Tri-nation CB Series - India, Australia & Sri Lanka (3rd Feb to 7th Mar 2008)

[jaydeep]

Ganguly is dropped from ODI squad.. Raina makes a comeback along with Chawla (Murali karthik gets a boot)

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

ODI squad

Kumar posted this news in India in Australia 2007-2008 thread but as our all members r busy in interesting discussion regarding umpiring issue so starting this new thread for tri-nation series.

[jaydeep]

Schedule for Commonwealth Bank Series, 2007/08

Sun 3 February 2008 - 1st Match - Australia v India (Brisbane)
13:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Tue 5 February 2008 - 2nd Match - India v Sri Lanka (Brisbane)
13:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Fri 8 February 2008 - 3rd Match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Sydney)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Sun 10 February 2008 - 4th Match - Australia v India (Melbourne)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Tue 12 February 2008 - 5th Match - India v Sri Lanka (Manuka Oval, Canberra)
10:00 local, 23:00 GMT 

Fri 15 February 2008 - 6th Match - Australia v Sri Lanka (W.A.C.A., Perth)
11:30 local, 02:30 GMT 

Sun 17 February 2008 - 7th Match - Australia v India (Adelaide Oval)
13:45 local, 03:15 GMT 

Tue 19 February 2008 - 8th Match - India v Sri Lanka (Adelaide Oval)
13:45 local, 03:15 GMT 

Fri 22 February 2008 - 9th Match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Melbourne)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Sun 24 February 2008 - 10th Match - Australia v India (Sydney)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Tue 26 February 2008 - 11th Match - India v Sri Lanka (Bellerive Oval, Hobart)
10:00 local, 23:00 GMT

Fri 29 February 2008 - 12th Match - Australia v Sri Lanka (Melbourne)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Sun 2 March 2008 - 1st Final - TBC v TBC (Sydney)
14:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Tue 4 March 2008 - 2nd Final - TBC v TBC (Brisbane)
13:15 local, 03:15 GMT 

Fri 7 March 2008 - 3rd Final - TBC v TBC (Adelaide Oval)
13:45 local, 03:15 GMT  (if required )

[jaydeep]

So nation is already divided in their views after omission of Saurav Ganguly from One day team.

BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah said, "The emphasis was on fielding abilities and they [the team management] wanted a young fielding side for the series. That's why you see a lot of youngsters in the side."

[PKBasu]

I don't have particularly strong views about Ganguly's dropping. It is unfair, but not massively so. Raina has not earned his place back, in my opinion, and the selectors need to realise that Sehwag has been a test success (and should never have been dropped from that side) but has never really been quite as successful in ODIs. The batting consequently looks a bit weak, with Sachin and Yuvi the only real sources of strength. Gambhir deserves a place, and most of the others select themselves. I don't know why Kaif keeps getting left out, and Raina picked ahead of him.

(Actually in retrospect, I am a bit mad at Sourav's being dropped at the first sign of fragility his batting has shown in a year; that has actually been quite typical of the treatment he has always received  But I'm not going to complain about that anymore, as I've done it enough in the past). We do need to move on, and Dravid and Ganguly have therefore been sacrificed at the altar of the future. But frankly, experimentation during a series in Australia doesn't strike me as wise. Manoj Tiwary too continues to unnecessarily suffer for having dived too hard once on that tour to Bangladesh. And poor, poor Badrinath. What does the guy need to do to get the nod?

[sanjay8886]

Although, I am little unhappy about Ganguly in particular getting dropped. But for ODI's, dropping seniors may not be that bad decision. It depends totally, how the selectors are viewing the tri-series as.

[akmohanty]

i just don't fathom how ganguly can be dropped  his opening partnership with sachin in ODIs is still very much one of our biggest strengths as was proven repeatedly last year. most other opening partnerships (incl. those involving sehwag & to a large extent gambhir) have flopped badly. plus,i remember a couple of matches in England where ganguly was very effective with the ball. i think team India is going to repent big time on this decision.  not a big supporter for dravid's inclusion in ODIs but sourav should have surely been there for now (at max rotated with someone but not dropped).

[prasen9]

Can someone tell me what magic Raina has to get selected over Kaif?  He has averaged less than Kaif, Badrinath, Pujara, and Manoj Tiwary.  At least Kaif is about the same wrt fielding abilities and I think the others are decent fielders too.  And why should Rohit Sharma have a life-time lease in the team on the basis of 2 innings despite having a horrible season?  On the other hand, one does not know what else Kaif and Badrinath have to do to get a(nother) chance.

Given the team, my choice will be:

SRT, VS, Gambhir, Uthappa, Yuvraj, Dhoni, Raina

to be in the first XI.

-pm

[puneets]

Can someone tell me what magic Raina has to get selected over Kaif?  He has averaged less than Kaif, Badrinath, Pujara, and Manoj Tiwary.  At least Kaif is about the same wrt fielding abilities and I think the others are decent fielders too.  And why should Rohit Sharma have a life-time lease in the team on the basis of 2 innings despite having a horrible season?  On the other hand, one does not know what else Kaif and Badrinath have to do to get a(nother) chance.

I guess I can give an explanation that seems plausible.

Raina did pretty well in Challenger Series (ODIs), where he top scored with 206 runs in 3 innings (at a strike rate of over 100). Badrinath also did pretty well in that series (178 runs), while Manoj Tiwari made some 80 odd runs. Kaif made 72 runs in his 3 innings.

Now on to Ranji's:

Raina played a big role in his team's march to the finals. He scored at an avg of just under 50 (683 runs in 14 innigs), but the manner in which he scored these runs puts him in a different spot altogether. He scored at a strike rate of 84 runs per 100 balls...and we're talking test cricket here.
In my books, Badri deserves a place in the ODI squad, esp after his spectacular run in the ranjis. He scored 659 runs in 11 inngs at an avg of 66 (strike rate of 56).
Kaif captained his team to the finals, having played the rebuilding role time and again. He scored same number of runs as Raina, but remained not-out in a couple of innings (and a strike rate of 60).

Kaif is unlucky..once again ignored by the selectors. In the current team, KKD and Rohit Sharma are rapidly fading. KKD's career is more or less in the same position as that of Raina's (when he was dropped from the team). Manoj Tiwari has been named as a backup, and will replace anyone who gets injured.

[prasen9]

But couple that with the fact that we know that Raina's batting in the international level is limited.  The question is whether he is drastically better now?  Otherwise, the 5-10 runs he will save will not be worth it because he will average 10-15 less than Dravid/Ganguly.  In the Ranjis one does not need to bat at a blazing strike rate, so Badri and Kaif did not risk their wickets, sensible, I would say.  In ODIs and list-As Badri and Kaif's strike rates are slightly lower than that of Raina's.

Even if one can understand Raina's borderline selection, the most perplexing choice is that or Rohit Sharma's who was an abysmal failure this season, unless the "plausible" explanation is named Dilip Vengsarkar.

In a way it took five years for SRT, RSD, SCG, VVSL to "mature" and produce consistently abroad.  Perhaps, we have written off the CB series this year and are playing these guys to have them mature and produce in the future Aussie tours.  However, are these the right guys?  If you are investing in youth, you should invest in the generation-talents and forget about the results.  I do not know if this bunch are the generation-guys.  I would think if you go with generation-talents, Pujara should have got a shot in place of Rohit.

[puneets]

But couple that with the fact that we know that Raina's batting in the international level is limited.  The question is whether he is drastically better now?  Otherwise, the 5-10 runs he will save will not be worth it because he will average 10-15 less than Dravid/Ganguly.  In the Ranjis one does not need to bat at a blazing strike rate, so Badri and Kaif did not risk their wickets, sensible, I would say.  In ODIs and list-As Badri and Kaif's strike rates are slightly lower than that of Raina's.

I guess the premise under which the selectors are working is that Raina did well in a few games to begin with, and then lost his touch and slumped. To them it looks like he's regained that touch, and they want to give him another chance. His avg of 25 in ODI, sometimes batting low in the order, is nothing to write home about. But together with his spectacular fielding and nice running between the wickets, he might benefit the team in a much broader sense.

[prasen9]

Yes, and the return to form, spectacular fielding and nice running between the wickets of Kaif does not matter because he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

[puneets]

prasen - I was trying to put forward Raina's case. This doesn't mean that he's the best candidate. As I have said here before, I'd like to see Kaif in the team too.

[prasen9]

puneets - I understand.  Thanks for your posts --- at least I see some POV justifying his selection now.

[PKBasu]

I think the problem here was that they were trying to select a team for both T20I and ODIs. Rohit Sharma has to be in the T20I squad for now, regardless of ODI/first-class form. There is no good case for Raina over Kaif (and strike-rate in Ranji trophy is irrelevant). Pujara and Badrinath are also distinctly unlucky not to be in the mix, and I'm glad that Tiwary at least has been given a mention as a standby (alongwith Yusuf Pathan and Munaf -- why Munaf???).

[BSharma]

There are two issues that I see about the dropping of Ganguly and Dravid from the ODI team.

-  I can see the reason for grooming the youngsters and that a time will come when the seniors will retire, but is it right to leave out one of the two best batsmen in ODIs?  I can understand dropping Dravid since he has been scoring runs at a slow rate and is not in full form, but Ganguly? 

-  Were Ganguly and Dravid tipped off by BCCI before the news of the team composition was announced to the press?  I hope BCCI showed some dignity to Ganguly and Dravid for all that they have done for Indian cricket, and had Kumble and team manager have a private talk with them before the team announcement.