By Denzil Fernandes - Dubai
Daijiworld Media Network

Chennai, Sep 29: Even before the Indian cricketers have earned any kind of rest after a hectic tour to the West Indies and England  most of them have plunged into the Champions League action at home.  As if that was not enough,, both England and West Indies are all set to land and play a series of matches in the country shortly.

After being drubbed in England, it is payback time for Team India.  But with a string of players on the injury list, yet another resounding win for England is on the cards.  The team is missing seasoned campaigners like Zaheer Khan, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and one has a great opportunity to blood in youngsters who have been knocking on the door.

The Indian selectors have not hesitated and as India gets ready to tackle England on home soil plenty of new names have found favour.  A host of  5 pace bowlers in Vinay Kumar (Karnataka), Sreenath Aravind (Karnataka), Praveen Kumar (Punjab), Umesh Yadav (Vidarbha) and  Varun Aaron (Jharkhand) have all been picked to play in the first two one dayers in the series against England starting on Oct.14 in Hyderabad.  This apart, there are 3 spinners in R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and new comer Rahul Sharma to look after the spin attack.  For all purposes Harbhajan Singh has now been dropped and it looks a safe bet to assume that the sardar will now be lucky to be called back into the team.  In fact, Rahul Sharma is being hailed as a match winner and along with Ashwin can be a good twosome in the spin department.  Jadeja is a useful all rounder who can play a vital role with contribution from both bat and ball.  He did well in the recent England matches although he was called in as a  late replacement.

The batting is surely looking woefully weak and without any solid player in sight.  Luckily for India,  opener Gambhir is back after his troublesome injury in England and along with skipper Dhoni, Kohli and Raina   have to do the bulk of the scoring.  There is no other player who can pull India through although young turks like Ajinkya Rahane and Manoj Tiwary may be able to chip in with few runs.  While the bowling looks pretty promising the batting looks nowhere near a winning combination.

Team India will have home advantage against England but with plenty of planning and homework the visitors will be determined to surprise their hosts.  At the moment England are on the top of the world and their next mission is to win outside their country.  With a weak Indian side with so many untested players in the side Dhoni will be hard pressed to put up a creditable performance.

One plus thing about the injury to senior players means that youngsters like Rahane, Tiwary, Sharma and others get a golden opportunity to prove their worth and cement a place in the side.  The spinners too have to show their class which will also mean that Bhajji will soon start making his retirement plans.  He has bowled with his heart for India in the past but the fighting sardar seems to have lost his art with age not on his side. 

The first two matches will surely show the difference between England and India.  Right now, England look hugely superior with tremendous depth both in batting and bowling.  Dhoni’s new found set of  players have to believe in themselves and stun the hosts.  That will be one sure signal that India’s younger players are equal to the task.  The selectors have to support those who do well and hope that Team India will prove as good as the England team if not better.

The Indian team for the first two one dayers in Hyderabad (Oct.14) and Delhi (Oct.17) will be:
Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Gautam Gambhir, Parthiv Patel, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Varun Aaron, Umesh Yadav, R Vinay Kumar, Sreenath Aravind, Rahul Sharma, Manoj Tiwary, Praveen Kumar.