Port Elizabeth ODI: Pre and post match discussion

[Mariyam]

Wow, this is now reaching worrying proportions. Never mind the fact that the first choice Indian eleven will probably be fit, come WC time. But now, you have to question their ability to last a 6 week tournament. Even if we do manage to qualify for the knock-outs, it could well be that we will be without some of our first-choice players. This doesn’t augur well at all.

I can understand where you're coming from. However, the gap between the games is so huge ( an average of 5-6 days) that the players will have ample time to recuperate. The format suits the teams with lower fitness levels ( read the subcontinent teams) :P

[saneindian]

I haven't followed the squads closely. No other team other than Aus have any keeper options? That will be strange. Well I know for SL - Dilshan will be considered reasonable backup (like Uthappa). Not the best, but decent choice. No other team other than Aus and SL have reasonable backup choices (at least Uthappa or Dilshan level players?) That is indeed surprising to me.

Ok then let me ask you this. Before you saw Dilshan keep (or for that matter rahul Dravid or even Umar Akmal keep), did you really believe those guys could keep decently? So maybe your fears are misplaced. Having a reserve keeper would have been a waste of a space and the selectors have done the right thing by not going for one.

[kabira]

lets employ Buchanan approach.. there are 50 overs, lets have 5 players captain for 10 overs each 1) Zaheer:- 1 to 10 (anyways he will bowl so he likes to set his own field) 2) Bhajji :- 11 to 20 3) Raina: 21 to 30 4) Yuvraj 31 to 40 5) Kohli 41 to 50 :--D

[fineleg]

If Dhoni is hurt on the morning of a match from slipping during training, so be it. We have to deal with it and move on. You cannot pick a squad to account for things like freak accidents.

Is having a backup keeper in a Worldcup squad such a strange or freakish proposition? Since when? Infact, it used to be a fairly regular thing to expect. PS: Yes, I've spent a lot of growing up years playing casual cricket - though nothing at serious tournaments, but mostly like with friends - street cricket with cars passing by (gully cricket as it is called in India) and in community park playgrounds.

[saneindian]

Is having a backup keeper in a Worldcup squad such a strange or freakish proposition? Since when? Infact, it used to be a fairly regular thing to expect. PS: Yes, I've spent a lot of growing up years playing casual cricket - though nothing at serious tournaments, but mostly like with friends - street cricket with cars passing by (gully cricket as it is called in India) and in community park playgrounds.

Am sorry to say this but you truly are the panic button of ICF :--D

[fineleg]

Am sorry to say this but you truly are the panic button of ICF :--D

Realistic button :winky: and wanting reasonable backup plan in the squad for important tournament

[Ram]

Is having a backup keeper in a Worldcup squad such a strange or freakish proposition? Since when? Infact, it used to be a fairly regular thing to expect.

Except that isnt. As saneIndian has pointed, very few teams have designated back-up keepers. Do you think they’re all stupid as well? Plus, until Parthiv Patel was flown into South Africa to replace Sachin, who do you think was the back-up keeper for India?

[Andy]

:wall: Why GOD why.

[Manny_Pacquiao]

i havent seen any other news source reporting this.

[Ram]

Realistic button :winky: and wanting reasonable backup plan in the squad for important tournament

This is not your IT Disaster Recovery plan, where if something goes wrong and you call a Tech PM and he’s missing, you designate someone else to call. :wall:

[fineleg]

Plus, until Parthiv Patel was flown into South Africa to replace Sachin, who do you think was the back-up keeper for India?

And if PP is not there, who will keep for next 2 ODIs? Maybe this series is not important - so we can get by with someone who has never really kept wickets at any serious level. But can we get by in Worldcup with a crucial drop catch or two, or missed stumping chance - because the 'sub' keeper has not really been doing the job for a long, long time (if ever)? I think Parthiv Patel should have been in the squad ahead of Piyush Chawla...he is no great legspinner anyway, and probably will not get to play ahead of Bhajji and Ashwin. At least having PP means we have a decent batsman and backup keeper if required.

[Ram]

And if PP is not there, who will keep for next 2 ODIs? Maybe this series is not important - so we can get by with someone who has never really kept wickets at any serious level. But can we get by in Worldcup with a crucial drop catch or two, or missed stumping chance - because the 'sub' keeper has not really been doing the job for a long, long time (if ever)?

And what if the back-up keeper got diarrhea on the morning of the match? Shouldn’t we have a back-up for the back-up as well? :nervous: What about the back-up’s back-up? Lets say Dhoni twists his ankle in practice in the morning of the match, his back-up has diarrhea and the back-up’s back-up flees with a movie star the night before, what do we do then? OMG, we're DOOMED! :((

[Cricketics]

Btw, how about Munaf for captaincy, and Nehra will be Vice Captain

[vaibhav_delhi]

i havent seen any other news source reporting this.

Star news reported abt the injury, but not abt his unavailability. For 2morrows game, parthiv should replace dhoni and rest of the team should be unchanged. And we should play ashwin and chawla in the last game only if we win this series.

[Sachin=GOD]

I've just heard on India Tv that the team manager has said that "Dhoni ki chot Gambhir nahi hai aur woh kal ka match khelenge" :hmmm:

[vaibhav_delhi]

^^ ok , good. I think they will take the final call tomorrow morning.

[Sachin=GOD]

I think he should rest if there's the slightest hint of any injury because the World Cup is too near to take any kind of risk.

[fineleg]

Shouldn’t we have a back-up for the back-up as well? :nervous:

You are arguing for argument sake and you know it. I am talking about a reasonable contingency plan which is normal for teams, not some crazy wild imagination. By the way, incase you haven't noticed - I am not the only person talking about the backup keeper for the Indian WC squad. Even Cheeka was asked about this in the interview (though he defends his stance, naturally). The reason the question came up in the interview was that it was on the minds of several others as well.

[Shehezaada]

See, this is the problem with you. I doubt if you’ve held a cricket bat in your life, even for posing for photos. In fact, I doubt if you’ve played any sports at all, EVER. Because if you did, you wouldn’t keep asking such simplistic questions over and over again. Players play with niggles ALL the time. It’s a fact of life. In fact, you can rarely count any player being 100% at any given time. If you, as a casual fan, can pinpoint a potential problem area, as far Dhoni’s fitness is concerned, you think, the Indian team management (Captain, coach and senior players) and the selectors would not have thought about that, that too for such a high-stakes tournament like this? You think they’re that stupid? Obviously, the coaching/conditioning staff are closely monitoring the fitness/general condition of all the players. By now, most players have a fair idea of how much their body can take, or when they should take a step backwards or push a little more. All of those would have obviously been factored into the calculation, whether it be picking the squad, or sending players mid-way back to India, from the Saffie series. If Dhoni is hurt on the morning of a match from slipping during training, so be it. We have to deal with it and move on. You cannot pick a squad to account for things like freak accidents. Plus, you really don’t know MS Dhoni, do you? That guy is a mensch. He will play through a brain hemorrhage, if it came to that. An odd niggle isn’t going to make him miss a world cup game.

sorry srirarm, fineleg is on the money with this one. In a squad of 15, you definitely need a reserve keeper. There's been plenty of freak accidents over the years that's resulted in plenty of people missing matches. In fact I think the Windies keeper was hit in the mouth in the nets when India toured in 97. Imagine if that happened to Dhoni, god forbid he gets hit in the eye. Don't think he'll play through it, and even if he wants too, I'm pretty sure a two eyed parthiv is better then a one eyed dhoni. My world cup squad of 15 would ideally include 7 batsmen, 6 bowlers, and two keepers. We don't have ANYONE that even keeps part time. Losing Dhoni is too much of a risk. Your statement of "don't pick squads for freak accidents", well that's why we have reserves. For situations like these...otherwise what's the point of them ? My squad: Sachin Tendulkar Virender Sehwag Gautam Gambhir Yuvraj Singh Suresh Raina Yusuf Pathan Mahendra Singh Dhoni Harbhajan Singh Zaheer Khan Praveen Kumar Piyush Chawla Reserves: Virat Kohli Ravichandra Ashwin Parthiv Chawla Munaf Patel

[Jersey #10]

5th injury for India and we are a few weeks shy of the world cup