17 January,2011 09:16 AM IST | | Clayton Murzello
Trust Bishan Singh Bedi to play it differently. He won't have Suresh Raina in his 15-member squad for the World Cup. Blame it on the left-hander's inconsistent ways and troubles against pace bowling.
The national selection committee headed by Krishnamachari Srikkanth will meet in Chennai today to pick India's World Cup squad.
Surviving member
Bedi, however controversial, critical and caustic, knows what it's like to pick a champion team. He is one of the two (Chandu Borde is the other) surviving members of the selection committee which picked the 1983 World Cup-winning squad. Rajasthan fast bowler Deepak Chahar would be in his team just to surprise the opponents as an unknown commodity.
"Yes, this team can win the World Cup, provided all are fit. One of the best aspects of the 1983 squad was that all were super in terms of fitness. Remember, we didn't pick them to deliver. They delivered on their own.
It was sheer providence and then self belief," Bedi told MiD DAY yesterday. While India's batting strength is admirable, the fielding is a worry for Bedi. "The fielders have to deliver every particular day. You just cannot hide slow throwers. It's a young man's game."
Focus is another concern. "I hope all the guys will keep the IPL out of their minds. I believe that Baroda lost the Ranji Trophy recently because they lost direction with all those people coming to woo players for the IPL.
This is a good team and they must win the trophy for Sachin Tendulkar. This will be his sixth World Cup and he has not figured in a winning team. Australia have won three on the trot and many of their players are not fit to tie Tendulkar's bootlaces," said Bedi.
Chandu Borde, who was Bedi's colleague in the 1983 selection panel, too felt fielding would be a key to glory.
"It is simple. There's no better way to save runs than to field well and importance must be given to this aspect.
We have a great chance to win considering our familiarity to conditions," said Borde. The former captain supported the move to include a leg-spinner than have two off-spinners (Harbhajan Singh and R Ashwin) and also an extra batsman in Murali Vijay.u00a0 For him, Ishant Sharma would be a better choice than Munaf Patel, Saturday night's heroics at the Wanderers in Johannesburg notwithstanding.
Bishan Bedi's squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Pragyan Ojha, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Deepak Chahar.
Chandu Borde's squad: Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, M Vijay, Parthiv Patel, Harbhajan Singh, Amit Mishra or Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, S Sreesanth and Ishant Sharma.
