Indian cricket team selected for the T20 World Cup !!!!!!! On What Basis??????? REPUTATION OR FORM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On paper, nothing seems wrong with the Indian cricket team selected for the T20 World Cup beginning next month. All the right-sounding names are marked present. But dig a little deeper: this is a team selected on reputation, not form.

To begin with, T20 demands athleticism from every player. Tell me, how many in this team are good fielders. Barring Ravindra Jadeja and Suresh Raina, nobody can be listed A class.

We also have Dinesh Karthik and Rohit Sharma, two players who have got unlimited opportunities in the past, again waltzing into the squad. How can the two be preferred over Virat Kohli beats me. Neither of the three have done anything special in the ongoing IPL3 but Virat, at least, was in great form in just-concluded ODIs. He is also a far superior fielder than either of the two. One thing is certain: the selectors love Karthik and Sharma.

Yuvraj Singh’s selection is also a gamble. He is out of batting form and not half the fielder he used to be. But then he is a proven performer. His bowling too has improved leaps and bounds. Let us hope he comes good.

The bigger gamble is opting for brittle-as-glass Nehra. Agreed, he is a sharp bowler. But he is such a sub-par fielder and batsman that his overall value is highly suspect.

I am also surprised at Piyush Chawla’s selection. He has been far from impressive in IPL3. Chawla is a good spinner but he bowls at least 1-2 loose deliveries every over. That can be fatal in T20. In any case with both Harbhajan and Jadeja around, he will be sitting in the sidelines.

This team is largely made up of players who have already established themselves in their respective ‘cricket-corporate’ careers. Barring a few, T20 World Cup 2010 will be just another tournament for them. Which is why this team seems to lack hunger.

I would have loved to see young, in-form players like Manish Pandey in the squad. In their batting, you can see a burning desire to make a mark. That’s what the champion team of 2007 had. And that’s what this team lacks. Even Pakistan’s 2009 team succeeded only because it had a great balance of rookies and experience and a larger reason to play for. The selectors have played safe by opting for familiar names. But I hope it hasn’t come at the cost of India.

After the money-minting, energy-sapping IPL3, what does Team India play for?

I am hoping that the genius of Sehwag will rescue us. I am also putting my money on Yusuf Pathan, Ravindra Jadeja, Vinay Kumar (if he gets a chance) to come up with outstanding performances. Not because they are the best players in the team. But because they still have something to prove.

The selectors have done one good thing though. They have dropped Ishant Sharma.

Team India Squad: MS Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Piyush Chawla, Vinay Kumar, Rohit Sharma

My team: MS Dhoni (c), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, R P Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Vinay Kumar, Irfan Pathan.