Performance of India's supply line on the Zimbabwe tour is a worrying sign for country's cricketing future
Performance of India's supply line on the Zimbabwe tour is a worrying sign for country's cricketing future
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With the senior players being rested for the series in Zimbabwe, the youngsters had a perfect chance to put their hand up and not just repay the selectors' faith but also prove their ability and technique to play at the international level.
Unfortunately, barring a few like Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha, most players in contention for a regular place in the side, have been found wanting.
India succumbed to their second defeat against Zimbabwe in the tri-series yesterday and the manner of the loss is just as worrying as the defeat itself. India managed just 194 off 50 overs and the hosts chased it down comfortably to win by seven wickets.
The team headed to the African nation with a lot of promise. A new look, young Indian team expected to take the responsibility of taking Indian cricket forward in the near future.
But their performance in the series has left a few former players worried.
"Whether it is a second string side or not does not really matter. With so many talented cricketers in the country, we should not be losing to Zimbabwe in the first place. And to lose twice is definitely a worrying sign. These players replaced seniors but their performances show that they are not ready for international cricket," said Pranab Roy, who was a selector when India made the final of the 2003 World Cup in South Africa.
Unexpected
With just one win from three games, India face an uphill task of making it to the final, a position nobody expected the team to be in before the tournament.
The openers, Dinesh Karthik and Murali Vijay have struggled to make an impression in any of the three games and yesterday they scored 58 runs off 16.1 overs on a good batting wicket.
In the middle order, barring Rohit Sharma who scored two hundreds, only Ravindra Jadeja and Virat Kohli have managed to score a half-century.
Failure
"This is India's best bench strength and they had a huge opportunity to prove their capabilities. But apart from Rohit and Virat, none of the batsmen have done much. The openers too have struggled and we really need to find out where things are going wrong. We need to know where we are lacking as these are the players in line to replace the seniors," said former India coach Lalchand Rajput.
The bowling too has come good only in patches but given the complete inexperience of the seamers, not much was being expected from them even before the tour.
"These performances show that it's time to press the panic button as the 2011 World Cup is not far away. Apart from a couple, none of the players have been impressive and if a few senior players breakdown before the World Cup, we could be in big trouble.
"Luckily, it's not too late but a lot of thought needs to be put into how the team has to be developed for the future and for the World Cup. But we do need to start planning properly and look for a strong bench strength who are ready to replace the seniors even at a short notice," said former chief national selector Kiran More.
Former India opener WV Raman felt it's time youngsters realised their responsibility and upped their game.
"They have to take their cricket to the next level. These performances show that they are still not ready material for international cricket. It's time they start looking at players like Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble and improve the overall quality of their game. Unless they manage to do that, they will not be able to succeed," he said.
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