Srikkanth’s optimism

Friday, January 2, 2009 -- The chairman of India’s national selectors, Krishnamachari Srikkanth has set 2 significant aims for the India national cricket team. He intends that in the year 2009, the team should rank the first in One day Internationals and in the year 2010 should lead the world in Test matches. Srikkanth is of the opinion that amongst the top three teams in the world, which are South Africa, Australia and India, the Indian cricket team is the most balanced one.

While speaking to the Hindu, Srikkanth said “I believe India are the best balanced side, in batting and bowling, among the top three teams. But then, the development of a side is a process and cannot be done overnight. At the end of 2009, we should be the No. 1 team in the ODIs. This is the dream of the selection committee and the Board.”

Past record

In March and April 2009, the Indian team is scheduled to tour New Zealand. Srikkanth is very optimistic that the Indian cricket team would perform well on this tour. He substantiates his claim by referring to the Indian record in the past three years on abroad tours. In Test cricket, India defeated England in England and the West Indies in the West Indies. He added that India came close to winning the Test series in Australia also, but were not able to do so due to the umpiring errors in Sydney Test. India defeated South Africa in a Test match and were very close to winning the Test series. Thus, it is obvious that the Indian bowlers have played well on foreign soil. At present, the batsmen are complementing the bowlers.