Indian cricket in safe hands
Hyderabad, Oct 21 (INN): The Indian cricket team is riding a new high and the revival roadmap has been in tune with the abundant talent that exists in the country.
The fact that Mahender Singh Dhoni's boys have been thrashing the visiting English team in the ongoing ODI series, without the seniors, demonstrates that the bench strength has arrived fully well. The good augury was that there would be vibrant competition for each spot in the squad.
This was the opinion shared by former Test players Saba Karim and Venkatapathi Raju during an interaction with the media here on Friday.
The former stumper opined that the recent whitewash at the hands of the Englishmen had come as a wake-up call for the entire team. He said the fact that the team has been paying back England at their game indicated that the Indian think tank has worked out on the team's strengths and weakness to robust levels.
Karim said that the ongoing series has come as Godsend for the young players, who can capitalize on the golden opportunity to cement their place in the national squad even after the seniors return to action.
Describing Ajinkya Rahane and R Ashwin as finds of the series and singling out Virat Kohli for special praise, he, however, cautioned that although the youngsters were coming in handy, only time would tell if they could dish out consistent performances at the top.
Raju, endorsing Karim's views, pointed out that though the ensuing home series against the visiting West Indian team could be a cakewalk, the biggest challenge lay when India plays a full-fledged series against Australia Down Under.
The former spinner said that the way the team had regrouped itself in the home series against England reflected that the recent nightmarish experience had been off their minds. He said it was time to move on and work out strategies to regain the top ranking in both the Test and One-day formats.
The most refreshing aspect has been that the youngsters were both capable of successfully chasing 300 plus targets and also containing the opposition batting strength, which was also a measure of the bowling and batting depth prevalent in the country.
Speaking about his state-mate Pragyan Ojha, Raju said that the spinner had probed that he was a match winner with his 10 wickets in the recent Irani Trophy. He said Ojha would be an asset to the Test team given his bowling talent and also his usefulness with the willow.
The message that Karim and Raju sent was similar-the team had an amazing balance and the future is in safe hands.
News Posted: 21 October, 2011
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