Future Team Prospects III

Badrinath

S. Badrinath, a right hand batsman and captain of Tamil Nadu has long been considered a potential middle order batsman for India. He has come up through junior cricket and has played for India A team. Originally considered more of a “Test” player than a “ODI” player, he has adapted his game for the shorter version of the game as well.

Here are his Ranji stats for the last 2 years –

Year	M	I	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	100	50
2006/07	6	9	0	436	136	48.44	1	3
2005/06	7	10	2	636	206*	79.50	2	3

and his ODI stats –

Year	M	I	NO	Runs	HS	Ave	SR	100	50
2006/07	7	7	2	278	120	55.60	87.69	1	1
2005/06	6	5	0	294	92	58.80	89.63	–	4

Clearly, his form has dipped this year compared to last season, but it is still a healthy 48.44 and 55.60 in the two versions of the game. As Sanjay proposed in his blog, India would do well to pick an experienced player as opposed to filling the side with 19 year olds. Badrinath is 26 years old and has the maturity and potential to absorb pressure at the international level.

Lets hope he makes the cut sooner than later..

(Also read Rediff’s feature on Badrinath and the articles Future Team Prospects I and II)

-Mahesh-

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News in brief: Wednesday 11 April, 2007

• The Windies have lost yet again. Lara is planning on retiring at the end of the World cup – that is only a couple of games away for them.
• Sidharth Monga talks about the problems with India’s domestic games in the article Dousing the home fires. BCCI plans to meet with Ranji captains and coaches to discuss some of the changes proposed.
• In a column in Rediff, Sir Richard Hadlee has complimented BCCI over the steps it is taking over the WC debacle.
• The Indian cricket fans are it again. This time burning Tendulkar’s posters over his cutting of a cake which had India’s tri-colour. Gimme a break! Read Vish’s take on this hollow symbolism.
• CricInfo reports that the Australia-India series in Ireland is in doubt. Good!
• ECB is to introduce player referrals in domestic cricket. Similar to Tennis, they will be allowed two unsuccessful appeals. I actually like this idea.
• All the “seniors” are now set to play in the domestic Twenty20 tournament. The selectors have now rubbished reports that the seniors are going to be dropped from the Bangladesh squad.

-Mahesh-

ODI team for Bangladesh – Ranji ODI stats giving some pointers?

As we have already started speculating about the ODI team to Bangladesh I just pulled up some stats from the Ranji ODI competition. This is the stats according to most runs scored for the top 10 batsmen.

Mat I NO Runs HS Ave SR 100 50 Ct St Team

W Jaffer 7 7 1 394 170* 65.66 84.18 2 1 2 – BOM
K Goel 7 6 1 369 111 73.80 74.69 1 3 3 – PNJB
BM Rowland 7 7 2 341 102* 68.20 87.66 2 1 2 – KNTKA
M Kaif 6 6 1 340 151* 68.00 88.77 2 1 3 – UP
SA Asnodkar 5 5 1 325 104 81.25 72.06 1 3 1 – GOA
D Mongia 7 6 1 299 97 59.80 81.91 – 3 4 – PNJB
G Gambhir 6 5 0 296 116 59.20 87.05 2 – 2 – DELHI
RG Sharma 7 7 0 296 102 42.28 82.91 1 1 5 – RAJ
AS Jain 6 6 1 286 95 57.20 69.24 – 2 – – RAJ
S Badrinath 7 7 2 278 120 55.60 87.69 1 1 4 – TN

From the above I really want to see Jaffer in the team. I think Mogia also should come in. Rohit Sharma does not seem to have scored in this competition, but he has done a lot this year apparently and he can bowl usefully.. I think Kaif may also get a call again. Though Tewary is not in the above list, he has done more than enough this year. The no 2 on the list Karan Goel is very young and is only 20.

Jaffer, Uthappa, Tewary, Dravid, Yuvraj, Mongia, Dhoni/Karthik, Powar, Munaf, Zaheer, Sreesanth, with Ranadeb Bose and Gambhir completing the 14. What say?

– Sanjay

Hollow symbolism

Sachin Tendulkar has landed in a controversy over cutting a cake that had the India tri-colours. Apparently he has defiled the Indian flag and hurt peoples sentiments

In another incident, Narayana Murthy of Infosys has been accused of disrespecting the National anthem by not singing it.

What do these incidents tell us?

To me both Tendulkar and Murthy are the real ambassadors of India, the real geniuses and the true patriots.

My heart swells with pride when people talk highly about Infosys in the same breadth as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle. Murthy did not sing the anthem because it may put his international employees in an awkward position. This is not being disrespectful but on the contrary very respectful and sensitive.

We often read in the papers that some sections of the society take offence to defiling statues and idols. But then the same junta look the other way when real atrocities happen to real people.

My point is, this misplaced values and hypocrisy is carried through to sports as well and that is one of the root causes of India’s collective under achievement. When some one achieves something great, there are a thousand prying eyes to find fault. The media is to be faulted as well for giving them undeserved importance.

Imagine the pressure on a player like Kaif and Dhoni whose effigies have been burnt and houses stoned.

‘Indianness’ is about tolerance, co-existance and secularism. As long as these sections of the society are allowed to get away with it, and the politicians stand by it progress can never happen.

Mohan Krishnamoorthy in an earlier post aptly wrote that “this is a truly sad reflection of a society that is bursting to be recognised a modern and a civilised one…”

It is time that the law comes down hard on these elements.

– Vish

Sachin Tendulkar spoof interview

Funny in shades – I like the part where Sachin answers the question if India had the right mix for the World cup.

-Mahesh-