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Showing posts with label Champions Trophy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Champions Trophy. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

SOMEONE HAS HIDDEN YUVI'S GIFT: PART 2

(contd...)

2. Each member in the team is chosen for a specific purpose... everyone's got a job profile. Yuvraj's numbers may be better than those of Ravindra Jadeja's for this period... but his role is different than that of Jadeja. His numbers are expected to be comparable with the likes of SRT or Viru... not Jadeja!

... and The Grumbler!
He is expected to be a middle order match winner, a handy left arm spinner and an athletic fielder. Since some of those skills are on decline, he needed a break to find a solution away from the pressure of an international match for India... away from the constant media glare!

3. Yuvi's attitude needs a bit of mending. I don't care as to what he gets on with off the field... but its his attitude on it that worries me! We have started witnessing uncharacteristic misfields because he was too slow to bend down. We have started witnessing fumbles because the eyes were not on the ball. The dives have disappeared... and when they do come out, they are ugly and ineffective. There is no desire to chase down a ball. The grumbling on the field has increased. He has been demoted from point to mid off... and despite the relatively simpler profile, the work was still not satisfactory.

All these, to me, are signs of a person who is not being able to enjoy the game... especially the grumbling and frowning. There may be a lack of motivation. And if that is the case, it needs to be rediscovered... and soon! Motivation will not be helped if he is forced to play more and more matches in a packed schedule. Maybe a break from cricket will help him rediscover the enthusiasm...

Yuvraj needs to quickly rediscover his past form... because if he does do that, and if Sachin and Viru keep fit and firing, India can be an unstoppable force on home pitches for the World Cup in 2011. Hope this break will help Yuvraj realise once again that it is a privelege to wear the India cap!
Bowled by Unknown @ 00:38 0 sledge(s)

SOMEONE HAS HIDDEN YUVI'S GIFT: PART 1

Yuvraj Singh has been dropped. Most people, including the likes of former captain Sourav Ganguly, feel that he had it coming. The decision by the selectors to drop Yuvraj has widely been supported... something that our current crop of selectors have seen very little of!

The Match Winner...
So what was the need to drop Yuvraj? True, his performance has dropped... but his performances are still better than those of Ravindra Jadeja, who is still a part of the squad. Some fans just dislike Yuvraj for his clubbing and partying ways... and feel that he deserved to be dropped for that.

What rubbish! Had Ricky Ponting been dropped like this when he received a black eye at such a club more than 10 years ago, he may never have become the great batsman that he is today. Cricketers should be picked or dropped for their on field performances... not for their off field habits (unless they hamper the team spirit).

In fact, Straight Points got me thinking of the reasons why Yuvraj was dropped... or rather, deserved to be dropped. And in line to what I wrote as a comment on SP's blog, I have listed my reasons here as to why Yuvraj needed to be dropped.

1. All team selections are now being done keeping in view the upcoming 2011 World Cup. Everyone (including SP, I am sure) will agree that Yuvraj is an integral part of the 'scheme of things' for the World Cup. So who do we want to see at the World Cup? A completely-fit-rejuvenated, match-winner-like-in-the-old-times Yuvraj Singh or the averaging-24-in-2010, unfit-and-almost-fat Yuvraj Singh?

The answer is simple. We want the Yuvraj who could win matches on his own... and do it with ease. At the moment, Yuvraj is not even scoring runs with ease... forget about winning matches! He is gifted, no doubt... but someone seems to have hidden his gift in the recent past (since the Champions Trophy last year, to be precise)!

Dropping Yuvraj offers him a chance to work on his fitness, heal his injuries, get rid of that flab and come back stronger.

(contd...)
Bowled by Unknown @ 00:36 1 sledge(s)

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

DEAR MR. PONTING

Twenty20 tournaments should have best-of-three finals: Ricky Ponting

That was the headline of a news item on the Times of India website today. Typical, isn't it? Sour grapes, I call it. Khatte Angoor.

Ponting said that he felt sad for the boys after they lost the finals because they had won every other match in the tournament. Just one loss after six wins should not rob them of the title is what he felt. So here's a letter to Ricky Ponting expressing my views:

Dear Mr. Ponting,

Of all the people on earth, you are the last one I would have expected to make such a remark. You have won 3 World Cups and 2 Champions Trophy and numerous other ODI tournament finals... you pride yourself in the fact that cometh the hour, your team comes out strong and wins. The Aussies pride themselves in their ability to win the 'big matches'. So why are you whining now, Mr. Ponting?

Had Michael Hussey not managed those 18 runs in the last over from Saeed Ajmal, would you have said that the semi-finals should also have been best-of-three affair? After all, Australia had won 5 straight matches till then and were clearly a better team than Pakistan.

In the end, both England and Australia had just one loss each over the duration of the World Twenty20 Championship. So is it not correct that England should be called the 'Champions' because they won the 'big match'.

I know you hates losing, Mr. Ponting (who doesn't?)... and your boys hate losing too! But there is a term that you often talk about... its called the 'spirit of the game'. Taking defeat in your stride graciously is a part of upholding that very 'spirit'. Please take a note, Mr. Ponting.

Cheers.
Bowled by Unknown @ 15:13 7 sledge(s)
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