Ganguly out of the ODI squad

Squad
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt & wk), Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik, Robin Uthappa, Gautam Gambhir, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Irfan Pathan, Praveen Kumar, RP Singh, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla

For some reason Murali Karthik has been dropped again. And Munaf wasn't picked. Still it's good that they've picked Raina, though I don't know what they have against Badrinath.

I though Chawla wasn't too hot in the recent domestics, could be wrong.

Feel for Karthik, he must be wondering what else he has to do. Maybe they have decide chawla is the 'future' and needs to be groomed/ given a long run.

Omission of Manoj Tiwary, Badrinath, and Rahul Dravid is bad.

Esp Dravid who is slowly gaining his old form back.

Also Karthik.

Re the Big 4 and ODIs, and then there was one. Tendu. They're getting picked off.

I'm ok if for the long term it helps Lax/Gangers and Dravid to play more Tests,

Still, I find it amazing that Gangers, Dravid and Tendu are not together in an Indian cricket team.

Uh Oh. Cue mass protests in Kolkata. Thank God I'm not in India right now ... else this is all I'd be seeing and hearing about in the news for the next month or so.

Though of course the absence of Dravid might be a mitigaing factor.

Ganguly is in top form. They've made a mistake again. Still there seems to be some method to these decisions, though I still can't figure out how a team can drop Ganguly and Dravid in place of Gambhir and Karthik. It's like replacing an old Rolls Royce for a brand new rickshaw.

BTW, I think they're rushing too much with Chawla.

Ummm mixed feelings about this one.

Ganguly, Dravid and Tendulkar have to call time on their odi careers at some point and all three going at once would be disastrous if no one was waiting in the wings.

And secondly their fielding abilities must be a concern now. Sure neither of these two have been great odi fielders but the last couple of yeears Ganguly in particular has taken things to new depths.

As someone mentioned, if it helps prolong their test careers I think its a good move.

Compared to the side in England last summer this team minus Ganguly, Dravid, Powar and Munaf should save at least another 20+ runs in the field as well as get a few extra running between the wickets.

So any guesses on the playing 11? I'd go for -

Tendulkar
Sehwag
Gambhir
Yuvraj (is he fit?)
Dhoni
Uttapa
Raina
Pathan
RP Singh
Sreesaanth
Harbhajan


Or will they play Sharma instead of Sree who has never been great in odis. Also I suppose they could drop Raina in place of the second spinner should they want to play 5 bowlers. Given the batsman in the team, I think the only cert is Sachin opening - all the other batters could find themselves anywhere in the order really.

ganguly being dropped was a matter of time. he was scoring runs, but at a poor s/r and his fielding was absymal. i thought dravid really is the surprise, think he deserved another run. he was in terrible form last year in all forms and seems to have got his touch back in the last test. in australia he could be invaluable. i cant see anyone in that line-up bar tendulkar having the technique to weather a quality fast bowling spell, which we may get in quite a few matches

That's it really. They should have selected a team with better technique than one depending on Yuvraj and Gambhir.

*shudder*

Unfortunately, such selection risks had to be taken sooner or later. There has been so much cricket going on that they really need to be careful with the seniors and not push them into early enforced retirement through injury.

Tendulkar is the tricky one.... my own feeling -- quite frankly he needs to sincerely ask himself if he will be able to make it to the next World Cup. If he isn't going to make it to the next world cup then I think he should seriously consider retirement from ODI's to prolong his test career -- IMHO.

Gangers should also consider giving ODI's a permanent break -- still a good batsmen to hold his place in any form of the game but the fielding just can't cut it in limited overs games.

I agree that Dravid is the surprise one but I'm quite sure that his 'dropping' has more to do with him being mentally worn out and needing a break from the game for a short while. He will back and he is the last of the seniors that should go.

Overall I'm reasonably happy with the selections that have been made. Potential future replacements for the seniors need to be given a chance, if only to prove who can't cut the mustard at the highest level.

the only reason i think tendulkar is playing odis is that he does believe he will play till the next world cup. else, like you said there really is no reason for him to keep playing them. he will always be valuable enough in odis with his batting, esp world cups, if he is fit enough

ganguly i feel was the right decision. lots of runs last year but not in the best way possible. slow and some might say selfish. terrible fielder

dravid deserves another chance. though i dont know if he will be valuable in the next world cup, esp since its in the sub-con. guys like uthappa, yuvraj and dhoni can handle indian conditions pretty well

Who the stand by for Harby?

didnt take long for cal did it?

embee wrote:Who the stand by for Harby?

Looks like Chawla. If you can call a leg spinner a replacement for an offie.

The whole selection is a joke. They think T20 and ODIs are one and the same. Watching the joker Shah announce to media that the boys were selected because they were good fielders was an insult. Like fielding alone was going to win matches against WC finalists and One day giants like Lanka and Aus. Obviously batting and bowling is not required. In that case why retain even Tendulkar? How young is he getting and how much better fielder is he? In that case why not Kaif and Karthik? They are also young enough. When Ganguly was selected he had nothing to merit selection and now he is dropped when he does not merit the axe. One cannot just change the whole squad for the sake of the future in one go. The transition is not happening here at all.

Lambs to the slaughter then. The likes of Gambhir, Uthappa and Raina are all FTBs who cannot be counted on to play on fast bouncy tracks and against good pace bowling. This is not a 20 over match. This change of guard can't be done in one night without experienced hands to guide them and certainly not in a place like Aus. The kids have been thrown to the sharks and I can only see a full slaughter here. A bloodbath. I would be surprised heavily if this team manages to win even one game. Getting a 250 plus out of this squad will be a miracle.

I am sure the Aussies are already rubbing their hands in glee. I can only pray that I am proven wrong.

Risky selection.

Younger players often get beaten pretty badly abroad in their first few tours and australia maybe the toughest, i don't think its going to work as smoothly as 20-20.

atleast dravid should have been there to provide some solidity.

trident wrote:Risky selection.

Younger players often get beaten pretty badly abroad in their first few tours and australia maybe the toughest, i don't think its going to work as smoothly as 20-20.

atleast dravid should have been there to provide some solidity.

Thats my concern as well. Aus is not where you suddenly throw kids to the sharks by the deep end and test them mentally. It could actually scar and ruin a few young careers even before it takes off. Patience in BCCI is very thin and if this ends in a disaster as I fear it will, Things will end in a witch hunt. The kids will end up being scapegoats and a lot of them will never see the Indian dressing room again.

The whole selection is based on the T20 success, and that can't be an ideal yardstick to judge them.
You can bet that some people if they fail will never get enough opportunities again to prove themselves and that will be even more tragic.

I feel sorry for Murli Kartik. Be it tests or ODIs, he certainly seems to have Australia's number. What more does he have to do? [Mumbai test 2004 and the recent ODIs in India against them]

Bugger.

What has Raina's form been like recently. Who'd be on standby if Yuvraj can't play?

I think Dravid definitely deserved a call up. And Ganguly would've been a better bat than some of the FTBs being chosen, notwithstanding his pathetic RBW.

Seeing the names of Karthik and Gambhir in the team sheet make me cringe and I just think that perhaps selectors thought that India have already got their quota of wins in Australia.

SG wrote:I think Dravid definitely deserved a call up. And Ganguly would've been a better bat than some of the FTBs being chosen, notwithstanding his pathetic RBW.

Seeing the names of Karthik and Gambhir in the team sheet make me cringe and I just think that perhaps selectors thought that India have already got their quota of wins in Australia.

With scores > 300 fast becoming par for the course, Ganguly's abysmally slow scoring has shown that he is stubborn in his refusal to adapt.

What exactly has Dravid done since the time he was dropped (when he shouldn't have been) to 'deserve' (from the selectors' pov) a call up? His form in tests even only just seems to be looking up.

HH_pink wrote:

SG wrote:I think Dravid definitely deserved a call up. And Ganguly would've been a better bat than some of the FTBs being chosen, notwithstanding his pathetic RBW.

Seeing the names of Karthik and Gambhir in the team sheet make me cringe and I just think that perhaps selectors thought that India have already got their quota of wins in Australia.

With scores > 300 fast becoming par for the course, Ganguly's abysmally slow scoring has shown that he is stubborn in his refusal to adapt.

What exactly has Dravid done since the time he was dropped (when he shouldn't have been) to 'deserve' (from the selectors' pov) a call up? His form in tests even only just seems to be looking up.

I think the whole point is that kids can't be thrown in the deep end in a place like Aus and a team can't be completely changed without ruining the team's chances. In Aus, some experienced hands needed retention. This whole move given BCCI's mindless ways will only end in premature end of some young careers and no one will be wiser for it.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah announced the 16-member team after a meeting of the selection committee for India's one-off Twenty20 match against Australia on February 1 and the subsequent tri-series.

The omission of Ganguly came as a surprise as the elegant left-hander had been in very good nick in both the one-day and Test matches.

Explaining reasons behind ignoring Ganguly and Dravid, Shah said, "The emphasis was on fielding abilities and they wanted a young fielding side for the series. That's why you see a lot of youngsters in the side." [So who is going to bat for this side clown?]

The team, to be led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, has Sachin Tendulkar as its most experienced batsman.

Meanwhile, Yuvraj Singh, who struggled for runs in Australia and has injured his knee, was retained as the vice-captain of the team, which the selectors said has been picked keeping the future in mind.



Dickhead. Since when did Gambhir and Raina become India's future? Walking wickets for Lee and Clark.

I am not sure abt Gambhirs credentials at international level.

He does so well in tour games and flops when it matters.

HH_pink wrote:With scores > 300 fast becoming par for the course, Ganguly's abysmally slow scoring has shown that he is stubborn in his refusal to adapt.

What exactly has Dravid done since the time he was dropped (when he shouldn't have been) to 'deserve' (from the selectors' pov) a call up? His form in tests even only just seems to be looking up.

I think on a tour as tough as Australian tour is, I think Dravid would've been invaluable with his wealth of experience on Australian grounds.

And I think same is true with Ganguly as well, though I agree Ganguly's s/r has left a lot to be desired.

So in short Dravid's exclusion is far more inexcusable than say Ganguly's.