Great month ahead for cricket lovers all around the globe. Australia is desperate to demonstrate that they are NO 1 in the business and South Africa will fight to win the series and in the process take the No 1 spot in the ICC Test Rankings. India starts the ODI in NewZeland this month end and goes on to play the 3 test series in march.
Current Team India is the best balanced side ever toured NewZeland and with ODI series victory's against Australia,South Africa and recently SriLanka should do well to the "Yes we can" attitude of the young players lead by the cool M.S.Dhoni. NewZeland also has been playing some superb cricket over the last few months with some close matches against the Aussies. NewZeland might have come home beating Australia if they had a full game in the decider.
Indian team for the ODI look very balanced and strong in all the departments. To win matches in NewZeland one needs to have good starts and i wish Gambhir and Sehwag open the innings for the first 2 ODI and make changes in the top if they don't get good starts. I think Sachin can play down the order or wait for the youngsters to fail or get in only if and must play a ODI (we need to preserve him for the test series ), his presence in the dressing room can just provide that great feeling among the youngsters. The grounds are small in NewZeland and should help our young brigade of stroke players like Raina,Yuvi,Dhoni and off course Sehwag and Gambhir to get quick runs and post big totals.
Bowling looks a bit week, Ishant is one real quick bowler who can make things happen for India. All the other bowlers including Zaheer is vulnerable in small grounds, hope the team management plans well to tackle the big hitting kiwi batsmen. Bajji and company should do the trick for India, i don't believe that Irfan Pathan is going to play any important role as bowling all rounder.
Kiwis should be full of confidence with the great show in Australia and the top order has been getting runs. McCullum,Guptill,Redmond,Elliot are all in good nick and their bowling also looks decent with Southe and Vetori performing well is a plus. Above all this the conditions in NewZeland is the big advantage for them with the home crowd support, they must be hoping to put up good fight in all the ODI matches.
The ODI series outcome will have a strong bearing in the TestSeries.
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I'd like to comment about the Indian bowling department here. Ishant after the Australian series hasn't bowled in a bowling friendly conditions. This one must be a real treat for him, if he can stick to the basics and applies himself well. I think Zaheer will be the pick of the bowlers for the Indians with his vast experience and him consistency in the past year. Bajji and the other seamers needs to give a good supporting hand to these two. Coming to the batters, in these kiwi conditions getting runs will not be that easy unless they apply themselves to the condition. I hope Rohit is given a promotion in the order right from the first match considering his performance in Australia last year. We have the right mix and the best attitude hope lady luck stays with Team India.
Vasu, I don't entirely agree with you on the point that Sachin should sit out the ODIs. NZ has always been a special place for Sachin (that's where he started opening the innings!), so this probably being his final tour of NZ he would want to leave a lasting impression in the ODIs.
Although it is indeed a difficult decision to break up the Viru-Gauti combination, I still think Sachin should open. But the team management/Dhoni should tell him to play with carefree abandon (like his hey days in NZ). This move will be based on the fact that we have some solidity now in the batting order with most of the guys being in very good form.
Even if Sachin flops it is no longer that big a deal, as the team management is prepared for that with clear instructions to the other players. With the smaller grounds in NZ it will be great to see Sachin going over the top and using the first 15 overs to put up a big score. He need not necessarily play a long innings (so we can still preserve him for tests), just a quickfire 40-50 in about 25-30 balls .. and of course he can consolidate if wickets fall at the other end and play according to the situation. I think in this attacking mode Sachin will be more effective than Sehwag with the new ball in NZ.
I also think he should roll his arm over with his seamers/off-breaks. He should be given 4-5 over max to see if he is effective.
I somehow get the feeling Dhoni will try these .. let's wait and watch how the dice rolls.
VJ
Vasu... now Indian team has some pleasant problems in picking the playing 11. Almost all of them are performing over the past few months, barring Rohit, though it can be due to not getting good chances. But in newzealand conditions i hope that Rohit will come good with his solid technique. And also Sachin should play. The batting looks solid now. But the uncertainty prevails over the bowling. Though the conditions are helpful, the seamers shouldnt get carried away and stick to the basics. As srinath pointed, they should make the batsman play as much as possible and should have the killer punch to dismiss the whole team unlike the last time (or always), when they take the top order wickets but fail to sustain the pressure thus letting the tail to wag and take the match away.
This seems to be a good contest in the ODIs. But in the test, team India has the upper hand with its experience and the temprement. Anyway, good feasts for cricket maniacs like us..
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