India, Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe Tri Series : Raina to lead India in Zimbabwe

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Raina’s young turks ready for the African safari Having considered six out of the seven punished players for the upcoming Asia Cup and tour to England, the PCB seems to have maintained the status quo with all-rounder Rana Naved-ul-Hasan. More... Raina’s young turks ready for the African safari HT Correspondent, Hindustan Times Mumbai, May 26, 2010 When most of his India teammates came under fire for their flop show in the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, Suresh Raina escaped unscathed. This is despite being part of the squad that surrendered meekly in two consecutive editions of the tournament. The reason was simple. The Uttar Pradesh batsman was the highest run-getter for India (219 runs from five matches with a high score of 101) and the standout performer in his team's short stint in the ICC event. Raina's flamboyance with the bat earlier helped Chennai Super Kings clinch their maiden IPL title this year. Even when he stood in for MS Dhoni as skipper in a few matches in IPL-III, Raina found success. The question: is he ready to lead India, in place of Dhoni? “It's a great honour and challenge for me to lead the Indian team. I have a few match-winners in the squad and the tour should be interesting,” Raina said before leaving for Zimbabwe on Tuesday. The selectors decided to rest seniors Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Yuvraj Singh and Praveen Kumar. Raina was named the captain, with Virat Kohli as his deputy. It will be the first time Raina will be leading India, and the young cricketer seems aware of the responsibilities and that come with being national captain. “Twenty20 is a different format. In a 50-over match, there is more scope and we are at present second in the ODI list. I hope I will fulfill my duties,” he said. Raina emphasized the ‘no shortcut’ route to success, saying, “I have had discussions with Dhoni and he has told me to keep things simple,” he said. Newcomers welcome Raina seemed unfazed by the absence of seniors from the squad. “Generally, the seniors don’t get rest. So it’s a good opportunity for all of us to perform and cement our place in the ODI squad. In Zimbabwe, the pitches usually assist seamers and we have a very good bowling line-up," he said. Seamers Pankaj Singh, Ashok Dinda and Umesh Yadav, wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha and off spinner R Ashwin are the new faces. ‘No late night curfew on players’ After the pub brawl in West Indies that led to the BCCI slapping a show-cause notice on seven players of the World T20 squad, the manager in the Zimbabwe series GVK Ranga Raju said there are no special instructions from the Board to impose late night curfew on players. “We don't have any special instructions from BCCI.”

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Zimbabwe series could make or break youngsters : Saurav Ganguly The tri-series in Zimbabwe is going to be a big opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talent. Both India and Sri Lanka have rested their major players for this tournament and the youngsters should grab it with both hands. More... Zimbabwe series could make or break youngsters Sourav Ganguly | 2010-05-26 The tri-series in Zimbabwe is going to be a big opportunity for the youngsters to showcase their talent. Both India and Sri Lanka have rested their major players for this tournament and the youngsters should grab it with both hands. This tournament will also indicate the strength of the reserve bench, especially for India and Sri Lanka, which could come in very handy for the national selectors and the team management, keeping in mind that the World Cup is only eight to nine months away. Indian cricketing circles will have their focus entirely fixed on this tri-series. For some cricketers, failure could set their career back to a large extent. For some others, this could be the stage which they were waiting for, to catapult them to the next phase. After India’s poor showing in the T-20 World Cup, I feel that quite a few places will be up for grabs. The wickets in Zimbabwe will also test the batting skills and find out whether the techniques of those on tour are up to scratch. One must keep in mind that there will be both movement and bounce in the wickets at Harare and Bulawayo. All the special talents in Indian cricket have started their careers abroad successfully. Going by that trend, good performances in Zimbabwe will provide some answers to the below par batting in West Indies. For young Suresh Raina, this will be a learning process. He has to take care of his own game and at the same time keep in mind the well-being of the team. In a situation where all the cricketers will want to redeem themselves, captain Raina will have to find the perfect balance in the playing eleven, whereby India can win the tournament and the experimentation can happen as well. Sri Lanka has rested the big guns but at the same time hasn’t named many new faces, as most of them have featured in the national side before. Even then, it will be an opportunity for them to showcase their game and be back in the reckoning for bigger challenges ahead. It will be an opportunity for Tillekaratne Dilshan to get back amongst the runs as he has had a loss of form since the IPL. These are tournaments which will not have the same pressure on him like when he will be playing in the Asia Cup at home. A few big scores under his belt will do a world of good to his confidence. There can be no other remedy for a batsman than to score runs, wherever and whenever you play. Trying to build one’s confidence will hold good for youngsters like off-spinner Suraj Randiv or all-rounder Thilan Thusara. Both are talented and need to mature faster and shape up for the bigger stage. This will also be an opportunity for Zimbabwe to show off their cricketing skills. They played decently in the T-20 World Cup and fared quite well in the warm-up games against the likes of Australia and Pakistan. Playing at home will surely give Zimbabwe that extra fillip to carry on the good job. As there are a lot of youngsters involved in this tournament, who will be wanting to get noticed and make a statement for themselves, the intensity level could be very high. On the whole, it could be an interesting tournament to follow.

[Aaku]

:aha:

[zen]

For the Zim triangular series, I would prefer to start out with the following 11: - Vijay - Karthik - Kohli - Raina - Rohit - Ojha (wk) or YP (DK keeps) - Mishra - Ashwin - Vinay - Umesh - Dinda The tail is a bit long but with proper bowlers, we would be able to pick up wkts and make it tough for the opponents to score runs. A couple of guys in the top 6 would have to play good knocks with others playing around them

[Lord]

my XIl Vijay Karthik(wk) Kohli Raina Rohit Yusuf Mishra Ashwin Vinay Yadav Dinda

[Sid]

my XIl Vijay Karthik(wk) Kohli Raina Rohit Yusuf MishraAshwin Vinay Yadav Dinda

pragyan ojha,rest the same

[saneindian]

my XIl Vijay Karthik(wk) Kohli Raina Rohit Yusuf Mishra Ashwin Vinay Yadav Dinda

Can't play with 5 bowlers when the 6th batsman is Yusuf. Need to have more cushion, either play N Ojha as an opener or play Jadeja in place of Mishra.

[Zelig]

:csk:

[diegovegaz]

M Vijay Dinesh Karthik (wk) Suresh Raina (capt) Virat Kohli (vice-capt) Rohit Sharma Yusuf Pathan R Ashwin Umesh Yadav Vinay Kumar Ashok Dinda Amit Mishra for once, we should play 5 genuine bowlers, and let the batsmen stick to their job

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False start for young India The next generation of India’s crème de la crème of players got a rather rude shock when hosts Zimbabwe pulled off an unlikely win in the first ODI of the tri-series at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. More... False start for young India Express news service Posted: May 28, 2010 Bulawayo The next generation of India’s crème de la crème of players got a rather rude shock when hosts Zimbabwe pulled off an unlikely win in the first ODI of the tri-series at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Zimbabwe, considered one of the minnows of international cricket despite beating Australia in a warm-up game of the World Twenty20, showed heart to chase down a stiff target of 286 on Friday. Zimbabwe have shown over the years the ability to surprise fancied opponents. But India had won their previous 10 encounters against Zimbabwe and Suresh Raina, leading the Indian side for the first time, would have been confident of extending the good run. However, none of India’s main bowlers could derail the Zimbabwe chase, which benefited from two half-centuries and a few cameos. A 88-run partnership between openers Hamilton Mazakadza and Brendan Taylor set the tone for the Zimbabwe innings. Taylor made 81 off 103 balls while Masakadza contributed with 46 off 43. The flair at the finish was provided by a 58-run partnership between Craig Ervine and Elton Chigumbura. By the end of it all, the Indians looked a ragged bunch. It didn’t help that Ashok Dinda and Umesh Yadav, both debutantes, went wicketless. With an aim of picking the best squad for the World Cup early next year, the Indian selectors rested weary seniors and opted for a young team. Barring an out-of-form Irfan Pathan and medium pacer Munaf Patel, the best of the rest were part of Raina’s squad which took the field. Coach Gary Kirsten, on the eve of the game, had said that the tri-series was a golden opportunity for some of the youngsters to book their place in the World Cup squad. But in the absence of the regulars, the Indian bowling lacked teeth in this opening match. Raina used seven bowlers but as a unit they failed to put pressure on the hosts. India were in a spot of bother at 61 for three but a maiden century from Rohit Sharma and an unbeaten half-century by Ravindra Jadeja, two of the players involved in a pub brawl during India’s forgettable World Twenty20 campaign in the West Indies, saved the blushes. They added 132 for the fifth wicket. It was a 67-run partnership for the fourth wicket between captain Raina and Sharma that ensured India could retain hopes of a competitive total after the early setback that saw Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli and Dinesh Karthik depart in a span of six runs. Taylor hit Vinay Kumar for two sixes and a four in the 10th over and the partnership was blooming with a century in sight when Amit Mishra’s googly castled Masakadza. Indian bowlers toiled for another 16 overs without any success before Jadeja trapped Graeme Lamb (27). Taylor was looking good for a century but fell to Vinay Kumar in the 35th over after a 103-ball knock that had four fours and two sixes in it. Charles Coventry (32 off 25 balls) played like his wont, hitting Yusuf Pathan, Mishra and Vinay Kumar out of the ground before losing his stumps to the pacer. Ervine, however, showed tremendous maturity in his debut match as he played a vital role in Zimbabwe finishing off the game with 10 balls and six wickets to spare. Bowlers let us down: Raina Meanwhile, skipper Suresh Raina blamed his inexperienced bowlers for the debacle. “Unfortunately, we didn’t bowl well today. Some of the bowlers were playing for the first time. Hopefully they can learn from our mistakes and move one from here,” Raina said. While pacemen Dinda, Yadav and Kumar went for runs, Raina said the slow bowlers did a better job. “In the first six overs, we didn’t bowl well. (Amit) Mishra and (Ravindra) Jadeja then bowled well and we made a comeback. But they had a powerplay left and couple of their players played well, which cost us the game,” Raina explained. He also praised Zimbabwe for the way they chased down the target. “They battled really well and had good partnerships,” he said.

[Sooda]

Is it an indictment of our domestic cricket system that its top wicket taker and 'quickest' bowler got milked around for runs so easily... theyre just as toothless as our main men when the conditions arent quite in their favour.

[saneindian]

TBH for such a young team playing seires away from home, BCCI should have given them at least one practice match and 4-5 days in Zimbabwe to acclamatise themselves. Playing an international match 36 hours after landing in Zimbabwe isn't the smartest scheduling , but then for the BCCI babus that hardly matters.

[Sooda]

Indeed^ A little bit overconfident. Going in with 4 batsmen in the squad dosent help much either.

[zen]

More than winning or losing, Ind should be more focused on finding some young players who can be groomed to take responsibility in the near future Many of the bowlers are inexperienced (some have not even played enough first class games, iirc) so there is a need to give them proper guidance and encouragement. Someone should work on them telling what line and length to bowl I am hoping that one of Karthik and Vijay impresses, esp Karthik, who has the ability to play the short ball well. Kohli would be looking to seal a spot for the WC squad As far as I am concerned, except for Tendy, Sehwag, Gambhir and Dhoni, the rest of the spots are up for grabs in the ODI WC squad

[zen]

From the PoV of the WC 11: Batting: top 6 - Tendy - Sehwag - GG - Rohit / Kohli / Rayydu / ? - Raina / Yuvi / Uthappa / ? - Dhoni 4 & 5 are important slots and most would fill them up with say Yuvi and Raina. To me, both of them are similar players. I would only play both of them if I am going in with 7 specialist batsmen with one of them batting at 5 and the other at 6 or 7. We need a good (solid) #4 Batting #7 This is going to be one of the most important positions as this would also decide the combination of the playing 11, i.e. 7 specialist batsmen + 4 bowlers or 6 specialist batsmen + bowling all-rounder + 4 bowlers Of the 4 bowlers, ideally, you would want to play 3 seamers, esp considering there are 20 power play overs. And bowling a spinner at the death to set batsmen could backfire on us. But the problem for Ind is that its seamers are not amongst its best bowlers. And of the 7 specialist batsmen, none of them is good enough to do a job of a specialist spinner like a Mishra, Ojha, Ashwin or Bhajji. In fact we need at least two of them in the 11. So if we are playing two of the specialist spinners and 2 seamers as 4 bowlers with one/two of the 7 specialist batsmen bowling spin, we would be in trouble straight away when one of the seamer goes for runs (because then we would have only one seamer who is bowling decently). Then ofc the part timers would also offer trash to the opponent To play two specialist spinners and seamers, Ind needs to play a bowling all-rounder like Irfan at 7. And that will balance the side well. Bowling - 2 seamers - 2 spinners Summery - Tendy - Sehwag - GG - ? - ? - Dhoni - Irfan (also the 3rd seamer) or Nayar (if he can improve his bowling) - Seamer - Seamer - Spinner - Spinner And then if we still need more bowling options, we can use part-timers. But it's never a good idea to go in a match with part-timers slotted to do the 5th bowlers quota

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Zimbabwe triseries : India need to reconsider opening combination - Saurav Ganguly The team management needs to have another look at Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik, as they have been out of form for a pretty long time. Opening is an important area in any form of the game and shouldn’t be overlooked. More... India need to reconsider opening combination Sourav Ganguly | 2010-06-01 10:54:33 India pulled off a good win against Sri Lanka in the second match of the tri-series after having lost to Zimbabwe in the opening game. They looked a much better unit after their display in the first match, clearly showing signs of getting used to the conditions. It definitely takes a few days for a touring team to get acclimatised and that was on ample display in India’s performance. Winning the toss also helped India’s cause as the wicket did help the seamers in the morning. The bowlers did a commendable job to restrict Sri Lanka to 243. The spinners, with the addition of Pragyan Ojha, had a huge role to play. But the pick of the bowlers, taking into consideration the spinners too, was Ashok Dinda. He bowled with pace and after IPL-3 has showed improvement in bowling at the death. This is because he has added to his repertoire, the slower ball and the yorker, which are both very effective weapons for a bowler. He will be someone the selectors need to keep in mind when they select the team, as he has got a very big heart and also probably is one of the fitter bowlers around. Suresh Raina also looked in control as a captain. He inspired the team by his superb fielding effort. As he handles the responsibility more, he is bound to mature and do a good job as a leader. The Indian batting once again got off to a weak start. The team management needs to have another look at Murali Vijay and Dinesh Karthik, as they have been out of form for a pretty long time. Opening is an important area in any form of the game and shouldn’t be overlooked. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli saw India home with a mature partnership. Kohli has done well for India in the recent past and needs to be given a consistent look, ahead of names who haven’t performed. Rohit batted splendidly. He always seems to have a fair bit of time to play his shots but has not delivered against a genuine attack. These two knocks might help him to get a fixed place in the ODI team even when the big boys get back. It is when you play important knocks against quality attacks that you can be considered as a force. He has the talent but has to get the mindset right to back his talent. It was a sensible decision by the board to have pushed back the selection date for the Asia Cup. The young boys who are representing the country currently in this tri-series can look forward to get rewarded for their performance. The selectors will also have the opportunity to measure their abilities at the international level, before they decide on the squad to go to Sri Lanka.

[achilles]

Dada is spot-on in his entire analysis.

[Sachinism]

Who else can open. They could send Rohit up there, but don't know if that'd be a good idea

[vvvslaxman]

May be they can drop Vijay and draft Ojha in. Squad selection is poor. They have far too many bowlers than batsmen.

[f2000560]

drop DK and get ohja in !