Day before yesterday the PCB officials said, the 30 provisional squad for the CT shall be announced “tomorrow” and so far there is no news. Even Sri Lanka and Australia has announced their 30 provisional players. Although Pakistan is famous to produce express fast bowlers but, things in Pakistan moves at snail’s pace. Thanks to the bureaucratic system and the “Sifarishi Nizam,” senators and ministers must be calling DNA and the selectors to include their ‘tuttoo’ in the team.

I think it is once again too early to say that the whole equation has changed. Even if India cannot win in Sri Lanka, that is not likely to happen, but as a worst case scenario even if that happens, we should wait and see till the CT is over. If Mendis is unstoppable in the CT then I can say yes, he is the main architect who has changed the equation. So, hold your horses my friend and lets see how the little master plays against him? If he is physically fit he can adjust his mental strengths against any bowler and he must already be very cautious and must be watching his action. Whereas, Prithiv Patel is only pondering, contemplating and blabbering.

You are right about Ganguly but there is Dravid, Laxman too in the team so its not easy for the Sri Lankans to break the wall and the defenses. If Mendis and Murali can do some damage, then Kumble and Harbhajan can also do the same.

They have got their trump card in mendis …. remove him out then see they wont stand near this indian team. Infact in last 15 odis that india SL played … SL have won hardly 5 matches (correct me if i m wrong). Earlier i was expecting 1-0 or 2-0 victory for indian team but the whole equation has changed now .. and its more mental than anything else. And ganguly is not a good player of variety spin bowling …. murli always troubled him ..and in recent time he was hoggy’s bunny got him out around 4 times in the test series. But definitely he has better technique than these young guys and has ability to counter mendis rather easily.

Javed,
Both Saba and parthiv were light in making those statements .. but still it was one heavy statement. And pak shud get their fare share of compensation amount and i am sure no one deny that.

Today July 10, 2008 “The News” confirmed that Pakistan will demand for a substantial compensation from the International Cricket Council (ICC) in case this September’s Champions Trophy is relocated from here because of security fears.

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=123232

They should and why not?

There is one quality in Dhoni that makes him rise head and shoulders above Tendulkar and that is his leadership quality. Where Tendulkar backed out, Dhoni stood firm on his ground. This added responsibility of being a captain is not physical but mental. Even the physical labour, the wicketkeeper has to go through besides batting is immense, Sachin never went that far. Yes, Sachin’s strokes are more classy and Dhoni lacks in that aspect and uses force, I reiterate my earlier suggestion that during this break time he should take Golf lessons to improve his swings and his balance. He gets very off-balance when he hits and he gives a lot of knee jerk movements which is why he is more prone to get side strains.

Dhoni, since he started getting sponsorship and making millions is a changed person now not that he became any arrogant but, he has learned to control his emotions and became sober. The reason is, he hired an image manager, a PR manager to teach him mannerism and skills on leadership and how to talk and present himself. No more peroxide locks and no more long hair, he is more towards sophistication and I think the sponsors also ask for these things. No more boasting of drinking 4 liter of milk everyday. He is no more a chubby baby, he has grownup into a matured man. Enough on Dhoni let him relax and do what he likes. After all every person needs some privacy and breathing space.

Awas

I would have gone to Toronto if Aloo was there aNo, I don’t think my business commitments would permit me to go there for 3-4 days. Besides, Toronto is not an hours drive but six hours drive, its not like Montreal – Ottawa just 90 minutes drive and you are there. Anyways, it depends if all my friends are going and if I can manage just for a day, take early morning flight and come back the same night, then I might consider it. Flights too, if you book early you can get a cheaper fare say under $200 return ticket but if you take one at the eleventh hour you pay $500 plus. So, I have to see if its worth it. Apart from Pakistan, West Indies is coming and I am not sure about the third team, is there any third team?

Excellent comment!

Dhoni is fast becoming a role model…has wonderful amiable personality. I wouldn’t put him on the same mantle as Tendulkar and Dravid and even close to their class but his temperament is of such high standard that he easily overcomes his batting technique shortcomings by applying himself so well.

It seems arrogance never went pass these three names that I mentioned. Isn’t that so refreshing to see that from such mega stars that they really are in India? The likes of Yuv take heed.

Amit P.

They are shrouding Mendis even more and more in mystery by making statements like that but he is definitely an exciting prospect. I think it would be a good strategy to induct Ganguly and Tendulkar in ODI’s against the two good Lankan spinners. In tests, these two along with Dravid are a must.

Javed

Would you be heading to Toronto to see some live T20 matches as it’s very rare for Pak team to be there?

Dhoni has consitently provided that motivation to watch the India match without Sachin in it. For a 18-month streak that included 14 Tests, 56 ODIs, eight Twenty20 internationals, and a high-voltage IPL, Sachin’s availability has been intermittent to say it best. But this monster Dhoni has been extremely exciting during this period and has provided the entertaintment that Sachin provides.

If someone told me to watch an Indian team match without Sachin in it, 3 years back, I would have shown him my midd*e finger and would have said fck off. It was impossible to see a match without Sachin in it, no wonders Dhoni is eating up Sachin’s quota in advertisements and endorsements also, proving my suspicion right that Dhoni is literally replacing Sachin. I would tag this monster as the ‘new Sachin’.

I haven’t seen Dhoni being arrogant as perhaps Ganguly or as reticent and aloof as Dravid. Dhoni has definitely modeled himself on Sachin. Dhoni has the extra ability to get the best out of himself and his bowlers in pressure situations. Although he lost his last two finals, but there were different reasons for that. As opposed to Sachin, Dhoni is not known to panic, aka dada.

Of course Dhoni lacks the technique of a Dravid, but then Dhoni carries that temperament, which saves him on many occasions. I am not trying to say that Dhoni is Dravid + Ganguly + Sachin, but he has provided the foundation for Indian cricket and to some extent has filled in the shoes of the big 3. Dhoni is the face of Indian cricket and nobody, even BCCI can dispute that.

People have been disputing that why can a Dhoni take a break, but not Gambhir. But that is an unfair comparison because Dhoni has not only not donned a batters cap, but also a keepers and a captains cap. It is essentially a mental drain out when you captain a side. To go along with it, he has taken so many risks by virtually eliminating Dravid and Ganguly from the ODI fray, there by increasing more pressure on him to win. Physical burn-out is one thing, but mental burn out is also to be counted. A Gambhir or for that matter, any other player currently in Indian team surely is not even remotely burnt out mentally as much as Dhoni is.

Just to give an example of the mental trauma this soul might have gone through — Imagine being in the test team on Australian tour of India this year and going through all those unnecessary distraction, only to stand as the Indian captain in the CB ODI series. Captaining against Australia in Australia is crippling for any captain. Sachin’s captaincy stint ended in Australia. But Dhoni not only captained in Australia, but also won the CB series. Just to remind people, the third team was Sri-Lanka on that occasion. The difference was there was no Mendis in that team. Which goes to show why Sri-Lanka won in the Asia cup final. The only difference that mattered was Mendis. Coming back to my point, Dhoni won the CB series, which can be attributed as a complete mental drain out for any person. To top that he had to don the captains hat again, this time for Chennai Superkings though. Being the highest payed player, he also had the responsibility and pressure to prove it right. Inspite of Shane’s brilliance, Dhoni took the final IPL match to a nail biting finish and that is the credibility of a man who has entered international cricket only 3 years back.

Dhoni has all the right to opt out of a series because he has been the most humble servant of Indian cricket. Someone somewhere wrote that Dhoni could have opted out of Kitply and Asia cup, but that’s the greatness of this servant. He knew that his services would be needed to India in ODI’s as he wanted to continue with the young brigade that defeated Australia in CB series and he did pretty well. As far as tests in Sri-Lanka are concerned, he knows that along with the big 3, Laxman, Kumble and Harbhajan will be back. That team does not solely depend upon Dhoni. So he opted out. I think there is nothing wrong in opting out of the series and I completely back him on that front.

Although I still think he could use Dravid and Ganguly in ODI team, though sparingly. I will try to comment on that soon…

Yeah, I was also wondering about the long list of 30 probables with only Sachin’s name they cannot dare to ignore. But, whats the point of naming 30 since you can only take 15-16 out of them. About Yuvi, he seems to be over weight to me and thats one of the reasons his knee is not getting right. Any knee injury requires weight loss and of course treatment and exercises but weight reduction is a must. He is not admitting that he has a problem but I have also observed that his fielding is not the same at all, in fact he cannot run. Earlier he used to be one of the best.