0-1 already

Ok, here's my take on today's game : Obviously there was not enough momentum in the batting. And that is a problem. Now the mistakes made by most of our batsmen should not be overlooked once they score one big innings. Sehwag (maybe Yuv and Kaif also) would sure have one big innings, same with Dhoni. I hope they are still made to understand that its not about when the click...its also about what they do when they 'don't' click. E.g. trying to survive even in dire situations..like the other 3 seniors do (Sachin, Gang, Dravid). It doesn't make sense that you get out of jail because 'pitch was bad' and then score big once in 6-7 innings.

About Dravid...well its difficult to analyze with one game. Few things that struck me (and I'm keen to observe for rest of the game): team composition..why go with 3 seamers (and only 4 regular bowlers). Looked like a very Ganguly-ish team to me (not that that is wrong in itself)Its been overdone quite a lot, and I hope the flexibility mantra, being linked to Chappel, is extended to this also. About using the part-timers..dunno if its better what he did (attack in beginning and middle)...shud wait for it to succeed (or fail) for a longer term. Its anyway a good test of captaincy how to utilize the part-timers, esp in case of defending small totals.

Positives..Rao, Pathan's return, tailenders batting with sense (Khan's runout was nonsensical, though).

I am still not in favour of Dhoni's opener status on ANY pitch as a regular strategy.

Here from Dileep Premchandran's review of the game on cricinfo

"But unlike Tendulkar and Ganguly, who could pace an innings and accelerate effortlessly, the suspicion remains that both Sehwag and Dhoni are too rooted in the full-throttle approach to succeed consistently against the new ball."

Full article here

Wonder if it makes sense to move atleast one (Dhoni) down the order, and even both (when Sachin, Gang return). You know, if you look carefully, Sehwag is not really a hit at the top. Its a common mistake to mix his test match success with his ODI effectiveness at the top of the order. Maybe time to rethink that strategy as well ? Atleast its another item for Chappel to input in his processor.