Indian ODI team of the mid 2000s

[Norman]

I'm on a YouTube marathon of watching old highlights (esp of matches from 2004-09) and it's just fascinating to see how polar opposite that team was to the current side. The flexibility, the flair, the positive intent™ and the overall depth of the side with 7-8 bowling options... every thing that the current side lacks in.

 

**Irfan Pathan used to bat at 3 regularly even when we were chasing 280+ totals. He even opened in a few games if I'm not wrong. 

 

** Dhoni used to randomly get promoted to no.3 and smash big hundreds at 120+ SR. 

 

**Regular chances were given to Gambhir, Raina, Uthappa etc in the top 4 while experienced guys like Dravid, Saurav dropped down the order. Even Kaif opened in a good few games.. 

 

** Top 3 almost always used to bat at 6+ RPO and '70/1 in 10 overs' starts were very common. 

 

** Except Dravid (who himself could keep wickets + captaincy) everyone in the top 8 had a secondary skill. Sachin, Sehwag, Yuvraj, Ganguly, Raina could all bowl a handy 4-5 overs. Bhajji, Zak, Irfan were all more than capable with the bat. 

 

The balance and flexibility in that team was mind boggling when you compare it to the current side where top3 is fixed with a hammer, batting order is not tinkered and none of the top6 bowl most of the time. 

 

Yes one could say even that team achieved nothing major and it is true that they failed spectacularly in the 3 ODI tournaments (2004 and 06 CT, 2007 WC) in that period, but those tactics most definitely helped us win 2 out of our 3 wcs. I just hope coach dravid brings that to the current team somehow... 

 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Chappel-Dravid era was the most exciting one in ODI cricket for us

 

• i think we had a record of chasing some 16 consecutive games
• Promotion of yuvi that made him what he was
• making dhoni a floater 
• promotion of irfan which was too good but ppl developed a stupid myth that he lost his bowling coz of his batting................hahaha yea right
• bringing in uthappa, raina, sreesanth, rp singh 
• during that phase even agarkar did well, ganguly n wright were pushing balaji ahead of agarkar n ODI . I remember Woolmer telling in an interview had he been india's coach he wud have made Balaji play red ball cricket more n agarkar white ball 

 

 

[Ankit_sharma03]

Then dhoni took their ideas forward

 

gambhir sehwag opening was so much fun whereas sachin-sehwag partnership was clearly overrated 

[SK_IH]

24 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

Chappel-Dravid era was the most exciting one in ODI cricket for us

 

• i think we had a record of chasing some 16 consecutive games
• Promotion of yuvi that made him what he was
• making dhoni a floater 
• promotion of irfan which was too good but ppl developed a stupid myth that he lost his bowling coz of his batting................hahaha yea right
• bringing in uthappa, raina, sreesanth, rp singh 
• during that phase even agarkar did well, ganguly n wright were pushing balaji ahead of agarkar n ODI . I remember Woolmer telling in an interview had he been india's coach he wud have made Balaji play red ball cricket more n agarkar white ball 

 

 

Greg Chappell was indeed a fine coach who could have achieved much more with Indian talent. 

[Lone Wolf]

We had some exceptional young talent in batting coming through.  Fearless youngsters.  There was certain flair about Indian cricket.  We were most exciting team to watch by far.   ICT carried ODI cricket back then.  Of course Aussies were too strong & even Lankans had some exceptional players playing back then.   Commentary used to be dope.  Full houses in stadiums.   ESPN-Star broadcasting was top tier. 

[Norman]

47 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

• bringing in uthappa, raina, sreesanth, rp singh 

 

 

 And brought them in when they were very young. RP, Irfan, Raina were all teenagers while Uthappa was 20. Now the likes of Porel, Tyagi etc are getting ignored for Bhubi. 

[Norman]

29 minutes ago, SK_IH said:

Greg Chappell was indeed a fine coach who could have achieved much more with Indian talent. 

 

Disagree. He was great at identifying talent but just did not know how to use it properly. His tactics too were bizarre at times. Playing Sachin at 4 in ODIs, picking Munaf and Agarkar ahead of Sreesanth and Irfan in the 07 WC to name a few. 

[A1Singga]

Bowling these days is definitely better compared to before. Along with that India now actually wins in overseas bilateral tournaments . of course one could argue that Sri lanka, west Indies and SA are not the team they once were.  

[Ankit_sharma03]

23 minutes ago, A1Singga said:

Bowling these days is definitely better compared to before. Along with that India now actually wins in overseas bilateral tournaments . of course one could argue that Sri lanka, west Indies and SA are not the team they once were.  

bowling , ground fielding, running between wkts all are better

[Ankit_sharma03]

33 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

Disagree. He was great at identifying talent but just did not know how to use it properly. His tactics too were bizarre at times. Playing Sachin at 4 in ODIs, picking Munaf and Agarkar ahead of Sreesanth and Irfan in the 07 WC to name a few. 

sree was always bad with white ball , munaf n agarkar were always better, Irfan i think had injury issues.........chappell always liked him 

Sachin at 4 was also fine, we had many options then  gambhir, sehwag, uthappa 

 

Chappell only problem was man management 

[Nikola]

35 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

Disagree. He was great at identifying talent but just did not know how to use it properly. His tactics too were bizarre at times. Playing Sachin at 4 in ODIs, picking Munaf and Agarkar ahead of Sreesanth and Irfan in the 07 WC to name a few. 

 

Sachin due to elbow issue didn't perform that well as opener in chappell's tenure and that may have made him think this is decline so he tried him at #4 instead of opener. At that time many expected sachin to retire after 2007 worldcup & form he was in previous years.

[A1Singga]

21 minutes ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

bowling , ground fielding, running between wkts all are better

I would say ground fielding, catching  was better in 2010s compared to what i have seen now. hope it improves., and correct me if I am wrong.

Edited February 16, 2022 by A1Singga

[Ankit_sharma03]

46 minutes ago, A1Singga said:

I would say ground fielding, catching  was better in 2010s compared to what i have seen now. hope it improves., and correct me if I am wrong.

Catching i always remember being our problem if 2-3 were good many were bad 

Yes around 2000s we had this batch - raina, yuvi, kaif , tiwary who were terrific and guys like sagarkar, bhajji. sachin had great throwing arm 

[Norman]

2 hours ago, Ankit_sharma03 said:

sree was always bad with white ball , munaf n agarkar were always better, Irfan i think had injury issues.........chappell always liked him 

Sachin at 4 was also fine, we had many options then  gambhir, sehwag, uthappa 

 

Chappell only problem was man management 

 

I remember there was a lot of criticism on Dravid for not picking Sreesanth. Zak wasn't in the best of forms and we clearly missed someone like him who could make the new ball talk. 

 

And Sachin at 4 well.... it's a debate for another day. I definitely think he was at his best as an opener and couldn't play as freely in the middle overs. 

[Ankit_sharma03]

26 minutes ago, Norman said:

 

I remember there was a lot of criticism on Dravid for not picking Sreesanth. Zak wasn't in the best of forms and we clearly missed someone like him who could make the new ball talk. 

 

And Sachin at 4 well.... it's a debate for another day. I definitely think he was at his best as an opener and couldn't play as freely in the middle overs. 

yes sachin was best at opening but it wasnt as bizzare as many moves been done in our history