16 February 2008

What's your ideal Indian ODI atack?

Okay, the assumption here is that Pathan is not an all-rounder, and if he needs to fit in, has to be one of four bowlers. And I am not including Praveen Kumar, Munaf or Powar in the equation. You are welcome to question that. I am also assuming that we will very rarely be in a position to play both frontline spinners together. Here are the options:

A. Zaheer, Arpy, Pathan, Bhajji
B. Zaheer, Arpy, Pathan, Chawla
C. Zaheer, Arpy, Sreesanth, Bhajji
D. Zaheer, Arpy, Ishant, Bhajji
E. Zaheer, Arpy, Sreesanth, Chawla
F. Zaheer, Arpy, Ishant, Chawla
G. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
H. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
I. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Chawla
J. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
K. Zaheer, Pathan, Sreesanth, Chawla
L. Zaheer, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
M. Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Bhajji
N. Arpy, Pathan, Ishant, Chawla
O. Arpy, Pathan, Sreesanth, Bhajji
P. Arpy, Pathan, Sreesanth, Chawla
Q. Arpy, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji
R. Arpy, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
S. Zaheer, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji
T. Zaheer, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
U. Pathan, Ishant, Sreesanth, Chawla
V. Pathan, Ishant, Sreesanth, Bhajji


Have I missed a permutation? In fact, I am certain that there are more.

But that is quite a few options if everyone is fit. It will be quite lovely if one of Pathan or Praveen Kumar is able to fit the Hopes mould, in which case, Yuvraj Singh will never have to bowl. Yay!!

5 comments:

Soulberry said...

Is it for tests or ODI's? That has a bearing for Zak isn't as good a one-day bowler as he is a test bowler, and vice-versa for Pathan.

John said...

Soulberry!! A li'l more attention to the title, please. But I agree. Zak's not as good an ODI bowler, (same goes for Sree) and Pathan's not quite there in Testds yet.

Soulberry said...

(doh) I've kicked myself!

I'll take V...

Gaurav Sethi said...

Ideally:
1) Ishant Sharma 2) (fully fit) Munaf Patel -it doesn't bother me whether he doesn't do acrobats for the ESPN Star Sports team 3) Irfan Pathan 4) Harbhajan Singh 5) RP Singh.
Praveen Kumar - make a call after he plays more internationals.
SreeSanth - better off in test cricket.
Zaheer - after his injury ridden career, save him the rigours of ODIs.
Chawla - Try him in the odd game, keep the heat on Bhajji, and check his much touted batting.
More young quicks to ease Ishant and co. (so Sree and co will slide in becoz of injuries, just as they slide out)
cheers!

TM said...

Why the assumption that he is not an all rounder? Perfect at 3 (or 7) and then another 4 bowlers - how many teams have the luxury of 5 frontline bowlers in a ODI? With him, Ishant, Arpy, Zak/Sreesanth/Munaf and Harbhajan. What has the world come to!! We have to leave pacers out now!