From: bnataraj@uceng.uc.edu (Bhaskar Natarajan)
Subject: Re: no subject (file transmission)
Organization: University of Cincinnati
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 18:08:02 GMT

In article <9301061659.AA14346@edison.ece.scarolina.edu> rajagopa@charlie.ece.scarolina.edu (Sundararaman Rajagopal) writes:

>It is just so tempting to join in this Indian team bashing......
>I just thought I would also send my 2 cents worth on this topic....

	Feel free.... it's a democracy... ;-)

>CAPTAINCY:

>bowlers. What I am trying to say here is that, when someone else was captain 
>say, Kapil or Srikkanth we used to perform well until atleast the three quarter
>stage of the match. 

	But note that the previous teams were vastly superior, at least i.t.o
	experience & cricketing sense...

>We used to lose  matches only during the last 5-6 overs of
>the entire match due to panicking. 

	So is losing in the last 5-6 overs any better than losing in the first
	5-6 overs ? Ok,Ok i understand, but nevertheless, this is a Q to be
	considered...

>But what is happening now, is that, by the
>25th over of our innings we are in a situation where our tail is trying to play
>out the 50 overs. We are not only losing a batsman of the ability of Azhar but
>he has not shown, in his stint as a captain,any evidence of motivating the team.Obviously he has also been not leading the team by example cause his own form
>with the bat has not been something to cheer about.That he is having problems
>concentrating, is obvious from his fielding lapses, which till now were unheard
>of. The pressure seems to be telling on him. Sadly, there seems to be no

	Yo, the pressure is telling on him, mostly on his batting, and for 
this reason alone, a change at the helm is needed. He is needed much more
as a batsman. As for motivating the team, they are a bunch of grown-ups and
should be able to perform without constant prodding every other day. At least
spare  Azza the blame for the batting failures of the team...not that i support
his captaincy in the field, 'cause I haven't seen him at it.

>solution to the problem of captaincy. Kapil,at best is going to be a stopgap
>and I think currently he seems to be the best choice. Not that this is going
>to bring about a wholesale change in the results. But I guess there will be a
>change in the performance atleast. Hopefully the batting problems will be sortedout. This, I am saying because the Indian batsmen are technically OK. It is justthat they dont seem to get their act tegether. May be it is the pressure and

	Yo, Kapil seems to be the only choice. If for nothing else, then for
change from this rut. Something like Clinton taking over from Bush despite 
no firm assuarance that things are gonna get better....but u can see the 
people are quite optimistic now, though nothing really has changed.... it
is all in the mind fellas, only don't tell that to Azza, he's getting the 
axe because the rest of the goddam team went queasy in their tummies...


>BATTING: I guess atleast 2-3 places are up for grabs here. The openers tried

	Lot of stuff deleted as there is nothing to say about the batting
but that they need to be put on Pepto-Bismol for 1 season. You can't bat
when something is squishy in ur tummy, for Chrissake...

>BOWLING: This has been the most encouraging aspect of the tour. While our

	Really ?! Wait and see what England do to us at home...You know..
	Gooch, Gatting,Fairbrother, Stewart, all excellent players of spin.
	It is like lambs to the slaughter...

	Kapil is not gonna last long...
	Srinath is not delivering...
	Chetan and Bannerjee, mere passengers...
	Raju can get a wicket only once every 15 overs..
	Kumble I feel, is still not confident and wouldn't be surprised
	if he falls the wrong way of the tight-rope...

	The saving grace is Prabhakar... Need to bring in Ankola (in fact 
	have been doing duty in SA), P'haps Kuruvilla and Maninder...dunno
	about any new faces in India, but we need an off-spinner..
	
	And oh yes, we need a head-shrink and loadsa Pepto-Bismol for
	the team...

Dammit all, why don't i get back to work and do something useful ?!...

Ciao 
Bhaskar..