The case for Irfan Pathan

Who should be India's all rounder? India have invested a lot of time in Jadeja. Jadeja has come in for a fair bit of criticism in the recent past, some of it a tad harsh. He's done well with ball. He's economical, gets the odd wicket and generally bowls his full quota of 10 overs. Most of his matches have come in the batting paradises on offer in the subcontinent. So he does deserve some credit for that. The problem is his batting. Jadeja strikes me as the kind of player, who on a good day can pick up the singles and twos and hit the occasional boundary. He does not seem to be able to change gear though and at no 7, which is where he is going to bat, you need a player who can play the big shots.

Yusuf Pathan is another option. He's been found out in recent times largely due to poor technique especially against the short ball. Teams are going to keep bouncing him and unless he can overcome this particular weakness, he is likely to struggle. Yusuf is also not as a good a bowler as Jadeja is.

The only other option is Irfan Pathan. Pathan is quite obviously not the bowler he was in the early noughties. It's disappointing to see a natural swinger of the ball, resorting to the cutters and slower balls that he seems to bowl all the time at the moment. What we need to remember though is that Pathan, if selected, will be India's 5th bowler. He is not required to lead the attack. He can be used once the field is spread out and batsman are looking more at rotating the strike.

Where he really scores over the other two is his batting. Unlike his brother Yusuf, Irfan's game is built on a solid platform. He does the basics well. He does not have as big a problem with the short ball. He's got all the shots and has played some crucial innings' for India in the past. Irfan also has the ability to play the big shots that are needed lower down the order.

With not too much time to go before the WC starts, India certainly need to give Irfan a few games and see how he goes. If he can strike some form going into the tournament, he still has the potential to be an asset to the side.

Bangladesh

Bangladesh's approach during the game against Pakistan was astonishing. Whenever anyone has questioned Bangladesh's right to be playing cricket at this level, we have had angry responses from passionate Bangladeshi supporters. Whilst I appreciate the passion, the fact is Bangladesh are not yet ready for international cricket, nor do they look like beating any half decent team consistently in the foreseeable future. Occasional victories are going to happen - a team that plays 35 matches in a year are bound to win 1 or 2. But I really can't see them achieving anything beyond that.

Today's match or mismatch was a case in point. It reminded me of Sunny Gavaskar's infamous innings against England in this match http://www.cricinfo.com/ci/engine/match/65035.html. If Bangladesh do not have the desire to compete, they should not be playing, it's as simple as that. Yes they were most likely going to lose no matter how they approached it. But the fact that they did not even try is embarrassing to both cricket and Bangladesh as a team.

Yusuf Pathan

I've been mildly surprised to see the reaction the Yusuf Pathan dropping seems to have evoked. Whilst the majority, myself included, feel that the dropping is justified, there is a lobby that has reacted with surprise to his axing from the national team. The argument put forward is that he was batting lower down the order where chances to get big runs do not come about very often. This is probably true to a certain extent but is still no reason to continue with him.

Look at the statistics - 37 matches, average of 22 & 2 fifties. For starters in those 37 matches there must have been at least the few odd occasions where he got to bat with overs to spare. He has obviously failed to take those chances. The other problem is that Yusuf was selected as lower order biffer. He is not good enough to bat any higher. For those of you who still think its unfair, then who would you pull down the order to accommodate Yusuf?

It is also fairly obvious that teams have caught on to his absolute inability to deal with the short ball. Yusuf's average statistics seem even poorer when you take into consideration that the bulk of his ODI's have been played in the more favorable environments that are on offer in the subcontinent. He is yet to play a single ODI in Australia, England or South Africa. If he is unable to successfully combat the short stuff in India, what chances does he have on the bouncier surfaces abroad?

I'm no apologist for Srikkanth or his selection panel. But this time folks, I think he's got it right!