20000 runs is the new elephant in the room

Nobody who ever saw this partnership is likely to forget it, least of all Murali, Vaas and co.

Anyway, now that Sachin has taken himself out of the elephant equation, there is a new one for Venx The Messiah and his Gang of Merry Men to consider. How do they put 20000 runs to pasture gracefully? These are two giants of the one-day game, and sad as it may be, it is good for Indian cricket that the more athletic Rohit Sharma, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa stepped up so their absence was not felt in one of the most demanding of all ODI tournaments. Of course Dravid and Dada may still be able to contribute with the bat, and may be packed with the tactical mishmash that comes with 20000 runs, but we need to give the captain the team he wants. Having done so once, and all credit to Venx The Messiah, and may his loins bear a thousand lions, ans seen more than satisfactory results, we just need to continue doing so. Barely anything should be allowed to stand in the way of the development of Rohit Sharma, Uthappa and Gambhir. It will be unfair, not only to those three, but even to Raina, Kartik and Tiwary who have waited, to consider any sort of longish farewell for Dada and Dravid.

I don't know, but the moronically conceived Asia Cup may be the right opportunity. There is even a game against Hong Kong at Lahore.

Number 3

I doubt the Ganguly-Sachin opening combine would be broken just yet. The plan, for all to see, is to drag it on a little longer. So we move on to the number three position.

The number three position though, is far from settled. Even though conventional wisdom points to a batsman settled at this spot, India, over a period stretching even prior to the Chappell years, have approached the spot with some amount of flexibility. Of course, on some occasions such fluidity has been forced on the managment. On others, Dravid and Chappell pursued it aggressively as strategy. Quite surprisingly, it is VVS Laxman who has walked in at the fall of the first wicket, the most number of times since 2003, having done it 28 times. Ever since he was dropped from the squad to South Africa for the '03 World Cup, it was clear that Laxman would never cement his spot in the ODI team. Nevertheless, India kept going back to him. This is just one more instance of muddled Indian selection. Not only has this held up the development of another ODI batsman, it probably affected Laxman's Test batting as well.

Pathan has batted at number three sixteen times, and is second only to Laxman. Surprisingly,
of the 142 matches he has played since 2003, Dravid has batted at this position only thirteen times. Dhoni has done it eleven times, Kaif ten, Sehwag nine, Yuvraj eight, Gambhir seven, Tendulkar five and Uthappa and Raina have each batted there four times. and surely there are a few more.

Contrast this to Australia. Of the 134 ODIs Ricky Ponting has played since 2003, he has batted at number three in 126 of them. I don't want to use this statistic to extol the virtues of a settled number three position. In the 2003 World Cup, Saurav Ganguly batted at number three for all but two matches of the tournament. Even that does not settle the obvious superiority of this approach. Especially for the Indian captain. After all, is he not a product of the flexible approach that allowed him a platform for creative expression?

Now, assuming that the managment stays predictable and opts for Sachin-Saurav Inc to open, we have the following candidates for the spot.

- Gautam Gambhir
- Virender Sehwag
- Robin Uthappa
- Yuvraj Singh
- S Badrinath
- M S Dhoni
- Irfan Pathan
- Rohit Sharma
- Pravin Kumar

And if Dravid is back after two ODIs, then of course, him too.

It would be surprising to see any of the last five at the position. Such a ploy may work, but it won't sustain itself over a series or more. Of the rest, one has to say that all of Sehwag, Gambhir, Uthappa and Yuvraj have a claim on the spot. Yuvraj is used to coming in a little later, but there is no point in worshipping the dharma of youth if the ultra-experienced and uber-talented Yuvraj still does not or is not allowed to take responsibility for the batting. Gambhir is the man riding a purple patch. Sehwag should be given a chance to storm back, and Uthappa has proven just as destructive at the bottom of the lineup. Since this is such a tough choice, one is likely to see more shuffling. A couple of failures could see Sehwag either sit out or move to the lower middle order to make space for Gambhir or Uthappa.

But who will open?

Ganguly for sure.
But Sehwag or Uthappa? Sehwag, say the pundits, because he is an opener and that is where he has made most of his runs. But do we dare risk losing Sehwag to Vaas? Yes, we do, because he can make Malinga howl. And Vaas is not that succesful against us anyway.

Drop Uthappa?

In any case, he is only in the team as long as we are following the 4 bowler strategy. But if we are, then tough call. To be fair, the guy has only failed twice. Might as well give him a last chance, and it will be a final opportunity to make an impact in this World Cup and prove he is ready for this level. But should we go with four bowlers?

We need to WIN this match. Setting them a huge total is not going to decisively win it, though it will turn into the ultimate slog-fest. And if India put them in to bat, India must be prepared to chase down a massive total as well. The Indian bowling has been a little tame in the World Cup, and Jayasurya, Tharanga, Chamara and Sangakkara don't need a second invitation. The only way to contain them is to keep picking wickets and never letting them settle down. And so, we need more and/or better ammo.

So do we trust the four man attack of Zaheer-Agarkar-Munaf-Bhajji to deliver the goods this time? Or do we drop one of them to make way for Sreesanth? Or drop Uthappa and pick Pathan?

Picking Sree is a gamble. He is not the most economical of bowlers, and the pressure of playing his first World Cup game in a death-or-glory cauldron might tell on his discipline. But by god, is he a wicket taker! Pathan? Equally a gamble. Until he plays we will never know which Pathan has turned up. In any event, even if Pathan falters with ball, there is opportunity to compensate with the bat, and Sehwag-Sachin can finish off the overs that Pathan does not bowl. But I feel that picking Pathan is a waste if Dravid is not prepared to give him the new ball. That is where he has got a lot of wickets.
So we stick with our existing attack and trust in them to deliver the goods? Yes, because Agarkar has done extremely well in the past against the Sri Lankans. And a fired-up Zaheer Khan is now a beautiful thing, and Munaf hasn't bowled badly. Bhajji, though will need to up the ante and attack the Sri Lankans for any weaknesses. Keep probing.

And Uthappa. We need some magic today.