Things to be done if the team has to redeem itself

The first match of the ODI series was like a sequel to the test series. India was totally dominated by Srilanka, and never once did they look like gaining control over proceedings. Perhaps India can learn a thing or two about turning the screws on here. How often has India been in a such a position, only to squander it in the middle overs by poor bowling and poor fielding? Yesterday the lankans were relentless.

This could be an ideal opportunity for some of the youngsters to prove that they indeed deserve a place in this side at the expense of the seniors. They have 4 more matches to showcase their skills. But if Dhoni persists with yesterday's batting lineup, it is likely that the result will be similar to the first ODI. I am talking only about the batting lineup here, more specifically about 3 players :

Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh.

Kohli is not cut out to open the innings. And the way he scratched around yesterday, it looks as if he needs to play a fair amount of competetive cricket before turning out for India.
Should be replaced by : Sehwag.

Suresh Raina seems to have all the shots, and is touted to be a player to watch out for. He got a lot of runs in Pakistan recently on dead batting wickets and ordinary bowlers. But unless he develops a tight game, he will always remain someone who will be susceptible to bowlers who think can think him out. I get the feeling he tries to play too many shots, and has to curb his instinct a bit.
Should be replaced by : Badrinath.

Yuvraj Singh is India's most experienced player in this lineup. But his struggle against quality spin bowling is enough to ensure he wont get more than a handful of runs this series. With M and M licking their fingers at the sight of Yuvraj, his confidence will also take a beating if he fails repeatedly, like it happened in Australia. Here is where I feel someone like Yusuf Pathan will come in handly, and can even replace Yuvraj. He can thump the ball as hard as Yuvraj, and can prove handy with the ball as well. He is not picked in this squad for the current series, but India should seriously consider him as an option. Indeed, he could be the David Hussey for India.
Can be replaced by : Yusuf Pathan

It looks as if Sehwag is ruled out of this series. And Yusuf Pathan is not picked for this series. So, by tweaking around a bit with the batting order, get Yuvraj to open the batting with Gambhir. By getting some quick runs initially, he might be in a better frame of mind to face the spinners. Replace Raina with Badri. Badri could lend the much needed solidarity to the middle order. Kohli and Raina miss out. This is a solution for the current series, and the way I see it, it could be the only way India can compete in this series.

Injury to the rescue

So Tendulkar has been ruled out for another ODI series. This brings forth two different points of view.

1. From the point of view of the 'great' SRT's legions of admirers :

• His injury leaves a void that is irreplacable.
• Now, India will miss a player, who proves invaluable to the team, just by virtue of his being in the team. Never mind the fact that he isnt scoring runs.
• He will come back as a better batsman, keen and hungry to break records (not keen and hungry to make runs for the team's cause, mind you) as usual.
• And ofcourse, his injury is the reason that he didnt have a good run in the recently concluded test series. If he had been fit, M&M would have been taken to the cleaners, blah blah blah.

2. From the point of view of the other small category of people who dont think he is God :

• Hoorayyyyy!!!! (need I say more? I guess I should, for argument's sake).
• At last some deserving player gets a chance to showcase his skills (until God returns, ofcourse). In this case, the lucky guy who gets in is Badri, who should have been in the team long ago.
• No longer do we have to listen to tripe about how the 'master blaster' scored a glorious boundary or a painstaking century (commentary on various sport channels).

No prizes for guessing on whose side I am on.