Nihaayati Khubsurat!!!

Well, commentary in vernacular has been quite the trend this World Cup, and the title of this post, meaning "Strikingly beautiful" has been an oft-repeated phrase to describe India's cricket - be it batting, bowling or fielding. And not only 'oft-repeated', but it has been an 'apt' phrase too. Not many, including yours truly, would have backed India to perform the way they have and do a clean sweep in the group stages with strong, consistent and convincing performances.
 Lets try and make sense of this, first with the Batting:

I would underline Running between the wickets as the single biggest factor why India has managed to put up around 300 in every match they have played. I mentioned in the last blog that the current Indian batsman has the tendency to go for a highly risky release shot whenever there is a lull in play. This has not happened - whether at the start or in the middle overs. Batsmen have milked the bowlers extremely well. They have been busy at the crease, pinching singles, twos, threes and have not quite allowed pressure to build up. The focus, and more importantly the execution,  has been on conserving wickets at the start:

Opponent	After 10 overs	At drinks (15-17th over)	Mid-innings
Pak	42/1	71/1	131/1
SA	36/1	67/1	123/1
UAE	52/1	88/1	Match won
WI	41/2	63/3	114/5
Ire	73/0	121/0	175/1
Zim	35/2	71/3	100/4

Two points to make from the above table:

1. Indian batsmen have not worried about the run-rate, whether setting the target or chasing. The starts(score after the 1st powerplay - 10 overs) have been near ideal.
2. I mentioned in my previous post, that the batsmen have been watchful and cautious in the first 10-12 overs, but its the 12-26th over slot in which they have lost it, by playing extravagant shots in order to up the ante. This has not happened, barring two instances (which actually is why those two matches became a bit tight for India in the first place) See Pak, SA and to an extent UAE, Ireland. Versus each of them, India has not lost a wicket from 10 to 25 overs. Yes, India lost a wicket versus Ireland, but again, look at the difference in scores achieved at that point. That compensated for the loss of the solitary wicket. 
3. One important finding is not losing wickets in the 10-15th over slot. It is at this time the 1st and 2nd change bowlers are introduced, the likes of Morne Morkel, Wahab Riaz, Kemar Roach. Many times the batsmen have been guilty of relaxing a bit and throwing away their wickets post the 1st powerplay. Look up the table.The games in which India has avoided losing a single wicket in those 5 overs, have been a stroll.

  Nuff said about the batting. Let us have a look at our Bowling:

The fact that India has managed to bowl out its opposition in all the 6 matches, which is 2nd only to South Africa(10 consecutive matches) says quite a lot about its bowling unit. 3 things have contributed here:
Pace: The likes of Shami and Yadav have been steaming in at a consistent142 kmph. And both have been able to get the ball to seam off the surface, causing problems for the batsmen. They have used the short-ball to telling effect, whether versus Hashim Amla, Younis Khan or the UAE batsmen. Also, this wicket-taking ability has to an extent, masked the death overs problem. Nowhere was this more evident than versus Zim. They were 231/4 after 41 overs, with Brendan Taylor and Craig Ervine on a rampage. But the bowlers kept on chipping away at the wickets, and managed to restrict Zim at 287/10. Same was on display versus Ireland.

Guile: Ravi Ashwin has been bowling wonderfully well in this tournament, although he was not that effective in the two matches in New Zealand ( v/s Ire and Zim) He has stuck to bowling his stock delivery of loopy off-spin, instead of trying too many things. And he has developed a wonderful variation - the arm ball. He used to bowl the doosra, where he used to flick the ball to leg-spin it, instead of off-spin, but this one is different -  he bowls it almost seam-up, and goes straight-on or has a minor deviation from the pitch, bamboozling the batsmen. Only thing he needs to take care is not to over-use it.
Mohit Sharma has been a good addition - coming first change, he has kept up the pressure and taken wickets. He too bowls at a good pace, has a good seam position and a deceptive slow ball to boot in the death overs. His role cannot be understated here.

Fielding:  Indian team has caught 45 catches and affected 4 runouts in 6 matches, and have dropped just 2 catches in all. Add to that the runs saved in ground fielding, it will be safe to say that India have been amongst the very best of the fielding sides in the tournament.

So far so good. Now starts the business end of the tournament. India's superior performance in group stages has allowed the team to avoid facing Australia or New Zealand in quarters. India is up against Bangladesh:

Perennial also-rans of International cricket, Bangladesh have matured a bit in this tournament. They too have a good set of pace bowlers - Captain Mortaza, slinger Rubel Hossain and young Taskin Ahmed can all bowl at 140 + and all can trouble the batsmen. Yes, it is this trio and NOT the spin ( as it has been with Bangladesh traditionally) which will be the primary threat to India. Rubel can get reverse at pace, so he can be dangerous at the later end of the innings as well.
Their batting looks great. Tamim Iqbal, Mahmudullah and Saqib Al Hasan can be particularly damaging at the beginning, middle and the death respectively. Young guns Soumyadeep Sarkar and Sabbir Hossain have been in nice touch, while the experienced Mushfiqur Rahim can anchor this batting unit.

So I wonder whether India has actually 'avoided' England or not. The match is at MCG, which has a great pitch - bounce and nip off the deck for the bowlers while batsmen too would love ball coming on to the bat. So the scores should be around 280-300. One cannot exaggerate how much careful India needs to be versus Bangladesh. Two things - Bangladesh would play with nothing to lose, which is always a great way to play. But, a flip side to this is also what can be termed as 'job-done syndrome'. They may just get off the boil with this.

Make no mistake, India ( and its fans for this matter) should not consider the passage to the semis any bit easy with Bangladesh in quarters. India has to play to its potential to beat Bangladesh. Here's to hoping a "beheterein" performance by India!!!

We won't give it back

Yes, we will talk about the Defending Champions in today's post. Before we look ahead, lets look back a bit, what has transpired since that night at Wankhede, super-briefly. What has happened is that the middle generation of Indian cricket has not quite had their desired end. All knew that Tendulkar was to retire post 2011, but not many were absolutely sure that Sehwag, Gambhir, Yuvraj and Harbhajan will not play the next world cup. That has pretty much been THE problem for India. It is only because of the vast batting talent India has been blessed with that this shortfall has not severely impacted results. But the same has not quite happened with bowling, which is where India's problem lies.
So lets begin with a look at our batting:

I do not see much problems here. If India bats keeping in mind there are 50 overs to go, the batsmen have it in them to consistently put up more than decent totals. That has not been happening, what happens is whenever a batsman has faced some dots and the innings is in a lull, the reaction is to come down the wicket and slog. Needless to say, looks brave when comes off, horrendous when it doesn't. The point is to curb that - but I do not think that is possible, as release shots are ingrained and inherent to a batsman.  Where India is losing the way is not conserving wickets at the start. There has been improvement - batsmen do take their time and we also reach 40-60 for 0/1 in 15-17 overs. The problem starts after that - for the next 5-6 overs, invariably batsmen feel its time to move a gear. What the batsmen need to realize is that it is ok to go like that even till the 25-26th over. India shouldn't mind being 105-1/2 by the 25th over. Currently, we are losing our way from the 12-25th overs. That is one thing the batsmen should work on, and which will be very interesting to observe.
                     One other thing regarding the batting is the order. Ajinkya Rahane has to play, and the position most suited to him is no.3. He is not a slogger, but can play well against the new ball. So, he is the ideal man to come in after a wicket goes down - and across matches, this would happen, inside the 1st 15 overs. That leaves Virat Kohli at no.4, which again is ideal. All the talk of coming in at 1 down and 'dictating' the innings does not make much sense to me, to say the very least. Absolutely no point taking the risk of losing him versus the new ball. It is not that he is not good enough, but given the current form and the conditions in general, where no batsman is quite safe, it would be prudent to have him at 2 down. It solidifies the middle order too, and Kohli can inflict severe damage at the death. And coming at no.4 will give him more chances to do that.

And next we check out what has been discussed as much as the Delhi elections it seems. The bowling:

 Lack of a spearhead, experience and fitness sum up the problems. Mohammed Shami and Umesh Yadav have pace but lack consistency to string 6 balls directed at the 4th stump on a good length.  They have been bowling way too back of length and frequently drifted towards middle and leg. Bhuvneshwar Kumar is unfit and even if he regains fitness, it is highly doubtful whether he would be effective. Mohit Sharma is consistent, but lacks pace and penetration. Although he hits the deck, so he should get some purchase from the hard, bouncy pitches down under.
                     Because the pace attack is failing to take wickets, the spinners are unable to maintain pressure in the middle overs. Here too, Ravindra Jadeja has just recovered from injury and needs to bowl more and more. He is a vital cog in the scheme of things - as he turns the ball away from the right-hander,for me, he would be more effective than Ashwin. But still, I do not believe spin is an area of concern, at least not as much as pace. If the pace bowlers fire, or even just bowl decently, spinner/s should come into the game.
                    And of course, there is our curse of the death overs. It has been ages now, since we have had a death over specialist bowler. Zaheer Khan was one, but even he was more effective only when there was 1 ball instead of 2, which got scruffed up for reverse in the dusty subcontinent pitches. With the inexperience we have, the problem is even more pronounced. Potentially, Shami, Mohit and Jadeja should bowl the bulk of the death overs. Shami has the ability to bowl full and straight towards the end, while Mohit bowls the deceptive back of the hand slower ball, which is very difficult to get away. 

Lets talk about the team composition. I think Rohit, Dhawan,Kohli, Rahane,Raina, MSD, Shami, Yadav, Mohit would select themselves. That leaves two spots and 3 contenders - Binny, Ashwin, Jadeja and Axar Patel. It obviously depends on the pitches, timings and the opposition, but for any ground except maybe Perth(WACA) and Brisbane(Gabba), I would go with Jadeja and Ashwin. And make it a point to give Axar Patel a few games, so that if either of the spinners go off the boil, I would be itching to play him. Make no mistake, he is a better spinner than Jadeja, but Jadeja adds a semblance of balance to the side, more so than Axar. India play UAE at Perth, so I won't be averse to trying out Stuart Binny there.He has done fairly well whenever given a chance, but to include him will be a very difficult decision, particularly given the comfort MSD enjoys with spinners.Infact, that will be one of the major issues - because the previous WC was in the sub-continent, India had a player like Yuvraj who bowled 10 overs, kept things tight, took wickets and of course we all know what he did with the bat. We do not have anyone to do the corresponding role on the hard and bouncy pitches down under.

India's games versus associates will not be a cakewalk. An upset is possible for any team, but considering India wins, it will not do so comprehensively against any of them. Simply because of the dodgy bowling prospects, I feel there would not be much change in the totals teams put up against India. I do not see India restricting any of the teams less than 240. And it should not be an issue, as I would back India to score 250 + versus all of them.

I know a team should focus on the next game, aim to win and think nothing else. But, if India does get in such a situation, it should try and finish 2nd in the pool and setup a quarter-final clash at the SCG, which would be versus the Lankans. I feel that is the best chance to progress to the semis, from where it is anyone's cup.

What's up down under!!!

So, 4 years have passed since that unforgettable night when MS Dhoni slammed Nuwan Kulasekara over long-on to create cricketing history, and the Cricket World Cup is upon us. Straight to the point then – which are the teams to lookout for? Who would be the players that can make this event their own? Read on….

Australia

They are not yet the Australia that won 3 WCs back to back, but they are very close to those teams. Warner and Finch to start, both can play in all gears, can be watchful , explosive or consolidating. Yes, Warner can do all three. But I think they have a headache, hopefully a pleasant one, in the middle-order. They like to play Watson because of the balance he provides, which means that only two of Clarke, Bailey and Smith can play. And Watson has not been in sizzling form, so some early wickets is the only way teams can put pressure on them. But then there is Maxwell - teams will not quite like the idea of Maxwell coming in early! 

Bowling too is penetrating and diverse. The Mitchells swing the bowl at pace, Hazlewood is a hit the deck and seam bowler, while Faulkner keeps things steady and is excellent at the death. Infact, Australia have 2 excellent death bowlers in Faulkner and Starc. Again, one niggle they have is spin in the middle overs.Doherty is a canny bowler though - keeps things very tight.

But all the glitches notwithstanding, very hard to see who will beat them, particularly at home.

New Zealand

They are not the 'Dark-horses' anymore. They are a strong unit playing at home which has raised the expectations. 

Guptill and McCullum to start, a solid middle order of Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and a lethal death charge of Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi. They have covered their bases in bowling as well - Swing, seam and pace by Southee and Boult at the start and at the death. Momentum will be sustained with either of McClenaghan, Milne and Matt Henry in the middle overs. And of course the cunning Daniel Vettori as the tweaker. Anderson as well to keep things at a leash - though he will get carted for runs I feel. Make no mistake, their strength is pace - Boult, Milne and Henry can bowl at 150 while Southee and  McClenaghan can clock 143+. Not many attacks in the world boast of such prowess at the moment. 

But interesting to see how they perform with the favorites tag, as they are certainly expected to reach atleast the semis. This would be a new experience for them.

South Africa

They have always been among the favorites to win World Cups. And it is no different this time round. Classy batting order - Amla, DeVilliers, DuPlessis. Power in the form of David Miller. Bowling stocks are aplenty and full of variety. Conventional swing-at-pace-bowler Dale Steyn, ruffle-the-batsman-with-extra-bounce-bowler Morne Morkel and hit-the-deck-nick-the-batsman-bowler Vernon Philander. Imran Tahir would not be easy to play against, and JP Duminy is also a handful. Death bowling looks a bit dodgy, none of the above are quite known for death bowling, Wayne Parnell would come in handy, if they are able to play him. One guy they are persisting with and about whom I am not at all sure is Farhaan Berhardien. Is a lower middle order bat and a part time seam up bowler. A waste of a spot according to me.

The only question, as ever, for the Africans is : Will they choke?

England

Bowling set, batting not so. This would sum up England. James Anderson, Chris Woakes, Stuart Broad and Steve Finn will give any side a run for their money. It is an obvious fact that the conditions will suit them, although the timings and venues do not. They would revel in day games bowling first scenarios, but bowling in the afternoon in small New Zealand stadiums can prove to be their undoing. They can get one dimensional and set batsmen would just bat them out of the game. Irrespective of what the experts say, I am not entirely convinced about Moeen Ali the spinner. Sensible batsmen would find him quite straight-forward. Only catch is they need to be sensible, which is somehow proving to be a daunting task when they see Moeen Ali after James Anderson and Steve Finn have tested them inside out.

They are a good side though and can use the conditions to their advantage. Absence of Ben Stokes would hurt - a real bad selection that.

Sri Lanka

They have been in the knockouts of tournaments consistently, but this time their entry into semis looks dodgy. As always, they will rely on their batting triumvirate to sail them through waters - be it rough or smooth. And this has the obvious problem of consistency - it will hard for them to fire every time, particularly in conditions amenable to bowlers. And talking of bowlers, it seems they are a bit out of depth here. Malinga and Kulasekara are formidable, but are not quite effective as past times. They have good spinners though, Herath can turn and Senanayake will get extra bounce and if Sri Lanka manage to play them both, then they can turn on the pressure, particularly with runs on the board. They would miss Dhammika Prasad, who would have been effective with pace, bounce and sling death bowling ala Malinga.

So, not quite the force, but as mentioned, they do find ways to get into knockouts. Cant really count them out.

Pakistan

 Much has been said and written about their unpredictable nature, so I won't go into it. Batting looks solid, Ahmed Shehzad can turn it on at the start, Misbah and Younis Khan can anchor and stabilize the innings. Umar Akmal and Sohaib Maqsood would be extremely useful and coupled with a canny Sarfaraz Ahmed and boom-boom, the batting unit has enough. And for a rare occasion, it looks better than the bowling. Apart from Md Irfan and Wahab Riaz, Pakistan could find it tough to put up consistently good bowling performances. Rahat Ali is a good bowler, but remains to be seen whether he can step up. 

West Indies

Some inexplicable selections have dampened their prospects, but still they remain a dangerous side, easily capable of making the semis. Explosive openers - Smith and Gayle, solid middle order - Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo and Marlon Samuels, and firepower galore with Darren Sammy and Andrew Russell. Lendl Simmons can be used as a floater and would be a key batsman. Bowling can trouble batsmen on their day with Kemar Roach at the start and Jerome Taylor at the death. Suleiman Benn will extract bounce, so it will not be easy to play him. Just think if we could add Dwayne Bravo, Kieran Pollard, Ravi Rampaul and Sunil Narine to this mix. Sky would have been the limit. Still, a formidable side.

Associates

Zimbabwe 

Batting looks decent - Brendan Taylor, Hamilton Masakadza, Sean Williams, Craig Ervine can put up significant amount of runs on the board while Elton Chigumbura can accelarate towards the end. Bowling is suspect. Really suspect.

Afghanistan

Looking forward to some good performances by them. They are decent in both the aspects. They have a good bowling attack - their opening bowlers Dawlat Zadran and Hamid Hassan bowl in good areas at pace and they have a canny left arm spinner in Md Nabi. Batting too looks decent with Nawroze Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai and Samiullah Shenwari. Any team that takes them lightly will do so at their own peril.

Ireland

They have proved time and again that they are not there to make up the numbers and we can expect some fighting performances from them. Captain Porterfield, Ed Joyce and Alex Cusack bring tons of experience to batting, Craig Young and Peter Chase bring freshness and pace in their bowling. And we all know about Kevin O Brien.

The rest - UAE, Scotland and Bangladesh would make up the numbers.

Players to watch out for

I will not mention the obvious ones - Williamson, Maxwell, Anderson, Younis Khan, Steyn and so on. But look out for the following

Trent Boult - lesser known than his bowling partner Tim Southee, but will do more damage

Luke Ronchi - a wicket-keeper who can flay the ball - he can play anywhere - open, middle, slog

Aaron Finch - he will get the most overs to bat and will pile on the runs

Sarfaraz Ahmed - from the unconventional wicket-keeper school of Pakistan  - has a good temperament, unorthodox and effective under pressure

Sohaib Maqsood - Can be extremely dangerous in the slog overs. Only problem is if he comes in early, whether he can build an innings or not

Wahab Riaz - he has been injury plagued, but now he is fit. This can be his world cup - has pace, bounce, reverse ( yes, even with 2 new balls)

Jos Buttler - He should be playing at no.4 - seems comfortable playing pace and spin. Has a wide array of shots and is in good nick.

Andrew Rusell - he should be one of the all-rounders of the tournament - can bowl at 145 and more than decent with the bat. And one of the best outfielders going around. 

So, set the alarms and plan breakfast brunches instead of night outs! Let the games begin!!!

P.S. One of the participating teams has not been covered yet. I think a separate post will be required for it :) Keep watching this space!

 

The Leaky Cauldron

And... we are back! With the World Cup not that far away, the blog can't be either. But we will look at the World Cup a bit later. Today, its glory, glory Man United!!
Well, it isn't basked in glory at the moment, to understate a bit. The Moyes era ended a while ago, but the pain refuses to subside. There are many reasons for this.
 The last season offers many clues, which unfortunately, Van Gaal seems to be misreading. The very simple reason for the disappointing season was the lack of Goals. Stats do not lie:
United conceded 43 goals in Sir Alex's last season in charge. Finish: Champions.
Guess how much Utd. conceded in the season after that: Exactly 43. But Finish: 7th place.
So, needless to say, the 2013-14 season was lost due to United scoring only 64 goals - their 2nd lowest tally in the Premiership era. Critics say that United weren't creative. Weren't sharp. Weren't incisive. Lacked ideas in the opposition half. No one would like it, but every United fan would grudgingly agree with almost all of the criticisms.
Ok, we need Goals! says Van Gaal and he set off on ridiculous buying spree - United have spent a record 150 million £ this season, comfortably their highest ever. And in come the Angels, in come the 'El Tigres', the Rojos and if the glitter gets too much, we have the Blinds as well. United's arsenal of attacking options has become a big talking point, but we will not talk about that today. What we will talk about, is the one crucial piece of the jigsaw that Van Gaal seems to have ignored, Manchester United's Leaky Cauldron: The Defence. The men who formed the backbone of United defense - Vidic, Ferdinand and Evra have quietly left last season, leaving a black hole to fill. The goals were a problem, but United also conceded way more than they would have liked. 43, is not a small number considering you play 38 matches in the league. And the principal reason behind this was that United did not have the same back 4 in even 2 straight games, let alone a season, that generally is expected of a Champion defense. And now, with Van Gaal's 3-5-2 formation, the back 3 become even more crucial. It is here that the transfers do not make much sense. Luke Shaw and Marco Rojo are essentially left backs. Yes, Rojo will probably play at the centre, but there is no denying the fact that he is most comfortable at left back, where he plays for Argentina. So, two new players for a single position, and that’s all as far as new signings in defense go. What United badly needed was to have some experience at the back. Look at any Champion line-up and you will see at least one (if not more) veteran defender. Manchester City has Kompany, Atletico Madrid has Godin, Bayern has Lahm, PSG has Thiago Silva.
            And what do United have – Jones, Evans, Smalling, Blackett and the new two. Again, stats do not lie: The aggregate career appearances of back 3 which played the previous encounter vs. Burnley are 256. Compare that with those of just one who has left United, Rio Ferdinand: 494 career appearances. It is this glaring weakness which the other teams are going to exploit against United. Mind you, any player who plays for United at this level is necessarily world class, and although Van Gaal (and indeed United) is known to back young talent,  there really is no substitute for experience. What United needed was one solid, experienced international defender who would have shepherded the defense.  With Jones and Smalling out due to injury for a while, unless the holding midfielders – the Herrera, Blind, Fletcher – (who are all really good by the way), step up  to the plate, the cauldron will continue to leak.
Ok, Defense is one. Defense signings are two. But I mentioned ‘many reasons’ for the pain. We will look at one more reason in my next blog – the magic numbers 3,5 and 2

Ind v/s WI: Carribean (Apo)Calypse???

So, here we are! The World Champions embark on their first mission after their crowning.


Ummm, not quite as the Indian team to the Carribean is without 8 of its WC winning team members. In this era of modern cricket, where there are more ODIs in a year than there are days in it, Team Management has become extremely important, almost like it is in Club Football- where the Manager has to prudently maintain an everready pool of 18-25 players who can play 1st team football anytime. This also breeds young players, gives them oppurtunities, allows the manager to chop and change combinations and observe the results. In doing so, when the big games come, he has more options, but also is sure of his ultimate combination, that he wouldn’t have found if he hadn’t developed the talent pool in the first place.

So here is what we can expect as regards team line up in the upcoming limited over internationals:

Shikhar Dhawan

Parthiv Patel

Virat Kohli

Rohit Sharma

Suresh Raina

Subramaniam Badrinath

Yusuf Pathan

Harbhajan Singh

Ravichandran Ashwin / Ishant Sharma

Praveen Kumar

Munaf Patel

Batsmen first. It looks an excellent middle order- it is missing nothing. Good, solid openers, with an aggressive streak, a more than sound middle order and deadly finishers. Virat Kohli can play both ways, so can Sharma. Badrinath can be promoted like in IPL if early wickets fall and ball is doing a bit. Rohit Sharma is the ideal middle order batsman. He can graft well. And Raina and Pathan can be lethal finishers.

Now to the bowling. Munaf Patel is bowling the best he ever has. With his height he will be able to extract bounce and nip. Praveen Kumar can pick up early wickets and trouble the batsmen. Ashwin can bowl literally at any phase in the innings and pick up wickets- his carrom ball has been excellently developed. And vice captain Harbhajan Singh too can keep up the pressure.Yuvraj will be missed as the 5th bowling option, but that can be made up by Pathan, Raina, Sharma and Kohli. Now, to our perennial problem- death bowling. Apart from Ashwin, there isn’t anybody who can convincingly bowl at the death, although Munaf can be decent. Still, that will remain a worry area, particularly without Zak.

Fielding is excellent. Apart from the bowlers, who themselves aren’t too bad, ALL of the rest are exceptional fielders. Absolutely no worries in that department.

Even this team has its bench strength all covered. If the going gets tough behind the wickets, Wriddhiman Saha is an able keeper and no muck with the bat. If someone isn’t getting it right in the batting department, we have a very good batsman in Manoj Tiwary waiting in the wings. If variety is needed in spin department, there Amit Mishra, fresh off a hat trick in the IPL. If a pacer gets injured, or the conditions demand three-pronged pace attack, there is a rejuvenated Ishant Sharma and a clever Vinay Kumar waiting.



I expect the pitches to be low and slow, as the West Indian cricket season is towards its end. Although the expected rain can spice up things a bit. The team winning the toss should bat first.

The West Indies is a formidable outfit in limited overs, with all departments covered decently. Kemar Roach will spearhead the pace attack, with Ravi Rampaul, who has a happy knack of performing very well v/s India, his partner in crime. The young Devendra Bishoo can be vulnerable if put under pressure though. Batting is looking good too with Lendl Simmons and Darren Bravo- the upcoming star. And the battery of all rounders- Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Polard and DarrenSammy can plug gaps in any department. Particular mention to Darren Bravo- he will be the one to watch, although India are well equipped with Singh and Ashwin, who will take the ball away from him, making his life very difficult.

So really, there isn’t much to complain for anybody. And no excuses as well- this team is good enough and if we get beaten, we should not lament that ‘the senior guys were missing’