So why did we not make the Semi final in T 20 WC?
We followed a disastrous policy (something England has been doing in one day circuit for nearly 20 years with absolutely no success) of cramming the team with bits and pieces players who can 'bat a bit and bowl a bit' but who in the end doesnt do either. If India thinks that it can win with the Yousuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Rainas of this world, then they should have their head examined.
As I told someone after the first super 8 match against WI, we wont reach Semi Finals because we are short of 2 quality batsman and definitely 1 quality bowler in the 11. A batting line up -comprising of an out of form Gambhir, a happy go lucky but talented Rohit Sharma ( a rookie for all purpose, who is a good finisher but should never have been sent in as an opener ), a scratchy Raina at No.3 ( who is far from being a Dravid or Laxman), Yuvraj (under utilized in this tournament), Yousuf Pathan ( at best a good No.7 , but definitely not an India No.5) and Dhoni (yet to overcome his confusion as to block or bang) - is enough to bring a smile on quality international bowlers faces. One might say many of them had done well in IPL. True, but one has to remember that most IPL teams had at least 2 bowlers out of 5 who were the weaklings and of just first class standard. There were easy pickings there. And saddest was that, we just didnt have anyone to replace should the above 5 fail. The reserve batsman was Dinesh Karthik. I dont have anything else to say.
If you look at the bowling, Zaheer was not fit , Ishant was off colour, Irfan opening the bowling at 130 kmph was fodder for class batsmen, Harbhajan has forgotten how to turn the ball and take wickets (all he does is fire it in), RP Singh added teeth to the bowling when he came back and India decided to bench its best bowler Pragyan Ojha who was a revelation in the tournament. God only knows why Jadeja was prefered over Ojha. In fact both should have played at the expense of Ishant. This tournament has been about spinners - Murali, Mendis, Botha, Ven de Merwe, Saeed, Afridi.
What we lacked was Class in both batting and bowling. We sorely missed a batsman of the stature of Tendulkar or Dravid who can hold the innings together ( the best performing batsmen are Kallis, Dilshan, Sangakkara - none of them big hitters ). The team selection was based on first selecting those who the management feels cannot be dropped - Harbhajan, Zaheer, Raina, Ishant, Yousuf Pathan - and then filling in the rest of the team.
I have been reading many articles about India's defeat. But no one mentioned the pathetic keeping of M S Dhoni. As a keeper he was a disaster and a liability. His leg side collection was woeful (remember the last ball of the England innings when he couldnt collect a Bhajji wide and then Yuvraj let it go for 5 wides? And we lost the match by 3 runs). Any decent keeper would have collected that not so wide ball. Dhoni dropped catches, was not in position to collect the throws (most of the time he was at least 3 -5 meters away from the stumps when the throw landed on his gloves and I noticed at least 4 occasions when hilariously he accepted throws by keeping both the pads together and allowing the ball to thud on to the pads. Why hilarious is because I remember doing it in my young days as a Wicket Keeper during Coaching Camps. The coach was so riled that he made me run around the Victorial College ground with my pads on till I fell down due to fatigue. That cured me of that disease once for all. Is Gary Kirsten listening?. Contrast this with the keeping of another Captain. Sangakkara is outstanding behind the stumps. He has been faultless keeping upto the wicket to Mendis and Murali. Also, I saw him keep up to medium pacers to prevent batsmen from stepping out and his glove work was breathtaking.
Who will win the World Cup? I would stick my neck out and predict that Srilanka will. Their middle overs bowling has been great and they ooze with class in batting. Only thing that could stop them will be Gayle getting stuck on them in the Semis.
