The Indo-Pak series will be a tough one says Karsan Ghavri

19 December, 2012

Karsan Ghavri, a former cricketer, commenting about the upcoming series against Pakistan, told this citizen journalist, 'The pressure is tremendous. India's morale is down after their performance against England. It is going to be tough against Pakistan, but it is going to be a good series.'

INDIAN CRICKET fans are eagerly awaiting the Indo-Pak cricket series, which is scheduled to start on 25 December 2012 and runs till 6 January 2013. These two teams would contest in two T20 matches along with three ODIs. The Indian team would be under lots of pressure after their dismal performance against the English team in the Test series at home.

The Indian team failed as a unit, so it would not be surprising if one sees some major changes in the team that takes on Pakistan. Ghavri added, “As far as batting is concerned, India is fine, but the Indian bowling looks a bit dicey. They (selectors) have to get the best players for both the format into the team.” There are different demands from both the formats of the game, T20 and ODI, and it is up to the selectors to take the call upon the players they would want to choose.

Sports journalist Nishath Nizar had an interesting take on the team selection in spite of the series being such a high-profile one. He said, “The Indian team should just go with youngsters for the series, as it is a small series. Youngsters would get a chance to prove themselves. The senior members of the Indian team should sit down and also think about their future.” It could well be a courageous move, but a bold one too, if the selectors decide to throw in a team full of youngsters and give seniors a rest.

There are many who have been calling for the sacking of MS Dhoni from his role of captaincy and voices against the Indian captain is only becoming louder and louder. The same is also being felt by Ghavri, who said, “It is time to hand over the captaincy into young hands and Virat Kohli is the best choice. I think he is capable of leading the Indian team, as he also has the experience of leading the under-19 teams.” It is not only Ghavri, who feels Virat is the best choice but also Nishath, who added, “May be, we should experiment with Kohli as the captain of the Indian team. He is a good leader also. Every captain has an expiry date, so I think Dhoni should give up.” Pressure is just mounting on Dhoni, but the player he is - he should take it in his stride.

Handing over the Indian captaincy to Virat Kohli would also mean an additional responsibility and burden the player. There have been players like Sachin Tendulkar, who could not handle the pressure of captaining the national side and it was his batting, which took a dip. We do not want another such episode, as Kohli has been one of the most consistent performers of the Indian team of late, especially in the ODIs. If pressure gets to him, it might reflect on his batting.

Irrespective of the how Indian cricketers perform in the Indo-Pak series, it is understood that the players would be tired after the completion of the series. As soon as the Indian team play their last match against Pakistan on January 6, 2013, they have no time to rest as they have to gear up for the ODI series against England starting on 11 January 2013. Ghavri said, “Our player will not get proper rest for the India-England ODI series. The series (Indo-Pak) was not required just for three ODIs and two T20 matches. If India play Pakistan, it has to be a full series comprising of Test, ODI and T20 matches.”