madtherchot said:
Yeah, the commentator just mentioned that. You've been rather quiet lately + I'd like to hear what changes you think have to be made to Indian cricket. Sure Bangla pulled a lucky number on us, but SL's defeat was rather emphatic.
Bangla, after a decent start, crumbled.
I've not been able to post as much as I'd have wanted to for a while now,owing to my being out of station more often than not..
Before talking about the team, let me try to comment on what is, IMO, an even bigger problem: media coverage of the whole saga.
Our elimination has seen the media start a witch hunt of the players, the coach and administration, with calls for a massive chop and change (supposedly) growing by the day. 24/7 media coverage is in its nascent stages in India and the immature handling of such a powerful medium has left much to be desired. The various news channels and advertisers here just whip up the passion, create a false sense of 'patriotism' and then, when things go wrong, try to pin the blame on players and coaches alone. But I am convinced that this will change as time goes on and people become used to having broadcasters screaming into their ears about the supposed superiority of our team over others and we gain a sense of perspective.
On to cricketing matters. I think Sachin should promptly retire from ODIs, paving the way for other youngsters. His experience and timely insights are invaluable, but like Maldini, if he thinks he can balance both tests and ODIs, after 18 years of nearly non-stop cricket, he's sadly mistaken and that has seen him lower the impossible standards he set for himself when he was in his pomp. It was painful to watch Tendulkar furiously trying to play within himself in a bid to keep his wicket against Paul Harris, the debutant spinner, in the test series against South Africa earlier this season. And this was the same Tendulkar to whom a certain Shane Warne requested an autograph on his t-shirt after a particularly savage innings during Australia's tour of India some years back.
We should adopt the Australian method of selecting the best available XI for every game. If players don't perform it has to be made it known to them that they will be dropped. The Aussies dropped Steve Waugh when he wasn't pulling his weight around. Some of our superstars can do with a dose of domestic cricket.
Harbajhan Singh should either deliver, or be dropped. We can have Ramesh Powar instead. Or Murali Kartik. I am afraid Harbajhan has started feeling immune and much of the fault lies with our selectors who persisted with him despite repeated below-par performances and clung on to him, suggesting not-too-subtly that he is the heir to Kumble.
Agarkar should be dropped as well. There is a talk - just a talk, nothing more - doing the rounds that he's being picked consistently despite repeated failures only due to his close relationship with Sachin. I don't think Sachin is such a player, but he isn't performing, so he should be dropped. Munaf Patel too didn't impress too much in WI.
Apart from this, I don't think there's much wrong with the squad. It is the attitude that needs tinkering. Chappell got only 18 months to build and mould a team to his liking and that's not easy. I am not sure if firing Chappell is the answer, as is stripping Dravid of the captaincy. There would be a lot of people interested in the Australian's job, but there is no promising replacement in sight for the latter job.
We should also waste no time in preparing hard, bouncy pitches in India and do away with the practice of preparing belters and rank turners whenever India host a test series here. If batsmen don't grow up facing bounce, chances are, they'll struggle to suddenly make the leap in class when it comes to international level. I hate to mention Australia again, but they have all sorts of pitches there: devilishly quick pitches, hard, bouncy pitches, good turners, and good batting tracks. When players grow up playing on all those surfaces, they find it easy to deal with the different kinds of pitches they encounter all over the world.
There has long been talk of relaying our pitches. I think its about time we started.
(for the first time since I can remember + in any type of sport) 
Let's hope their batting top order shows up.
before their trip home. All credit to them + Ireland though, being determined (in all their games) to prove they reached the Super8s on merit. Can't wait to see who wins that game.