendulkar 2..sehwag 3..gambhir 4..dravid 5..raina..6..yuvraj if he got his form n attitude fixed 7..msd 8.bhajji 9..nehra 10..zaheer 11..ishant or parveen!!!!!!its now or never coz our golden generation players lyk laxman , dravid or tendulkar would b retired so its now or never for indian cricket die hard fansssssss!!!!!!!!
Posted by Sininsh on (August 16, 2010, 2:50 GMT)Q. "Who'll play at No.7 for India?" "Six months away from the World Cup, India are no closer to finding the elusive Allrounder for a vital spot in the order"
A. Sehwag. In one-dayers, that's perhaps where he'll make his peace. Besides, he is an allrounder too ... The question then should be, who'll open with Tendulkar.
Posted by JackJak on (August 16, 2010, 2:32 GMT)Most people here seem stuck on the same names and dont look beyond...look beyond the world cup and not just world cup. the world cup is just a trophy which the media will hype up to such an extent and fool the people ..then if the indian team loses they will analyze the loss to such an extent then they will start talking about the next world cup. So please do build bench strength ...the world cup, tests, one dayers, 20 20s whatever will come under that umbrella. A team and country which provides its best players opportunities will be a good team. And I u want a good World Cup result you cant get it by magic..there has to be good foresight and vision which India has never had.
Posted by Ashu123 on (August 15, 2010, 21:32 GMT)i like Monowar Ahmed Rony xi but i really doubt dravid will be picked. the selectors seem biased against him in odi. if that is the case they should give kholi the position at no.4.
Posted by1.sachin 2.sehwag 3.Gambhir 4.Dravid 5.Raina 6.Yuvraj 7.Dhoni 8.Harbhajan 9.Pravin 10.Zaheer 11.Nehra. 12th man Virat kohli. another spinar should be ojha and fast bowler Ishant Sarma.
Posted byThe full strength 11-member squad for the World Cup 2011 should look something like this:
1. Sachin Tendulkar (Batsman) 2. Virender Sehwag (Vice Captain, Batsman) 3. Gautam Gambhir (Batsman) 4. Yuvraj Singh (Batsman) 5. Rohit Sharma (Batsman) 6. Suresh Raina (Batsman) 7. M.S. Dhoni (Captain, Batsman, Wicketkeeper) 8. Ravindra Jadeja (Bowler) 9. Harbhajan Singh (Bowler) 10. Praveen Kumar (Bowler) 11. Zaheer Khan (Bowler)
Reserve Players: Dinesh Karthik (Wicketkeeper, Batsman) - 12th man, Yusuf Pathan (Batsman), Pragyan Ojha (Bowler), Ashish Nehra (Bowler)
This is an ideal 15-member squad for the World Cup 2011. So we have four bowlers who will bowl out their quota of 10 overs each at No. 8, 9, 10 & 11. The remaining overs have to be shared among Sehwag, Yuvraj & Raina (Rohit Sharma should, however, concentrate more on being a specialist batsman).
Currently there is no place for Irfan Pathan at present, so we can safely rule him out till the end of the World Cup 2011.