Note: This post was written prior to the World Cup 2007, just when the squad was chosen. Even though this blog is not about cricket, I couldn’t help myself back then… everything was about cricket. I decided to write more specifically on cricket in one of my blogs, where I even listed what I thought was India’s greatest ODI squad. However after we lost in the opening round, I retired from cricket writing. This post and the other blog posts on cricket are simply the residue. I hope we do well this time (well = finals or win), but I am not going to devote as much time to cricket. The last WC exit still rankles me.
Well, it was just announced that the cricket team representing India for this year’s World Cup 2007 is as follows (I’ve just arranged it according to the batting order that I would like): (this list is updated on Sunday, Feb 18, after the Sri Lanka series, where I have ‘restored’ Sehwag to the top of the order, with Uthappa coming one down. Hopefully they will give us a ‘good’ high-impact start. Tendulkar and Dravid stay in the middle order to maintain stability, with Yuvraj/Dhoni hopefully flourishing at the end).
1 Sourav Ganguly
2 Virender Sehwag
3 Robin Uthappa
4 Sachin Tendulkar (v.capt)
5 Rahul Dravid (capt)
6 Yuvraj Singh
7 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (keeper)
8 Ajit Agarkar
9 Harbhajan Singh
10 Zaheer Khan
11 Munaf Patel
12 Dinesh Karthik (the ideal 12th man to strengthen fielding)
13 Anil Kumble (India can’t afford to play two regular spinners I think. Sachin/Sehwag/Yuvraj must take more responsibility for bowling. But if there is a killer slow track… then, only then, two spinners is the way to go)
14 Sreesanth (I hope things don’t get so bad that we need him in the squad)
15 Irfan Pathan (when batting strength needed, to drop whichever seemer is not doing that well)
The only difference from my earlier proposed squad is the inclusion of Sreeshant over Raina. I guess I wanted one extra fielder… but maybe the need is more for one extra bowler. Regardless… this is a lesson (in both theology and cricket)… we have to accept the decision that our leaders make for us… and move on and make the best of it.
For us spectators… we no longer have the luxury of saying we want this player, or that… rather, we too accept the decision and support our team as it stands… for better… or (dare I say it) for… (no I dare not say it)…
Regeneration NAyK 
Can’t fault the selectors- the best possible team has been chosen. I wish that Kaif could have been somehow accomodated- he is an excellent fielder and a good utility man. There is no place for him unfortunately.
Great team. I wonder what bookies in Indian are doing about the cup…
i think hiren is right
thats the best team we can have
yuvraj is probably gonna do something i guess
mohd kaif and suresh raina should be there
i wish mohammad kaif would be in team.
To waseem and deepak: Yes, I too like Md. Kaif… and I guess that shows the importance of fielding to a side. But not only that, notice his record in 2006.
However his score in the last 10 games is as follows (starting from the most recent). 10, 10, 8, 30, 21, 1, 12, 62, 61, 6, 66. Notice however that the few high scores were all in West Indies!!! interesting, no? While the poor recent scores are in South Africa. Well, if we forget, Kaif was struggling for form the whole 200-2006 season, so I guess he needed to do something exceptional to get noticed, he needed to be consistently a matchwinner from below (see Symonds/Hussey Australia) and that was not the case. So I guess I trust the wisdom of selectors… we just have to live by it. I must say, however, that Karthik as a replacement to Kaif, is in the similar (busy) mode… and so not so bad a choice.
ok sreesanth should be there and raina just suck to begin with
World cup 2007 is only for INDIA, if the 11 member Indian cricket team will be as follows;
1.Gangully
2.Uthappa
3.Dravid (c)
4.Tendulkar
5.Sehwag
6.Yuvraj
7.Dhoni (wk)
8.Pathan / Agarkar
9.Harbhajan
10.M.Patel
11.Zaheer
India is going to win a 2007 world cup cricket
-By, Dr.R.Siddheswaran, Scientist
kemon achhe dada……………
india jeetlo ki haarlo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This india team is best for world cup but indian team want M. Kaif also in the team in place of D. Kartick.
Then indian team is best but now is fair.
i thick this team is suck because Sehwag in this team i think we need rohn gavshkar in this team and kapil dev i kown his old but he needs bonmita and we dont need tendulkar because he aways losee game
I believe more than ever, this world cup will depend on the performance of the bowlers… not that batsman will not score runs, but that bowlers must be the ones to keep the runs down and take wickets. In that sense, the sehwag’s inclusion makes sense in that he will be used for bowling. Hopefully, as a fifth bowler he can help us win matches.
ewfdcs
we dont need sehwag in this team NAYAK your worng i am not with you all right we need ashisa nehara in this world cup and balaji all right
you all wrong we dont need M. Kaif cause he not playind good.
Dinesh Karthikis good player and ya we need murli karthikis instand
Harbhajan Singh.
1 you all worng
Sourav Ganguly
Mahendra Singh Dhoni
Robin Uthappa
Rahul Dravid\
Y uvraj Singh
Dinesh Karthikis
Irfan Pathan
Sreesanth
Munaf Patel
ashisa nehara
murli karthikis
that team shoud be win this cup all right nayk
93 % of TEAM INDIA is RIGHT SELECTION – But we CAN WIN WC 2007
—————————————————————————————
I agree 93% with Indian team selection (i.e. I feel they got 14 out of the 15 players right.. except that they could have dropped SEHWAG instead of dropping KAIF. Sehwag has failed too often than not.
VIRU we all know is a great player beyond doubt..But these days Virender Sehwag has not gone beyond the 20s or 30s.. He comes to the crease smashes 2 or 3 boundaries with great ease and then nicks one to the keeper or hits one straight into the gully or point fielders waiting hands. He never moves his feet and lacks total footwork.
Viru plays without moving his feet …as if he is fixed to the crease with screws.
EVEN in the 2 Warm Up matches against NETHERLANDS and WEST INDIES .. Sehwag scored 28 and a duck respectively.
If VIRU cant even score a 40 or a 50+ atleast against a weak team
like Netherlands …. what can you expect him to score against
stronger team in latesr stages of the competition ?
Against West Indies yesterday (Mar. 9, 2007) Sehwag was out for a duck (0). Please for heaven’s sake.. drop SEHWAG against India’s matches against Bangladesh and Bermuda also…. Let us play with a
11-member team and not a 10-member team. Having Viru or not is the same. When we can drop Sourav “DADA” for 1 year from Indian Team.. why we can’t drop Sehwag .. when he is failing all the time continuously with the bat ??
Mohd.Kaif on the other hand cannot replace Viru as a smashing batsman.. but we all know that Kaifuu is an electrifying fielder and he is also one of the best fielders in the world to have.
“Kaifu” with “Yuvi” Yuvraj will atleast stop 20-25 runs within the circle and though Kaif may not score much.. his sheer body language is amazing to keep other Indian players in the game always. Kaif is always seen focussed and always jumping about on the field and spitting into his hands and keeping it soft ans smoooth .. always being ready to field the next ball or make a magnificent dive or chase the ball to the last inch of the rope on the fence and save one run for the Team. Also KAIF with his amazing fitness (He is surely one player who is always FIT and never gets injured like others also) runs like the wind when he is batting and is always looking to convert the 1s into 2s and 2s into 3s. He is the most committed player who always gives his 100% for INDIA on the field.
Its so ridiculous how selectors have forgotten KAIF’s great FIELDING service to TEAM INDIA all these years….. Nobody drops one of the World’s greatest fielders from their World Cup squad.
According to me this could have been the Best Indian Team
ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 – TEAM INDIA
—————————————————–
RAHUL SHARAD DRAVID………………………..(Captain)
SOURAV CHANDIDAS GANGULY………………(Vice Captain)
AIYUDDA ROBIN UTHAPPA
SACHIN RAMESH TENDULKAR
YUVRAJ SINGH BUNDEL
MOHAMMAD KAIF
MAHENDRA SINGH DHONI………………………(Wicket Keeper)
DINESH KRISHNAKUMARAN KAARTHICK…….(Reserve Wicket Keeper)
IRFAN KHAN PATHAN
ZAHEER KHAN
HARBHAJAN SINGH PLAHA
AJIT BHALCHANDRA AGARKAR
ANIL KUMBLE
SHANTHAKUMARAN SREESANTH
MUNAF MUSA PATEL
ANYWAYS.. I still feel without KAIF also .. we can try and win the World Cup…but VIRU SEHWAG should not be in playing 11. Even without Viru we still have 6 amazing batsmen in Vengsarkar’s currently selected 15 and we know Bhajji and Pathan can also pack a punch and smash the opposition if needed.
This time in 2007 ..we are a DEADLY TEAM for any OPPOSITION. We swatted West Indies like mosquitoes for 85 runs yesterday .. We can beat any team ..We INDIANs are mighty strong and have the strongest BATTING LINE UP in the World ….stronger than 2003 WC team also.
No matter what the coach Greg Chappell says or whatever other may say …. WE HAVE TO GO THERE ..all 11 players and perform to the best of our abilities on each given day. A coach is like a horse owner. He can only take the horse to the pond… He cant make it drink water. The horse has to drink water itself. Dont blame the coach or anyone. JUST FOCUS, use your great talent TEAM INDIA and WIN WORLD CUP 2007 for us……..How longg can we remember Kapil Dev ??
TEAM INDIA…. Just Do IT !!! GOD BLESS YOU.
My Playing 11 for India — against relatively stronger Teams
———————————————————————————
(against Bangladesh & Srilanka … in Group B – Prelims. Stage)
———————————————————————————
R. Dravid (Capt.)
S. Tendulkar (Vice Capt.)
S. Ganguly
R.Uthappa
Y.Singh
M.S.Dhoni (WK)
D.Kaathick
Z.Khan
H.Singh
A.Kumble
M.Patel
12th Man : H.Singh
————
Reserves / Bench strength : V.Sehwag, I.Pathan, S.Sreesanth,
———————————–
I was just a little confused… you have H.Singh twice. I assume you mean Agarkar and you’re dropping Harbhajan?
Following ‘your’ team… I think the batting order would be something like this…
Ganguly
Uthappa
Dravid
Tendulkar
Yuvraj Singh
Dhoni
Kaarthick
Agarkar?
Zaheer
Kumble
Patel
I agree with you that it’s quite clear that Pathan can’t make the cut… especially above Munaf Patel.
However, perhaps if we need a 5th bowler… then Pathan could come in… and hopefully we wouldn’t lose too much in batting power.
shout up nayk you r worng read my team that best team for ever
this team 100% win world cup
Hey is there anyway I can watch some cricket online…or atleast keep track of the score…I miss it a lot! I know I can subscribe to Indian Tv etc…but how can I watch some cricket without having to pay an arm and a leg!
To Gracia: I would love it too if an site like http://www.cricinfo.com offered ‘free’ web-cricket-tv… but I don’ think that’s the case. Right now, if there is a place to watch free cricket on the web, it’s probably illegal (pirated feed).
who winer world cup 2011 . i wiss to india
nice comment
All r worng…..!
Best
I love you india teem