Croaking from cricket?? 2009-tours

[Chandan]

Croaking from cricket HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times New Delhi, November 15, 2008 First Published: 23:26 IST(15/11/2008) Last Updated: 23:51 IST(15/11/2008) Ishant Sharma's ankle injury has only resulted in him being rested, as of now, at least. Fortunately for India, though Ishant is not the most muscular of fast bowlers, he seems to be blessed with a constitution that allows him to bowl a lot of overs. But he is not alone in this and the think tank has noted that the workload is quite severe for some cricketers. While the volume of cricket has increased steadily over the last few years, the problem has been compounded by the fact that there is so little recovery time between matches. Not only within a series, where teams try to complete a tour in as quick time as possible, but even between series, there's barely any downtime. Take the current scenario for example. By the time India had finished the fourth Test against Australia at Nagpur, England had already arrived in Mumbai. There was only a gap of three days for India’s players to switch from Test to ODI mode. And it only gets worse. MS Dhoni, who plays a central role in all forms of the game, will play the last of seven ODIs against England in Delhi on December 2. On the 4th he will turn out for his Chennai IPL team in the Twenty20 Champions League in Mumbai. If he manages to lead his side to glory, it will play the final on December 10 at Chennai, but as desperate as he and his franchise will be for him to lead, Dhoni can't play that game. On December 11 India play England in the first Test at Ahmedabad. If you think it ends there, think again. Soon after is India's tour of Pakistan, which might even be played in Dubai or Abu Dhabi. Then there's a tour of New Zealand … and you're back to T20 in the IPL. Only recently Anil Kumble, when stepping down, said India were on their way to becoming No. 1 in all formats of the game. If they are to achieve this ambition then sooner, rather than later, they will have to chalk out a definitive rotation plan. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Earlier I had raised this subject in my thread "Indian cricketers : Broken Arrows?" and this question is still remains valid even now. Sreeshanth has not recovered from the injury he sustained after IPL. Yuvraj Singh is almost crocked, Ishant is out of the squad and if this mad schedule will continue, Dhoni too will crack because he has no escape from any format now as he is the skipper in all formats. If Sehwag will keep bowling as much and then bat for long, then he is at risk as well. Kumble has already retired and we all know that Harbhajan is playing with cortisone injections. Where is the experienced spinner in any format? But will BCCI wake up? It is okay to have a pool of more players but quality bowlers are still very few, there is hardly a second keeper and absence of players like Sehwag will weaken the team no matter who replaces him even for one match. Still, does it make a difference to BCCI?

[Predator_05]

This is the worst scheduling i have seen in ages. Playing SEVEN ODIs with a break of only 2 days between all of them is ludicrous. And people still wonder why the bowlers break down and why players want to get rested every now and then... If the BCCI wants to burden the Indian cricket team with such a heavy workload, why doesn't it just expand the # of players in the squad from 15/16 to 21 or something ? At least that way you can rotate a bit instead of making the same XI play over and over again.

[Ram]

We've enough quality paceman and batsman to rotate around. IF we win this series early, I am a 100% we will see lots of other guys tried out for the last 2-3. Right now, the priority is to win this one.

[fineleg]

agree abt rotation. regarding SS - he's partying

[Desi Cartman]

Good post Chandan, the million $ question is what will dhoni choose. I think he will play test cricket since he is the skipper. But this shows how much pressure BCCI is putting on the players. They need to come up with a plan which states the number of Tests , ODIs, T20 and IPL games a player should play and if the player crosses the prescribed number for the year then he gets a rest of 2 weeks or something. My point is that there has to be a plan. They just cant get players like M$D , I Sharma etc to play every game.

[sm332]

MSD will break down ... the sheer workload he has to just insane. To be a frontline bat in ODI's and 20/20's plus keeper for all games is going to be very tough not to add the mental stamina it takes to captain. I really hope that we are sensible about not playing him in dead games (ODI's) and perhaps even against lesser opposition. I dont want him playing against Associates or masala ODI's period.

[mhr123]

MSD will break down ... the sheer workload he has to just insane. To be a frontline bat in ODI's and 20/20's plus keeper for all games is going to be very tough not to add the mental stamina it takes to captain. I really hope that we are sensible about not playing him in dead games (ODI's) and perhaps even against lesser opposition. I dont want him playing against Associates or masala ODI's period.

No better time than the pak series ....:yawn2:

[Kohum]

Man o Man - this is indeed mountaneous work load. Shame on BCCI.

[bharat297]

It may be at a stage where we need Sehwag to step up and captain games so that Dhoni can take rest.

[Tapioca]

>> If he manages to lead his side to glory, it will play the final on December 10 at Chennai, but as desperate as he and his franchise will be for him to lead, Dhoni can't play that game. Nonsense. Surely no Test match is as important as the Champions Trophy final. >> Sreeshanth has not recovered from the injury he sustained after IPL. He'll be alright by April 10.

[jf1gp_1]

This is the worst scheduling i have seen in ages. Playing SEVEN ODIs with a break of only 2 days between all of them is ludicrous. And people still wonder why the bowlers break down and why players want to get rested every now and then... If the BCCI wants to burden the Indian cricket team with such a heavy workload, why doesn't it just expand the # of players in the squad from 15/16 to 21 or something ? At least that way you can rotate a bit instead of making the same XI play over and over again.

what abt dhoni ? how do u rotate captain ? given the kind of reaction we say after he decide to sit out SL series i doubt he would try it again but he could always claim he is injured

[fineleg]

jf1gp1, Way to do it is REST MSD for several of the ODIs (ODIs - they are by definition mostly useless). Make sure MSD is raring to go in Tests.

[Tapioca]

http://indiancricketfans.com/showthread.php?t=129771 : There BCCI is trying to get the Test match moved. What did I tell you ? Now what will ECB do - use this as an opportunity to get back at BCCI or agree for the change for the sake of some future concessions ?

[sharma]

i reckon they can rest dhoni from odi# 6 and/or 7 depending on how comfortable we are in the series, let viru lead. dhoni goes for champions league (i wanna see him winning that :P) and then comes back for the first test, hopefully wins the toss and gets another day's rest by choosing to bat first...?

[Chandan]

We've enough quality paceman and batsman to rotate around. IF we win this series early, I am a 100% we will see lots of other guys tried out for the last 2-3. Right now, the priority is to win this one.

Oh really MM?!! So let us get started: Who will you replace Dhoni with and its effect on team/teams? Who will be the three seamers in the ODIs through rotation? Who will you replace Sehwag with? Who will you replace Gambhir with? Who will you replace Harbhajan with and its after-results on the team?

[King Tendulkar]

Oh really MM?!! So let us get started: Who will you replace Dhoni with and its effect on team/teams? Uthappa, Karthick and Patel Who will be the three seamers in the ODIs through rotation? Munaf, Zakky, RP, Ishant, Sree, Kumar Who will you replace Sehwag with? Tendulkar Who will you replace Gambhir with? Tendulkar or Uthappa or Murali Who will you replace Harbhajan with and its after-results on the team?[ Chawla or Mishra /QUOTE]

[fineleg]

Oh really MM?!! So let us get started: Who will you replace Dhoni with and its effect on team/teams? Who will be the three seamers in the ODIs through rotation? Who will you replace Sehwag with? Who will you replace Gambhir with? Who will you replace Harbhajan with and its after-results on the team?

Essentially ODI series is not that important compared to Tests. Heck, play Whale Powar if needed (RP singh is playing anyway the way he is doing currently, add a whale to the mix as well)

[Chandan]

Who will you replace Dhoni with and its effect on team/teams? Uthappa, Karthick and Patel No way because all three are hopeless keepers and as bad batsmen too. You can't pick any Tom Dick and Harry to play for India. He should have the ability to represent India and right now these three are nowhere near it. Who will be the three seamers in the ODIs through rotation? Munaf, Zakky, RP, Ishant, Sree, Kumar Munaf is already playing. Zak has to be rested very soon because he shared a heavy work-load during tests, RP is on the verge of being kicked out as he has been bowling utter tripe, Ishants hasn't recovered fully and we can't stress him too much since he has to play in tests too, Sree is almost gone as he hasn't recovered from a sidestrain since May, Kumar has a fractured ankle from a Ranji game (It'll be better if you read the Ranji updates to know about such things). Who will you replace Sehwag with? Tendulkar Wonder if he'll come back in this ODI series. Who will you replace Gambhir with? Tendulkar or Uthappa or Murali Sorry but Uthappa will invariably give a 0/1 start to India and he doesn't deserve a chance as yet. Who will you replace Harbhajan with and its after-results on the team? Chawla or Mishra No. They aren't as experienced and we've seen what happerned to Chawla in Kitply Cup and in Asia cup. If you have forgotten, you can check the scorecards. Mishra doesn't even play ODIs. Where is the experience? They can be second spinners but not the premiere spinner.

And condition in tests is even more dire as hardly other test class seamers or keepers are available.

[SachDan]

>> If he manages to lead his side to glory, it will play the final on December 10 at Chennai, but as desperate as he and his franchise will be for him to lead, Dhoni can't play that game. Nonsense. Surely no Test match is as important as the Champions Trophy final. >> Sreeshanth has not recovered from the injury he sustained after IPL. He'll be alright by April 10.

:hysterical::hysterical::hysterical:

[fineleg]

Sobsanthi! Apr 10! :hysterical: