Sachin set to return; Rohit, Raina on edge

Bangalore: With batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar all set to come back for the remaining four One-Dayers against England, the Indian selectors are likely to face a ‘problem of plenty’ especially with border-line players Yousuf Pathan and Suresh Raina doing quite well in the first two matches so far.

Former Indian stumper and chief selector Kiran More said the problem of plenty was bound to arise to accommodate a player of Sachin's caliber and it will be a tricky situation for chief selector Krishnamachari Srikkanth and company when they sit down at Kanpur on November 20 to pick the side for the remaining four matches in the seven-match One-Day series.

"A player of Sachin's caliber has to be accommodated, what come may. But I feel sorry for players like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina or even Yousuf Pathan because one of them has to make way for the highest scorer in One-Day cricket (Tendulkar) to come in to the playing eleven. It will be a tricky situation for the selectors indeed," More told Cricketnext.com on Tuesday.

"Though this situation (problem of plenty) is a welcome sign for the team, the borderline players are the ones to be hit hard under the circumstances.

"Yousuf’s blistering unbeaten half century at Indore has only made matters worse for the selectors as the only way now to accommodate Sachin is by dropping Rohit Sharma, who has been a live wire on the field but has not done much with the bat so far while Raina played an important knock at Rajkot," More added.

"if Ishant, who is said to be nursing an injury, is also fit for the last four ties than things get really complicated even though Rudra Prathap Singh will be the first choice discard and Munaf Patel’s place will always be shaky in a One-Day match as the Indians tend to prefer just two seamers hoping that the spinners, including the part-timers, do the job for the team," More pointed out.

Another former Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Chandrakant Pandit agreed with More even though he felt that the Indians can take the risk of dropping a bowler at this stage of the series.

"Personally I feel Zaheer (Khan) and Ishant Sharma (if fit) should be our pace aces as the spinners will have a bigger role to play in this series at least. With Viru (Virender Sehwag) and Yuvi (Yuvraj Singh) picking up bag full of wickets, the selectors may consider playing just three specialist bowlers (Zaheer, Ishant and Harbhajan Singh)," Pandit said.

"Sachin is one player who can walk into any team in the world and it is unfortunate that one of the talented youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina or Yousuf Pathan will have to be sacrificed if the team think-tank decides to play four bowlers.

"Anyway it is a welcome sign for the skipper and the team management as they will have quality players waiting in the wings. It is always better to have more than nothing at all," he added.
"This situation will also make the opposition wary and keep them guessing most of the time as they will be well aware that the replacement (for a senior player) will be as good and that they just cannot afford to relax one bit.

"However, the selectors’ job gets that much more complicated as they will be the ones to face the public wrath if something goes wrong or the preferred player fails miserably," Pandit observed.

Yuvi's fitness only concern for confident India

With their confidence on a high after the landslide win in the opening ODI, in-form batsman Yuvraj Singh's back injury is India's only concern as they prepare to take on a battered England in the second one-dayer of the seven-match cricket series on Monday.

After drubbing the visitors by a massive 158 runs, the Indians are hoping that Yuvraj, who pummelled the English attack with an unbeaten 138, would be fit to take the field on Monday.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni says a final call on the attacking left-hander, who required a runner for most part of his innings in the Rajkot ODI, would taken just before the match.Pace spearhead Ishant Sharma, meanwhile, is all but out of the match after Dhoni admitted that his ankle sprain needs more time to heal.

England, on the other hand, have to battle low morale after the pasting they received at the hands of the marauding Yuvraj. Skipper Kevin Pietersen says his team would bounce back and come hard at India in the second clash.

But that looks easier said than done against an in-form Indian line-up, which did not show any sign of missing a stalwart in Sachin Tendulkar, who has been rested for the first three matches.It was Tendulkar's masterly batting that enabled India to tame Australia in the latter's lair in the triangular ODI series Down Under at the beginning of the year and his absence was surprisingly not even felt at Rajkot's Madhavrao Scindia ground.

The array of stroke-players that India possess in the batting line-up, starting with the potent opening combine of Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir followed by Suresh Raina, Yuvraj, Rohit Sharma and Dhoni, must be causing not only envy but also awe among among the visiting team.

The Indian new ball bowlers Zaheer Khan and Munaf Patel in particular extracted life even in the afternoon on what was a perfect belter in Rajkot while their England counterparts --led by the redoubtable Andrew Flintoff -- looked quite innocuous and failed to take advantage of whatever juice it possessed in the morning.

Pietersen's decision to ask India to take first strike must have been prompted by the array of pace bowlers at his disposal, but to his chagrin all of them were taken to the cleaners by the Indian batsmen.It is unlikely the South Africa-born batsman, who top-scored in England's reply with a confident and attractive 63 before he was run out, will repeat the same mistake henceforth."It's definitely disappointing to lose.

But there are six games left in the series and we intend to bounce back and hit India hard on Monday. We would give them a good run for the money", the England captain said after his team's humiliating defeat in the first ODI.

However, to achieve this he said the team has to improve in all aspects of the game.India, on the other hand, could not have asked for a better start to the seven-match series that concludes on December 2 at the Ferozshah Kotla ground in Delhi.

The mandatory new ball after 34 overs and the new Power Play rule, taken by India from 34th to 38th overs, also is a big advantage for big hitters.At the end of the 34th over, India were 216 for two giving a run-rate of 6.35 and the team added 171 runs in the last 16 overs at a whopping 10.6 per over, a clear indicator of the difference these two rules made to the overall picture.

Yusuf Pathan, who lasted just two balls after the electric start provided by the openers, could give way for left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha if the think tank feels that more variety is required in the spin department which had three off-spinners to fall back on at Rajkot.

England, meanwhile, are grappling with their problems of how to forge a potent bowling attack to take advantage of the wicket and weather conditions here.Samit Patel, who was set upon by Sehwag and Gambhir as soon as he was introduced to bowl, took two wickets but conceded 78 runs. With Monty Panesar not a part of the ODI fold, visitors' spin options are limited.

They are also missing the swing bowling of Ryan Sidebottom, who could have caused some problems with his movement as the other four -- Flintoff, Steve Harmison, James Anderson and Stuart Broad -- rely on pace and bounce more than movement in the air to get wickets.

Sidebottom has not played since suffering a heel injury during the Stanford Super Series of matches in the West Indies and even if passed fit, it is difficult to see him getting in without bowling extensively at the nets after having had such a long break.

The odds, thus, seem to be in India's favour ahead of the second ODI, but the home team needs to guard against complacency more than anything else.

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (Captain), Virendra Sehwag (Vice-captain), Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma, Pragyan Ojha, R P Singh, Munaf Patel, Virat Kohli, Murali Vijay.

England: Kevin Pieternsen (Captain), Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Owais Shah, Alastair Cook, Paul Collingwood, Ravi Bopara, Andy Flintoff, Samit Patel Graeme Swann, James Anderson, Stuart Broad, Steve Harmison, Luke Wright and Ryan Sidebottom.

Harbhajan claims his 300th victim

Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh could not have chosen any batsman other than Ricky Ponting as his 300th Test victim whom he dismissed for the tenth time on Day 2 of the Nagpur Test.

He became the third highest Indian wicket-taker after Anil Kumble and Kapil Dev and first Indian off-spinner to get 300 wickets. He pitched the ball just outside the off-stump. The ball turned in sharply to beat Ponting (24) and clip the bails. This was also Bhajji's 200th wicket on the Indian soil.

On the other hand, bad luck seems to have picked Matthew Hayden as its favourite child on this tour as he once gain failed to convert the start into a big knock. Just when he looked murderous, a direct throw from M. Vijay saw him short of crease for 16 runs.

Earlier, Australia's off-spinner Jason Krejza gave a sensational start to his Test career as he bagged eight wickets in his maiden Test at Nagpur and bundled India for 441 runs in their first innings.

After picking Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman on Thursday, Krejza on Day 2 cleaned up the Indian tail.

He first broke the 119-run partnership between MS Dhoni and Sourav Ganguly by foxing the former. The Indian skipper tried to paddle sweep but missed the delivery and the ball hit the leg-stump. Ganguly, who was looking set for the farewell ton, edged one to Michael Clarke at first slip.

Ganguly slammed 35th Test fifty, his 7th against Australia. Ganguly played 153 balls and hit eight 4s and one 6 during his knock of 85 runs. Dhoni also got 12th half-century, his third against the visitors, before falling for 56 runs.

Soon after they fell, Krejza hurried the Indian tail-enders pack in the pavilion. He deceived Zaheer Khan with his flight and the Indian fast bowler edged it to the stumps for just 1 run. In the very next delivery, his spinning counterpart Amit Mishra (0) was done by the 'doosra'. After pitching the ball straightened and hit the off-stump.

Ishant Sharma survived few deliveries but he soon nudged one to Katich who took a sharp catch at short leg.

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Anbu.

Missing Ganguly

Who will replace Sourav Ganguly? For Indian cricket that question has mostly been about the key role he's played as part of perhaps the best middle order in Test history. As he retires - with, we regret to admit, drastically diminished dominance of the offside - in this, his last series, the Australians have reminded us that Ganguly had other, non-cricketing, attributes that need an entirely different sort of successor. And in this he has found an able heir: Zaheer Khan. By the evidence of his post-Bangalore Test spat with Ponting, the fast bowler will keep stirring the Australian pot long as ably as Dada did.
Ganguly's great skill in rattling the Australians was more than the stuff of cricket gossip. Ever since he kept the then Australia skipper, Steve Waugh, waiting for the toss in the 2000-2001 home series, a legend was born. The x-factor in Ganguly's leadership to a new team driven by self-belief and aggressive professionalism stood identified. He looked his opponents in the eye, he steeled his charges into dismissing their opponents' formidable reputations. He outdid Australia at their mind-games! Even now, watch how they look to Ganguly to account for their failure to seal the Bangalore Test. Having failed to take 20 Indian wickets, their media is holding Ganguly responsible for the draw, for taking a few minutes too many to return to the field after a short suspension in play for poor light - minutes, presumably, in which six Indian wickets could have been taken.
So, thank you, Australia, for this more than gentle reminder. Thank you, Ponting, for your absurd post-match comment that Australia were the only one "trying to take the game forward", as if forcing a draw has not been an indication of a team's Test skills. Thank you for recalling in this season of obsessive mourning about the Indian Fab Four's impending departure that an Australia series will never be dull, even if the action on the field is inconclusive.

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Anbu.