In the eye of a billion dreams

High on confidence after a tri-nation series victory in Sri Lanka, a week before the start of ICC Champions Trophy, India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni knows what it takes to compete with some of the world’s best ODI sides.

In terms of variety and team composition, India seem to have almost every thing to give them a chance to win back the Champions Trophy which they jointly shared with Sri Lanka in rain-drenched Colombo in 2002.

India’s biggest strength lies in their batting and Sachin Tendulkar is back to his best after a masterful century in the tri-series final against Lanka on September 14. Rahul Dravid, back in the side after two years, has already displayed how technique and defence play key roles in the 50-over game. Both Tendulkar and Dravid add a cooling effect on the team as well.

And, there is no shortage of firework, even if Virender Sehwag is missing from the squad due to injury. Gautam Gambhir should be fit enough to give India a blitzkrieg start while India have in Yuvraj Singh and skipper MS Dhoni to consolidate in the middle overs.

In the absence of Zakeer Khan, senior offie Harbhajan Singh is all eager to spearhead India’s attack. Bhajji showed his intensity while grabbing a 5-wicket haul against the Sri Lankans in the Compaq Cup final. However, on South African tracks, the tall and lanky Ishant Sharma should be able to bowl in the right areas and Dhoni will expect Ashish Nehra, RP Singh and Praveen Kumar to play ideal foils.

STRENGTHS

BATTING: Gambhir, Tendulkar, Dravid (highest scorer for India in Champions Trophy after Sourav Ganguly with 547 runs at 49.72), Yuvraj, Dhoni and not to forget the hitting abilities of young Suresh Raina and Yusuf Pathan make for a complete line-up. If this line-up acclimatizes itself with the playing and weather conditions in Johannesburg and Centurion, batting should not be a concern even though at this time of the year, fresh pitches in South Africa offer more assistance to the faster bowlers, generally a nemesis for Indian batsmen.

SPIN BOWLING: One of the good byproducts of T20 cricket or the IPL is the rise of part-time slow bowlers like Yuvraj, Raina and Pathan in the current limited overs setup. Not only can they bowl economically and go through their overs quickly, they can entice settled batsmen to throw their wickets. Together with the wicket-taking ability of Harbhajan, the Indian slow bowling department looks quite a handful.

WEAKNESSES

FIELDING: "Our fielding standards, compared to the ones we had in Australia in 2007, is now very different...” -- Dhoni’s statement in a pre-tournament press conference is testimony to the fact that the fielding of Team India has gone down tremendously in recent times.This calls for upping the ante by the younger blokes like Raina, Gambhir and RP Singh and the likes Yuvraj, who now fields at mid-on or mid-off and not the customary backward point position owing to his knee concerns.

PACE BOWLING: Usually a facet which remains a strength for many of the participating teams like Australia, South Africa and New Zealand, the pace bowing department is arguably weaker than it looks. Ishant, aiming to test the opposition batsmen with timely bouncers in this series, does not have an impressive economy rate (5.66) while Nehra, RP and Praveen can be very erratic at times.

KEY PLAYERS:
Sachin Tendulkar: His hunger for runs never ceases. The in-form master blaster will again cherish the job of giving flying starts in the absence of Virender Sehwag. In 14 Champions Trophy matches, Tendulkar has scored 433 runs at 39.96 with a best of 141 against Australia in Dhaka in 1998.

Yuvraj Singh: When in good form, his sheer presence at the crease can torment the opposition captain, as he makes batting looks smooth and easy with free flowing drives and lofted shots that easily clear the ground. And don’t forget his six 6s in South Africa during the inaugural T20 World Cup.
MS Dhoni: Not the best of starters, Dhoni tries to bat through the innings and score quick runs in the slog overs after accumulating them through ones and twos during the middle overs.

Harbhajan Singh: Indian’s main bowling weapon in the middle overs enjoys a great economy rate in Champions Trophy (3.64) along with 11 wickets in 10 matches at a bowling average of 32.45.

Champions Trophy record

Altogether with nine wins and five losses, India, in the 16 matches (including the 2 no-results final of the 2002 edition) of the Champions Trophy, enjoy a success rate of 64.28 in this 50-over tournament.

FULL SQUAD: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain and wicket-keeper), Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Kartik, Gautam Gambhir, Abhishek Nayar, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Amit Mishra, RP Singh.

Selectors have done a good thing by picking Dravid: Ganguly

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly today said the selectors have done the right thing by bringing back Rahul Dravid in the one-day side as the veteran batsman is an asset for the team.

"Selectors have done the right thing by getting back (Ashish) Nehra in the earlier series and now (Rahul) Dravid. That's the way to go," Ganguly said.

Dravid, a former India captain who last played an ODI two years back in October 2007, was included in the 15-member squad along with Sachin Tendulkar, who was rested for the West Indies one-dayers.

"It's a good thing for (Rahul) Dravid. Hopefully, if he can play well, he will be an asset to the Indian side. This is the right way," the 37-year-old told reporters at Eden Gardens where the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) had organised a condolence meeting for former Sports minister Subhas Chakraborty who died on August 3.

As many as four changes were made to the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side for the upcoming Tri-series and ICC Champions Trophy next month, with Rohit Sharma and Ravindra Jadeja getting the boot following failures in the four-match series in the West Indies, which India won 2-1.

S Badrinath, Murali Vijay and Pragyan Ojha were also shown the door.

The ace left-hander said the Indian team never had senior-junior divide.

"There is nothing like junior and seniors. Whoever performs well should play well and moreover, he is just 36. It's all about performances. But I don't think senior-junior is ever an issue and should never be an issue," said Ganguly.

Asked whether he regretted his retirement, he said, "I have decided not to play anymore. I've retired some nine months ago and it's all past now."

On promising Bengal wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, who was named in the 30-strong list of probables for the Champions Trophy, Ganguly said: "It's unfortunate and he has to wait for his turn. (Wicketkeeper-batsman) Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the captain of the side and (Dinesh) Kaarthick is doing well at the moment."

Asked about Shah Rukh Khan's grilling at the Newark airport in New Jersey, Ganguly said, "It's a very delicate issue but he is fine at the moment so that's more important. I don't know much about the incident so can't comment much."

Sehwag likely to sit out for tri-series, Champions Trophy

Virender Sehwag's injured right shoulder will be the main topic of discussion as the selectors prepare to pick 15-member squad for Champions Trophy and the preceding tri-series in Sri Lanka. Sehwag might not be fit to bat before September 17 and despite the temptation to include a proven match-winner, it does seem likely that Krishnamachari Srikkanth and company will keep Viru out of the squad. The selectors, it is understood, want the same squad for both the Sri Lanka tri-series and the Champions Trophy to ensure that the players, who have been out of cricket for two months now, get back into the groove before the premier tournament in South Africa. The Lanka series and the Corporate Cup in India before that are perfect launch pads for the Champions Trophy and Sehwag won't be able to play in any of these tournaments.