Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Australia vs India Twenty20: Indian Squad

India has lost the test series and thus ended their hope to regain the Gavaskar-Border trophy. Now, ahead of the twenty20 match against Australia, it is for sure that their test series defeat to Australia will not affect in their twenty20 performance. India has been in imperious form in Twenty20 cricket. Dhoni led India won the Twenty20 world cup in September last year. Dhoni was given a young side to represent India in the tournament and hardly anybody could think that the team without Sachin, Sourav, Dravid would bring another world cup trophy since Kapil Dev’s India won 1983 world cup.

Ahead of the twenty20 match, Indian selectors named a young side. Though Ganguly and Dravid have been left out of the squad, Sachin Tendulkar could sustain following his superb form in the test series. However, Sachin may not appear in the twenty20 match as he is likely to play in the CB series.

Indian’s twenty20 side looks very strong and effective. With the inclusion of two all rounders- Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina, Indian team looks balanced. Suresh Raina was axed out of the India’s ODI world cup squad on the eve of last year’s world cup tournament.

Suresh Raina has a great cricketer in him and if he can flourish his potential then he can serve India for a long time as a middle order batsman and a handy off spinner. I am looking forward to see Rohit Sharma in the twenty20 match. He has proven his worth in the twenty20 world cup. The squad includes four openers including Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, Dinesh Karthik and Robin Uthappa. So, there are lots of options available to choose. However, India’s biggest star of twent20 is Yuvraj Singh, who hit six 6’s in an over against England during the twenty20 world cup. Captain Dhoni another batsmen who suits the format very well with his attacking style of batting.

India’s only problem is pace attack. With RP Singh’s getting out of action after picking up an injury during the fourth test, it would be difficult for India to put out the right combination in the field. Sreesanth has just come back in the team, while Ishant Sharma is inexperienced. Praveen Kumar was proven effective in twenty20 world cup; however, I am doubtful about his performance in Australia’s seaming condition. So, Irfan Pathan has to play a big part for India in the twenty20 match against Australia. Spinner Harbhajan Singh is expected to be the first choice among the spinner, while Piyush Chawla is in the line to keep the pressure on Harbhajan Singh.

Indian 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

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