robin uthappa

Ravi Shastri: Just eat Uthappa

“Youngsters watching the IPL might give up on idle or dosa for breakfast. Just eat Uthappa, and you might smash them a long way.” 

—Ravi Shastri. 

Indian test specialists Rahane and Vijay lead the ODI charge in Zimbabwe

Ajinkya Rahane is a quiet man.

He lets his bat do the talking and how his willow has conversed with the game and the fans over the past two years.

Ajinkya Rahane is a team-man.

He is in the Rahul Dravid mould.

Dropped in Bangladesh for not being suited to the ODI format and having a slower strike rate than his contemporaries, the Mumbaikar is now the stand-in skipper for the upcoming Zimbabwe tour in the absence of MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.

Rahane—refreshingly—has no pretensions about his new role.

He said:

“The decision of naming me captain did come as a surprise because I wasn’t thinking about captaincy ever. I didn’t know how to react when I heard the news.

Once the news slowly began to sink in, I became really confident of handling this new responsibility.”

He added:

“Firstly, playing under MS Dhoni I would observe how he would be calm on the field. He has a very peculiar and calm way of handling situations. I would like to take that quality from him.

What I would like to take from Virat Kohli would be controlled aggression. You can see that quality in his batting and his captaincy.

And finally, Rahul bhai is someone who likes to keep things really simple on the field, which I got to know while playing under him with the Rajasthan Royals.

Having said that, I have my own set of ideas and I know what I have to do on the field.”

This is the first series for Team India since the re-framing of the ODI rules.

The changes are as follows:

• No batting powerplay of 5 overs.
• 3 fielders allowed outside the 30-yard circle between 41 and 50 overs.
• No compulsory catchers in 1 to 10 overs.
• Free hit for all no balls.

The obvious effect is to reduce team totals. 400+ scores may once again become a thing of the past.

A return to a more traditional format implies that batsmen should eschew risk-taking and play to their strengths. Technique would be of paramount importance again. Spinners, of course, benefit with the extra fielder in the deep in the slog overs. Captains can be either offensive or defensive in the first 10 overs.

Murali Vijay, too, gets a chance to buttress his ODI credentials.

And the likes of Robin Uthappa and Kedar Jadhav can stake their claims to the wicketkeeper’s slot should Dhoni decide to quit sooner than later.

I suspect that it is this game of musical chairs that is of more salient interest to the selectors and the Indian think tank.

Other stories to follow are whether Manish Pandey, Ambati Rayudu or Manoj Tiwary can make a lasting impression.  Opportunities to be in the full XI are few and far between.

Despite the absence of the main stalwarts, the squad is not a young lot with Harbhajan Singh leading the spinning trio.

The squad:

• Ajinkya Rahane (c) , Stuart Binny, Harbhajan Singh, Kedar Jadhav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Manish Pandey, Axar Patel, Ambati Rayudu, Sandeep Sharma, Karn Sharma, Mohit Sharma,Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa (wk), Murali Vijay.

Cheteshwar Pujara is missing from the above. He leads the India A side at home against Australia A.

Now Rahane, Vijay and Pujara may consider themselves hard-done by that they are not first choices whenever the ODI squad is chosen. They are labelled ‘Test specialists‘.

But , to be frank, is that really an injustice to the troika? Is it not an indicator of the selectors’ faith in them that despite the relatively fewer opportunities given them, they are penciled in ahead of the glory boys when it comes to the guts-and-gore version of the sport?

Being a Test player is the pinnacle of achievement. For Rahane, Vijay and Pujara to be considered head-and-shoulders above their counterparts should be a matter of pride and not despondency.

Class always tells.

Indian cricket: Of team selections and plate to cup journey for Rajasthan in Ranji

The debate rages on.

Have the Indian selectors chosen the best possible side for the ODI World Cup?

The argument centres on whether there ought to have been a back-up keeper. MS Dhoni—as captain and stumper—shoulders a heavy responsibility.

To his credit, he has borne the burden well and there is no reason to believe that he will not do the same in February-March—should he remain fit.

As for the pessimists, they will wonder who will keep wickets if Dhoni is forced to miss a match.

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Indian Team Selection For ODIs and SA Tour: Saha makes the cut

The BCCI, of late, are more than a little adventurous in their selection of the Indian cricket team for the ODIs.

The line-up for the India – New Zealand ODI series is along expected—and unexpected—lines.The resting of seniors for the ODI series—namely Sehwag, Tendulkar, Zaheer,Harbhajan Singh and skipper Dhoni— was expected.Unexpected is the naming of Gambhir to lead the ODI team and the drafting of Wriddhiman Saha as the sole wicket-keeper in the ODI side. The rumour mill had Sehwag in the captain’s role.

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