The Indian cricket team had a pretty mediocre outing in Srilanka missing out a semi final berth once again.I have already highlighted what went wrong with the team in one of my previous article ranging from selection issues to some of Dhoni's on field decisions. But blaming is of no use now and Indian cricket needs to look forward now.There has to be some changes made and the selectors should be brave enough to drop some non performing senior players so that a message can be given out to the future generations that "no cricketer's place is safe!!".A change in captaincy is definitely needed at least in the shortest format where Dhoni has to keep the seniors owing to politics in the team.A new skipper can come in and take some bold decisions.But Indian cricket is going to go no where with this team and a revamp is the need of the hour. Lets us look at the possible captaincy candidates '
1.Gautam Gambhir : He has made it clear that he desires to lead the team some day and has always been on the heels of M.S.Dhoni. But his form is very pathetic and his place in the team is not sure if he keeps up these kind of performances and so he cannot hope to be appointed the captain now.
2.Virender Sehwag : A constant vice captain in the team, Viru has been waiting for his chance to captain the side since Sourav Ganguly stepped down.But he is also struggling for form and he is extremely un dependable and that has been his bane and he has to improve a lot in his batting to be the captain of the team.
3.Virat Kohli : This young lad has impressed one and all with his batting and his altered attitude and is the apple of the eyes for many Indian fans today.He is certainly in the fray for captaincy but he has to wait for at least 2 years before he can take up the role because he is young and in the form of his life and he would do well to capitalize on that. But he can definitely be appointed as the skipper for the shortest format which can be a learning curve for Virat before he takes up the mantle from Dhoni say in 2 years time.
4.Yuvraj Singh : He was the favorite for bagging the captaincy role when Rahul stepped down in 2007 but our selectors decided to go with the flamboyant Dhoni back then and he was never considered for the role after that due to his form problem and he is not a regular in the test team.Adding to the fact that he has only recovered from a deadly disease,he needs some time to figure out his future.
5.Zaheer khan : Though he is one of the seniors, he gets injured often and because of that he cannot be the captain.More over being the strike bowler of the team he needs to concentrate on his bowling alone.
6.Harbhajan Singh : Since dada said that Harbhajan could be a possible captaincy candidate, I have suggested his name here,but his position in the team is not sure anymore let alone captaincy.
So there are very few options when it comes to captaincy.Dhoni has to continue leading the side at least until Virat is ready.India has to look into the ODI side and it needs many changes and so does the test team.The quandry of Yuvraj and Raina in the test team still remains unsolved.
1.Gautam Gambhir : He has made it clear that he desires to lead the team some day and has always been on the heels of M.S.Dhoni. But his form is very pathetic and his place in the team is not sure if he keeps up these kind of performances and so he cannot hope to be appointed the captain now.
2.Virender Sehwag : A constant vice captain in the team, Viru has been waiting for his chance to captain the side since Sourav Ganguly stepped down.But he is also struggling for form and he is extremely un dependable and that has been his bane and he has to improve a lot in his batting to be the captain of the team.
3.Virat Kohli : This young lad has impressed one and all with his batting and his altered attitude and is the apple of the eyes for many Indian fans today.He is certainly in the fray for captaincy but he has to wait for at least 2 years before he can take up the role because he is young and in the form of his life and he would do well to capitalize on that. But he can definitely be appointed as the skipper for the shortest format which can be a learning curve for Virat before he takes up the mantle from Dhoni say in 2 years time.
4.Yuvraj Singh : He was the favorite for bagging the captaincy role when Rahul stepped down in 2007 but our selectors decided to go with the flamboyant Dhoni back then and he was never considered for the role after that due to his form problem and he is not a regular in the test team.Adding to the fact that he has only recovered from a deadly disease,he needs some time to figure out his future.
5.Zaheer khan : Though he is one of the seniors, he gets injured often and because of that he cannot be the captain.More over being the strike bowler of the team he needs to concentrate on his bowling alone.
6.Harbhajan Singh : Since dada said that Harbhajan could be a possible captaincy candidate, I have suggested his name here,but his position in the team is not sure anymore let alone captaincy.
So there are very few options when it comes to captaincy.Dhoni has to continue leading the side at least until Virat is ready.India has to look into the ODI side and it needs many changes and so does the test team.The quandry of Yuvraj and Raina in the test team still remains unsolved.
The Youngsters :
The youngsters in the team are being shunted to the side by the seniors.They are not given chances and this has led to many talents like Tiwary,Rahane and Ojha to warm the benches.I strongly believe that they must have more exposure.Even batsmen like Pujara should be made to play in "all the formats" because after playing a test series if the selectors send him back to domestic cricket,it is not going to help his confidence.He is the future of Indian batting and he needs to have a permanent slot in all the three formats to have enough exposure so that by the time all the seniors retire,Pujara will be a complete batsman who can be a mainstay in our batting.At least he should be sent to overseas tours along with the A team to hone his batting in alien conditions.
Ojha too faces a similar situation though he is occasionally selected for the limited overs side though he has not got enough opportunities. He needs to be a regular in the limited overs side so that he can have enough exposure to lead the Indian spin attack.
Virat Kohli should open the batting in limited overs and play at no 4 in tests, in other words carry the legacy of Sachin because as of today he is the only player who can at least be compared with him on the basis of statistics.Ajinkya Rahane can be the other opener with Gambhir coming one down,and Cheteshwar Pujara can play at no:4.Yuvraj,Rohit and Dhoni.But the place of Rohit and Yuvraj can be shuffled between them and Raina if the rotation policy comes into effect.
There isn't much to say on the bowling department.Ashwin and Ojha are two regular bowlers and Irfan can be the man in limited overs cricket but India needs to give serious thought in the fast bowling department because there aren't many good fast bowlers around.
The bottom line :
A team success depends on the key players and the future lies with these players who aren't in the thick of things right now.Other youngsters like Vijay,Mukund,Tiwary can also be considered based on form and fitness.India has got a good pool of younsters and BCCI would do better not to waste them.A serious change in the cricketing system is needed.The coach should also be changed and a former Indian player like Dravid or Dada can be considered for the same.And a specialist bowling coach should be brought in to coach youngsters,encourage them to bowl raw pace with control.
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