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Should India experiment so much before the World Cup?

Your Views

Name: Murali
Message: Experimenting is fine. At the same time it would make sense to make a good bowling all-rounder. Agarkar is no way fitting that. First he has tp prove as a bowler (which he lacks miles), and just by one fluke game he cant be considered batting prowes. If Wright wants to see a good all-rounder he can see that in Mohd. Kaif. Dinesh. VVS doesnt fit in one-day form.

both the matches he scored relatively slow in a wicket which is full of runs. And sending Kaif such a low down doesnt give justice to his ability. He can score more runs than the so called batting prowess. Good try on Harbajan to bring up the order. (but it wud be better when chasing the total). Kumble - Pls. retire.

You are absolute useless. OFcourse Zaheer can be a good bet as a bowler. So presenty They should try some bowlers from North zone.

Name: mayank singh
Message: there ofcourse is no harm in dravid being the keeper in world cup.only they need to have a back up 4 contingency.like gilchrist. agarkar is not the right choice bt he should be kept as back up.zaheer & nehra r the main spearhead of the bowling with srinath(if he can play.)otherwise agarkar is good option.he could well do miracle with bat. still bowling is one department india is still weak.as there is not talent cropping up.

still they have enough time experiment but should also draw conclusion. oone thing india can boast of is there batting line up and middle order . zaheer is my man for the wc. keep fingers crossed. believe in winning mayank

Name: Murali Krishna Devarakonda
Your views:BOTTOM LINE: We need to experiment with bowlers, not with pseudo all-rounders. My definition: "An all-rounder is a bowler - who can get in the team on the strength of EITHER his bowling OR his batting alone!" Agarkar is one of the worst nightmares for India. I am now convinced that there's some really powerful political person behind him- how else can you justify the breaks he gets after such atrocious bowling performances!

How else can you explain the world's best ODI batting lineup destroyed- no, not by the opposition bowlers- but the "experimentation committee", whoever that is, not just to include Agarkar, but two send him 1-down, 2 precious matches in a row!

Shame on us, for at the same time we have two outstanding batsmen in Yuvraj and Kaif who are kept out of the test team and are barely getting to bat in the last 5 overs or so. All this, while we "experiment" with Agarkar as a batsman? The scary part is, it's being done *because* he's not good enough as a bowler! Someone needs to get the bottom of this matter and kick this match-loser out of the Indian team forever. Now, let's get down to business. Indian ODI has 7 top-notch batsmen.

Batting is *NOT* our problem. Bowling and wicket-keeping are! We should have selected every Indian bowler knocking on the door of international cricket with even a faint promise of turning out to be another Zaheer Khan. Mohanty, Kartik, Sarandeep... we should be experimenting with them- keeping at least six of the magnificent seven intact.

With Sachin out of the WI series, we should be taking the opportunity to try the following combinations to decide who to pick for NZ series: - 1 specialist-keeper + 4 specialist-bowlers - 5 bowlers - reserve batting in case one of the seven needs to be rested for a match or two No, we don't need to pretend that Agarkar is a bowler of international caliber. He simply is not. If we don't get rid of him fast, we can kiss the world cup goodbye- right now. I guarantee it!

Name: r.m.patil
Message: team spirit is missing in indian team. push aside personal crunch and work hard. continue with this winning combination. individuals are star performer but mix up of new one is missing stars (black hole).

Name: Viswa
Message: The Indians r experimenting too much as evident from the I two matches with the WI. They should retain the same side for atleast 3 ODI whenever they play.

Name: Khan Ehtesham
Message: Not really. We have to definately try and get more out of what we have from the players. This will have a greater edge to compete against teams like australia and South africa who have a great deal of flexibility

Name: Venkatesh.K.R
Message: Sachin should open with Virendar Sehwag. If bowling department is not handled properly, it will be just another world cup for Indian fans. Agarkar is not fit for No.3 position. Dravid should keep. Take youngsters for bowling attack. Don't overload Zaheer before WC2003.

Name: Venkatesh.K.R
Message: India has to play with atleast 3 specialist bowlers. I could see only Zaheer as a specialist bowler. Spinners are not doing their best. They won't be of any help in SA

Name: Ram
Message: I think so. In any series, one can experiment/rotate players as aussies call it only if you have a series in the bag. But, not without having it in kitty. Aussies can afford unlike indians, since their second string team is also pretty strong. India can't afford to do that now.

Name: Srinivas
Message: Dravid adds a lot of solidity in the middle order with his keeping. I am however not sure if Agarkar can be the all-rounder even though he managed a 95 the other day. Who do we drop when Sachin returns. VVS Laxman is in top form ?

Name: hari kishore.a.j
Message: as we are exprimenting, 1) there is no harm in letting the most successful opening pair "SACHIN and SAURAV" to open 2) let shewag come 3rd and the rest follows 3) Can try agarkar as pinch hitter, but not if he has to come after 25 overs as we will waste the talents of kaif and yuveraj 4) the bowling needs no expriment but much practice only

Name: Rafeeq Mohamed
Message: kumble should not be in the team and sometimes they can even try with pacers only as we are the only team with so many option of spiners sehwag,y singh tendulkar and somebody should remind kaif and laxman is very decent off spiners specially kaif but he has never been tried seriously or given a single over by ganguly sometimes we fans dont understand how come we observe so much about a players backaround and our coach and captain dont make an effort making to build up their confidence and use them to the maximum but all our captains do is stupid moves by sending h singh ahead of dravid kaif y singh and it backfired agarkar move was good but should not be repeated as this way your opposition is all prepared and thats not good it should be always guessing whats the next move anyway indian team can never change as they always think negative even though with due respect to australia and south africa i personally think india is the best team if they play the right combination and be positive to the approach.

Name: Tejodher Muppidi
Message: There is no harm in experimenting. In fact people would care the least if India lose the series against west indies or Newzealand but still manage to put together a good lineup for the world cup. The main need at the moment for India is a good solid batsmen at No 3 and a replacement for Anil Kumble. If J P Yadav or Agarkar fits the bill for the no 3 all rounder then India should use the current and Newzealand series to give them a decent run in these games.

Name: Abhi
Message: yes, this is the best time to experiment, not only because W. Indies is a weaker side but also because India has the "home-side" advantage. As far as Agarkar is concerned, he's extremely talented and its only a matter of time before he proves his worth to the team.

Name: Vamshi
Message: They should have experimented long before sending agarkar and Haribajan up the order one of them might have turned to be a very good alrounder and i suggest that one of them should be up in the order. It would be healthy for the indian batting line up and we can even find the 5th bowler.

Name: krishna
Message: we need an another wicketkeeper just in case rahul gets hurt.Though Agarkar's performance has been inconsistent-still he is very good bet. i think our bowling department is not good enough, just because we have been winning doesn't mean we are perfect now,we badly need 3-4 specialist quality fast bowlers for south africa. experimenting on what we need will be a good thing otherwise i think we should stick to what has already been working.

Name: Prashant N Bansal
Message: no,i think they are right!!If they dont experiment now..when are they going to do that.. i think the decision with dravid and agarkar is well thought out..but they shouldnt have experimented with harbhajan by bringing him up...that could have made a difference of 10 runs or so...anyways they have to try and get their combination right...and i do not think there is a better time than this.. good luck India..

Name: babu das
Message: i guess india should stick to the same combo they had in england and champions trophy...agarkar can never be that all rounder we are looking for not before this world cup ..so its pointless to promote him to number 3..ideal indian line up would be.. 1.sehwag 2.ganguly 3.kaif 4.tendulkar 5.dravid (wk) 6.yuvraj/laxman 7.bharadwaj/sodhi/bangar 8.agarkar 9.harbhajan 10.khan 11.nehra

Name: BHASKAR VK
Message: Yes,its the right time for India to experiment .Partiv should be included as a specialist Keeper.

Name: Gautham
Message: Is Agarkar the allrounder? What we have seen so far doesn't seem to suggest so. A 95 on an indian pitch against west indies wouldn't qualify him as a batsman, atleast not on my team. India should look at other players but the question is so we have an allrounder??

Name: Vasu
Message: Absolutely! They should experiment. Winning the world cup is everything. Nothing else matters.

Name: krish reddy
Message: i think Agarkar is going to cost us very very dearly ... he can neither bowl extraordinarily nor can he bat well consistently! He just cannot supplement Srinath and Zaheer Khan ... India has to find a 3rd seamer urgently ... forget allrounders for God sake!!!

Name: kiran
Message: Yes,india should experiment especially in new zealand tour coz those conditions are pretty much similar to south africa's conditions.

Name: Ravi udupa M.V.
Message: Dravid is the right man for wicket keeper. but Agarakar is not the allrounder india looking for they try for vijay bharadwaj for alrounder he already got the man of the series in south africa

Name: Amit
Message: Mohd. Kaif , I believ is not being given proper exposure. He is a very attacking 3-4 down batsman and he is a good bowler as well. Due to reasons unknown. In spite of excellent batting performance he is still kept at lower order.

Name: jeetendra mohapatra
Message: Indian team has no option.They r unable to grow a good w/kbatsman & alrounder.No experiment,consistent on 16 player till world cup & take care of injury.

Name: D Bapat
Message: There's a lot of time before we can conclude Ajit Agarkar as India's allrounder. There's no doubt that he has the talent and commitment. I won't bet on Agarkar for the following reasons:

1. His stamina. If he bowls well, you can rest assured that he'll be too tired to come out and bat. The other way around is true as well.

2. His fitness: If Agarkar plays for 3 consecutive matches, you can rest assured that he'll be unfit for the next 4.

3. Big Match temperament: It seems like he is in awe of the occasion and tries harder than normal, instead of sticking to the basics. If you look at his bowling analysis, every time he tries to generate more pace, he succeeds in generating more pace, but at the cost of line and length and hence gets sprayed all over the boundary lines.

As for Dravid, probably John Wright said it right, we haven't lost a match because of Dravid's keeping. One other option that comes to mind is to train Kaif as Dravid's backup. Kaif is currently our best fielder, and if something out of the blue strikes Dravid during a match, Kaif would be ideal choice, since he has a good judgement of the ball.

Name: Champs 2001
Message: Hi, I think India is not playing to its potential, do not make attempts to strengthen its weak links. For example, time and again Kaif has proved himself to be a dependable batsman. Gangual should give more opportunities to this youngster to play in the middle, instead of saying that India has scored enough and promoting players like Agarkar and Harbhajan.

Secondly and most importantly, India is having a great weakness in the bowling department for years. It is essential to find good pace bowlers and spinners. There is no one in the Indian bowling department who can be termed a strike bowler. When Agarkar cannot bowl to a plan, how can you call him an allrounder and send him as a one down batsman.

Let him prove first that he is a quality bowler to "earn" his place in the team. It is too much to call Agarkar an allrounder when he cannot even earn his place in the team as a bowler. I still do not understand the wisdom of playing both Harbhajan and Kumble in the elevan. It is definetely not going to happen in South Africa. Let Ganguly and Wright stop this tamasha and make some sincere efforts in building up the Indian team.

Name: V. Thatte
Message: Yes they should. However, not kind of experiment they are doing right now as sending Agarker at #3 and Harbhajan at #5. What they should need to do is in what stage they should accelerate the scoring(Slog) and who shoul ideally fit in death slog and how to successfully execute it..

Name: I V Narasimham
Message: I think it not right time to experiment. Instead of experimenting they should try to consolidate with the current team. After twice beaten by windies they should how bad the bowling department and brittle the batting is. Agarkar is always an expensive bowler they should think on that issue. But probably he can get breaktrhus in SA

Name: INDIAN
Message: We won Natwest Series only by good batting skills of KAIF, DRAVID and YURAJ. Credit should be given where ever it is due. It's not GANGULY'S captaincy. Even if I am CAPTAIN of INDIAN team I would have been in the limelight. It's GANGULY's era as DALMIYA, being top of BCCI. Experience always counts.

Why is SACHIN keeping very low profile now a days. Why media is after SACHIN. SACHIN is still the batsman who have scored maximum number of runs,1300 in test cricket, this calendar year,2002. If Ganguly thinks he is a DICTATOR may be it works in his house. But not on INDIAN team. Watch out Ganguly, People are watching out.

They are just patient. If Ganguly experiments with AGARKAR and BHAJJI in batting line up. It's better for himself to come at No 11 or he has to question himself if he is really needed in INDIAN team. He is trying to suppress TENDULKAR, KAIF, DRAVID and YUVRAJ. He is praising SEHWAG, since SEHWAG is in limelight for couple of matches. It's ganguly's tendency to be with people who are in limelight. Ganguly did the samething when YURAJ was in limelight in 1998 ICC knockout cup. WI, which is very mediocre team, has sorted out SEHWAG. I request newspapers to think before printing headings like IS SEHWAG better than SACHIN?

IS SACHIN just another batsman? Did GANGULY ever win or save match for INDIA?. It seems WI sorted out SEHWAG. My question is can SEHWAG really handle world class bowlers from AUSSIES,SA and PAKISTAN. SACHIN has given his best against all these great teams. So stop having myths and let your bat talk. SACHIN served our country for past 12 years. SACHIN is always legend and he is the best in the world of CRICKET till today. Why batsman of his calibre is not playing with aggression.

It's only because GANGULY and co, which includes DALMIYA and GAVASKAR, are against him. I request TENDULKAR to serve our country for more years ahead to come.

Name: pramod
Message: dravid is surely the rightman for the wicketkeeper slot but agarkar is definately not the allrounder india has been looking for.he lacks enthusiasm.not a good choice for worldcup. thank you

Name: Gaurav Vasa
Message: After looking at the 2nd ODI at Nagpur, it seems like India has tried experimenting, but it hasen't worked out for them. All the Indians will ofcourse think India is the favourite, but in reality still Australia and South Africa one can say are on top. NO way!!!! Dravid and widketkeeper... huh!!! India needs a full time wicketkeeper even at the expense of one good batsman.... A good wicketkeeper can change the whole game.... Agarkar and all-rounder.... I am not sure about that.... India was winning, but now lossing 2 back to back odi's and that also in India in front of home crowd.... In conclusion they better perform good and whatever they want try against WI, but at least make up their mind before the world cup....

Name: Raj, Lisbon
Message: they cant afford to do trail n error 2 much. instead they shd build solid plans and be organized. with the talent, india can surely be on top, but they have to work on their weaker links for sure. lets hope they'd have the best practise in form of the 7 one dayers against WI & NZ. all the best for the indian team.

Name: Sameer Mathur
Message: I think the coach and captain have got it right.We need one bowling allrounder.We have some options- Agarkar,Bangar,Yadav,sodhi.The 14 games should be used to give them an oppurtunity. Sachin should be promoted to bat at 3 and the batting allrounder should be flexible. the batting line should be - Saurav Sehwag Sachin Dravid Yuvraj Kaif Agarkar Khan Singh Srinath Nehra/Kumble The other guys in the team should be Laxman,Kumble depending on the pitch.Bangar is a good bat but his bowling needs more work.He would probably be the 14 member of the squad.The 15 member could be a reserve keeper (patel/ratra)

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