Indian cricket stagnating once again? - Opinion
Experience can be counterproductive in terms of delivering in modern times. A prime example of this fact was when http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013 in 2005 and lost the Ashes urn for the first time since 1987. For India, the ignominy of having quality players who
fail to deliver is a familiar tale and has a familiar click to it. The sad part is that selectors and the team management often continue to go with such players regardless of how this could affect the team or the outcome of future games.
One such veteran who is being persisted with is Rohit Sharma. Despite his tender age of just 25, Sharma has played a total of 83 ODIs for http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 at an average of 31. He was a key member of the Indian line up during the team’s purple patch and had come to
the fore with amazing innings in the CB series of 2008 in Australia and the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028, were playing consistent cricket, and the young Sharma was instrumental in ensuring that they
were ruthless. He cemented himself as one of their main match winners in a short space of time. Of late however, Sharma’s form has been abysmal to say the least. Reiterated claims for Rohit to be ousted by even some of his most loyal fans come in light of
the fact that in his last ten ODI’s he has averaged just 17.33. The only half century that he could register was against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 in the Asia Cup of 2012 which was an effort that was overshadowed by Virat Kohli’s batting assault.
Given Sharma’s seniority in his side, some would continue to believe that every player has a bad patch and Sharma has all the potential to bounce back. Yet in modern consumerist times, this belief does not hold true. A player, regardless of how well he has
played for his country, should definitely understand the pressing nature of international cricket, where failure can be equated with his exclusion from the game. Players such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Jason-Neil-Gillespie-c66461 have had to bear the brunt of being excluded
after their poor form in 2005 and the same should definitely apply to http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RG-Sharma-c2309 as well.
What acts in favor of Rohit Sharma’s exclusion has been the manner in which he had been dismissed in the second and third ODIs of the Micromax Cup against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758. His departure meant that his team’s objectives of overhauling 286 for 5 became jeopardized
to the very core. The in swinging Yorker by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/AD-Mathews-c913 proved too hot to handle where the latter constituted a delivery which was misjudged and was played onto the stumps. India slumped deeper into trouble
on both occasions and the second ODI saw them capsize to 136 all out.
New guns such as http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Mitchell-Claydon-c1973 over a possible slot for playing for India. Yet the dilemma that M.S. Dhoni confronts should really pave the way for making an astute decision with regard to resting Sharma in the
next few games. Otherwise it could be a case of stagnating under pressure for the latter which acts to the detriment of his team’s objectives of winning games on a consistent basis.
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