With just 5 ODIs to go, what will be India's WC squad?

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Resting five seniors to test bench strength right: Akram Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels India is on right track in its preparations for next year's World Cup and resting five senior players to test bench strength in the ODI series against Australia was a right decision taken by the selectors. More... Resting five seniors to test bench strength right: Akram October 18, 2010 Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram feels India is on right track in its preparations for next year's World Cup and resting five senior players to test bench strength in the ODI series against Australia was a right decision taken by the selectors. "The decision to drop five senior players for ODI series against Australia has been a brave one. Sehwag and Gambhir are the best opening duo in the world and Sachin is like old wine, getting better every day. More than the batsmen, the decision to rest Zaheer and Harbhajan will definitely impact the bowling attack. But I am sure this is for a justified cause. Even if India lose the ODI series against Australia, there will be nothing to worry," Akram said. "Indian cricket is surely on the right track. The Test series win against Australia justified their status as world number one and I must laud the national selectors for doing a good job in picking a balanced side for the two matches," Akram wrote in his column for ESPN Star Sports. Akram said at a time when Pakistan's selectors were groping in the dark, their Indian counterparts were taking some wise decisions which will impact the future. "At this stage, all nations must be planning for the World Cup early next year and I think, India seem to be making the right moves," said the legendary fast bowler. He said India's bench strength is now well established and because of that the selectors rested five seniors players against a strong team like Australia. "India's bench strength has been well established now and this is a great sign. Even a few years ago, Indian selectors would not have dared to rest five of the best players in the country against Australia," he said. "India are by no means a weak side (even without five senior players). Folks like Suresh Raina [ Images ], Rohit Sharma [ Images ] and Yuvraj Singh [ Images ] are good enough and Australia will not have it easy. This is a great opportunity for youngsters like Saurabh Tiwari and Shikhar Dhawan [ Images ] to prove themselves. I am sure, at the end of the New Zealand [ Images ] series, the Indian selectors will have a problem of plenty," said Akram.

[DomainK]

I think our ODI team gels well now. A few new comers will not be misfits into the team. In these days of injuries, one can never pick a team 4 months in advance. I am sure the selectors have some idea what the final 15 are going to be even if it's not official yet.

[SachDan]

Sachin hasn't played after the 200*' date=' I guess his next ODI might be against the South Africans away or may be at the WC.[/quote'] I think Sach will play couple of matches against Kiwis and possibly entire series vs SAF unless we seals it in the first three matches itself!

[Lord]

sad thing is Rohit n Jadeja r still picked series after series while guys like Irfan n Uthappa are ignored. we r defintely screwed if Jadeja plays in WC,cant wint knockouts in 10 v 12 situation

[jf1gp_1]

with the world cup in subcontinent we should give one last shot of yusuf; all we need are couple of good innings at 7, which he can deliver in India.

[Ram]

8 of the 11 players in the team - Sach, Viru, Gauti, Yuvi, Raina, MSD, Bhajji and Zak- pick themselves (at least for now). The competition is only there for the remaining 3. What the Indian team is hoping is that one of those spots is filled by a spin bowling all-rounder and the other two by 2 pacers. I fear there’s no X factor in this team, no unknown quantity that can surprise the opposition. We don’t have a Sanath Jayasuriya of the 96 WC or a Klusener of a 99 WC or a Tait of the 2007 WC. We need a batsman who can come into game, grab it by the horns and manhandle the bull. Could it be Tiwary? Or maybe Uthappa? MSD keeps publicly hoping that Jadeja somehow magically transforms into a hard-hitting all-rounder. I dunno how many decades it will take for him to realize that this is not the case. The Indian team also seems to have set in stone the 3 pacer strategy, no matter how expensive and ineffective these guys turn out to be. That is sad because we have the required spin bowling options to really bamboozle the opposition bowling teams.

[Sid]

with the world cup in subcontinent we should give one last shot of yusuf; all we need are couple of good innings at 7' date=' which he can deliver in India.[/quote'] either we should go with ashwin or a proper batsmen at no.7(Utthapa or Saurabh Tiwari) slot who can hit the ball,there is no need of yusuf in this team,other teams dont have dumb management ,once yusuf comes to bat ,seamers will be brought back and he will be a walking wicket,players like jadeja and yusuf look good only in their IPL teams,they should stay there only

[Malik_Bhai]

tryout yusuf, irfan and tiwary. take some guys who are not overplayed. dont take yuvraj with, in his current condition, he's liability.

[Jersey #10]

For me Irfan Pathan is a must at number 7 :yes:

[Sid]

8 of the 11 players in the team - Sach, Viru, Gauti, Yuvi, Raina, MSD, Bhajji and Zak- pick themselves (at least for now). The competition is only there for the remaining 3. What the Indian team is hoping is that one of those spots is filled by a spin bowling all-rounder and the other two by 2 pacers. I fear there’s no X factor in this team, no unknown quantity that can surprise the opposition. We don’t have a Sanath Jayasuriya of the 96 WC or a Klusener of a 99 WC or a Tait of the 2007 WC. We need a batsman who can come into game, grab it by the horns and manhandle the bull. Could it be Tiwary? Or maybe Uthappa? MSD keeps publicly hoping that Jadeja somehow magically transforms into a hard-hitting all-rounder. I dunno how many decades it will take for him to realize that this is not the case. The Indian team also seems to have set in stone the 3 pacer strategy, no matter how expensive and ineffective these guys turn out to be. That is sad because we have the required spin bowling options to really bamboozle the opposition bowling teams.

I think Ashwin can be that x-factor among these known faces,he has enough variations to surprise oppositions but again our team management backs supertalent jadeja:wall:

[Jersey #10]

The World Cup starts in exactly 4 months. when do you think it will be a good idea for India to identify its 20 probables' date=' after the SA tour?[/quote'] certainly and precisely

[Jersey #10]

Wankhade stadium is where the Indian cricket history will be re-written :yay: I can already picture Sachin holding the WC trophy in the center of the Wankhade stadium, mumbai and the crowd going crazy and berserk

[dial_100]

SRT Gauti Raina/Pujara/Vijay VS YS Raina/Pujara/Vijay MSD Bhajji Zak PK IS/SS In that order.

[cowboysfan]

our odi team is really flawed and ironically the flat pitches in india are their worst enemy.on flat pitches even the good balls will be hit but the bad balls will get destroyed.our "fast" bowlers cannot stem the runs early on and definitely not at the end of the innings.our best bet at neutralizing other teams batsmen is our spin cadre but the flat pitches negate them too. If BCCI really wants us to win the world cup then they will make sure that India will play all of its matches on pitches with some assistance to the spinners.If it doesnt then we have no shot of winning the world cup.

[fineleg]

our odi team is really flawed and ironically the flat pitches in india are their worst enemy.on flat pitches even the good balls will be hit but the bad balls will get destroyed.our "fast" bowlers cannot stem the runs early on and definitely not at the end of the innings.our best bet at neutralizing other teams batsmen is our spin cadre but the flat pitches negate them too. If BCCI really wants us to win the world cup then they will make sure that India will play all of its matches on pitches with some assistance to the spinners.If it doesnt then we have no shot of winning the world cup.

You are 100% right. There used to be a time when flat pitches would be to our advantage. Not anymore. We really need spinner friendly pitches if we are to to go into semis of the WC.

[jf1gp_1]

I think Ashwin can be that x-factor among these known faces' date='he has enough variations to surprise oppositions but again our team management backs supertalent jadeja:wall:[/quote'] Ashwin is untried and certainly not a No 7; cant take IPL/CL t20 performance and put a player in WC squad. We made the same mistake with uttapa in WC07

[Sid]

Ashwin is untried and certainly not a No 7; cant take IPL/CL t20 performance and put a player in WC squad. We made the same mistake with uttapa in WC07

So you mean to say we can take yusuf on IPL performances but not someone like ashwin who is a far better quality cricketer than pathan,he has very good variatons as a off spinner to surprise opponents who face him for the first time as we have seen in IPL and Champions league What our team need is a very good 5th bowler who can bowl in powerplay situations or when batsmen is trying to hit and we want that fifth bowler to contribute with the bat with some quick runs which ashwin is capable of Our prime need from that no.7 slot player is ,he should be a good wicket taking bowler and as a batsmen capable of scoring more than run a ball ,which JADEJA IS NOT ABLE TO DO

[spectre]

Ashwin should be part of the squad for the WC He is one bowler who bowls very well in PP situations. India will face this situation a lot in the WC more often than that, as our pacers are going to be targetted. Harbhajan and Ohja suck at bowling in PPs, Jadeja is ok. Remember the final leg of IPL and finals, where MI batsman did not have a clue how to counter him. It could be T20, but MI had a strong batting unit Also, he was awesome in all CL matches, bowling to the best of player within first 6 overs or right at the slog end. He had one bad knockout over, apart from that he was brilliant

[fineleg]

Ashwin should be part of the squad for the WC He is one bowler who bowls very well in PP situations. India will face this situation a lot in the WC more often than that, as our pacers are going to be targetted. Harbhajan and Ohja suck at bowling in PPs, Jadeja is ok. Remember the final leg of IPL and finals, where MI batsman did not have a clue how to counter him. It could be T20, but MI had a strong batting unit Also, he was awesome in all CL matches, bowling to the best of player within first 6 overs or right at the slog end. He had one bad knockout over, apart from that he was brilliant

Which was actually MSD's stupidity to bowl a spinner (and that too a rookie over Muralitharan) at that time, LOL decision that!

[jf1gp_1]

So you mean to say we can take yusuf on IPL performances but not someone like ashwin who is a far better quality cricketer than dhoni,he has very good variatons as a off spinner to surprise opponents who face him for the first time as we have seen in IPL and Champions league What our team need is a very good 5th bowler who can bowl in powerplay situations or when batsmen is trying to hit and we want that fifth bowler to contribute with the bat with some quick runs which ashwin is capable of Our prime need from that no.7 slot player is ,he should be a good wicket taking bowler and as a batsmen capable of scoring more than run a ball ,which JADEJA IS NOT ABLE TO DO

:wall: