The Hindu : My 15... A. Gaekwad

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 19, 2002

Sport

Sport - Cricket

My 15... A. Gaekwad

The Indian team, performing well at home, and sometimes away, still feels the acute shortage of a wicket keeper batsman, genuine bowlers and all-rounders. In view of this, we have resorted to seven genuine batsman in the team out of which some can bowl a few overs.

Even with four genuine bowlers, there is always a shortage felt when one of them doesn't bowl up to their potential, leaving the captain with no choice but to bowl part time bowlers to complete the quota which becomes very tricky in tight situations.

The fact remains that only three out of seven batsman have performed to their potential on any given day in which case why can't we go in with five genuine batsman instead of seven where three can perform and reach the necessary target. This would leave place for a genuine wicketkeeper so that Dravid can be spared for his batting alone.

Moreover a genuine all-rounder or a bowler can play in the team as a fifth bowler, in turn reducing the pressure on the bowling department. At the same time the top order five batsman can get down to more serious business with targets to achieve since each one of them is of world class and match-winners in their own right.

My team for the World Cup is based on the conditions prevailing in South Africa and our team's strengths and weaknesses. I have picked my side giving more importance to experience as well as players' adaptability in adjusting quickly to the conditions.

It goes without saying that Sourav Ganguly would lead the team. Rahul Dravid maintains his place in the side as Ganguly's deputy. Sachin Tendulkar, the best India has ever produced, forms one of the foundation stones of this team. Virender Sehwag, with Sachin, forms a force as good as any other. They are our match-winners.

Down the order comes V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif who have proved their worth to their team on several occasions in times when the team was struggling.

I would have preferred Parthiv Patel as understudy to Dravid but looking at the bouncy wickets Ajay Ratra with his experience is a better choice. I have picked all-rounder Sanjay Bangar not only because he has performed in the recent one day games but also because of his ability to move the ball in favourable conditions.

Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are both the type who enjoy bowling on bouncy surfaces and can be very effective taking into account the other participating teams who would prefer to play pace rather than spin.

Considering the bouncy and seaming tracks in South Africa it would be essential to have your best and most experienced pace bowlers. I pick Javagal Srinath, Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra who have proved their calibre on numerous of occasions. To sum up, this would be a very well balanced team with combination of experience and youth.

It always helps as both normally depend on each other for super effort. In fact more than half the team has played in South Africa and are well aware of the conditions, which would be of great advantage to the team.

The team: S. Ganguly, S. Tendulkar, R. Dravid, V. Sehwag, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, M. Kaif, A. Ratra (wicket-keeper), Harbhajan Singh, A. Kumble, Z. Khan, J. Srinath, A. Agarkar, A. Nehra, S. Bangar.

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