It seems like eternity since we watched the ‘ Men In Blue’ in action. For the first time in many months, they have earned an extensive break for themselves which would help them rejuvenate.
Honestly, I am dying to watch some cricket again which forces me to keep myself updated as to the news circling around our cricket team. Recently, India’s ODI squad was selected which might surprise a few, rejoice some and might disappoint others.
| India ODI squad for Sri Lanka tour 2012. | ||||
| Players | ODIs | Runs | Wkts | Playing role |
| MS Dhoni (captain) | 206 | 6773 | 1 | Wicket keeper, right hand bat |
|
Ajinkya Rahane |
11 | 340 | N/A | Right handed top order batsman |
|
Virender Sehwag |
245 | 8090 | 95 | Right hand top order batsman |
|
Gautam Gambhir |
134 | 4819 | N/A | Left handed opening batsman |
|
Suresh Raina |
146 | 3525 | 16 | Left handed middle order batsman |
|
Virat Kohli (vc) |
85 | 3590 | 2 | Right handed middle order batsman |
|
Rohit Sharma |
80 | 1961 | 8 | Right handed middle order batsman |
|
Manoj Tiwary |
6 | 165 | 1 | Right hand middle order batsman |
|
Ashok Dinda |
7 | 18 | 5 | Right arm medium fast bowler |
|
Pragyan Ojha |
16 | 70 | 20 | Left arm orthodox spinner |
|
R Ashwin |
35 | 241 | 31 | Offspinner |
|
Zaheer Khan |
195 | 790 | 278 | Left arm medium fast bowler |
|
Umesh Yadav |
15 | 26 | 16 | Right arm fast bowler |
|
R Vinay Kumar |
22 | 43 | 28 | Right arm medium fast bowler |
|
Rahul Sharma |
3 | 1 | 5 | Leg spinner |
Obviously, the biggest name of the lot is missing. That is because Sachin Tendulkar has asked the BCCI to rest him for the ODIs. Since winning the World Cup, Tendulkar has opted for a different approach towards the One Dayers. He hand picks the series in which he wants to play and put all his focus on test cricket. The way I see it, there is nothing wrong with that. He has nothing to prove to anyone nor does he have to record to break. He has said it on countless occasions that as long he enjoys the game, he will keep playing. This might be the right opportunity to groom a promising youngster because when the time comes, he will be ready for it.
Ishant Sharma still seems to be recovering from that ankle injury and it would be best for him not to return until he is fully fit. The search for India’s next No.3 seems to be going in full flow. Apart from Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane has added his name to list of probables. The Maharastra lad earned a recall into the side after his heart warming performances in the IPL.
With an almost full strength Indian team and the balanced Srilankan team, it is going to be one tough tussle.
Gaurav Prasad is the modest one and as he said, “I will just keep this short and sweet.” Currently pursuing my computer science engineering he is for sure included in the list of millions who are fascinated by sports. Needless to say, being an Indian, he is a huge fan of cricket as cricket virtually flows through the veins of all Indians! Apart from this, he generally likes to spend his time reading novels ,watching movies, etc, activities of a normal college going guy. If there is something that he want to learn, it would have to be musical instrument he says.”I truly believe that music is a great option to take out your stress. 
