Not just the middle order. The much hyped Sehwag with his total of technical skills needs to raise his game several notches. Besides Sehwag's 130 he has been a total fiasco in all other innings. India could well afford to drop Sehwag and rely on other players who could be slower in stike rate but atleast more consistent. A player like Sehwag will score a 100 in only one of 10 innings where the other nine will be total failures. Sehwag is as useless as Shahid Afidi is to Pakistan. Both Sehwag and Shahid Aridi are much alike and can be the nightmare of their respective teams.
He scores a century and plays poorly for the next 6-7 innings. His century in 1 inning assures him a place through the remaining 6-7 innings (almost reminds me of Ravi Shastri during his playing days). That is Sehwag's cricketing life cycle. The India team think-tank should wait for him to hit a century, then DROP him for about 6 innings. This will be a good step towards ensuring a better performance from him!
Somehow, the Indian team looks disarrayed once again. Are we going to ever change fundamentally (both in ODI and TEST) i.e.
1. Openers will do the job they are suppose to do. This makes you wonder is Sehwag turning into India's Afridi!!! 2. Bowlers will learn and adapt quickly to the conditions. Selectors please try Kartik in place of Kumble. 3. Will the tail ever drag. Somehow as soon as Sachin, Dravid, Laxman are back in the pavilion it is confirmed the match is over. Only a couple of times this has been proven wrong by Kaif and Yuvraj. I was under the impression that they are playing as batsmen in the team, apparently not !!! Maybe as fielders. 4. Everlasting issue of a wicket-keeper. Is Parthiv really a player for ODI? In my opinion not. Why not try Ratra?
This may sound like beating an old drum, but I had to take out my frustation.
Our middle order lacks guts. Teams who have players of lesser quality perform in pressure situations on sheer guts and application.
ODIs are about playing under pressure. If we are 4 down for 70, or 5 down for 100, the middle order feels "it is not our day" - if the top order couldnt do it we dont have a chance. Chances are we wont cross 220.
This attitude is also seen right at the top also - if India lose 3 quick wickets, you can be sure they are collapsing.
Solution : Change the mindset to batting - if you are coming in top bat under pressure work towards steadying the innings. Even if the run rate is falling for the next 5-6 overs and never mind if the asking rate is climbing - just stop trying for 4s-6s - be happy with 2s and 3s per over. In an ODI you can always make up for 5 low scoring overs in just 2 overs - provided you still have wits and your wicket.
Its time that rock solid batsmen like Kaif - become the role models for other guys - and not flash in the pan types like Yuvraj.
Sure India is sorely missing a Jadeja in the middle order - he had lots of guts and batting sense. And middle order is all about mental strength.
One of the reasons India has improved as a One Day Team is the fact that they play one extra batsman and play Rahul Dravid as a keeper. I hope Sourav reverts back to this formula once he takes up the reigns.Imagine Sourav replacing Parthiv and the team looks different altogether. All the best. Anirban Los Angeles
WEll I would suggest taking in Nehra in place of Agarkar. As he has the potential to ball better. Taking Indian pitches into consideration playing Murli Karthik an extra spinner and giving Parthiv rest could be a better proposition.
i do agree with dravid worrying @ the middle order not performing to the potential. to me,when we have openers like sachin & gauguly then why india tries to experiment with sehwag in this very important position? i think sehwag should be promoted to the opening position only when india has massive target to achieve and when we really need some bashing in the first 10-15 overs. there is no point in sending sehwag to score 30 quick runs in 4 overs losing a wicket or two.instead of maintaining the run rate it adds to the pressure by unnecessarily losing crucial wickets. if india is batting first i don't see any other reason why sehwag should open the innings. as for sehwag he is a batsman of his class to play in any position in the limited version of the game.
