Indian World Cup Team- A critical Analysis!!

Before I get into any judgments I want to present the statistics I have collected about the current team selected that will represent India in the coming World Cup at West Indies.

1)Virendar Sehwag

Runs Scored: 4787
Wickets Taken: 71

2)Saurav Ganguly

Runs Scored:10412
Wickets Taken:93

3)Robin Uthappa

Runs Scored::203
Wickets Taken:0

4) Sachin Tendulkar

Runs Scored:14783
Wickets Taken:147

5)Rahul Dravid

Runs Scored:10044
Wickets Taken:4

6) Yuvraj Sigh

Runs Scored:4317
Wickets Taken:42

7)MS Dhoni

Runs Scored:1891
Wickets Taken:0

8)Dinesh Karthik

Runs Scored:145
Wickets Taken:0

9) Ajit Agarkar

Runs Scored:1240
Wickets Taken:270

10)Zaheer Khan

Runs Scored:490
Wickets Taken:170

11) Munaf Patel

Runs Scored:6
Wickets Taken:22

12) S Sreesanth

Runs Scored:7
Wickets Taken:34

13) Irfan Pathan

Runs Scored:1006
Wickets Taken:115

14) Anil Kumble

Runs Scored:938
Wickets Taken:334

15)Harbhajan Singh

Runs Scored:687
Wickets Taken:168

Total of Runs scored by the all the players in the team = 50956
Total of wickets taken by all the players in the team =1470

My Analysis

First Thoughts:

Any Reader who would even after a glance at the figures I have posted above, agree to the fact that this team is the strongest team that comes in to the World Cup.

Pros:

I am sure (although I haven’t analysed other teams stats), that no other team that comes in to this world cup(even in the past) would have a aggregate of 51000 runs being scored by all of its players in ODI’s. I bet it wouldn’t be even close to 40k. And I wouldn’t even agree if someone posted a comment that all these runs came in the subcontinent. Nobody can deny the fact that Sachin, Rahul, Saurav and Sehwag have dominated or at least proved there stature in almost all the countries they have toured around the world. As always the bowling looks a little crippled. But then we have the best spinners in the world. Our two spinners together have 500 wickets. Again I want to challenge this figure against any other team.

Cons:

I will start with the word “Consistency”. This is where, the figures 51000 and 1470 look SMALL.

Batting

Top Order: When Saurav is in form, Sehwag isn’t and the vice-versa.

Top Order: When Dravid is in form, Sachin isn’t and the vice-versa.

Middle Order: When Dinesh karthik is in form Yuvraj isn’t.

Middle order: When Dhoni is in form he is required to play a slow innings since all the above perished :).

Bowling

Top Order: When Zaheer is consistent Sreesanth is not and the vice versa.

Top order: When Ajit agarkar is in form he is denied a team place and when Munaf is in form he

is out of the team as well. Alternatively when Ajit agarkar has lost his touch he is into the team and when Munaf is injured he is the striking bowler. Striking to him means lazy :).

X Order: I didn’t know if Irfan is a top order bowler or a middle order bowler or a batsman or a hitter. Dear reader please help me :)

Spinners: This is were India rocks. Irrespective of the track Indian spinners always bring in wickets. And hardly I have seen Bhajji or kumble give more than 6-7 runs per over even in crunch matches around the world.

Verdict:

On paper as always India has the best team. In batting we have the cushion to ignore the form of players. But in bowling I will want to advocate two spinners for all matches. Sachin or sehwag can add if spinners are exceedingly successful in a game. Zaheer and Ajit agarkar need to be two static seamers and the fifth spot for bowling can be Irfan/Sreesanth/None.

To finish I would say “If Indians cannot win the World Cup with this team they can not win the World cup for another 12 years atleast”.

Final words: Rely on Experience and aim for Consistency.