From: sudhama@engin.umich.edu (Sudhama Gopalan)
Subject: Re: Some thoughts...
Date: Fri, 01 Jan 93 12:20:51 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <karnik.725843853@exa> karnik@cs.umn.edu (Neeran M. Karnik) writes:
>In <CSa=gp-@engin.umich.edu> sudhama@engin.umich.edu (Sudhama Gopalan) writes:
>
( a lot of stuff deleted)
>
>	One thing is, I hope, clear, the batting line up has ample
>talent, and there need not be ay doubts about the abilities of Azhar,
>SRT and Manjrekar as batsmen. What is missing is perhaps the
>motivation, the application and the leadership. A year or so ago, when
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Could'nt agree with you more. If you mean to say that Azhar, SRT and Manjrekar
deserve an extremely long rope because they form the present and future core
of Indian batting, I beg to differ. Somewhere down the line, you come to a point
when you have to insist on performance, more specifically on results. If a lean
trot continues for too long, drop that person for at least a game. This way he
knows he has to produce. I'll give you an example - Dean Jones : everybody 
agrees that he's one heck of a player and should be the mainstay of Australian 
batting. But, he has a lean trot - they persevere with him - he makes one big
score (against India ??) - then has another lean trot - now he's out. I think 
the same could apply to either of Shastri, Manjrekar, Azharuddin and Tendulkar.
Because if you don't act early enough, collective failures (like 40 for 6) will
simply become more likely.

>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 ? :->)
>
>
>>For a start, it's time we got ourselves some real openers. And some middle/upper
>>order bats who don't carry the tag of strokeplayer on them. Suggestions - recall
>>Navjot Siddhu, try out people like Surendra Bhave, Shantanu Sugwekar,          
>>K. P. Bhasker, etc - some of those dependable types. Pick totally different
>>batting lineups for the Test and one-dayers for the games against England (after
>>all the luxury of a series at home is rare)
>
>
>	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
>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
            ^^^^^^
I'm not that optimistic about this man - he seems to be another of those happy-
go-lucky types. But then he should also get his fair share of rope. I think 
Jadeja (for instance) is towards the end of his.

>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.

Unrelated comment - see how unimaginative the composition of the touring side 
looks now - Chetan Sharma and Banerjee are mere passengers. 
>
>	However, the thorny issue of captaincy will remain... There is
>a lot of support for Kapil Dev, and it may well be him leading the team
>on to the field next time. However, this will naturally be a short term
>solution. They need to groom someone for the job for a couple of years,
>and the candidates aren't obvious. Manjrekar is mentioned often, as is
>Shastri, but while Shastri's place isn't safe, I have my doubts about
>Manjrekar being any different from Azhar.... Tendulkar is definitely a
>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...
>
>	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 happy
>1993!
>
>>Sudhama
>
>
>     +~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~+
>     | 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 :-> |
>     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~