From: bnataraj@uceng.uc.edu (Bhaskar Natarajan)
Subject: Re: Some thoughts...
Organization: University of Cincinnati
Date: Sun, 3 Jan 1993 21:45:47 GMT

In article <karnik.725843853@exa> karnik@cs.umn.edu (Neeran M. Karnik) writes:


>people called for Azhar's blood after the rout in Australia, I recall
>having stood up for him, and asked for another chance. That, he has
>been given, and he's failed again to produce results.  It may well be
>time now to move on to another experiment with the captaincy. (Yo Bharat,
>any more arguments left ? :->)

	Yes, but remember this will be a domestic series and the odds
of not losing the series and probably winning it, are better than those
for the SA tour. Any replacement for Azhar would have an unfair advantage,
especially if it is Kapil...we would have the same problems the next time 
we went on a tour. No one else, other than Shastri seems to be an alternative	
and right now, his test place is in jeopardy. Rather than going for Kapil 
for the home series, i'd prefer Azza and if he still doesn't deliver, mebbe
we oughta look for a new skipper. But for the Eng. series, it won't be good
comparison.

>
>	I agree, the England series will be an ideal opportunity for
>experimentation, with no 16-man restriction after a long time. However,
>I think that the core of the batting should not be disturbed, i.e.
>Azhar, SRT and Manjrekar. I would like to include Amre too in that
>core, but he's not yet done enough to be a certainty in the team. The

	The core looks too damn shaky for my liking.

>opening slots are up for grabs, and Surendra Bhave should be one of the
>prospects. Kambli is almost certain to make the team, and one hopes he
	    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

	Makes me shudder... imagine a line-up like

Raman, Sidhu/Jadeja, Manjrekar, SRT, Azhar, Kambli.....
I wouldn't bet a goddam cent on this line-up **ANYWHERE** outside India !
OTOH, u can be sure they're gonna pile it high in the Eng. series.... just
wait and see.


>can live upto the expectations. And yes, Sidhu should definitely be one
>of the openers. But he'll have to show his wares in the Ranji matches
>to impress the selectors, and so far, I don't think he's done anything
>big. Sugwekar has been impressive, and may well be in the Board
>President's side, on trial against the English in a few days time. And
>how about Srikkanth ? He appears to be in good form too, but age is not
>on his side.

	All these alternatives are as good/bad as the current lot. Things
are not gonna change in the short future...but read on...

>and the candidates aren't obvious. Manjrekar is mentioned often, as is
				    ^^^^^^^^^
	
	Manjrekar for Captain !!?? Hrmmph! He better watch out for the 
	axe, tho' i've got a feeling he is kind of the blue-eyed boy.
	
>Shastri, but while Shastri's place isn't safe, I have my doubts about
^^^^^^^^^

	is a much better choice, but he hasn't got a clear role defined
	for him in the team. If i were Shastri, i'd be REALLY confused.
	Another unfortunate story...

>Manjrekar being any different from Azhar.... Tendulkar is definitely a
					      ^^^^^^^^^

	Only after the current senior players have retired. What's 
	happening now is the after effects of the stupid game of
	captaincy musical chairs that started with the Sacking of
	Kapil so long ago. We don't want a stage where there is more than
	1 captain/ex-captain in the team anymore. Leave Tendu outa this 
	mess for at least 6-8 years.
		
>prospect for the future, but unless the selectors desperately want to
>erase Pataudi's name from the record books, :-> he won't be asked to
>lead in the near future. Hmmm... no easy answers here...

	Actually it is quite easy... Azza/Kapil/Shastri in that order...
	more by default than by choice.

  
>	Oh well, the first ODI against England is on the 16th of
>January, so we don't have much of a wait before the 'jokers' show their
>hand :-) Here's wishing y'all (and the beleagured Indian team) a happ

	Yeah, it would be instructive to see what they dish out now...

Ciao,
Bhaskar

>     +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
>     | Neeran M. Karnik | #2 fan of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar on r.s.c.  :-> |
>     | Dept. of CompSci.| "Welcome to r.s.c.,                              |
>     | U of Minnesota   |  where jingoism rules the netwaves" - McBean :-> |
>     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


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