India don’t have good bowlers
Not enough of them anyway. You have to use at least five bowlers in Twenty20. India have been using Harbhajan Singh (great); Zaheer Khan (really good, but occasionally vulnerable in Twenty20); and Ashish Nehra (solid but unspectacular).
To make up their remaining overs, they use Yusuf Pathan, who is clearly picked for his batting with his bowling being considered ‘acceptable’; Ravindra Jadeja, who is no way one of India’s best spinners and is therefore being picked on the basis of what he can provide at eight or nine in the batting order; Suresh Raina (batsman); and Yuvraj Singh (batsman).
It seems the team is all about batting, which is something you always suspect about India. Pragyan Ojha, Amit Mishra and Piyush Chawla are all bowlers who would be worth a place in just about any Twenty20 side, but they don’t get picked. The attitude seems to be that the game is about batting and the whole philosophy revolves around that.
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We are still a bit mental about slow cookers
It’s all to do with how the BCCI and the IPL seem to believe that all people ever want to see at a cricket match is balls flying over the pavillion.
They can’t risk producing world class seamers or putting on pitches less flat than a velodrome – Yuvraj might not improve his batting average!
Hence, when India go on tour they suddenly find people doing this “bowling” business and it confuses them.
England currently have 5 batsmen in the squad and one of them is a wicketkeeper. India have 9. Which side is doing better?
What about Sreesanth and the gangly ugly fellow whose name I have temporarily forgotten?
Totally true. They are choosing people like England used to with the whole bits and pieces philosophy and failing badly.
What australia, sri lanka and england have shown so far in the world cup is that you need proper bowlers and proper batsmen. Granted India’s two best T20 batsmen are injured or unavailable, but one would think a proper belter like Saurabh Tiwary or canny Rayudu would do much better than unidimensional Pathan and hopeless Jadeja.
Likewise with the bowling. I’ll add one more name to your list, and that is Murali Karthik… by far the best left arm spinner in India. Period.
It is good that India lose and lose badly. Hopefully now people will realize that the IPL is actually destructive to the interests of Indian cricket.
Murali Khartik is no Michael Yardy
Murali Kartik , the best spinner in India ???? the King of Spain turned the ball more and he is without doubt the worst fielder to wear the Lancashire jersey. Saw him a couple years later in the pink of Middlesex where he missed the stumps from less than a yard.
Their bowling has no strength in depth and as for their batting against the short ball…http://thereversesweep.typepad.com/blog/2010/05/where-did-it-all-go-wrong-for-india.html
9 batsmen maybe a bit much, but I’d certainly pick more batters than bowlers for a T20.
I thought they were picking Piyush at the start of this tournament? He’s a brilliant limited overs bowler. So maybe it’s not just England who drop leg-spinners for no reason.