***Official*** Sri Lanka in India

Jono said:

Kaif must come back into the team, he's been too good this season. Selection has become a problem (who would have thought we'd have so many deserving players in the ODI team? ), but you can not keep Kaif out because he's still young too. He's vital to the Indian team.

And Kaif better get a test spot. If Yuvraj gets it again it'll be an absolute disgrace.

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**Dont want to flame, just repeating what I have heard from rumor mill**

"...Ganguly is still Indian captain in Tests and is almost gauranteed to captain India against SL. This seems to have picked up after one Mr. IS Bindra accused Dalmiya of keeping Ganguly out of Indian team..."

All I can say is 'ah well, we'll see'.

Run rate required climbing as the Indian bowlers are keeping it fairly tight. Sangakkara is quite obviously the key to this game. If he goes soon, I think India will be in the box seat for the win. However if he bats through till at least the 35th over (He could bat all the way again), it'll allow the lower order to be able to have a crack at the target.

I hope Gambhir's drop doesn't come back to cost India.

Sanz said:

RP Singh. VR Singh is playing in Duleep Trophy.

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Whoopsiedoodle. My mistake.

RP Singh gets his man! Sanga, who was dropped off Singh's bowling earlier is out! Brilliant stuff from RP! Whoooo.

Cricinfo says Yadav has been brought in for Dravid. Who looks to be in charge of the team in the centre? Sehwag?

Yes, Dravid didn't take the field, may be they just want to see Veeru's lleadership skills.

The two seniormost player are Viru and AA. Now thats a scary thought.

jamesryfler said:

Bit harsh on Moody aren't you ?



Seems to me like he deserves a full 12 months before an assessment can be made of his contribution.

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He has already been there for over 6 months and so far he cannot be credited for the SL test wins over Windies second XI (with some mishaps and tumbles along the way) or Bangla. SL have won home ODIs before his taking over. So his apparent contribution so far has been minimal.

I will be happy to be proven wrong, but impressions over the last 6 months have failed to indicate what, if any intentions he has of developing the wider pool of players or in terms of developing players from outside the current Team to replace players who may be on the threshold of retirement.

I will be happy to be proven wrong at the end of his first 12 month tenure.

I feel SL may have to beg Whatmore to return if things don't work with Moody.

The Lankans have won, but it shouldn't worry the Indians too much. Except that they rested the wrong players. I only hope they don't boot out Sreesanth, Yadav, Raina and RPS based on this performance- all of them deserve an extended run till the 2007 World Cup. Yuvraj, though, will have to sit out for some time. And Agarkar needs an extended break.

Well, it seems the selectors have brought in Kaif and VRV Singh in place of Venugopal and Yadav. The selections are good, the omissions are questionable. We now have 5 fast bowlers in the side, and even though its good that they showed faith in the youngsters like Sreesanth and RP Singh, what has another youngster in Venugopal Rao done wrong. Yuvraj clearly should have been removed after his pathetic showing; besides, Kaif fully replaces Yuvraj in the field. Chappell must think very highly of Yuvi, and so do I, but this is just too harsh on Venu. Yadav's omission doesnt bother me as much, he hasnt done what the team needs of him lately, came in as a supersub today and got belted.

Definitely excited to watch VRV Singh bowl though. Can you believe we now have two guys in the squad who could potentially bowl consistently in the 140s. Is this the Indian team we're talking about?

adharcric said:

Definitely excited to watch VRV Singh bowl though. Can you believe we now have two guys in the squad who could potentially bowl consistently in the 140s. Is this the Indian team we're talking about?

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Speed is not every thing really.

Just a query but what was Zaheer's bowling speed when he came to the side and what is it now?

Pratyush said:

Speed is not every thing really.

Just a query but what was Zaheer's bowling speed when he came to the side and what is it now?

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Well, I remember him bowling close to 140 at first once in a while. Nowadays, with his poor fitness, he bowls in the low 130s. That might improve with Chappell's fitness program, just as it has for Pathan and Agarkar. Yes, speed is not everything, but it adds a new weapon to the bowling arsenal when you have someone who can threaten the opposition with speed.

Jono said:

Sachin clearly needs to come back in

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Why? So that if he scores runs they dont count as India has already won the matches, IF they dont count because he may have scored them in the first inning?

And if he fails, I TOLD YOU SO!

What is the status of Nehra?

Pratyush said:

What is the status of Nehra?

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Maybe he is still unfit. Even if he is fit, he has to play a domestic match first to be considered for selection. I really hope Nehra can get his fitness back and field well, because he can be lethal, especially if he bowls like he has in the last few series, with additional pace. Nehra and Zaheer are two guys that still can be solid for the one-day team, but they need to have good fitness, good fielding and consistency.

How Yuvraj wasn't dropped for the remaining 2 matches is beyond me. At least Kaif is back.

The team is wanting to try as many players as they can is the official stand of the selectors. I have strong thoughts on the ludicrous idea which has all the material for a strong article I can write on this but I do not have the mood to do it, to be very honest.

The thing is international cricket is not the place to try out new players. You see which players are good or have the makings too add to the strength of the team. Then you back them for some time at least. The more changes which are made, the more it shows the selectors made a mistake in chosing an initial player whom they did.

Also this is different from the rotation policy applied in the Australian domestic season some times, if people will bring that example. Here you are putting a lot of unnecessary pressure.

Of course there has been no complaints as India is winning and every one is happy.

I must specify that I am not against bringing youngsters or people who you feel are talented to the side. Just the unnecessary changes in selection.

Okay, now who is behind Yuvraj's continued inclusion despite his poor form. And I dont know how they can keep Rao out when he hasn't even got a decent chance to prove himself. I hope this selection is only for the remaining two matches of the series.