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Indian test team for the tour of West Indies.

Honestly, I have been making the list of Indian cricket team for at least 10 years now. It was in 1996 World Cup that I came close to the game of cricket, closer on TV than what I played on ground and since then, every time an Indian team or squad for a particular tour is selected, I looked at it closely and wondered..
Looking at the latest Indian squad which is selected for the 4 test match series in West Indies, starting 31^st of May, I thought I would have selected the exact same squad if I would have been the selector!! Well, I am not...... but since I completely agree with it, let me be the spokesperson for you and answer whatever doubts you may have..

Why two similar kind of off spinners??

That's a secret that I am going to reveal to you. Ramesh Powar is just a passenger in this Indian team, but not because of his pull in Indian cricket authority or his physical weight, but because he is a potential World Cup winner. Indian selectors have given him a opportunity to stay with Indian team and gain valuable experience of Caribbean wickets for March 2007. And if somehow Harbhajan Singh gets injured, Powar will be more than handy replacement. Powar is a very different off spinner than what Harbhajan Singh is – the more conventional one who likes to beat the batsmen in the his flight and loop than his “doosra's” and “flooters”. Powar has been a leading wicket taker in Ranji Trophy for a long time now and if you look around in Indian domestic cricket, there aren't many spinner who might feel unlucky.

Ramesh Powar also has shown in limited opportunities that he has got that he has the potential to be a good batsman as well. All in all, Ramesh Powar is an all round cricketer who can be very useful if he makes a mark in International cricket. And this is his chance..!!

None of seamers have West Indian experience :-

well, that's true. And may backfire as well, as young bowlers tend to get carried away while experienced one's wait for the right moments. But the ones that we had as option like Ajit Agarkar, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra, have been given enough opportunities and its our last chance to play in West Indies before the World Cup. It was tough to leave out Ajit Agarkar as he has been the best bowler in the One day series so far, but he has also wasted as many chances in test cricket. Ajit is bowling well in one dayers and that's were we want him to be – not give him a chance in test cricket so that he gets a bad match and including him even in a ODI team might become a problem.

Moreover – Irfan, Munaf and Sreesanth have done very well so far in International cricket and they need to be trusted. About VRV Singh, he is also a passenger with lost of potential but very little chance to play. Lets have faith in these youngsters and I am sure they will deliver as they have been doing recently..!!

What happened to Sachin Tendulkar :-

He opted out. And rightly so. He may have taken a chance and traveled to West Indies this time but he knows very well that this might be his “last automatic selection” into the Indian team. After one more failure, he may have to live life like what Sourav Ganguly might be living these days.

So it was smart decision by Tendulkar of not rushing back into International cricket so soon. He is just taking his time, getting his grove back and will be using his “ last automatic selection” when he feels the best to strike form. Not a single day before that.

Who is Dinesh Kaarthik :-

A special but unlucky talent is what Dinesh Kaarthik is. A wicket keeper who is the best in the department in India right now and with the bat – he is lot more capable than what you have seen or read. He may not have the power of Mahendra Singh Dhoni or the fancy hair style, but what this boy from Karnataka has is confidence. And eagerness to perform at the highest level. Its very tough for him to make a place for himself in One Day team of India, but test matches may offer him chance..

I am not saying that Dhoni is not good enough test match wicket keeper, but if you compare him with Dinesh Kaarthik, you can easily see the difference. Where Dinesh misses out is the luck that Dhoni came before him and made his mark in international cricket, and he still is waiting for his turn...!!

The Trump cards :-

First and foremost, the biggest card that Team India holds over West Indies is our captain Rahul Dravid. He never had a bad form, ever in his career and has made runs everywhere in the World. Rahul is the best test batsmen right now in the World and he can prove to be our “Jack” in this 2006 test series against West Indies.

The second trump card is going to be Harbhajan Singh. West Indian line up is having three regular left handers – their captain Brain Lara, opener Chris Gayle, and middle order batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul. And if you see the stature of West Indian cricket, they never really had a great spinner and their batsmen rarely play good spinners with confidence. Harbhajan has started the Caribbean tour well by bowling good spells in one day series and the ball seems to be coming well out of his fingers.

Harbhajan has made a change of not bowling too many “Doosra's” in this tour and its helping him a lot. He used to concentrate on bowling at least one or two doosra's every over and that was making him feel less confident about the conventional off spinners delivery. Take my work for it, Harbhajan is bowling very well and he can win the test series for us.

The third trump card I have for you may not impress you that much but at the end of the test series against West Indies, we will get back and judge that am I correct here or not. The third trump card for Indians in the test series is opener Wasim Jaffer. Jaffer has the perfect test match openers' attitude and batting style and whats more, he also has the experience of West Indies wickets. He was there in 2002 when Indian team last visited the island country and few India A tours to West Indies as well. With not many “outstanding fast bowlers” in West Indian ranks this time, Wasim may occupy the crease for a long time and allow the other stroke makers have a nice time at the other end. Wasim Jaffer is a very good back foot player and according to Mumbai teammate Sanjay Manjrekar – no body can get Jaffer out with a short pitched ball.

Is Mahendra Singh Dhoni good enough for test matches..??

Well, this question is yet to be answered by Dhoni - the latest heart rob of India. I was watching a TV show on some channel which had an Interview with Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Someone asked him a very tricky question – Dhoni would like a World Cup final century or a test match century against Australia at Perth..??

The answer was straight and spontaneous from MS Dhoni – A World Cup final century. This man is made for attacking batsmenship and that may not always suit for Test match cricket, because a quick fire 50-60 runs may not turn the test match for you but a 300 ball century may. That's what Dhoni has to prove and he has shown those signs as well. Lets just hope he is also good enough for test match centuries... be it Jamaica, Trinidad or even Perth in Australia.

Last and of course the least, what about Sourav Ganguly :-

He is off to England to play county cricket for Northamtonshire and still trying his bit to get back into the Indian team. But frankly, this might be the last time when we are discussing his name for a place in Indian team. We already have so many options (read young options) that we can hardly adjust Sourav. Yes, he had the West Indian experience but we are trying to look forward, not backwards – as quoted by chief selector Kiran More.

And one more thing – Sourav Ganguly surely puts some bad influence on Indian cricket team. He is old and struggling, arrogant and hardly mixes with the enthusiasm of current Indian cricket team. He was the captain and used to rule Team India. Now being just a cricketer is surely tough for him. And when was the last time when he played a really good test innings..??