We have a blend of youth and experience in the team

Ganguly has done well to get the present team together. This is the same Ganguly who led the team to victory in the Natwest final at Lord’s and joint winners in the ICC Champions Trophy in Colombo last year. Just because the team is losing in New Zealand, one can not accuse him of lacking in leadership qualities. Also, the same Ganguly came in for a lot of praise from all quarters during the home series against Nasser Hussain’s England team.

After two series losses, didn’t the selectors see the need to re-energise the team for the World Cup?
— J B Sastry

We have a blend of youth and experience in the team. Some of the youngsters we tried this season have come up well. Srinath and Kumble are the two experienced bowlers while we have some world-class batsmen in the top-order.

Yuvraj and Bangar have been part of India’s winning teams in the recent past. Forget the New Zealand series. I am not much bothered about the current series where even the domestic batsmen are not doing well.

Why was Anil Kumble chosen over Karthik for the World Cup? We all know that Kumble’s performance in South Africa has not been impressive, and that Karthik is a better fielder and batsman.
— Jagadish

I agree. But when it comes to experience, one cannot ignore the credentials of Kumble. As Karthik did not get enough opportunities to show his mettle in the last two series, he will have to wait a bit longer.

Why is the basic Indian problem of failing to perform well outside the country not being addressed? Can’t we prepare good fast bowling pitches in India.
— Balaji

Things are slowly changing for the better. This domestic season has seen some encouraging wickets being prepared at Mumbai, Delhi and Jaipur where the ball has been seaming and doing a bit, unlike in earlier years when the pitches were flat and dead and helped only batsmen. I am sure our batsmen will start performing better overseas if they continue to play on such wickets during domestic tournaments.

The population of Pakistan is about one-fifth of India. They have the same wickets as India. They, more or less, eat the same food. Then how do they produce so many quality fast bowlers compared to India?
— Akshaya Bhatt

Pakistani bowlers belonging to Afridi and Pathan tribes are tougher. But in India, too, we have some very good fast bowlers like Zaheer Khan, Srinath, Irfan Pathan Jr, Salvi, Bhandari, etc, who have proved effective even on Indian wickets. And of course, Kapil Dev proved that he was second to none on any kind of wickets.

I totally agree with this World Cup team, but I can’t understand why Ajit Agarkar is in?
— Prakash Nair

Agarkar comes handy with his batting in the slog overs. He has the calibre and potential. One hopes he delivers when the team needs him.

Is the selection of players based more on the capability of individual player to play on South African pitches or on their overall performance records? It may be misleading to select players on their performances on home grounds rather than considering their versatality, and the New Zealand situation will be replicated. Your comment?
— Dr Arjamadutta Sarangi

Capabilities of all selected individuals under all conditions were considered before the final 15 was picked.

How do you justify the selection of Srinath?
— Sajid Khan

He has bowled like a champion bowler in New Zealand. He has been spearheading the Indian attack for a long time and is the most experienced pace bowler in the squad. If he can give the team early breakthroughs, it will be easy for the other bowlers to perform better.

We should have easily picked up the second ODI (in New Zealand) but for our lapses in the field. The culprit-in-chief being Rahul Dravid behind the stumps. Isn’t it time every one realised that this is a specialist’s job, and the added burden is putting a dampner on Dravid’s batting?
—HotShot

Until he was doing well behind the stumps, nobody had any problem. His (Dravid) doubling up as a keeper has helped the team to have an extra bowler or batsman, for its balance. Everyone can have a bad day in the field.

Dravid had one during the second ODI against the Kiwis. We can only hope that such blunders are not repeated.

Which aspect of the game will be the most crucial in the World Cup, given the pitches in South Africa? What will be our team’s biggest weakness?
— Sumeet

Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainties. Let us keep our fingers crossed and pray for the best.

Why are we so reluctant to play fast bowlers on foreign tracks inspite of the spinners failing all the time?
— Kumar Kulkarni

On the contrary, our spinners have done fairly well. Even the New Zealand spinners haven’t taken full advantage of home conditions. The present lot of our medium pacers touring New Zealand have done fairly well and cannot be blamed for the losses.