One Dayers and All

So what do the one dayers hold for us? India may have won the series, but let us look back.

After the thumping Pakistani win and their display against India when they toured India last, and India’s recent performances against South Africa and Sri Lanka and more importantly changes in personnel, not only Rahul and Greg being at the helm but also players like Srisaanth, Suresh Raina and RP Singh coming through the ranks, made this one day series a very competitive contest.

Both the sides have a lot of flexibility in their batting with versatile players who can bat up or down the order, players who are natural nudgers and accumulators a la Kaif, Salmat Butt, Rahul and Younis combined with players who are stroke makers like Shoaib Malik, Yousaf & Yuvraj with a couple of butchers in each team i.e. Shahid Afridi, Sehwag and Dhoni and classy, once in a generation national legends in their ranks, players like Inzamam and Sachin and good quality all-rounders to the tune of Irfan Pathan (his recent performances certainly rank him as an all-rounder) and Abdul Razzaq.

Yes India is a good side, and yes they have world class players, and yes they experimented in the last season with good results. But, in terms of their maturity and settlement into their roles, be it constant change, they are still very young. This Indian one day team is where the Pakistan team was a couple of years ago -- when Pakistan gave a good run for their money to the Aussies in three games twice in Holland and once at Lord’s in 2004, beat Sri Lanka three times except in the final in their home series in late 2004. And almost pulled off the highest chase in one day history against India in 2004.

By tinkering here and there, they have got an awesome team, in my opinion probably the best one day side in the world going around; considering the change in personnel down under since these two teams last met, I am confident this Pakistani team will make life difficult for Oz’s.

India needs to go through a similar cycle without losing heart and hopefully by the start of the World Cup they will be in a pretty good shape. But, for that to happen, they need to do certain things.

Keep team changes to a minimum, select individuals that the team management has faith in, and then let them go through natural cycles of ups and downs without panicking. Pakistan team has hardly changed in the last two years; they almost invariably have fielded the same eleven, injuries being the exception.

Senior players too take more responsibility and shoulder the burden and are clear about their roles. No batsman has demonstrated this trait more then Inzi, in a young growing team. As a result they have a problem of plenty now. Rahul, Sachin and Sehwag have to fire consistently, the media and public should not get carried away with one good innings or one abysmal failure. These three have to forget the past and move on.

Greg Chappell needs to keep a lower profile, he has hardly helped himself and the team with his leaked email, finger wagging and, more recently, accusations of chucking leveled at Shoaib. For a team to be united and successful, the coach almost always should be in the background. John Wright was not the biggest name in the game but he had plenty of common sense and did not try to be in the limelight.

Considering these factors, if they are followed, I think India has a good chance in the World Cup in 2007. I personally rank both India and Pakistan along with Australia as the three favourites for the 2007 World Cup. India has also started to create a niche in the game that they feel very comfortable with, they are trying to understand their strengths and weaknesses. Batting being their strength and bowling their weakness, they are extremely good chasers of totals, they have won the last few consecutive games while chasing against three different sides at home and away.

Things could not have been any better for Subcontinental cricket, the two power houses are enjoying the good fortunes and are both on their way up in the ICC ranking with new youngsters coming through. There could not have been a better timing and background.

The winner will take all, but I don’t think the losers will lose much. There is everything to gain from here. The only way is up.