Indian Squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007: No True All Rounder in the First 15 Member

Indian squad for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 was on public yesterday. There is no surprise face in the squad and again Indian will go to world cup cricket without having any all rounder in true sense. Why true sense? Well, you may think that Irfan Pathan, who is now struggling with injury, can be a bowling all rounder. However, please think twice can we say in true sense that he is a perfect all rounder. I do not think so. Irfan Pathan is an excellent bowler who has showed his batting talent in some matches but it does not mean that he can be a reliable batsman as well. I think at least he can be a special batsman for the slog overs. I admit that taking some extra runs and getting some lofty shots in the last 10 overs is very important for limited over cricket but it does not mean that Pathan is an all rounder in a true sense.

For the last couple of series I have seen that India batting line lacks in the middle order especially in the 5^th, 6^th or 7^th position. For example, India lost the last match against Indian at Rajkot due to the lack of a reliable middle order batsman who can carry the innings to the end. So, instead of having an additional wicket keeper, India should have had an all rounder and Suresh Raina could be the first choice. Raina is a good off spinner and a talented middle order batsman and an energetic fielder too. Here another point is that experienced middle order batsman Yuvraj Singh is also not fit as he is in an injury. So, I think Indian middle order should have got some body reliable who is in fir and inform at the moment.

This is really needed to have an all rounder in today’s cricket and for ODI it is badly needed. There was a time when people just think about one side either batting or bowling or wicket keeping. However, now the situation has been changed and most the cricket powers have all rounder in their teams which sometimes make the difference in the field. It has been long since that India does not have any quality all rounder who can have a good impact on in the team and dominating performance in the field. In the world cup 2003 India included Sanjay Bangar, who, with the course of time, is now out of scene.