The idea of flexibility seems to be ingrained in the minds of Team India cricketers - be it Irfan Pathan, Mahender Singh Dhoni or VirenderSehwag. In the last year, the nucleus of the team and beyond has been offeredthe chance to take up new challenges. I guess now that they have imbibed theconcept very well and delivered a fair bit, it is perhaps time to revert to someold-fashioned strategy and use flexibility only when absolutely necessary - as a shock element.
It is time now for the team to start consolidating the gainsfrom the last season and minimise the losses of the last few months when littleseems to be working. It can start with getting the team selection and thebatting order right for the two league games in the DLF Cup in Kuala Lumpurwhere it faces being kept out of the title contest by Australia and the WestIndies.
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The team management must show enough confidence in Sehwag andother 'part-time' bowlers delivering a minimum of 10 overs to keep Pathan outfor the time being and go in with four bowlers - Ajit Agarkar, Munaf Patel,Harbhajan Singh and either off-spinner Ramesh Powar or S Sreesanth. The left-armseamers Pathan and Rudra Pratap Singh have disappointed and must make way forPowar or Sreesanth.
If Sehwag could bowl 10 overs for 43 against Australia, I seeno reason why India cannot aspire for 25 overs or more from its slow bowlers inthe next two matches. For long, we have been told that while India can fall backon Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Yuvraj Singh, there is none who could bowl sixto eight overs of controlled medium pace and that is why the team prefers threeor four specialists to bowl seam and swing.
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There really is no point in fielding four quicker bowlerswhen two of them have struggled to match potential with performance. It does notspeak too well for either these bowlers or for the team management's reading ofthe pitch in Kuala Lumpur that Sehwag got to send down 10 overs - and veryeconomically at that.
The time has come for India to go in with a stable battingorder, unless the match situation warrants it. Even if Rahul Dravid has hadsuccess at the top of the order, I would like to see Sehwag and Tendulkar at thestart of the innings with the skipper coming in at No. 3. Yuvraj, Mohammed Kaifand Suresh Raina can be the other specialist batsmen ahead of Dhoni.
This does not mean that one is against Pathan. Far from it.He is a strong lad and has the intelligence to resolve the issues that he faceswhen he has the cricket ball in his hand. He has shown often that he has it inhim to come back strongly after taking a pasting at the start. I am sure he willrally sooner than later but at the moment, it appears the team is banking moreon his batting than with his primary role as a bowler.
Will Team India have the courage and the confidence to getits selection and batting order right? Or has it been too taken in byflexibility - and the success that it got last season - to even think that someold-fashioned cricket will be in order at least once in a while?
