Test team needs fresh blood..

After the great victory over Australia in the one day series and the close battle in the test series Indian cricket is still oscillating like a pendulum. We lost two one day series and the recent Sri lankan series. Its time we start discarding the old warhorse who are past their prime. Unless we start experimenting now we will never be able to overcome this. We did this in the one day matches and we have manged to build a reasonably good team.

The selectors need to take stock of the test team and start working towards this fast. With important test series a head we need to plan right now before the damage become irreparable. It was also sad to witness Dinesh Kartkik make a mockery with both the bat and the gloves. We have given him enough opportunity and he has messed it. We need to go back and push other wicket keepers and give them chance. I am not sure if Parthiv Patel is still the answer as he has also been given enough chances.

Selectors please think and plan long term. With due respect to Wall, Dada, Little Master and Jumbo it is time they pave way for youngsters to re build team India

Ishant.. Can we get a great partner for him?

Right from the Australian press to the great cricketing legends from Australia have highly appreciated about Ishant. I have not seen for ages somebody from India can bowl fiery spell in Australia at a menacing pace of 140 plus km consistently. Pointing will never forget the fiery spell from him at WACA where he mesmerised him.

All of us know that Ishant is a long-term property for Indian cricket. He is match winner and one needs to guard him and nurture him with care.The first and foremost thing is to find a good new ball partner. In the past India has always been facing this problem right from the days of Ramakant Desai then Kapil Dev and Javgal Srinath. There is a saying in cricket that great fast bowlers hunt in pairs, such as Holding and Roberts, Lilee and Thomo, Garner and Croft, Imran and Sarfraz, Wasim and Waqar. India need to get that that partner for Ishant fast.

Today we have unearthed a few good pacers like R.P.Singh, Sreesanth, Pankaj Singh, VRV Singh etc. but none of them have been consistent and matched the expectation.
Zaheer’s comeback has been great but he too is having huge fitness problems.

A caution to our selectors.Unless we find a good and long term partner for Ishant we will have huge problems to sustain Ishant has a long term bet. Can the new coach Gary and the bowling coach seriously view this and with the help of the national selectors and experts from National cricket academy find a long-term solution.

Gambhir and Yuvraj's shot lost in the victory

Had... Had... India lost yesterday all guns would have been fired at Gambhir and Yuvraj for poor shot selection and irresponsible slog. When you had the little master on one side with pleny of overs to go by one fails to understand as to what prompted Gambhir the inform batsman and Yuvraj struggling for form batsmen to throw their bat. Both of them should thank their stars as the bowlers and the fielders came to the rescue of India. In the end that 20 to 30 runs was seen short. India could have sailed through comfortably had both of them batted well

In the end India managed to pull one of the most outstanding victory. Full marks to Dhoni who maintained total calm through out the tour. The sledging and lack of focus on the game was the worm that ate into Aussie's chances. Had Pointing and his men prioritised their game strategy by only focusing on the game the result could have been different.

Its time Cricket Australia infuse young blood in their team The absence of Mcgrath and Warne
has really paralysed Australian cricket in the bowling dept. With Pointing and Hadyen getting old and Gilli having hung is boots it is time for CA to revisit their selection strategy to get some new explosive talent

1-1 would have been fair

India's most controversial test series down under just got concluded. It was a great fight given by the spirited team lead from the front by Anil Kumble. The Sydney fiasco marked by very cruel umpiring decisions and some non-resolute batting from India on the last day cost the series. Ideally if the umpiring decisions were in favour of India then the we would have won the series but that is history now and you can keep on discussing for generations to come

From all quarters the Sydney test will not be remembered by many die hard fans of cricket in India and world over. The test got all its criticism from all experts from the cricketing world including the great cricket journalist Peter Roebuck from the Sydney Herald.

The series discovered the birth of Ishant Sharma a bright prospect for the future but the spin wing was very disappointing except for Kumble who bowled well in parts. In fact Sewhag bowled better than Bajji and could bother the batsman more than Bajji. What is wrong with Bajji ? One has to do a serious introspection get into the route cause of his poor bowling show. Baji may be a agressive cricketer but as a bowler the killer instinct and bite was missing. Sewag came back to form but it was the seasoned men in the middle which helped India getting good runs. Wasim Jaffer will be happy to forget this series. He will have to take fresh guard when the home series with Proteas begins in India. One also need to study why Dhoni failed ? Did he move away from his natural style of playing ? Or is the Aussies laid a trap for him ?

All said and done a good show by Jumbo's men. The BCCI should pick up some learning's from this tour. You need to plan a itinerary that suits India so that there is good match practice for the Indian team to acclimatise. I hope the BCCI will take a note of this for their next tour.