mission 2011

With 20-20 gaining in popularity i'm glad that t no consequence bilateral ( ya all of those best of 5 n 7's n wht not)will be coming to an end sooner or later.so what matters in 50-50 format will b the big tournaments like the world cup in 2011.so what can we do to get the cup back esp. when this would be played back home.

So welcome to ma fantasy world,hope u enjoy the ride.

i'd like to discuss this in 2 major sections which are following-

1. Batting

2. Bowling

1. BATTING

Well honestly speaking,the only senior i see playing till then is Sachin but given the frequency of his injuries nothing can b said for sure.all we can be is hopeful.

I feel that B.C.C.I. would have an extremely important role to play here.these no good bilateral series have to be done away with.i mean what purpose does it serve?last thing we need, is to see a Yuvraj,Dhoni or Sachin miss imp tournaments due to excessive cricket.

OPENING SLOTS

Make no mistakes about it,this WC will not be in symphony with that in 1996.reason is a simple one that this is scheduled in feb-march,the end of winter season unlike t 96 WC which was played in subcontinental summers with flat tracks all around.(who can forget t great spell of manoj prabhakar against sanath.he pounded him like bi**h in Delhi.)

Thus we will need to mix caution with aggression.so my picks for opener would be 1.GHAMBIR 2. SACHIN 3. SEHWAG/ROBIN UTHAPPA

Sehwag has seen the lows so i'd guess there is no reason to believe why he'l have another slump in form. my pick will b t nawab of najafgarh any day.i'd prefer sehwag 1 down for the simple fact that

1. i'd expect ball to do a bit in initial overs and sehwag relies on hand eye coordination rather that precise footwork.

2. besides this, with one power play in hands of batting team ( hopefully according to new guidelines) shewag can act as our power man for power plays and

3. a left(gautam)-right(sachin) start gives bowlers something to think about.

Another point i'd like to raise here is that sachin should not be pushed down.he can play a sheet anchor or explode so we need him to play his natural way.if some of us still have any doubts i'd advice u to pick up on india's n sachin's record in 96-2003 & 99-2007.i need'nt say any further.besides this we have the fire power along with adaptability in middle order.

Now to the middle order.

4. YUVI 5.ROHIT SHARMA/SURESH RAINA/BADRI 6. DHONI

For 5th place i'd say the real choice would b between rohit and badri.both can adapt to situation unlike raina who i feel has a single dimensional game.but still depending on form he might come in.another man who might find a place is viraat Kohli.i feel he is a bit arrogant ( t kind of behavior he portrayed against s.a. in finals of under 19 WC was unacceptable, given t fact he was t captain and Sydney fiasco had broken out just some time back. people were pointing fingers at Indian players he should have been more responsible). hopefully though, he would have gained some experience till 2011.(even more so if bilateral series continued).

BOWLING

4 specialist bowlers is what will be required along with an all rounder.

7. IRFAN/YUSUF PATHAN

Depending on what we need.this just might be t weak link in our team.a slower irfan with lack of swing would be easy picking for likes of aus,s.a. with strong middle and lower batting order. similarly yusuf isn't a big turner of the ball and his batting is quite erratic. with Aussies having likes of watson/symo out task is cut out.i don't see other options for now but if Irfan can find his rhythm in time & may b add atleast 5 k's of pace he would be extremely useful.

8. ZAHEER 9. ISHANT 10. R.P. SINGH/GONI/SANGHWAN 11.harbajan/murli kartik/ojha/chawla

Our bowling hopes hinge on no. 8 & 9.hopefully they'd be fully fit. 3 seamers-2 spinners or 1 spinner 4 seamers would depend on choice of our allrounder. R.P. is quite good when fit.goni can improve a lot,he is one of those who hits t deck.sanghwan is also learning quite quickly.

For spinners i feel harbajan would make the cut.but to be fair murli kartik has'nt been given his fair share of his chances.in comparison to chawla n ojha i feel he has an upper hand simply because of t fact that he has more experience.a spinner who flights the ball needs this for smaller grounds like those in the subcontinent.but given the fact that 2 yrs r still left,fitness issues might just turn out to be t decisive criteria.