World Cup wish list - 1

Looking at the Indian batting line-up for the rained-out ODI against Sri Lanka, I see that it features two wicketkeepers and four opening batsmen. Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. Six opening batsmen if you count Dinesh Karthik’s and Rahul Dravid’s occasional stints at the top. A middle-order made up mainly of openers is certainly innovative.

Someone will have to make room for Yuvraj Singh when he’s fit and the likely candidate from this line-up will have to be picked from Uthappa, Sehwag and Karthik because I can’t see Mahendra Singh Dhoni being replaced as first-choice keeper. If Sehwag gets a decent score in the matches against Sri Lanka, he’s safe because he holds out the promise of explosive acceleration and an Indian middle order that has a faintly out of form Dravid and a determinedly responsible Tendulkar needs someone who can push things along. I’d pick Karthik over Uthappa, who seems a splendid prospect but Karthik’s shown temperament and aggression when it’s needed and we can do with that in a World Cup. Also, should Sehwag or Tendulkar be promoted to the opening spot in the course of the tournament, Karthik would be useful down the order.

But I’d like to see Tendulkar opening the batting. The only reason we made it to the finals of the last World Cup was because we had the great man making it look easy for the rest. I know he’s four years older (he tells us that often enough) but the old firm, Ganguly & Tendulkar, making our case to the rest of the world, is, for me, an irresistible prospect. If he were to open (or even if he stays at No. 4) I don’t think Dravid should come in at the fall of the first wicket. Dravid’s instinct is to stabilize, to consolidate. The reason the Aussies do so well is that a decent start or an early wicket is followed up by Ponting’s relentless aggression. I know the short answer to that is that Ponting plays for Australia we don’t have any clones handy, but it wouldn’t hurt to send Yuvraj or Karthik in at that number and see if it works.

The other argument for having Dravid come in at No. 4 with Tendulkar opening the batting, is that they’d be separated. To have them adjacent to each other at 3 and 4 invites a situation where, with the openers gone, India’s two best batsmen set about retrieving the situation knowing that the dismissal of either might prompt the deluge. Given Dravid’s responsibilities as skipper and anchor and Tendulkar in his present Atlas mode, the likelihood is that we’d be becalmed.

So here’s my batting card: Tendulkar and Ganguly to open, Yuvraj, Dravid, Sehwag, Karthik and Dhoni to follow, in that order. Of course, should Chappell and Dravid be willing to think out of the box (with an eye to genius, experience and slip catching), there’s a Hyderabadi batsman I’d like them to meet…