Will this Indian team win the World Cup?
The joke is on India at the moment. In literal sense, the chosen 15 in the Indian WC squad has a fresh face. No prizes for guessing it is Piyush Chawla. For a player who has not played since June 2008, the leg-spinner surely had lady-luck by his side when the selectors met in Chennai on Monday. While Chawla’s selection was appalling, Sreesanth’s name not in the list came as a good sign. For all his good show with the cherry in the Rainbow Nation, Sreesanth MUST have mended his ways on the field and with skipper Dhoni openly criticising Sree to stay ‘Shant’, the Kerala speedster learnt little and has now missed the bus.
Rohit Sharma’s name not figuring out in the fifteen was surprising considering the bundle of talent he is. But, then again, attitude too plays a key role in a player getting picked, if you know what I mean. Cricketing talent apart, players such as Sachin, VVS, Dada, Dravid, and Kumble played the game with true passion and were the best brand ambassadors of the game. Picking Kohli was a good choice as he has been in form and has done enough to find a place in the squad, if not the playing XI.
Coming back to Chawla’s case, the selectors never fail to surprise. On what basis was he picked, for variety, experience in domestic conditions, if at all. The selection panel could give innumerable explanations for the same but it was not fair on players such as Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra who have complemented Bhajji well in the spin-department in the past few seasons.
On paper, this Indian team has the powerhouse batting with experience in the bowling department. But in fielding, only Raina, Kohli, Yuvi and Dhoni pick themselves and about the rest, the lesser said, the better. To top that, injury concerns for many biggies could cast a shadow in India’s WC campaign next month.
Now, for the question that has and will continue to haunt in the minds of every Indian cricket fan—will this team win The Cup? Well, this team certainly has the potential and it will all boil down to application on that particular day. To win just 9 matches in a span of about 45 days is a stuff which this team can do.
With the crowd behind them, the Men in Blue surely have a golden chance to repeat the feat done by Kapil’s devils 28 seasons ago. Amen!
