Monday, January 16, 2012

Massacre down under


Watching the cricket in Australia is a bit like watching a slasher movie. Except there are 11 screaming psychos at any given time going after 11 nubile and delicate brown beauties. This is exploitation at a whole new level. The last time India went to Australia it led to a purging of the old guard from the limited overs side. This time around it might well lead to a purge of the old guard from the test side and I think its about time. These guys won't go anywhere till they're pushed out. So push. Its become almost impossible to hide them on the field, their reflexes are down so having them catching in the slips is a risk and Laxman and Sehwag look like they have cement boots on. Of Sehwag, Sachin, Dravid and Laxman, Viru still has a few years of cricket left in him and the great Tendulkar will never be dropped even if its pretty obvious that he's only playing now for that 100th century and his own personal milestones. Dravid is still fit but is dropping catches and getting bowled too often. He might survive another season. Laxman I think will be the first to go. He hasn't been very very special since that last home victory against Australia almost 2 years ago. We're going to lose 4-0 in this series and Dhoni I suppose will be the scapegoat and lose his captaincy at the end of it. Replacing him with Sehwag will be a monumental blunder but that just might be what happens. If I was chief selector I'd tell Laxman and Dravid it was time to retire and bring in Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayadu. At least 2 of those guys should go on to have successful test careers and be good enough eventually to replace Dravid and Laxman.

Knowing Indian cricket though, the team will stay in its current form, Sachin will eventually get his landmark ton and the others will score on the flat pitches of India and prolong their career by another year or so. Kohli and Rohit Sharma will probably compete for the same spot till these guys decide to retire.

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